Two days later, all the property seized by the New Army had been transported by the Yellow River waterway through Mengjin. The middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River have always been an important channel for water transportation in the Central Plains, and although it is early spring, the river surface has thawed, and the water flow is not turbulent, so it is best to transport it by water.

News also came from the east that the main force of Li Zicheng's army, about 50,000 horses, had passed the Tiger Prison Pass and arrived at Yanshi, which was still a day's journey from Luoyang City. Another army of about 10,000 people was led by Li Yan as the military division, and Bai Wang as the general, bypassing Kaifeng and going straight to Xuzhou.

Hearing the news, Zhu Hao laughed and said: "Li Zicheng jumped off the wall in a hurry, and he actually went to fight Xuzhou!" ”

"Yes, Xuzhou is iron-walled, and these 10,000 people are simply looking for death." Luo Yunqu also echoed.

"It's just that Li Yan needs to pay close attention, although Xuzhou can't be defeated, he must also be prevented from finding another way and coming up with other tricks!" Zhu Hao was still a little worried.

"The subordinates think that there is Boda guarding Xuzhou, and Li Yan is afraid that he will not be able to get benefits." Luo Yunqu said cautiously.

"Well, before our army set off, I had already informed Boda that Xuzhou was too close to Feng, and we must hold on. Let's hope Berta does exactly what I want. Zhu Hao thought for a while.

"Dashuai, what should we do next?" Zhou Da asked.

"Well, you can't have a hard fight with Li Zicheng, now is not the time to fight with him, in this way, Lao Luo, you still follow the original route, return to Xuzhou through Mengjin, Zhou Da will break your cavalry regiment into zero, make full use of your department's mobility to harass Li Zicheng, and make him sleep. When Li Zicheng returns to Luoyang, your department will withdraw to Kaifeng. Zhu Hao thought for a while.

"Qishan, what happened to the fold I asked you to send?" Zhu Hao said to Du Qishan on the side.

"Dashuai, ten days ago, I was sent to the capital division quickly. Now it is estimated that there is movement on the side of the imperial court. Du Qishan still had a gloomy emphasis.

"Okay, the credit is almost gone, let's leave tonight, and everyone will act according to the plan."

"Yes, Dashuai!"

That night, Luoyang City did not sleep all night, Luo Yunqu's troops escorted more than 3,000 peasant army prisoners to the north, and Zhou Da's cavalry sneaked south into the mountainous area of central Henan with battalions and companies as units after replenishing supplies, and ambushed Li Zicheng's inevitable road.

On the official road north of Luoyang City, under the starry night, a long procession winds its way north.

"Dashuai, are you really not going back with us?" Luo Yunqu asked Zhu Hao, who was walking together.

"Well, I still have some things to do, you just follow the established plan, pay attention to return to Xuzhou and don't hurt Li Yan."

"I know this, but are there fewer people around you?" Luo Yunqu was still a little worried.

"It's okay, it's enough to have people from the Guards and Intelligence Department to protect me." Zhu Hao was also a little moved.

Yanshi was only a little more than a day's journey from Luoyang, and Li Zicheng's army walked for three days! After arriving in Luoyang, people were already sleepy. This is, of course, thanks to Zhou Da.

After receiving the task ordered by Zhu Hao, Zhou Da was overjoyed, cavalry warfare was originally what he was good at, this kind of harassment warfare was his forte, a few days ago in the mountainous area of central Henan rolled for several days, the nearby terrain is extremely familiar, he gave full play to the mobility of the cavalry, first sent a large army to defeat Li Zicheng's cavalry, and then the army was divided into more than a dozen units, taking turns to harass and impact the peasant army, and immediately fled in the face of large-scale encirclement and suppression, and Li Zicheng was tossed enough, and lost thousands of men and horses in vain.

Li Zicheng, who finally arrived in Luoyang, looked at the empty Fuwang Mansion and couldn't help but jump like thunder, angrily scolding Zhu Hao for being despicable and shameless. Under the persuasion of Niu Jinxing and others, his emotions were relieved, and he regretted Li Yan's instructions a little, and the next day he summoned the generals to announce that he would take Luoyang as the temporary focus and slowly develop his own forces. At the same time, a large number of spies were sent to search everywhere for the situation of the new army, but they did not find anything, so they were gone.

However, it is said that Zhu Hao took dozens of guards and agents along the Yellow River all the way to the east, and when he encountered a small group of peasant army spies, he was annihilated, and when he encountered a large group of soldiers and horses, he made a detour, but there was no danger, and he investigated the customs of the Central Plains along the way, and walked for five days before arriving in Zhengzhou. This is out of Li Zicheng's control.

Zhengzhou City in the Ming Dynasty is just an ordinary county seat, but because of the horizontal between Luoyang and Kaifeng, the strategic location is quite important, but now the Central Plains melee, the peasant army and the official army fierce competition, usually you come and I go, the army has just returned to Luoyang, the official army has not been stationed, the previous court officials descended, ran away, here formed a vacuum of three regardless.

However, Zhu Hao did not take the opportunity to control the idea here, which would compress Li Zicheng's strategic space a lot, which would be detrimental to his future development plan. Moreover, Zhengzhou is located in the Central Plains, which is easy to attack and difficult to defend, so it has little practical value.

Zhu Hao and his entourage walked into the city in a grand manner, there was not even a door, the pedestrians on the street were also sparse, and the people were also in a hurry, looking at these dozens of big men with vigilant eyes.

found a restaurant to sit down, and Liu Maozong asked for wine and food. When the restaurant owner saw so many diners coming, he was worried and worried about it, and he was afraid that these five big and three rough men would not give money, so he hesitated and refused to serve the food. Zhu Hao saw the clue, so he asked Li Dong to pay fifty taels of silver first, and the boss smiled hard.

Everyone walked for several days without a serious meal, and at this moment everyone was gobbling up. Zhu Hao was eating the dishes while looking at the few diners in the restaurant.

A man sitting in the corner caught his eye, a man in his thirties, dressed as a scribe, handsome, and extraordinary. One person, one fan, a pot of wine, a stack of vegetarian dishes, drinking alone, so uncomfortable, but the gray cloth robe he was wearing was a little stained, and it looked a little sloppy.

"Who has a big dream, I know it in my life! Good wine, good food! The scribe suddenly groaned, his eyes glancing at Zhu Hao with a smile in his eyes.

Zhu Hao secretly felt funny, the ancients engaged in this set of mysteries, it seems that this person compares himself to Jiang Taigong and Zhuge Liang.

"This gentleman, it's better to be happy alone than to be happy, how about you come over and have a drink together?" Zhu Hao smiled.

"Hehe, okay, I am shy in my lower pocket, and I am worried about how to settle the bill, so I am invited by a nobleman, how can I not take advantage of such a bargain?" After that, he shook his fan and got up and sat on Zhu Hao's table, not at all.

Zhu Hao couldn't laugh or cry, this person is not as elegant as he seems on the surface, I don't know if he has real talent?

"There is no free meal in the world, I have a few problems here that no one can solve, if Mr. can solve it, I will naturally cover the wine money of Mr."

"Oh? I might not be able to afford this meal? Childe has any troubles, just talk about it. The scribe didn't seem to mind at all, and said with a smile.

"Alas! Speaking of it, it's all ugly, my family is a famous family, with countless possessions and servants. However, the incompetence of the current patriarch has led to the invasion of robbers and the rebellion of the family, although I have the intention to set things right, but I don't know where to start, can you give me advice? Zhu Hao said lightly.

"What's so hard about that? I'll send you four words, self-improvement! The scribe said calmly.

Zhu Hao's expression changed slightly, and he asked quietly: "Mr.'s four words are indeed golden and jade words, I don't know what to do, please ask Mr. for advice." ”

"If an old thing cannot be repaired and used, it is better to abandon it and use a new thing. There are several enemies at the same time, so you might as well attack from afar and close to drive away the tiger and devour the wolf, what does Childe think? ”

"What a good word a gentleman! I was taught under it. Zhu Hao noticed that this person's thoughts coincided with his own, and he was indeed a talented person, so he stood up and said solemnly.

"It's easy to say, it's easy to say, I have already seen that Gongzi is a corporal of Lixian." The scribe hurriedly replied.

"I'm afraid that Mr. has been waiting for me here for a long time, so that he is shy in his pocket and has no money to pay for the wine, haha." Zhu Hao teased.

"This, you actually saw through it, Childe is really a dragon among people, hehe." The scribe was broken by Zhu Hao, and he was not annoyed, touching his belly and laughing.

"Haven't asked Mr. for his name yet?"

"In Xia Wang Lang, the word is Confucian."

"Since the gentleman has been here for a long time, he must already know my identity? Can you come with me to stay at home and let us talk about the scriptures? Zhu Hao sent him an invitation.

"That's exactly what I mean." Wang Lang said solemnly.

"Thank you, sir, Qishan, you all come here, I will introduce you to a great talent." Zhu Hao called Du Qishan, Li Dong, Liu Fangze and others on the side.

"This is Mr. Wang Lang's name, the word is Confucian, and he is ours from today onwards, our consultant." Zhu Hao didn't know what position to arrange for Wang Lang for a while, and when he thought of the position of adviser in the future, he was anxious and wise.

A group of people greeted Wang Lang one after another, and he hurriedly returned the salute.

"Young Master, what kind of official position is this advisor?" Li Dong asked stupidly, and the others, including Wang Lang, also looked at him with a look of verification.

"Consultant, as the name suggests, is the meaning of being asked from time to time, that is, the think tank around the main leader, Mr. Wang will be the chief think tank around me from today, hehe."

Everyone suddenly realized that "consultant" was not an important position, but since the handsome respected others, let's just follow suit. Only Wang Lang, who was in it, was excited after listening to Zhu Hao's explanation, he was a well-educated person, familiar with political history, and naturally knew the meaning of the think tank. Although he is not a person who covets power, it is also his life's desire to use what he has learned for the country.

At the moment, he sorted out the somewhat dirty robes, shook them to the ground at Zhu Hao, and said solemnly: "Thanks to the great handsome, Wang Lang will definitely devote his life to learning and assist the great marshal in making contributions." ”

"Sir, please." Zhu Hao hurriedly helped him up, and said solemnly: "I already know the heart of the gentleman, and I will not treat him badly in the future." But one thing that Mr. is wrong is not to assist me in my achievements, but to help me break through this rotten world and build a new world, so that the people will be rich and the country will be strong. If I were greedy for fame and fortune, I would not build a new army and carry out a new policy. ”

"Yes, I was wrong, and I was wrong! Great, please bow to me again! As he spoke, he was about to kneel, but Zhu Hao didn't stop him for a while, so he went.

Since then, there has been another resourceful man in Zhu Hao's camp, but this talented Mr. Wang has a strange personality. A few years later, the world was unified, and the first think-tank at that time ignored Zhu Hao's many retention, resigned, and drifted away, leaving behind a reputation for eternity, which is all a later story.

Zhu Hao got a wise man, he was very happy, he had to meet Wang Lang every day for a few hours, often forgetting to sleep and eat, Wang Lang learned through the past and the present, and even did not know anything about Western culture, there were few rigid and dogmatic things like old-fashioned scholars, and his thoughts were quite open-minded, which won Zhu Hao's heart.

After listening to some of Zhu Hao's measures and ideas for implementing the new policy in Xuzhou, Wang Lang also applauded frequently, thinking that Zhu Hao must be a generation of masters, and he firmly followed his heart.

A few days later, Zhu Hao issued an order to a group of confidants: ask Wang Fuzhi for political affairs and Wang Lang for foreign affairs. Since then, everyone in the Marshal's Mansion knows that in addition to the Marshal, the affairs of Xuzhou are decided by the two kings. Wang Fuzhi and Wang Lang also became his right-hand men, always loyal to him, and made indelible contributions to the establishment of the new country in the future.