Yan Sikong set out on a chosen day.

Emperor Zhaowu dispatched 800 men from the garrison to follow him. In name, it was to escort Zuihong, after all, this horse was a rare treasure worth a million gold coins, and it was a meeting gift for Feng Ye to show Dasheng's sincerity in surrendering. In fact, it was also to protect Yan Sikong. First, there were many bandits in Qianzhou, and second, there must be someone who was unwilling to see Feng Ye surrendered, which might be disadvantageous to Yan Sikong.

Yan Sikong was ordered to inspect Qianzhou Prefecture and persuade the rebels to surrender. He was not allowed to lead troops. He asked Emperor Zhaowu for these 800 soldiers and they were the only ones he could dispatch. However, when he arrived in Qianzhou, he met with the generals of the Datong Army stationed in Qianzhou. He brought the emperor's secret order, ordering the Datong Army to fully cooperate with him to surrender the rebels. But those soldiers were not his after all, and he could not use them well. Therefore, the only soldiers he could use were these 800 people.

When Yan Sikong rode Zuihong out of Yongding Gate, he pulled the reins, looked back at the towering city wall standing tall in front of him, and sighed that this was worthy of being the number one city in the world. A sense of pride arose in his heart, and a poem unexpectedly emerged before his eyes.

When Huang Chao failed the imperial examination, he left Chang'an in disgrace. He looked back at the capital and wrote "After my flower blooms, all other flowers will die, and the whole city will be covered with golden armor." Many years later, he led the rebels back to Chang'an. From then on, the prosperous Tang Dynasty went on the road to destruction.

Thinking of this poem at this moment is really an ominous sign...

Yan Sikong turned around, looked at the endless sky, and rode away resolutely.

They were a squad of 800 men, all cavalrymen, and they traveled lightly and quickly, hiding their own food and rations. They traveled nearly a thousand miles and arrived in just thirteen days. They had to hurry up, otherwise Feng Ye might have already captured Qianzhou.

Qianzhou is located at the junction of Mongolia, Datong and the Central Plains. It is the only natural barrier extending from the Hetao region to the Mongolian Plateau. Beyond Qianzhou, there are no more mountains. It has been a strategic location in the northwest since ancient times. However, because Dasheng lost the Hetao region, it is difficult to gather an effective defense line. Even though Feng Jianping defeated the Wala four years ago and took back some cities in the Hetao region from the Mongolian cavalry, the Mongolian stragglers continued to invade and harass, and ran away after looting. No people dared to settle here, let alone reclaim farmland. Qianzhou was short of soldiers and wanted to transfer troops from Datong. However, Feng Jianping died unjustly, and Datong's military equipment was cut in half. It was unable to take care of itself. In the end, only 10,000 soldiers were transferred, and it was barely defended by the natural barrier.

However, the cities in the nine counties of Qianzhou were built to resist the Mongols. The biggest function of the cities facing the Central Plains was to guard the food routes and hubs. Both the city walls and the guards were relatively weak, which was exactly the soft spot that Fengye could attack.

If these cities were occupied by Feng Ye, not only would the food supply to Qianzhou be cut off, but even Datong Prefecture would be affected to some extent. The situation would be extremely critical.

As soon as Yan Sikong entered Qianzhou, he received news that Feng Ye had already captured Qiaozhou. If he took Maoren too, Qianzhou would be in danger. However, the Feng family army, which had been invincible since its rise, suffered an unexpected defeat in Maoren, losing 5,000 soldiers and failing to capture the city.

Maoren was a small town with only 30,000 to 40,000 people and a garrison of no more than 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers, but it actually stopped Fengye's 50,000-strong army with high morale.

Yan Sikong was shocked when he heard the news and asked the scout, "Who is the garrison commander Mao Ren?"

"Sir, it was General Wang Lie, but I heard that the one who led the army to defend the city was Magistrate Mao Ren."

"Who is that?" Yan Sikong thought to himself, who is this great god? A small county magistrate could actually face the pressure of a large army and resist to the death. What kind of ambition and courage, what kind of courage and wisdom does this show? He couldn't help but think of Yuan Mao back then. He must meet this man.

"To reply, Lord Yushi, this person has a great background. He is Lord Shen Hexuan, who won the top three places in the imperial examination in the 29th year of Zhaowu."

Yan Sikong froze, and didn't come back to his senses for a long time. If he hadn't heard this name again, he would have almost forgotten this person. After Yan Zilian passed away, Xie Zhongren liquidated the aristocratic faction. At that time, Shen Hexuan wrote a letter to criticize the eunuch party. He was demoted from a promising top scholar to a poor place, and it was almost impossible to turn over. He was so worried about the Feng family's affairs at that time that he didn't even remember where Shen Hexuan was demoted to. It turned out that he was in Qianzhou!

It is a pity that such a talented person is buried in this poor and treacherous place as a minor official. No wonder this tiny town can stop the rebel army in Fengye.

Yan Sikong ordered: "Pass the order down, move out at 3:00 pm tonight and reach Qianzhou tomorrow."

"yes!"

——

Just after noon the next day, Yan Sikong arrived at Qianzhou City. All the civil and military officers in the city came out to greet him. Although Yan Sikong was demoted, everyone knew that he was famous for his death against Xie Zhongren, and everyone knew that he was the son-in-law of Princess Wanyang and a favorite of the emperor. Now he was entrusted with the important task of persuading the little wolf king to surrender, so he could not be careless.

As soon as they met, Xu Yong, the prefect of Qianzhou, praised Yan Sikong's righteous act of impeaching the eunuchs' party, and then he could not help but criticize the eunuchs' party, seemingly filled with righteous indignation. Seeing his boastful look of being in a hurry to draw a clear line between them, Yan Sikong seemed to be guilty, so he was too lazy to investigate how much connection he had with the eunuchs' party, and was polite on the surface.

After being welcomed into the post station, Yan Sikong couldn't wait to ask about Mao Ren's situation.

As the scouts reported, Feng Ye had retreated thirty miles and set up camp after Mao Ren suffered a setback. Xu Yong had already found out everything about Yan Sikong, but he was unsure about the relationship between Yan Sikong and Shen Hexuan, so he cautiously probed: "I heard that this Lord Shen and Lord Yan were both admitted as Jinshi in the same year?"

Yan Sikong nodded and said, "Brother Shen won three first prizes in the imperial examinations that year, and his talent astonished the world. I am only ranked seventh. Compared with Brother Shen, I feel inferior."

"Ah, Lord Yan, you are too polite. This imperial examination system has always been criticized for being rigid. How can you judge its merits based on this?"

Yan Sikong asked, "I wonder how Lord Shen has been doing in Maoming these years?"

Xu Yong and the officials of Qianzhou looked at each other, looking a little embarrassed: "To be honest with you, Lord Yan, Lord Shen is a man of great talent and learning, but his temper is really... well, he is really stubborn, smelly and stubborn, and he has caused a lot of friction with us."

An official beside him bowed and said, "Although Lord Shen has a strange temper, since he came, Maoren County has been managed in an orderly manner, with laws and regulations, rewards and punishments are clear, and the people live and work in peace and contentment, and no one picks up things on the road. Lord Shen is indeed a rare good official."

"Moreover, Lord Shen is very honest and upright, and the people have a good reputation for him."

Xu Yong coughed lightly, then responded, "That's true."

Yan Sikong smiled slightly, thinking, this is indeed the kind of person Shen Hexuan is. It seems that although his career has been ruined, he has never given up on himself. He has done his job well, even as a county magistrate, and he has done his job well. He is really admirable. He said, "Brother Shen and I are brothers from the same school and have worked in the Hanlin Academy together. No matter what, I have to go see him."

"That Feng Ye..."

Yan Sikong's mind trembled, and he paused: "Feng Ye must have known about my coming a long time ago. He wants to capture Mao Ren before I arrive in Qianzhou. If he fails, he will retreat and set up camp. He will not move again before I take action."

"Master Yan is right."

Yan Sikong stood up and said to Wu Mang, the general of Qianzhou: "General Wu, please tell me the truth about the situation in Qianzhou."

"Lord Yan, please follow me to see the map."

——

In the evening, Xu Yong hosted a welcome party for Yan Sikong. In addition to him and Wu Mang and other Qianzhou officers and generals, Yu Shenglang, a general with 10,000 troops seconded from Datong Prefecture, was also at the banquet. They discussed strategies to repel the enemy and quell the rebellion.

After the meal, Yan Sikong showed them Zuihong, and everyone praised him as a peerless divine horse.

Yan Sikong drank a glass of wine, his face flushed slightly. He gently stroked Zuihong's thick mane and said, "This is my meeting gift to Feng Ye. It was originally given to Feng Ye by His Majesty when he was still... the prince of Jingyuan."

"Which general wouldn't love such a divine horse?" Wu Mang exclaimed, "This meeting gift is really generous."

Yan Sikong smiled and said, "In the past, Feng Ye and I didn't get along, and everyone in the capital knew it, but I was also his close friend and comrade-in-arms, and I even married his cousin. This Tianshan Horse King is only allowed to be ridden by Feng Ye and me, and there is really no better lobbyist than me."

"Lord Yan is right. Your Majesty is even more wise and brave. Lord Yan has a long history with Fengye and is very good at persuading Kuizhou to surrender. He is truly the best envoy."

Yan Sikong's smile was almost frozen on his face. If you looked closely, you would find that his smile was not in his eyes. Even if he drank two kilograms of yellow soup today, it would not be able to eliminate his fear of seeing Feng Ye again.

He even... He didn't even know what he would face when he went to the camp of Feng's army, and whether he would be able to come back. Although the two armies did not kill the envoys when they fought, the relationship between him and Feng Ye, which was constantly broken and difficult to sort out, could not be explained by superficial hostility. What's more, his goal was not to persuade Feng Ye to surrender, but to let Feng Ye pretend to surrender and secretly eat up the Datong army. Their ambitions could not stop at the small Hetao.

When Feng Ye set out from Hetao and led his army towards the imperial city, he wanted Feng Ye to truly possess the power to overthrow a dynasty. But now, he is still far from it.

But, could Feng Ye still believe in him...