On June 26, the imperial court ordered the royal palace to command the guards, the state soldiers, and the county regiment to protect the state to the Anyang palace, and three days before Rao Qiangfeng's general Cao Chengduo led 5,000 men across the Yuanhua River to Renzhou, and Renzhou was greatly frightened.

When receiving the order, the state assassin Shi, Beijia, Sima and others were all there, and the governor of the palace, Shi Tu Fanglin, Sima Wei Mengqiang, and the military were all there. Assassin Wu Ruoxiong secretly breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the holy decree, and he was so frightened that he was so frightened that he didn't possess his body, and came to Anyang Wangfu for help with other drivers and Sima to discuss it. Shi Fangdao, the king of Anyang, let the state government defend itself against the enemy on the grounds that the vassal king should not interfere in local affairs without a decree, and now that the holy decree has arrived, this burden has been moved to the body of the king of Anyang on his own shoulders.

Wu Ruoxiong said with a smile: "Lord Wang, long live has issued an order to let you unify the command of the enemy in Renzhou, what to do is to ask the prince to command." "Wu Ruoxiong is a scholar, he doesn't practice martial arts, and he is a good hand at managing government affairs, so it is indeed a bit difficult for him to lead the troops to fight.

Shi Fangdao and Wei Mengqiang and others discussed how to resist the enemy, and they couldn't all the thieves and soldiers come to Anyang Mansion and sit back and ignore it, the Son of Heaven issued a decree to straighten out the relationship, and Shi Fangdao did not shirk it, and said: "Since there is a decree, this king will temporarily take over the matter of resisting the enemy." The top priority at the moment is to find out the movements of the thieves and soldiers, and know that the other side can dispatch troops. ”

Sima Tong Jinmin was born in martial arts, and he arched his hand and said: "The lower official has sent someone to inquire about the news, and he got a report this morning, and the thieves are robbing grain in the area of Puren and Tianjiang." Tong Jinmin said and asked people to hang up a map he had brought with him, pointing out the location of the thieves and showing them to everyone.

"Puren and Tianjiang are close to the Yuanhua River, it seems that the thieves are only grabbing grain at the border of Renzhou, and they should not go deep alone." Don't drive Zhou Shihao to speculate weakly.

Wei Meng sneered: "According to Lord Zhou's meaning, the thieves will leave when they grab the food, and they don't have to fight, they are afraid of fighting rats." ”

Shi Fang said: "General Wei, on the matter, it is also possible for Lord Zhou's statement. However, since the Son of Heaven has asked this king to protect Inju, he can't make more preparations. There are 4,000 soldiers in Renzhou, and the regimental training in each county should add up to more than 3,000, and the king's guard has 1,000 men, adding up to 8,000 people, which is more than 5,000 thieves, so you don't have to worry. ”

Fang Zhi said in a deep voice: "The thieves are erratic, we can't sit back and wait for their arrival, we should take the initiative to assault and annihilate this group of thieves." ”

Wu Ruoxiong looked at Fang Zhizhong, calm and firm like an iron tower, I heard that this person fought against the desert people in Zhenbei City, and he was brave, and there was such an iron man sitting in Anyang Mansion like a rock.

Shi Fangdao said: "Lord Wu, the state capital Xingwen counties let the people grab food and hide in the county seat, build fortifications before the arrival of the thieves, prepare more things to defend the city, and let the people go to the city to assist in defense, so that they don't have to worry, if they encounter the enemy, reinforcements will arrive within two days; From the southeastern counties of Renzhou, the regiment was requisitioned and trained for five days, and together with 2,000 government soldiers, they were assigned to several important cities in the north to defend, so that such a county could be divided into more than 300 people, which was enough to resist the arrival of reinforcements; Zechang Academy should be protected, fortunately, most of the students in the academy are both civil and military, and they are stronger than the government soldiers, so they only need to issue ordnance and send fifty people to help them defend against danger; Grain, grass, and ordnance should be ......"

A series of orders were issued, everyone felt at ease, the military situation was urgent, and when the deployment of Shifangdao was completed, everyone dispersed. Shi Fangdao took the people of the palace back to the study, and Wei Mengqiang said with a smile: "There are only five thousand thieves, and the group of officials in the palace are so scared that they can't wait to get into the hole, relying on how they can resist the enemy." Lord, you give me 2,000 men and horses, and I will keep and kill the thieves to the bustle. ”

In front of his own family, Shi Fangdao has always disgraced the prince's shelf, and scolded with a smile: "You are a rough person, you know how to fight and kill, I will give you 2,000 soldiers, and you will kill the thieves and soldiers?" ”

Wei Mengqiang shouted, "How can those cowards who have never seen blood fight, of course they need the guards of the palace, otherwise the guards of other villages and Zhuang Ding will also do." ”

The court gave the Anyang king's guards is a thousand people, but most of the vassal kings can't really only have these horses, the Anyang king's father and son have been in Anyang Mansion for two generations, and the wealth accumulated over the decades is enough to support the palace to recruit troops and buy horses, there are only 1,000 guards on the surface, but the Zhuang Ding of the other village, the guards of the caravan, or even the slaves running around the house can become warriors with armor, Wei Mengqiang has been following Shi Fangdao, he is the henchman of the henchman, and he knows that as long as the king of Anyang gives an order, he can immediately pull up a guard of 3,000 people, These people were personally trained by Wei Mengqiang and Fang Zhizhong, and their strength was only stronger than the sixteen guards in Beijing.

Tu Fanglin watched Wei Mengqiang roll his eyes at the prince, and explained with a smile: "Qiangzi, it makes sense for the prince to say that you are a rough person. You just think about defeating the thieves, you don't think about exposing the strength of the palace, what if the Son of Heaven settles accounts after the autumn, don't retreat from the enemy but suffer from jealousy. ”

Wei Mengqiang muttered: "My old Wei doesn't have as many fancy intestines as you, and he calculates and calculates all day long, anyway, he has to fight, but don't forget to send me." ”

Shi Fangdao shook his head and said: "The enemy really can't send you this time, you just guard honestly in Anyang Mansion, and the life of this king can be put in your hands." ”

Wei Mengqiang's eyes showed a fine light, of course he couldn't be really a rough person, and asked rhetorically: "But I'm afraid that I will be favored by the Son of Heaven after making a meritorious service, and I will be transferred to the camp in the north of the town to serve my life, to be honest, if I hadn't followed you, I might have been crowned a marquis a long time ago, but I regret that I have the ability to do it and be aggrieved in this Anyang Mansion." ”

This is a half-truth, Shi Fangdao was silent for a moment, patted Wei Mengqiang's shoulder and said, "I mistook you." ”

"Then the hundred-year-old bright moon incense in the prince's wine cellar will give me two jars", Wei Mengqiang raised his eyebrows, and said with a smile.

Shi Fangdao laughed and scolded: "You will drown in the wine jar sooner or later, there are only five altars in total, you take two altars, one altar for Mr. Tu, one altar for the heaviest one, and one altar for the king, don't make up your mind anymore." ”

Tu Fanglin said solemnly: "Qiangzi, laughing and laughing, this time the enemy is indeed not careless, who knows what the idea of the Son of Heaven is, if the prince is sharp, I am afraid it will not be a blessing." You must know that Princess Lihua is the sister-in-law of the prince, and the north is a great enemy. There are not a few secret agents in the palace, and no one can seize the handle against the prince. ”

Shi Fang said: "Don't ask for merit but ask for no fault, the thieves only grab some food by him, if it is a siege, then lead the troops to the rescue, just make a small fuss." Tomorrow, you will lead 1,500 soldiers and horses to march first, 500 palace guards, and 1,000 government soldiers, stationed in Fu'an County. ”

Fang Zhizhong stood up and saluted, and nodded in response. Fu'an County is one hundred and eighty miles away from Anyang Prefecture, the transportation is developed, it is the necessary place for the thief army to go south, and it is also very convenient to rescue the northern counties from Fu'an, the five hundred guards are all light horses, and they can reach it in a day and a half at most.

Wei Mengqiang said enviously: "Zhizhong, your kid has a good life, first he was addicted to the camp in the north of the town, and when he came to the palace, he would let you go to the palace if he encountered a battle." Lord Wang, if you don't let me disguise myself as a soldier under the heaviest men, it's good to see blood on the battlefield. ”

…………

Thirty miles south of Tianjiang County, Cao Chengduo's 5,000 soldiers and horses were stationed in the open land by the mountains and rivers. The camp is surrounded by a wall made of vehicles and tree branches, and the towering arrow tower is defended by soldiers, and the tents in the camp are arranged neatly and orderly. After Ma Chenguang was defeated, Rao Qiangfeng captured more than 2,000 officers and soldiers, Dong Haoyun asked Rao Qiangfeng to scatter these people and distribute them to various armies, and let these officers and soldiers teach them how to arrange troops, defend and defend, build barracks, etc. At first, the minions looked down on these defeated generals and were unwilling to follow them, but after Dong Haoyun ordered the march to kill a few fierce soldiers, the minions had to obey orders. Through a period of study, the execution power of the thief army has greatly increased, and the combat effectiveness has increased significantly, and there is already a preliminary model of a regular army.

Cao Chengduo is one of the original old people in Yinling Village, and he has experienced life and death with Rao Qiangfeng, and the two are like brothers. Rao Qiangfeng ordered to learn from the officers and soldiers, and Cao Chengduo complied with it to the letter, and after more than a month of running-in, the 5,000 soldiers and horses he led to garrison and camp already had a good appearance.

These days, the grain in the camp is piled up in the big camp, there is no shortage of cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks and other poultry, and the whole camp is filled with the mouth-watering smell of meat. Ordinary soldiers can't drink alcohol, but the Chinese army's big tent is full of wine, Cao Chengduo and eight of his subordinates are chewing on the table, these eight people are the "Eight King Kongs" under him.

"Master Cao, this dry food and wine is tasteless, do you want to kidnap a few village girls to help the fun?" He was a bald man who spoke, and his bald head was covered with oil and sweat, and it was shiny.

The bald man's words immediately attracted a chorus of approval, Cao Chengduo knocked the table with the cock in his hand and shouted: "What are you arguing about, it is an order from the military advisor that the military camp is not allowed to kidnap women, who dares not to obey." "The prestige of the military advisor Dong Haoyun has been established, second only to the king Rao Qiangfeng in the army, and there are many bloody heads to confirm the prestige of the military advisor.

The bald man wiped the sweat on his head and said: "The king asked us to return before August, there is still a month, let's go a little farther and grab more food, gold and silver, and when we see the king Cao Ye, you will have a light on your face." ”

Cao Chengduo snorted coldly and said: "Bald, don't think that you don't know about your little caution, don't you just think that you can do anything wrong without the master's control, you be careful not to let the military advisor catch the handle, when the military advisor marches to kill your head, it may not work if the king intercedes for mercy." ”

The bald man smiled and said: "Master Cao, the emperor is far away, how can the military advisor know about the things here, the brothers have been holding back for a long time, and it is time for them to relax." I will come back in ten days after going out, and I will keep it for Cao Ye to bring back ten thousand stone grain. ”

The lower horse face said: "Cao Ye, I heard that the court ordered the king of Anyang to lead the army against us, and there are a lot of soldiers and horses in this official mansion, but you can't be careless, if you lose your brother Cao Ye, you won't have the face to see the king." ”

The bald man's bald head glowed red, and he shouted: "Old Ba, look at your rat gall, you worry about this and that all day long, when you cross the river, you worry about the officers and soldiers blocking the river, and when you are in Puren, you are worried about the officers and soldiers going out of the city, but there is no." You see those officials shrinking into the nest like rabbits one by one, if we don't dig out the rabbit nest, they will be thankful, how dare they go out of the city to go against us. ”

Cao Chengduo also felt that Ma Yan was a little too worried, and said, "That's okay, bald, you will take 1,500 brothers out tomorrow to grab food, and I will only give you seven days." Whoever wants to go can go with you. ”

The crowd cheered.