Li Na and Zhu Zhu did not have too many confrontations and twists and turns, Zhu Zhu withdrew his troops eagerly, took the initiative to give up the densely populated Jeju and Yunzhou, Li Na's strength was also extremely weak, there was no bargaining capital, and finally considering that Li Na's father Li Zheng had been buried at the foot of Mount Tai, Zhu Zhu made a slight concession, and the northern mountainous area of Yanzhou was ceded to Li Na, and the two sides reached an armistice agreement with Wenshui as the boundary.

Zhu Zhu occupied the two prefectures of Mi and Yi and the southern part of Yanzhou, obtained the seaside salt works, and opened up the Mi-Yi-Yan-Xu salt channel.

Zhu Jun immediately stationed 10,000 troops in Mizhou, Yizhou, and Yanzhou, and nearly 200,000 elite troops withdrew westward to Luoyang.

The news quickly spread to Chang'an, and Guo Song immediately sent an eagle letter to Hebei, ordering the Dizhou intelligence station to relay it to Li Bing, telling them to wait for an opportunity to seize Licheng County.

The accurate information of Zhu Jun's army's eastward retreat also reached Licheng County, but Li Na did not regain his strength, he still indulged in the drama of joining the army, but his eldest son Li Shigu could not tolerate his father's decadence, and rushed into the pear orchard where the Lingren were rehearsing with a sword, killing five people in a row, which forced Li Na back to the military camp.

In the barracks, Li Na listened to the report of Minister Wang Chongxin with a gloomy face, "At present, we still have a total of 30,000 troops, and there is still a lot of food, 500,000 stones, 300,000 yuan, and the food is quite sufficient, but the prince promised to send double military salaries for three months after the end of the war, as well as pensions for the dead, I estimate that the money is not enough, and we need to raise a little more." ”

Li Na said a little impatiently: "If you think about it again, you really can't borrow a little from the merchant temporarily, I usually don't treat them well, and they should have something in return." ”

Wang Chong smiled bitterly in confidence, how could these businessmen borrow money, or they borrowed it forcibly.

He didn't mention the matter of borrowing money for the time being, and continued: "Lord Wang, now our top priority is to restore effective control over Jeju and Yunzhou, to garrison troops in the two states, and to appease the emotions of the people in the two states, hoping that the prince can go to the two states in person to appease the people and soldiers." ”

Li Na waved his hand and said, "The top priority is to pacify the army, I am very strange, our army is not only 30,000 people!" When the battle broke out, we had 60,000 men, when did we lose half of them? ”

The general Liu Hao was a little uneasy, he was the main general in charge of the full command of the defense of the city, and the prince was obviously questioning him.

Liu Hao hurriedly explained: "The prince doesn't know, the actual number of dead in the defense of the city is 8,000, and then there are more than 10,000 fleeing soldiers, and there are more than 10,000 wounded soldiers, so the total number of troops is only 30,000 at present. ”

Li Na frowned and said dissatisfiedly: "Why did you flee?" ”

Liu Hao was a little embarrassed: "Among the 60,000 people defending the city at that time, there were 20,000 militia soldiers, all of whom were young and strong men in the city, they were generally undertrained, and they had never experienced war, and they were the most killed in the siege war, more than 6,000 people were killed, they were all frightened, after Zhu Jun stopped attacking the city, they all found various excuses to go home, and never came back. ”

"What about the more than 10,000 wounded soldiers? Have they all lost their combat effectiveness? Li Na asked again.

"Lord Wang, whether it is an arrow wound or a knife wound, the fastest recovery will take about a month, and the wound can only be considered recovery when the wound is completely healed, if the prince says that now, we do only have 30,000 soldiers, but it may recover to 40,000 in a month or two."

Li Na took a few steps and said to the general Pan Yu: "No matter what the reason for my escape, I will immediately post a notice, all deserters must come back within three days to report, and those who do not return for more than three days will be beheaded!" ”

Pan Yu bowed and said, "Obey!" ”

Li Na also said to the generals Liu Hao and Wu Xiaoqian: "Jeju and Yunzhou are the periphery of Qizhou, which is very important, and must be firmly controlled in our hands, General Liu and General Wu can each lead 10,000 troops to Jeju and Yunzhou, so that the people can understand that our withdrawal was forced before, not to abandon them." ”

Speaking of this, Li Na glanced meaningfully at his eldest son Li Shigu, who actually drew his sword and killed in front of him, if it weren't for his own son, he would have been severely punished.

Li Na didn't get angry, but said lightly: "I want to sit in the capital, and you will be the father to pacify the people of Jeju and Yunzhou." ”

Everyone bowed down and agreed, and each retreated, leaving only the minister Wang Chongxin in the big tent, Wang Chongxin said to Li Na: "There are also four states in the east that cannot be ignored, and it is recommended that the four states should be summoned to Licheng County to report on their work, and then send people to check the family background of each state, how many people there are, how many taxes can be obtained, and whether we can recover depends on them." ”

Li Na nodded, "You're right, we've been a bit neglecting the four eastern states during this time, and I hope they're all safe." ”

.......

Licheng began to urgently transfer troops, and Liu Hao and Wu Xiaoqian each led 10,000 troops to leave Licheng County and drive towards Jeju and Yunzhou.

Licheng County began to clear out deserters, posters were posted all over the city, and the army began to go door-to-door to persuade militia soldiers to return to the barracks.

Licheng County Baofeng Restaurant, is one of the three major restaurants in Licheng County, here used to be the stronghold of the Tibetan Sword Building in Licheng, after the dissolution of the Tibetan Sword Building, this restaurant was sold to a Licheng County wine merchant, but the year before last the Jin Wei Mansion bought it back, and it is currently the intelligence station of the Jin Wei Mansion in Qi State.

In Li Zheng's time, the state of Qi attached great importance to commerce, and Li Na was no exception, judging the status by the amount of taxes paid, and issuing plaques symbolizing different statuses, so that the status of merchants in the state of Qi was very high.

Baofeng Restaurant pays taxes as much as 2,000 yuan every year, so the plaque of Baofeng Restaurant is gold on a black background, which is the highest level, which can be exempted from checks, searches and other treatments, and the big shopkeeper can also use a two-horse carriage when he goes out.

The big shopkeeper of Baofeng Restaurant is called Wang Jing, in his early forties, tall and fat, with a kind face, and he has deep connections in Licheng County, whether it is an official or a general of Qi State, there is basically no one he does not know and is not familiar with.

At noon, the restaurant was full of people, the guests were full, a guy hurriedly walked into the restaurant, until he came to the shopkeeper counter, and whispered to the shopkeeper Wang Jing: "It's confirmed, it's true!" ”

Wang Jing perked up and hurriedly said, "Go to the shopkeeper's room and talk about it!" ”

Wang Jing received information from an official this morning that last night, 20,000 troops left Licheng County overnight and went in the direction of Jeju and Yunju, but is this news true?

So Wang Jing sent his men to inquire and confirm.

When he came to the shopkeeper's room, Wang Jing asked, "How did you confirm it?" ”

The man said: "I asked my friends in the barracks to help, I found the soldier on duty last night, invited him to drink two glasses of wine, and he said everything, and at two o'clock last night, two armies of 10,000 people each left the camp one after another, left the city and went east, and now there are only 10,000 troops left in the barracks." ”

Of course, Wang Jing knew how many troops there were in the barracks, even if the 10,000 militia troops who were recalled, it was only 20,000, this was a rare opportunity!

Thinking of this, he immediately got up and came to a single courtyard, knocked on the door, the door opened, and there was a young man at the door, and Wang Jing flashed in.

"What's important for the big shopkeeper?" The young man asked, closing the courtyard door.

There were two liaison soldiers sent by Li Bing living in the small courtyard, and Wang Jingjing nodded, "There is a situation in Licheng County, and the opportunity has come." ”

He handed a short message to another lieutenant who came out of the room and said: "20,000 troops went to Jeju and Yunju last night, and there are less than 20,000 people left in the city, of which 10,000 are still militia soldiers. ”

The lieutenant hesitated for a moment and said, "We have a letter eagle with us, and I think it's faster to send a letter with a letter eagle." ”

Wang Jing nodded, "The eagle letter will also be sent, and you will also send it, I am worried that General Li has already set off halfway." ”

.........

On a dark and rumbling night, an army of 50,000 people was marching rapidly on the official road of Qingzhou, and at the same time, a fleet of fifty warships sailed into Jishui and entered Qingzhou at the same time, carrying 10,000 troops and a large number of supplies.

The team had to pass through Qingzhou and Zizhou, and Licheng County was still 300 miles away, so it would take at least three days to march.

Li Bing rode a horse and walked at the front of the team, because it was night, the official road was empty, no pedestrians could be seen, there were endless wheat fields on both sides, it was the beginning of March, the ice of the Yellow River was completely melted, the chill in the air disappeared completely, with a trace of moist warmth, cool breeze, very comfortable, very suitable for marching.

At this moment, there was a rapid sound of horses' hooves in front, and a group of more than twenty scouts galloped from the front, and it was a team of horseback scouts sent by him.

I saw that there was still a man in the middle of them, gagged, his hands were tied behind his back, and two soldiers led him on the left and the right.

"See the general!" The scout commander bowed.

"Who is that?" Li Bing looked at the person they were holding hostage and asked.

"General Qiyu, he is a messenger sent by Li Na, and the states are delivering letters, and we happened to bump into them."

"What letter?" Li Bing asked.

The brigade commander handed a few letters to Li Na, and tore off the rags from the messenger's mouth, Li Na was not in a hurry to read the letter, and asked the messenger: "What letter did you send?" ”