Early the next morning, Hefei County.

As soon as the hour arrived, a black and capable, sharp-eyed civil official personally climbed the tower and inspected the defense of the four gates.

Behind the civil official, there was also a tall and bold bearded general. The beard was not only thick and curled, but also very hard, almost like a steel wool ball used for washing dishes in later generations.

These two people are Shi Kefa, the governor of Anlu, and Huang Degong, the chief soldier.

Shi Kefa hung his sword at his waist, his brows were tightly locked, and he inspected very carefully.

Everyone knows in their hearts that this is the key point of the encirclement of the Eastern Front arranged by Yang Gelao. Only by blocking the eastward infiltration of the bandit army in the Yinghuo Mountains can we ensure that the north of the Nanjing River will not be plagued by soldiers.

Yang Sichang's strategy of encirclement and suppression of the thieves was "four positive and six corners, ten sides of the net", and when the thieves were on the rise, direct military attack was not the most important. Creating a separation zone to prevent spread is the first priority, after all, Zhang Xianzhong is too capable of coercing innocents.

Huang Degong, who was beside Shi Kefa, also patrolled together according to the blade, with fierce eyes. But he was holding the wine jar in his other hand, and Shi Kefa didn't care about him.

Shi Kefa knows very well that people will have a little problem, Huang Degong is brave and resolute, and he is also loyal to the imperial court, but he can't change his addiction to alcohol, but as long as he doesn't get drunk and delay the military plane, he will turn a blind eye to it.

Huang Degong's addiction to alcohol is very famous in the army. He is a native of Liaodong, and his family originally sold wine. When he was twelve years old, his mother borrowed capital to make a batch of wine, but before he could sell it, he was secretly drunk by Huang Degong.

His mother was afraid that she would not be able to repay the debt, so she was so anxious that she cried, but Huang Degong did not care, and comforted her: I heard that Liaodong will each pay 50 taels of silver to collect the heads of the Tartar soldiers, and you can repay the debt by killing the Tartars.

But he was only twelve years old, and no one else wanted to join the army, so he brought his own dry food and mixed into the Ming army to kill the Tartars, got two heads, and used the bounty money to pay off the wine debt.

This matter has been widely circulated, and even Shi Kefa knows about it. Of course, the rest of his command didn't have that treatment.

Once someone doubts, Shi Kefa will ask the doubter to lead the death squad and lead the firearms battalion of the thieves in the next battle. As long as he dares, then he can also drink in the army like Huang Degong.

Shi Kefa and Huang Degong patrolled for half a circle, and saw that there were no thieves today, and Lin Chengcheng's troops did not appear, so they prepared to return to the government to deal with other affairs.

But at this moment, in the direction of the downstream of the river outside the east gate, several Ming army scouts suddenly flew in, looking at their outfits, they should be messengers who report the military situation.

Shi Kefa was not at the east gate at the time, and when he saw it from afar, he ran quickly along the city wall towards the east gate tower, trying to find out the situation as soon as possible.

But he had only walked a few hundred steps, and he was still half a mile away from the east gate, when he suddenly heard a burst of cheers from the east gate, and the soldiers were making loud noises and word of mouth, and soon reached Shi Kefa.

"Shi Futai's clever plan is amazing! sent people to pretend to transport grain to Hefei by boat, and deliberately did not send troops and horses to escort them, luring the plundering cavalry army that Lin had cultivated to take the bait, and also let the left and right ambushes of the left and right troops of Weishui Wei Zuo Qianhu and other units. ”

"It's really fun to win more than 100 levels of Lin thief cavalry and 100 horses so easily!"

When Shi Kefa heard this, he suddenly looked confused.

But Huang Degong next to him didn't know it, and he thought that Shi Futai had arranged another trick for him to hide, and he also congratulated him together: "Futai is really a Confucian general, the last general has been following you for a few days, and I haven't seen you arrange, but he can talk and laugh and break the enemy." ”

When Huang Degong said this, Shi Kefa was completely embarrassed: "Don't spread false rumors first, ask clearly, I didn't arrange to lure the enemy." ”

He sped up under his feet, rushed to the east gate, caught the messenger who had come back to report the victory, and hurriedly interrogated him personally, and it took him a while to figure out that it turned out that the officers next to him had heard them show off the good news and heard the rumors.

What the messenger originally wanted to repay was just "the guards of Weishui pretended to use the prestige of Shi Futai Huang Zongzhen to scare off Lin Chengcheng and cover up the victory."

After figuring out the situation, Shi Kefa was also quite happy, although it was not his strategy, but he had no loss by killing more than 100 enemies, after all, it was a small victory.

Shi Kefa interrogated for a long time, and learned that Zuo Zixiong's meritorious service this time was also at the right time, and he happened to encounter a bait by chance and seduced Lin Chengcheng, who was collecting boats along the coast of Weishui recently. At the same time, Zuo Zixiong himself is about to escort the fleet to Hefei and return tomorrow.

"When Zuo Zixiong arrives, he must ask clearly, if he is a man who dares to fight, he should be rewarded and promoted." Shi Kefa secretly wondered in his heart.

This matter has passed like this, and it is impossible for Shi Kefa to wait on the city tower all the time, so he will go back to the government to deal with other government affairs first, and just order the soldiers guarding the gate to take Zuo Zixiong to see him when he arrives.

But Shi Kefa didn't know that the influence of the rumors on the city tower had finally spread.

Rumors are such a thing, which version is more curious, more shocking, and more capable of slapping the leader's sycophancy, and the more dynamic it is to spread. The soldiers on the upper floor of Dongcheng all knew that the friendly army had won a small battle, and the more it spread, the more evil it became, and in the end everyone insisted that this was Shi Kefa's plan.

At noon, even Yang Sichang and Yang Ge, who were working in the government office in the city, had roughly heard about this specious good news from the mouths of the staff and guards.

Yang Sichang didn't care about this kind of small victory, but it was still okay as a talking point for lunch. asked Shi Kefa Huang Degong to report to the door and give him a meal together.

When Shi Kefa heard about it, he was still a little ashamed, afraid that in the future, the truth would be revealed, and he would be regarded as a villain by Yang Gelao, so he secretly decided to make his words clear when he had dinner for a while.

……

When Shi Kefa and Huang Degong went to Yang Sichang's place for lunch, Shen Shuren and Zuo Zixiong also rushed to Hefei County along the river.

After all, Shen Shuren took the waterway, and it was normal for him to be half a day slower than the fast horse messenger sent by Zuo Zixiong.

The defenders of Hefei County already knew their victory, and immediately opened the door to release Zuo Zixiong after confirming his identity, and many soldiers followed to congratulate and celebrate.

The officer guarding the gate was instructed by Shi Kefa, saying that Zuo Zixiong would bring him for questioning when he arrived, and he didn't dare to slack off at this moment, so he immediately sent someone to guide the way. Knowing that Shi Futai was at Yang Ge's old house, he had to be brave enough to send it to Yang Ge's old mansion.

It's a big deal, if Yang Ge doesn't bother to meet him, just wait at the door and wait for Shi Futai to come out and report again. There has always been only subordinates waiting for superiors, how can there be a reason for superiors and subordinates.

Shen Shuren was the first time to enter Hefei County in this era, and he was a little curious about this kind of front-line military city, so he walked all the way to observe the armament of the Ming army, and soon came to the temporary station of Ge Lao.

The gatekeepers in Yang Sichang's mansion really refused to let these people who asked to see Shi Kefa, and at most let them wait in the gatehouse and wait for Shi Futai to come out.

Zuo Zixiong didn't care either, thinking that this was already very good, so Shi Kefalken personally met him. These uneducated military attaches never dared to show off in front of civil officials, and they never expected to be able to meet a thousand households when they were court elders.

But Shen Shuren next to him quickly made a move that shocked Zuo Zixiong.

He Shi Shiran took out a letter from his sleeve, handed it to the officer guarding the door, and said without humility or arrogance:

"Below is the candidate student of Nanjing Guozijian, holding Wu Siye's reply letter, asking to see Yang Ge Lao - the things mentioned in the letter were personally assigned by Yang Ge Lao, but because the situation has changed, Wu Siye has to urgently ask for instructions. Only then did I send a letter from Nanjing. ”

As soon as the officer guarding the door heard that it was something assigned by Yang Sichang and that this was a reply, he immediately did not dare to stop it, and immediately took the letter and went in to confirm the situation.

After a cup of tea, the officer trotted out again: "Shen Gongzi, Zuo Qianhu, please come in quickly, Yang Ge Lao is eating, please eat together by the way." ”

When Zuo Zixiong heard this, his heart was shocked: Where did this Shen Gongzi come from? Even if you are a candidate for Guozijian, a letter can make the old man invite you to dinner?

And he himself was quickly hit by a huge sense of happiness, for a low-EQ military general like him who can only fight and not drill, this kind of thing may not be encountered in his life.

"Brother Shen, you are really my lucky star, what can I do in the future, as long as I don't violate military law, just open my mouth!" Zuo Zixiong walked in like a dream, and at the same time hugged Shen Shuren's thighs.

Shen Shuren shook the folding fan with a calm expression: "Brother Zuo is a cheerful person, and some small things don't have to be like this." ”

Having said that, he was also a little proud inside.

Using Wu Weiye to ask to meet Yang Sichang, this is his plan.

But being extra familiar with Shi Kefa and Huang Degong has exceeded his expectations. It's not something that can be decided by resourcefulness, it's a windfall.

……

Shen Shuren quickly entered the inner hall and saw a white-faced and obese old man in his fifties sitting in the middle of the room, and two civil and military generals in his thirties and forties on the left and right.

Shen Shuren hurriedly stepped forward to salute, and quickly figured out the identities of the three people.

Yang Sichang seemed to be in a good mood today, so he didn't ask much, so he asked people to sit first, and set up two other cases of wine and food.

Taking advantage of the servant's servant's serving, Shi Kefa brushed aside and said: "Supervisor, this morning's false rumors about his subordinates luring the enemy and breaking the thieves are actually the credit of these two. ”

With Shi Kefa's status, he didn't care about this kind of petty military feat of killing hundreds of enemy horsemen at all, not to mention that Yang Sichang knew the truth. It's better to put on a down-to-earth demeanor to avoid suspicion.

Yang Sichang was very comfortable, in front of these subordinates, he didn't have to scruple about making gestures, and even said while drinking:

"The future is terrifying, a boy can be fearless in the face of danger and take advantage of the situation to break the enemy. Such a person who is both civil and military, Wu Meicun is still cowering, and I don't think he can see his vision very well. ”

Shen Shuren hurriedly got up and thanked him: "If it weren't for the restoration of the old heavenly net, the strict management of the army in Futai, and the prestige of the general town. Nor will the thief flee like a frightened bird as soon as he hears of an ambush.

The people of the former north were afraid of Zhao Xixi, and they were really afraid of the millions of heroes of the king of Chu. Students are just bluffing, pretending to be powerful, how dare they be greedy for their own merits. ”

When Yang Sichang and Shi Kefa listened to Shen Shuren's first half of the words, they all subconsciously frowned slightly, thinking that he was a flattering person.

But listening to what he said in the second half of the paragraph, it was indeed in line with the art of war, and he immediately rejoiced again and no longer cared.

It's not right to pat on the back, but Shen Shuren didn't pat on the back either, he was seeking truth from facts.

Fortunately, Yang Sichang is also measured, and knows that some words are not suitable for public questioning. So he finished eating with a smile and sent Shi Kefa and Huang Degong away, leaving Shen Shuren alone and asking how things were going in Nanjing.

Shi Kefa didn't know the inside story, and he was secretly surprised: this Xiucai just sent a reply letter from Wu Meicun to the elder pavilion, and on the way, he happened to break a thief, so he could be so valued by the elder pavilion? What he wants to talk about with the elder of the pavilion, even I can't hear about it?

Everyone has curiosity, although Shi Kefa didn't want to spy on the inside story, but after this incident, he also looked down on Shen Shuren. misunderstood that Shen Shuren was the secret confidant of the elder of the pavilion, and he would have the opportunity to make friends in the future.