On 6 November, news from Sichuan reached Xiangyang. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 After Zhang Xianzhong defeated the official army again in Zitong and Mianzhu, he crossed the Mianhe River to the west and went south to Shifang, Deyang, Jintang and other counties through Mianzhu. The prefectures and counties through which he passed were easily captured by Zhang Xianzhong. "The city is empty", "the treasury is empty". On November 2, Zhang Xianzhong arrived at the city of Chengdu, and the world was shaken.

Li Zhi no longer stays in Xiangyang. The army pulled out the camp and chased after Chengdu. Since Yang Sichang was determined not to support Li Zhi, Li Zhi could only defeat Zhang Xianzhong on his own.

At the beginning of December, Li Zhi rushed to Guang'an Prefecture in Sichuan, which was still 600 miles away from Chengdu. At this time, news came from the front line that Zhang Xianzhong had given up attacking Chengdu City, but went to Luzhou, and attacked Luzhou when the city gate was wide open.

Li Zhi abandoned Chengdu and rushed to Luzhou.

On December 8, Li Zhi chased Zhang Xianzhong, who was fighting all the way, and chased him to Yongchuan County, not far from Luzhou.

The county commander of Yongchuan County is worried that Zhang Xianzhong's thieves are coming to attack the city every day, and they are all soldiers every day. At this time, when he heard that the world-famous Li Zhi's army had arrived, he was very happy and greeted him ten miles away from the city. The county commander led people to carry pigs and sheep to reward the officers and soldiers, so that Li Zhi's soldiers had a fresh meal -- the tiger division only had white rice and dried meat soup to eat when they marched, and Li Zhi's soldiers had already drunk the dried meat soup for a month, and they had already faded out.

Seeing the enthusiasm of the magistrate, Li Zhi took the opportunity and the county order to buy 5,000 stone of rice, which was used as food and grass for the march.

After buying grain, Li Zhi did not stay and went directly to Luzhou in the southwest. The county commander was very reluctant to see the officials and soldiers coming and leaving, but rode all the way to send Li Zhi out of the county.

Before he left the county border of Yongchuan County, Li Zhi's scouts rode back and reported: "There is Zuo Liangyu's 20,000 troops in front, stationed at the foot of Dengjialing Mountain in the southwest of Yongchuan County. ”

Li Zhi was stunned when he heard the news, and asked the county order: "Since there are 20,000 officials and troops of Zuo Liangyu in Yongchuan, why does the county need to worry so much about the thieves?" ”

The county commander sighed, shook his head and replied: "Lord Taibao doesn't know, that Zuo Liangyu's soldiers are very arrogant, they robbed grain, pigs and sheep in my Yongchuan, robbed and raped women, and acted worse than thieves, where is the official army?" The people in the ten miles near the Zuojun camp seemed to have suffered a disaster, and all of them abandoned their homes and fled. After a pause, the county order said: "And this Zuo Liangyu does not face Zhang Xianzhong at all, if Zhang Xianzhong really came, he would have run away long ago, and he would not guard Yongchuan County." ”

Li Zhi didn't think that he hadn't seen Zuo Liangyu for less than three years, and he was even more arrogant than before.

Zuo Liangyu's army was stationed in the south of Yongchuan County, stuck on the road that Li Zhi had to pass to advance. Li Zhi arrested Zuo Liangyu's soldiers in Anqing three years ago, and refused Zuo Liangyu's rescue, and had a holiday with Zuo Liangyu. Li Zhi didn't expect Zuo Liangyu to come out to entertain him, so he walked over with his soldiers.

Walking to Zuo Liangyu's camp, Li Zhi found that the camp was backed by mountains and rivers, and it was very tightly arranged.

Li Zhi used a telescope to observe the inside of Zuo Liangyu's camp, and found that when he passed by the periphery of the camp, the soldiers on the left in the camp were wearing armor one by one, staring at the passing military horses on his side, as if they were facing a great enemy. In that way, it is not like the official army meets the official army, but it is like a bandit meeting the official army.

Li Zhi shook his head. For a warlord like Zuo Liangyu who plundered the people, the Ming court had no choice but to rely on it, which shows the decline of the country. It is really a joke for a warlord who relies on such a thief to raise himself to suppress thieves, no wonder the thieves are more and more slaughtered.

Bidding farewell to the Yongchuan County Order, Li Zhi's soldiers and horses continued to rush to Luzhou. Zhang Xianzhong was in Luzhou, and many officers and soldiers chased him to the vicinity. Li Zhi entered the border of Luzhou, and halfway through, he met the soldiers and horses of Cao Bianjiao, the chief soldier of Yutian, and Long Wenguang, the new governor of Sichuan.

Shao Jiechun, the governor of Sichuan, was lured into the mountains by Zhang Xianzhong in June and died, and Long Wenguang was his successor, who had just taken office in September.

When the two heard that Li Zhi's army was coming, they led their troops out of Shili to welcome the crown prince Li Zhi.

Cao Bianjiao is okay, he has seen the soldiers of the Tiger Division before, and he knows how strong the soldiers and horses of the Tiger Division are. But Long Wenguang saw the Tiger Benji for the first time, and was taken aback by the elite of the Tiger Benshi.

Long Wenguang had only heard that Li Zhi's soldiers and horses were strong before, and he had an impression, but when he saw it with his own eyes today, the impact was very different. The fire guns, cannons, and armor of the Tiger Master, the incomparably sophisticated equipment, and the style of the 10,000 people who ordered and forbade them all made Long Wenguang feel a little shocked.

Long Wenguang said secretly, among the soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty, Li Zhibu is definitely the strongest. In front of Li Zhi, no Guan Ningjun or Zuo Liangyu can only bow down.

As soon as they saw Li Zhi, Cao Bianjiao and Long Wenguang walked up to greet Li Zhi and saluted him.

Li Zhi was also very happy to see his acquaintance Cao Bianjiao, and dismounted to return the salute to the two.

Li Zhi, Cao Bianjiao, and Long Wenguang walked into Long Wenguang's Chinese army tent. Li Zhi was originally going to sit under Long Wenguang, but Long Wenguang said: "The crown prince has been on the battlefield for a long time, and he has millions of soldiers in his chest. At this time, he led the world's strong army to aid Shu, and it was the time to exterminate the thieves with a drum. How dare my generation be at the top of the Taibao? Taibao, please take a seat! ”

Li Zhi laughed, sat down on the top of Cao Wenzhao and Long Wenguang, and took a sip of tea.

"General Xiao Cao, Dongnu was in Tianjin at the time, you helped me guard Fanjiazhuang, I still owe you a favor!"

Cao Bianjiao saw that Li Zhi still remembered this favor, laughed, and said, "Taibao still remembers this? ”

"How not to remember? I'm still wondering how to repay you for this favor! ”

Cao Bianjiao smiled, and said, "Taibao wants to exterminate the sacrifice thief alone this time?" ”

Li Zhi said slowly: "Although there are many soldiers and horses to suppress thieves this time, there are very few soldiers and horses with a fighting spirit. Zhang Xianzhong was in Luzhou, surrounded by officials and soldiers, but they were all watching. I can't command the soldiers and horses of the other general soldiers, so I can only lead the troops and horses of my headquarters to attack Luzhou City and take Zhang Xianzhong. ”

Cao Bianjiao and Long Wenguang glanced at each other and did not speak.

Li Zhi asked, "Governor Long, how many thieves does this thief have now?" ”

Long Wenguang replied: "Now Luo Rucai, Hui Dengxiang and other thieves have thrown themselves into the command of the thieves. There are 30,000 foot soldiers, 15,000 old thieves, and 8,000 pond horses. After a pause, Long Wenguang said: "Sometimes the thieves will gather some hungry soldiers. However, the thieves moved to various parts of Sichuan, marching extremely fast, and these hungry soldiers often ran for dozens of miles before scattering. has been following the thieves around, or these more than 50,000 soldiers and horses. ”

It turned out that there were more than 50,000 soldiers and horses for the thieves, and Li Zhi pondered in his heart for a while without speaking.

Cao Bianjiao looked at Long Wenguang, and said to Li Zhi: "Lord Taibao's army has arrived in Luzhou, and the situation between the enemy and us has changed greatly, and it is only a day and night to take the head of the thief. Our 4,000 cavalry are willing to fight with the Taibao and are willing to be the second assistant, but they want to kill the thief and make meritorious service. ”

Cao Bianjiao is a smart person, and he knows that Li Zhi will definitely take down Zhang Xianzhong this time.

In front of such an opportunity, of course Cao Bianjiao has to take advantage of it. He was willing to hand over the command of his 4,000 soldiers and horses to Li Zhi and be Li Zhi's deputy general, just hoping to get some credit and get promoted and make a fortune.

Although Yang Sichang hinted that the armies should not assist Li Zhi, Cao Bianjiao was too lazy to deal with Yang Sichang. Yang Sichang has lost power, the Son of Heaven no longer trusts him, and it is not only Zuo Liangyu and He Renlong who dare to disobey his orders.

And Cao Bianjiao is different from other military attachés, Cao Bianjiao and Li Zhi can be regarded as some friendships. Li Zhi still remembers Cao Bianjiao's favor, which shows that Li Zhi is a kind person. Cao Bianjiao is self-controlled: If he helps Li Zhi defeat Zhang Xianzhong, when the time comes, he will repay his merits, and his first-level merits will naturally not be missing.

Cao Bianjiao's official position is the governor of Zuodu, if he can make meritorious contributions to the battle with Li Zhi, a prince Shaobao, or even the prince Taibao, will not be able to escape.

Li Zhi saw that Cao Bianjiao was willing to fight with him, smiled, and was about to agree, but heard Long Wenguang also say: "Lord Taibao, the lower officials are also willing to fight with the adults." Our 8,000 Sichuan soldiers are willing to listen to the guidance of Lord Taibao. ”