Li Yu walked for a day and ordered the volunteers of the Chamber of Commerce to raise the Tiger Flag and continue to march north, and he led the Flying Tiger Battalion to turn around and go south, Fan Erxi arranged boats and guides along the way, and walked the path day and night to arrive in Qizhou, and lurked in the mountains for more than two days and finally waited for the big fish.

"Where is Zhang Bandit's loyalty?" Li Yu shouted very proudly immediately, but no one dared to stand up, sneered and waved his hand, "The bandits are full of evil, not one is left, shoot them all"

The dense rain of arrows came immediately, the thieves fell one by one, some people tried to break through, but they were shot down before they could get close to the other party - the difference in combat power and weapons between the two sides was huge, and the thieves were powerless to resist at all, Xu Yixian and a group of thieves jumped into the river in a hurry, but they still couldn't escape, the sound of the row of guns sounded continuously, and a large number of corpses floated by the river.

"Uncle Guihua, I am Zhang Xianzhong, I surrender, I will give you the master, and help you fight the world." The bandits around him were killed and wounded, and Zhang Xianzhong had nowhere to hide, he recognized Li Yu and knelt on the ground in horror and begged for mercy.

"You have sinned heinantly, and you are guilty of death!" Li Yu had long forgotten Zhang Xianzhong's appearance, but he still had a little impression of that yellow face, it should be this guy, with a wave of his hand to the guards behind him, dozens of horseguns shot at Zhang Xianzhong at the same time.

The corpses on the riverside are everywhere, more than 800 bandits are in ambush, Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu went up to mend the knife, and the young captain Ma Bao cut off Zhang Xianzhong's head, and rushed to Li Yu: "Uncle Yuzi, this guy is a giant thief, let's kill him in the Flying Tiger Camp and he will be famous all over the world." ”

"It's just a thief, this kind of person will pop up immediately after he dies," Li Yu waved his hand, turned his head and said to Fan Erxi beside him, "I'm not rare with this thing, you can send someone to give it to Song Yihe as a favor." ”

In Wuchang, Song Yihe received the news that Qizhou was attacked, and did not send troops to rescue at all, but tried his best to catch up with the soldiers selected by Qian Zhongzhong to the city wall, and then waited for Zhang Xianzhong to fight Wuchang with trepidation. The news that Qizhou was lost and recovered, and Zhang Xianzhong was awarded the head, this guy couldn't believe it, until the head was placed in front of him and repeatedly confirmed that it was true, so he was happy to dance, and ordered Qian Zhongxuan to go to Qizhou immediately, and behead all the thieves who could be found, and by the way, kill a group of thieves and rebels, the more heads, the better, and then hid in the study with Li Zhensheng to discuss how to divide the credit - Naturalized Uncle is generous enough, but this credit is too great, it is really not good to swallow it alone, the two racked their brains, a Song Yihe strategized, Li Zhensheng worked hard to raise money, Naturalized Bo killed the giant Kou and Qian Zhongxuan recovered Qizhou. Song Yihe then ordered Wuchang Daqing for three days, and at the same time sent messengers to chase Li Yu to unify his voice, so as not to give a bad explanation, Li Yu responded very politely, killing a thief is not a big deal, whatever you say.

The Datong army entered Henan from Wusheng Pass and hurried to Zhending, where they would rendezvous with the main cavalry force and obtain supplies and ordnance at the same time, and then look for fighters to fight the Qing army in a decisive battle. The various departments of the righteous army in Henan obviously received an order, and when they saw the tricolor black eagle flag, they immediately retreated, not only did not hinder them in the slightest, but also intended to leave a thousand stone of military rations in the official treasury of Runing, and the Datong army tacitly took the military rations, and also left a batch of weapons to give back to the rebels.

The Datong army arrived in Kaifeng all the way to Kaifeng, and joined the 5,000 auxiliary soldiers who arrived in advance - Zhang Mengcun and Hui Dengxiang led 5,000 Fengzhou auxiliary soldiers to stay in Huguang Tuntian, and half of the 10,000 auxiliary soldiers who went out with the army were replaced by surrendered soldiers and ordinary people, the presidential palace was not at ease, and the auxiliary troops were recruited from Fengzhou and Shanxi again, and Tuoyangkun and Li Wanqing were sent to command the auxiliary troops.

"The Presidential Office and the Zanhua Military Affairs Office suddenly changed the direction of the operation too hastily, I have less than 40,000 people in my hands, even if I transfer the elite of the Shandong Tuntian Army, I am unable to repel the Qing army." Li Yu said after reading the letter.

"Lao Ma sent a letter from Fengyang to report urgency, Liu Liangzuo, Huang Degong, and Liu Zeqing's troops were transferred to Gyeonggi, the Jianghuai line is completely empty, and he is unable to resist the Qing army at all, he can only ask us for help, and the Jianghuai General Chamber of Commerce also makes the same request, what else can we do?" Ge Kuri smiled bitterly a few times, glanced at Chen Yongfu, the general soldier of Henan who was sitting on the side, and said in Manchu in a low voice, "Actually, we have no choice, Datong has money and armaments, but we can't get food, this time the five thousand stones are the last batch, and we can only go to Jianghuai to find supplies in the future." ”

There is indeed no choice, Jianghuai not only exports large sums of silver to Datong, but also the fulcrum of Datong's overseas trade, if it is beaten into erosion, the imperial court can not care, but Datong must have blood in his heart - Li Yu nodded helplessly, and also asked in Manchu, "Did the Chahar people act?" ”

"It's already set off, the presidential palace can't persuade them, so they simply let them contain the Qing army outside the border, and also send Xue Xianguang to accompany the two cavalry battalions of Zabutu and Zhang Liwei, it shouldn't be a big problem, Kong Guoer, this kid has grown up, it's good to have some experience!" Gecuri replied that he was Sutai's cousin, and that he was quite fond of Kongor's nephew.

"In my name, I will issue an order to the Chahar people, I can only act in the Qing Dynasty, and I am absolutely not allowed to take a step into Liaodong!" Li Yu pointed at Zhang Zhiyao and ordered, then turned his face to Chen Yongfu and said, "Brother Chen, this time the King of Chu and a group of Huguang disciples went to Shanxi, you can send the King of Zhou away too, he will drag tens of thousands of officials and soldiers if he stays in Kaifeng, it is really not worth it!" ”

"I'll figure out a way, this time I have to force him to go, but, Brother Hermes-Epitek, thieves will inevitably be rampant as soon as you leave, and my brother can't deal with it." Chen Yongfu said.

"If you can't fight, retreat, you retreat to Huaiqing to defend the north bank of the Yellow River, and I will try to support you." Li Yu resolutely replied that the Huaiqing Mansion had already been thrown into Datong, and the gentry had set up a provisional council to implement local self-government, and had actively applied to join the Datong Federation in accordance with the "Federal Regulations", and the local government had existed in name only.

Chen Yongfu knew that entering Huaiqing was equivalent to arriving at the territory of the Datong Army, and he was completely safe and worry-free, so he immediately agreed. Li Yu talked with everyone for a while, and ordered the whole army to rest in Kaifeng for two days, while he hid in the sleeping tent and thought carefully - Datong has been very lively recently.

Tuntian Huguang put Datong's financial use into an embarrassment, and there were twists and turns in the treatment of the Qing army's entry into the customs - Liu Zhilun's death once aroused the anger of the Datong people, gritting their teeth to find the Qing State for revenge, Abatai apologized very timely, and at the same time threw out a large order, Datong people saw the money, and started business with the Qing army without discipline. Abatai needs to solve the expeditionary military needs, Datong needs to reserve silver, both sides have their own needs, the business is getting bigger and bigger, first in Huailai trade, and then in the Luquan market, the Qing army grabbed the silver like flowing water into the silver treasury of Datong, several major silver banknotes also sent people to the Qing army camp to pull business, persuade the Qing soldiers to deposit the silver in them, with the tickets they issued can be exchanged for money in the underground bank in Shengjing, which is both safe and trouble-free. Hundreds of large and small factories and workshops have sprung up near Datong to produce munitions, and the ordnance department has dreamed of a military supply system for many years, and the industrial and commercial tax revenue of the tax collection department has increased considerably, and the common people have also received an unexpected wage income, and everyone suddenly feels that the Qing army is not so ugly, and Yang Tingfang, the prefect of Datong, even said shamelessly that if the Qing State presses the Ming State to fight for three years, Datong will be able to get rid of poverty and become rich.

Datong people only care about making money, the Qing army breached the contract to go south, several newspapers such as "Republic Daily", "Liberty Daily" just lightly criticized a few sentences of the Qing army, "Shijian" insisted on calling for troops, but no longer talk about loyalty to the monarch to serve the country but talk about the death of lips and teeth, ordinary people do not care, it is the Ming State that is beaten, it is the emperor's subjects who are offended, it is none of their business, the militia also blockades the intersections of Taihang Mountain, and strictly prohibits the people of Zhili from escaping into the territory, the reason is to prevent the introduction of the epidemic. It was not until the Qing army invaded the sphere of influence of the Datong Federation - Qingzhou Mansion that Datong became vigilant, and at this time, he rushed to Datong, and swore at the hearing of the Federal Assembly that the person and property of the Shandong Tuntian Army were best protected by the Qing army, and the port of Rizhao was also running well, and the passage of goods was unimpeded, which was enough to prove that the Manchurians were the best friends of the Datong people, and the responsibility for this war lay with the Ming court's refusal to negotiate peace, and the Qing Dynasty's dispatch of troops was just a lesson to the arrogant Ming State, and would never do anything to harm friends. Curb Bilong jumped up and down and lobbied everywhere, and actually calmed Datong's call for war, even Prime Minister Yunrong felt that this guy was a talent, to be honest, he was most afraid of a war with the Qing State, the problem of eating five million people in the Federation, and the burden of Huguang Tuntian had already made him anxious, how could he get the money to fight! When the Qing army is tired of running and has grabbed enough, it is most convenient to go home by yourself.

However, the Qing army hit the Yellow River, the forward troops crossed the river on the ice, ransacked the port of Haizhou, and killed more than 100 people, including five federal citizens - Haizhou Port, like Rizhao Port, was a joint investment of the Federal Chamber of Commerce and the Jianghuai General Chamber of Commerce, trying to bribe the local government to build a private port, the Qing army robbed the property of the Chamber of Commerce, and killed the evil deeds of the federal citizens caused public outrage, and the Qing army was immediately driven out of Datong, and then tens of thousands of people in Datong, Guihua, Taiyuan and other places marched to demand severe punishment of the Qing State, Bao Zhen, on behalf of the Jianghuai General Chamber of Commerce, also demanded that troops be sent to defend Jianghuai, otherwise a complete withdrawal from Datong would be considered, and the Senate passed a proposal to send troops in accordance with the will of the people.

Yun Rong was anxious and angry, and summoned the leaders of the Chamber of Commerce to the Prime Minister's Office for a showdown, I have the soldiers, and I also have the combat regulations, but I have no money, let alone food, you can do it yourself. The officials of the Prime Minister's Office and the leaders of the Chamber of Commerce closed their doors for two days to discuss, and the Jianghuai General Chamber of Commerce agreed to underwrite 500,000 taels of debt bills and use the money to prepare for grain and military supplies, and the Silver Banknote Bureau agreed to issue an additional 2 million taels of silver banknotes, and all the 300,000 taels of silver obtained from the Qing army were die-cast into silver coins and put them on the market. The military budget was implemented, and the presidential palace finally issued a mobilization order, but the original operational regulations were completely disrupted, the Datong army was divided into infantry and cavalry, and the main infantry under the command of Li Yu had to go to Jianghuai to find food first, and Zhao Ji held the main force of cavalry, but there was no infantry support, and he did not dare to send troops easily, and the Datong army fell into passivity before the war started.

Let's watch while playing - Li Yu rubbed his head vigorously and gently tapped the location of Xuzhou on the map.

Two days later, the Datong army set off for Xuzhou, Wang Fang and Wang Zhong led the volunteers of the Chamber of Commerce to escort hundreds of Huguang people such as the King of Chu to Shanxi, and the King of Zhou in Kaifeng also took his family on the road - leaving the domain was to be pursued by the imperial court, but with the King of Chu as an example, he still decided to run away.

The Datong army entered the Guide Mansion to the east, where at the end of last year it was still the territory of the commander-in-chief Xu Dingguo, and the rebel army made a comeback. This guy will come to the matter, organize the common people to send soup and food, welcome them, and shout the slogan of "there was a Yuejia army in the past, and now there is a Datong army" to the sky, and the Datong army felt embarrassed, and also shouted "Datong and Henan are one family", and the relationship between the military and the people along the way was like a fish in water.

Yuan Shizhong was bold enough, he dared to run from Suiyang's old nest to meet Li Yu, this guy must have heard the wind, patted his chest and said that he was Cao Shuai's person, and admired Naturalized Bo Jiu, if it wasn't for the small drag of the family, he would have defected to Datong, and then complained that Li Zicheng was small-minded, looked down on Henan people, guarded him as a thief, and forced a little fox spirit to him as his wife, too bullying, if Naturalized Bo was willing to appreciate his face, he would immediately follow the Datong army.

As soon as Li Yu heard it, he knew that this guy was playing tricks, and he seriously praised Xiao Yuan Ying's strict military discipline and love for the people, and he was a well-deserved Henan soldier, so he wanted to continue to protect the villagers in Henan, and in order to show his support for Xiao Yuan Ying, he gave him a hundred rifles, five tiger squat cannons, and a few boxes of matching flowering bombs. Yuan Shizhong was so happy that he couldn't keep his mouth shut, cursed and swore that he would never be an enemy of the Datong army in the future, and Li Yu was also very happy to pull another customer to buy weapons for Datong.

In mid-February, Xuzhou, 10,000 elite Tuntian troops have been deployed on the Yellow River north of Xuzhou, seeing the three-color black eagle battle flag galloping close, Sun Fuhu led the brothers to rush out of the camp to meet the main force, everyone hugged each other and jumped and jumped, even Tie Biao also hugged Hao Shaoqi, who had always disliked Hao Shaoqi, Ge Kuli immediately ordered to prepare wine and meat, tonight the whole army had a banquet, and the soldiers cheered in unison.

Li Yu was not in the army, but rushed directly to Xuzhou to meet Ma Shiying, who was the defense area of the governor of Fengyang, and promised to allocate food and wages. The water and soil in the Guannei raise people, Ma Shiying is obviously fatter than in the past, and his skin is much whiter and tenderer, and his good temper has not changed at all.

"Hanmin, this governor did prepare food for you, but those damned Dongyu suddenly withdrew, and Shi Kefa, the governor of Huaiyang, didn't listen to the greeting, insisting that Gyeonggi was short of grain, and most of the grain was transported away," Ma Shiying rubbed his hands vigorously, secretly glanced at Li Yu and said, "However, we are our own people, and there are more than 3,000 quintals of rice in the treasury of Xuzhou Prefecture, so you can take half of it and go." ”

"Dongyu has retired, old horse, you can't let us run for nothing, I have 50,000 people to eat!" Li Yu immediately became anxious.

"That's it, you can take all the food in the treasury, this governor can only do this," Ma Shiying stomped his feet, and said helplessly in a low voice, "Hermes-Epitek, let me tell you, Shandong and Zhili are plagues again in the first year, and they are spreading to the south, I think the Dongyu must have been scared away by the epidemic in Haizhou, they stayed in the customs for a short time, you lead the troops to scare them away, don't really fight, it is said that the price of rice in Shandong has risen to twenty-four taels of silver and one stone, you can't afford to fight this battle." ”

Twenty-four taels of silver and one stone of rice really can't afford to fight, Li Yu bowed his head back to the camp, and immediately called a meeting of senior generals, the officers with a full body of wine, burped into the big tent, and sat down quietly without saying a word - Li Yu's face was gloomy and frightening, and after being silent for a long time, he waved his hand and asked Zhang Guoji, deputy commander of the Tuntian Army, to report on the situation in Shandong.

"Shandong suffers from drought and locusts for many years, and has been completely incorrigible, and the people cannot afford to plant land and eat, so they take risks and eat the weak in order to survive, and now there are displaced people and bandits everywhere. The most serious is the epidemic, which breaks out every spring, and I don't know how many people die, but countless villages have become ruins, large areas of farmland have been abandoned and abandoned, and the Tuntian army has died more than 30,000 people over the years, although we are well organized and strictly defended, more than 30,000 people have died over the years, fortunately, we still have something to eat, and the number of people has increased instead of decreasing," Zhang Guoji's tone was heavy, and when he saw the dejected appearance of everyone, he got up and raised his voice and said, "Shandong is a piece of erosion, weak, not only is it weak to defend the land, but there are a large number of rotten soldiers and homeless people colluding with foreign invaders to attack and plunder the city, and the Qing army has conquered everything. Progress is rapid. But the deployment of the Qing army is very strange, the deputy marshal Turge plundered Shunde for the west road, and tens of thousands of people entered Denglai for the east road, and the commander Abatai went south to the Yellow River for the middle road, but the Haizhou epidemic frightened him to retreat north to Yizhou, and the division of troops was separated by hundreds of miles like child's play, I estimate that the number of people they died from the plague must be very staggering, so it had to be so. ”

"What are Shandong Governor Yan Jizu and Inspector Song Xuezhu doing?" Li Yu asked coldly.

"The king of Lu was killed after Yanzhou was lost, and they could not escape the blame, and this knife could no longer be hidden, so they simply ate and waited for death in Jinan City." Zhang Guoji shook his head and sighed, pointed to the map and said, "The Qing army was torn apart by the epidemic, and the fighter plane is in front of us, but our army can't easily venture into Shandong, the epidemic in Shandong, there is no food to take!" ”

"It is also dangerous to stay in Xuzhou, we heard from the people that there is also a plague in Xiaoshan," the "four generals of the left battalion" Lu Guangzu, Li Guoying, Xu Yong, and Jin Shengheng were ordered to return to Datong to rearrange errands, and temporarily praised military affairs in the army, and the four of them discussed a few words in a whisper, Li Guoying stood up and pointed to the map and said, "Instead of missing the opportunity, it is better to take the lead, our army will go north to Dezhou at full speed to join the cavalry, block the retreat of the Qing army and force it to retreat, if it is advantageous, it will annihilate one of them, if it is unfavorable, it will retreat to Zhending and Baoding, and the back of Shanxi will be behind the enemy's flank, It's foolproof. ”

Li Yu stared at the map for a while, then turned his head and asked Hu Chunshui, the representative of the Jianghuai General Chamber of Commerce: "How much grain do you have in your hands?" ”

"I only have 10,000 stones now, and another 3,000 stones are hidden in Jining." Hu Chunshui counted with his fingers for a while and replied.

"Give it all to me," Li Yu waved his hand and shouted at the officers: "Tomorrow morning, we will set off for Texas and inform Zhao Ji to send troops to join me immediately." ”