The mighty fleet of the Hexi Army arrived in Yanfu County. The head of the family, Sun Liang, had received the news in advance and rushed to Yanfu County.
In just a few months, he obtained another two thousand barrels of kerosene from various channels and sent people to Hexi to deliver the letter. However, he was a little confused as to why Zhang Xu's letter mentioned that he wanted to meet his son-in-law.
Gongsun Liang had two sons-in-law, the eldest son-in-law was the governor of Suizhou, and the second son-in-law was the eldest son of the wealthy Liu family in Yanzhou. Of course Gongsun Liang knew that the person Zhang Chen wanted to see must be his eldest son-in-law Cui Du.
On the dock, Gongsun Liang saw the mighty ships from a distance. He felt a little strange. The ships had deep drafts and were obviously loaded with cargo. Since they were here to transport kerosene, why were they loaded with so much cargo?
At this time, the lead boat slowly docked, Zhang Shu stepped out of the boat, and Gongsun Liang greeted him with a smile, "Zhang Canjun, haven't seen you for a few months, how are you doing?"
Zhang Xu smiled slightly and said: "The head of the Gongsun family is really a trustworthy person!"
Gongsun Liang pointed to a water-viewing pavilion at a high place and said, "I have prepared a few glasses of water and wine, and invite Zhang Canjun to have a drink."
"Thank you very much!"
Zhang Xu did not delay and followed him up to the pavilion. The pavilion was very high. Standing on the pavilion, you could see the entire Yellow River in front of you. The situation on the other side was clearly visible. You could also faintly see the mouth of the Qingshui River entering the Yellow River in front of you.
Wine and food had been placed in the pavilion, and two maids and a wine-warming boy were standing there. They sat down, and the maid came forward to fill their glasses with wine.
Gongsun Liang raised his wine glass and said with a smile: "Come on! Drink this cup to support Zhang Shijun!"
"Dry!"
The two of them clinked their glasses, drank the whole thing in one gulp, and ate a few more dishes. Gongsun Liang put down his chopsticks and said, "I'm very confused. Why did Zhang Canjun ask to see my son-in-law in his letter?"
Zhang Xu glanced at the maid and boy next to him. Gongsun Liang quickly waved his hand, "You all get off!"
The three of them bowed and retreated. Zhang Xu slowly said, "Actually, it's not that I want to see your son-in-law, but that our envoy wants to see him."
"Ah! Guo Shijun wants to see my son-in-law?" Gongsun Liang said in surprise and joy.
"Master Gongsun will not tell me that your son-in-law is loyal to Zhu Si!"
"Of course not. Zhu Si is a traitor. Some people will be loyal to him for the sake of wealth and wealth, but my son-in-law will not. He comes from a famous family in Qinghe, and his family has always supported orthodoxy. My son-in-law just can't leave the people of Suizhou behind, so he has endured the humiliation and stayed in office until now."
"If Guo Shijun recruits him, will he be willing?"
"I can't guarantee this, but if Guo Shijun fights with Zhu Si, he will definitely support Guo Shijun."
Zhang Xu took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Gongsun Liang, "This is a letter written by Guo Shijun. The head of the family can read it and then forward it to Governor Cui."
Gongsun Liang took the letter and said: "I'll ask my brother to arrange the delivery of the goods, and I'll go find my son-in-law right away."
"What about the magistrate of Yanfu County?"
Gongsun Liang was a little embarrassed and said: "Zhang Canjun, don't worry, the magistrate of Yanfu County is called Gongsun Tuo, and he is my second son. To be honest with Zhang Canjun, I bought this magistrate from Chang'an for thousands of dollars."
Zhang Xu laughed and said, "That would be the best."
...........
The prefectural government of Suizhou is Shang County, which is located to the west of Yanfu County, about sixty miles away. That night, Gongsun Liang rushed to Shang County and went directly to the governor's office. The back house of the governor's office was the governor's mansion.
When he heard that his father-in-law had arrived, Cui Du, the governor, and his wife went out to greet him.
"Dad, why didn't you tell me before you came?" Daughter Gongsun asked with some confusion.
Gongsun Liang's eyes widened and he said, "I have something important to do with your husband. You go make some tea and forget about anything else."
Cui Du quickly waved his hand and said: "Father-in-law, please follow my son-in-law to the study!"
Cui Du was about thirty years old, with a medium build and a gentle appearance. He was from a branch of the Cui family in Qinghe, and his family was not very well off. After the imperial examination was resumed, he passed the first Jinshi examination and served as the chief registrar of Fushi County, Yanzhou.
It was at that time that he married Gongsun Liang's daughter. With the financial support of the Gongsun family, Cui Du rose through the ranks and became the governor of Suizhou three years ago.
The two men sat down in the study. Gongsun Liang asked, "How much does the wise son-in-law know about Guo Song?"
"Guo Song, the governor of Hexi Province?"
Gongsun Liangming nodded. Cui Du didn't know why his father-in-law asked this question. He pondered for a moment and decided to tell the truth.
"Guo Song is a very powerful character. He restored Beiting and Anxi, and wiped out Shatuo and Ge Luolu. I support this very much. Although he is nominally loyal to the imperial court, he has actually become a vassal town. In fact, it is beyond reproach. It's all like this
That's true, but there is one thing I don't agree with. He killed people too cruelly. He almost killed all the men in the party, and many innocent people were also killed. It was a bit too cruel."
"If he goes to war with Zhu Si, who will you support?"
"Actually, I don't support this, but if I have no choice, I still prefer Guo Song. After all, he is still very good to the Han people, especially the more than 600,000 refugees who have been properly resettled by him.
Based on this, I am still willing to support him."
Gongsun Liang pondered for a while and said: "There is something I didn't tell my virtuous son-in-law. In fact, a few months ago, the Gongsun family had completely surrendered to Guo Song. I also received a personal letter from Guo Song, and he promised to recommend me to Fushi County in the future.
male."
Cui Du was stunned. His father-in-law's family had taken refuge with Guo Song, but he didn't know anything about it.
Cui Du smiled bitterly for a while and said: "If my father-in-law defected to Guo Song, my son-in-law seemed to have no choice. However, Guo Song and Zhu Si signed a three-year non-aggression contract. I can't publicly declare that Suizhou belongs to Hexi."
!”
"This is why I came to you. Please read this letter first. It is a personal letter written by Guo Song to you."
Gongsun Liang took out the letter from his arms and handed it to his son-in-law. Cui Du was startled and quickly took the letter and looked at it carefully.
At this time, his wife Gongsun brought tea to her father and husband. She also heard a little bit of the conversation between her father and her husband. She whispered: "Husband, the people of Suizhou are very grateful to Guo Song. There was a locust plague that year, and there were many people in Suizhou.
The people all fled to Fengzhou and were well accommodated by Guo Song. Later, they returned to their hometowns one after another and never forgot Guo Song."
After reading the letter, Cui Du nodded and said, "My lady is right, we cannot go against the will of the people."
Cui Du asked Gongsun Liang again, "My father-in-law must have read this letter, right?"
"I have indeed seen it, how do you decide?"
"My father-in-law, please tell Guo Song that I am willing to support him. His army can enter Suizhou at any time. According to his arrangement, I will still be a vassal of Chang'an in name."
Gongsun Liang was overjoyed. He knew his son-in-law and he would not express his position easily, but once he expressed his position, he would never change his order overnight and was worthy of trust.
He quickly said: "I guess Guo Song wants to use Yanfu County. Let's take a closer look and see how we can make this matter watertight."
...........
The 30,000 cavalry led by Guo Song arrived at the junction of Suizhou and Yinzhou. There was a large town on the Yellow River called Kuangzhou Town, with nearly 300 households. It was getting late, so 30,000 troops were stationed outside the town.
.
The soldiers cooked in pots and fed the horses with water and fodder. They were very busy. Each soldier had a sleeping bag. However, the summer was hot, so most of the soldiers used sleeping bags as mats and slept in the open air. There were two thousand patrol cavalry around them.
Sentries were posted outside, monitoring what was happening in the distance.
At this time, a cavalryman came galloping from a distance and rushed to a marching tent. The cavalryman turned over and dismounted, held up a messenger arrow and said to the soldiers outside the tent: "Please report to the envoy, the latest news in Yanfu County!"
The soldiers quickly came to the tent door and reported: "To the envoy, there is news from Yanfu County."
"Let him in!"
The soldiers searched the messenger and took him into the tent.
In the big tent, Guo Songzheng was sitting cross-legged in front of the map and meditating. He had received news that 30,000 Youzhou troops had entered Yizhou. It was obvious that Zhu Tao wanted to escape Feihuxing and enter Hedong. This information was given five days ago.
Now that the Youzhou army has probably left Feihuxing, Guo Song felt that he needed to remind the Yuan family in Taiyuan.
At this time, the messenger quickly walked into the tent, knelt down on one knee and saluted, "See you, envoy!"
"It's been a hard journey!" Guo Song said with a slight smile.
The messenger soldier took out a letter and presented it, "This is a letter from Zhang Canjun to the envoy."
The soldier forwarded the letter to Guo Song, who took it and opened it. The letter said that Cui Du, the governor of Suizhou, had decided to fully cooperate with the Hexi Army. This news was very important. It meant that the Hexi Army had a logistical center for its eastern expedition. It also meant that
At the critical moment, Zhu Si in Guanzhong would not be able to learn about the Hexi Army's eastward advance into Hedong.