Zhuxi County, in the county government study.

Hong Chengchou, who was dressed in civilian clothes, was leisurely practicing calligraphy, as if he was not here to suppress thieves at all, but to play.

The magistrate and staff Qian Gao on the side kept touting the governor's good calligraphy and good Yaxing.

"Zhigao, is there any movement in that Xiaohua Wang?"

After putting down the pen, Hong Chengchou carefully looked at his landscape painting, nodded with satisfaction, and then asked.

If this appearance is seen by King Qin, it will only be sent to pretend, and if it falls into his hands, he is afraid that he will not even have to break the bones.

"Lord Hui, the thief army in Zhushan has not moved, and it is still training soldiers and horses outside the city every day as before, but the number of spies in various counties has increased."

But the two people on the side were impressed by the governor's calm, unhurried and impatient bearing, and quickly replied.

"Hehe, it's interesting, if you change to other thieves, after learning that you are surrounded by this governor, you will definitely flee in a hurry, but that Xiaohua Wang chooses to brake with static, so as not to respond to all changes, this thief is really not simple!"

Hong Chengchou came to the window with his hands behind his back, looked in the direction of Zhushan and said with a smile.

"Lord Governor, as the so-called newborn calf is not afraid of tigers, the reason why King Xiaohua did not flee is probably because he only heard the prestige of the adult, and he has never experienced it himself, and he feels that he has defeated several official troops, and thinks that the imperial army is nothing more than that, hehe!"

The magistrate of Zhuxi on the side interjected with a smile, and he had long forgotten the days when he had trouble sleeping and eating some time ago.

"My lord is right, that Xiaohua Wang is really not simple, according to the report of the spies, the horns and war drums outside the city of Zhushan are constantly sounding, and the army is presentable.

Not only is the armor complete, but also the uniform costume, it is said that he also got a set of titles, and he almost didn't open the mansion to build a yamen, by the way, Cao Cao fled the day before yesterday, and he didn't know where to go. Qian Gao nodded.

"It's nothing more than going to Valley City to meet the eight kings." Hong Chengchou said with a smile, although he didn't say it, he sneered at Xiong Wencan, the governor of the five provinces.

not only let the little Hua King become bigger, but also appeased the old thief like the Eight Great Kings and let him recuperate in the Valley City, which was really mediocre and incompetent.

So this time, he not only wants to annihilate King Xiaohua, but also Cao Cao, and the eight kings who have surrendered, and the flow of the heavens must be exterminated in one fell swoop, so as to prevent future troubles.

"My lord, is the next step to march, or to continue the siege?"

"Don't worry, since that Xiaohua King trains soldiers and horses outside the city every day, let the generals also go outside the city to practice one or two every day, and this governor wants to see how long he can endure it."

Hong Chengchou waved his hand, this time he only brought 20,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry, the terrain of Zhushan is steep, judging from the reality of the thief army that was detected, it is better not to move with its march.

As for Chen Hongfan's more than 10,000 rabble and the guards in various places, they were a little reluctant to defend it to the death.

Zuo Liangyu's soldiers and horses were worthy of a battle, but they were defeated by Xiong Wencan, otherwise how could he be so conservative.

Qian Gao nodded, he knew that the reason why the Governor didn't want to fight quickly.

It is because there has been some news from the imperial court, and His Majesty wants to transfer the governor to Liaodong to preside over the overall situation.

But he could feel that the Governor didn't want to go to Liaodong for some reason.

Qian Gao's guess was right, Hong Chengchou did have the idea of delaying for a while, but more importantly, he felt that before he completely wiped out the other party's grasp, it was better to let the thief army stay in Zhushan, Fang County, which was much less harmful than the thieves running around, and they were chasing and intercepting them.

Meanwhile.

On the official road from Yunyang south to Gucheng, a large group of people and horses are moving quickly, how embarrassed and embarrassed they are.

There are men, women, old and weak in the team, and it is estimated that there are no less than 20,000 people, who are the men and horses of the thirteen rebels such as Cao Cao.

And was defeated by Qin Yu, and Liu Guoneng, who fled over the mountains and mountains, also took hundreds of men and horses to be mixed in.

Because Liu Guoneng escaped the earliest, he directly crossed the mountains north of Zhushan, prepared to pass through Wudang Mountain on the official road, and then went down the river to Xiangyang.

I never thought that I happened to bump into Luo Rucai, who had been entrenched at the foot of Wudang Mountain for half a year.

Although the emperor has returned to the court, the old brothers are still teary-eyed when they meet.

Originally, Luo Rucai saw that the eight kings had all confessed, and he also wanted to find a way to temporarily return to the court to avoid the limelight.

But I heard what Chuang Tianyi said, the imperial army that went to exterminate King Xiaohua was defeated, and he hesitated.

It didn't take long for him to learn that Zuo Liangyu and Qin Ming's soldiers and horses were almost all wiped out, and he was immediately overjoyed, not only extinguishing the idea of returning to Shun, but even inviting Liu Guoneng and the Eight Kings to fight Junzhou together.

Liu Guoneng really didn't want to rebel anymore, and the Eight Kings were a little afraid of Chen Hongfan in Yunyang, so they couldn't talk about it for a long time.

As a result, this delay was dragged to Hong Chengchou, compared to Qin Yu, Luo Rucai and other old thieves were very familiar with the Qin army and generals under Hong Chengchou, so they fled to Gucheng overnight, and no longer dared to stay near Wudang Mountain.

"Brother Liu, do you really want to go back to Xiangyang?"

"Brother Luo, Brother Ma, it's not that I'm not righteous, but my wife and children and the families of many brothers are still in Suizhou!" Liu Guoneng sighed.

"Brother Liu, why does the eldest husband have no wife? The son will be reborn in the future, listen to the elder brother's advice, then Xiangyang really can't go, that Hong butcher is no better than Xiong Wencan, are we less old brothers who were killed by him? ”

Luo Rucai patted him on the shoulder and persuaded him bitterly.

"But I was surrendered under Governor Xiong, and now I am also the garrison of the Ming Dynasty, does the surnamed Hong dare to poison him?"

Chuang Tiantian's face changed several times, and then he said.

Obviously, he was also a little afraid in his heart, that Hong Chengchou has always been ruthless and ruthless to their righteous army, not to mention that a famous leader like him, as long as he is caught, he will be killed regardless of men, women, old and weak.

"Hmph, I don't know how to do it, and I can't kill you behind my back? When the time comes, you will be charged with a crime, you will not have time to cry, you should listen to your brother's advice, don't jump into the fire pit. ”

"Yes, Brother Liu, will Brother Luo still harm you? Otherwise, let's go to Gucheng and meet Brother Zhang first. ”

Luo Rucai shook his head and snorted, and Ma Shouying also hurriedly helped.

"Alright! It just so happened that I hadn't seen Brother Zhang for more than a year. Liu Guoneng hesitated for a long time, and finally nodded.

Luo Rucai and Ma Shouying were immediately overjoyed, hugging his shoulders and laughing, although Liu Guoneng only had a few hundred people, but they were all elites.

After Zuo Liangyu transferred his troops away, although the eight kings did not occupy Gucheng again, they also moved to the vicinity of the county seat.

"Brother Luo, you are trying to kill your brother!"

"Brother Zhang, look at what you said, do you really want to be a lackey of the court? What's more, my brother didn't come to harm you this time, but to report to you, so that you wouldn't be planted in the hands of the surnamed Hong and become a ghost who died unjustly. ”

"Brother Luo, what do you mean by that?" Zhang Xianzhong frowned.

"Brother Zhang, Hong Chengchou's dog thief has come to Yunyang." Ma Shouying explained.

"What? Is it the end of the king? Zhang Xianzhong was shocked.

"Hey! It depends on the situation, even if it's not over, I'm afraid it's almost the same, otherwise with the ruthlessness of the surname Hong, he will never give up. Luo Rucai sighed.

"Damn, Lao Tzu said that a few days ago, how did the merchant ships on the Han River double the number, it turned out to be the dog surnamed Hong, secretly transferring troops to Xiangyang, preparing to clean up Lao Tzu, it is also the little beast who harmed, otherwise how could the surname Hong be attracted?"

Zhang Xianzhong was shocked and angry, and finally jumped to his feet and scolded.

"Brother Zhang, let's talk about this later, by the way, do you still have food there? Lend some to my brother first, my brother left in a hurry, and the food was almost exhausted on the way. ”

Luo Rucai waved his hand, at this time, if everyone engages in infighting again, and the previous will definitely be over.

"What? Brother Luo, you're not kidding, you didn't bring any food, and I plan to borrow some from you. ”

"Isn't it, Brother Zhang, you have defeated Gucheng, will there be no food?"

Luo Rucai and the other leaders all looked at each other, feeling that the Eight Kings were not as generous as before.

"That was all last year, and everyone eats horses and chews every day, and it's almost bottoming out."