Looking at Li Yu and Tian Yi, who were serious and loyal to Gongsun, Kui was so angry that he stared dryly, and he didn't have a point.

On the other side, slightly yang.

Liu Xiu received a letter from Cen Peng, the content of which was the latest movements of the Long Army.

Luoyang military camp, the Chinese military tent.

According to the content of the letter, Liu Xiu pointed at the map and said: "Kui Huan has deployed his main forces at the junction of Hanyang and Anding, obviously, he is even more afraid of Gongsun's expedition to the west!" ”

Choshi said: "Kui Huan laid down an army of 100,000 in the Bo Luo Gu of Jitou Road, and the main general will be Niu Han, I heard that this person is brave and good at fighting, and he is good at using soldiers, so it is not easy to deal with!" ”

Lai Xi rolled his eyes and said, "Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that Niu Han and his people can also be fought for!" ”

"Oh?"

Liu Xiu's eyes lit up and asked, "Doctor Lai has a personal relationship with Niu Han?" ”

Lai She shook his head and said: "Wechen has only met Niu Han twice, and there is no friendship, but Wechen knows that Niu Han and Wang Zun have a very deep friendship, and Wang Zun is inclined to His Majesty, if Wang Zun is willing to come forward to persuade Niu Han, Niu Han is likely to defect." ”

When Liu Xiu and the others heard this, they were all surprised and delighted.

You must know that the most powerful soldiers are Niu Hanbu.

If Niu Han can defect, it will mean too much to his side.

After Lai Shu finished speaking, Liu Xiu fell into deep thought, and he paced back and forth in front of the map with his hands behind his back.

I don't know how long it took, he suddenly stopped and said, "The main force of our army is not suitable to enter Hanyang for the time being." ”

Everyone was shocked and looked at Liu Xiu in surprise.

Liu Xiu said: "First, since Niu Han can fight, we need to try it anyway, if we can really persuade Niu Han to return to the imperial court, our army and soldiers, I don't know how many casualties will be reduced." ”

People nodded their heads in agreement.

Liu Xiu continued: "Second, if the main force of our army attacks Hanyang now, Gongsun Shu will definitely send more soldiers and horses to reinforce Kui Huan, which is very unfavorable to our army, therefore, we now need the Southern Expeditionary Army to launch an offensive to Shu in Nanjun, whether we can win the battle is secondary, the most important point is to firmly contain the Shu army in Shu, so that it does not dare to reinforce Hanyang!" ”

The coming, cho, and sacrificial priests all nodded again and again, and said in unison: "Your Majesty is reasonable! ”

Liu Xiu smiled, changed his words, and said: "But in this way, in the next period of time, the officers and soldiers of our army will be alone in Luoyang!" ”

Choshi said: "Your Majesty, in the city of Lüyang, there is plenty of grain and grass, and our army will defend Lüyang for a month or two, and it will not be a problem." ”

Liu Xiu pondered it carefully and said, "Although there is a lot of grain and grass hoarded in Luoyang, it still has to be used sparingly.

From now on, all officers and men of the army will be changed from three meals a day to two meals a day. ”

When everyone heard this, they all gasped, and Choshi said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, now it's two meals a day, it's inevitable...... Maybe it's too early! ”

The grain and grass hoarded in Luoyang were enough for their 20,000 soldiers to eat for a month or two.

Liu Xiu said: "We are alone in Luoyang, we don't know how long we will stay here, the sooner we save money, the easier we will be in the future, and the more confident we will be." ”

After a pause, he said: "Also, immediately hang a notice to show the people in Luoyang City that the food and grass in the city are insufficient, and if there are people who want to escape the war and flee, they can be released from the city!" ”

Ordinary people will hoard some food at home, but the amount will not be too much, and I am afraid that they may not be able to eat for a month.

Liu Xiu didn't know how long this war would last, if the people ran out of food, and he couldn't watch the people starve to death, he could only take out military rations to relieve the people, which was too much of a burden for his side.

In order to avoid this situation, it is better to let the people of Luoyang out of the city now, so that it is equivalent to unloading a big burden on their own side.

Liu Xiu was ready to fight a protracted war in Luoyang, on the one hand, he asked the soldiers of the whole army to tighten their belts and save money, and on the other hand, he let the people in the city take refuge in the city.

The next day, early in the morning, the Han army opened the gate of Dongcheng, and a large number of people flocked out.

When the grain merchants in Lüyang wanted to escape from the city with grain, they were stopped by the Han army, and the Han army did not rob them of their grain, but bought grain at a price lower than 50% of the market price.

Of course, the grain merchants could choose not to sell, but the Han army could also choose to detain them and keep them from leaving the city.

After weighing the pros and cons, the grain merchants finally compromised and agreed to sell the grain to the Han army.

The money used by the Han army to buy grain was not their own, but was obtained from the Luoyang Silver Treasury.

In the past few days, the people have escaped from Lüyang one after another, and the Han army took this opportunity to purchase a large amount of grain from the grain merchants, all of which were collected in the Lüyang granary, so that the grain hoarded in Lüyang was more sufficient.

Liu Xiu has been fighting on the battlefield for so many years, and he is a 'veteran' in the army, and he knows too well the importance of food to the army.

If there is food, there will be people, and if there is no food, everything will not be discussed, and no matter how strong the soldiers and horses are, they will be scattered.

Even if the soldiers have exhausted the weapons in their hands, as long as the food and grass are sufficient, the soldiers can rush to the battlefield with their fists.

These days, the Long army and the Shu army did not launch another offensive against Luoyang, but sat in the barracks and watched groups of people flee from the city.

In this regard, Kui Huan is quite happy and happy to see it happen.

The people in the city have run out, the Han army will not be able to catch strong men in the city, and the strength of the Han army will not be replenished.

Five days later, the number of people in the city of Lüyang dropped sharply, from more than 10,000 to less than 1,000.

Even in broad daylight, the streets of Lüyang City are crowded and rare, empty, like a dead city.

On this morning, Liu Xiu first climbed the gate tower of Xicheng, raised his eyes and looked out, the camps of the Long army and the Shu army still had no movement at all, and there was no intention of coming to attack, the corners of Liu Xiu's mouth were hooked, and he sneered.

The coalition forces of Kui Huan and Gongsun Shu have their own selfish intentions, and no one wants to pay, they all want to sit and wait for the harvest.

This situation is exactly the same as the story of the monk fetching water.

One monk can have water to drink, but two monks have no water to drink.

Seeing that the Long army and the Shu army were going to pass the buck to each other for a while, Liu Xiu was also quite relaxed, taking Luo You, Long Yuan, Xu Ying and others, as well as Hei Mao, to patrol the city.

Now in Luoyang City, there is actually nothing to visit.

The shops on both sides of the street are basically closed, and walking on the street is called an empty and open place, even if you walk out of a few streets, you may not meet a pedestrian.

This situation and this scene made Long Yuan and others feel a lot.

When they first captured Luoyang, the city was still very lively, the streets and alleys, bustling, busy, passing through, but now looking at Luoyang, it is simply a ghost city, a dead city.

Long Yuan whispered, "Your Majesty, have we let the people go too much?" ”

Liu Xiu smiled indifferently and said: "It is not safe and a burden for the people to stay in the city, and it is better for them to be willing to leave." ”

As they were talking, a group of people came running up to them, looking like twenty or thirty people, each with a large bag and a small roll on their body.

After this group of people saw Liu Xiu and the others, they stopped one after another, stretched their necks one by one, and stopped to watch.

When the distance between the two sides became closer and closer, the group of people turned around and ran away silently.

Liu Xiu frowned, bowed his chin to Nunu, and said, "Go and see what's going on!" ”

With his order, Long Yuan, Long Zhun, Long Xiao, Xuying, Xuting, and Xufei rushed up together.

Without moving, the six of them punched and kicked, and in just a moment's work, they knocked all the twenty or so people to the ground.

Long Yuan lifted one of them, dragged him to Liu Xiu like a dead dog, and then threw him to the ground, the man struggled to get up, and Long Yuan stepped on his chest, making him unable to move.

Luo You stepped forward, ripped off the package that this person was carrying, opened it, Liu Xiu looked down, and it was full of gold and silver utensils, like silver plates, bowls and chopsticks, gilded candlesticks, etc., bits and pieces, such a big pile.

But it can be seen that each of them is very delicate and valuable.

Look at this young man who was brought over by Long Yuan, in his twenties, wearing short brown and pedaling straw sandals.

Now that the weather is getting colder, and he is still wearing straw sandals at this time, he must be poor, which does not correspond to the gold and silver utensils he carries.

Liu Xiu asked, "These things are all yours?" ”

"Yes...... It's my ......" Before the young man's voice fell, Long Yuan strengthened his feet and scolded in a deep voice: "Tell the truth! ”

"Oops, the bones are broken! The bones are going to break! ”

The young man screamed in pain, and seeing that Long Yuan was unmoved, he hurriedly said, "These ...... These are the ...... we stole from the Li Mansion" Liu Xiu said expressionlessly: "You are so bold that you dare to steal in broad daylight!" ”

The young man said hesitantly: "The people in the Li Mansion have run out, these things, if you put them away, you might as well ...... Why don't you ...... cheaper, you thieves? ”

Liu Xiu scoffed at these people who didn't work hard.

"We risked losing our heads to stay in Lüyang, that is...... I just want to make a lot of money......" After a pause, the young man looked at Liu Xiu and asked, "Who are you?"

Why do you mind my business? ”

Liu Xiu and the others were all in civilian clothes, and the young people naturally couldn't recognize their true identities.

Long Yuan stomped his feet on the young man's chest and said in a deep voice, "You just need to answer the question, let you ask the question?" ”

The young man's face turned pale with pain, and his body was clumped.

Liu Xiu asked, "You just finished stealing the Li Mansion, where do you want to steal now?" ”

"We ...... We're not going to steal anymore, we just want to go home......" "Don't tell the truth yet! ”

Long Yuan raised his foot, and stepped down harder.

Before his feet fell, the young man was so frightened that he said in a loud voice, "We...... We are also going to go to Yang Mansion, I heard that the people in Yang Mansion have also run away, and there are a lot of good things in it...... "It sounds like they are not the only thieves in the city, but there are several groups of thieves, and there are also information exchanges between each other?"

It seems that the people who are still in Lüyang are either so poor that they really don't have the money to leave, or they are thinking of making a windfall.

Liu Xiu was silent for a moment and asked, "Where is the Yang Mansion?" ”

"In ...... On the northwest side, the most ...... The biggest house! ”

The young man raised his head and pointed in a northwest direction.

Liu Xiu took a look at the situation, did not continue to ask, and said to Long Yuan: "Find some soldiers to come over, escort these thieves down the west city wall, and carry rolling logs and stones." ”

Aren't you idle in the city and only think about stealing?

Okay, I'll find you some work to do! Carrying rolling wood and stones is a heavy physical work, and pulling these thieves to work can save some physical strength of your own soldiers.

Long Yuan agreed, walked away quickly, not for long, two teams of patrols were brought over by him, after hearing Long Yuan's intentions, the two teams of patrols took these more than 20 thieves away and escorted them to Xicheng.

Liu Xiu shook his head and said, "Let's go, let's go to the Li Mansion!" I want to see how many thieves there are in this Luoyang City! ”