Wagangzhai is located in the hinterland of Dongjun, it is located in the southeast bank of the ancient Yellow River, north of the Yellow River Baima Ferry, south of Tongji Canal; The west side across the Yellow River is only 100 miles away from the Yongji Canal, and Wagangzhai is outside the horn mouth of the North-South Grand Canal, which can be called a military strategic place.

However, as far as Wagangzhai itself is concerned, it is a remote place in Dongjun, just at the junction of the four counties of Weicheng County, Lingchang County, Kuang County and Yucheng County, where the Yellow River has flooded many times, resulting in undulating mountains, dense trees, ditches and rivers, and reeds all over the field.

This kind of environment is not only convenient for the troops but also conducive to attacking, and it is extremely inconvenient for the officers and troops to encircle and suppress, so in the seventh year of the great cause, Zhai Rang rose up here and established the Wagang Army.

In just a few years, the Wagang Army has gathered more than 50,000 people, including Shan Xiongxin, Xu Shiji, Hao Xiaode, Bing Yuanzhen, Fang Yanzao, Wang Ruxin, Wei Zheng and other brave and intelligent people came to defect, so that the momentum of the Wagang Army gradually grew in the Central Plains.

But no matter how strong the Wagang Army is, it is a bandit after all, and it can't become a climate, and everyone is unwilling to squat on the mountain and live by robbing their homes.

Just after the outbreak of Yang Xuangan's rebellion last year, there were disagreements at the top of the Wagang Army, and a group of people led by Zhai Rang's eldest brother Zhai Hong hoped to take refuge in Yang Xuangan, but Xu Shiji, Wei Zheng and others thought that Yang Xuangan would be defeated, and they tried their best to persuade Zhai Rang to contact the Guanlong nobles and get the support of the Guanlong nobles.

Zhai Rang finally listened to the advice of Xu Shiji and others, and sent Wei Zheng to secretly contact Wuchuan Mansion, and got a response from Wuchuan Mansion, and Wuchuan Mansion decided to send Li Mi to join the Wagang Army.

Of course, the person who came was not Li Mi, but Li Jiancheng, the eldest son of Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang Guogong, in order not to implicate his father Li Yuan, Li Jiancheng came to the Wagang Army in the name of Li Mi, and was welcomed by Zhai Rang, Zhai Rang announced in public that the 'Li Mi' from Luoyang was the second general of the Wagang Army, and everyone called him the second general.

Months passed. Li Jiancheng also gradually gained a firm foothold in Wagang, he was generous, sympathetic to the soldiers, and respected every veteran of the Wagang army. I can't see the arrogance of the Guanlong nobles in him, and he has gradually won the love of a group of people, and even Zhai Hong, who rejected him very much at first, has to admit that Li Gongzi is fine except for his weak body.

Wang Bodang was also very impressed by Li Jiancheng. Li Jiancheng is a little weaker than Li Mi, and it seems that he is more bookish and less heroic, but he has a little less cunning and a little more sincerity and generosity.

In the early morning of this day, Li Jiancheng practiced swords in the courtyard as usual, he did not practice martial arts Peiyuan since he was a child, but he also learned swords and archery when he was studying, and he practiced swordsmanship mainly to strengthen his physique and get rid of everyone's weak evaluation of him.

However, Li Jiancheng has indeed changed a lot compared with a few months ago, and his skin is tanned. His eyes are clear, his jaw and black beard are three inches long, and his body is much stronger than before, even if his father Li Yuan sees him at this time, he may not be able to recognize him immediately.

Except for Zhai Rang, Wei Zheng and Wang Bodang, everyone else in Wagangzhai knew his secret, and everyone else thought that he was the undead Li Mi.

In addition, Li Jiancheng deliberately trimmed his beard, painted thick eyebrows, and had a similar height, he and Li Mi really looked a little similar, even including many Chang'an people who had seen Li Mi. all recognized Li Jiancheng as Li Mi.

Li Jiancheng had just practiced two circles of swords, and suddenly heard hurried footsteps behind him, and he glanced back slightly from the corner of his eye, only to see Wang Bodang hurriedly walking towards the courtyard with a person. Li Jiancheng immediately put away his long sword and wiped the sweat stains on his forehead with a towel.

Wang Bodang is not only Li Jiancheng's guard, but also Li Jiancheng's right-hand man to establish his own forces, Zhai Rang assigned Li Jiancheng 5,000 troops as the Qu Department, which is currently commanded by Wang Bodang, Wang Bodang's other important task is to contact Wuchuan Mansion. In time, the important instructions of Wuchuan Mansion were handed over to Li Jiancheng.

Wang Bodang went to Weicheng County last night and just returned to Wagangzhai.

"Childe, who do you see coming?" Wang Bodang shouted excitedly as soon as he entered the courtyard gate.

Li Jiancheng was stunned, only to see that the person behind Wang Bodang was wearing a soft-footed black gauze head, wearing a cyan cloth shirt with a short placket, wide pants underneath, and a pair of cloth boots on his feet, a typical domestic servant dress, but Li Jiancheng looked closely and immediately recognized it, it turned out to be his brother-in-law Chai Shao.

Li Jiancheng was overjoyed, "Sichang, why are you here?" ”

Chai Shao sighed lightly, Li Jiancheng suddenly came to his senses, and hurriedly took him into the inner room, and asked several henchmen to guard the door and not allow anyone to enter.

Everyone sat down, and Li Jiancheng asked impatiently, "How is my father?" ”

Chai Shao was not in a hurry to answer, he drank a large bowl of water, wiped the corners of his mouth with his sleeve and smiled: "My father-in-law is in good health, his career is also very stable, my mother-in-law and a few brothers-in-law are also good, everyone is very concerned about the eldest brother." ”

Chai Shao said, took out a scroll of letters tied with silk from his arms, and handed it to Li Jiancheng, "This is a letter from my father-in-law to my eldest brother." ”

Li Jiancheng hurriedly took the letter and read it carefully, although his father was full of exhortation in the letter, but he was still deeply relieved to receive the letter from home and learn that the whole family was safe.

He put away the letter and asked with a smile: "How is Luoyang, is there any news from Wuchuan Mansion?" ”

"What else, it's a mess."

Li Jiancheng was stunned, "How come?" ”

Chai Shao sneered and said: "The Yuan family united with the Yu family and the Chen family to attack the head of the meeting, Yuan Min questioned the head of the meeting, why didn't he discuss the matter of breaking off cooperation with Yang Xuangan with other families and make a decision without authorization, they asked the head of the meeting to resign, otherwise, either the three families withdrew from Wuchuan Mansion, or they re-elected the head of Wuchuan." ”

"But the head of the Dugu family should also know about this matter! How can it be said that the owner made the decision without authorization? ”

"The problem is here, Dugu Shun kept silent at the critical moment, in order to prevent the Guanlong Alliance from splitting, the head of the meeting had to agree to Dugu Shun's request, ensure the purity of the bloodline of Wuchuan Mansion, and begin to purge the people in Wuchuan Mansion who are not in Guanlong, according to the list submitted by Dugu Shun, including Li Jing, Zhang Zhongjian, Xie Yingdeng, Xiao Jiangling and other thirteen people were expelled from Wuchuan Mansion."

Chai Shao glanced at Wang Bodang again, "Bodang will be the main force because he is in Wagangzhai, and he has not entered the cleaning list." ”

Wang Bodang said lightly: "I actually don't care, I'm a little freer when I'm not in Wuchuan Mansion." ”

Li Jiancheng didn't speak for a long time, he regretted very much in his heart, these exterminated people are the essence of Wuchuan Mansion, how stupid it is to cut off their arms for the sake of the old pedantic bloodline theory!

Chai Shao sighed and said, "Actually, the most regrettable for the master is Zhang Xuan. ”

Li Jiancheng glanced at Wang Bodang, he heard Wang Bodang talk about Zhang Xuan, it is said that the master of the association values this person very much, so he smiled and asked: "Zhang Xuan was also dismissed?" ”

Chai Shao shook his head, "He has no chance to join Wuchuan Mansion at all, how can he talk about getting rid of him?" Big brother doesn't know yet, right? We have just returned from the Turks, and Jang Hyun has done a great thing in the Turks. ”

Chai Shao told them in detail about their trip to the Turks, Chai Shao and others were almost surrounded by the Turks after they pounced on the Kent Mountains, and they were forced to return to the Central Plains, and Chai Shao also just learned that Zhang Xuan had done a great job in Beihai.

In the end, Chai Shao sighed: "None of us could have imagined that he actually found that batch of armor in the North Sea and sank them all into the abyss, although it is a bit of a pity, but at least it also avoided falling into the hands of the Turks, but this is not shocking." ”

Speaking of this, Chai Shao turned back to Wang Bodang and said, "Bodang can't think of it!" He had been personally promoted to the rank of general by the saint in Zhuo County, and he actually joined the Xiaoguo Army. ”

Wang Bodang was also greatly surprised, not because of Zhang Xuan's unexpected promotion, Wu Yonglang will not be a high-ranking official, and it is not without precedent to be promoted from a guard to a general Wu Yonglang, but there must be good conditions.

Either rely on qualifications, first stay in the palace for more than ten years, and have enough contacts, or rely on the background background and have a strong family support.

Like Zhang Xuan, who has neither qualifications nor background, is actually promoted in one step, which is really a bit rare, and he was promoted by the emperor himself.

Li Jiancheng and Zhang Xuan are not familiar with each other, and they are not very interested in his affairs, Li Jiancheng is more concerned about the troubles of the Yuan family, he knows that the source of this turmoil is that his father killed Yuan Honghe, but the fundamental reason is that the Yuan family is dissatisfied with the distribution of power in the Guanlong Alliance, and believes that the interests of the Yuan family have been damaged.

Li Jiancheng was just about to ask about the Yuan family again, when a pro-guard report was made outside the door: "Qiqi Gongzi, General Zhai asked Mr. Wei to invite Gongzi to Juyingtang for discussion." ”

Li Jiancheng hurriedly said to Chai Shao: "You have a good rest first, and we will talk in detail in the evening." ”

Li Jiancheng walked quickly to the outside of the house, and there was a twenty-seven or eighteen-year-old Taoist priest standing in the courtyard, with a medium stature, wearing a jute robe, holding a whisk in his hand, he had a very high eyebrow bone, a broad forehead, and a slight feeling of being top-heavy, but his eyes were clear and full of wisdom, he was Zhai Rang's Cangcao military Wei Zheng.

Wei Zheng is a native of Julu, Hebei, from a poor family, had to become a monk, Wei Zheng loves to read, although he did not win fame, but he is full of wealth and knowledge.

The year before last, the Taoist temple where he was located was set on fire by Dou Jiande's army, and Wei Zheng had nowhere to go, so he went south to take refuge in Wagangzhai, and got Zhai Rang's weight, and became his Cangcao to participate in the military, in charge of materials, money and food.

It was under Wei Zheng's repeated advice that Zhai Rang decided to gain the support of the Guanlong nobles politically.

Wei Zheng was responsible for contacting the Guanlong nobles, of course he knew that Li Jiancheng was not Li Mi, but Wei Zheng didn't care, whether it was Li Jiancheng or Li Mi, they were just representatives of the Guanlong nobles.

Moreover, Wei Zheng didn't like Li Mi either, Li Mi was too scheming and difficult to trust, but Li Jiancheng was generous and respected himself, which made Wei Zheng love Li Jiancheng very much.

At this time, Li Jiancheng walked out of the room and said with a smile: "Let Mr. wait for a long time!" ”

"It's okay, General Zhai has something important to discuss with you, please ask Gongzi to come over."

Li Jiancheng nodded, followed Wei Zheng to the Juying Hall on the front mountain, and Li Jiancheng asked in a low voice, "Is there anything important?" ”

"General Shan proposed to take advantage of Emperor Sui's expedition to Goguryeo to attack Luokoucang, and Zhai Hong was also very supportive, so General Zhai wanted to ask Gongzi's opinion."

Li Jiancheng frowned, attacking Luokoucang? That's not a good idea. ’

He thought for a moment and asked, "What about the gentleman's opinion?" (To be continued.) )