Zhang Shumo greeted Lu Li all the way to the door, and finally greeted Lu Li, and the two did not say hello, and went back to the house to talk about business.

"Childe, I'm afraid we won't be able to borrow the Black Iron Ride this time. Zheng Guo in the south has already started a war with Sima Xiao, Sima Xiao can't stop it, so he asks the lord for help, and the lord has sent the black iron horse to help resist Zheng Guo. Lu said as he left the door.

Zhang Shumo frowned: "What about the Eastern Route Army, it's okay to let the Eastern Route Army come to help." ”

Lu Li shook his head: "This time I went back to get a general understanding of my country's situation. Among the four countries bordering us now, Jingguo and Zhengguo have directly started a war with us; Wu Guo agreed to the condition that the old man would pay tribute for three years, so he did not move; Yan Guo did not reply after receiving the request of the old man Yihe, the old man was worried that the Yan Kingdom would start a war with our country, so he ordered the Eastern Route Army to take strict precautions, and it would not be able to support us. ”

Zhang Shumo took a deep breath: "Is the situation already so grim?" In this way, the Northwest can only rely on ourselves! ”

Lu Li took a sip of water, and hurriedly said: "Yiyang County also garrisoned 50,000 Yiyang troops because it borders Wuguo, and now Wuguo has determined that it will not send troops, so the master has sent an order to the Yiyang army to let them support Gongzi." ”

Zhang Shumo breathed a sigh of relief in his heart when he heard this, since the Yiyang Army was here to support him, then the matter of asking them for help this time should be secured, so that at least the urgent need was solved. However, the situation in the northwest is so chaotic now, there is no external intervention, and I don't know when the Jingguo army will be driven out.

Lu Li worked hard all the way, so Zhang Shumo let him rest first, and Zhang Shumo thought about how to use the resources in his hands to resist Jingguo. Now there are more than 20,000 people under his command plus the Northern Route Army, and although the Northern Route Army has not yet surrendered, it is basically completely dependent on itself. In addition, the Yiyang Army is more than 50,000 people, and if the Western Route Army can also cooperate with him, there will be more than 80,000 people in total, and he has the strength to compete with Ji Wen.

Thinking of this, Zhang Shumo was full of confidence, as long as the three forces were twisted into a rope, it was only a matter of time before Ji Wen was defeated!

Two days later, Cai Zhi and Pan Feng returned from Mengzhou City. Zhang Shumo greeted the two with everyone full of joy, but when he saw the two of them hanging their heads, he immediately felt that something was wrong.

"What? Didn't work out? Zhang Shumo asked.

Cai Zhi nodded: "General Wutai of the Yiyang Army feels that our plan is too risky, once the enemy army attacks Mengzhou City while he is sending troops, then the gate of Yiyang County will be opened, and the Jingguo army will take the opportunity to go south." ”

When Zhang Shumo heard this, he slapped the table angrily: "Jingguo didn't even fight in the northwest, how could he take the opportunity to go south, is that Wu Tai's mind flooded?" ”

Lu Li also wondered when he heard it: "No, it stands to reason that Zhang Lu's order should have arrived in Yiyang County a long time ago, they should cooperate with us?" ”

Zhang Shumo snorted: "Maybe they don't plan to cooperate with us at all, after all, I have no position, how can they take me seriously." ”

Lu Li thought for a while and said, "Why don't I go and meet Wutai for a while?" ”

Zhang Shumo thought about it, and finally shook his head: "Zhang Lu's personal orders don't work, and there will be no result if you go." Does Brother Lu know the origin of this Wutai? ”

Lu Li shook his head: "I don't know, but I can go and investigate." ”

"Okay, I'll bother Brother Lu to inquire about Wutai's origin, the more detailed the better!"

Lu Li was ordered to leave, but everyone did not disperse. Liu naturally said to Zhang Shumo: "In the past few days, the harassment has become more and more frequent, and General Pang Yuan simply led his troops and stationed them thirty miles outside the city. ”

Zhang Shumo also smiled helplessly: "This can be regarded as a way out of the way." ”

As he was talking, a guard hurriedly ran in: "Tell Gongzi, Chengdongnan has found a troop, the number is unknown, and it is now less than twenty miles away from the city!" ”

"What?" Zhang Shumo quickly stood up and broke out in a cold sweat: This Geng Li can't be playing tricks, right? He deliberately lured his soldiers out and then came to attack the city behind the detour?

Zhang Shumo didn't dare to think about it, and immediately said to the guards: "Quick, inform General Pan and Jiang Bin of the Northern Route Army, and let them gather troops and horses to prepare to meet the enemy." Let me see what the others are all about! ”

Everyone came to the city wall, and soon Pan Feng took 4,000 men and horses, and Jiang Bin took 7,000 men and horses to the city wall together. The group looked to the southeast, and after a while, they finally saw a cloud of dust rising from the southeast, obviously a large group of people and horses coming.

Gradually, the other party got closer and closer to the big tea castle, and Zhang Shumo immediately ordered the archers to draw the bowstring full. At this time, Jiang Bin couldn't help but sigh: "Why doesn't the other party even have a flag, don't you even dare to light the flag for a sneak attack?" No, the other side is not an army, there is no one on horseback! ”

Only then did everyone find out that the other party had a horse team, and Zhang Shumo patted his head: "I almost forgot, I asked Zhu Qing to go buy a horse some time ago, and he must have come back!" ”

When Pan Feng heard this, he showed an excited gaze: "This posture has to be thousands of horses, right?" It seems that our Wu Xiu Army will be able to form a cavalry battalion soon! ”

Jiang Bin also looked envious, the cavalry of the Northern Route Army had already been lost in the battle with Jingguo, and if there was an extra cavalry under his command, there would be another change in tactical choices.

After a while, Zhu Qing came to the city with a small group of people, and saw Zhang Shumo on the city wall waving his hand excitedly: "Son, Zhu Mou is fortunate not to be dishonored and bought the horses back, a total of 3,000 horses!" ”

Zhang Shumo hurriedly went out of the city to bring Zhu Qing's team into the city, and ordered someone to inform Pang Yuan to take over the horses.

Zhu Qing followed Zhang Shumo to Yamen, and told many things he found on the way to buy horses along the way.

"Childe, Zhu not only bought horses on this trip, but also obtained a lot of useful information. The nobles of Yan Kingdom are Hu people from the northern grassland, so they like porcelain and silk and other items very much, and the price of Yan porcelain and silk is several times that of us. However, the price of grain in Yan Country is cheaper than that in Huaiguo, and many merchants in Jiyuan County make money by reselling it back and forth. But now that there is going to be a war, they don't dare to go to Yan Kingdom. Childe can give me a team, let's take this opportunity to do business with the people of Yan Guo, and we will definitely make a lot of money! ”

Zhu Qing excitedly talked about what he had seen, but Zhang Shumo frowned after hearing it: "What did you just say?" ”

"Lots of money?" Zhu Qing looked at Zhang Shumo's expression and was a little surprised in his heart.

Zhang Shumo shook his head: "No, the last sentence!" ”

"It's going to be a war, and they don't dare to go to Yan Kingdom?"

Zhang Shumo narrowed his eyes and asked with a serious face, "How do you know that there is going to be a war?" ”

"I heard in Yan Country that many of our merchants in Huaiguo have said that they are going to fight. It is said that Zheng Guo colluded with the high-level of Yan Guo and united them to attack our Huaiguo. When we returned, we saw that the army of the Yan Kingdom was heading for the border of Jiyuan County! ”