Chapter 580 Passing by Lueyang
The next day, Tuoba Jin simply didn't come to the city gate and pretended to ignore it.
The Xianbei were really defeated this time and their authority was severely weakened.
So many civilians left the city, and because the Pingzhou army was watching them covetously, they could no longer cause trouble.
Qin Heng and his men guarded the city gate for three days. After making sure that all the people who wanted to leave had left, they waited for another half a day before leaving with 5,000 soldiers.
Before leaving, Ma Jin looked back out of habit, and then found Tuoba Jin, who had disappeared for two days, coming. "My Lord, the Second Prince Tuoba and Dugu Zhong are watching us."
After Ma Jin finished speaking, he immediately added, "Don't look back, lest they think we take them too seriously."
"Yeah." Qin Heng discovered it just now.
Ma Jin's words forced the friends around him to suppress the urge to look back, but not looking back does not mean that they cannot speak.
"I wonder what these two are planning?"
"You're not planning on doing anything to us, are you?"
"If they dare to make a move, we have something good to treat them!"
Ma Jin still remembered that before setting off, the governor took them to a hidden valley.
The governor asked them to wait outside while he went in to negotiate.
Not long after the governor entered, an angry voice was heard.
"It's gone. It's really gone."
"Okay then. I've had all the boxes under that wall taken away."
"No, no, at least leave some for me."
Later they learned that the valley was the research and development base for the secret weapon explosives. When the governor returned, he emptied out the last bit of stock of the research and development master craftsman.
In just one day, Qin Heng and his army had moved from the back, past all the civilians on the road, to the front. They were about to pass Lueyang.
During this period, the common people saw their army and tried desperately to catch up, but they never stopped.
The two purposes of Qin Heng's trip have been achieved, and they will return to Pingzhou as soon as possible.
Pingzhou needs them.
In short, they will not take these people on the road. What they can do is to clear the dangers and obstacles they encounter on the road so that the people will encounter less danger.
Pingzhou's current strength only allowed them to do so much. They were already doing their utmost to make the journey, and it was impossible to spend months escorting tens of millions of people to their destination.
Yongzhou, Lueyang
On his way back, Qin Heng tried to stay within the territory of Dali. When four or five thousand soldiers passed through Lueyang, there was quite a big commotion.
"What's going on?"
The soldiers in Lueyang City thought that the Xianbei barbarians were attacking again, and they were all on high alert. The messenger quickly ran to inform General Fu Jiangong.
When the two sides were closer, the garrison commander Zheng Pei recognized Qin Heng and said excitedly, "The one leading the charge is the Crown Prince!"
Nearly half of the soldiers who were now stationed in Lueyang with Fu Jiangong were former soldiers of the Qin family army. At this moment, everyone was looking at Qin Heng excitedly with eager eyes.
Unfortunately, Qin Heng just glanced at them from a distance.
In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Qin Heng and his troops just passed by from a distance and did not approach the city of Lueyang.
Ma Jin also noticed the situation in Lueyang City, "My Lord, it's Zheng Pei——"
Ma Jin said, his eyes rolling, and he suggested with a smile, "My Lord, this place is in an excellent location. We've all been walking for so long and are tired. Why don't we set up camp here tonight?"
Others echoed.
Qin Heng smiled helplessly and said, "You are provoking me." If they set up camp here, Fu Jiangong would not be able to sleep tonight.
"We didn't. We mainly wanted the brothers stationed in Lueyang to have a good look at us. They haven't seen us for so long, they must have missed us."
Qin Heng looked at the sky and agreed.
Seeing them setting up camp, Zheng Pei and other old members of the Qin family army were very excited.
After hearing the report, Fu Jiangong quickly brought his men to the city wall and paid close attention to the demeanor of the soldiers on the wall.
Fu Jiangong quickly figured out the situation, but what puzzled him was why Qin Heng appeared here with four or five thousand soldiers?
"General, do you want to attack?"
If they could wipe out Qin Heng's army, wouldn't they also be able to achieve merit? Fu Jiangong's confidant thought greedily. In his opinion, with their Lueyang troops, wouldn't it be easy to swallow up a group of 4,000 to 5,000 people?
"Don't cause trouble!" Fu Jiangong was not confused yet. The court only asked him to guard Lueyang and guard against the Xianbei, and did not order them to deal with the rebels in Pingzhou!
He still knows the priorities.
and……
Fu Jiangong glanced at the soldiers around him inconspicuously. He didn't think that if a fight really broke out with Qin Heng's team, the soldiers under his command would risk their lives.
In addition, he was worried that if they really fought with Qin Heng's army, the Xianbei would gain the upper hand, and when Lueyang fell, he would be blamed for it!
Therefore, Fu Jiangong not only did not take the initiative to attack, but also had to guard against Qin Heng and others attacking the city.
Fu Jiangong refused to admit that he had suffered a psychological trauma from the Xianbei, and was even full of hesitation and doubt when facing the 5,000 troops led by Qin Heng.
At this moment, they discovered that small black dots continued to emerge behind Qin Heng's army, and then became densely packed.
"What is that?"
When they got closer, they found that these black spots were actually ordinary people with their families.
"General, there are so many people!"
"H-h-h, what happened?"
"Could it be that the Northern Territory and Liang Province were taken by Pingzhou? Otherwise, why would so many people flee?"
"Impossible! There are 200,000 Xianbei troops stationed in the Northern Border and Liangzhou. If Pingzhou really wants to take over the Northern Border and Liangzhou, how many troops will it need to mobilize? At least 200,000, right? There's no way we wouldn't know about such a large-scale battle."
Fu Jiangong was also confused and didn't know what had happened, but he would ask someone to find out.
They also saw some common people taking meat to give to the army camped in front, but Qin Heng and his men did not accept it. The common people took the meat and went back, looking back every few steps.
Seeing this scene, it was obvious that these people were very familiar with Qin Heng's army. Fu Jiangong wondered why so many people had fled from the northern border and Liangzhou, and the Xianbei had not sent a large army to pursue them.
"They must have some leverage over the Xianbei." Fu Jiangong murmured solemnly.
Not long after, the person Fu Jiangong sent to inquire came back.
"General, I've heard that Pingzhou and the Xianbei have an agreement..."
After hearing this, Fu Jiangong and his generals all took a deep breath.
"If Pingzhou does this, the population of the northern border and Liangzhou will be emptied out." You can tell by looking at the densely packed people outside.
"Is Tuoba Khan a fool? How could he agree to such conditions?"
Without population, there will be no tax revenue.
Fu Jiangong thought to himself, how dare Qin Heng bring only four or five thousand soldiers and horses to invade Liangzhou and the northern border? It turned out that Pingzhou was holding hundreds of thousands of Buyeo prisoners.
At this time, Zheng Pei came to ask for instructions, "General Fu, there are so many people outside. What if someone wants to enter the city? Should we open the city gate or not?"
Before Fu Jiangong could say anything, his confidants began to object, "Of course we can't open it! Who knows if there are spies among these people entering the city!"
Fu Jiangong was also a little worried. Right now, the common people were most grateful to Qin Heng and his men. What if the common people and Qin Heng's army came together to attack from within?
In short, he had a defensive mission and didn't want to cause any trouble.
At night, Fu Jiangong was worried about Zheng Pei and others, so he asked two confidants to stay behind to keep watch.
Zheng Pei secretly curled his lips.
At night, Zheng Pei took advantage of Fu Jiangong's confidants' inattention and threw the cured fish, cured chicken, lamb legs and other things prepared by his brothers to the edge of Qin Heng's camp.
As soon as the meat landed on the ground, it was quickly taken away.
Ma Jin picked up a cured chicken, weighed it, and said with a smile, "Zheng Pei is a smart kid!"
While processing the meat, their people found a note in the chicken's stomach.
Ma Jin found Qin Heng with the note and said, "My Lord, Zheng Pei said he can help us take Lueyang."
Qin Heng rejected his proposal, "Lueyang is too far from Pingzhou, and it would be difficult to defend it even if we take it."
Ma Jin thought about the distance between the two places, one in the east and the other in the west. It was indeed too far. Since the prince rejected this proposal, he went to reply to Zheng Pei.
Fu Jiangong did not sleep well in the general's mansion that night, but fortunately nothing happened that night.
The next morning, he arrived at the city gate early. He could see Qin Heng's army already packing up and preparing to set off.
Fu Jiangong saw that as soon as Qin Heng's troops moved, the common people behind them immediately followed, and none of them wanted to enter Lueyang City.
The common people passed through the city without entering. They had no attachment to the northern border or Liang Province, and had no intention of staying in Lueyang.
The common people were all rushing to Pingzhou, and those who did not go to Pingzhou would go to Chang'an or the south, mainly to be as far away from the Xianbei as possible.
In their minds, Lueyang is the border between Liangzhou and Yongzhou, and it is most likely impossible to defend it.
Seeing this scene, Fu Jiangong and others felt very uncomfortable.
A little later, another unit reported that many of their soldiers were missing.
Fu Jiangong asked someone to check and found out that the soldiers had slipped down from the city wall and left last night.
After final statistics, it was found that there were nearly four to five hundred missing soldiers!
He also called his two trusted aides over and gave them a scathing scolding, calling them like pigs for not noticing the huge commotion last night.
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