December 1, the second year of Guangqi.

Ninety thousand soldiers of the Iron Blood Army set out from Xiangyang and headed in the direction of the capital Chang'an.

Fu Wang Li Rupei was the commander of the army, Gao Chibang, the general of the iron-blooded army, was the deputy commander of the army, Zhu Wen, Qian Mu, Yang Xingmi, Lu Shengan and other iron-blooded army generals, as well as Cui Shenyou, Liu Yunzhang, Zheng Yanchang and Wang Shenzhi and others, followed the army to the capital.

Cui Anqian, Zheng Congyan and others were sent to ten miles outside Xiangyang City.

The army's grain and grass supply and other matters are operated according to the previous methods, and the merchants are responsible for transportation, and the iron-blooded army purchases silver, so that the army does not have to carry too much grain and grass to avoid delaying the trip, of course, the army must prepare half a month's grain and grass to prevent special situations.

The 90,000 army is divided into two parts, the front army and the Chinese army, the front army of 20,000 people, led by Gao Chibang directly, Li Rupei sits in the Chinese army, except for Zhu Wen who followed Gao Chibang to assist in the command of the front army, the rest of the civilian and military generals are all in the Chinese army.

At the time of departure, Li Rupei was very calm, although he worked hard after the crossing, a large part of it was for the arrival of this day, to be able to lead the army to the capital, to become the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, to be able to create a prosperous Tang Dynasty, but when this day really came, his heart was like water, thinking of responsibility, which is a person who crossed, I am afraid it is a little unimaginable, before the crossing, Li Rupei is an ordinary civil servant, people are middle-aged, not up or down, not bad, no passion, according to the crossing, he should indulge in pleasure and enjoy life well.

Maybe in Li Rupei's heart, there is still the ambition that flowed from the original body, or it is the long-term exile, and he deeply understands the unyielding fighting spirit that bursts out of the pain.

Ten miles outside the city of Xiangyang, the famous long pavilion.

It has long been a place of worship and attention for literati and artists, no matter what kind of life and death, they all come here to greet or see them off. The iron-blooded army returned to Xiangyang several times, and the officials of Daxingtai Mansion came to Changting to greet them, and the iron-blooded army went on an expedition, and the officials of Daxingtai Mansion also wanted to send them here, and the people naturally valued the places valued by the government.

The long pavilion is actually a pavilion, and it was later called the ten-mile long pavilion by the literati and ink writers, which is also because of a poem by Li Rupei, in fact, Li Rupei almost never wrote any poems later, by chance. After this poem was spread, it reminded the literati and writers of the long pavilion outside Xiangyang City, and they thought that this poem was written by Li Rupei was written specifically for the long pavilion, so from this time on, the fame of the ten mile long pavilion spread. As the Iron and Blood Army regained Longyou Dao, exterminated Tibet, and brought Tibet under the rule of the Tang Dynasty, the fame of the Ten Mile Changting became more and more famous. Countless literati and even officials came here to worship.

When Li Rupei walked into the pavilion, a wry smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, although it is said that communication is very underdeveloped in this era. But there are still fans and the like, otherwise an ordinary pavilion would not be praised as a famous ten-mile long pavilion.

Inside the pavilion. The wine has already been arranged.

Those who followed Li Rupei into the pavilion included Cui Anqian, Zheng Congyan, Gao Chibang and others.

Li Rupei walked quickly to the stone table, raised his hand and patted off the sealing mud on the wine jar, and a smell of wine instantly wafted out.

Li Rupei didn't ask anyone for help, picked up the wine jar, and poured wine into the dozen or so wine bowls on the table.

After laying down the jar, he picked up one of the bowls and spoke to the south.

"The Iron Blood Army went out this time, for the world of the Tang Dynasty, eight years, many brothers who followed a certain have been sleeping underground, they can't see today's situation, this first bowl of wine, a certain respect to you, if you can hear, in the spirit of heaven bless the Tang Dynasty, bless the Iron Blood Army, bless the strength of the Tang Dynasty, thank you."

Li Rupei poured the wine on the ground and smashed the wine bowl hard.

Immediately, Li Rupei picked up the wine bowl again.

"Everyone, pick up the wine bowl, the wine is fragrant, how can you live up to this good time, the Iron Blood Army will become one of the most colorful strokes in the history of the Tang Dynasty, history will remember you, come, you and a certain together, dry this glass of wine, bless the Iron Army, and bless the strength of the Tang Dynasty."

After the wine was drunk, a crisp sound sounded again, and everyone smashed the wine bowls in their hands.

After drinking the wine, Li Rupei spoke to Cui Anqian and the others.

"Send you a thousand miles, you must say goodbye in the end, the Southern Dao Daxingtai Mansion will ask you, I believe, it won't take long for you and you to meet in the capital Chang'an."

Li Rupei's confidence burst out at this moment, the winter sun looked warm, the sun shone on Li Rupei's face, shining, so that everyone suddenly had the mind to bow and worship, but they knew that Li Rupei didn't like this mode of kneeling, but the moment Li Rupei really ascended the throne, they must bow down according to the etiquette of the monarch and ministers.

The army was launched, and as the commander of the former army, Gao Chibang reported the itinerary to Li Rupei as usual.

"Marshal, the former army plans to arrive at Henan Mansion in five days, and the subordinates plan to take the entire Henan Mansion in two days, and after taking Henan Mansion, the former army will directly march to the eastern capital Luoyang, and the subordinates plan to use two days to take the eastern capital Luoyang, from the eastern capital Luoyang to the capital, the most important pass is Tongguan, and the subordinates plan to take Tongguan in three days, plus the time of the halfway march, half a month, the former army will arrive at Tongguan, waiting for the arrival of the marshal and the Chinese army."

Attacking or entering the capital, this is the most important moment, Li Rupei must be personally involved, this is a symbol of supreme authority, and it is impossible for anyone else to replace it.

"Got it, Deputy Marshal Gao, pay more attention to the march all the way, although it is said that the combat effectiveness of the Shence Army is average, but we still have to pay attention to the feudal towns in the north, Henan Mansion and Luoyang, the eastern capital, should not be the places where the feudal towns are touched, but the army of the Iron Blood Army is advancing northward, and the movements are very large, maybe the feudal towns in the north will have some action."

"The subordinates obeyed the order, and the subordinates expected that the northern feudal towns could do it at this moment, so that the subordinates would just exterminate them."

A smile appeared on Li Rupei's face.

"Deputy Marshal Gao has such self-confidence, a certain is relieved, but a certain sentence, the road has to go step by step, now the focus of the iron-blooded army is the capital Chang'an and the eastern capital Luoyang, as for the northern feudal town, that is the next thing to consider, a certain is also just in case, according to the current situation, the feudal town does not dare to shoot, otherwise the iron-blooded army will attack, they will not be able to resist at all, the really strong feudal town, there is still a certain distance from Henan Mansion, long-distance attack, in the face of the iron-blooded army, they should know what the outcome is."

The 20,000 soldiers of the front army marched faster, and the Chinese army had a large number, so the speed was naturally slower, but the distance between the front army and the Chinese army was no more than fifty miles, and this distance was nothing at all for the brave soldiers of the Iron Army, even if the front army was in danger, the rescue was very fast, and the combat effectiveness of the 20,000 soldiers of the Iron Army was by no means ordinary, unless the northern feudal towns were united, otherwise even the Raven Army under the command of Li Keyong would not dare to attack the Iron Blood Army easily.

Xiangyang is not very far from the eastern capital Luoyang and the capital Chang'an, and Li Rupei knows very well that this attack is largely a deterrent to the north, and there are very few real fights, and the garrisons in Henan Mansion do not dare to compete with the iron-blooded army, it should be a lookout for the wind, and the Shence army stationed in the eastern capital Luoyang is not the opponent of the iron-blooded army, and there will not be much large-scale resistance, they all know that blocking the torrent of the iron-blooded army is to use the mantis arm as a car.

As for the situation in the capital Chang'an, it shouldn't be complicated, the only variable is Yang Fugong, I don't know what Yang Fugong will do, if Yang Fugong is interested, he can still save his life, if it disrupts the situation in the capital, or even causes the ruin of the capital Chang'an, Li Rupei will never let Li Rupei go.

Ten days have passed, and the progress of the Iron and Blood Army has exceeded Li Rupei's imagination.

The iron-blooded army entered Henan Mansion, and the assassin and prefect of Henan Mansion led all the officials out of the city to greet them and presented the map, and the iron-blooded army did not encounter any resistance, and occupied Kaifeng City without blood. After occupying Kaifeng, Gao Chibang led the front army, with lightning speed, it took only one day to arrive at the eastern capital Luoyang, stationed in the eastern capital of the Shence army, heard the wind and fled, gave up the eastern capital Luoyang, along the direction of Tongguan, desperately retreated in the direction of the capital, Gao Chibang ordered Zhu Wen to garrison the eastern capital Luoyang, personally led 10,000 troops to pursue, arrived at Tongguan, the sergeant stationed in Tongguan did not hesitate, immediately surrendered, which made Gao Chibang very unhappy, led 20,000 troops, non-stop rushing, As a result, there was not a single fight, not even a skirmish.

Originally, it was planned to use half a month for the Iron and Blood Army to capture Tongguan, but it only took ten days to occupy Tongguan.

The capital Chang'an is already in front of him, if he didn't have to wait for Li Rupei and the Chinese army to arrive, Gao Chibang would even lead an army of 10,000 and go directly to the capital Chang'an.

Li Rupei was also a little caught off guard, he didn't expect the army to occupy Tongguan so smoothly, it seemed that Yang Fugong was not fully prepared, or he didn't expect the iron-blooded army to move so quickly.

After receiving Gao Chibang's report, Li Rupei accelerated his itinerary and led an army of 50,000 to advance quickly in the direction of Tongguan, leaving an army of 30,000 to escort grain and grass behind.

When entering Tongguan, looking at the majestic Tongguan, Li Rupei had too much emotion, and in addition to being excited, he couldn't help but read out a poem: Xiongguan Mandao is really like iron, and now he is stepping forward from the beginning.

Not surprisingly, within three days, Li Rupei will be able to enter the capital. (To be continued......)