The usurpation of the country in the north is as magnificent as a big drama, and it is full of anger, but the conspiracy in the city of Tanzhou in the Chu State is a completely different scene.

Unable to withstand the several urgings of His Royal Highness Li Congqian of the Ninth Tang Dynasty and the several threats of Feng Jingyun and Lin Renzhao, the two brothers Ma Xicao and Ma Xichong had to continuously order Ma Bujun to command Xu Wei to speed up the gathering of reinforcements, which is actually the speed of catching strong men.

Since mid-November, the city of Tanzhou has become a city of sadness, a city soaked in tears.

From the first day that all the strong men were arrested, some Tanzhou City fathers and elders ran to the temporary military camp in Baihumen, where they were temporarily stationed, shouting day and night, crying the name of their precious son. Although Xu Wei ordered the soldiers to drive them away every day, every night, these people appeared outside the camp again, crying non-stop, making the camp also mournful.

On November 23, the first batch of reinforcements rushed south, with 4,000 soldiers and nearly half of the newly captured strong men, triggering the first wave of sadness.

December 2 was the day when the second batch of reinforcements departed. Early in the morning, 3,000 heavily armed soldiers began to drive 5,000 bare-handed recruits on their way. Outside the barracks, tens of thousands of recruits' relatives lined up in two long rows, crying their children's names with tears in their eyes.

The gale is howling, the river is whimpering, the sorrow is shaking the sky, and the east bank of the Xiangjiang River is full of sad parting scenes.

"Tao'er, this is your favorite crispy pancake, take it to the road and eat it!" An old man with a gray beard had tears on his face and shouted at a man who was nearly thirty years old.

Taking advantage of the inattention of the soldiers around him, the man suddenly rushed out of the ranks, ran to the old father, fell to his knees at once, and respectfully accepted the pancakes wrapped in the handkerchief with both hands.

"Bastard, hurry up and get back to the team!" A nearby leader ran over and slammed his scabbard to the ground, slapping the handkerchief and pancakes to the ground, and waving his left hand and giving the man a resounding slap in the face.

Then, Du Tou kicked and beat the man back to the team, and pushed the old man who was cleaning up the pancakes on the ground, pushing the old man to the ground.

"Father!" When the man saw this scene, he immediately jumped up and wanted to rush over, but was tightly held by the two soldiers beside him. The head of the man ran over, picked up the scabbard, and struck the man in the mouth, and the man's mouth immediately swollen.

"Lord Cao said, the whole army speeded up! Fast! Fast! A dozen cavalrymen ran from both sides, and the soldiers immediately shouted loudly. Master Cao was the commander of Cao Jin, the commander of the second batch of reinforcements.

Dutou lowered his scabbard and loudly instructed the soldiers on either side to drive the recruits to speed up.

Seeing the long line quickly break away from the front of him, the cries on both sides of the road suddenly became louder. I heard that tens of thousands of elite troops of Chu and Tang in the Guizhou War failed, and their children have never fought, isn't this going to die, and today may be the last side of seeing their own children!

The fierce northwest wind sent the cry out of the country, echoing in the ears of the recruits.

Rushing all the way, this force, shrouded in grief, grief, and terror, rushed to the north of Liling City in the evening and temporarily camped.

By the time the recruits were beaten and set up their tents, it was already getting late. After a simple dinner, the barracks quickly quieted down. However, the occasional sobbing sound from all over the barracks revealed the sorrow that flowed beneath the surface of the quiet barracks.

Shi Weitao, the man who witnessed his father being bullied during the day, because his mouth was swollen, he didn't eat lunch or dinner, he was tired, hungry, painful and anxious lying on a roll of bed, turning over and couldn't sleep. The old mother is sick in bed, the father is not in good health, and the family relies on himself and his pregnant daughter-in-law.

Thinking of this, Shi Weitao was so sad that he sobbed softly.

"Wei Tao, Wei Tao......" Several figures lifted the curtain of the tent door, flashed in, and shouted softly in front of their heads.

Shi Weitao turned over and sat up, looked at the visitor in horror, and didn't dare to make a sound.

"I'm Zhang Longxing, don't be afraid." The first person gently blew the fire fold in his hand, it was Zhang Longxing, the son of Zhang Shaodi, the commander of the former Tanzhou capital, and he was followed by six elite soldiers.

Six days ago, Zhang Longxing was also arrested in the recruit camp because he couldn't pay the money for the donation, and he beat up the requisitioned soldiers. However, after entering the camp, Zhang Longxing showed his true character of righteousness, taking care of this and comforting that in the barracks every day, and was affectionately called "Brother Zhang" by a group of recruits.

"Brother Zhang, why are you here?" Shi Weitao said softly, and the pain in his mouth couldn't help but make him hissed softly.

"I've come to see you and brought you some medicine to heal your wounds." Zhang Longxing squatted down, took out a small porcelain bottle, handed it to Shi Weitao, and motioned for him to dip his hand on his lips.

The dilute ointment-like medicine was rubbed on his lips, and a chill immediately hit him, and the hot feeling was alleviated a lot.

"Xie Lu, thank you, Brother Zhang!" Shi Weitao gratefully handed the medicine bottle back, but Zhang Longxing grabbed his hand vigorously and put the medicine bottle into Shi Weitao's arms.

"By the way, Wei Tao, you're gone, how is your house?" Zhang Longxing asked kindly.

With this question, Shi Weitao suddenly angrily slammed the quilt under him, and his eyes couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Alas, the lives of our Tanzhou people are really bitter!" A soldier who came in with Zhang Longxing sighed.

"Not only bitter, but also wronged!" Zhang Longxing said hatefully, and shouted at the soldiers who had already woken up in the tent, "Do you know if you know it, my father was originally the former commander of Tanzhou, Zhang Shaodi, and he had a lot of friends in the army, and they revealed to me an amazing news yesterday, we didn't lose the battle of Guizhou, we won, and it was a big victory!" ”

What the? The soldiers in the tent all sat up, and several recruits got up and gathered around, asking if the news was true or false.

Zhang Longxing's face sank, and he said solemnly: "Think about it, it's been almost a month, have you seen the defeated soldiers and fleeing people who fled back from Guizhou?" ”

"yes, I haven't seen that before? But what kind of court is said to be defeated? One of the recruits interjected, half-convinced.

"That's because Ma Xichong is engaged in a big conspiracy, preparing to usurp the throne from Ma Xicao and ascend the throne himself!" Zhang Longxing said hatefully, then looked at the questioning and unbelieving faces in the account, and said in a deep voice, "This news is said by my father's friend, our grain commander Zhang Hui." He told me, don't look at so many of us going south, they don't have any food and weapons at all! ”

"This, this, what the hell is going on?" Another soldier was dumbfounded.

Zhang Longxing extinguished the fire fold that was about to burn out in his hand, and the tent suddenly darkened, he looked at the people in the tent with a pair of shining eyes, and said softly: "Zhang Hui told me that it was from this point that he began to feel wrong!" The two of us spent a long time thinking that this was a plan designed by Ma Xichong to divert the tiger from the mountain, have you found it? Most of the soldiers escorting us were originally soldiers from Langzhou? ”

"Yes, that's it! I and many of my brothers in Langzhou were assigned over. The last batch also went a lot. A soldier who came in with Zhang Longxing patted his waist knife and replied softly. At first glance, he was not young.

"We estimated that there were about 4,000 Langzhou troops in the city, but more than 2,000 people were dispatched by the two batches of reinforcements, that is, there were no more than 2,000 soldiers in Tanzhou City who could protect Ma Xixu's bastard. Zhang Hui also said that he had seen many strangers coming and going in the camp in the south of the city, all with guys, all of them very dragged and had high martial arts. The camp in the south of the city, as everyone knows, is in charge of the commander Sun Lang, and Sun Lang is Ma Xichong's right-hand man, so I don't need to say it, right? Zhang Longxing continued.

Hearing these analyses, the soldiers in the tent had already believed it, and they all gathered around Zhang Longxing.

Zhang Longxing pointed in the direction of Tanzhou City, and suddenly said in an aggravated tone: "The series of things before and after is very clear and clear. Ma Xichong is now actually in charge of the government, he has long had the ambition of seizing the throne and standing on his own, so he said that the news of the victory in the Battle of Guizhou was defeated, and then took the opportunity to send reinforcements to the army, on the one hand, Ma Xixu's men were quietly transferred out of Tanzhou City, and on the other hand, he took the opportunity to loot the wealth in the city. At the same time, he used these riches to recruit some outlaws, preparing to kill Ma Xicao when the army in the city was empty, and become the king of Chu himself! ”

This news shocked everyone in the account at once, and it was indeed reasonable to think about it like this.

Zhang Longxing swore unswearingly, and then said: "Everyone knows that some time ago, Panlong led those bandits of the Shi family to rob all the official treasury, right? Zhang Hui and I also have a terrible premonition, Ma Xichong pulled all of us young and strong out of the city, but I am afraid that there is another purpose: after killing Ma Xicao, he will take advantage of the chaos to rob and loot the whole city of Tanzhou! ”

"What, this turtle son is so vicious?" Shi Weitao was shocked and angry, and said loudly.

"Is this also called vicious? Which of the turtle sons of the Ma family is a good master? Knowing that the Tao is the way of the Lu, what is the command, so that Cao Jin leads us, right? Cao Jin is also Ma Xichong's right-hand man, right? Alas, I'm afraid that when there is chaos in Tanzhou City, that is, where we and others will land! Zhang Longxing shook his head and said in pain.

As soon as Zhang Longxing's words came out, all the soldiers in the tent bared their teeth and shouted loudly.