At night, Han Jincheng led three thousand troops across the Jiangshui Wooden Bridge. Deputy General Wang Qing was a little worried and said: "General, you should be polite first and then attack! If you arrest people on a large scale, a war will break out between the two armies."
Han Jincheng snorted, "Did Sima Li follow the rules when it comes to arresting my son? If I don't arrest hundreds of people, will he return my son? Don't try to persuade me anymore. I'll explain it to King Zhao!"
Wang Qing sighed in his heart, once the two sides started to fight, how could they still control the situation?
Han Jincheng's target was the patrol camp on the east bank of Jiangshui River. There were 300 troops stationed there, specifically responsible for patrolling along the river.
After crossing the wooden bridge and walking one mile east, you can see a large courtyard, covering an area of fifty acres. This is the patrol camp of the Wei army. A two-person-high wall is built around it and 300 people are stationed there.
It was already the second watch. Han Jincheng estimated that the other party should be asleep and could take the opportunity to capture them all alive. These 300 people would be enough to exchange for his wife and children.
Han Jincheng gave an order, and three thousand people formed a fan shape to surround the patrol camp 300 steps away. They slowly approached the high wall. When they were still a hundred steps away from the high wall, suddenly there was a banging sound in the camp.
A volley of arrows was fired from the top of the wall, and dense crossbow bolts were fired at the Zhao soldiers a hundred steps away.
Han Jincheng's men were caught off guard and were hit by arrows one after another. There was a scream and more than sixty people fell down after being hit by arrows.
Han Jincheng was shocked that there was an ambush on the other side, but at this time he was already riding a tiger and could not get off. If Li Wujun retreated at this time, Li Wujun would not be able to spare him, and his prestige in the army would be lost. More importantly, his son would not be able to come back.
Han Jincheng could only grit his teeth and order: "Attack!"
The only good strategy is to use superior force to overwhelm the opponent, defeat the opponent, and count as many as you can capture alive.
Three thousand soldiers shouted and rushed towards the camp.
Niu Hong, the captain of the patrol camp, received the news a quarter of an hour ago. Someone shot him an arrow and told him that Han Jincheng was coming with three thousand men.
Niu Hong was horrified. On the one hand, he ordered his men to defend themselves, and on the other hand, he sent people on horseback to the camp to ask for help from the general Sima Li.
Seeing the black army approaching, Niu Hong became anxious and sent a hundred men to guard the gate, while the remaining soldiers shot at the enemy with crossbows.
The running Zhao soldiers were constantly hit by arrows and fell down. They were all wearing leather armor and could not withstand the penetrating power of powerful crossbow bolts within a hundred steps. In just a moment, more than two hundred soldiers were hit by arrows and fell down.
Seeing one after another of his men falling down and dying next to him, Han Jincheng's mentality gradually changed. He originally just wanted to catch people alive and did not intend to hurt them, but now he had murderous intent in his heart and shouted: "Give me
kill--"
The soldiers also fought near the high wall. They opened their bows and set arrows to fight back. The arrows shot towards the wall like a storm, and the soldiers on the wall continued to be hit by arrows and fell down.
Dozens of soldiers held long wooden sticks and began to hit the door, 'Boom!'
The door made a painful muffled sound, accompanied by the sound of splintering wood. Dozens of soldiers took a few steps back, then rushed forward with the wood in their arms.
"Dong——"
There was another dull crash, and the door was knocked open. Dozens of soldiers couldn't hold their feet and rushed in holding the bumper. Hundreds of Wei soldiers hiding behind the gate rushed forward and swung their spears to kill the soldiers holding the bumper.
, assassinated more than thirty people in an instant, and the dozen or so soldiers behind were so frightened that they dropped their wood and stumbled back to escape.
At this time, hundreds of spearmen followed the soldiers who smashed the door and rushed in. The two sides started a bloody fight at the gate, and many soldiers climbed over the wall to fight in.
Suddenly, there was a chaos behind Zhao Jun, and there were cries and screams. Deputy General Wang Qing shouted: "General Han, Sima Li is coming with reinforcements. Let's withdraw quickly!"
Hearing the name Sima Li, Han Jincheng's eyes suddenly turned red. Without saying a word, he held a long knife and killed behind.
Under the light of the torch, he saw at a glance the enemy general Sima Li, who was holding a large iron spear and stabbing his own soldiers with the spear.
"Sima thief, give me back my son!"
Han Jincheng shouted and urged his horse to kill Sima Li, but Sima Li did not hear clearly what the other party was shouting. At this time, he was also extremely angry in his heart. If he did not arrive in time, all the brothers in the patrol camp would be killed.
.
Since the other party doesn't abide by the rules, don't blame yourself for being cruel.
He also roared and swung his gun towards Han Jincheng.
Unexpectedly, before the two sides got close, a cold arrow shot out, hitting Han Jincheng's neck. The arrow came with great force and accuracy. "Pfft!" The arrow shot into the neck, and the wolf-tooth arrow penetrated the neck.
neck, Han Jincheng yelled, turned over and fell off his horse.
Sima Li was stunned for a moment. Who shot this arrow? He was so clever!
Sima Li's soldiers swarmed up, cut Han Jincheng's body into pieces with swords, and beheaded him.
When the deputy general Wang Qing saw his general being killed from afar, he shouted: "Retreat! Retreat quickly!"
The Zhao army was defeated across the board and was chased and killed by Wei soldiers. Corpses were everywhere, and countless people surrendered.
Wang Qing only led hundreds of remaining soldiers to escape across the Jiangshui Bridge, but when they crossed the bridge, they were ambushed by an army. Wang Qing, who was riding a horse, was hit by dozens of arrows and was shot like a hedgehog. He fell into the river and died.
The remaining soldiers were so frightened that they did not dare to stay in Nangong County and fled directly to Xindu County.
The fierce battle between Nangong County and Jingcheng County became the trigger for the outbreak of war between the Zhao and Wei armies. Li Wujun couldn't bear it. He ignored that the Jin army was still in Mingzhou and poured in 30,000 troops.
In Beizhou, general Sima Li could not resist and retreated eastward. Tian Yue also led an army of 30,000 to fight against Li Wujun. A big battle broke out east of Qinghe County in Beizhou.
...........
At the same time that the war broke out in Hebei, the imperial examination in Chang'an finally began.
At the fifth watch, the sky was still dark, and hundreds of oxcarts were parked on Qixiamen Street outside Yongle Square. Lanterns were hung on the oxcarts with the word "take the exam" written on them. These were oxcarts organized by the government and were specially responsible for picking up and dropping off students.
The scholar went to the Gongyuan examination room.
Xie Changming and Xiao Zhenye walked out of the square gate quickly, and saw Han Yu standing in front of the square gate waving to them, "This way! This way!"
The two hurriedly ran up and saw that the street outside was full of bullock carts. Han Yu said with a smile: "I asked, you can sit wherever you want. A cart can hold ten people, and we will leave when it is full!"
They boarded an ox cart, which already had seven people sitting in it. When the three of them got on, it was full.
"The seats are full, you can leave!" the scholars shouted one after another.
The driver turned around and counted the number of people, then waved his whip and the ox cart set off slowly.
This was Han Yu's second time to participate in the imperial examination. He failed in the imperial examination in Chengdu last year. This year he decided to come to Chang'an to try his luck. Although there were too many scholars in Chang'an, it is said that there were more than 80,000 people, the chances of admission were high, even if he took the exam.
If you don't become a Jinshi, you still have the opportunity to study in Taixue or Guozixue.
For Han Yu, the most important thing is free tuition and room and board. His father and eldest brother have both died of illness, and only his widowed sister-in-law Zheng raised him. The family is in a difficult situation. This time he came to Chang'an to pay for his expenses, and it was his clan brother Han Yan.
There was not much money to support him, and the little money left was just enough for him to take a boat back to Xuanzhou.
Thanks to his two good friends, he was less embarrassed in Chang'an.
"Brother Han, when you signed up, did you choose Taixue or Guozixue?" Xie Changming asked with a smile.
Han Yu hesitated and said, "I chose Taixue."
Xiao Zhenye said next to him: "Actually, I think you should choose Guozi studies. You have a good foundation in literature, and Guozi studies are more suitable for you."
Han Yu smiled bitterly. Guozixue only recruits 500 people, while Taixue recruits 1,000 people. There is a greater chance of being admitted to Taixue. With his current condition, how can he choose based on his interests? It would be good if he can pass the exam.
.
"What are you talking about now? We'll tell you later if you can pass the exam!"
"Yes! It would be great if you can pass the exam."
Everyone in the oxcart was silent. Everyone knew very well that it would be great to pass the exam. There are 80,000 scholars!
...........
Gongyuan is in the new city, and the vast square is already crowded with people, who have already started queuing up to enter.
This is the third time that the Jin State has held the imperial examination. It has already gained a lot of experience. Everyone is allowed to enter the venue only with the examination ticket, that is, the admission ticket. After checking the examination ticket, they will go in after being searched.
The Jin State's imperial examinations did not check identity, but implemented a traceability system. Once someone was found to have taken the exam, an investigation would be conducted, including handwriting verification and proficiency testing.
If the handwriting is different and the level is too different, it will be troublesome.
The three of them successfully passed the search and walked along the flow of people. Next to the examination room was a wide blue brick road, with a high wall on the right and alleys on the left. There were two hundred alleys in total. The alleys were very long.
There are 500 candidates seated, and there are 250 rooms facing each other, and there are several toilets at the top.
Just like the previous two sessions, candidates do not live in the examination room. They finish the examination on the same day, go back the same day, and come back to take the examination again the next day, for a total of three days of examination.
"I have arrived!"
Xiao Zhenye was the first to arrive. He was at No. 96, Lane 32.
"I wish Brother Xiao a great performance!"
"I also wish you both good luck in your exams."
Xiao Zhenye went in, followed closely by Xie Zian, who was at No. 144, Lane 38.
Finally, there is Han Yu, he is No. 270, Lane 47.
A small lantern hung above each room, reflecting the number. Han Yu walked into his room and sat down, put down the wooden board, and took down a basket from the top of his head, which contained all kinds of examination supplies.
Han Yu poured some water from a small gourd, began to grind the ink, and then tried the examination pen. It felt good, better than the pen at home.
The exam paper is also in the basket. You must first write your name, place of origin and exam number in the box at the top of the paper. After it dries, cover this column with a name paper. Be careful not to contaminate the name with the paste.
Han Yu appreciated this very much. The Chengdu imperial examination was not unknown, and basically the children from poor families had no hope.
Once the name is obscured, everyone will be treated equally, and children from poorer families will also have hope.
Han Yu picked up a pen and wrote down his examination room number next to it. This was very, very important. If he didn't write it, the three days of examination papers would not be able to be gathered together, and he would not even have the opportunity to participate in the marking.
Then write a character A, which indicates that he is a Jinshi major, and write B to indicate that he is a Ming Jing major.
In fact, you don't have to write it down. You can tell from the examination room number. The first fifty lanes are for Jinshi subjects, and the following are for Mingjing subjects.
Han Yu put down his pen and breathed a sigh of relief. After waiting for a long time, all the soldiers were in place and the sky was already bright.
'Boom! Boom! Boom!'
The dull drums beat, and when the time came, the gate of the Gongyuan was slammed shut, and all the invigilators and invigilators were in place, and everyone was waiting.
The Gongyuan was unusually quiet, and there was still a quarter of an hour left. Han Yu was quietly waiting for the second drum beat, and for the moment that would determine his fate.