It was night when the army withdrew outside the city for repairs, and Qixi stayed in the state capital with dozens of retinues to deal with the remaining issues. Just because of this incident, I originally planned to repair in Xuzhou City for only one day, but I had to stay for one more day.

There were still Wuning troops stationed dozens of miles outside Xuzhou, and they chose to repair in Xuzhou with the intention of trying to win over the Wuning army, so Guo Yan sent a messenger overnight with his handwritten letter to contact the chief general of the Wuning army.

Early the next morning, the envoy brought good news, it turned out that the chief general of the Wuning army had long been unaccustomed to Hu Tingshi's actions, but as an official of the imperial court, he couldn't do anything about him, so the two had to fight openly and secretly.

Now that Guo Yan has killed the Hu Thorn History, the main general has been praised again and again, so he promised to send troops to Zhenhai to serve His Majesty.

Nianyun was not idle for this extra day, she followed the two experienced deputy envoys to replenish some grain and grass, and the war horse was also full of food and drink.

The identity has been revealed, Nian Yun simply went to the soldier's tent to condole, the concubine came in person, and wore the same battle uniform and ate the same diet as the soldier, and the morale rose for a while.

Nian Yun discussed with Guo Jun: "Zhenhai where Li Jian is stationed, but it is only a small place, he dares to confront the imperial court, I am afraid that there are some backhands in secret." ”

Guo Yan nodded in agreement: "The nearby major state capitals under the jurisdiction of the Huainan Jiedu envoy, although they are not under the jurisdiction of Zhenhai, are very close to each other, and they must also occupy an important position in Li Ji's layout. If he controls the entire plain area of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in one fell swoop, it will be very unfavorable to our army. ”

Nian Yun thought about it, so he sent an additional messenger, 600 miles to Suzhou, Huzhou and other places, clearly saying that His Majesty had sent troops to conscript, so that the state capitals had already made plans to assassinate Shi.

Li Jian heard that the emperor had sent the Shence army to fight, but only sent 5,000 soldiers and horses, and the main general was a little-known young eunuch, who had just been promoted from the East Palace, so he didn't take him seriously, straightened out the soldiers and horses, and planned to eliminate the Shence army in one fell swoop.

In Li Qian's hand, he really holds a secret weapon that should not be underestimated.

The Taihu Lake area is extremely rich in products, the rice output is huge, and the grain, silk, embroidery, freshwater fish and other products transported from Suzhou and Hangzhou to the north every year account for a large share.

If you control this area, although there is no natural danger to defend on the terrain, there is plenty of food and grass, and you can fight a protracted war. The army of the imperial court will inevitably be difficult to win in a battle after a long-distance attack, and once the rear supplies cannot keep up, it will inevitably be dragged down.

It is said that the biggest secret weapon in Li Kuang's hand is that he has installed powerful cronies in several important state capitals nearby.

The first step of Li Kuang's counterattack was to order these cronies of his to control these major state capitals and expand their sphere of influence.

But what Li Jian didn't expect was that the assassins of these major state capitals were not fools, as early as when Uncle Wang ** went to Li Kuang's salt and iron transfer envoy position, most of the assassins in other state capitals knew it, and it was expected that the new emperor was only afraid of taking Li Kuan.

Therefore, these thorn histories are not said on the surface, but they are all a little scheming in their hearts.

When Nianyun's letter arrived, and when he heard that the emperor had sent the Shence army to crusade against Li Qian, the assassins of the states knew that the time had come.

The Changzhou assassin preemptively arranged assassins overnight to kill the town general Li Jian installed in Changzhou. After that, he quickly sent people to the four state capitals of Suzhou, Hangzhou, Huzhou, and Muzhou to send a message, hoping to work with the state governments to solicit Li Qiang.

When Huzhou Assassin Shi received the secret letter, most of the forces in the city had been controlled by the town generals, and the situation was not optimistic. However, after discussing with his cronies, he took advantage of the night to open the city gate, and ordered his subordinates to secretly recruit hundreds of strong men among the villagers outside the city, counterattacked into the city, and took advantage of the chaos to capture and kill the town general arranged by Li Jian in Huzhou.

At that time, only the Suzhou assassin did not have time to react, and was captured by the town general and presented to Li Kuang.

When Li Jian was playing with the assassins in the nearby state capitals, the Shence Army had already joined the Huainan Army, the Wuning Army, and the Xuanwu Army in Xuanzhou. At the same time, the Wuchang Army and the Jiangxi Army met in Xinzhou, the Eastern Zhejiang Army was on the way to Hangzhou, and the Seventh Route Army marched into Zhenhai together.

Although Guo Yan has no experience in marching and fighting, he is also familiar with military books and knows the art of war. Although there are quite a few local armies on the six routes, in terms of combat effectiveness, I am afraid that they will not be able to fight a tough battle.

And although Xue Qixi has clear rewards and punishments for governing the army, and strict military discipline, after all, he has no actual combat experience and limited prestige, so he doesn't know what it will be like if he really wants to fight. Therefore, in this battle, it is best to outwit and minimize head-to-head confrontations.

He stared at the military map in the sand table for a long time in the camp tent, pointed to the location on the map, and said: "We are advancing from Xuanzhou, Xinzhou and other places, and my opinion is that the speed of the march can be slowed down, and the main thing is coercion, and the enemy's psychological defense line can be approached. When its sphere of influence continues to shrink and internal changes occur, it will naturally be defeated without a fight! ”

The Changzhou Thorn in the north has already controlled the situation, and Huzhou basically has no need to worry. Now Li Kuan's forces are mainly concentrated in Suzhou and Muzhou, preparing to seize Hangzhou.

Li Jian intended to rebel at the beginning, presumably because he was sure that the five states could be won. Now that Changzhou and Huzhou have changed, the opportunity has been lost, and the morale of the army is definitely unstable.

Nian Yun stared at the military map, his eyebrows flickering in the candlelight.

"We've been traveling so far for a long time, and it's not good if we delay it for too long. Just by compressing Li Kuan's sphere of influence and advancing with a large army, I am afraid that in the long run, the rebels will be given a chance to breathe. In my opinion, it is better to wait for the opportunity than to create it yourself. We can send an envoy to secretly enter Zhenhai City and wait for an opportunity. ”

Qixi paced around the tent with his hands on his back, looked at the map, looked at Nianyun, and muttered: "What Niangniang said is reasonable. In order to run for a long distance, the Shence army did not bring much grain and grass, so it was not suitable for long-term consumption. Although the combat effectiveness of the Sixth Route Local Army is not necessarily strong, the soldiers in it are all from nearby states and counties, and there must be people who are familiar with the town navy......"

If you select soldiers from the local army and the people of several states who are related to the soldiers in the town navy and send them to inquire about the news of the town navy, as long as you find a breakthrough in it and provoke civil strife in the town navy, the enemy will be destroyed just around the corner!

Guo Yan thought for a while and said, "This method can indeed be tried. However, the person sent to listen to the news must have a person who has enough weight and can gain the trust of the other party, and once a breakthrough is found, it is good to seize the opportunity as soon as possible. ”

Nianyun said: "Li Jian himself and his cronies are mostly in Fenghua City, but his heavy troops are stationed in Zhenhai, I want to go to Zhenhai City to find out." ”

Guo Yan was so shocked that he almost jumped up: "Absolutely not!" It is very dangerous to go deep into the enemy's army, you are the concubine of the Son of Heaven, in case there is an omission, not to mention what crime we should be guilty of in front of the emperor, how can I live if you call my brother, and how can I go back to explain to Grandpa and Auntie! ”

Nianyun said: "If you don't enter the tiger's den, you can get the tiger!" I asked for orders to go out in front of the emperor, riding a war horse, eating military rations, and living in a camp tent, so I didn't go out to play in the mountains and rivers in the first place. is not a successful teacher, but also for my Tang Dynasty to make a contribution, and die a well-deserved death! ”

Qixi's brow was tightly twisted, and the flickering candlelight cast shadows on his face, giving his thin cheeks a stern look to be white.

His tall and thin figure slowly walked to Nianyun's side, leaned over and saluted, and persuaded: "Niangniang! Although they are all meritorious achievements, Niangniang's identity is extraordinary, and she is the spiritual backbone of the entire army. If there is any mistake in the mother's life, not to mention that we can't explain to the emperor, even in the army, there will be no harm and no benefit! ”

Nian Yun's eyes were as bright as stars, and he raised his head to look at him. The boy from that back then looked much taller at this time, and he also became more mature and deeper. Over the years, he has been by her side, solving problems for her, and being loyal.

She raised her hand and patted his arm, "Qixi, you don't have to worry about me. I am a woman, and even if I enter Zhenhai City, I only need to change my appearance a little, and it is more convenient for me to hide myself than any man. Li Jian would not have thought that I, the concubine, would go out in person. ”

Guo Yan saw that he couldn't persuade her, so he said, "I'll go with you." ”

Qixi said: "It's better for Qixi to go with Niangniang, and it's convenient to serve Niangniang." The horse's appearance is too outstanding, and the mother is so flowery and moon-like, that is, she is easy to look at, and she is afraid of attracting attention. The horses were kept in the army to see what happened. ”

Guo Yan thought about it, back then, their brother and sister plus Li Chun, the three handsome teenagers walked on the street, I don't know how many pairs of eyes fell on them, it was indeed too eye-catching. He glanced at Xue Qixi deeply: "In this way, Niangniang will have you to take care of it!" ”

After discussing properly, they wrote a secret letter overnight, agreeing that the army of Xuanzhou and the rest of the troops and horses would march slowly and enter the area of Zhenhai.

Xue Qixi changed into a set of small vendor's clothes and dressed up as a porcelain vendor. Nian Yun mixed the emollient ointment with furnace ash and applied it to his face to change his face, and he dotted many freckles on his face, tied a pine-colored turban on his head, and dressed up as a peddler's wife.

They recruited more than a dozen strong men who were close to the soldiers or generals in the Zhenhai Navy from the local army and the local people who met in Xuanzhou, dressed as porters, and carried a few loads of white porcelain dishes, vases and other utensils from the north to Zhenhai City to sell.

Xue Qixi was originally a slave in Nianyun House, and he was used to being submissive in front of her. Now although he is pretending to be a husband and wife, Guo Yan only feels funny when he sees it, and he looks like a strict wife, and Nianyun simply looks like a housewife.

Nianyun is a concubine, and others really don't dare to pretend to be her husband. Fortunately, Qixi is a eunuch, and his identity is convenient.

The group quickly whipped their horses, and when they got close to Zhenhai City, they hid their horses, carried their burdens, and walked to Zhenhai City.

Still a long way from the city gate, Nian Yun felt the unusual oppressive atmosphere brought about by the war. From a distance, although there were many peddlers and pawns coming in and out of the city gate, many defenders were added, and the merchants were strictly checked, and the tone was not good.

Nianyun was not very relieved, and pulled Qixi's sleeve, "I have no problem with my makeup, right?" ”

Qixi took a look at her dark face, but unfortunately a pair of eyes could not be changed, even though there were some freckles like black sesame seeds on her face, she also specially drew a reddish-brown birthmark on her forehead, which still could not hide a pair of smart eyes and soft lines of the chin. She was born too outstanding, and it was difficult to dress up ugly.