To tell the truth, Chen Yingliang never thought that he would turn back so quickly, more than a month ago when he took the road east to Luoyang, Chen Yingliang occasionally fantasized about when he would return to Daxing by taking the Cuihan Road, and fantasized about the circumstances under which he returned to this Cuihan Road, and even had the psychological preparation for the horse leather shroud and never had the opportunity to return to Daxing on this Cuihan Road, but Chen Yingliang really never dreamed that less than two months had passed, he had returned to this Cuihan Road, from east to west. Advance in the direction of his hometown Daxing.

Chen Yingliang inevitably sighed a little embarrassed, and couldn't help but think of his relatives and friends in Daxing City, Chen Laosan and Fang Xuanling, the enemy Chai Shao's family, and the mysterious, noble and delicate girl Yang Yuer. At the same time, Chen Yingliang naturally thought that if he returned to Daxing now, what kind of reaction would Chen Laosan, Fang Xuanling, Chai Shao and others be?

"I don't know what Fang Xuanling's reaction will be, the third uncle must be so surprised that he can't speak, as for Chai Shao, that kid wants to settle accounts with me, at least he has to weigh the consequences."

Thinking of this, Chen Yingliang naturally couldn't help but smile stupidly, and Chen Zhihong and Guo Feng and other military captains next to him couldn't help but be very curious when they saw Chen Yingliang's silly elephant, Chen Zhihong couldn't help but ask: "Chen Jiroom, why are you smiling so happily?" Why are you smiling like this all the time after passing through the pond, and you have picked up money in the pond? ”

"Hehe, I remembered a few old people in Daxing City." Chen Yingliang smiled and said, "I'm thinking, after we cooperate with the main force of the Great Sui to kill the Yang rebels, if I have the opportunity to return to Daxing City, what kind of reaction will they have." ”

"Male or female?" Chen Zhihong asked with a bit of gossip spirit, and said with his own life: "It must be a woman, or it must be your good friend in Chen Ji's room, as long as I think of Sister Feng these days, I will also laugh secretly like you." ”

"Please, don't mention Sister Feng, okay? I'm about to be cocooned by you. Chen Yingliang rolled his eyes a little, and he really didn't want to think of the Internet celebrity under the prompting of the accomplice lackey. Then Chen Yingliang said casually: "It's not a woman, it's my enemy, he has a bit of power in his family, I couldn't mess with him before, I'm thinking, if I return to Daxing now, what kind of reaction will he have." ”

"What? Chen Ji Room, your enemy?! Chen Zhihong suddenly shouted and yelled, "Who is he?" There he is? Chen Ji room, tell me who your enemy is, I will take the brothers to avenge you! ”

"What? The enemy of the Chen Ji Room? Hack him to death! Chop him! Kill his whole family! One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and the surrounding **** soldiers all boiled like chicken blood, and they all came over and yelled, scrambling to ask Chen Yingliang's enemy the identity and name, you are fighting for me to say that you want to break Chen Yingliang's enemy into thousands of pieces, and Guo Feng, who has the most short temper, directly pulled out the nine-ring machete given to him by Huangfu Wuyi and waved it, roaring to cut Chen Yingliang's enemy into seventeen or eighteen pieces.

"Alright, alright, my enemy is not here, why are you in a hurry to draw your sword?" Chen Yingliang was angry and funny, and shouted: "Put away the guys and reorganize the queue, my enemy is still in Daxing, when we destroy the Yang rebel and go to Daxing City to ask for merit and receive a reward, I will take you to find that enemy to settle accounts!" At that time, I am afraid that you will not have the righteousness and guts! ”

"Chen Ji, you underestimate me too much!" Chen Zhihong said with some anger: "Although I, Chen Zhihong, have average skills, I definitely have the guts, Sister Feng's family is so fierce, I still dare to climb over the wall to go in!" No matter who your enemy is, I'll beat him all over the face! ”

Seeing that the other **** soldiers were about to shout and hustle again under the drive of Chen Zhihong's living treasure, Chen Yingliang, who was unwilling to continue on this topic, hurriedly changed the topic, pointed to the front and said: "Be quiet, the front is Hangu Pass, this is the ancient Xiongguan personally supervised by Xu Chu, a famous general of the Cao Army during the Three Kingdoms, and I have sorted out the queue, Hangu Pass is not far from Hongnong, and we have already informed His Royal Highness King Cai of his whereabouts through Guò Michi Station, maybe His Royal Highness King Cai will personally come to Hangu Pass to meet us, Let him see us in this mess, like what? ”

The simple and simple ancient soldiers are easy to deceive, hearing Chen Yingliang's instructions, the **** soldiers really ended their shouting immediately, honestly returned to the queue, and sang the military song of loyalty to the country at the request of Chen Yingliang and strode forward, never thinking that with Chen Yingliang's micro-end identity, how could Yang Zhiji, the king of Cai, who was the cousin of Emperor Yang of Sui, come to Hangu Pass to greet him in person? Moreover, the Eastern Capital Army only sent reinforcements of more than 700 people to Yang Zhiji this time, and Yang Zhiji, who is a prince, was able to send a subordinate of his staff to greet Chen Yingliang and the army to serve the country, which was already giving enough face -- it was still to give face to Fan Zigai, not to Chen Yingliang and the army to serve the country.

The result was not unexpected, when the team of the national army sang the song of loyalty to the country and came to Hangu Pass, in front of the Hangu Pass, which had fallen into disrepair and even the building had disappeared, in addition to the pitiful number of soldiers guarding the pass, there were only a dozen or so people standing in front of the door to greet the **** party, led by a middle-aged man wearing a blue and white Confucian robe, his appearance was very handsome, and he thought that it should be a staff member of Yang Zhiji, and he bowed his hand to Chen Yingliang from afar, and said loudly with a smile: "Chen Ji room, hard work from afar." ”

Driven by the middle-aged man, the dozen or so tall, short, fat and thin men of different ages next to him also bowed their hands, and their attitude towards Chen Yingliang was quite respectful, Chen Yingliang did not dare to slack off, and quickly stopped the singing of the national army, and then turned over and dismounted, led Guo Feng and Chen Zhihong to stride in front of the middle-aged man, hugged his fists and bowed and said: "Chen Yingliang, the secretary of Henan Zanzhi Mansion, was ordered to stay in the eastern capital and Fan Liu, and led the four regiments of right guards to Hongnong to reinforce His Royal Highness King Cai, and assist King Cai in resisting Yang rebels, Dare to ask this adult's name and honorific title, and what is the official position. ”

"Chen Ji's room is too polite." The middle-aged man replied with a smile: "Honorific, I am Hongnong Taishou Yang Zhiji." ”

"What? Are you His Royal Highness King Cai? Chen Yingliang, who looked down on people with dog eyes, was rarely really taken aback, and Guo Feng and Chen Zhihong behind Chen Yingliang were also staring at each other, and they couldn't believe that the middle-aged man with a kind attitude in front of him was Yang Zhiji, the king of Cai, who was the royal prince.

"Yes, I'll be Yang Zhiji." The middle-aged man smiled and nodded, patted his forehead again and said, "I'm confused, according to the rules, I should ask Chen Ji's room to check my official seal letter first." Someone, please quickly submit my official seal letter and ask Chen Ji's room to inspect it. ”

As soon as the words fell, the middle-aged man's entourage had already held out the seal letter of Hongnong Taishou, and the middle-aged man took out the gold-decorated fish bag from his waist, took out the golden fish talisman that only the prince or officials above the third rank were qualified to wear, smiled and handed it to Chen Yingliang with his own hand, and handed it to Chen Yingliang for inspection. Things came to this point, Chen Yingliang couldn't believe it anymore, and quickly pulled Chen Zhihong and Guo Feng to kneel down together, and said respectfully while presenting the official document of the Eastern Capital: "The villain waits to meet His Royal Highness King Cai, the villain and others have eyes that don't know Mount Tai, and they don't know His Highness's presence in person, and I hope His Royal Highness will forgive his sins." ”

"Those who don't know are not guilty, Chen Ji Room please hurry up." Yang Zhiji smiled and picked up Chen Yingliang and others one by one, and looked at the neat queue of the national army behind Chen Yingliang, and praised: "Report ****, sure enough, the name is well deserved, I heard that Chen Ji led less than 1,000 people to report the country army to raid the rebel camp, burned the traitors' grain and grass, and then calmly killed tens of thousands of traitors surrounded by heavy encirclement, I also once suspected that the rumors were fraudulent, today I can see the strict military appearance of the newspaper ****, brave soldiers, and finally know that the rumors are true." ”

Chen Yingliang hurriedly pretended to be modest, Yang Zhiji smiled and praised Chen Yingliang a few words, and then pulled Chen Yingliang in front of everyone behind him, and introduced the identities of the entourage behind Chen Yingliang one by one, and at this time, Chen Yingliang was surprised to learn that in addition to Yang Zhiji personally came to Hangu Pass to greet him, the short Hongnong County Ling Zu Junyan, Taolin County Ling Wang Fujun and the very young Shaanxi County Ling Yao Yi also came to Hangu Pass to greet him.

This time is not over, when introducing Yao Yi, the county commander of Shaanxi County, Yang Zhiji also added intentionally or unintentionally, "Chen Ji room, this Yao County Commander has a similar experience to you, six years ago the Shaanxi County Thief Rebellion, even the county commander abandoned his post and fled, Yao County Order, who was only eighteen years old at the time, was the same as you, and he also resolutely organized local township soldiers to kill thieves and quell the rebellion, and finally exterminated the Shaanxi County Thief Rebellion, and was named the Shaanxi County Commander on the spot. ”

Chen Yingliang had heard of Yao Yi's (Yao Chong's father's father), and Chen Yingliang could also hear Yang Zhiji's off-string voice - encouraging himself to continue to work hard for the old Yang family, so Chen Yingliang also hurriedly pretended to have a relationship with Yao Yi, and was hypocritical. Fortunately, Yao Yi didn't put any county lord in front of Chen Yingliang, who was likely to be promoted, and took Chen Yingliang's hand and said affectionately: "Brother Yingliang, your great military exploits, even if you are far away in Shaanxi County, you are like thunder, I just hate to have no chance to see it, this time Fan Liushou sent you to reinforce Hongnong, it is really good, Shaanxi County and Hongnong are close at hand, Yang rebel thief does not come, if you dare to come, our brothers will kill him and turn over alone." ”

"Of course, that's of course." Chen Yingliang nodded again and again, then turned to Zu Junyan and Wang Fujun and asked, "Zu Xianzun, Wang Xianzun, dare to ask you, which of you is most likely to be promoted recently?" ”

Zu Junyan and Wang Fujun looked at each other, and then Wang Fujun asked carefully: "What does Chen Jishu mean by this, why can't I understand?" ”

"It's very simple, if you inquire about the two county lords who may be promoted recently, you can rest assured that you can kill thieves and quell the rebellion under the rule of that county lord." Chen Yingliang smiled and said: "When the time comes, the villain will take some credit for Yao Xianzun's light, maybe as soon as the emperor is happy, he will let the villain, like Yao Xianzun, take over the position vacated by you after your promotion." ”

Yang Zhiji, Zu Junyan and others laughed together, and then Yang Zhiji pulled up Chen Yingliang and said with a smile: "Chen Ji room, don't stand here, please lead the army into the pass, and report to the **** soldiers to come to reinforcements, Xiao Wang has prepared some thin wine and light rice to reward all the soldiers, please hurry up." ”

led the soldiers of the Baoguo Army into the Hangu Pass, which had been in disrepair for a long time, Yang Zhiji really prepared wine and meat in the Guancheng to reward the reinforcements of the Baoguo Army team, and naturally had to prepare a table of wine and food for Chen Yingliang to catch the wind and wash the dust, Chen Yingliang respectfully thanked him, and then because the weather was just right, Yang Zhiji ordered to move the wine and food to the wall, while enjoying the scenery of Hangu, while drinking and having fun on the moss-stained wall, Yao Yi and Zu Junyan and others were naturally on the wall to accompany them.

The blue sky and white clouds make people feel cheerful, the breeze is refreshing, drinking and talking in such an environment is naturally a great pleasure in life, Chen Yingliang naturally talks with the amiable Yang Zhiji and others, but Yang Zhiji's coarse tea and light rice are not eaten in vain, after three rounds of wine, Yang Zhiji, who has always maintained a cordial smile, took the initiative to turn the conversation to the topic, and said to Chen Yingliang: "Chen Ji room, there is one thing Xiao Wang is very strange, as far as Xiao Wang knows, the **** is a first-class elite army of the Eastern Capital Garrison, which can be of great use, Why didn't Fan Liushou let you bring the Baoguo army to reinforce Wei Shangshu, who was stationed in Mianchi, but instead sent you to reinforce Hongnong City, which was located in the rear? ”

Of course, Chen Yingliang couldn't say the real reason for this incident, so he could only answer vaguely: "Back to Your Highness, the villain is just acting on orders, and the specific reason is not clear to the villain. ”

What kind of person is Yang Zhiji, the Great Sui think tank that can be counted on his fingers, he is good at planning both the country and the body, seeing Chen Yingliang's vague answer, he immediately guessed the approximate reason, and at the same time, his heart suddenly sank, "Fan Zigai has no confidence in Wei Xuan?" Could it be that Hongnong really can't avoid the war? ”

Yang Zhiji Chengfu guessed the reason and didn't speak, but his direct subordinate Hongnong County Lingzu Junyan was a straightforward character, and blurted out: "Ninety percent of the nine is that Fan stayed behind and was worried that Wei Shangshu would not be able to stop Yang from rebelling westward, so he sent the most elite team in the Eastern Capital under the command of Chen Ji's office to Hongnong to prevent accidents." In this way, if Wei Shangshu was unfortunately defeated again, the Baoguo army could not only respond to him immediately, but also fortify on the spot in the Hongnong area, and once again block the westward path of Yang rebels. ”

"I can't see that this ancestor is really capable." Chen Yingliang glanced at Zu Junyan, who was less than one meter four tall, and secretly praised in his heart - of course, if Chen Yingliang's history could be better, knowing that Zu Junyan in history had also served as a think tank for Li Mi, Chen Yingliang would definitely not be a little surprised.

"If that's the case, then we're in big trouble." Yao Yi frowned and said: "There are no garrisons in several counties around Hongnong, only more than 1,000 regular troops must protect Changping, Hongnong, Taolin and Shaanxi counties combined, and there are still 4,000 township soldiers. ”

"It's a pity that we haven't paid attention to this Hangu Pass since the founding of the Great Sui Dynasty." Zu Junyan stomped on the wall under his feet and sighed: "If we were able to repair this ancient pass a few years ago, with Hangu Pass alone, we would have a great chance of blocking Yang Rebellion and traitors for a while." ”

"Master Zu, it's useless to repair it." Yao Yi, who started with his military exploits, took over the conversation and said: "Now it is no better than the Cao Wei period, at the end of the Han Dynasty, there was only one Shaanxi County county in this area, and only an official road was built to connect the east and west, so it was possible to block the enemy with only one Hangu Pass." But how many counties are there in this area now? How many roads and small roads have been dug up? Even if this Hangu Pass is intact, it is useless for us to hold on, Yang rebels can bypass Hangu Pass and go west directly, and they can even outflank us behind our backs and catch us in the urn! ”

After listening to Yao Yi's analysis, Zu Junyan and Wang Fujun both sighed, and they were both worried about the crisis they were about to face - if Yang Xuangan's rebels were really killed in Guanzhong through their county border, with the temper of Emperor Yang of Sui, Zu Junyan and Wang Fujun would definitely not be able to eat and walk around.

When several county commanders discussed the military situation and sighed, Chen Yingliang and Yang Zhiji did not speak, they were silently observing each other, Yang Zhiji silently observed Chen Yingliang for the reason I don't know, the reason why Chen Yingliang looked at Yang Zhiji was because Chen Yingliang knew that in history, it was Yang Zhiji, the smiling tiger, who used tricks to contain Yang Xuangan for three days, and won the most critical three days for the main force of the Sui army to move west to destroy Yang Xuangan, so Chen Yingliang naturally wanted to see what Yang Zhiji planned now.

At this time, the three county commanders had also noticed Yang Zhiji and Chen Yingliang's movements, and they couldn't help but close their mouths, looking at Chen Yingliang and Yang Zhiji who were looking at each other with great curiosity. After finding that several county commanders quieted down and looked at themselves, Chen Yingliang and Yang Jishan were a little embarrassed, and said in unison: "Your Highness (Chen Ji Room), about this matter, I don't know what Your Highness (Chen Ji Room) has to say?" ”

Before the words fell, Chen Yingliang and Yang Zhiji had already laughed, and then Chen Yingliang arched his hand to Yang Zhiji and said: "Your Highness, the villain is not a local native, and he is not familiar with the geographical road enough, I wonder if His Highness can have a map of the area around Hangu Pass for the villain's reference?" ”

Yang Zhiji didn't speak, just said to the entourage behind him, and the entourage immediately took a roll of maps and presented it to Chen Yingliang, Chen Yingliang opened it in surprise, and then was even more surprised to find that the map turned out to be the geographical map of the mountains and rivers in the area of Hanguguan and Hongnong, which not only depicted the size of the roads in this area in detail, but also marked the width of the road and the size of the stream, the height of the peaks, and the handwriting was brand new.

Secretly frightened Yang Zhiji's precautions, Chen Yingliang hurriedly looked at the map again, and found that the roads in this area are indeed extremely complicated, and there are not less than ten large and small roads that can bypass Hangu Pass, and after passing Hangu Pass, the terrain around Hongnong and Taolin is already quite wide, and it is difficult to find a favorable terrain suitable for deep ditches and high bases, even if there are some narrow terrains, there are many small roads that can be bypassed.

Under Yang Zhiji's smiling gaze, Chen Yingliang also knew that it was not okay not to be ugly, especially when it was related to whether Yang Zhiji was obedient to his words, Chen Yingliang had to let Yang Zhiji trust him, so after a little calculation, Chen Yingliang said in a deep voice: "His Royal Highness King Cai, the villain thinks that if Wei Shangshu really can't stop Yang Zhiji from going west, we should take two steps." ”

"Those two steps?" Yang Zhiji asked with a smile.

"The first step is to bring Wei Shangshu's team back as much as possible to supplement our insufficient troops." Chen Yingliang replied in a deep voice: "The second step is to try to provoke or lure Yang Xuangan to rebel against the thief, so that he will give up the westward march and attack us with all his might, and temporarily give up marching to Guanzhong. ”

Yang Zhiji's smile froze on his face, and after a moment of silence, Yang Zhiji asked again, "Then how to do it?" ”

"The second step is to improvise, and the villain can't make up his mind for the time being." Chen Yingliang replied: "But as for the first step, the villain is a small building, you might as well ask His Royal Highness King Cai to give an order, let Yao Xianzun immediately organize the people and villagers, and destroy all the roads in the Hangu Pass area as much as possible except for the official road." ”

"But these roads can't be completely destroyed, right?" Yang Zhiji asked again, and pointed to the map and said: "For example, these roads, this, this, this, are all in the valley, neither can be completely dug up, nor can they be diverted to flood, at most they can only be temporarily blocked, but the traitors have enough manpower, and it won't take much time to re-dredge them soon, so how can this be good?" ”

"No need to completely smash it!" Chen Yingliang replied categorically: "We only need to block it temporarily, so that it is no longer possible for the thieves to quickly outflank us and return to our backs, and we will have enough time to receive Wei Shangshu's team to withdraw from Hangu Pass, supplemented by some ambush methods, we can temporarily block the westward advance of Yang rebels, buy us precious time to reorganize our defense, and also allow Wei Shangshu's team to win respite and turn around to fight again." ”

Yang Zhiji smiled again, and without speaking, Chen Yingliang was a little furious by Yang Zhiji's laughter, and asked cautiously: "Your Highness, is it not the villain's construction, just talking on paper?" ”

"Chen Jimu, I don't know if you are talking on paper." Yao Yi smiled and said: "But I can tell you one thing, His Royal Highness King Cai has already ordered me to do this yesterday, my deputy Zhao Xiancheng is still blocking the road with the township soldiers and people, at most until sunset today, there is only this official road under our feet in the Hangu Pass area that can be passed." ”

Chen Yingliang was taken aback again, and hurriedly bowed his hand to Yang Zhiji and said: "Your Highness, I can't imagine that the villain fool has a thousand thoughts, and by chance, he can secretly cooperate with His Highness's arrangement. ”

"Chen Ji Room doesn't have to be modest." Yang Zhiji smiled and said: "Xiao Wang thought hard again and again to get this plan, but Chen Jishu could think of this idea in a moment, and sure enough, the young hero." Xiao Wang can get the help of Chen Ji's room, and Guanzhong can be safeguarded. ”