Just when Xu Maogong and others were planning how to divide and surround the Sui army that was slowly moving along the canal, in order to achieve the goal of breaking one of Zhang Xutuo's arms. Li Xu and Luo Shixin are also planning how to kill Benwagang Mountain by surprise.

In order to take care of the foot soldiers marching on the official road, the cavalry under Li Xu walked very fast. At every wharf where anchors could be anchored, he sent an order to the fleet of baggage carriers in the river, asking them to stop and make some repairs. Such repairs were so frequent that many soldiers were slack, saying that they were not marching, but enjoying the scenery along the river. In fact, the scenery on both sides of the canal is indeed very beautiful, and when supervising the construction of the Southern Grand Canal, local officials deliberately planted many willow trees along the banks of the river in order to protect the riverbed from being swallowed up by silt. After many years, those green willows have become shaded, and the breeze has passed everywhere, and the wisps of it have shaken, adding a bit of coolness to the travelers on the road.

The scenery in front of him was beautiful, but Li Xu felt a little anxious. The farther north he went, the heavier the trepidation in his heart. Sometimes the shadow of an oncoming sail, or a white bird on the embankment startled by the sound of horses' hooves, would make him tighten his horse's head and look around. At this juncture, the surrounding guards and junior officers had to shout and order the ranks to stop, waiting for the commander to make a judgment on the risks ahead. And this behavior also spreads into the river every time, causing a sound of stopping the ship and stabilizing the rudder.

In the river, it was not only the baggage boats belonging to the children of Qi County that slowly went north, but also many civilian ships and merchant cargo ships followed. In recent years, the canal was not peaceful, and tragic disasters of being robbed by bandits occurred from time to time. Therefore, merchant ships always like to form a team in the big bazaar and rush to the next destination together. When encountering bandits, they either spend money to buy a road, or force their way through, and every time they go, it is a life-and-death gamble.

As soon as the baggage ship came out of Chenliu, a clever merchant ship quietly came up. Although the discipline of the Great Sui officers and soldiers was not very good, they would not do anything to directly rob civilian ships. Following the official ship, the chance of interception by the robbers is also small, even if the official master extorts some fat heads, it is better than falling into the hands of the bandits and losing all their money.

The next day, seeing that the general on the shore had no intention of objecting, more clever people began to follow the baggage boats. 'There are more than 2,000 cavalry escorts, and this trip should be safe.' The shopkeeper sitting at the bow of the boat and the young men were talking about a bit of luck. There are many noble children in Luoyang, the eastern capital, and the prices are ridiculously high, and a shipload of freight can receive at least 30% of the profits in the past. In the face of huge interests, people's courage often increases. Therefore, the officers and soldiers on the shore who were not liked by everyone received countless wishes along the way. Although this group of cavalry walked slower than the infantry, it delayed everyone a lot of time to get rich.

On the third day after leaving Chenliu, merchant and passenger ships trailing behind the baggage ships blocked almost the entire waterway. Since the channel is not smooth, many boats are waiting in the larger market towns for the monthly patrol of the river. Everyone didn't expect that there would be two chances to make a fortune this month, so they leaned over happily. During the break, some shopkeepers who had seen the world even took the name of the master to the side of the barracks to pay their respects, hoping that by paying a part of the commission to the generals who led the team, the cavalry would send them directly to the mouth of the Yellow River, 200 miles away. "The master of our family is Lord Yu's distant cousin, a real relative who broke bones and tendons!" The shopkeeper in the freshly starched thick Ge clothes introduced himself to Li Xu's personal soldiers. "If the general can let us touch his light and go to Luoyang smoothly, everyone will not forget his old man's great kindness!" After speaking, he waved his hand and ordered his men to bring a large pile of "labor army" supplies.

Without exception, their visit was blocked by the pro-soldier team Zheng Zhouxing, "My general has official duties, you can follow if you want." But don't expect us to be with you forever. As for these," Zhou Xing pointed to the large bags and small bags brought by the vendors, "Everyone take them back, my general has no habit of accepting gifts!" ”

"Really, dare to ask which prince of your family general is the son of the house?" Hearing that there are still officials who give benefits for nothing without receiving gifts, the usual reaction of the shopkeepers is to be stunned, and then ask the same questions.

"Wei Cheng Hou Li Ye, Hu Benlang General Li Zhongjian, have you heard of it?" Whenever they were asked about their general's name and surname, Zhou Xing and the others immediately straightened their backs, and their voices were full of pride in their answers.

To their disappointment, the vendors who often walked between Dongdu and Chenliu seemed a little unheard. The vendors had been carefully observing the ship for two days, and the general who led the team was definitely a young man under twenty years old. In their memory, there was no one surnamed Li in the dynasty. But if it weren't for the sons and nephews of several wealthy families in the dynasty, how could ordinary people have the possibility of becoming a marquis at such a young age?

"Could it be that your general is the general Li Lang who rushed thousands of miles to attack Liyang City?" Occasionally, a smart person can guess the true identity of the leader and ask in surprise. When he received an affirmative reply from the soldiers, he immediately clapped his hands happily.

"It's the Li Lang general who opened a warehouse in Liyang City to release grain, and there are countless living people, he has been sealed, God really has eyes!" As the insiders walked, they loudly spread Li Xu's good deeds back then. At that time, Li Xu and Yu Wenhua used captives to resist the enemy, and afterwards did not investigate the responsibility of those people's "rebellion" as promised, and collected and cashed in the food promised to the captives when defending the city. Although, in their eyes, the captives were only paid as they deserved. But in the mouths of the people, it was rumored to be a great virtue. Especially after the rebellion was quelled, compared with the atrocity of Fan Zigai, the secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, who killed tens of thousands of prisoners at one time, Li Xu's actions that day showed that he had a bodhisattva-like kindness.

"Li Ye is here, with Li Ye here, which traitor dares to step forward and cause trouble!" People spread the word of hearsay along the canal. "Li Ye only brought 5,000 people to destroy Yuan Xingben, who had 100,000 troops, and then turned around and defeated 100,000 of Li Mi's department, which is really majestic!"

"That was not the most powerful time, it is said that under the city of Xingyang back then, hundreds of thousands of troops were beaten and did not dare to fight back. Li Ye led the team to rush up alone, he killed seven in and seven out among the rebels, and in the end, even the brown hair of the war horse was dyed red! The more the news spread, the more outrageous it became, and people wishfully exaggerated the skills of the good people in their minds, and they didn't care that Li Xu was riding a black war horse with almost no miscellaneous hair.

"The imperial court should have sent Li Ye a long time ago to tie up these thieves along the river one by one and sink them to the bottom of the river!"

"Nonsense, how could Li Ye be so cruel. At most, he took the bandits out of the fortress and sold them for the money he got to reward his brothers! "Almost overnight, people learned the name and surname of the general on the shore, and quickly interpreted his story into a legend.

When the legend was processed by the soldiers and then turned back to the ears of Luo Shixin and others, it was completely out of line with the original facts. But many legends are interpreted with noses and eyes, not only the time and place are well-founded, but even the names of the witnesses are not bad at all. Later, Luo Shixin was also suspicious, and ran to Li Xu's side to ask, "Zhong Jian, I heard that you captured Yuan Wuben under Liyang City, and forced the 100,000 army to lay down your weapons?" ”

"Nonsense, it's not like you haven't fought. When did the opposing coach become so stupid, there are tens of thousands of brothers around him, and they rushed to the door to let you be captured? Li Xu was made to laugh and cry by Luo Shixin's chattering performance, spat him, and asked rhetorically.

"That's right, don't I think Yuan Wu is a civil official and hasn't fought a war?" Luo Shixin patted his helmet and smiled to find a reason. After a blink of an eye, he ran back again and continued to ask, "What about the time you broke Li Zixiong outside Xingyang City, did you really wear seven round-trips?" ”

"Have you ever seen a military formation that has been pierced seven times and has not collapsed? Even if I had that physical strength, no one would want to be a target for me! Li Xu shook his head helplessly and smiled bitterly. Unconsciously, he found that his past experiences had become legendary, but the people in the legend were not like him at all.

The boy in the legend is so honest and kind, brave and fearless. Like a horizontal knife that has just been bladed, bright and solid. The legendary teenager has always been on the side of justice and has no doubts about his actions. And now, he doesn't know if he did it right.

"You seem to have been restless for the last few days?" Luo Shixin finally found that Li Xu was not in a high mood and asked in surprise. Being admired and respected by so many people but not putting on a picture of being unrelenting, in Luo Shixin's opinion, this guy in front of him is either sick or a fake Taoist.

"I'm a little skeptical that our original arrangement could fool Li Mi!" Asahiko nodded and replied frankly.

"What if you can't deceive, face the enemy, you are not the same as once beat him all over the ground to find teeth?" Luo Shixin shook his head and said nonchalantly, "It's him who should be worried, he lost so badly last time, if he loses to you again this time, he will not want to face you on the battlefield in the future!" ”

"Li Mi is not so bad, he has always liked to use surprise soldiers, so victory and defeat are very simple." Asahiko explained with a wry smile. In fact, he cares more about Xu Maogong. Intuitively, Xu Zi always felt that Xu Maogong was waiting for him somewhere in front of him. It's like being targeted by a wolf in the mountains, aware of the danger, but unable to find out where the danger is coming from!

"Anyway, we're going to Yangwu, if you really don't worry, let's stay in Yangwu for a day, wait for Lord Zhang and Second Brother Qin to catch up with the brigade and then turn around and head east!" Luo Shixin saw that Li Xu was still worried, so he had no choice but to accommodate his caution.

"I'm going to send someone to deliver a letter to Lord Zhang, asking him to come to Yangwu as soon as possible!" Li Xu thought about it and replied. Yangwu City is not far ahead, and if you are in a serious hurry, you can reach it in half a day. "Let's put our baggage in the city, and you will take some of your brothers to keep it guarded. After passing Yangwu, I will let the fleet speed up" He looked at the cargo ships on the canal behind him that were following the army and still had the last bit of trust in the Great Sui, and said slowly: "I will take the rest of the brothers to give them a ride, and when they arrive safely in Xingyang, which is a hundred miles away, I will turn back immediately!" ”

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