At the beginning of the second year of Yuanhe, Li Chun issued an edict to build the left and right Longxiang army, the status was the same as that of the Beiya Sixth Army, with Junwang Li Wei as the general of the left Longxiang army, with Honglu Shaoqing Li Mao as the general of the left Longxiang army, knowing the military, with Song King Li Jie as the general of the right Longxiang army, Yin Mu as the general, Lin Ying as the marching Sima, knowing the military.

He also officially worshiped Gao Chongwen as the envoy of the Dongchuan Festival, filled the military capital, and became the top boss of Yan Li and others.

Li Mao jumped from the fourth-grade Honglu Shaoqing to the third-grade general, and his status soared, Gao Chongwen added all the military commanders, and distanced himself from Yan Li and others, and the chaotic situation on the Xichuan front line gradually became clear.

Gao Chongwen asked Li Mao to enter the camp to discuss the strategy of marching, Li Mao persuaded him to invite Yan Li to discuss, Yan Li's qualifications and status were above Gao Chongwen, and last year he was also the commander of the army with Gao Chongwen, although Gao Chongwen has the right to moderate, but he has no right to interfere in the specific actions of the armies, and now he has become the commander of the army, Yan Li has not even fished a deputy commander, and he can't help but feel a little lost, and what is even worse is that he also won a Jianzhou last year, Gao Chongwen just captured an empty city, and gained and lost, What qualifications are there to climb on his head.

Yan Li couldn't figure this out, and if he couldn't figure it out, he would grind foreign workers, and after the beginning of spring, the Shannan Army only trained outside Jianzhou City, not enterprising.

After last year's run-in, Gao Chongwen was able to look at Li Mao with a new eye, and he realized the value of Li Mao, and Li Mao's weight in front of the court and the Son of Heaven was crucial to whether he could win the Battle of Xichuan.

Gao Chongwen humbly followed Li Mao's suggestion, and personally came to Yan Li's camp with Li Mao, saying that he wanted to ask Yan Li for advice on the strategy of marching into the army.

Yan Li was a little flattered, and the two supreme commanders of Liangchuan, Wenwen and Wu, came to his camp at the same time to ask him for advice, which was enough to give face. Yan Li is not hypocritical, and tells his own plans and plates.

Yan Li's plan is not complicated, and even simple is a bit excessive, his plan is to concentrate superior forces to break through the frontal enemy, completely crush the resistance of Lutouguan and Wanshengdui, break Liu Pi's morale, and then raise troops to attack Chengdu and capture Liu Bi.

Gao Chongwen bowed his head and was silent, from a military point of view, Yan Li's plan was a bit too conventional, or too mediocre.

"It's just so steady, when will the two of you expect to make a contribution?"

Gao Chongwen euphemistically expressed his dissatisfaction, but Li Mao and Yan Li looked at each other and smiled. Gao Chongwen was a little depressed, and he couldn't understand what kind of medicine was sold in the two fox gourds, one old and one young.

During the two months of the truce, Liu Pi was not idle, he built eight camps in Lutouguan and Wanshengdui one hundred and fifty miles northeast of Chengdu, stationed 30,000 soldiers, and pulled out the posture of fighting to the end with the imperial army.

Under such circumstances, it is not easy to attack head-on.

"Let the old man make a few jokes." Yan Li smiled at Li Mao and opened his mouth, "From the perspective of using soldiers, the old man's style of play inevitably seems a little old, even very mediocre. Gao Chongwen agrees with this, Yan Li's tactics are indeed mediocre to the extreme.

"Xichuan is an important town in the southwest of the dynasty, controlling the Southern Zhao, controlling Tubo, and defending the heart of the Tang Dynasty, which is absolutely chaotic. Wei Nankang has been operating in Xichuan for 20 years, and the independence of this place is getting stronger and stronger, Liu Pizuo seems to be arrogant on the surface, but in fact it is the arrogance of the entire Xichuan, he wants to control this arrogant Xichuan, he must be more radical and arrogant than the arrogant Xichuan. If you cross the mountains and mountains to attack Chengdu at this moment, although Liu Pi is defeated, but the arrogant Xichuan is still there, you and I can't have a massacre in Chengdu, right? At that time, Liu Pi's henchmen will be scattered and lurking, becoming the country's henchmen, and once the war is over and Xichuan stabilizes, it will be burdened with a lot of infamy in the future. No matter who it is, Zhenxichuan is a huge burden. ”

Li Mao added with a smile: "This is like treating a big sore, a wise doctor has to wait for the sores to be ripe before starting, if the sores are not ripe, go under the knife, on the surface it is to dig the sores, but in fact, the residual poison has not been cleared, this side has not yet scabbed, and that side has made a comeback." ”

Yan Li said: "Yes, if the talent of the handsome man raises troops to take Chengdu easily, but if he takes Chengdu but fails to remove the residual poison, it will be a harm to the country after all." ”

Gao Chongwen also understood this, he nodded, and said, "It's better to raise it slowly, let the residual poison be concentrated, and then ......"

He waved his hand like a knife and made a cutting gesture.

The three of them said in unison: "One knife down, one hundred." ”

After laughing, the small estrangement and unhappiness between Yan Li and Gao Chongwen also disappeared in this laughter.

Gao Chongwen said sincerely: "Gao is a rough man, he only knows how to govern the army and fight, and the rest don't understand anything. Now listening to Yan Shuai's words, I know what it means to be old and seek the country. Although Gao Chongwen was favored as the commander, he still had to ask the two of them to give advice and give more guidance in this and war strategy. Gao Chongwen thanked me here. ”

Such an arrogant and lofty Wen can have such a posture, Li Mao and Yan Li are equally pleased, and the three of them shake hands and laugh.

When the three of them shook hands and laughed, there were also people laughing in Liu Bifu, Chengdu.

Lu Wenruo tasted the two small snacks newly prepared by Liu Pi's family chef, praised them repeatedly, and laughed.

Liu Pi was very happy in his heart, if Lu Wenruo was a famous mouth, it was not easy to get his praise, and the pastry chef he hired from Luoyang with a monthly salary of 300 yuan seemed to be worth the money.

He waved his hand for the cook to go down to receive the reward, and then retreated. Only then did he say to Lu Wenruo: "Yin Mu turned against the water and opened my north gate, and Mr.'s plan will be changed." ”

Master Luoyang's noodle shop is really good, Lu Wenruo couldn't help but take another piece, tasted it carefully, heard the words, shook his hand, took a silk scarf to wipe his mouth, and calmly took a sip of tea, and then replied: "It's okay, Jianzhou originally wanted to give it to them." ”

Liu Pi was shocked: "Let it be given to them, but why is this?" ”

Lu Wenruo dipped the water in the tea bowl and drew a few dots on the table, and instructed: "If Jianzhou does not give it to them, they will not be able to concentrate their army under Lutou Pass, if they make a surprise attack to cross the mountains and break to the vicinity of Chengdu, or make a detour to the south and attack our rear, it will be difficult to ensure that those with ill intentions will not take the opportunity to make trouble. ”

Liu Bi shook his head and said, "It's not easy to deal with." He nodded again and said, "This plan is wonderful, the enemy is current, I think who dares to oppose the water?" ”

Lu Wenruo said with a smile: "That's really what it means, at the moment of the great enemy, if anyone is disobedient, he will be beheaded for the crime of collaborating with the enemy." ”

The two laughed.

After laughing, Liu Bi frowned again and asked, "The deer head is closed, are we really sure to resist it?" ”

Lu Wenruo just picked up a snack, was admiring the pattern on it, heard the words, and calmly replied: "Ming Gong still remembers what he said last winter, 'As long as it is delayed until the late spring and early summer of next year, the battle situation will change greatly'?" ”

Liu Bi said in surprise: "You said that I still wanted to ask that day, but I felt that it was inconvenient to leak the secret, so I couldn't help but ask." ”

Lu Wenruo dropped the dim sum, pointed to the sky and painted the earth, and said angrily: "Watching the sky one night, it is calculated that there will be a great drought in Shannan and a big flood in Luoyang this spring. If they step up their looting, they will give the athletes of Jiangsu Xinjiang and the Fifth Academy an opportunity to take advantage of, and if they do not loot, they will have to transfer grain from Chang'an. Chang'an's grain comes from Jianghuai, Heluo is flooded, Cao transportation is not passable, Jianghuai's summer grain can not be transported to Chang'an ....... A friend in the imperial court told me that Chang'an's grain storage was only enough to last for half a month, and without food, no matter how this battle was fought, they would have to be consumed. ”

Liu Bi stretched his neck, his eyes widened, and asked in surprise, "Is this matter sure?" ”

Lu Wenruo said: "My wife and children are also in Chengdu, how dare I talk nonsense about such a military event?" ”

Liu Bi laughed and shouted: "Okay, then let's spend a few months patiently with him, drag him to death, I will drag him to death!" ”

Since the beginning of the winter of the first year of Yuanhe, until the beginning of spring, there has not been a single rain in Shannan for several months, the summer grain can not be cultivated, and the summer grain is about to be harvested.

The 20,000-strong army spent a lot of grain and grass in Jianzhou but did not advance, which required an explanation to the Son of Heaven, which could not be explained by letters, and Li Mao decided to return to Beijing in person.

When Li Mao passed by Xingyuan Mansion, Zhang Mingjun specifically asked to see him, and begged Li Mao to explain clearly to the imperial court, and sent a judge to accompany Li Mao to Beijing for consultation.

Su Zuoming didn't see Li Mao before, regretted it, this time he specially set up a banquet in the prison army mansion to invite Li Mao and Zhang Mingjun to the banquet together, Li Mao did not refuse, Su Zuoming has been cautious since the backer of the court fell, and the rules and regulations are strict, and the relationship between Zhang Mingjun is still passable.

When he said goodbye after the banquet, he drank a few glasses of wine, and Su Zuoming, who was flushed, took Li Mao's hand and said endlessly, Zhang Mingjun had to wait to the side. Seeing that there was no one around, Su Zuoming reminded Li Mao in a low voice: "The torrent in the DPRK and China is surging, you must be cautious when you return to Beijing this time." After saying this, Su Zuoming cried again with a handful of snot and tears about the hardships he had endured after arriving in Shannan, what fleas were too many, mosquitoes were too big, leeches sucked human blood, and there was a lot of rambling.

It's easy to finish the show, and Li Mao left without saying a word.

Su Zuoming's words made Li Mao ponder for several days, although others were not in Chang'an, the wind and grass in Chang'an could not escape his ears and eyes, did Su Zuoming play tricks, or did he really know something he didn't know?

Li Mao was puzzled.

Li Mao originally thought that he would be able to see Li Chun as soon as he returned to Beijing, after all, the war in Xichuan was the top priority of the imperial court. But to his surprise, after returning to Beijing for three whole days, no news came out of the palace.

He could have gone to Du Huangshang, but after returning to Beijing from other places, he went to see the ruling prime minister without seeing the Son of Heaven, and this taboo Li Mao and Du Huangshang both understood.

The two remained silent.