In the middle of September of the thirteenth year of orthodoxy, Xuzhou Mansion, Pei County Jingoukou abandoned town.

This abandoned town is located in the north of Xuzhou City 30 miles, is from Shandong Yanzhou Mansion, Qingzhou Mansion south to Xuzhou must pass through, later because the bandits in the Wolf Mountain area often go down the mountain to plunder, so that the people in this town have fled, Jingoukou Town has also completely become a waste town.

And the more than 14,000 thieves of Ye Zong's residence department were all moved here by the Xu family not long ago, and the meaning of Xu Zhaohui, the head of the Xu family, could not be more obvious, that is, to use the people of Ye Zong's residence department as his own shield and cannon fodder.

However, Ye Zongliu and Wang Neng knew this, so they could only obey the order, and took more than 14,000 men and horses to Jingoukou obediently and stationed here.

After that, Ye Zongliu and Wang Neng took their men and horses for more than ten days to build a huge dock fort on the basis of this abandoned town, as a temporary shelter for everyone.

At this time, the money, grain, and baggage of Ye Zongliu's troops had been seized by Yushan Town, and Ye Zong's Liu's department could be said to have eaten the last meal but not the next, which was extremely miserable. At this time, the money, food, and baggage of more than 14,000 people were all supplied by the Xu family, as long as the head of the Xu family was unhappy one day, he could cut off the supply of Ye Zongliu's department at any time!

This is also the reason why Ye Zongliu obeyed the Xu family's words, and people had to bow their heads under the eaves!

After Ye Zongliu and Wang Neng settled the team, the Xu family was also interesting, and they would transport grain and grass every ten days, and Ye Zongliu's men and horses were not short of food, and the morale of the army gradually stabilized.

But the Xu family has never delivered supplies such as military equipment!

Ye Zongliu also sent someone to inquire, but the Xu family's reply was: The Xu family does not have so many military equipment, so it can only give priority to the Xu family's own people! As for the brothers under Leader Ye, they can only wait a little longer!

In fact, Ye Zongliu knew very well in his heart that this was because the Xu family did not believe in themselves and deliberately guarded against themselves.

Although everyone knows the truth, Wang Neng did not have such forbearance as Ye Zongliu, and immediately complained: "Wang, now the Xu family does not regard us as allies at all, but treats more than 10,000 of our brothers as watchdogs!" Once Liu Juntao comes south, we will bear the brunt of it, and we will be the cannon fodder that the Xu family has placed here! ”

Although Ye Zongliu was also angry in his heart, he was still able to take care of the overall situation, and said in a deep voice: "Now we can only stabilize the situation with the assistance of the Xu family, and then we can make a comeback!" As for Liu Juntao, he will not be able to go south at least in a short period of time, he is a strong man in Yushan Town, does he have the courage to lead the crowd to leave Shandong Yue Province? ”

"Then why not!"

Wang Neng said: "Now that there are conflicts between powerful people in various places, how many people are gathering to cross the line? Then how could Liu Juntao care about this? ”

"Of course he cares!"

Ye Zongliu sneered and said: "Liu Juntao is different from other heroes, others are just gathering crowds to fight at best, and crossing the line is also crossing the line, and the local government will not care if they can ignore it." And Liu Juntao is different, he has more than 10,000 men and horses, and all of them are firecrackers! If there is no reasonable excuse, as long as Liu Juntao goes south to Xuzhou, we don't need to do it, the government will jump out and clean up Liu Juntao, which is called gathering people to rebel! ”

Hearing this, Wang Neng's excited emotions calmed down a little, and said in a deep voice: "King, then we are now restricted by the Xu family everywhere, which can be described as relying on people's snorts!" How are we going to make a comeback? Do you still want to go around captive people? ”

Ye Zongliu shook his head, and immediately rejected Wang Neng's suggestion, saying, "This is Xuzhou, not Qingzhou Mansion!" With the Xu family here, we can't act at will, and we still can't do the thing of capturing the population, otherwise the Xu family will definitely come out to interfere. ”

"How's that good?"

Wang Neng said worriedly: "Now we have more than 14,000 people left, and our strength is not enough, we must expand the number of people as soon as possible!" ”

"I know!"

Ye Zongliu also frowned and said, "I need time!" I want to think about how we will make a comeback in the future! ”

On this day, the news that Liu Juntao was appointed as the head of the Yanzhou Mansion People's League reached Xuzhou Mansion.

When Ye Zongliu heard the news, the whole person was like five thunderbolts, and he stayed in place on the spot, unable to come back to his senses for a long time.

Wang Neng next to him was also shocked, and said in a trembling voice: "King! In this way, what can I do! ”

Ye Zongliu also had a bloodless face, and said: "Then Liu Juntao is now a grass citizen and an official, and he may lead his troops south to Xuzhou at any time, so we have to make plans early!" ”

On the same day, Ye Zongliu left Wang Neng to lead 14,000 men and horses to garrison Jingoukou in Pei County, and at the same time seize the time to reserve food and materials, build Jingoukou Dock Fort, and be ready to deal with Liu Juntao leading his troops south to Xuzhou.

And Ye Zongliu took more than a dozen entourages and hurried to the Xu family.

West of Xuzhou, Xujia in Xiao County.

The dozen or so entourages brought by Ye Zongliu were all standing in the courtyard at this time, and there were dozens of fierce family members around them, as if they were guarding prisoners.

And Ye Zongliu was talking to Xu Zhaohui, the head of the Xu family, in the hall.

"Leader Ye, then Liu Juntao has gained power now, do you and I still have a chance?"

Ye Zongliu said: "If you go home, although Liu Juntao is powerful, our two families are not muddy!" The Xu family has iron ore and craftsmen, and we can also build fire guns like Yushan Town! When the time comes, our tens of thousands of horses will all be equipped with firearms, are we still afraid that we will not be able to defeat Yushan Town? ”

"Humph!"

Xu Zhaohui, the head of the Xu family, immediately sneered when he heard this, and said: "In this way, then my Xu family will have to build tens of thousands of firecrackers, each firecracker needs at least eight taels of silver, plus the cost of waste products, the cost of a firecracker will even rise to as much as ten taels, which is hundreds of thousands of taels of silver!" This is not counting the cost of retraining tens of thousands of horses, all of them are added together, and my Xu family will spend at least one million taels of silver! ”

Hearing the words of Xu Zhaohui, the head of the Xu family, Ye Zongliu was also dumbfounded, he never expected that it would cost so much silver to build an army of firearms, it was simply a bottomless pit that devoured real money!

But after thinking about it, Ye Zongliu's heart was hot again, and said: "Family master, since it costs so much money to build an army of firearms, then the cost of more than 10,000 people and horses under Liu Juntao must be a lot, which shows even more that Yushan Town is rich, as long as we defeat Liu Juntao, the money and food in Yushan Town can completely make up for the consumption of the Xu family, and the head of the family can also get an army of firearms, why not!" ”

Although Ye Zongliu's words were very tempting, Xu Zhaohui was still unmoved, and just said: "Now that Liu Juntao is in full swing, I think it is better for the two of us to lie dormant for a while, and avoiding its edge is the best policy!" In my opinion, we may be able to send someone to negotiate peace with Liu Juntao, and when the time comes, the enmity between the two sides will be eliminated, and we will have time to develop our forces! ”

Hearing this, Ye Zongliu's face couldn't help but change, and his heart was even more angry, seeing that the Xu family might lead to Yushan Town at any time, he didn't know what to say for a while.

The two were silent for a while, and Ye Zongliu secretly said in his heart: "Since the Xu family wants to stop fighting, then it's good to stop fighting!" I also took advantage of this opportunity to develop my strength. However, if Liu Juntao insists on being my enemy, then I don't mind leading the war to the Xu family, it's a big deal that everyone will end up together! ”

Thinking of this, Ye Zongliu forced out a smile and said, "Okay! Since the head of the family has decided, then I absolutely support it. It's just that, after all, I have met Liu Juntao Bingrong, so please ask the head of the family to come forward to communicate about this matter! ”

"That's nature!"

On the same day, Ye Zongliu left the Xu family in Xiao County with more than a dozen entourages, and rushed all the way to the Wubao of Jingoukou in Pei County in the north.

After entering the Wubao of Jingoukou, Wang Neng hurriedly stepped forward to inquire about the situation.

Ye Zongliu briefly explained the attitude of the Xu family, Wang Neng was suddenly startled, and said, "This is not easy to do!" King, if the Xu family reconciles with Yushan Town, then we will have no place to stand! ”

"Humph!"

Ye Zongliu said coldly: "Even if the Xu family and Yushan Town shake hands and make peace, the Xu family will not attack us for a while, we still have time!" If there is really no way out, let's take the Xu family first and occupy the Xu family's family business! ”

Wang Neng also showed a fierce face when he heard this, and said, "It's okay! Let's take the brothers here to watch the changes, and sit and watch how the Xu family and Yushan Town change! ”