After arguing with Erya, Li Xu thought about the question of where he would go in the future. As many people have seen, the Great Sui Dynasty is indeed terminally ill. All he can do now is to try his best to repay His Majesty the Emperor for his kindness and the virtue of the teachings of the old General Zhang Xutuo. Even if this trip can successfully pacify Wagang, there are still countless thieves who are causing chaos in other regions, as long as those families who control the government still go their own way, even if ten Li Xu and Zhang Xutuo join forces, they will not be able to change the general trend of the country continuing to perish.

Therefore, instead of being like General Zhang who died in despair, it is better to fulfill his due obligations and return to Boling to ensure local peace. The court and the ministers were guilty, but the local people were innocent. They should not, and do not need to, be martyred for this troubled time. Xuzi asked himself that he had no power to save the fate of the entire country, but he knew that he was still good at guarding a corner of the land. In troubled times, that is his duty and his fate.

After thinking about the direction of the future, he immediately ordered his brothers to change the route of the march. Instead of taking the initiative to provoke the newly rising thieves in Jibei and Dongping, he took a short detour to the south, taking three relatively calm areas such as Lu County, Pengcheng and Liang County, and approaching Xingyang in a roundabout way.

Although the heavy cavalry and infantry were left north of the Yellow River, the Boling army still marched much slower than usual. At present, the parts of Henan, known as the granary, are in dilapidation, the dead grass and shrubs on both sides of the official road have grown to more than half a person's height, and most of the forts where people once gathered three years ago have become in ruins. This situation caused great trouble for marching and camping, and sometimes they had to walk for two or three hours along the dilapidated official roads in order to find a camp close to a water source that was not afraid of being set on fire. Sometimes, in order to preserve the physical strength of the soldiers, Li Xu had to order the whole army to stay in the county town for one or two days, which was not easy to find. Even if they stayed in the city, they didn't dare to relax their vigilance too much. Since the death of the old general Zhang Xutuo, the number of people who believe that Li Mi is the true Son of Heaven has increased several times. Within a few days of Li Xu's stay in Qi County, there were already four county towns around Wagang Mountain, and the officials of the Great Sui Dynasty invited Li Mi to take credit for the city and the people therein. With a complete city as the foundation, the strength of the Wagang army grew rapidly, and it became more and more capable of replacing the imperial court. At this critical moment of survival and defeat, there are countless "heroes" and "heroes" who try to take advantage of the opportunity to seek wealth or leave their names in the history books.

In addition to being busy with military affairs, Li Xu was also shocked by the constant war reports from all over the country. Unlike Hebei, which is far from the center of power, the counties of Henan, which are part of the Gyeonggi region, are chaotic, but all kinds of news are spread in a very timely manner. On the way, when passing through the flawed hill of the Lu County Administration, he received the bad news that Chen Liang, the general of the right imperial guard, who had been ordered to conquer Du Fuwei, was annihilated and only spared. On the tenth day of the first month, he got a close battle report in Feng County, in the north of Pengcheng County, and the rogue Xu Yuanlang led his troops to bypass Qi County, and entangled the bandits from all walks of life near Juyeze to capture Yuncheng, the seat of Dongping County, again, and the entire Dongping was no longer owned by the Great Sui. There is another unconfirmed piece of news that sounds even more depressing, the Zhuo County soldiers and horses who were once under the command of the Boling Army fell for Dou Jiande's deception in Changhe County a few years ago, and Guo Xuan, who was guarded by Tong, was killed on the spot, and less than 2,000 of the more than 10,000 brothers escaped.

"What is Yang Yichen doing?" Wang Xuba was furious by the news of Guo Xuan's death, and scolded the trunk of the tree next to the camp. "When we leave, we will entrust him with a complete army and horses, but this old man has failed to live up to the general's trust......"

"Yang Lao'er won't fall in love with the general's territory!" Guo Fang and Guo Xuan are related to each other, and while they are annoyed, they will inevitably think about things for the worse. Last year, the Boling army took the initiative to kill Hejian, part of the reason was that he was afraid that Yang Yichen would plot against the six counties in the name of suppressing bandits.

"Senior Yang is not that kind of person, before our own people send the specific battle report from Hebei, everyone should be calm!" Li Xu frowned and whispered advice. "Don't spread this rumor indiscriminately, so as not to affect the morale of the military. With Zhao Sima and General Lu here, Boling can't make a big mess! ”

"The general has a point, Zhao Sima is cautious and decisive. If it was Yang Yichen who framed us through the hands of the rogue, he would not sit idly by! "Zhang Jiang thought about it and echoed on the side. This trip is a bit abrupt! When the army crossed the Yellow River, many of the generals led by him secretly regretted their recklessness. In their eyes, the reason why General Li gave up the opportunity to make a big deal in Hebei and risked his troops to go south was to a large extent because of the affection between him and everyone. But if it affects the overall situation and the future development of the Boling Army for the sake of affection, everyone will never be at peace.

With anxiety and frustration, they move on. Walk through uninhabited villages and through thorny wilderness. Spring came early on the south bank of the Yellow River, almost just after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and there was already green emerging from the ground by the thawing stream. The fragrance of the new grass made the war horse very excited, and the steps were brisk, but the mood of the people did not become brighter because of the return of spring.

Traveling to the vicinity of Yongqiu on the edge of the canal, the messenger who had made a detour from Boling finally caught up with the army. In the letter, Zhao Ziming, the military commander, gave a detailed report on the reasons for Guo Xuan's death in battle and the aftermath of his treatment. Judging from the wording in the letter, Guo Xuan's battle was not mainly because of the underestimation of the enemy, not because he was framed. His death did not have much impact on the six counties of Boling, and it can even be said that the power of the local wealthy families has been weakened a lot. Zhao Ziming and Lü Qin did their best to gather the remnants of the soldiers who fled back from the battlefield, and sent a sentry horse from the headquarters of the Boling Army to be stationed in Zhuo County, and reconstituted the horns with Xue Shixiong's troops.

The group of talents selected by Li Xu through the imperial examination last year has gradually adapted to their new identities, and with the support of these emerging forces, the situation in the six counties is currently very optimistic. Before the end of the year, many people from war-torn places crossed the mountains and mountains to vote. Based on last year's experience in Tuntian, Cui Qian and other civilian officials have resettled the displaced people as much as possible near Yishui, Xushui, and Laishui, where water sources are abundant and the terrain is gentle, and within two years, those emerging villages will be able to provide more taxes for the six counties.

But the situation outside the six counties is not optimistic at all. It is rumored that Shuo Fang Ying Yanglang killed Liang Shidu in the county and Tang Shizong, rebelled according to the county, proclaimed himself the prime minister, and connected the Turks in the north. It is said that Wang Rengong, the commander of Mayi County, was also killed by the general Liu Wuzhou, and the county rebelled against Sui and was attached to the Turks. I don't know what the imperial court is planning, but instead of sending any soldiers and horses to fight the rebellion, the old general Yang Yichen, who is fighting inextricably from the Liukou in southern Hebei, is transferred back to Jiangdu and served as the secretary of the military department. As soon as Yang Yichen left, Yang Shanhui, the Qinghe County Guard who had been killed, was defeated by Dou Jiande again, and the whole army was annihilated.

"If it goes on like this, before we get to Xingyang, maybe Luoyang will also be played by those guys in the imperial court!" After reading the letter from Boling, Zhang Jiang was so depressed that he used a horsewhip to whip the dead grass under his feet and fly around.

Playing this word was learned by him from the former Bandit King Jun Kuokou, and it couldn't be more appropriate to describe the powerful ministers in the court. Originally, there was an agreement between General Li and General Yang that while the Boling army was going south to force the Wagang army to flank, Yang Yichen would take the opportunity to unite with Wei Ji, Guo Xuan, Yang Shanhui and others to sweep away the remnants of the bandits in Hebei. Then everyone will attack from the north and south, which will definitely make the Wagang army unable to care about each other. Unexpectedly, before the Boling Army and Wagang soldiers and horses could start, Guo Xuan and Yang Shanhui were killed by Dou Jiande instead. At present, the imperial court has transferred Yang Yichen to Jiangdu, and only Wei Ji is left in the southern counties of Hebei to support the overall situation. With the strength of the two thieves, Dou Jiande and Gao Kaidao, it was enough to entangle Wei Ji to death. The minions sent to Hebei by the Wagang Army just took the opportunity to come back to meet Li Xu.

"Do you think that Li Mi is in the court?" Wang Junkuo was also very disappointed with the new news, and asked with two thick eyebrows. "No matter how he moves, it seems that the court is cooperating with him. On the contrary, how do we look like we are being calculated by the imperial court and the Wagang army! ”

"Haven't you heard anyone say that the emperor can't surrender, but the sooner the minister surrenders, the more proud he is?" Guo Fang shook his head and sighed lightly. "Many people believe that he has a destiny, so they are in a hurry to establish the work of the dragon!"

"Whew!" Wang Xuba spat thick phlegm on the ground and cursed in a low voice. "If he Li Mi had a destiny, would he still be chased by others and hide in Tibet like a rabbit? Whoever believes that is stupid, there are many people surnamed Li in the world, if I want to choose, I would rather believe that the mandate of heaven should be on the general, than believe that he is the one who responds to the mandate of heaven! ”

Scolding and scolding, everyone could not help but admit that the situation faced by the Boling Army was ten times more difficult than originally imagined. The road to the west has been completed, and the rest of the road was walked by Zhang Xutuo back then. It's just that the two cities of Yangwu and Yuanwu, which were close to the canal, still belonged to the Great Sui, but now they are completely controlled by the Wagang army. If the Boling army still wanted to use the Tongji Canal for water transportation, before reaching Xingyang, they would have to face the encirclement and interception of the Wagang army alone. According to the estimation of the time consumed by the messenger on the road, before Zhao Ziming's news arrived, all the forces sent by the Wagang army to Hebei had been withdrawn. That means that Meng Rang, Hao Xiaode, Wang Deren, Li Shicai, Wei Liu'er, Li Deqian, Zhang Qian, Li Wenxiang, Heishe, Baishe, Hu Donkey, these big thieves who dominate the world will appear on the opposite side of the Boling Army at the same time.

Can the 4,000 Boling army beat so many opponents? Wang Xuba, who never knew what panic was, hesitated. He looked at Li Xu with an inquiring gaze, hoping that the coach could make a relatively wise choice.

"When did Zhang Jin say he died at the hands of Yang Shanhui?" As if he didn't notice the expectation in the eyes of the general, Li Xu read the military book again, raised his head and asked the messenger.

"Last October, shortly after the Great General defeated Gao Shida." The Courier is a veteran who has retired due to his age, and he still has the air of a soldier in his body. Hearing Li Xu's inquiry, he immediately put his legs together and reported aloud. "But everyone said that if it weren't for the fact that we destroyed the main force under Zhang Jincheng in the first battle, Yang Tongshou would not be Zhang Jin's enemy at all!"

As a member of the fighting team that year, he was deeply proud of the achievements of the Boling Army. At that time, when the army first arrived in Hebei, it was as unfamiliar with the place as it is now. And Zhang Jin said that before that, he had crisscrossed more than a dozen counties and had never encountered an opponent. "Now the people say that only when our general is in Hebei, the officers and soldiers know how to fight." He looked around, and added proudly, and between his words, the pride of the warrior was fully revealed.

"Da Niu, order everyone to enter Yongqiu City to rest for two days, and the day after tomorrow morning, let's pull out the camp and go directly to Li Gongyi's nest. Tell the brothers, from here to Xingyang, where the Vanwagang army is entrenched on both sides of the canal, let's meet one and pick one by one! Li Xu nodded with satisfaction and ordered.

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