Under the embankment of the Yellow River, the dilapidated shacks are densely packed into pieces, stretching for more than ten miles, occasionally you can see some tents scattered among them, a few wisps of cooking smoke are rising, there are long queues there early, there are passages between the shacks, men and women are constantly coming and going, these people are in rags, but they are in good spirits, they are still laughing with each other, and the children are also playing and playing - this is the camp where the Datong army contains the captured people, a gust of wind blows, and you can smell a rancid smell mixed with the smell of lime.

Every short distance on the river embankment, there is a soldier holding a knife and spear on guard, from time to time there is a team of people to go down to inspect, but the number is the officers and soldiers of Henan Town, and the Datong soldiers who should take care of the people are hiding in groups to play cards in the shade, and there are always a few Henan soldiers around them at any time to pour water and light cigarettes - but this year there is food is the master, Henan soldiers are trapped in Kaifeng and hungry to death, and finally the siege is lifted, and the above is not allocated food, so they make their own way to make a living and grab the errand of taking care of the people, and every three days a shift, take turns to run to rub rice, These soldiers are honest and diligent, and they have a good relationship with the Datong soldiers.

Li Yu paced on the embankment with his hands behind his back, looked at the camp below and asked a man of medium stature and a square face beside him, "Chen Shuai, doesn't the governor of Henan refuse to accept anyone at all?" These people are natives of their own country, and if you settle some, I will be less courageous. ”

"Uncle Guihua, don't blame the governor for being ruthless, he can't help it, Henan has been suffering from locusts for several years, and the crops have not been harvested, the court not only does not give relief, but forcibly expropriates and sends additional fields, and the people can't survive, otherwise they won't be deceived by the thieves' a few words of 'Juntian exemption' and 'suppressing soldiers and reassuring the people', and if you don't take the people away, they will either starve to death or follow the thieves, there is no other way to go, I Chen Yongfu is also from Henan, and I want to cry when I talk about the sins suffered by the villagers." Chen Yongfu, the chief soldier of Henan, had red circles in his eyes, and he was ordered by the governor Gao Mingheng to come to Li Yu to borrow grain, but the difficulties of the Datong army were not small, so he changed the topic and persuaded Li Yu to take the people away.

"Is there really no food in the official treasury?" Li Yu asked in a low voice.

"I won't tell you, Kaifeng has been besieged three times, this time from April, so far there are four months, the city has already risen rice and ten thousand dollars, the grass is as expensive as pearls, the people first dig wild vegetables, catch rats to satisfy hunger, and then compete for horse manure, glue, and even sell human flesh is not uncommon, the city is really like hell, most of the people starved to death, the white bones and mountains, the road is no pedestrians, and the soldiers in the camp also starve to death hundreds of people every day, where is there food now? I am also a person who wants to save face, if I don't have no choice, I won't send my son to ask for food from the naturalized uncle. Chen Yongfu said with tears in his eyes, wiped his eyes and gritted his teeth and scolded, "What kind of world is this, the taxes have been collected, the salaries and salaries have also been collected, and tens of millions of taels of silver are collected every year, why don't I have a bite to eat as a soldier, the emperor of the dog day is a faint monarch, and there is a traitor in the court!" ”

Li Yu covered Chen Yongfu's mouth, dragged him to a secluded place, and whispered to blame: "Brother Chen, take care of your mouth, I can be lawless, but you can't!" ”

Chen Yongfu calmed down for a while and said: "Uncle Guihua, you are a good person, I can see that I have something to tell you, Huang Shu, the official of Kaifeng, came up with an idea, to open the Yellow River embankment and flood the thieves, my governor is a good person, I don't want to do this kind of lack of morality, and later found that the thieves went to the embankment first, and I also sent people to dig up, fortunately, you came quickly to drive away the thieves, or millions of people died, my governor said, I must thank the naturalized uncle for saving the Kaifeng people." ”

After Chen Yongfu finished speaking, regardless of Li Yu's dissuasion, he insisted on kneeling down and kowtowing three times, Li Yu looked at Chen Yongfu with a wry smile for a while, and slowly said: "That's it, I'll give you two thousand stone of grain, don't be too little, I can only get so much." ”

Chen Yongfu burst into tears, and was about to kneel down and kowtow again, Li Yu hugged him, pulled him to sit down and said: "It is appropriate for soldiers to help each other, I also have something to ask Brother Chen, from the bank of the Yellow River to Runing is my retreat from the south to Huguang, and I ask Brother Chen to bother more." ”

"Medium, handed it over to me, you have replenished me with 10,000 soldiers, and given me so much food, my old Chen will repay my kindness, and if the thieves dare to come and commit it, they will fight."

Li Yu shook his head and said: "Brother Chen, I'm not telling you to fight hard, if you can fight, you will fight, if you can't fight, you will leave, for example, this Kaifeng City is just a lonely city that consumes troops and food in vain, it is better to give up as soon as possible, you tell His Royal Highness the King of Zhou and the governor, there are some words in the court that you don't have to take them too seriously." ”

Chen Yongfu hesitated for a moment and asked in a low voice: "Uncle Guihua, if I can't hold Henan, can I retreat to Shanxi?" ”

Li Yuleng paused for a moment before replying: "Shanxi is also very poor, you can't afford to raise soldiers, you can only give a piece of land to support yourself when you retreat to Shanxi, the Datong army is like this, there are only a few battalion soldiers, and the rest are in the people's army." ”

"Then, it's a good thing that the sons and daughters have a place to live in troubled times." Chen Yongfu patted his thigh and said.

In the early morning of the next day, in the sound of military trumpets, Li Yu inspected his own troops, including the Flying Tiger Battalion, the Left Cavalry Association, the Infantry Front Association, the Infantry Left Association, the Infantry Rear Association, the Shanxi Left Association, the Great Synchronous Association, the Gun Right Association, Zhang Mengcun, Hui Dengxiang's Fengzhou auxiliaries, Wang Fang and Wang Zhong's volunteers and caravans, as well as the 150,000 Henan people who had been organized into 18 thousand households.

"Brothers, folks, I will take you to Huguang, that is a vast and sparsely populated land, and it is also the place where we have the most hope of survival, the future is far and there are many hardships to suffer, but we will definitely succeed!" Li Yu stood on his horse and raised his arms and shouted, and finally pointed his finger in front of him and ordered, "Go, the target is due south." ”

"Salute to the brothers who are going south!" Zhao Ji, Ge Kuli shouted, the cavalry of the Second Route Army, Sun Xianzu, and Wang Mumin's Shanxi auxiliaries clenched their fists and stroked their chests at the same time, and they would soon return to their respective stations.

"Salute to the brothers of the Datong Army going south!" Chen Yongfu, the chief soldier of Henan, and Xu Dingguo, the general soldier of the aid and suppression, made a special trip to see him off and led his brothers to bow their hands.

The military flag hunting, the horses are Xiao Xiao, the rolling people are rushing to the south, and the earth-shaking song immediately sounded - "The world is for the public, my country is the sect, the people are the citizens, and the country is called Datong; The tricolor eagle banner, freedom and equality, not tyranny, but charity; Homogeneous and different customs, the legacy of martyrs, sincere friendship, and the eternal family and country; The people are rich and the country is rich, the people are strong and the country is strong, East Asia is dominant, and only we are the federation. ”

The southward army rolled forward through Xuchang and Yuncheng, and the vast majority of the people in the Datong army had the experience of escaping from the famine, and it was easy to mingle with the people of Henan, everyone ate together, lived together, and walked together, and the old and weak women and children were also let get on the carriage and horses, and they were happy like a family, and no one would have thought that they were still fighting for life and death not long ago. The lamas who accompanied the army preached the scriptures along the way, telling everyone that it doesn't matter if they suffer in this life, as long as they accumulate good deeds, they can also cultivate a future life; Our President is Moses, who has mercy on the world and sent him to save the poor. The people from the Department of Missions also explained what freedom, equality, and love are. What is Citizenship? The president wants to build a world of great harmony, so that all people can be citizens, and from now on they will be free from the oppression of tyrants and corrupt officials—and the faces of ordinary people will smile, and they will feel that there is hope for the future, and the pace under their feet will be faster and firmer.

The army arrived near Runing, the scouts came to report the appearance of the Ming army in front, Li Yu hurriedly led the Flying Tiger Battalion to meet it, and more than 1,000 officers and soldiers on the opposite side saw the Flying Tiger Flag, and suddenly broke out into cheers, and the Han led by him immediately dismounted and strode forward, Li Yu also dismounted immediately, walked over and hugged him tightly.

"Good brother, the father and son died in Nanyang, and the elder brother also thought that Runing must be the place where he was buried, but he didn't think that he would be able to see you again, this is the will of God, the elder brother will do it with you in the future!" Hu Dawei said with red eyes.

"Okay, our brothers will be together from now on." Li Yu nodded and replied.

The Datong army temporarily camped outside Runing City, and also took out cured meat and old wine to entertain guests, Hu Dawei and his gang devoured it unceremoniously, Li Yu was very suspicious that these guys hadn't eaten a full meal for a long time. It didn't take long for Yang Tinglin, who entered the city to contact, accompanied Yang Wenyue, the governor of Baoding, to come, and followed by Fang Guoan, the chief soldier of Zhejiang, behind his buttocks. After a few bowls of wine, Li Yu, Hu Dawei, and Fang Guoan were blown together, and Yang Wenyue was not lonely with Mao Yuanyi and Yang Tinglin by his side.

"It's delicious, it's delicious, brother, don't you know what my brother has suffered, the court doesn't want to see us, more than 30,000 people, only a few thousand people's food and salaries are still in arrears, let's find a place to raise, it's all, there is nowhere to rob this poor place in Henan, where to raise money and food? To tell you the truth, we've been drinking porridge for more than ten days. ”

Hu Dawei was full, wiped the oil on his mouth and talked about the tragic experience - the Ming army Zhu Xianzhen was defeated, Zuo Liangyu fled back to Xiangyang's old nest, Ding Qirui and Yang Wenyue pulled Hu Dawei, Fang Guoan, and Yang Dezheng The three general soldiers fled to Runing, and the court naturally couldn't spare a few of them.

Hu Dawei drank a bowl of old wine, hugged Li Yu's shoulders and shouted: "Lao Tzu is not convinced, the court threw us in Runing to die, and killed Lao Yang, Zuo Liangyu took the lead in escaping but didn't do anything?" I figured it out, this is because we have few soldiers and it's useless, well, Lao Tzu is gone, anyway, I came out of Shanxi, and I went to my brother. ”

"This battle can't be fought, it's about to enter winter, the brothers are still wearing single clothes, I can't let everyone fight with an empty stomach and a bare ass, and the life of a soldier shouldn't be practiced like this, Niang Xipi, Lao Tzu won't do it anymore, and I'll go back to my hometown in Zhejiang immediately." Fang Guo's peace of mind was also strange and shouted.

Yang Tinglin was very uncomfortable when he heard it, and said coldly: "The Ming Dynasty has its own national law and military discipline, dare to act recklessly, beware of a catastrophe!" ”

Hu Dawei didn't care, but Fang Guoan was like pouring a bucket of cold water, and it took a long time before he asked Li Yu: "Brother Li, you dare to fight against the imperial court in the Ming Kingdom, and the more you mix, the better, you give my brother an idea." ”

", this is a troubled time, the emperor and the court are a fart, it's true to keep yourself, as long as you have money and soldiers in your hands, you can be the boss, which Wenchen will kill him if he finds trouble, who can do anything to you!" Zhang Ding, who was sitting on the side, interjected impatiently.

Fang Guoan nodded yes again and again, but immediately thought of the most important question: "Money, the key is money, where can I find money as a poor soldier!" ”

"Brother Fang, you can do business, Zhejiang produces tea and silk, I will find a market for you to receive the goods, I have both sea and land routes, and I will keep it so that you can make a fortune," Li Yu woke up Fang Guoan, but he complained again, "Fuck, the court has sent me to fight in the east and west all these years, but I didn't give a big son, which caused Lao Tzu to bear a lot of debts, and this account will have to be settled with the court sooner or later." ”

"A bunch of bastards!" Yang Tinglin stood up and brushed his sleeves away.

Yang Wenyue was in the most embarrassing situation, his official position was gone, but he was still ordered to lead the various departments of Runing, and if something went wrong, his head would definitely move, and the military leaders under him openly discussed the disbandment, and his heart suddenly tightened: "Uncle Guihua, you are all gone, what should you do with Runing?" Don't hurt me! ”

How did you forget this guy? Li Yu and the others looked at each other, and Mao Yuanyi hurriedly reminded: "President, Runing is the main road for Henan to enter Huguang, and the strength of the thieves still exists, we can't ignore the way out!" ”

Li Yu felt that he had drunk too much, so he found a map and looked at it for a while, nodded and said: "It is true that troops should be sent to garrison, but 30,000 people are too much, 10,000 people are enough, it is better to do this, the old party will go back to Zhejiang to prepare to open a business, the tiger head will accompany Lord Yang to garrison Runing, and Xinyang will also be handed over to you to guard, don't complain, I will turn back to help you as soon as I stand in Huguang." ”

Yang Wenyue hugged his head and said, "It's dead", Li Yu slapped the table and shouted: "Lord Yang, I don't want you to defend it, Runing can't hold it and retreat to Xinyang, Xinyang can't hold it anymore, and retreat to Wusheng Pass, as long as I hold the thief for a few days, I can rush to support, and the court doesn't have to be afraid, you come to me, I'll see who dares to touch you." ”

Yang Wenyue nodded helplessly, there are soldiers and swords in troubled times, and it is interesting enough for people to give him a way to live. Hu Dawei did not give up, insisting that he had already changed jobs, and he was not willing to stay in Runing until Li Yu promised to give him some food and ordnance.

The Datong army continued to move south early the next morning, passing through Xinyang and Wusheng Pass to enter the Huguang boundary, a piece of fertile land appeared in front of them, and the reddened soil felt like oil was bubbling in the hand, and the more south they went, the more rivers and lakes they went, where did the northerners see so much water, and the soldiers and the people thundered with joy.

However, along the way is a bleak place, Chongzhen six years of the winter of the thief Michidu, the Central Plains beacon smoke protruded, Huguang became a battlefield for the official army and the rogue repeatedly contested. Thieves come like combs, soldiers come like grates, officials come like shaving, the place is rotten, the people or died in the war, or fled to the mountains, or gangs up for thieves, the countryside is sparsely populated, a large area of land is abandoned, some county towns actually have wild beasts infested, the county government can not find anyone, it is said that the county lord hid in the mountains.

The team walked to Anlu, the prefect of De'an ran out of the city twenty miles to greet him, begging Li Yu to send troops to help him pacify the place, heard that the Datong army was going to Huguang Tuntian, and excitedly patted his chest and said, De'an Mansion welcomed the Datong army to Tuntian, there is land here, that is, there is a shortage of farmers, as long as you are willing to exert your strength, you can harvest two stones of rice per acre of land. Li Yu was overjoyed, and ordered Zhang Mengcun to lead 8,000 households to stay in Tuntian, De'an Mansion, Zhou Yuji led the infantry to assist in garrisoning Anlu, and sent people to take over the defense of Wusheng Pass - the hundreds of officers and soldiers guarding the pass were short of food and salary, and they were like beggars, Li Yu felt that it was better to let them farm.

At the end of September, the dream river finally appeared in front of them, and this group of northern wanderers were stunned - this is the famous Yangtze River, so wide, majestic, and flowing endlessly.

This is a new home, I'm here, I've seen it, I'm here to conquer here, Li Yu's eyes were a little blurry, and he couldn't help but look up to the sky and roar, "Hao-Rui, Hao-Rui." ”

"Hao-Rui, Hao-Rui." Everyone hugged each other and roared loudly.

On the Han River, big boats and small boats shuttled back and forth, ferrying the Flying Tiger Battalion and the Infantry Front Association to Hanyang, Li Yu stood on the bow of the boat, and his mind was still a little dizzy - how could the fantasy of drinking the Yangtze River suddenly come true?

"President, the Jianghuai General Chamber of Commerce has prepared 30,000 stone rice, 5,000 stone will be transported first, and the rest will arrive later, our Shen family has made great efforts this time, using hundreds of ships, and I also brought more than 300 Japanese people, these guys have all done piracy, and they are the best at fighting water wars." Shen Tingyang came to Li Yu's side to show his merits.

"Our Chamber of Commerce has also prepared 10,000 stone rice, which will be sent to the army immediately," Jia Jingzong, the head of the Huguang Chamber of Commerce, was not far behind, and said to Li Yu with a flattering smile, "President, the people of Huguang heard that you were coming, and they were so excited that they couldn't sleep, and everyone came from all over the country to see you, and they were waiting on the shore." ”

Li Yu nodded and said: "Thank you Huguang folks for your love, Boss Jia, it is impossible for the Datong Army to stay here, and the affairs of Huguang will eventually be handed over to the people of Huguang, and I can say what I need to do." ”

"We want to first set up the Huguang Joint Defense Bureau to strengthen our strength, and then set up the Huguang Council to implement local autonomy." Jia Jingzong replied.

"It's a good way, that's how Shanxi came over."

"It's too difficult, the Huguangshi people don't support us, and the merchants and landlords of Huguang are timid, and no one dares to come forward, but if the president invites two people, we can get twice the result with half the effort, one is He Fengsheng, a Jiangxia person, who has entered the cabinet twice and is the leader of the Huguangshi people; The other is the King of Chu, this person regards wealth as his life, and his courage is not small - with these two people coming forward to make signboards, big things can be done! ”

"It's so hard!" Li Yu replied with a smile.

When they arrived at the shore, the sound of firecrackers, gongs and drums suddenly sounded, and thousands of Huguang merchants and landlords welcomed the Datong Army, and the slogans of "naturalizing Bo Wanan" and "Datong Army mighty" came and went. It feels so good to sit in the arms of his family, Li Yupiao, who is a big landlord and a big businessman, was welcomed into the yamen of the Hanyang prefect - what is the Hanyang prefect, how can he be with the naturalized Burbi, and the local snakes have already driven him aside.