The sails were slowly retracted, but the speed of the dinghy did not slow down much.

The bitter northwest wind cut his face like a knife, but Chao Xiangfang didn't realize it, and his eyes only wandered among the withered reeds on the shore.

"Goro, walk against the riverbank. As if he had noticed something, Chao Xiangfang's eyes tightened, and he said in a deep voice.

A voice came from behind, "Second brother, are you in the middle of the road?"

The swarthy and sturdy young man shook the oar slightly, and the dinghy began to approach the river, and a river lull hidden in the reeds slowly revealed.

This is not the range of Juyeze, Baigou meets Heze here, to the southwest, you can pass through Heze, flow from the lotus water into Surabaya, and reach Xuzhou.

The Chao family said nothing in Juyeze, but when they entered the territory of Caozhou, although Heze was no stranger here, Chao Xiangfang did not dare to be careless, today is different from the past, he is no longer a giant wild water bandit, and now as the leader of the water army under the command of the Tianping Army, he naturally needs to be cautious.

There are a lot of rivers on this side of Heze, especially in the area close to Baigou, due to the continuous war in the Central Plains, there are many rich gentry and magnates who fled from Heluo to Jianghuai, and most of them travel by boat.

There are three roads, one is to take Baigou, Heze, Heshui, and Surabaya to Xuzhou, and the other is to take the Bianhe River through Mengzhuze, and pass through Xiao County to Xuzhou.

There is also one that walks the most, directly take the canal to Tongqiao and then go north to Xuzhou, or go straight to the canal into Huaishui, you can go to any city along the Huaishui.

"Slow down, just wait at the mouth of the river. "Chao Xiangfang knows that today's events are very important.

The dinghy slowly entered along the river, and waited for a while, until a kingfisher chirped and Chao Xiang made a gesture, and the dinghy was fast again, and after a few turns, you could see a beach, and there was already a man waiting there.

"I've seen the second son. The man on the beach bowed and saluted, and Chao Xiangfang hurriedly supported him, "No need to be polite, Jiulang, you have worked hard." ”

"Brother Jiu, it's hard work. Chao Xiangfeng, who jumped off the boat, also enthusiastically hugged the other party's shoulders.

"Fifth son. "If Liang Tianxing's left army commander Pang Yuan was here, he would definitely be dumbfounded, this Yan Jiu, who he relied on as his confidant, was so familiar with the sons of the Chao family who had already surrendered to Jiang Feng and became Jiang Feng's most active lackey in Yunzhou.

"Brother Jiu, how is the situation?" Chao Xiangfeng looked Yan Jiu up and down, "How is Pang Yuan's side?"

"Second son, fifth son, I don't have much time, now Pang Yuan is inspecting military affairs in Jiyin, I am making an excuse to come out, and I will go back soon. Yan Jiudaotiao's face flashed with a hint of nervousness, "The situation in Bianjing is said to be very tense, and the Privy Council wants to transfer the Tianxing Left Army back to Bianzhou, but it is worried that Songzhou will be occupied by Caizhou and Huaiyou, so it is still arguing and has not yet made a decision." ”

Pu Cao Song three states, from the south bank of the river, from north to south, is the barrier to the east of the Great Liang, now Puzhou is controlled by the remnants of Xuzhou Shangyunxi, and Cao Zhou and Song Zhou are controlled by the Liang Tianxing Left Army Pang Yuan Division.

However, due to the loss of Luoyang, the Jin army was very aggressive in the west, and Nanyang invaded Ruzhou, and was fighting for Xuzhou with Caizhou.

The Yuan army occupied the three counties of Wuyang, Linying, and Fugou, while the Nanyang army captured Xiangcheng, Changshe (Xuzhou Prefecture), Yanling, Xuchang, and Changge, plus the counties of Yiyang, Luhun, Yique, Yingyang, Dengfeng, Xucheng, and Yangzhai in Henan Province, which had in fact crossed the tacit boundary reached with the Shatuo people.

However, both sides seem to have restrained, although the Shatuo people are very angry at Nanyang's unruly invasion of the southern counties of Henan Prefecture, but they are unwilling to clash with Nanyang at this time, and stop at the line of Changshui, Fuchang, Shou'an, and Xushi, and Nanyang is even more cunning, occupying the southern counties of Henan Prefecture, but ignoring Mi County, which is close at hand and can threaten the defense line of Daliang Zhengzhou, which also makes Shatuo people extremely annoyed.

Now the Liang is already a little stretched, and he is also happy to see this situation, and took the initiative to withdraw from Xuzhou and Chenzhou, and generously handed over the land of these states to Nanyang and Caizhou, hoping to create contradictions and frictions between these parties to see if there is an opportunity.

"What is Pang Yuan's attitude?" This is also the key to Chao Xiangfang's adventure to Jiyin this time, they need to figure out the attitude of Pang Yuan, the commander of the Tianxing Left Army.

Shang Yunxi has sent an envoy to Xuzhou, hoping to catch the line of Huaiyou, obviously realizing that the tree of Daliang is about to fall, so the attitude of Pang Yuan, the commander of the Tianxing Left Army who still controls more than 20,000 soldiers and horses, is very critical, and the Tianxing Left Army has very few troops stationed in Caozhou, only two armies, and the main force is still in Songzhou.

But in this situation, it is no longer a matter of more soldiers and fewer soldiers, Daliang still has more than 100,000 troops, but can they defeat the Shatuo people? In the eyes of many people, this is the question of whether the Mandate of Heaven or Wang Qi is still on Daliang's side.

Pang Yuan is very conflicted now, he wants to return to Bianjing for a while, and he feels that he should stay in Songzhou and preserve his strength, but he also knows that if Daliang is really defeated, the 20,000 soldiers and horses of his Tianxing Left Army will be a drop in the bucket and useless, so he doesn't think about it, but it is difficult to make a decision. Yan Jiu thought for a moment before saying, "I guess he is also looking at the attitude of Bianjing's side now, if the Privy Council has a tough attitude, he may accept the order and return to Bianjing." ”

"Oh?" Chao Xiangfang's face changed slightly.

It is precisely because of Pang Yuan's Tianxing Left Army stationed in Songzhou that Caizhou has not launched an attack on Songzhou for the time being, but has only captured Chenzhou, and there may be some taboo reasons for Huaiyou, but Chao Xiangfang concluded that Caizhou will still attack Songzhou in the end, regardless of whether Pang Yuan's Tianxing Left Army goes or not.

Of course, the Tianxing Left Army is one step late, which may make Caizhou move a little later.

For Huaiyou, the situation is also very difficult now, Pinglu side of the initial decision, although the county has been divided into five towns, the Tianping Army has also been established, but the main army after the completion of the formation began to move in the direction of Yanyun, Yanzhou, Xuzhou this line Huaiyou actual strength is very empty, to wait until the army from Pinglu to slowly put in place, this will take time.

"Has anyone from Caizhou come to contact Pang Yuan?" Chao Xiangfang asked a key question.

"Yes!" Yan Jiu said in a deep voice: "And there have been two batches of them, but Pang Yuan's attitude towards Caizhou has always been more hostile, so the two groups of envoys have not curry favor with Pang Yuan." Yan Jiudao.

Chao Xiangfang thought for a while, "Then have these envoys returned to Caizhou?"

"No, I've been staying in Songzhou. Yan Jiu's face changed slightly, as if he had thought of something, "Second Prince, are you worried that these envoys will contact the people under Pang Yuan?"

Chao Xiangfang nodded with a gloomy face, "Pang Yuan came to Jiyin this time, who of his subordinates did not accompany him? I mean those who should have accompanied him, but did not accompany him." ”

Yan Jiu thought for a while, "Xu Junluo said that he was unwell and did not come, and the other deputy envoy He Xiong also came. ”

"He Xiong can't be reasonable, Pang Yuan left Songzhou, and it is right for him to stay behind as a deputy envoy, but Xu Junluo is not suitable for the left arm and right arm of Pang Yuan, how can he not accompany him? Is it really unwell, or is there another reason?" Chao Xiangfang's face was uncertain, "Jiulang, you go back and find an excuse to urge Pang Yuan to return to Songzhou as soon as possible, and pay attention to Xu Junluo to see if there is anything abnormal, if Caizhou really buys Xu Junluo, then the problem will be troublesome." ”

Yan Jiu nodded, "Okay, I'll go back to Jiyin right away." ”

"Well, you're careful to show your tracks. Chao Xiangfang took a deep breath, "I believe that you don't need to last long in this life." ”

Yan Jiu smiled, "Second son, I'm used to it, but if the county prince is fighting for hegemony in the Central Plains, I'm afraid that this Song Zhou will have to be won, and Cao Zhou's status is much worse than that of Song Zhou." ”

"Well, it's not something you and I care about, the county lords have their own considerations, and sometimes it may not be a good thing to take Songzhou. Chao Xiangfang shook his head, "We just need to do what we have to do." ”

Liu Yansi, the governor of the Ziqing Army, had a deep gaze, and his body shook as the horses moved up and down, but his eyes were always facing forward.

In fact, there was nothing in his field of vision at this time, just a long line of troops.

After being appointed as the governor of the Ziqing Army, Liu Yansi has been in a trance, Jiang Feng actually handed over the five armies in his hands to himself so generously, not to mention, but also added five more armies for himself, so that the Ziqing Army suddenly increased to ten armies.

Of course, he also found a deputy for himself, Hong Kui, the former deputy soldier of the Wuning Cavalry Army, is now the deputy governor of the Ziqing Army, and Hong Kui also brought two cavalry troops and three infantry troops to join the Ziqing Army.

The current Ziqing Army already has three cavalry armies, seven infantry armies, and 25,000 men and horses, but according to the order of the Privy Council, there are still four armies that will quickly be drawn from the original Huaiyou Army and enriched into 14 armies, and then the Ziqing Army will have four cavalry armies and 10 infantry armies, reaching 35,000 troops, and when the real replenishment is completed in the future, the Ziqing Army will be at least replenished to 16 armies and 40,000 troops.

From Zhiqu Mountain in Haizhou Prefecture to Xiao County in Xuzhou, more than 500 miles, the Lao Ziqing Army led by Liu Yansi converged with the Fifth Army led by Hong Kui in Xiapi, and then rushed to Xuzhou.

The four armies of Lao Huai's right army assigned to the Ziqing army were also heading south, but Liu Yansi did not wait for the other party, he and Hong Kui led ten armies to Xiao County, ordered the four armies to rest in Xuzhou for a while, and then came to Xiao County to converge.

For the Ziqing Army has not been completely reorganized and pulled to Xiao County, which is the border with Songzhou, the 35,000 troops are not too much, but not a lot less, what kind of role can they play, Liu Yansi has also been thinking about it.

In Xuzhou, Liu Yansi finally met the county prince who had gone south from Qingzhou.

It is said that it was because the imperial court envoy had already gone north from the canal to meet the county lord in Xuzhou, so the county lord went south from Qingzhou in advance.