A knife hidden in a smile

Zhang Cheng looked at Li Gang in front of him angrily.

The veins on the hand holding the handle of the knife are exposed,

He tried hard to resist the urge to draw his knife and chop the bastard in front of him to death.

What he wants is an intact Chang'an City,

And this was also part of the agreement between him and Li Chun.

Otherwise, after he captured Languan and entered Lantian County, why did he linger there for a few days to lure Qu Bao to go and annihilate him?

Li Chun personally formulated the plan to split the Zhao army stationed in and around Chang'an City into two and create a plan for Li Chun's army to quickly capture Chang'an City.

Because Li Chun revealed to Zhang Cheng that he had enough influential internal agents in Chang'an City, as long as Qu Bao left Chang'an City with his trusted army, they would be able to capture him without any bloodshed, and then leave an intact one.

The city of Chang'an was handed over to Zhang Cheng.

If it weren't for this agreement, how would Zhang Cheng invest his few close relatives in Lantian to go head-to-head with his opponents?

Although the battle was won, the losses made Zhang Cheng extremely distressed.

But these losses can still be accepted if they are exchanged for complete control of Jingzhao Mansion.

But the current situation is completely unacceptable to Zhang Cheng.

What he wants is an intact Chang'an City, not the messy Chang'an City in front of him with heavy losses.

The most important grains in Changpingcang are now gone.

The treasury is empty,

Even the people in the city experienced a catastrophe.

Looking at the broken walls and the black smoke still rising in the distance, Zhang Cheng understood what Chang'an City looked like now.

What is the use of Chang'an City like this?

Without food, how can you appease the people?

Not to mention anything else, just those people who helped him completely defeat Qu Bao under Lantian City are still eagerly waiting for him to resettle them!

Should I go and say thank you to them and let them go home?

"Little Lieutenant Zhang, as agreed, the city of Chang'an will be yours!" Li Gang swung his riding whip with his little finger and looked at Zhang Cheng with a smile: "Brother, I'm leaving now."

Gan Quan and others glared at him.

Is it also called Lieutenant Zhang?

But they could only hold back their anger in their hearts.

Because after letting out a heavy breath, Zhang Cheng actually smiled and saluted the other person: "Thank you Mr. Li for me, just say that Mr. Zhang appreciates it!"

Li Gang laughed loudly, and clamped his legs under his crotch. The horse, which was more than eight feet high at the shoulders, neighed and galloped into the distance. Behind Li Gang, thousands of cavalry followed closely, hoofs curling.

Countless snowflakes arose, flying up one after another, and falling slowly again, dyeing Zhang Cheng's body white.

"Captain!" Gan Quan's eyes were red. He took a step forward and looked at Zhang Cheng. How dare he be unable to conceal the murderous intent in his eyes.

Zhang Cheng slowly shook his head: "We are not opponents!"

Looking at his generals, he continued: "They have more than 5,000 cavalry here, which can easily crush us. We are not strong enough, so naturally we do not have the capital to shout with each other. If the handle of the knife is not strong, how can the waist be strong?

stand up?"

"Li Chun is deceiving us!" Gan Quan said angrily.

Zhang Cheng smiled coldly and said: "It can't be considered a deception. I'm too honest. I didn't expect that they could go back on their words and do things to this extent. He

This has convinced me that I have no choice but to rely on him!"

Gan Quan and others all lowered their heads.

Li Chun said nicely, handing over the entire Jingzhao Mansion to Zhang Cheng, eight hundred miles of Qinchuan! This covenant once made Zhang Cheng, Ganquan and others overjoyed.

In today's world of great strife, without a fixed territory and a solid base, there is no hope of accomplishing anything.

Li Chun firmly controlled Qinfeng Road, and Li Shilong firmly controlled Yizhou Road. It was precisely because of these two places that they were able to challenge Xiao Cheng and win over the Liao people.

Let's look at Xiao Cheng again. If he hadn't been operating in Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and other places for more than ten years, making these places his strong rear area, how could he have suddenly emerged on the day when his power was about to fall, supported Zhao An, and became a leader in one fell swoop?

The most powerful person in the Song Dynasty today!

But they could only become bandits in the Qinling Mountains.

So, they need a piece of land.

The eight-hundred-mile Qinchuan with Jingzhao Mansion as its center is undoubtedly a geomantic treasure land where great undertakings can be achieved.

Now they did get it.

But a city in Chang'an that was so dilapidated was no longer a wing that could help them take off, but became a huge burden that dragged them down.

"Enter the city!" Zhang Cheng rode his horse and walked slowly into the city gate.

In the Yamen of the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, there are the same chicken feathers everywhere.

The miserable scene even made Zhang Cheng laugh.

Those people even moved away tables, chairs and benches.

Oh, they may not need these things, but the tribal soldiers on Qin Feng Road need these things to make fires and keep warm, right?

Walking to the yard, Zhang Cheng picked up a half-burnt piece of wood among a pile of burnt black remnants, picked it up with his hands, shook his head and said: "It's a pity, it's made of fine golden nanmu."

They actually used the table as firewood! This table alone is worth hundreds of dollars."

Gan Quan sneered: "How do these barbarians know how precious these things are? In their eyes, they probably only recognize gold, silver, copper coins, silk and satin, and cattle and horses, right?"

Zhang Cheng smiled to himself, "Maybe they are not wrong. Gold, silver and copper coins can buy things. Silk and satin can at least be wrapped around the body to keep warm, and can also be used as money. Not to mention cattle and horses, food, and these expensive

Apart from lighting a fire to keep warm, what else can it be used for?"

"Lieutenant, what should we do next?"

"How much food do we have left?" Zhang Cheng asked.

"The entire army has less than 50,000 shi of food left!" Gan Quan had a headache. As Zhang Cheng's deputy general, he had to go to war, and he was also coordinating all the logistics work.

"Give it to the people who participated in the war. Let them go home first and tell them to save some food and get through this period. Everything will be fine. Mr. Zhang will never treat them badly!" Zhang Cheng waved

Waved his hand and said.

Gan Quan was taken aback, "Lieutenant, they've all been sent away, what should we do?"

"We survived by chewing tree bark and eating Guanyin soil." Zhang Cheng said: "It's better now than then. Besides, Ganquan, do you think the brothers who followed me from the bottom of the mountain will betray me because they don't have a bite to eat?

?”

"Of course not!" Gan Quan shook his head and said, "It's just that everyone thought that if they went down the mountain and entered the city, they would have a good life. But now, I'm afraid they will be disappointed."

"It's better to disappoint them than to disappoint the common people who came to help me with hoes! Tell the brothers to stay a while longer!" Zhang Cheng said.

Gan Quan was silent for a while and said: "Captain, Feng Bao is still here! I think we can ask him for some more."

Zhang Cheng looked up at the gloomy sky, and after a long while he smiled and said: "They are not good people, but Xiao Erlang is more pleasing to the eye. Gan Quan, after you have settled down, you can follow Feng Bao to the south.

Look at the Jiangning court that Feng Bao boasts about so much, what is going on?"

"yes!"

"Come on, Li Chun has left us with such a mess, which really gives us a headache! But it's a good thing that the starting point is so low. We just need to do something casually to give people hope, and everything has already been done

This is how bad it can be!"

"The Lieutenant is right!" After all, they are all people who have suffered a lot in the mountains. When encountering difficulties, they always think broadly. Listening to Zhang Cheng's words, Gan Quan finally showed a smile on his face:

"It's never worse than when we were in the mountains."

"I misjudged Li Chun's broad-mindedness. It's hard for such a person to be grand!" Zhang Cheng said. "He, he still thinks of Xiao Erlang's wrist? Ridiculous!"

"So we have to make other plans in advance!"

"It's natural!"

With a swishing sound, the riding whip was drawn from the air with a sound of wind, and landed heavily on Li Gang's body. His clothes were immediately torn to pieces, and the cotton wadding inside flew all over the sky.

Li Gang didn't dare to hide, so he could only hold on.

Because the one who whipped him was his father, Qin Fenglu's pacifying envoy Li Chun.

Li Chun was going crazy.

Li Gang was able to accomplish this even though he explained things clearly.

He could imagine Zhang Cheng's anger now. He had spent a lot of effort to gain mutual trust with Zhang Cheng, but now it was better to let this bastard kill him with a backhand.

"Father, I'm just a bandit. How can you be so concerned about him?" Li Gang curled up on the ground, holding his head and shouted: "What little Captain Zhang, my son doesn't even notice that little man and horse."

inside!"

Hearing that Li Gang dared to talk back and was still unconvinced, Li Chun became even more angry and struck harder. The whip also fell on Li Gang's head and face, making the other party scream!

"Bandits, bandits!" Li Chun shouted: "You have persisted in the Qinling Mountains for several years and expanded from a thousand people to nearly ten thousand soldiers. Can you do it? Just come down the mountain and a flag can attract

Tens of thousands of young men and women from around came to help with their own weapons, how can you do it? Old Captain Zhang had great prestige among the Fourth Army. Xiao Zhang even guarded the palace alone and defeated the rebellion under King Jing. You

Can you do it? I'll beat you to death for your failure."

Wen Yi on the side stepped forward, hugged Li Chun's arm, and persuaded: "My lord, the matter has come to this, there is no point in blaming the lord, not to mention that the tribal cavalry are all unruly, and it will become a problem when they enter the city."

If you become a madman, you will not notice it for a moment!"

After reaching the steps, Li Chun threw down his whip and sighed: "Can we get those grains back? If nothing else, what Zhangcheng lacks most now is grains."

"My lord, how can you let those tribes spit out the things you have taken in?" Wen Yi shook his head and said: "Besides, in the future, my lord, you will have to rely on their combat power to plot Shaanxi Road and other places. These tribal cavalry,

I can only win over you!"

"Then Zhangcheng wants to separate from me?" Li Chun was a little annoyed, "If that's the case, then why give him the capital?"

"Ms. Sir, the reputations of old Captain Zhang and Little Lieutenant Zhang are still very useful." Wen Yi said: "Moreover, if the dilapidated Jingzhao Mansion is cited, Little Lieutenant Zhang will have to rely more on your talents.

To survive, who else can he rely on around here? From this aspect, the young master’s move may be a good thing.”

"That's right, that's right!" Li Gang nodded repeatedly, causing Li Chun to kick him again, turning him into a rolling gourd.

"Next, Your Majesty might as well send someone to send him some food, and then apologize, explaining that these things were all done by those tribal soldiers. I think Lieutenant Zhang can understand it!" Wen Yi Xiance said.

"Qin Fenglu doesn't have any food left now!" Li Chun said with a distressed look on his face, "Forget it, I can only squeeze some more from the people's mouths and give it to Lieutenant Zhang. Wenyi, you can do something for me."

Well, tell Lieutenant Zhang that although it is not much, he can always survive for a while. After the New Year, I will raise another batch of food and grass for him, and I will never let him go hungry!"

"Understood!" Wen Yi said with a smile: "In this way, the little Captain Zhang was trapped. The eight hundred miles of Qinchuan is indeed a good place, but if you want to sit firmly here, you can't do it.

It’s also a huge problem!”

A few days later, Wen Yi appeared in front of Zhang Cheng in Chang'an City, escorting five thousand shi of grain.

Not only did they have food, but they also had a letter of apology written by Li Chun himself, claiming that he had severely punished the culprit Li Gang. At the same time, he also explained his current difficult situation. The tribal soldiers on Qinfeng Road were really unruly and difficult to control.

So much so that this happened.

Zhang Cheng accepted this batch of food with a smile on his face. At the same time, he expressed his anger towards these disobedient tribal cavalry. At the same time, he also begged Li Gang for mercy, saying that it was not Mr. Li's fault, but that the tribal cavalry were too hateful, etc.

.

Both the guest and the host were very happy. They drank and drank with each other. During the banquet, they fully exchanged opinions on the next military operations. During this period, Zhang Cheng also proposed a batch of weapons and armor, and Wen Yi took over everything.

They all agreed and promised to deliver it later.

By the time Wen Yi reluctantly left, Gan Quan, the general under Zhang Cheng, had already crossed the Qinling Mountains and headed for Jiangning with Feng Bao, Jiangning's envoy.

Zhang Cheng has a feud with the Xiao family, but the public is public and the private is private. A true man stands in this world, how can he abolish the public due to private interests?

If Li Chun is really a person who can do great things, Zhang Cheng can cooperate with his opponent, not only to avoid missing official duties, but also to take revenge on the Xiao family, but now it seems that Li Chun cannot do it at all.

Entrusted with important matters, what this person did was, to put it bluntly, just for the sake of his own power, position, glory and wealth.

How can Lieutenant Zhang be associated with such a person?

If I really do this, I'm afraid that if I meet Lao Zhang under Jiuquan in the future, he will be spat on.
Chapter completed!