Liu Yan sat cross-legged on a rock, holding a flattened tin wine jug in his hand, and poured a sip from time to time.

This is Weihu Mountain, his base camp.

In the blink of an eye, it has been five years since he went up the mountain.

When I first went up the mountain, it was still a desolate place, but five years is enough time to change so many things. Now there are many castles here, with the main fort of Weihu Mountain as the main fortress forming a complete defense system, with 3,000 soldiers, making him the most powerful anti-Zhang Zhongwu force in the northeast.

Of course, if there were only these 3,000 soldiers, he would not have held out to this day, in addition to these bandits, he also has the families of nearly 20,000 soldiers.

Halfway up the mountain, there are large swaths of stone, wood, and mud houses, forming one village after another, and these families live here.

Halfway down the mountain to the valleys, these men opened up large fields and planted crops, and although the harvest was not as good as that of the plains, and did not fill everyone's stomach, at least they were able to achieve a certain degree of self-sufficiency.

In the past few years, as his power has become stronger and stronger, more and more people have come to vote, and many of these people are craftsmen, carpenters, stonemasons, and blacksmiths with a skill, but anyone who has a skill can get the same treatment as a soldier here. This also makes Weihu Mountain stronger day by day.

Of course, more importantly, he has received strong support from Datang's internal guards. A considerable number of craftsmen were sent by the internal guards, who built the fortifications of Weihu Mountain, created powerful trebuchets, strong crossbows, and smelted better wrought iron, thus making sharper weapons and stronger armor.

Since the beginning of spring last year, the internal guard has sent sweet potato seeds, sorghum seeds, and seeds of these two ingredients to Weihu Mountain, so that Weihu Mountain has completely gotten rid of the hardship of hunger, and now even the people at the bottom can rely on sweet potatoes to fill their stomachs with food that is not picky, and the yield is extremely high.

When Liu Yan first fled into Weihu Mountain, Deng Jingshan didn't know that after Deng Jingshan cleaned up all the remnants of Liu Siyuan's forces and swept away his influence, more than half a year had passed.

It was only at this time that Deng Jingshan finally knew Liu Yan's whereabouts. However, Deng Jingshan did not take Liu Yan seriously, and sent an army into the mountain, preparing to capture the last fish that slipped through the net, and then cut the grass and eradicate the roots.

But what Deng Jingshan never expected was that his subordinates returned defeated.

Liu Yan followed the extremely dangerous Weihu Mountain, and half a year was enough for him to gain a firm foothold. Every time he defeated Deng Jingshan's bandit suppression troops, his strength became stronger.

After two full years passed like this, Deng Jingshan could no longer cover this lid, so he had to report to Zhang Zhongwu. A full 20,000 troops once again marched into Weihu Mountain, which was the most thrilling time for Liu Yan, but it was also a battle in which he established the prestige of becoming the leader of the anti-Zhang Zhongwu forces in the northeast.

At the most dangerous time, Zhang Bu had already attacked the main village, but in the end, they fell short, and Liu Yan, who fought back, completely drove Zhang Bu out of Weihu Mountain.

Since that battle, Zhang Zhongwu's attitude towards Liu Yan has changed from suppression to appeasement.

It's a pity that the hatred between Liu Yan and Deng Jingshan is insoluble, and the Liu family was completely wiped out by Deng Jingshan. And Zhang Zhongwu could not give up Deng Jingshan for Liu Yan.

Comparatively speaking, Deng Jingshan controls the entire Liaozhou, while Liu Yan only occupies a Weihu Mountain. In the mountains, this guy is a fierce tiger, but out of the mountain, this fierce tiger is about to become a water dog.

And Liu Yan experienced the brilliant record of defeating the main force of Zhang Zhongwu's department, and he also swelled up all of a sudden, and even took the initiative to lead his troops to attack, but the result of the attack was very miserable.

And after suffering several losses, Liu Yan never attacked on a large scale to provoke the other party, and Deng Jingshan refused to venture into the mountain, but the two sides reached a wonderful balance.

But both sides know that this is just a process. The deep hatred between the two sides doomed them to survive in the end, and the current confrontation was just to find an opportunity to kill the other party with one blow.

Both sides are waiting.

Liu Yan, who is over thirty years old, has long since lost his youthful frivolity, and he seems more patient when he understands that the strength of the two sides is actually not equal.

He knows very well that with his own strength alone, he will never be able to take revenge in this life. If there is no external force to intervene, his best fate is to end his life as a mountain king in this mighty tiger mountain.

This is certainly not what he wants.

So without hesitation, he threw himself into the arms of the Datang internal guards.

Only when the Tang army defeated Zhang Zhongwu and entered the northeast was the time when he could take revenge.

In the current Weihu Mountain, Fan Jian is his second leader, and of course, Fan Jian is also a general of the internal guard. And Liu Yan even married a female internal guard as his wife, and now, he has given birth to two children.

The Liu family, except for Liu Yan, is already dead. Now that there is finally a next generation, Liu Yan is naturally very satisfied.

Entrenched on the rocks, looking at the farmers who were working in the fields with their bare backs, Liu Yan felt very much fond of his hometown in Mozhou.

At that time, he also liked to sit on a high place and watch the tenants of his family plow, just like now.

"Jiro is homesick again?" A voice came from behind him, and when Liu Yan turned around, he saw his wife Yan Wu holding a female doll standing behind him. "I've been standing here for a while, and Erlang hasn't even noticed!"

"Come and sit!" Liu Yan moved to the side and said with a smile. If it was decided to marry Yan Wu at the beginning, it was to express his determination to surrender to the internal guard, but when the woman in front of him gave birth to a son and a daughter, the two really had a taste of long-term love.

Liu Yan's first wife came from a scholarly family, and she was a typical show, and although Yan Wu was born poor, she received many years of training in the secret camp, although she was not proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, but she also knew books and etiquette, and more importantly, how could Yan Wu be able to recite poetry and books with Liu Yan in the snowy night, under the moonlight, and also when the enemy came, she could rush forward with a knife. In contrast, Liu Yan felt that Yan Wu was more suitable for his current self.

Yan Wu sat next to Liu Yan, and the little girl stretched out her little hand at him: "Daddy, hug!" ”

Liu Yan laughed and took the little girl doll over and held it in his arms. "Where's Da Lang?"

"I played too hard in the first half of the day, and now I'm so tired that I'm asleep." Yan Wu smiled: "Looking at Erlang's appearance, is he homesick again?" ”

"yes, homesick." Liu Yan nodded: "Back then, in Mozhou, our Liu family's manor was the largest and the best, compared to now, it was heaven and earth. ”

Yan Wu smiled and nodded, whenever this time, all she had to do was listen.

"Fan Jian said, when we defeat Zhang Zhongwu, Li Xiang will return our Liu family's house in Mozhou to me, is this credible?" Liu Yan tilted his head and asked Yan Wudao.

Yan Wu said with a smile: "A house, there is nothing. It's just Erlang, the Liu family's 10,000 fertile fields in Mozhou, don't make up your mind. Datang's national policy is that each household shall not occupy more than 1,000 acres of land. ”

"As long as you can get the house back, that's enough." Liu Yan said with emotion, "I only have such a little thought." ”

"Erlang will definitely be able to make his wish come true. When the time comes, if someone gets in the way, I will go to Gongzi to ask for an explanation, I must give Erlang this house back, we don't want any other reward, we want this house. Yan Wu smiled and said, "If we can make some more contributions, then I will be better able to speak at that time." ”

"Can you see Lee Sang-sang at will?" Liu Yan was a little unconvinced.

"I told Erlang a long time ago, I was born in a secret camp. It's a descendant of the child! Yan Wudao: "It's just that I'm not the one who stands out in that group of people, it's relatively mediocre, like the eldest sister, Yan Jiu, but they are all top-notch, and when I find them, I will naturally be able to see the son." The eldest sister and Yan Jiu will definitely help me. ”

The eldest sister that Yan Wu said is Li Yu, this person Liu Yan is naturally a famous person for a long time, even if Yan Jiu is not a person with a good reputation, Liu Yan has also heard a lot of legends about this woman from Yan Wu's mouth.

"I'm climbing a high branch!" Liu Yan said half-seriously and half-jokingly: "Look at this situation, your son-in-law will definitely be the emperor in the future." If my guess is correct, when he takes Chang'an, it will be the time for this Tang Dynasty to die. ”

"What did Jiro say!" Yan Wu stretched out his hand and gently pushed him, and said: "Next, it must be a turbulent era, and Zhang Zhongwu still has to fight, Erlang can naturally earn fame with his own skills!" Erlang, you don't know, this world is very big. Even if Gongzi dominates the world, he will never put swords and soldiers into the warehouse, and the horses will be put in Nanshan. I still remember when my son gave us a lecture, he said that we would plant our flag in all places where the sun shines, and we would build an empire where the sun never sets! I, but I plan to wait for us to return to Mozhou, so I quit my mission and go home to teach my husband and children! This Liu family, but you still have to rely on you to earn a future! ”

Liu Yan laughed and reached out to hug Yan Wu in his arms.

Speaking of which, Yan Wu must have more face than him on the side of the Tang people, like the characters that Yan Wu said on weekdays, for Liu Yan at the moment, I am afraid that they are all unattainable characters, but Yan Wu is good at this, he never uses these to save Liu Yan's face, but always takes care of his emotions.

"When will the war begin?"

"Soon, when General Fan comes back from outside the mountain this time, he will be able to bring back the exact news." Yan Wu leaned his head on Liu Yan's shoulder and said.