Li Mao ordered to step up the training of soldiers and horses, and sent envoys to Yunzhou to ask for troops to suppress bandits, in order to eliminate the stubborn bandits and calm the place; In order to establish their own personal authority and deter opponents; In order to gain the trust and favor of Yunzhou.

Li Shigu soon used Zhang Shuye, the soldier and horse envoy of the Yangdao Army, as the envoy of Cao, Yan, and Pu, and Li Mao, the deputy envoy of the Qing Navy, Ashina Bei, the soldier and horse envoy of Lishan Town of the Pinglu Army, and the regimental training and defense envoys of various prefectures as the deputy envoys, with the garrison in the three states as the main backbone, and cooperated with the Pinglu Army to recruit the thieves in the territory.

After Zhang Shuye was instructed, he held a meeting of generals above the battalion level in Yanzhou to formulate strategies and divide regions, and after some bargaining, Li Mao's Qing navy was mainly responsible for suppressing bandits in Chengwu County in Caozhou and Leize County, Linpu County, and Fan County in Puzhou.

The task was received, Li Mao began to set up a camp, this time the responsibility of suppressing bandits is heavy, Li Mao decided to take command of the expedition, in addition to the city defense battalion, all the military horses in one conquest, ten generals in addition to the city bureau Xia Chun, the remaining nine people with the army to listen to the use, leaving the clerk for Gushan Town to stay, the military material institute made Xiao Chengli sit in Gushan Town to deploy grain and grass ordnance, deputy envoy Liu Yi served as the camp grain and material institute envoy, with Huang Renfan, Yin Zhu as the left and right vanguard generals, and the headquarters as the vanguard. Li Yu's headquarters is the left army, Chen Wanchun's headquarters is the right army, and Chen Lan, the commander of the Chinese army, and Xue Lao, the commander of the Chinese army, are the main and deputy generals of the heavy army.

Li Mao served as the chief general of the Chinese army, Ma Hedong and Zhang Qi were deputies, Zheng Xiaozhang was the marching Sima, Hu Nanxiang was the secretary, and Zhang Xuan was the camp of the Chinese army. Li Yingtan's troops were the left and right guards of the Yuhou team, with a total of 888 people in each army.

He transformed the military academy's lecture hall into an officer training center, appointed himself as the chief instructor, and spent a winter training session on all officers at and above the rank of commander in rotation, with the focus of the rotation training of grass-roots officers on tactics and martial arts, and the focus of rotational training for middle- and high-level officers was on solving ideological problems.

After rotation training, the garrison of Gushan Town, which was scattered because of turmoil and reorganization, reunited, at least on the surface, of course, only one winter rotation training could not solve the deep-seated problems, let alone make it a monolith, and the real combat friendship must be condensed, rooted, and sprouted in the battle, which is also the fundamental motivation for Li Mao's outpouring of the nest.

Before going to Yanzhou to attend the military meeting held by Uncle Zhang, Li Mao hesitated about the direction in which he would send troops to suppress the bandits. Li Mao is one of the founders of Gushan Town, an important promoter of development and prosperity, and the host of change and rejuvenation. The backyard is full of poisonous weeds, and as the owner he is obliged to have the motivation to shovel it. But the reality is that he has the motivation and obligation but no strength, and it is a very annoying question whether to shovel or not.

Li Mao tossed and turned, his hand beat rhythmically on Su Qing's smooth and plump belly, and finally woke her up from sleep, Su Qing grabbed his hand, dragged it to his mouth and kissed it, and asked, "Can't sleep for the expedition?" ”

Li Mao said: "I don't know where to fight." ”

Su Qing thought for a while and said, "Lead the troops to fight in the direction of Yunzhou." Li Mao said: "Why? Su Qing said: "Business routes, where do you come from without a road?" Now that Gushan Town has almost become an island, business travel is cut off, how can there be any business to do? If the water can't flow, sooner or later it will become a stagnant pool. Li Mao smiled and asked: "If you talk about opening a trade route, you should hit in the direction of Caozhou, and open up the trade route to Caozhou, so that the things of Gushan Town can be transported and sold in Heluo, and even the entire Tang Dynasty." We have no business dealings with Yunzhou. Su Qing propped himself up and said: "That was before, and the future of Gushan Town in the future is in Yunzhou, and I can't hold a hot loyalty, I'm worried that you won't be able to do this town for long." ”

Li Mao was taken aback, Su Qing's words were reasonable, how could he not see through such a simple truth?

Su Qing saw that Li Mao was stunned, and knew that he had hit the point, so he smiled proudly: "You don't have to blame yourself, the authorities are confused, and the bystanders are clear." To say what you don't like to hear, since you became the lord of Gushan Town, your ambitions have become bigger and bigger, and in your heart, I am afraid that you will see Caozhou as your own backyard. Li Mao suddenly broke out in a hot sweat and asked in surprise: "I got carried away so much?" Su Qing said: "Not really, you are quite humble in front of outsiders, but in front of me, or Xiaoru, you can't hide." ”

There were bones hidden in Su Qing's words, but Li Mao didn't bother to explain, he knocked on his head, and snorted: "Alas, my cultivation is still not enough, joy and anger are in shape, sooner or later I will cause a big disaster?" ”

Su Qing stroked Li Mao's slippery chest and six layered abdominal muscles, and said quietly: "Since Brother became an official in Chang'an, my father's gray hair has increased day by day, and his hair has become white before half a hundred. "Before the chaos in Gushan Town, Su Qing had persuaded Li Mao to resign from the government and engage in business, the situation was sinister at that time, Li Mao also had this idea, but he did not adopt it because he considered that it was difficult to retreat from the whole body, and he wanted to resign from the government and engage in business after the chaos subsided, and use the 300,000 yuan of money he won to do something he liked, which is better than suffering in the officialdom, but time has passed, and Li Mao's mentality at this moment is different from that day.

Li Mao held Su Qing's hand, kneaded it slowly, and said, "I understand what you mean, give me some time, officialdom is easy to come in and difficult to get out, you have to find a plan to get out." Su Qing said: "Forget it, your tone is the same as my brother, many excuses are just for the difficulty of falling in love, is it really so good to be an official?" "Okay." Li Mao was perfunctory, turned over and pressed Su Qing again, Su Qing held his face, and asked with a smile: "Li Man, how many times have you been greedy today, isn't it enough?" ”

Li Mao leaned over and kissed him forcibly, and replied lazily: "I don't know when I will come back, so it can be regarded as an advance." ”

Su Qing only giggled when he kissed him, and said with a red face: "I heard that the generals in the army often have one or two handsome little guys, who listen to them in front of the tent on weekdays, and keep them on fire at night, you are not allowed to do this thing." Li Mao smiled: "Don't worry, I'll leave Qingmo and supernatural powers." Su Qing patted Li Mao's face and said: "Beat you openly, I didn't mean the two of them, you know what it is, don't pretend to be stupid with me." Li Mao smiled and sighed: "The first time I led the army to the battle, I trembled, like walking on thin ice like facing the abyss, my heart was hanging there, how could I still have that thought." You put your heart in your belly. ”

Su Qing gently stroked her husband's face and comforted: "There must be a road before the car reaches the mountain, and the boat will naturally go straight to the bridge, you can cross this step well." I believe you. ”

Li Mao stopped talking, after the clouds dispersed and the rain stopped, the two of them were exhausted, Li Mao lay on Su Qing and couldn't move, Su Qing stretched out his arms to protect him, patted his back gently, and asked generously: "Xiaoru has been with me since childhood, although people are a little stupid, but their hearts are hot, since you have adopted her, you should give her a name, lest she be like a resentful woman." ”

Li Mao put his face on Su Qing's chest and replied in a muffled voice: "You are in charge." ”

……

Knowing that Li Mao was going to go on an expedition to suppress the bandits, Su Qing made a special trip to Su Nuxiang's hometown to get a pair of armor and an iron horizontal knife. The armor is made of three layers of calfskin, lined with silk cloth, and the surface is decorated with more than 100 iron leaves, one pressed on the other, similar to fish scales.

"This is fish scale soft armor, also known as talisman armor, worn closely, the outside can be covered with other armor, it is something left by my great-grandfather, he has been in the army for ten years, accumulated merit to become a captain, made a tooth general for Jing Yuanshuai, and repeatedly made military exploits, so he got this reward. These armor leaves are made of the finest iron, and at a distance of eighty paces, it is difficult for a strong crossbow to penetrate. My great-grandfather relied on it several times to survive. It's a pity that this armor can only protect the torso but not the arms and legs, and his old man still lost an arm later, so he took off the armor and returned to the field.

After returning to the countryside, his old man opened a delicatessen in Chengwu County, and he worked hard for ten years, but it was a well-off home. My grandfather had a strange encounter and got acquainted with the patriarch of the Li family in Yingzhou, and followed him to sell salt tea and horses, and the family business became more and more prosperous. Later, for the sake of face, he changed his words and said that his great-grandfather bought land and farmed after returning to his hometown, and he was a gentleman in the township who did good, and he opened a delicatessen when he had spare money. As for my grandfather, although he could make a lot of money in his business, he couldn't get it on the table, and in his later years, he divided the family business into two, giving the shop property to my father and the salt tea horse business to my second uncle. I am not afraid of heaven and earth at home, but I am afraid of my second uncle, I don't know why, I am afraid of him. ”

Su Qing talked about her family history, her eyes were clear and transparent, and her temper was as gentle as a pigeon. Li Mao's expedition is imminent, Su Qing doesn't say a word, but she is really reluctant in her heart, in the past two days, she is tired of Li Mao has reached the point where she will not leave an inch, and everyone before and after her undisguised childly posture, often likes to talk about some of the past of Chen sesame and rotten grain.

Li Mao likes Su Qing very much at this time, and loves it to the core.

She picked up the cuirass and measured it on Li Mao, and was surprised to find that it fit perfectly. She cheered, stripped Li Mao's clothes in three strokes and divided by two, and then held her chin and admired her husband's toned body with great interest, ignoring Li Mao's frozen teeth. When Su Qing tossed and put on armor for Li Mao, Li Mao became interested in the iron war knife, the knife is one meter long, the blade is eighty centimeters long, the handle is about thirty centimeters long, the blade is wider the closer to the handle, the widest part is about three centimeters, and the upward is narrower and narrower, only two centimeters closer to the blade, and the tip of the knife is sharply retracted into a triangle, which is very suitable for assassination.

The knife is forged with iron, the surface of the knife is smooth, the color is shiny under the lamp, and there is a blue fluorescent flash at the edge when the blade is turned. I don't know how many years this knife has been hidden in the sheath, and there are rust marks on the back of the knife. The ebony scabbard was covered with a layer of dust, and the brass hoop inlaid at the swallow was also dim and unknown, and only the word "cut iron" could be faintly seen.