The sky is clear and the sun is shining.

Outside the city of Jiangdu, on the outskirts, more than a dozen knights are chasing back and forth, shooting and hunting. This garden forest, originally the private pasture of the Mongolian nobles, covers an area of 100 miles, there is a river meandering through, the water and grass are fertile, the forest is luxuriant, all kinds of wild things haunt it, it is really a good hunting place.

Around the pasture, there are two or three thousand soldiers around martial law. Through the woods, rolling low hills, as far as the eye can see, the sun is shining near and far, and the flags are like a forest.

After the dozen knights, there was another group of horsemen, each carrying a bow and a flag, cheering and shouting. Hundreds of horses galloped, carrying the dirt, trampling like thunder, across the river, splashing in all directions. Countless birds in the forest flew up, and many hares and horned deer were panicked and ran around.

Jiangdu, that is, Jiangzhou, is also known as Jiujiang.

Its place is carried by Peng Li on the left, on the right side of the river, by the land through the five mountains, the three rivers are resisted, the upper reaches of the placket are the important towns of the Xijiang River. It is the gateway to Jiangxi. It was once the capital of Xu Shouhui's Tianwan regime, and now it is also the capital of Chen Youliang's Western Han regime.

A few months ago, Chen Youliang attacked Jinling without victory, was defeated in Longwan, and led the remnants of the army to retreat to Jiangzhou, and in the following months, it was unfavorable one after another. First, Xinzhou was taken away by Zhu Yuanzhang, and then Fuliang was surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang. Just last month, even Yuanzhou Ou Puxiang actually sent people to surrender to Zhu Yuanzhang.

The Fuliang guard was gone, and Fuliang City was soon recaptured by Chen Youliang. But that Ou Puxiang is not idle, famous, is Xu Shouhui's old department, not only in the White Lotus sect is very prestigious, known as Ou Daoren, and outstanding military achievements, successively served as the prime minister of the Tianwan regime, the great Sima, and was named Yuan Guogong. One of the most important people.

The reason why he demoted Zhu Yuanzhang was that Chen Youliang killed the lord and was rebellious.

Originally, after Chen Youliang killed Xu Shouhui and established himself as the emperor, the original Tianwan regime was in a precarious situation, and many of Xu Shouhui's old subordinates were dissatisfied, but they were afraid of Chen Youliang's authority and did not dare to speak out. Since Ou Puxiang dared to be the first bird, which was tantamount to rebellion, Chen Youliang had no choice but to pretend to ignore it and ignore it.

From any point of view, he had to strike at him immediately with violent means, so as not to encourage this trend. When he heard the news, he immediately sent his brother Chen Youren to lead the army to attack it.

Chen Youliang has many brothers, Chen Youren ranks fifth, known as the "Five Kings", squinting, wise, and famous for his courage and good fighting. Unexpectedly, Ou Puxiang really had a good name, and Chen Youren was defeated and lost, not only defeated, but even he himself became a prisoner. Ou Puxiang "whipped and imprisoned".

The fight was not won, his younger brother also fell into his hands, and Longwan was newly defeated, and his vitality has not recovered, what else can he do? Helpless, Chen Youliang had no choice but to soften his attitude and sent Taishi Zou Pusheng to Yuanzhou to make peace with Ou Puxiang. "To each his own boundary". The so-called guarding each other's borders, to put it bluntly, is tantamount to acquiescing in Ou Puxiang's surrender and acquiescing in Ou Puxiang's accusations. Ou Puxiang scolded him for being "rebellious and unreasonable", and if he did, he would be scolded.

Chen Youliang has always regarded himself very highly, is self-serving, and arrogant, and has suffered such a big loss, the anger in his heart can be imagined. There was no way to solve it, so he simply took the generals to hunt in the countryside.

The north and the south are strong, there are few thrifts, and there are many extravagant. As for the forces of Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng, they have seized the anointed land in the south of the Yangtze River, and the degree of luxury is better than that of the north.

Zhang Shicheng doesn't need to say much. Just look at his brother Zhang Shixin, more than 100 people in the back room, the Xi Tian Demon Dance Team, and even the boat that picks lotus in the garden are all made of agarwood sandalwood. Its extravagance can be seen from this.

Chen Youliang is not inferior. Whenever a general is sent to conquer, he will be made to seek strange treasures, and those who have good intentions will even rob the graves. In the spring twilight of last year, he even made flowers and trees, planted them from the palace to Kuang Mountain, and cut embroidery on the ground, and walked with the palace people on the shoulder. Huang Xin, a person of the time, has a poem: "The splendid extravagance is full of spring, and the beauty of the car is under the flowers."

With such extravagance and luxury, hunting in the countryside naturally cannot be too shabby.

But I saw him holding a white dragon horse under his crotch, a sun-shooting bow in his hand, a golden helmet, silver armor, a splendid robe, a horse whip inlaid with jade, a saddle with beads, and a gallop in the wind. It seems to be galloping, and it is like a god descending into the world. The generals who followed him were all elites of the Western Han Dynasty. In response to his shouting and command, sometimes the clouds gather in one place, and sometimes the birds scatter in the suburbs. There are only more than ten people, and the momentum is like a thousand horses.

Alarmed by this, an elk ran out of the woods, wandering to the left, in a panic, turning around, over the bushes, and fleeing towards the stream in the distance.

"The prime minister goes north, and the captain surrounds the south!"

Prime Minister, Zhang Bixian, Tai Lieutenant, Zhang Dingbian. Both of them are Chen Youliang's cronies, and the three of them have been brothers. Zhang Bixian, the "splash Zhang" of the human name, as the name suggests, is very brave and brave. Zhang Dingbian, the reputation is on the right of Zhang Bixian, and the reputation of brave martial arts spreads all over the south of the Yangtze River, as far as Liaobei, and is known as the first general of the Western Han Dynasty.

Zhang Bixian heard the order, shouted, drove the horse north, and chased after him. This person has a dark complexion, does not use a bow and arrow, and carries a noose, but he is Zhang Bixian's younger brother, named Zhang Bihan, who lives in the Privy Council, and is called "Hei Zhang". This black has two meanings, one is that he has a dark complexion, and the other is that he is ruthless.

Zhang Dingbian was born as a fisherman, he was forty years old, and he drove his horse to gallop, and his speed did not let Zhang Bixian brother at all. There were three of them, and they circled on both sides. The elk's front legs tended to a trend, and when it was time to escape, its potential exploded, running left and right, jumping together, and seeing that it was about to cross the stream.

There were two people who were neck and neck with Chen Youliang, who opened their bows and arrows, and wanted to shoot them.

Chen Youliang turned his longbow horizontally, pressed down their bows, stopped them, urged the horses to chase, and shouted: "I want to live!" I want to live! "These two people, one is called Chen Youde and the other is Chen Yougui, and they are divided into Chen Youliang's third brother and fourth brother, known as the three kings and the four kings.

The second king is Chen Youliang's elder brother, named Chen Youcai, who is now guarding Tanzhou and is not in Jiangdu, so he did not follow the side and came with him this time to hunt.

Chen Youliang assigned the generals, and finally rushed to the edge of the stream and firmly surrounded the elk. More than a dozen horses snorted, spun in circles, and galloped back and forth to the front and back of the elk. Dust flies, water splashes. The deer was so frightened that he was stupid, confused, and ran straight into Chen Youliang's side. Chen Youliang stretched out his longbow and took a feather arrow, and in the sun, the arrow shone brightly, but it was plated with a layer of silver, and it shot at the elk's feet. The deer jumped to his feet, turned his head and ran back, and Chen Youliang laughed.

Zhang Bihan rushed forward, threw up the noose, turned twice, and headed towards the elk's neck. The deer's eyes widened, and with a twist of its horns, it ran away. Chen Youliang shouted loudly and said, "It's a pity! Before the words fell, seven or eight men opened their bows in unison, and before they could catch the arrows, an arrow came diagonally and hit his leg, and the elk was running and fell down.

The crowd cheered in unison, and turned their heads to look, and saw the archer, about thirty years old, and his appearance was not good. He wore black helmets, black armor, and black bows, and made lacquered arrows. Riding a black horse, seeing the elk in the arrow, he hurriedly stepped forward, like a dark cloud, like a meteor catching the moon, ran to the side of the deer, cast a stirrup to hide, and lifted it lightly.

This elk is very majestic, let alone one or two hundred pounds, and struggles desperately, changing to an ordinary general, not to mention immediately, even on the ground, there are no two or three people, I am afraid that I can't take it away. He lifted it with one hand, but it was effortless. Seeing that he was so powerful, everyone couldn't help but cheer in unison again, and shouted again.

I saw him galloping to Chen Youliang, lost his bow and arrows, turned over and rolled down, half-knelt on the ground, grabbed the antlers in one hand and the deer leg in the other, presented the offer, and said: "The minister was reckless and injured the deer's leg." If you are disrespectful, please forgive your sins. ”

Chen Youliang reined in the galloping horse, walked slowly, turned to the man, patted him on the shoulder with a longbow condescendingly, and nodded two more points at the deer, and said with a smile: "Haha." Without hurting its legs, this deer is rare. Good old man! Hidden from the deep. You have to play with a good arrow. Come on, reward! ”

"What about this deer?"

"Slaughtered!" Chen Youliang didn't look at it anymore, and smiled at the generals, "After the safari shooting, I invite you to eat venison and drink deer blood!" This deer whip, a great supplement, the old man, will be rewarded to you. Ha ha. ”

"Didn't the Holy One say that he wanted to live?"

"Isn't that already alive?"

I want to catch a live deer, so I catch a live deer. After catching a live deer, he wanted to slaughter and eat the venison and drink the deer blood, so he slaughtered the venison and drank the deer blood. The two are not contradictory. The general's name surnamed Fu is Fu Youde, and he has only been voting for Chen Youliang for a short time, and he doesn't know much about his personality, so he has this question. After listening to Chen Youliang's answer, he couldn't do anything, got up on the ground, handed the deer to the accompanying guards behind, and thought to himself: "The power of heaven is unpredictable. ”

Fu Youde, under the command of Li Xixi, the general of Liu Futong, participated in the Northern Expedition. In the seventeenth year of Zheng, Li Xixi retreated from Shaanxi to Shu, and he followed it. In the same year, Xu Shouhui's Ming Yuzhen also led his troops into Sichuan. Although the two sides are both red scarves, they do not belong to each other, and when they are at war with the Yuan army, they will inevitably attack each other. Li Xixi was defeated, and Fu Youde was from Ming Yuzhen. Yuzhen can't be used. He then went to Wuchang, went to the Western Han Dynasty, and learned from Chen Youliang. Now guarding Xiaogu Mountain, because there is a military face to see the saint, just came to Jiangdu two days ago. So there is a chance that the attendant is on the side.

Chen Youliang turned his horse away, and after a few steps, he suddenly heard someone shouting: "Urgent report from the north!" "It's only been a while since I was hunting, and my mood has just improved, so why is there an urgent report to bother me? He frowned, looked back, and rode to the dust.

"Why is there such urgency? Urgent report from the north? Why rush to report from the north? "Zhu Yuanzhang is roughly to the east of him. Coming north? Could it be that there is something wrong with Chahan in Shaanxi and Polo in Hebei?

"The pseudo-Song Haidong Prime Minister Deng Thief, designed to capture Xiao Mao Pingzhang and enter the Yidu."

"Xiao Deng?"

"And share the land of Yidu with Tian Feng."

"What about Wang Shicheng?"

"I don't know where I am."

"And bring the urgent report."

Chen Youliang put away the bow and arrow, looked at the text carefully, and his face changed negligently.

"Your Majesty?"

"What a little Deng!"

This news was earth-shattering, and the generals' attention was immediately attracted and diverted. Zhang Bixian gasped and said, "Haidong Xiaodeng and Wang Shicheng are both pseudo-Song courtiers, and they stabbed them in the back, this guy is really insidious and vicious. Aren't you afraid that King Xiao Ming will find trouble with him, and you are not afraid of the scolding of the people of the world? ”

"Liu Futong was defeated in Bianliang, and his former strength was long gone, and there was not much left. What's so scary about King Xiaoming? Little Deng, little Deng, what a little Deng! ”

To the surprise of the generals, Chen Youliang's expression was uncertain for a moment, and then he suddenly showed joy, if his first sentence "good little Deng" still expressed unbelievable meaning, this second sentence "good little Deng", vaguely with a tone of admiration and appreciation.

"Your Majesty, what's so good?"

"Dare to act, be fierce and decisive, the husband should be like this."

The generals looked at each other. This is simply another step forward, not admiration and appreciation, but sympathy. Organic, I thought of what Chen Youliang had done. Chen Youliang killed the lord and called the emperor, Deng She fought in the same room, embezzled the territory of friends and neighbors, think about it carefully, there is really a slight similarity between the two, and there are similarities.

Someone followed his words and said: "Xiao Deng already has Haidong, and now he will benefit from the capital, which should not be underestimated." In time, will it become a big problem for us? ”

"Xiao Deng may be able to dominate for a while, but it is not necessarily true for a long time."

"What does the emperor mean?"

Before Chen Youliang joined the army, he tried to post books for the county, ran for red scarves, and did Ni Wenjun's bookkeeping, literate and hyphenated, very knowledgeable, and can be described as a rare civil and military all-round talent among the heroes of the righteous army. At this time, when he spoke, the analysis of the matter was orderly and hierarchical, and he said: "Although Qilu is rich, Haidong is too far away, and it is not easy to control it across the strait. Looking at the ancient and modern times, I have not heard of anyone who takes Qi from Liao. I look at what was said in this urgent report, the process of watching Xiao Deng to gain the capital, the reason why it was successful was due to Shicheng's gentleness, and the two of them were both pseudo-Song courtiers, not hostile, so they were lucky for a while.

However, after all, he was an outsider, and it was difficult for him to gain a firm foothold in a hurry. He is willing to share the old land of Shicheng with Tian Feng, and it is expected that this is the reason. If that's not enough, it's not enough. Tian Feng is also a man for a while, if it weren't for the heavy pressure of Chahan and Polo outside, how could he be allowed to enter so easily because of the benefits of distinguishing places? The time, the place, the people. This day is also the time. Xiao Deng had a good time, so he succeeded.

"But that's why. Who is Chahan? Northland people! Tian Feng can tolerate Xiao Deng, but he may not be able to. In my opinion, within a year, there will be a battle between Chahan and Shandong! ”

The hero saw the same thing, and in a short period of time, the analysis he made was exactly the same as the analysis of Deng She, Tian Feng, and Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhang Bixian was still a little puzzled, and asked questions, saying: "Even though the emperor expected, there will be a war between Chahan and Shandong, why can it be concluded that the war will inevitably start within the year?" ”

Chen Youliang stretched out his finger, pointed to the sky, and pointed to the ground: "Spring ploughing and autumn war." If you don't fight this year, do you think Chahan has the patience to drag it out until next year? Even if he had the patience, the Tartar Emperor wouldn't have to! Tian Feng is already sharp, plus Xiao Deng, most of them are in danger! ”

"So, from the emperor's point of view, this upcoming war is Chahan's chance of victory? Or do Xiao Deng and Tian Feng have a better chance of winning? ”

"When Xiao Deng has a day, he joins forces with Tian Feng, which can be regarded as half of the geographical advantage, but it is a pity that he can benefit the capital, but there is no one to get along.

"There are many Chahan soldiers, fierce generals are like clouds, and ministers are like rain, and they are united in their hearts, and they are people. Bianliang and Luoyang are now in his hands, if he goes out of the army, he can go to Shaanxi, Hebei, can also go to Bian, Luo, so, the formation of a two-sided encirclement of the situation, like catching turtles in the urn, although Shandong has the danger of Tai and the river, this geographical advantage, Chahan is also half. ”

"When Xiao Deng has a day, there are people in Chahan, and the location is half different. However, this battle of Shandong will be won or lost? ”

"Not really. Although the right time and place are important, the key lies in people. ”

"Xiao Deng will be defeated?"

"If Chahan sent troops to Shandong this time, it was the will of the Tartar Emperor, and the will of the Tartar Emperor was not only given to Chahan, but also to Polo, and Polo was willing to send an edict with Chahan. Then, Xiao Deng's chances of winning will not be great. ”

Why is that? Chahan's soldiers are very powerful, with his own strength, can't he still capture Shandong? ”

"There is a contradiction between Chahan and Polo. If Polo refuses to go with him, then Chahan has internal peace, but no outside. With the Polo Tiger on his side, how could he go all out and plunge into the battle of Shandong? To sum up, Xiao Deng has little chance of winning, but he is not without a fight.

"That's why I say he can be dominant for a while, but not for a long time. The key point is that it all depends on how he will fight this battle. ”

"If this battle is won, Xiao Deng won. So in this way, the pseudo-Song Dynasty has Zhu Chongba in the west, Xiao Deng in the north, Anfeng as its hub, and Liaodong, Qilu, and Jinling are connected. Your Majesty, it can be seen from Xiao Deng's daring to take the risk of disapproval and swallow his own people's territory that this person is ambitious and is another Zhu Chongba. If it echoes with Zhu Chongba's north and south, the two will join forces? Oh, we have to be on guard. ”

"When two tigers fight, there will still be an injury. Not to mention the two wolves? Although Zhu Chongba and Xiao Deng are both pseudo-Song Chen, they may not join forces. However, for the sake of precautions, it is also advisable to send an envoy to show goodwill for the time being. Edict, Meng Youde is my messenger, that is, the sunrise envoy Yidu. ”

Meng Youde served as the governor of the council, and his official position was not low, and sending him there was enough to show his attention. Chen Youliang looked around at the generals and said: "This is a long way to go to Yidu, and you can't do without brave generals to protect you." ”

I don't know if it's because of Meng Youde's name or what, he glanced at Fu Youde and said with a smile: "Old Fu, you have been in the pseudo-Song Li Xixi army, and you have some relationship with Xiao Deng, maybe you can still say a few words in front of you, why don't you escort Lao Meng forward?" ”

Fu Youde not only stayed in Li Xixi's army, but also in Ming Yuzhen's army. Chen Youliang's unintentional words, listening to his ears, couldn't help but change the taste. And he was not Chen Youliang's descendant, and since he defected, he didn't get much reuse, and he was unhappy at this time, and he didn't show it on his face, and his compliments should be.

In a few words, he dealt with the urgent report, and Chen Youliang looked into the distance. The afternoon sun flowed on his body, reflecting the brilliance of the armor and striking the eyes.

At this moment, the wind is rising, the sky is mighty, the fields are endless, the wind is passing through the trees, and the river is sparkling. The flags of the soldiers in the distance were waving in the wind, and the cloaks of the generals in the vicinity were rustling. The two shadows of the defeat of Longwan and Ou Puxiang's surrender to the enemy, because of the stimulation of Xiao Deng's entry into Yidu, seemed to be dispersed by the vigorous autumn wind for a while.

Xiao Deng is less than twenty years old, and he can be like this, let alone him Chen Youliang? There are no generals who win all battles, and one or two defeats are not enough to worry about! He faced the scorching sun and bent his bow to shoot arrows. The name of the bow shoots the sun, and the arrow is called the chess guard. Husbands should be like this! In the past, Liu Bang saw the first emperor on patrol and sighed: "The husband should be like this!" ”

——

1, Zou Pusheng, Ou Puxiang.

In the late Yuan Dynasty, especially in the southern red scarves, there were many Wenchen generals with the word "Pu" in their names. Most of them are White Lotus followers.

Mao Ziyuan, the founder of the White Lotus Sect, "I swore an oath that the people of the earth would be universally aware of the wonderful way, and every four-character sect would be named after the sect, and the people would be taught to turn their minds to the Buddha and live in the Pure Land together." Therefore, all the White Lotus disciples use the four characters of "Pujue Miaodao" as the name of the law.

Take Xu Shouhui's subordinates as an example, there are Zou Pusheng, Ou Puxiang, Xiang Puluo, Li Pusheng, Zhao Pusheng, Zuo Pubi, Ding Pulang, Chen Puwen, Lu Putai and so on.