On the official road leading from Jinan Prefecture to Liyang, there is a team of hundreds of wagons of grain, which is the last batch of grain wagons exchanged for furs in Jinyang, totaling 200,000 stones. Shen Yuan, the grain governor sent by Jinyang to the interior of the Central Plains, personally escorted him back to Jinyang. The Tang Army, which accompanied the escort of the grain team, was led by a banner officer, with a total of 500 soldiers.

"Wang Qipai, the pass I just passed, my grain truck did not lose much, only 5 trucks of grain were missing. What is the damage to your men? After Shen Yuan had gone through the catastrophe just now, he asked the accompanying flag officer.

"Lord Shen, more than a dozen brothers died here and more than 50 were injured, but fortunately, a few carts of grain were abandoned and the bandits drove away, and the damage was not big."

"Alas! I have been encountering such things almost every day for several days, and it is still unknown how much of my 200,000 stone of grain can be brought back! Shen Yuan couldn't help but sigh.

"My lord, after passing the Changye Ridge in front, it is a horse Pingchuan, it only takes half a day to get to the ferry, the defenders of the ferry are the Hedong Jin Army, and when you get to the ferry, you can be regarded as entering the control of the Hedong Army, and we will be safe." This banner surnamed Wang appeased Shen Yuan and said.

"It's for the best. The Changye Ridge in front is guarded by a hero on the right path of the green forest, and if you should see me, the flag on the car will let me wait. Take a break and do it! ”

Sure enough, when Shen Yuan's grain truck passed under Changye Ridge, there was no movement on the mountain, and seeing that the convoy was almost 30 miles away from Changye Ridge, Shen Yuan and the escorts breathed a sigh of relief.

"It seems that the heroes on the mountain still give face to Tang Gong, and Shan Xiongxin is a sincere and honest gentleman!" Shen Yuan couldn't help but admire.

"My lord, the front is the pavilion post, this pavilion post has an official post to play a point, and there are more than a dozen post guards on duty here, this day is getting late, it is better to rest, and rush to the ferry early tomorrow morning to cross the river." Behind him, his henchmen turned out to be in charge of the accounts, and said solemnly.

"That's it! The thrilling day is enough, so let's rest at the pavilion! I'll do it again tomorrow. With Shen Yuan's order, everyone was overjoyed, hurriedly quickened their pace, and after three moments, they all entered the pavilion to rest.

Because there were post guards here, Shen Yuan and the others were too tired, and the accompanying Tang soldiers and guards also fell asleep.

It's right. In the middle of the night, only to hear the neighing of horses outside, which woke up Shen Yuan, and when he hurriedly opened the window to look out, he saw a fire outside the post house accompanied by the sound of people and horses shouting to kill. Shen Yuan was so frightened that the three souls were out of his body for a while, and he hurriedly shouted the name of the king flag officer, asking him to lead the guards out to resist the arrival of the rebels.

Tossed all night, and when the sky gradually brightened, the sound of killing and shouting outside the post house stopped. The fire was extinguished, and only puffs of black smoke were still rising. Shen Yuan stayed in the guest room all night in shock, and it wasn't until Shen Zhong pushed open the door and came in that Shen Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and slumped on the soft cushion.

"My lord, thanks to Wang Qipai's desperate resistance. The thieves who attacked by night have retreated. Shen whispered.

"Shen Guan account, is there any food left over from the backyard car?" Shen Yuan asked weakly, thinking, it must be more than lucky!

"My lord, nearly half of the grain was taken away by the thieves, but fortunately, the thieves did not come much, and they did not rob all the grain. It's just that more than half of the guards were wounded, and the ace flag was also seriously injured, alas! Unexpected! ”

"Unexpected? Don't think of too many unexpected things! Nearly 10 million pieces of fur in the hands of this official can be exchanged for 3.5 million stones of grain. However, in the past two months, you and I have been cautious and have been blamed in every way, how many can be sent back to Jinyang? It's just a fraction, and nearly 2 million stone of grain have been lost through our hands. Now there are only less than 100,000 stone of grain left here in this official, what kind of face do you have to return to Jinyang to meet Tang Gong! Shen Yuan couldn't help beating his chest and crying bitterly.

"Your Excellency, cheer up." Shen Chong saw that Shen Yuan was overly sad, and hurriedly comforted him.

At this moment, the door was pushed open, and a person walked in. Shen Zhong recognized that he was the postman of the inn here, and he came to check the loss of registered tenants.

"Lord Postman, who did the thief do last night?" Shen Zhong saw that it was the post official who came in, and couldn't help asking. Shen Yuan also stopped crying when he saw that there were people alive, and listened quietly.

"Last night, the thieves were all dressed in black and covered their heads and faces. Presumably, he didn't want to be seen through by us, and he originally thought that he was a thief on the nearby Changye Ridge, but he couldn't get it yet. But the lower officials knew that he must be a thief there. ”

"Why is the postman so sure? I did not come down to plunder the mountain during the day. Shen asked in surprise.

"Huh! I often have a green forest hero here to eat and drink, and I am quite familiar with the mountain bandit Xiangma in the vicinity of a hundred and ten miles, although the lower official did not see the face of the thief clearly last night, but I heard the voice of one of the leaders of the thief head, that voice is not the second master Cheng Heitan on the Changye Ridge, who else? Therefore, he must have deliberately let you wait for him during the day, so that the night would come. ”

"Oops! is a good thief, who disregards the morality of the rivers and lakes. That single Xiongxin is really a hypocrite! I'm mad at me! After listening to the words of the post officer, Shen Yuan on the side screamed, spat blood from his mouth, and suddenly fainted. Shen Chong and the post officer saw it, and hurriedly stepped forward to wipe his chest and pinch people to rescue him.

After a while, Shen Yuan, who was lying on the bed, eased up and whispered to Shen Zheng beside him: "Shen Chong should not stay here for a long time, you quickly go to the whole team to transport the remaining grain back to Jinyang, and leave me two people enough!" When the official gets better, he will come to chase you. ”

"That's fine, my lord will recuperate here for a few days first, and I will reach the Hedong Territory in the past, and my 100,000 stone grain is also safe." Shen said comfortingly.

"Go ahead!" With that, Shen Yuan waved his hand at Shen Chong. Seeing this, Shen Zhong had to get up and leave.

Gradually, it became quiet outside, and it was evident that the food corps and the guards had all left. With the support of the two personal servants, Shen Yuan walked to the window and watched the grain team gradually disappear from sight, You stood in front of the window and did not move.

"Sir, when will the three of us leave for Jinyang?" A personal servant asked. These two young entourages have followed Shen Yuan since they were children, and they are also students that Shen Yuan has always taken with him.

"Alas! What do you want to do back? I, Shen Yuan, am the chief official in charge of the grain storage of the Tang Gong's inner government, how can I not know the embarrassment of the lack of grain in Jinyang today, and the original grain storage of nearly 2 million stones is enough to survive the winter. Now that the inner government has less than 600,000 stone of grain, Tang Gong will inevitably annoy me, how can I survive when I return to Jinyang? Shen Yuan whispered to his two students.

"Huh? In that case, what should we do? Where to go to live? Another guy exclaimed.

"That's it! There is no endless road, set off tomorrow, pass the fork in the road to the left in front of this pavilion, and go straight to Wagang Mountain. Shen Yuan has made up his mind and decided not to return to Jinyang.

"What should I do with the gentleman's family?"

"Tang Gongren is righteous in the world, and he will not embarrass my wife and child, and after settling down, I will send someone to pick it up."

When the two little guys heard this, they had to nod.

Nanyang Nanshan.

Yang Xuangan fled back to Nanyang Nanshan Dazhai after Zhu Can was killed by Yang Guang, the king of Jin, in Tsushima Mountain. Because Zhu Can's son Zhu Deng was there, Yang Xuangan supported Zhu Deng as the master of the cottage and assisted him from the side. But because this Zhu Deng is still young, he is only a puppet king, and the specific cottage affairs are still handled by Yang Xuangan.

On this day, Yang Xuangan received a handwritten letter from his father Yang Su in the capital. After reading the letter, he invited Li Mi, who defected to him a month ago, to discuss. Because Zhu Deng was young and had to do martial arts, he was practicing marksmanship under the cliff of the back mountain at this time, so Yang Xuangan was not interested in sending someone to find him. But this Li Mi is his father's protégé, and he was recommended by his father to go up the mountain to join the gang. Yang Xuangan worshiped Li Mi as a military advisor, and he had to discuss all the affairs of the cottage.

"Mr. Xuansui, this is my father's handwritten letter, you can also read it and talk about your thoughts." Yang Xuan felt that the letter in his hand was handed to Li Mi. Li Mi hurriedly took it with both hands.

"Yue Gong is worthy of being a famous general and a founding father of the country, but this vision is longer than that of you and me." Li Mi couldn't help but sigh after putting down the letter.

"Yes! Seeing that the kings of Luoyang and Jinan were recruiting troops and horses, and they were about to start their troops, it was up to them to see who was the first to unveil the pole. Once the spark is ignited, it is bound to form a prairie fire. ”

"Judging from the letters, Yue Gong intends to let Brother Xuan Gan be the one who ignites the fire! It is necessary to make Jizhou, Luoyang and Shandong chaotic, and the more chaotic the better. Concentrate the power of the kings to weaken the power of Yang Guang, the king of Jin. ”

"A certain family is also looking for Mr. to discuss this, right now my Nanyang side is useless, according to my father's wishes, let me wait to vote for Wang Shichong, the king of Luoyang, and try to provoke him to raise the banner of anti-Sui first, sir, do you think this is feasible?"

"Huh! Wang Shichong is calm and suspicious by nature, and when I go to vote for him, he will doubt me, and he can't conspire with him, and he can't vote. ”

"What about Tang Bi?"

"Huh! Brother Xuangan, Tang Bi's stomach is very small, how can he tolerate people? Thinking that Qin Qiong, a Shandong hero, was sent to Langya Fei County to garrison, he was depressed. Why vote for this person? ”

"Will you please teach me?" Yang Xuangan couldn't sit still anymore, and hurriedly got up and bowed his hand.

"There is a green forest cottage between Jinan and Luoyang, the terrain is precipitous, the north can attack Liyang City, Wagang Mountain, Luoyang and Luokou can be taken in the west, and the Jeju Licheng can be robbed in the east. The owner of the village also has an old relationship with Brother Xuangan. Hehe! Li Mi touched this short beard with his hand, and deliberately did not say anything.

"Sir, do you mean Hou Junda's Red Peach Mountain?"

"The Red Peach Mountain is located between the various forces, and it is not threatened by the surrounding forces, and it can control a radius of hundreds of miles if it occupies the Red Peach Mountain, which is the best position to do things. If you want to deal with the king of Jin, you can take the Red Peach Mountain as the foundation, connect Tang Bi in the east, Wang Shichong in the west, and Shen Faxing in the south, and be at ease with the gate valve of the feudal town. Hou Junda's eyes are narrow, he doesn't want to forge ahead, he is just designing to win the mountain at this moment, if Brother Xuangan doesn't take it, sooner or later it will be taken by others. ”

Listening to Li Mi's words, Yang Xuangan fell into thought. After getting up and walking back and forth in the room twice, he said, "Okay! Even if Hou Junda is Wang Shichong's person, a certain family in this mountain will have to take it. Please Mr. for a certain design, that Hou Junda outstanding martial arts, the mountain is dangerous, can not be taken only resourceful. ”

"Huh! A certain person regards the mountain of red hearts as a pattern in the palm of his hand, it is very easy to take it, and the brother can be so -----," Li Mi whispered to Yang Xuangan.

"Hehehehehe! Good plan, good plan! Just act according to the plan, and tomorrow the soldiers will send a mountain of hearts. ”

Wang Shichong was gathering his subordinates to discuss at this moment.

"Ladies and gentlemen, although this king has already requested the expansion of the army in order to cope with the changes of the times. Helplessly, the court did not reply for a long time, no wonder this king. In the past month, my Zhongzhou Luoyang has expanded the army to 200,000, and I don't want to do things like before. Now there are more and more Jizhou refugees flowing into my Luoyang, and the opening of the canal by Yang Guang, the king of Jin, has caused public anger. Previously, Yang Guang, the king of Jin, sent troops to occupy the important town of Luokou east of my Luoyang, and Luokou is the gateway to the east of Luoyang. Wang Shichong said from the handsome seat.

"Lord Wang, Naluokou City is not only the only way for me to go east, but also on the throat road where my Luoyang goods are embarked from Banzhu Town, and it is time to seize the current favorable opportunity to attack it in one fell swoop." Master Hu added.

"Lord Wang, now that my Luoyang soldiers are full of food, it is the time to use the soldiers, and I can take it in one fell swoop while he is unprepared." Yang Gongqing, the chief bookkeeper in charge of the grain and straw of the palace, stood up and recommended.

"Hmmm! There are only 20,000 defenders there, and the general defending the city is a brave and unscrupulous puppet Wu Bao, this person is greedy for wine and obsessed with women, this king can take Luokou with a little trick, but this king is not willing to be a person who provokes war. Wang Shichong hesitated and said, he was not afraid of offending King Jin, but afraid of taking the name of being the first to make trouble.

"That being the case, the prince might as well wait and see, now Tangbi is more anxious than my Luoyang. It is said that he has the support of many families who fled from Jizhou, and there is countless money and food for him to raise troops. If he doesn't raise troops to make trouble, I'm afraid his position as the king of Jinan will not be guaranteed! Hehe! Master Hu stroked his beard and said with a laugh, and the generals in the Shuai Mansion also laughed when they heard it, but the situation facing Tang Bi was even more difficult, and the forces of the wealthy family were pushing him on the road to rebellion behind him, and the situation was already a little unbearable for him.

"Guo Shiheng and Zhang Tongren will listen to the order." Wang Shichong finished laughing, raised an arrow and shouted.

"The end will be." Guo and Zhang Er will respond together.

"Let the two of you form an elite team of 800 people, each with 400 people, and accompany the business traveler to infiltrate Luokou City to ambush. Wait for the king to order the attack from the inside out, waiting for the opportunity to seize the city gates. ”

"The last general commands." Guo and Zhang will take the order.

"Dong Jun and Wang Ren will listen to the order. Order the two of you to select 20,000 cavalry from the Chinese army, step up training, be the main force to capture the city, and follow the order to attack. ”

"Yes." The second generals Dong and Wang also received a golden order arrow.

"What is being discussed today must be kept secret, and no trace of it must be leaked, and those who violate the order will be beheaded."

A battle against Luokou City slowly began, and the defender Wu Bao did not notice anything different.

Tang Bi of Jinan Wangfu was facing the patriarchs of various families who were constantly "forcing the palace" at this time.

"Fu Jun, each of my families has sent 5,000 troops for Fu Jun to drive, and the patriarchs of each surname here can gather 40,000 troops, plus the new recruits recently recruited by Fu Jun, the total strength is no less than 100,000. What's the scruple about? ”

"Patriarch Gao, my lord has his own decision, don't force each other too much!" Tang Bi's general, Chu De, got up and pointed at the patriarch surnamed Gao and shouted.