At the same time that the court of Chu appointed Zhao Xu as the commander and led the troops south to quell the rebellion, the rebels in southern Xinjiang also made new moves after repairing for ten days.

The leader of the rebels, Qu Li, asked Jiang Fangshun to lead his troops to garrison the city of Suilin, the old nest, to provide food and grass for the army.

He himself led his troops in the direction of Ningtong, intending to be the capital city of Jiaxing Mansion.

However, the new Ning Tong guard Fang Zhe relied on rumors to delay enough time and organize the forces defending the city.

With Fang Zhe's command and the concerted efforts of Ning Tong's army and people, the main rebel army led by Qu Li organized several attacks in a row, but they were all repelled by the defenders one by one, and their morale was temporarily frustrated.

Due to Fang Zhe's strategy of clearing the wilderness, it was difficult for the rebels to obtain sufficient supplies around Ningtong.

In desperation, Qu Li had to divide the army into two, one part led by his younger brother Qu Lang, camped twenty miles southwest of Ningtong, threatening to monitor Ningtong, Qu Li led the main force of the rebels, and the soldiers pointed directly at Qingyuan County, intending to capture Qingyuan County, go directly north, cut off the connection between Ningtong and the surroundings, and make it completely become an isolated city.

However, although Qingyuan County is the county seat, the city wall is not a rammed earth wall like an ordinary county town, but a city wall built with blue bricks like Ning Tong.

Coupled with the stubborn resistance of the defenders of Qingyuan County, it took Qu Li half a month to completely conquer Qingyuan County.

The siege lasted for a long time, leaving the rebels physically and mentally exhausted, and Qu Li had no choice but to let his soldiers repair in the county town.

At the same time, Qu Li also received new information from the scouts.

"Big marshal, small detective, the court of Chu has sent another reinforcement army, and now it has crossed the Jianing River and is heading straight to Qingyuan County."

Qu Li couldn't help frowning when he heard this.

The rumored army of the imperial court to cut off their grain route is hidden in the shadows, and there is no trace of it so far. This army was like a dark cloud overhead, which was enough to give them a headache for the top leaders of the rebels, but they didn't expect that the court of the Chu State attached so much importance to them, and immediately sent another army to come.

If the leading generals are as difficult as Fang Zhe, then these rebels will have a headache!

At this thought, Qu Li asked:

"Can you find out clearly, who is leading the new reinforcements sent by the imperial court, and how many soldiers and horses are there?"

"Back to the marshal, this army of soldiers and horses is known as an army of 40,000."

Forty thousand troops?

Qu Li's brows furrowed inadvertently.

Although 40,000 troops is an imaginary number, this imperial army is at least about 30,000 soldiers.

After dividing another 10,000 soldiers and horses, there were only more than 20,000 soldiers and horses under his command, and he lost a lot of money in the attack on Qingyuan County, and now there are only about 9,000 people.

20,000 against 30,000, the number of people is too disadvantaged.

But if you leave without a fight, not only will it be difficult to implement the plan to besiege Ning Tong, but when the imperial court soldiers and horses join forces with that Fang Zhe, Wu Wei's side will be in danger, and most importantly, in this way, his prestige among the rebels will fall sharply, and he will not be able to command the generals and patriarchs under his command at all.

If the Lord of the Five Immortals Sect saw that he had no use value, he would probably abandon himself without hesitation and re-support a person who had the ability to serve the people to come to power.

It seems that I have to fight this battle if I don't want to......

The scout didn't know what his boss was thinking, so he said to himself:

"As for the commander of this army of soldiers and horses, it is said that he is the third prince of the Chu State, Zhao Xu, who was named King Ning not long ago."

"Zhao Xu?"

Qu Li frowned.

This name, forgive him for being so unheard of, that he really hadn't heard of it.

"Dashuai, the little detective heard that this Zhao Xu was a hostage in Qi three years ago, and he only returned to Chu more than a month ago." The scout whispered, "This prince leads his troops south, and every time he arrives, he will stay for a day and have a feast with the local magistrate. Because of this, I almost fell out with the deputy general. The little one also heard that when Zhao Xu was hostage in the Qi State, he had lingered in the Goolan Tile House. ”

The scout said, giving his handsome man a look that a man understands.

Qu Li was stunned for a moment, understood in an instant, and couldn't help laughing:

"Ben Shuai thought he was a troublesome character like that Fang Zhe, but he didn't expect to send an incompetent child who would only spend the previous moon to come! God help me wait! ”

After laughing, Qu Li's eyes flickered, looked at the scout, and asked in a deep voice:

"Let me ask you, how far are they from Qingyuan County?"

"Back to Dashuai, there are still almost three days away!"

"Three days? Very good! Qu Li's eyes changed, and he said loudly: "Guards, drumming and gathering generals, this handsome man wants to send a big meeting gift to His Royal Highness King Ning, so that this boy brother can feel the hospitality of our Miao people!" ”

Why can't you help Fang Zhe, why can't you have a prince?

Qu Li said ruthlessly in his heart, and even thought about how to bargain with the court of Chu after Zhao Xusheng was captured.

I heard that Zhao Heng, the emperor of Chu State, was generous and benevolent, and he couldn't bear to let his son be killed alive by the rebels, right?

Thinking of this, a hideous smile appeared at the corner of Qu Li's mouth.

…………

Just when Qu Li learned the news that the imperial army had crossed the river to the south, Zhao Xu, Yuan Xiang and other generals also discussed the matter of counterinsurgency in the tent.

"Your Highness, why are you so self-defiled?"

Looking at Zhao Xu, who was sitting on the main seat, Yuan Xiang sighed and said helplessly.

Zhao Xu took off his pocket, put it on the small table next to his right hand, and said with a smile:

"This is also the king's helpless move, if you don't let the thief head have a contempt, with the ten thousand soldiers and horses of the court, if you want to quell the rebellion, how long will it last? This rebellion cannot be delayed for too long, otherwise the barbarians in the southwest will definitely follow suit, and the Burmese and Qi countries will also wait for the opportunity to move. And I, Da Chu, can't stand this toss anymore. ”

Yuan Xiang couldn't help nodding, arched his hand in the direction of Shenjing, and said solemnly:

"What King Ning said is very true, although Your Majesty is a benevolent monarch, he also sleeps hard at night when dealing with political affairs, and he does not dare to relax in the slightest. However, in the past 20 years, there have been many natural and man-made disasters in my Chu State, and most of the imperial court's tax revenue has been used for disaster relief and relief of the victims. ”

"It's not easy for the father, so as the prince, this king has to try his best to share the worries of the monarch."

Zhao Xu said, came to the map, and pointed to a place.

"Tomorrow the army will march here and set up camp. Externally, the rumors were released, saying that the contradiction between the king and General Yuan had deepened, and General Yuan was forced to march by General Yuan with a secret decree, but he was afraid of the rebels in his heart, so he stopped here. ”

The place Zhao Xu pointed to was outside a valley called "Tuochuan Valley" less than thirty miles away from Qingyuan County.

Yuan Xiang and the others carefully looked at the map, and Wu Song frowned and asked:

"Your Highness, camp here, if you attack Qingyuan County, the soldiers will go under the city wall, it is estimated that most of their strength will be gone, how to fight the rebels?"

Zhao Xu raised his eyebrows.

"When did this king say that the city was going to be attacked?"

Gao Yi, who was staring at the map carefully, suddenly raised his head and asked with a little uncertainty:

"Your Highness, this is to lure the enemy to attack?"

Zhao Xu nodded, and said:

"That's right, this king wants to decide the winner here, defeat the main force of the rebels, and recapture Qingyuan County!"

The rebels want to work at ease, and the king also wants to work at ease, so it depends on who is more skilled!

After Zhao Xu made some arrangements, the generals walked out of the tent and prepared to go.

And Yuan Xiang only came back to his senses at this time.

When did this King Ning know that he had a secret decree?