Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

Zhongli City is located on a sandbank in the middle of the river and is divided into two parts: the inner and outer cities. The outer city includes the river bridge, and Heyang Pass is set up at the river bridge to supervise the passage of people on the river bridge.

"Stop whoever comes!"

When Xue Guyan and his party rode their horses to Heyang Pass, guards came in to stop them and prepare to interrogate them.

Xue Guyan and his entourage were already exhausted from running away at night. When they were scolded by the guard again, their anger was suddenly aroused. One of the soldiers directly waved his whip at the guard and cursed angrily. : "Thief Qiu Ba, I've blinded you! Don't you recognize my master, Duke Qin Qin?"

The soldier may not really know Xue Guyan, but the commander of the Guancheng army here is not so blind. He hurriedly stepped forward to apologize and asked boldly: "Ping Qin Gong should be in Zhennan City. I don't know where he is." Under what military order do we need to go north?"

The river bridge is an important passage connecting the north and the south. The entire country is currently at a very delicate juncture, so the prevention and control measures must be stricter than usual. Basically, without the orders of Heyang Commander Hu Lujin and Zhongli City Guard Pan Le, even generals like Xue Guyan would not be allowed to walk freely, so that's why the guard commander asked this question.

"Where am I going? I need to sue you, this thief slave? Get away!"

Xue Guyan was furious at the moment. Even ordinary questions were regarded as making things difficult for him. He immediately kicked the soldier commander to the ground with a glare, and then went straight to the front pass. , after forcing his way through the border, he did not forget to give his instructions: "The gangsters are roaming south of the bridge. Anyone who dares to board the bridge and break through the border will be killed without mercy!"

He was ashamed to tell this soldier that he had been beaten by the Western Army and was completely defeated. The most important thing now was to go to the Beicheng Camp to plead guilty to the general Hu Lujin and ask for troops, and to return to Henan as soon as possible to take revenge.

Xue Guyan and his party rushed through the pass, but the guard commander did not dare to neglect it. If the Shangguan really pursued it, the guards on their duty might have to be severely punished. The more they thought about it, the more frightened they became, so they hurriedly Go to the inner city to report the matter.

Pan Le, the guard general of Zhongli City, used to follow Ge Rong when he rebelled in Hebei and was granted the title of King of Jingzhao. After returning to Erzhu Rong, he was recruited by Gao Huan as the general of the town. Since then, he has been following Gao Huan, talking about his qualifications and merits. He is deeper than Xue Guyan, and he is both wise and brave, so he was placed in an important position in Zhongli City by the general Hu Lujin.

Hearing the commander's report that Xue Guyan had broken through the pass, Pan Le suddenly looked suspicious: "Xue Guyan led a crowd to attack the rebels in Guancheng a few days ago. Why did he suddenly return to Heqiao? Could it be that the battle was disadvantageous?"

The three cities of Heyang are integrated into one. Pan Le naturally knew that Xue Guyan had sent troops west to fight the enemy, and he also ordered his troops to take on part of the river defense affairs in the southern city of Heyang while Xue Guyan was away from the city.

At this time, when he heard that Xue Guyan had returned in a hurry and headed towards the north bank of the Yellow River, Pan Le was filled with doubts. As for his breaking through, he had no time to take care of it for a while. So he arranged for a few soldiers to go to the south of the river bridge to investigate, and then sent his troops to the north to pursue Xue Guyan to get the news. Then he himself went to the military camp and gathered a group of soldiers to stand by.

Several cavalrymen rode their horses down the river bridge. They looked around and saw nothing strange. Then they turned their horses' heads and headed towards the south city of Heyang. As they approached the city gate, they saw a robe-clad warrior under the city. The apparently messy cavalry team was carrying Xue Guyan's flag and honor guard, so he stepped forward and said: "Are you a soldier of Ping Qin Gong? What was the situation like this time when we went west to fight? Why did you return in a hurry? Why did Ping Qin Gong charge? Going to Guanbei?”

This group of people was naturally He Ruoden and Gao Le who had arrived here not long ago. Hearing the questions from the soldiers from the south, He Ruoden immediately turned his eyes, pointed at the other party and cursed: "Victory and defeat are common things for soldiers, who can guarantee eternal life?" Will we be victorious or not? I followed my lord to fight against the Western Army, but we had no choice but to retreat due to the overwhelming number of enemies. We were waiting to enter the city to reorganize our army and fight again. You and other thieves dared to come south to mock me and seize the power of my lord to hold the city. You deserve to die. , get it for me!”

"What nonsense are you talking about? I'm just..."

The soldiers didn't expect that just a few questions would cause He Ruoden to suddenly burst into rage. Before he could explain a few words, he was already surrounded and disarmed and captured his horse. While struggling, he yelled: "My lord, Jinmen Justice, is in Zhongtai." If you act recklessly again in this city, you will not be spared!"

After hearing this, He Ruoden sneered twice, walked up to the man with his knife, flipped the blade and cut off one of his ears, threw it to the ground and stamped on him several times, then looked at the soldiers and said with hatred: "Someone Even though we were defeated by the Western Army, we are definitely not able to humiliate you! I tell you, my lord, that Nancheng is guarded by my lord, Duke Qin. If your soldiers come to the south again to cause trouble, my lord will attack and kill you with all his troops! Everyone!”

While speaking, he ordered the disarmed people to be driven towards the river bridge, and then turned to look at the top of the city with an anxious look on his face and said: "I don't want to lose my ears, nose, hands and feet like that thief, so quickly open the door and treat them." Food!"

The more than 5,000 elite cavalry that Xue Guyan led to the west were already most of the troops he brought from Jinyang to guard here. Those who stayed behind were mainly soldiers from Hebei and Heluo.

The Xianbei soldiers had always looked down on these Han soldiers. When the defenders at the city head saw that the flags were correct and He Ruodun's ruthless attitude of casually catching people to vent his anger, they naturally felt even more uneasy. They were worried that they and others would also become the targets of the anger of these defeated soldiers. , so he quickly opened the door and welcomed the disciples into the city.

After entering the city, the group of people did not walk further inside. They ordered the people who were left behind in the city to come in to speak and brought food and wine quickly. At the same time, they asked the garrison at the top of the city to withdraw and let them guard the city gate.

After such shouting and intimidation, the guards actually surrendered the city gate. Heyang South City is surrounded by water on three sides, and this south gate is the only land access. Once the control changes hands, the thousands of foreign soldiers left in the city will be trapped.

However, He Ruo Dun and others did not immediately take off their disguises. They followed the information provided by the soldiers who were recruited during the previous pursuit and summoned the captains of the soldiers left in the city one by one and detained them, including Yuan Xiaoyou, the King of Linhuai, who has the highest official status in the city.

When Yuan Xiaoyou was led into a warehouse next to the city gate, he looked at He Ruo Dun and Gao Le and subconsciously wanted to withdraw, but the soldiers who led him drew their swords and put them behind his waist, so he stood there stiffly and dared not move.

"Neither of you are Xue Guyan's generals. You must be the commanders of the Western Army who are fighting against him. You are so bold that you dare to enter the city by deception! But the three cities of Heyang are interdependent. If one city changes, strong reinforcements will arrive in an instant. It is definitely not a place for desperate people to cheat. You did not kill anyone when you entered the city, which shows that you still have kindness in your heart. Leave immediately and I will not expose you!" Although he was already in the hands of others, Yuan Xiaoyou still maintained his composure and said in a deep voice while looking at the two of them. Hearing this, the two smiled at each other, and then He Ruo Dun stepped forward and clasped his fists to Yuan Xiaoyou, saying: "Your Majesty is indeed beyond ordinary people, and your calm attitude is admirable, but since we have entered this place, we are definitely not rash followers. We used to follow our master, Xihe Gong Li Shijun, and broke into the Jinyang Palace. No heroes in Bingzhou could stop us. Today, Heyang is not a dangerous place. Even if there are fish and turtles to rescue, they will be boiled!"

"You, you are the generals of the Western Dynasty thief Li Tai..."

Yuan Xiaoyou's face changed when he heard this. Li Tai's reputation is now very loud in the Eastern Wei territory, because his previous action was a slap in the face of Jinyang Gaowang and Yedu Emperor.

When the two heard this, their faces suddenly darkened. Gao Le stood up, drew his sword and put it on Yuan Xiaoyou's neck and said angrily: "We treat you with courtesy. We respect the blood of the king, not the person. The most vicious thief in the world is He Liuhun. What we, the people of Guanxi, have done is to revitalize the great rule! The king is in his hometown, but he cannot knock on the gate to offer tribute and welcome the king back to the palace. This is a crime. If you still can't return to justice with this city, what's the point of not dying!" "Warrior, warrior, wait... I, I also have a heart to serve justice, but I haven't found a good time! Whatever you need me to do, I will do it without hesitation!" Yuan Xiaoyou's previous calmness was also due to his status, but he was not really ready to die. Seeing that Gao Le really wanted to kill, he immediately showed his cowardice and begged for mercy. Just as the two forced Yuan Xiaoyou to cooperate with him to control the city, Pan Le's personal soldiers, whose ears were cut off by He Ruo Dun before, also returned to Zhongyu City. After hearing this report, Pan Le was furious and stamped his feet and said angrily: "Xue Guyan is too much! This guy was defeated and humiliated, but he dared to take his anger out on me, fearing that I would covet his power. It's ridiculous! Come on, go to the south city quickly and capture the murderer in the city!"

Pan Le naturally ignored the threat made by He Ruo Dun in the name of Xue Guyan, which only aggravated his anger. He immediately ordered hundreds of soldiers to go south to save face.

However, Xue Guyan's defeat also surprised him. He knew that Xue Guyan led 5,000 elite cavalry in this battle but was still outnumbered. So the number of bandits entering the Heluo area must be very considerable.

But these were just a few vague words from Xue Guyan's generals. Of course, he still had to ask Xue Guyan about the specific enemy situation in detail before arranging the attack and defense plan.

The military situation was urgent, so Pan Le did not dare to be negligent. After a little thought, he ordered the expansion of the scale of the troop gathering, and he left the inner city and went to the north bank of the river to inquire about the enemy situation and countermeasures.