Cao Bao narrowed his eyes and pondered in his heart.

The words of the Luo family envoy, he believed seven points, and there were three points in doubt. But even if it's only seven points to be believed, it's a great opportunity.

Before, the Yellow River was like a boundary, and their Xia army never thought of crossing the river and heading south.

"The general wants to go south to take Dongjun?"

Several generals were a little surprised.

"But His Majesty had a strict order before, and he said that we couldn't wait to cross the Yellow River South without permission."

Cao Bao maintained a relaxed expression, "Of course I remember that His Majesty had this ban, but at that time, at this time. Besides, His Majesty forbade our army to go south, because at the beginning, our territory was only in the plains and the Bohai Sea, and the south was the land of Qi County, which was Luo Cheng's hometown, and Zhang Xutuo guarded it. ”

Luo Cheng is Dou Jiande's old boss, although this old boss is only for a while, but Cao Bao is also very clear that his brother-in-law respects and fears Luo Cheng.

But isn't that different now?

Now my brother-in-law has established the country and become the emperor, and there are also nine counties. Especially in Hebei, there are only a few opponents left, and they are not so easy to deal with, and now the four counties in Henan are sent by the Luo family, if he doesn't take it, it will be taken by Li Mi or Li Yuan.

"Don't miss the opportunity."

"It's not just Dongjun, but the land of Dongjun, Jiyin, Liang County, and Qiaojun, all of which are east of the canal and canal, which can be described as the most anointing place. If our army takes these four counties, it will be able to gain a foothold in Henan. At that time, His Majesty will lead a large army to the south, as long as Li Mi is defeated in one fell swoop, then the Central Plains will be all owned by my Great Xia, and the world will be determined. ”

Cao Bao talked endlessly about the importance of taking the four counties, and it was even so important that he didn't have time to wait for a reply from the Hejian side.

We have to go south now, otherwise as soon as the Luo family withdraws, these four counties will fall into the hands of Li Mi.

And Li Mi is now recognized by the Xia State as the biggest opponent in the Central Plains.

December.

The Central Plains is sprinkled with snow, and the earth is covered in snow.

The cold weather made the Yellow River freeze early as in previous years.

Cao Bao led an army of 5,000 from Ji County to the south, and when he arrived at the bank of the Yellow River, he found that the river ice here was frozen early, and people and horses could directly cross the river by stepping on the ice.

This is very convenient for him.

"God help me!" Cao Bao said with a smile, if it was summer and autumn, it would be more troublesome to cross the river, but now, the Yellow River is just a smooth road.

"Hurry up and go to Leshou to report the victory, saying that I have crossed the Yellow River and gone to collect the four counties."

Cao Bao crossed the Yellow River, but he was still very cautious.

He sent a number of cavalry to reconnoitre, while his own army of the Fifth Army moved forward slowly.

The good news keeps coming.

In Baima City, Dongjun, there is really no Shandong Army anymore.

There was only a small group of Shandong troops left behind, but they were waiting for them to hand over.

It's just that there is also some not very good news, that is, although the Luo family army in White Horse City has withdrawn, they have also taken the people away, and now there is only an empty city left.

"Empty city? An empty city is also a city, and as long as it occupies the territory of the city, there will always be people. After hearing this, Cao Bao frowned, and then said.

Next, Cao Bao quickly occupied White Horse City, the county seat of Dongjun.

Continue to send cavalry, and soon bring back similar good news, Weinan, Lingchang, Weicheng, Yincheng, Kuangcheng, Puyang, Juancheng, Shandong army has been evacuated.

When they withdrew, they took with them the general population.

"So many people, how did they take them all away at once, how did they do it?"

"It shouldn't have been temporarily evacuated, but the people have been relocated for most of the year."

"Where did you go, did you all go to Qilu Donglai?"

"Some of them went there, but many of them were sent directly to Liaodong."

However, this news made Cao Bao more and more relieved, after all, it took so much effort to move people away, in his opinion, the more the Luo family wants to give up Shandong, at least it is ironclad evidence that the four counties in the east of the canal will be abandoned.

"Go to Jijun to pass on my military orders, transfer all the soldiers and horses, and we must hurry up the time to seize the cities of the four counties."

Between the rivers.

Le Shou, Jincheng Palace.

After listening to Cao Bao's messenger report, Dou Jiande, the emperor of the Xia Kingdom, breathed a little unevenly.

And Nayan Song Zhengben simply said angrily, "Nonsense, it's nonsense!" ”

Kong Shaode, the waiter of the internal history, couldn't help it, "How can General Cao easily wade into this troubled water, don't you know, these four counties have now become a fierce land, and several families compete for it, and it is quite dangerous to easily intervene." ”

Song Zhengben and Kong Shaode are both Dou Jiande's prime ministers.

Song Zheng was originally Raoyang County Order, erudite and talented, after the city was broken by Dou Jiande, Dou was extremely courteous and benevolent to him and the people in the city, and finally Song was moved by him, only to be attached to him, and for him to offer a strategy for Hebei, won the trust of Dou, after the establishment of the country, awarded the important position of acceptance.

Kong Shaode was originally also a Sui official, and later attached to Dou.

It can be said that although Dou also started from recklessness, after all, he had been a lizheng, a government soldier, and a soldier in the expedition to Liao, so his knowledge was not ordinary. When he first started his business, he did not plunder everywhere, but did a salt business according to Douzigang, and at the same time cooperated with the government to help suppress bandits.

After his strength grew, he also began to attack the county, but after he captured the county, he never liked to kill soldiers and behead officials and rob the people like other rebels and bandits in Hebei, but treated the captured officials and soldiers with a very gentle attitude, so he was quickly supported by many people.

When he became emperor, although the generals under his command were mainly old brothers, there were also many Sui generals who were attached, and his ministers were basically officials of the original Sui Dynasty, or local nobles.

"Are Song Nayan and Kong Shilang both opposed sending troops south?" Dou Jiande asked.

"Of course it's against it, that's muddy waters, it's a dead land, and whoever gets involved in it is unlucky."

"But it's also an opportunity." Dou Jiande said.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that now is not an opportunity, but a trap, even if you want to go south, you have to wait for Li Mi, Wang Shichong, Li Yuan, and Luo Gui to kill first, and then we will make another move, now it's too early."

Ling Jing also stood up and said that he was a military advisor who Dou Jiande relied on as his confidant, and he was resourceful.

"Zhang Yushi, what do you think?"

Dou Jiande asked Zhang Xuansu, the secretary of the imperial history and the waiter of the Yellow Gate, Zhang was originally the commander of Jingcheng County, and he was also captured after the city was broken, and the people of Jingcheng pleaded for Zhang at that time, and then Dou treated him with courtesy.

At the beginning, Zhang Xuansu did not accept Dou's official title, and he was unwilling to offer him a word until the news of Yang Guang's murder in Jiang was returned, and Zhang Xuansu accepted Dou Jiande's re-award, so he served Yushi and Huangmen Shilang with Zhishu, and also became the prime minister of Xia State.

Zhang Xuansu and Song Zhengben, Kong Shaode and Ling Jing agreed that the four counties of Shandong were not only not pies at this time, but were still traps.

Liu Jing, the secretary of the Ministry of War, also suggested to the emperor that Luo Gui gave up the four counties so easily, precisely because he saw that all parties were gathered here now, and this place had become a murderous place, so he took the initiative to evacuate first.

"But Cao Bao has already crossed the river, what should I do?" Dou Jiande originally thought that going south to take the four counties at this time was an opportunity, seizing the opportunity and not giving Li Mi a chance.

But now listening to these prime ministers, Dou Jiande is also a little panicked.

Especially when they said that the Luo family deliberately evacuated, this was originally a trap, and Dou was even more panicked, and he still had an inexplicable awe of Luo Cheng.