After Li Mi moved to Jiangnan, he first faced the four major forces entrenched in Jiangnan, Jiangdu Chen Ling, Huiji Li Zitong, Wujun Shen Faxing and Jianghuai Du Fuwei.

Li Mi overwhelmed the city with an army of 200,000 and forced Chen Ling to surrender to Jiangdu, and then recruited Li Zitong on the favorable terms of the king of Yue and the quasi-soldiers and horses.

Li Mi also ordered Wang Bodang to lead 50,000 troops and Li Zitong's army to attack from the north and south to exterminate Shen Faxing in Wu County, but Li Mi took advantage of the emptiness of Huiji and ordered Shan Xiongxin to lead 30,000 troops to attack Huiji City successfully, beheaded Li Zitong at the head of the city, and incorporated Li Zitong's army.

In just two months, Li Mi recovered a large area of land east of Jianghuai, but Li Mi suffered a heavy setback when attacking the western part of Jianghuai, Du Fuwei and Xiao Mo joined forces to resist Wei, defeated Shan Xiongxin's troops in Lujiang County, annihilated more than 50,000 Wei troops, and Shan Xiongxin fled back to Jiangdu.

But in this battle, Du Fuwei's army also paid a heavy price, losing more than 30,000 people, Fu Gongyou was seriously wounded, and although Du Fuwei and Xiao Mo defeated Li Mi's army, Li Mi's army was strong, forcing Du Fuwei to abandon Liyang County and retreat to Hefei.

After Du Fuwei surrendered to Yang Yuanqing because of his mother's grace, he was named the king of Huai, but he did not dare to be called king with Yang Yuanqing, so he demoted himself by one level and changed his title to the king of Lujiang County.

Despite this, Du Fuwei was still a little uneasy, among Yang Yuanqing's many subordinates, no one was crowned king, but only himself was named the king of the county.

Although Du Fuwei did not read much, he also understood the truth that a different surname could not be crowned king, although he was in the limelight for a while, but the problem could not last.

As the Sui Dynasty became more and more powerful, Du Fuwei's concerns became deeper and deeper. Morning. Du Fuwei came to Fu Gongyou's mansion, since Fu Gongyou was seriously injured, the injury was repeated, and his life was in danger several times, but he relied on his strong body to survive, but he has not gotten rid of the danger so far.

The room was softly lit. Fu Gongyou was lying on the bed, his face was like gold paper, and he was so thin that only a handful of bones remained. He met Shan Xiongxin on the battlefield, and was stabbed by Shan Xiongxin and broke his backbone, breaking his bones and injuring his internal organs. It almost killed him on the spot.

Although he has dragged it out until now, everyone knows that Fu Gongyou's vitality is getting weaker and weaker day by day, and it has gradually reached the point when the oil is running out.

Du Fuwei sat on the side of the bed, holding Fu Gongyou's hand tightly, extremely sad in his heart, although they had differences of opinion on the overall situation, they were brothers, sharing weal and woe and struggled together, step by step to this day. The deep affection between them is that contradictions and differences cannot be concealed.

Looking at Fu Gongyou's thin face, Du Fuwei couldn't help but cry like rain, and big tears rolled down on Fu Gongyou's hands.

Fu Gongyou slowly woke up, he opened his eyes, and saw that it was Du Fuwei. He smiled hard, "Dignified man...... What are you crying about? ”

"Big brother, when will you get better?" Duvowe asked, choking up.

Fu Gongyou sighed slightly, and said in a low voice: "I can't do it anymore, I'm gone, and the only one who can't rest assured is you." Alas! ”

Fu Gongyou let out a long sigh, and said in a low voice: "Now that the Sui Dynasty has eradicated the Turkic troubles, there are no worries, it is estimated that a large-scale attack on the Tang Dynasty will be carried out soon, the general trend of the world has gone, and it seems wise for you to surrender to the Sui Dynasty now, but I still have to advise you to ......"

"What is the big brother going to say?" Duvowe asked, clasping his hand.

At this time, Fu Gongyou Jīng God was a little better, his eyes brightened, he grabbed Du Fuwei's hand and said hurriedly: "You just surrendered, Yang Yuanqing will not move you, but what about in the future?" If you want to mix with officialdom, you don't want this county king, but I still advise you to be a rich man and stay incognito in exchange for peace in the rest of your life. ”

Fu Gongyou's words hit Du Fuwei's heart, he pondered for a moment, and nodded solemnly, "I listen to my eldest brother, I don't want this county king." ”

As soon as he said this, a report from his own soldiers came from outside the door, "General Qiqi, a businessman surnamed Xiao from outside the military government said that he had visited the general in Liyang County. ”

'A businessman surnamed Xiao? ’

Du Fuwei was slightly stunned, but as soon as his mind turned, he immediately understood, "It's Xiao Jin, the envoy sent by Yang Yuanqing last time." ”

He patted Fu Gongyou's hand, "Big brother is recuperating with peace of mind, I know what to do?" These things big brother don't cāo heart. ”

He turned around to leave, but Fu Gongyou grabbed him, his eyes full of reluctance and nostalgia.

Du Fuwei was also a little sad in his heart, and smiled reluctantly, "Big brother is recuperating with peace of mind, I will come to visit from time to time, I will invite the best doctor in the world, and I will definitely cure my eldest brother's injury." ”

He gently broke free of Fu Gongyou's hand and walked out quickly, Fu Gongyou stared at him blankly and walked away, his eyes suddenly became extremely dark......

Du Fuwei's military office was actually not far from Fu Gongyou's mansion, just next to it, Du Fuwei walked into the military office quickly and asked, "Where is the merchant surnamed Xiao?" ”

"Back to the general, people are already waiting in the meeting room."

Du Fuwei strode towards the meeting room, Yang Yuanqing sent Xiao Jin at this time, there must be something important.

In the room, Xiao Jin drank tea slowly with a teacup, patiently waiting for Du Fuwei's arrival, at this time Xiao Jin was already the Taishou of Liang County, in charge of the largest county in the Central Plains, because he had been on an envoy last time, so this time he had a detailed discussion with Du Fuwei, and Yang Yuanqing handed over the important task to him again.

Of course, compared with Xiao Miao's negotiation, Du Fuwei was much easier, after all, he had surrendered to Yang Yuanqing, and he did not claim the title of emperor, not even the king, he was the leader of a rebel army. But in order to prevent accidents from affecting the entire strategic deployment, Xiao Jin still needs to take it seriously.

At this moment, there was a sound of rapid footsteps outside the door, and then the door opened, and Du Fuwei walked in, with a serious face.

Xiao Jin hurriedly stood up and bowed and saluted: "See His Royal Highness the County King!" ”

Du Fuwei waved his hand, "The first thing I want to say is this, I don't want His Royal Highness the County King." ”

"This ......" Xiao Jin was stunned for a moment, not understanding what he meant.

"Xiao Yuanjun, please take a seat, let's sit down and talk."

Xiao Jin sat down and looked at Du Fuwei in puzzlement, and Du Fuwei sighed. "People are valuable to have self-knowledge, how can I Du Fuwei be able to dare to be called the king of the county, I have decided to give up the title of the king of the county, and only retain the position of Jianghuai governor, I hope that Xiao Yuanjun can tell His Royal Highness the King of Chu and understand my distress."

Xiao Jin understood what he meant. It's not that the title is too low, but it's too high, which is quite interesting. He smiled slightly: "I can tell Your Highness for you, but I still hope that you can write a book yourself and directly express your wishes." ”

"Alright! I will write to His Royal Highness the King of Chu. ”

Stop for a moment. Du Fuwei asked again: "I don't know what is the important matter for Xiao Yuanjun to come to me this time?" ”

The topic finally turned to business, and Xiao Jin immediately said: "Your Highness is preparing to attack Li Mi on the next day, and I hope that General Du's Jianghuai army can cooperate and attack Li Mi's troops from the west." ”

After Xiao Jin finished speaking, he took out Yang Yuanqing's handwritten letter and handed it to him, Du Fuwei took the letter, opened it and read it slowly, Yang Yuanqing made it very clear in the letter, he was indeed asked to prepare to assist the Sui army in attacking Li Mi.

The news came as a surprise to Duvoway. Didn't it say that the Sui army was preparing to attack the Tang Dynasty? How did it turn into an attack on Li Mi, so that he was not prepared at all.

Du Fuwei lowered his head, and after a while, he sighed: "I only have 70,000 troops in my hands, and I am afraid that it will be difficult for me to play a big role on my own." ”

Xiao Jin smiled slightly: "Of course it wasn't General Du's family attacking. At that time, there will also be Xiao Miao, who will also send 80,000 troops to join General Du to attack from the Western Front. ”

Du Fuwei was overjoyed, if Xiao was willing to send 80,000 troops and unite his 70,000 troops, there would be 150,000 people. It was enough to exert strong pressure on Li Mi, if Xiao Mi was willing to send troops, then there would be no problem at all, and he hurriedly asked, "I don't know when to send troops?" ”

"The letter was also written, and the official dispatch period is set for the first day of February, and I can make it clear once again that there will be no change in this period." Xiao Jin said slowly.

Du Fuwei looked up and thought about it, in fact, there were only forty days left, he needed to start preparing, and he finally replied clearly, "Please tell His Royal Highness the King of Chu that on the first day of the second lunar month, my 70,000 troops will attack Liyang County on time." ”……

Xiao Jin said goodbye and left, Du Fuwei paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, he was also thinking about the same problem as Xiao Mi, destroying Li Mi, then the rìzi of his own division would come to an end, he would either enter the court as an official, or stay in office, or resign and live in seclusion, no matter what, he needed to make a choice.

Just when Du Fuwei sighed in his heart, suddenly, a soldier rushed in from outside the door, knelt on the ground and cried, "General, auxiliary general, he ...... He went! ”

Du Fuwei only felt a burst of pain, he screamed, his eyes were dark, and he fainted on the ground......

When Yang Yuanqing returned from Mayi County, it was already December 25, and there were only five days left before the New Year.

Yang Yuanqing entered Taiyuan City from the east gate under the escort of three hundred personal soldiers, and this time he put away the flag and changed into the attire of an ordinary officer, trying not to let the people recognize him.

As soon as I entered the city gate, I saw a table set up close to the city gate, about seven or eight sheets, with more than a dozen sergeants sitting, erecting a large wooden sign next to the table, on which were written in black ink with the words 'recruitment'.

Although it was approaching the New Year, there were still many people who signed up to join the army, about 1,000 people, and they were hundreds of steps away.

The registration at the table is actually just a simple review, name, address, age, parents and brothers, Sui Jun's conditions are more harsh, such as age, over forty years old and under sixteen years old will not be accepted.

There are also only sons or those who have brothers and fathers in the army, and they will not accept them, but this time Yang Yuanqing ordered the counties to recruit 150,000 recruits before the Lantern Festival, and the task is quite urgent, so when the military department issued the recruitment order to the counties, the conditions were obviously relaxed, except for the age limit, the rest of the restrictions can be temporarily ignored. Behind the table, there is a vacant lot, there are more than a dozen stone locks in the open space, each stone lock weighs forty pounds, after signing up for the throne, everyone needs to pass the test here, in fact, it is to lift the lock ten times, this one is not relaxed, you must pass the lock test, in order to officially join the army.

In addition, near the city wall, there is a large flock of sheep, about a thousand, which is the most attractive point, as long as the army is successful, each soldier can receive a sheep as a reward for joining the army.

This made many people who were ready to sign up for the army after the Chinese New Year rush to sign up in advance, in order to receive a sheep for their families to celebrate the New Year.

"Your Highness, do you want to take a look?" One of the soldiers asked in a whisper.