In the past few days, Niu Xunda has been dazed by the gangsters in Mangdang Mountain. When he saw twenty or thirty riders approaching, he thought it was Liu Xuanfeng provoking again. The arrow was sent out. Niu Xunda's martial arts skills are average, and his archery skills are average, but he is holding one of the few hard bows in Wanxian County. Standing on the city wall, he can send the feathered arrow 200 steps without any problem.
But if you want to kill someone, two hundred paces is still too far. So Niu Xinda calculated that those knights loosened their bowstrings when they were more than a hundred steps away from the city wall, and he was not sure who to aim at, thinking that there were so many people that he couldn't miss all of them.
But the next scene, after he saw it clearly, he was immediately stunned in surprise.
The arrow was shot with great precision, and it flew towards the leading knight. But no one thought that the leading knight would reach out and catch the oncoming feather arrow.
The clouds are calm and the wind is light.
Niu Xunda was startled, and subconsciously opened his mouth wide.
"When did Liu Xuanfeng have such powerful subordinates?"
He looked at Sun Kaidao and found that the county magistrate's eyes were still a little erratic, so he stretched out his hand to give him a hand. Only then did Sun Kaidao wake up from his trance, and smiled apologetically at Niu Xunda.
"It's not Liu Xuanfeng's bandits."
Sun Kaidao looked outside the city and couldn't help being startled: "Look, those knights are all wearing the standard black armor of the Sui soldiers, and they hold lances in their hands. Although Liu Xuanfeng's has two or three thousand rebels, a long lance is enough. No. These people... are Sui Jun!"
"Sui Army!"
Niu Xunda's face brightened, but thinking of the county magistrate's worry, his heart immediately became heavy again. At this time, when the Sui army came, they must be soldiers and horses from the left avant-garde. Could it be that Yin Poshan's 200,000-strong army couldn't stop the left front guard from heading north? Even if they are defeated, relying on the danger of Mangdang Mountain, they should not let the left forward come over easily.
"My lord, what should I do?"
he asks.
"Let's see."
Sun Kaidao collected his mind, took a few steps forward and stood by the city wall to watch carefully. The twenty or thirty riders stopped about a hundred paces outside the city, and the man in black at the head stretched out his hand to take a bow from the guard next to him, and then put the next feather arrow on the bowstring, bowing hard. Standing up, the cluster of arrows pointed to the side of the city wall. I didn't see how he was aiming, but the feathered arrow suddenly left the bowstring and flew over, rubbing Niu Xinda's face with a bang, and piercing into the city bricks.
The turbulent gravel left a bloodstain on Niu Xinda's face, and if the arrow missed by a single point, it would leave a hole in his face.
"He tried to kill me..."
Niu Xunda said something subconsciously.
"No, if he wants to kill you, he won't intentionally miss a point with this arrow."
Sun Kaidao shook his head: "A person with such shooting skills must be in a high position even if he is in the Left Front Guard. I don't know which general is here... It seems that Yin Poshan's rebels have been defeated by the Left Front Guard." Completely defeated, the hundreds of thousands of troops in the left front guard really want to go north?"
"What shall we do?"
Niu Schindler asked.
"we?"
Sun Kaidao shook his head: "Actually, this day will come sooner or later. I just didn't expect it to come so soon. Tell Minyong not to shoot any more arrows. If you offend the general in the left avant-garde, just a quick battalion can kill us all." The county was demolished. During the war, Zuo Qianwei slaughtered the county in the name of rebels in Wan County, and no one blamed him. I spent so much effort to keep Wan County, no matter what We can no longer cause disasters for the people of Wan County."
"But... my lord, once the city gate is opened, if those people in the left front guard know that you have descended to Yin Poshan, it will still be a bloody disaster."
"I'll go out by myself."
Sun Kaidao waved his hand: "You all stay!"
Without waiting for those Minyongs to stop him, Sun Kaidao strode down from the city wall, and then ordered the soldiers guarding the gate to open the gate. inside the door.
He walked towards the twenty or thirty riders alone, adjusting his breathing as he walked. He knew what he was going to face and could not escape. No one knows the pain in his heart, and no one can block the infamy for him. In order to protect the people of Wan County, he sacrificed his beloved woman to Yin Poshan. In order to prevent the people from being slaughtered, he even worshiped under the disciple of a martial artist in Yin Poshan. He himself carried all these humiliations.
Now not many people in Wan County understand him, and they all treat him as a traitor. Behind his back, I don't know how many people spit and scold him.
Saved the people of a city, but no one thought of him well.
He didn't even think about it at the beginning, how could it become like this. Even those minyongs don't all understand his intentions. Those men took up crude weapons, also to surround their own homes, not because of his call.
"Xiaguan County magistrate Sun Kaidao, I wonder which general is here?"
He walked up to the knights and gave a deep salute.
"You are Sun Kaidao?"
"It's the next official."
"Take it."
The leading young man in black robe waved his hand, and immediately two personal guards jumped off their horses and held Sun Kaidao down. Niu Xunda in the city gate cursed, calling for people to rush out with him to save the county magistrate, but he ran out only to find that there were very few Minyongs following him.
"You idiots!"
Niu Xunda cursed in pain, brandished a horizontal knife and rushed towards the knights.
…
…
Niu Xunda rushed over with more than a dozen minyongs, but was knocked down by a man like an iron tower all by himself. The strong man, who was half a body taller than the average person, threw Niu Xinda and the others over as if he had packed up a dozen young children. A dozen or so soldiers came from behind him, pressing the horizontal knife on the shoulders of Niu Xunda and the others.
"Sun Kaidao, you are the magistrate of Wan County, and the people of Wan County respect you. Now I have a few things to ask you."
The leading young man in black was Fang Jie. He pointed at Sun Kaidao with his horsewhip and asked, "I heard that you surrendered the rebels and were conferred a title? Is there such a thing?"
Sun Kaidao was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head and said, "Yes."
"I heard that Yin Poshan admired you quite a lot, so he didn't plunder the people of Wan County. Is there such a thing?"
"have!"
"Um."
Fang Jie hummed, waved his hands and said, "Cut it off."
Two personal soldiers went over, one pressed Sun Kaidao's neck, and the other drew a knife to cut him. Sun Kaidao struggled and shouted: "I have something to ask, the general will kill me after hearing it!"
Fang Jie frowned slightly: "Say."
Sun Kaidao raised his head and said, "Your official has indeed committed a serious crime, which is unforgivable. But please, general, just kill me. The others are forced by me, and they have no choice but to follow the thieves."
Fang Jie snorted coldly: "Who is a thief in Wan County, I will naturally find out. You are the first offender, and you must not be spared. Others who dare to rush out of the city to rescue you are expected to be your accomplices. You guys People, taking the salary of the imperial court but accepting a thief as their father... It is not an exaggeration to punish your nine clans!"
"You fart!"
Niu Xunda struggled desperately and shouted: "If there is no magistrate, all the people in the city will have been slaughtered by the rebels. Mr. Sun is a good official who will not hesitate to endure humiliation to protect the people in the city! You don't care about injustice. What is the difference between killing people and those rebels!"
"Snapped!"
Qilin slapped Niu Xinda on the face, and that half of his face immediately swelled up.
"If you disrespect the general again, I will kill you immediately."
Sun Kaidao looked at the blood on the corner of Niu Xunda's mouth, and sighed: "The most wrong thing I, Sun Kaidao, did in half my life was to be an official... If the general wants to kill him, just kill him."
Fang Jie looked at Zhuo Buyi, Zhuo Buyi smiled and nodded.
Such a person, even if he is greedy for life and afraid of death, has a bottom line after all.
"Is there food and grass in the city?"
Fang asked.
"No!"
Sun Kaidao raised his head sharply and replied: "Although the rebels didn't kill anyone, they looted all the food. The people in the city have no food for tomorrow, no food at all!"
"Ha ha!"
Fang Jie couldn't help laughing, waved his hands and said: "Loosen their ties, Master Sun, come with me, I have something to discuss with you."
Qilin helped Niu Xunda up, smiled and said offended. The other Minyong were also let go, and they looked at each other in blank dismay, no one knew what was going on. Sun Kaidao was let go by Fang Jie's soldiers, and rubbed his aching shoulder: "General, what do you mean?"
"My general just wants to see if you really want to surrender the thieves or really want to protect the people."
Zhuo Buyi got off his horse and gave Sun Kaidao a hand: "I'm offended. If it wasn't for this, I'm afraid I won't be able to test your heart. After all, you can deceive Yin Poshan, but you can't deceive us before you can."
"Who is this general?"
Only then did Sun Kaidao react, and he sighed inwardly. He said in his heart that if he fell to the ground and begged for mercy just now, he was afraid that this handsome looking general would have his head cut off immediately. He would not have had such a will to die in the first place, if he was really a person who was not afraid of death and did not hesitate to die, he would not have flattered Yin Poshan in the first place. It's just that during these days, the common people insulted him, Minyong looked coldly at him, coupled with knowing the news of Zuo Qianwei's victory, he was worried, and under various emotions, he had no idea of living.
"My general is the imperial envoy sent by His Majesty to Huangyang Road to supervise the battle."
Zhuo Buyi introduced with a smile.
"Qin... imperial envoy?"
Even though Sun Kaidao had already guessed that the other party's status was not low, he did not expect that it would be the imperial envoy.
"My name is Fang Jie, and I am accompanying Mrs. Sun."
"Yanwu Academy... Fang Jie?"
Sun Kaidao asked subconsciously.
"Exactly."
…
…
"There is no need to mention the matter of Wan County, I offended you before."
Fang Jie reported to Sun Kaidao with fists in his arms: "It only involves the death of thousands of people, so I have to be careful. I took the troops over the mountain first to scout the way for the army, so I must be cautious. I want to know if there are any rebels in Chu County , if there is any granary for the rebels, please let Master Sun know."
Sun Kaidao was silent for a while and shook his head: "General, forgive me. Since the general came to ask me, why not tell me the truth? The general... may not be here to find the way for the army?"
Sun Kaidao had already calmed down, took two steps back and said: "If the left front guard crosses the mountain, he must not be taking the path in the mountain. How could hundreds of thousands of troops come over the mountain? City equipment, these things are absolutely impossible to get through. Not to mention whether Luo Yao will come over the mountains, even if he does, he will go to Luo County, which is flat and full of official roads, instead of Chu County, which is rugged and mountainous."
Fang Jie's eyes changed slightly, and he thought that Sun Kaidao was really a character.
"You don't need to pay attention to these things. If you don't want to tell me, I'll bring someone to investigate."
Sun Kaidao shook his head: "The prefect of Chu County has surrendered the rebels, and there are rebels stationed in Dayang City, the city of Chu County. The general will ask, and the subordinates know. But the subordinates have one condition, as long as the general agrees. Now, I am willing to personally lead the general through Chu County, and take away the rebels' baggage along the way."
"How do you know I'm going through Chu County?"
Fang asked.
"If the general is going to join the imperial army, he must go to the Yangtze River Ferry. It's not for the left vanguard, it can only go to the rear of the rebel army. I heard that Xu Jun Wang Yang Kai has a team in Langrushan, so I deduce It is not difficult to find out where the general is going."
"Tell me your terms."
Fang Jie said.
"There is a group of bandits on Mangdang Mountain, about two or three thousand people. They are more ruthless than the rebels. If the general is willing to get rid of this cancer for our Wan County, the subordinate officials are willing to work for the adults!"
"Do two things with one stone?"
Fang Jie couldn't help laughing loudly: "You are a smart person!"
Sun Kaidao blushed, and said embarrassingly, "My lord's eyes are like torches."
"I will get rid of those bandits for you, and Wan County will have no worries for the time being. The rebel army has been defeated in the south of Shannan. Once the imperial army comes over, you will not be able to hide the fact that you surrendered to the rebel army. You will die sooner or later. So, you understand On the surface, you are begging me to eliminate harm for Wan County, but you are actually thinking about the future for yourself, right?"
Fang Jie glanced at Sun Kaidao: "Don't try to calculate others, if you don't calculate well, you will lose your life."
Sun Kaidao didn't dare to answer, it was the first time he realized that his thoughts were easily seen through by others. The young-looking general in front of him seemed to have a pair of eyes that could see through people's hearts, which was frightening.