Although Chen Yingliang is a hundred people who are willing to go to Zhang Xutuo every day, fight in the south and the north, and tie his head to the belt of his trousers to suppress bandits at any time, he is tired of running for his life and is destined to be more and more bandits, but there is no way, since he is eating Emperor Yang of Sui's money, and in front of the senior official of the deputy commander-in-chief of the twelve counties to suppress bandits, no matter how unhappy he is, he must go through the motions, and after presiding over the autumn harvest of the base camp of Qian County, Chen Yingliang finally cried and wiped his tears with the army to fight.

The purpose of Chen Yingliang's dispatch of troops this time was mainly to train troops, protect the safety of Xiapi County, which has the best money and grain situation among the four counties, and prevent Du Fuwei and Li Zitong, the two big thieves, from sitting in the East China Sea. In order to allow more new troops to get the opportunity to exercise in actual combat, and also out of vigilance against Du Fuwei and Li Zitong, Chen Yingliang, who has always liked to be expensive and not expensive, was very generous, and took more than 5,000 troops from 25 regiments to the expedition in one go, Ma Sanbao and Cheng Yanjin and other four generals all accompanied him, leaving only the eldest grandson Wuji and Zhang Di to lead five regiments of troops to guard the safety of the base camp of Qiaojun.

Chen Yingliang's training goal was achieved very smoothly, because Dong Chun's main force was concentrated in the north of Pengcheng, unable to look south, Chen Yingliang liked to only sweep the snow in front of the door before becoming the deputy commander of the bandits, so the bandits in the south of Pengcheng are simply as many as cattle hairs, but wherever there are a little mountain forests, there are bandits and bandits, so that the three counties of Fuli, Xinxian and Guyang in the south of Pengcheng only dare to open the city for three hours every day, and always beware of the invasion of the bandits into the city, Chen Yingliang's team came to such a place, Of course, there are a lot of opportunities for military training.

Under the courageous battle of them and Ma Sanbao, Kan Liang and other old people, the Sui army of Qiaojun swept away the dead leaves like the autumn wind, breaking the large and small bandits that passed along the way one after another, and also burned one after another cottage bandit nests into ashes and ruins.

In order to facilitate the supply of grain and grass, and to protect the smooth and safe passage of the Tongji Canal by the way, Chen Yingliang's eastward expedition was to march along the Tongji Canal, and after more than 20 battles, Chen Yingliang's team entered the territory of Xiapi and arrived in Xiaqiu County, and then Chen Yingliang ordered the army to rest in Xiaqiu temporarily, and at the same time sent people to reconnoiter the situation in the East China Sea, contact the local officials of the two counties of Donghai and Xiapi, and listen to the movements of Du Fuwei and Li Zitong, and look for enemy fighters.

When Chen Yingliang accepted the banquet of Xiaqiu County every day, an unexpected messenger came to the camp of the Sui army in Qian County first, and brought Chen Yingliang another handwritten letter from Wang Shichong, a cattle man at the end of the Sui Dynasty. Chen Yingliang was very curious when he heard the news, and hurriedly met this envoy in the camp of the Chinese army, but what made Chen Yingliang vomit blood was that the envoy sent by Wang Shichong turned out to be a blonde-haired, high-nosed mixed-race young man with obvious Western Regions blood!

Chen Yingliang was dumbfounded Wang Shichong's envoy was a mixed-race child, and the mixed-race young man was also dumbfounded by Chen Yingliang's young handsomeness, and cautiously asked Chen Yingliang: "Dare to ask this general, are you the famous little Chen Qingzhi, the general guard of Qian County, and the new deputy envoy of the twelve counties of Henan Province Chen Yingliang Chen?" ”

Seeing Chen Yingliang nodding and admitting, the mixed-race young man was taken aback, and quickly knelt down on one knee to Chen Yingliang, saluted and said, "Wang Renze, the captain under the command of Wang Shichong of Jiangdu County, has seen the twelve counties arrest Chen's deputy envoy and deputy envoy Jin An. ”

"Captain Wang, please get up, come here, arrange a seat for Captain Wang."

Chen Yingliang generously beckoned Wang Renze to get up, and asked his own soldiers to arrange seats for Wang Renze, who knew that after Wang Renze thanked him and got up, he immediately knelt down on one knee to Chen Yingliang, and said again: "Little nephew Wang Renze, I have seen Uncle Chen, Uncle Jin An." ”

Looking at the age, Wang Renze is twenty-three or four-year-old, and Chen Yingliang, who is only eighteen years old, suddenly appeared with such a big nephew, or a mixed-race nephew, Chen Yingliang was of course also taken aback, quickly got up and left his seat, personally picked up Wang Renze, and asked suspiciously: "Captain Wang, you and I don't know each other, why do you call me so?" ”

"Uncle may not know something, but in fact, we are related." Wang Ren explained: "Wang Shichong Wang Juncheng is the uncle of the little nephew, his second sister-in-law is also the second aunt of the little nephew, the second aunt She was born in the Wenxi Pei family, and is the granddaughter of the uncle of the same clan as Li Guogong, and the deputy envoy is the same generation as you, uncle, he heard that Vice Envoy Chen is the distant nephew of Li Guogong, and he is the distant uncle of the little nephew, so he wants the little nephew to perform the junior salute to you after meeting." Uncle also said that when he is destined to meet you, he will also give you a brotherly gift. ”

"And so recognizable relatives?" Chen Yingliang was a little dumbfounded, and said in his heart that this distant relative is worthy of the name, and it is indeed far away.

It's useless to be dumbfounded, Wang Ren, who is five or six years older than him, calls himself a nephew without blushing, and Chen Yingliang, a distant uncle, doesn't recognize this nephew anymore, it will be too much of a slap in the face. In desperation, Chen Yingliang had no choice but to cheekily recognize Wang Renze, the eldest nephew, and call him a virtuous nephew, and then hurriedly asked: "Virtuous nephew, your uncle Wang Juncheng, what did he send you here for?" How do you know I'm in Summerhill? ”

"Uncle Yu, here's the thing." Wang Ren explained: "Recently, the rebel Du Fuwei Department has been rampant in the south of Donghai County, and Li Zitong, a rebel thief in Qi County, has also shown signs of uniting with Du Fuwei in the south, Donghai County and Jiangdu County are directly bordered, and his uncle is a Jiangdu County Cheng, so he naturally has to beware of these two thieves crossing the Huai River to the south and harassing Jiangdu, so he personally led the army to the north and went to the south bank of the Huai River to guard against it. The second is that I want to negotiate with you to join forces to fight the thief. ”

"Oh, I see." Chen Yingliang sighed, and hurriedly asked, "Virtuous nephew, where is Wang Juncheng's army now?" ”

"Currently in Sanyang." Wang Ren replied respectfully, and hurriedly added, "Please rest assured, Uncle Chen, my uncle brought 20,000 troops this time, all of them are elite soldiers trained during the extermination of Liu Yuanjin, and their combat effectiveness is very reliable, which is enough to assist my uncle in exterminating Du Fuwei and Li Zitong, the two bandits!" ”

"Really?" Chen Yingliang showed joy, and hurriedly asked: "When did Wang Juncheng's army arrive in Shanyang?" How come I've never heard of it before? ”

"Shanyang, which arrived four days ago." Wang Ren replied casually, and quickly took out a letter from his arms, held it in front of Chen Yingliang with both hands, and said respectfully: "This is my uncle's handwritten letter, please take a look at Uncle Chen." ”

Chen Yingliang took the letter and opened it, and found that the situation that Wang Shichong said in the letter was similar to Wang Renze's introduction, except for a lot of nonsense about recognizing relatives and pulling relationships, and then there was the initiative to send troops to Chen Yingliang to help and exterminate the Du Fuwei team that threatened the security of the northern part of Jiangdu, and after the matter was completed, Chen Yingliang did not want anything in return, even the grain, grass and military supplies were only half of Chen Yingliang's burden, and the attitude of friends in Chen Yingliang's friendship office was very sincere.

After reading Wang Shichong's letter, Chen Yingliang thought about it for a while, and then said with a smile: "I didn't expect Wang Juncheng to be so enthusiastic about state affairs, and he took the initiative to help our army. He was also asked to cross the Huai River as much as possible and join forces with our army to fight the thief. ”

Seeing that Chen Yingliang agreed to invite the Jiangdu army to cross the river to kill the enemy, Wang Renze was also overjoyed, and hurriedly saluted Chen Yingliang, and asked Chen Yingliang to issue an invitation letter, so that the Jiangdu army could cross the river and fight in the county, Chen Yingliang laughed and said: "The virtuous nephew has worked hard from afar, don't worry, come here, quickly prepare the banquet, the official wants to personally pick up the wind and wash the dust for General Renze, and thank Wang Juncheng for taking the initiative to reinforce the great grace." ”

Ordered to prepare a banquet, Chen Yingliang summoned Wei Zheng, Yuan Tiangang and a cadre of military generals and lackeys, showed Wang Shichong in public a letter of offering reinforcements, and once again thanked Wang Renze in public, and Wang Renze talked very happily during the banquet, Wang Renze also tried his best to tie up Chen Yingliang's subordinates, and the attitude of deliberate friendship was very sincere, promised to give Wang Renze an invitation to send troops the next day.

Wang Ren, who was eloquent, went out with the equally slick Ma Sanbao shoulder to shoulder, and the generals of Qian County also followed, and when only Chen Yingliang, Wei Zheng, and Yuan Tiangang were left in the big tent of the Chinese army, Chen Yingliang smiled and asked Wei Zheng and Yuan Tiangang: "Two, Wang Shichong took the initiative to help us with this matter, what do you think?" ”

"A good thing, a rare good thing." Yuan Tiangang replied: "With the current strength of our army, it is indeed a little difficult to eradicate the two big thieves Du Fuwei and Li Zitong at the same time, and with the help of Wang Shichong's 20,000 troops, it is much more certain." ”

"I can't imagine that Wang Shichong is still a person who has the courage to take responsibility." Wei Zheng also said: "I have heard for a long time that Wang Shichong is a sleek person, I really didn't expect him to be so loyal to the court and diligent in state affairs, and he actually took the initiative to reinforce Huaibei, such a local official is really rare." ”

"Reinforcements for us?" Chen Yingliang smiled and said slowly: "If you think that Wang Shichong reinforced us in order to be diligent in state affairs and loyal to the imperial court, then you are very wrong. ”

"What do you mean?" Yuan Tiangang and Wei Zheng glanced at each other in surprise, neither of them understanding the meaning of Chen Yingliang's words.

"Wang Shichong is saving himself." Chen Yingliang said slowly: "At the beginning of this year, the Holy Lord sent Wang Shichong to quell Liu Yuanjin's rebellion, and authorized Wang Shichong to recruit troops and horses in Huainan to form a new army, but this guy took the opportunity to recruit 35,000 troops, and became the person who has the most troops among the magistrates in the world. However, after Liu Yuanjin was pacified, there was no war in the Huainan area of Jiangdong, and Wang Shichong's more than 30,000 troops had been idle. ”

"Deputy envoy, what do you mean that Wang Shichong is not sincere in helping us, but just wants to use this war to keep his soldiers and horses?" Yuan Tiangang asked in surprise.

"There's definitely more to it than that." Chen Yingliang sneered and said: "If you want to make meritorious deeds again, be promoted and make a fortune, this must be another purpose of his Wang Shichong." Maybe he wants to count on me to suffer a defeat or two, so that he can take the opportunity to prove that he is stronger than me, and more suitable than me to serve as the deputy envoy of the twelve counties. ”

"Deputy Envoy Chen, are you too maliciously speculating about Wang Shichong?" Wei Zheng frowned and asked.

"I'm certainly not speculating." Chen Yingliang sneered even more and said: "When Du Fuwei was wandering in the East China Sea before, why did he Wang Shichong go, why didn't he immediately dispatch his army and nip Du Fuwei in the bud?" Now that Du Fuwei has made a comeback, he has enough weight in the dragon case of His Majesty the Emperor, and he heard that I sent troops to the east, and he hurriedly sent troops again, didn't he want to share the credit and make miraculous achievements? ”

Wei Zheng was silent, and Yuan Tiangang hurriedly asked, "Deputy Envoy, since you think Wang Shichong is so ill-intentioned, then why do you still invite troops to the East China Sea?" ”

"Three reasons." Chen Yingliang raised three fingers and said in a deep voice: "First, our strength is indeed a little insufficient, and we are not sure to kill Du Fuwei and Li Zitong. Wang Shichong is needed to help quell the rebellion. Second, I want to meet this Wang Shichong, learn about his specific situation, and see what kind of person he is, so that we can get along in the future. Third....... ”

Speaking of this, Chen Yingliang paused, and then said with a smile: "I have heard for a long time that the Jianghuai soldiers are strong and brave in battle, Wang Shichong worked hard to form and train them into an army, and it would be a pity to be idle in Jiangdu, where there is no war, so I want to see if I can get these troops to Huaibei and quell the rebellion and kill the thieves under my command?" Good steel, it should be used on the knife edge. ”

Wei Zheng and Yuan Tiangang didn't say anything, but scolded together in their hearts, "Despicable villain!" There is also a face to say that Wang Shichong has bad intentions, and the two of you are a raccoon dog! ”

………………

There is a waterway from Xiaqiu to Shanyang, and after the autumn harvest, the north wind gradually rises, and under the smooth wind, Wang Ren took Chen Yingliang's official document in just over a day, and returned to Wang Shichong outside Shanyang City. After the uncle and nephew met, Wang Shichong, a purebred Hu man, saw Wang Renze's face full of smiles, so he smiled and asked, "Got it?" ”

"Of course I did." Wang Ren took out the official document with a smile and said with a smile: "Not only did I get it, but Chen Xiaozi also thanked his little nephew a thousand times, and you are also grateful to your uncle, and said several baskets of thanks." ”

"Good." Wang Shi nodded meaningfully, took the official document and opened it to watch, and asked, "What kind of person is that kid Chen Yingliang?" Is it as rumored, brave to champion the three armies, and have the courage of ten thousand people? ”

"Bullshit!" Wang Ren scolded very unceremoniously, and said angrily: "We have all been deceived by rumors, Chen Yingliang's kid is only eighteen years old now, and he is completely a little white face who has no power to restrain a chicken, and his subordinate soldiers told me that that kid has never killed an enemy with his own hands until now, and basically he has never even seen blood!" However, the generals under his command, called Ma Sanbao, Kan Liang and Cheng Yanjin, are all hard ideas, especially Cheng Yanjin and Kan Liang, the little nephew compared with them a few times, and felt that even if they really fought, they might not be their opponents. ”

"What?" Wang Shichong raised his head, with a vigilant look on his face, and said slowly: "In this way, this Chen Yingliang kid is even more difficult to deal with than I expected, and he is a real ruthless character!" ”

"Why?" Wang Ren asked in surprise.

"It's simple, just think about it." Wang Shichong said coldly: "Since he Chen Yingliang is a powerless little white face, how did he establish so many meritorious deeds, and he has never been defeated in consecutive battles?" And how did you get so many brave generals to bow down to their orders? From this point, I can conclude that this thief Chen Yingliang must be a scheming and skillful treacherous person, and it is definitely not as easy as we imagined to take away the credit for suppressing Du Fuwei and Li Zitong from him. ”

Wang Ren thought about it carefully and found that it was the same, so he quickly nodded in agreement with Wang Shichong's judgment, and then hurriedly asked, "Uncle, what should we do next?" ”

"Order the three armies to prepare for the crossing of the river immediately." Wang Shichong quietly ordered: "Tomorrow cross the river, garrison troops on the north bank of the Huai River, and set up more banners and war drums, so that Du Fuwei and Li Zitong can hear that we have crossed the river." ”

"Uncle, there's no need to be in such a hurry, right?" Wang Ren was stunned and said, "Kid Chen Yingliang is still in Xiaqiu, and he doesn't have five or six days to catch up with the East China Sea battlefield?" ”

"Silly boy, why don't you think about it, why did my uncle do this?" Wang Shichong smiled and said, "How many troops do we have?" Twenty thousand! How many troops does Chen Yingliang have? More than 5,000 people in 25 regiments! Do you think Duvowe was willing to fight us first when he heard that we had crossed the river to the north? Or would you rather fight Chen Yingliang first? ”

Wang Ren suddenly realized, and immediately laughed out loud, and praised his uncle for his cleverness. Coincidentally, at this time, outside Wang Shichong's Chinese army tent, a girl in hunting clothes suddenly walked in quickly, about fifteen or sixteen years old, tall and beautiful, with black hair and blue eyes, snow-white skin, and both Chinese and foreign charm, but Wang Shichong's only daughter Wang Xueji, holding a dead wolf in her hand and said loudly: "Daddy, look, how big is this wolf?" I shot my daughter to death with only one arrow, has my archery skills improved again? Hey, starling, why are you smiling so happily? ”

"Nothing." Wang Ren hurriedly shook his head, and said with a smile: "The thirteenth sister is good at archery, and she actually hit the wolf's waist with one arrow, and this archery is about to catch up with me." ”

"Go! My archery skills are already better than yours! Wang Xueji said disdainfully, stepped forward quickly, threw the dead wolf on Wang Shichong's handsome case, and shook Wang Shichong's arm coquettishly, "Dad, the army is here, there are too few prey, I searched for a long time to find this wolf." I heard that there are many wild beasts in the mountains to the east, how about you take me to the mountains to hunt tomorrow? The daughter is going to shoot a few more wolves and make you a wolf skin blanket. ”

"No, Dad can't go." Wang Shichong patted his beloved daughter's hair and said with a smile: "Tomorrow I will cross the river north with the army, but it doesn't matter, there are more prey on the north bank of the Huai River, and after crossing the river, my father will not only take you to hunt wolves, but also take you to hunt a bigger prey." ”

"Bigger prey?" Wang Xueji was stunned and hurriedly asked, "What prey?" Tigers? ”

"Certainly not a tiger." Wang Shichong smiled and said lightly: "It's the military exploits, and the holy grace." ”