As Zhang Xianzhong expected, Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng could not completely restrain the thieves, when they learned that the imperial court soldiers were gathered, they saw that Feng'yang was not in danger to defend, and after their slaughter, there was no one and no food, so they abandoned the middle and ignored it, turned around and killed back to Henan.

Li Zicheng was jealous that Zhang Xianzhong did not give him those bomb-blowing eunuchs, so he instigated Gao Yingxiang to leave first, without informing Zhang Xianzhong. His original intention was to throw Zhang Xianzhong down and contain the officers and soldiers who came to encircle and suppress him, but Zhang Xianzhong, who had been prepared, gave up pretending to be drunk the day after they left, and took Zhang Kewang as the vanguard, and the army went south and pointed directly at Luzhou.

With him south, there are also thieves such as Lao Huihui and Chaotian King.

The prefect of Luzhou is Wu Dapu. Originally, Luzhou was under the jurisdiction of the governor of Fengyang, because Zhang Guowei set up an Luchi to guard, it was changed to Shi Kezhi, Shi Kefa went to Suzhou to report on his work, Wu Dapu was here alone, after learning that Yingzhou was lost, he immediately ordered a guard, Zhang Xianzhong and the old Hui Hui who was attached to Zhang Xianzhong, the king of chaos, and the second king Zhang Jinjia attacked Wuyue, but they failed to break the city.

This strong city made Zhang Xianzhong a little helpless.

"Father, I can't fight anymore, now the manpower of Lao Huihui, the King of Chaotian and the Second King has been damaged quite a lot, and the three of them have already complained." On the fifth night, Zhang Kewang said to Zhang Xianzhong: "Besides, we have received the news that the officers and soldiers are approaching, and the eastern governor of Shan's Mountain, Zhu Dadian, is under the command of the Ning army!" ”

"What do you think?"

Zhang Xianzhong was a little annoyed in his heart, he didn't expect that the first fortified city he encountered when he went south was such a difficult bone to gnaw.

"Bypass Lu' Prefecture and force Nest County."

"Nest County?"

Zhang Xianzhong pondered for a while, and then nodded, they were originally thieves, avoiding the truth and making up for the void is the right way, and attacking the city head-on is really not right.

"What if it's difficult to attack Chao' County?"

"Then go around the nest 'county', or attack Chuzhou, or take nothing, enter Jinling, if there is a gap, then attack it, if not, then wave the army along the river 'west, into the lake!"

Zhang Kewang's repeated suggestions were in line with Zhang Xianzhong's thoughts, and when Zhang Xianzhong was hesitating, suddenly, someone outside said: "King, the king of chaos is unwilling to attack the city!" ”

"Hopefully, you go and tell them, let's go south by night, they will go first, and I will take the back." Zhang Xianzhong said.

Zhang Kewang was overjoyed, he walked out of the door quickly, and couldn't help but glance south again.

The nest county was called Xiang'an county in ancient times, and Wuwei was in the south of the nest county, and the Wuwei tiger cub ...... Looks like we'll be able to meet him soon! What is the taste of fighting Luzhou, Wu Dapu, the governor of Luzhou, is just relying on the high walls and thick cities to hold on, or fighting with Wuwei tigers of a similar age, that is interesting!

Just as he was thinking, two teenagers rushed out from behind him: "I hope big brother!" ”

"Yichun, Yunzhi, why are you here?" Seeing these two boys, Zhang Kewang laughed and patted the two of them on the shoulder: "It's okay to come, hurry up and go to the father, maybe this time, the father will also hand over some messengers to you!" ”

Like Zhang Kewang, Zhang Yichun and Zhang Yunzhi were also old men of the righteous army who took refuge in Zhang Xianzhong when they were young, and were accepted by Zhang Xianzhong as their righteous sons. Now they are fifteen and fourteen, and they are full of envy for Zhang Kewang to be able to take charge alone.

Zhang Yichun's original surname is Li, and he has a name of Li Dingguo in the future. Zhang Yunzhi's original surname was Ai, and he later changed his name to Ai Nengqi.

"What are we going to do?"

"Go south, go for the trouble of that inaction-free tiger cub." Zhang Kewang's eyebrows trembled, revealing a solemn smile.

For Zhang Xianzhong's troops, it is common to escape at night, and he is not afraid that his subordinates will run away, and they will be coerced again after they disperse.

At the same time that Zhang Xianzhong was heading south, a force of hundreds of people entered Chao County.

Shi Kefa was among these hundreds of people, and after he got the news of the loss of Yingzhou, he wanted to go north immediately, but Zhang Guowei knew that if the thieves attacked Lu'zhou, he could only be sent to death if he went to save him alone, so he let him wait for three days, and transferred Wang Dingguo, the hereditary thousand households of Suzhou Wei, and Bao Wenda, the commander of 2,000 soldiers, to accompany him, and then boarded the boat and went north.

He was anxious, so he took three hundred elites as the vanguard, hoping to rush to Lu'zhou as soon as possible.

"Bao Xingfu, why are you unhappy, is it because you are afraid of the enemy and dare not fight?" He looked back sideways, and just saw that the hereditary commander beside him made Bao Wenda worried, the Ming Dynasty used literature to control the military, although Shi Kefa did not despise the martial arts, but he was very disgusted with those scum who ate the country's food and salary but could not succeed, so he asked.

Beside Bao Wenda, an old man with a horse lance and a silver beard suddenly raised his eyebrows, his eyes flashed like lightning, Shi Kefa was slightly stunned when he saw it, this old man was extremely imposing, and he was clearly a battlefield general!

"Returning to the Senate, it is not that the subordinates are afraid of the enemy, but when the troops are sent this time, the subordinates see that the armor is rotten and dull, which is not useful, and I feel something in my heart. I only hope that in the city of Lu'zhou, the armor is not like this, if there is a surplus, please change the armor for the subordinate soldiers. ”

When Shi Kefa heard this, his expression was a little embarrassed: "This ......"

"Could it be?"

Shi Kefa sighed, as Bao Wenda expected, in Luzhou Mansion, there were also no well-forged armor weapons. The collections in the arsenal have been stored for many years, and some are even more than a hundred years old, and they have long been decayed. Although Shi Kefa raised hundreds of weapons in many ways and obtained them, they were all used to equip his own recruits, and it was impossible to have any leftovers to arm Bao Wenda.

"Alas, state affairs are like this, and the only way to fight to the death for the generals is to repay the king's kindness." Bao Wenda sighed again.

Shi Kefa didn't take this topic that made him feel extremely embarrassed, he looked at the person behind Bao Wenda: "Who is this old man, he has the majesty of Huang Zhongyan Yanyan!" ”

"This is in response to Tianfu 100 households stone calcium stone Jingyan, was originally a leisure residence, this time back to visit relatives, invited by the post, to help the war. Shi Weng is brave and strong, for our courage, the senator does not look at his old age, the year before last year to capture the incense to teach Wang Chuanxian, last year to break the Tong chaos, Wuwei young tigers are quite dependent on Shi Weng's strength. ”

"I see!" Shi Kefa was shocked, and was suddenly solemn: "Come on, serve wine, and drink a cup for Shi Wengzhuang!" ”

Shi Jingyan raised his voice and said: "If you don't drink the history of the Senator wine, you are here for the country, not for your Shi Senator!" ”

As soon as these words came out, Shi Ke [***] was stunned, and Bao Wenda was also embarrassed, he introduced Shi Jingyan to Shi Kefa, thinking that with the power of Shi Kefa, Shi Jingyan could be promoted through meritorious service, but he didn't expect that Shi Jingyan was toasting and not eating and drinking.

"Ahem...... What Shi Weng said is that we are all here for the country and for the country...... Shi Weng, this official will recommend you to Zhang Gong, and you should try your best to kill the enemy. ”

"Although a certain person is not talented, the position of a hundred households is enough, and I dare not ask for the recommendation of Senator Shi." Shi Jingyan is honest and straightforward, and when he said this, he couldn't help it, and spit out the words that he was holding in his heart: "There are two people who respect him the most in his life, one is Mr. Donglin Qian Gongmu Zhai, and the other is the Wuwei Tiger Yu Gongjimin. Senator Shi first provoked Yu Jimin for no reason, and then listed his name in the same book as Ruan Dacheng. Shi's vulgar person is also despised by Zuo Zhongyi. ”

As soon as these words came out, Shi Kefa's face seemed to have been slapped left and right, and his face suddenly turned black and red, and red and purple.

He was dumbfounded, and all the subordinates around him were also full of embarrassment, even Bao Wenda, who also regretted it at this time, how could he forget Shi Weng's straightforward temper!

"This official ...... The official ......" Shi Kefa took a few deep breaths and puffed for a while before he sighed: "The clear ones are self-purifying, and the turbid ones are self-turbid, and the official has never been in the same stream with the eunuchs!" ”

After speaking, he took the lead and landed on the shore and went straight into the county seat of Chao'.

Chao's county magistrate is Yan Kuan, he has heard the news of Shi Kefa's coming, Chao County is also under the jurisdiction of Luzhou, so he immediately rushed to meet outside the city, although his welcoming attitude made Shi Kefa a little dissatisfied in his heart, but it was better than being scolded by Shi Jingyan just now.

It was getting late at this time, and Shi Kefa also hoped to get the latest news from the front line from Yan Kuan, so he entered the city.

"The lower official has prepared a little banquet to wash the dust for the senators, please."

"There is no need to rush the banquet, can Yan Zhixian know the news of the thieves?"

"The lower officials sent someone to inquire, the thieves are still attacking Lu' Prefecture, Lu 'Zhou' Wu Zhizhou has a good way to supervise the war, and the thieves have no inch."

When he was still in the southern capital, Shi Kefa got the news that the thieves had broken through the central capital, and he was extremely worried that the thieves would go south to attack Luzhou. Now that it has been confirmed by Yan Kuan, the worry in his heart has calmed down.

"I have 3,000 soldiers and horses, and now this is only a vanguard, how many soldiers and horses can be made up in Chao's county?" Shi Kefa asked.

"The lower officials have counted it, and they can make up two hundred regular soldiers and five hundred people and Shi Senator."

Shi Kefa sighed secretly in his heart, Chaoxian is not small, but there are only 200 regular soldiers and 500 people, even if he gives them all, what is the use?

"You quickly send someone to the surrounding area to report urgently, let the reinforcements come to Chao County, can Chao County have grain in stock?"

"Two thousand five hundred stone of grain."

"That's good, that's good." Although this amount of food is not much, it is enough for the time being. Shi Kefa suddenly felt that this magistrate was not bad, and he nodded: "After the thief is retreated, this official will definitely perform merit for you to the imperial court." ”

"Yes......"

As soon as Yan Kuan finished speaking, he saw a soap servant coming over and said in a low voice: "Master, master!" ”

"What's the matter?" Yan Kuan saw that Shi Kefa had noticed the soap servant, and it was not easy to hide it, so he asked.

"Thirty lashes have been lashed, please cut it off."

Hearing the "thirty whips", Shi Kefa frowned slightly, he always boasted that he loved the people, if these thirty whips were whipped on the people, it would be too much.

At this time, it is the time to show his true colors as a clean official, lest Shi Jingyan and other vulgar warriors think that he is really in the same league as the eunuchs.

Therefore, he opened his mouth and asked, "Yan Zhixian, what is the matter?" ”

"It's funny to say, a Diao people came to complain, saying that the thieves had entered the nest county. The spies sent by the lower officials found out that the thieves had not yet broken through Luzhou, and the Ming banner was still hanging on the city of Luzhou, but he said that the thieves had arrived in Chao County, and they must be greedy and lied. The lower officials felt that the people were panicking at this time, and it was not enough to reassure the people if they did not punish their crimes, so they ......"

"That's enough, bring that man, and the officer will ask." Shi Kefa felt a sense of foreboding in his heart.

Soon, the man who had been whipped thirty lashes was brought up, and his back was beaten to a bloody pulp, and when Yan Kuan saw him, he shouted: "Hugh wants to talk nonsense again, Senator Shi has something to ask you, if you dare to lie again, don't blame this county for being dealt with by military law!" ”

"Don't dare, don't dare." The people's faces were filled with suppressed anger.

Shi Kefa opened his mouth and was about to ask, when suddenly, in the north of the city, he heard an uproar, and then, like a landslide and tsunami, they were all screaming and crying!

(To be continued)