Xu Jingye came with the slogan of "destroying the army and helping Li", and gathered 100,000 people in a short time, and he decided to send troops to cross the river from Yangzhou to attack Runzhou, and attack Chuzhou in the north himself.

Because of the idea of going south, Xue Zhang and Xiang Lu were appointed as the vanguard army and went to attack. Xiang Lu had no choice but to go with Xue Zhang.

Xiang Lu and Xue Zhang crossed the river by warship, Runzhou was originally weak in military strength, and the army was in Yangzhou, so Xiang Lu and Xue Zhang easily boarded the other side of the Yangtze River and led troops to Zhenjiang City.

Runzhou assassin Li Siwen and Sima Liu Yansi were guarding the city, and they were waiting for battle, ready to resist Xu Jingye's rebels desperately.

After Xiang Lu and Xue Zhang saw this, Xue Zhang had no idea for a while, but seeing that Runzhou's military strength was weak, he decided to attack.

And Xiang Lu said: "General, don't storm it, Runzhou is a weak place, why bother so hard." You see that now it is almost autumn, the peasants have harvested their crops, and are preparing to transport them to the county seat, it is better for us to intercept halfway, and grab all the grain, first, our grain and grass have been greatly replenished, and second, we have besieged the city to death, and those people will starve to death in the city, and at that time they will have to have civil strife if they do not surrender, and we will be able to break through Runzhou in a battle. ”

When Xue Zhang heard this, he thought for a while and said, "Just listen to Childe." ”

Xiang Lu said: "We are raising volunteers to help Li Tang, and we must not harm the people of Runzhou, otherwise once the reputation spreads, who will support us!"

When Xue Zhang heard this, he felt that his words were reasonable, and said: "I can order that all those who trespass into the people's homes and rape and plunder will be beheaded unanimous and will not be spared." ”

So, according to Xiang Lu's strategy, Xue Zhang first sent troops to loot grain everywhere, and the grain obtained was piled up in the rebels' barracks.

In addition, Xue Zhang ordered the army to surround Runzhou City, and anyone who left the city was shot to death with arrows.

Sure enough, because the grain could not be delivered in time, within five days, the price of grain in Runzhou City soared, and there was even a tragedy of selling his daughter and wife for food. The dissatisfaction of the common people is becoming stronger and stronger, and the contradiction between the rich and the poor in the city is on the verge of breaking out.

Li Siwen and Liu Yansi discussed how to solve the problem. Li Dao: "Liu Sima, now that there is a shortage of food in the city, and the people's hearts are fluctuating, if you and I don't send troops, I'm afraid we will be killed by the chaotic people." “

Liu replied: "Now most of the southeast troops are in Yangzhou, and it is difficult for me to resist in Runzhou. For now, I can only resist desperately. I am afraid that it will be a few days before the imperial army will reach Yangzhou. If we can survive until then, the traitors will be brought to justice, and we will be able to protect Runzhou. “

Li Siwen said: "What Liu Sima said is very true, and I can only wait for a few more days." ”

Xiang Lu expected that Li Siwen and Liu Yansi would choose to hold on for a few more days, so he said to Xue Zhang: "General, transport the grain to the city gate!" ”

Xue Zhang was puzzled and said, "Childe, what is this doing?" “

"Don't worry! At that time, the city gate was opened for the general, and the general only needed to rush into the city and capture Li Siwen and Liu Yansi alive. '

Xue Zhang, according to Xiang Lu's instructions, put a large amount of grain not far from the city gate, and at this time, the people in the city who were tortured by grain saw that tens of thousands of people rushed to the city gate like a flood, and the soldiers couldn't stop it at all. Li Siwen shouted: "Don't create chaos, otherwise, you will be killed." ”

None of the people paid any attention to him, and at once they trampled on the soldiers defending the city, opened the gates, and ran to the grain store.

Xue Zhang saw that the city gate was opened, and the people rushed towards the grain like a torrent, and immediately shouted: "Rush into the city for me, and there will be a reward for those who capture Li Siwen and Liu Yanhei alive." ”

So the army rushed into the city gates at once, and most of the people, except for a few who were at the tail were hacked to death, and most of the rest went outside the city to grab food.

When Xiang Lu saw it, he knew that Runzhou had been taken. After Xue Zhang entered the city, he killed the soldiers in the city, captured Li Siwen and Liu Yansi alive, and put them in prison.

On the other hand, before Xu Jingye led the army to attack, Chuzhou surrendered on a large scale, and only the guerrilla general Liu Xing occupied the county seat and would never surrender.