In addition to grain and grass, there were hundreds of live sheep captured in the first battle of the Miragawa. Li Zhiyun ordered the killing of sheep to reward the three armies, and the soldiers piled up firewood, lit a bonfire, roasted the whole sheep on the firewood, and then the whole army was full.

After resting for a day at the Miragawa River, the army prepared to return to camp the next day. The next day, just as he was about to be plucked, a messenger came. The messenger was sent by the second brother, and he sent a letter to Li Zhiyun. Li Zhiyun opened it and saw that the letter was written by Abba:

Shimin, Zhiyun:

Shocked to learn that your cousin Li Xiaoji and others were captured, Abba was very anxious and hoped to try to rescue him.

Abba

After reading the letter, Li Zhiyun fell into deep thought. Abba did not issue edicts as emperor, but wrote letters home as a father, and he was fully able to understand this. After all, rescuing my cousin was out of family affection and personal friendship, and if he issued an edict as an emperor, it was indeed a little inappropriate. This letter was probably sent to the front by Abba, and the second brother forwarded Abba's letter to him, apparently putting the burden of rescuing his cousin on his shoulders.

After Li Zhiyun became a member of the Li family, of course, he had to understand the situation of the Li family. He knew that Abba had no brothers, only a few cousins, and Lee Hyo-gi had the closest relationship with Abba. Abba asked Uncle Cousin to lead troops to attack Xia County, originally wanting him to make a contribution, but Uncle Cousin was captured by Wei Chigong, and Abba was anxious in his heart can be imagined.

Because of a plane crash, Li Zhiyun crossed into this world and was completely cut off from his original family. Fortunately, in this world, he still has many relatives, in addition to Abba and aunt, older brothers and sisters, of course, including cousins and other relatives. He has already experienced the pain of losing all his relatives once, so he cherishes these relatives very much. Therefore, it is his duty to rescue his cousin this time. Besides, the purpose of his trip was to rescue Uncle Cousin and others, and now, Uncle Cousin and they are still being detained, and his mission is naturally not completed.

Li Zhiyun asked several generals to come over, showed them Abba's letter, and then said: "We won't go back to Baibi, let's go to Xia County first, rescue my cousin and them, and by the way, kill Xia County, what do you think?" When several people heard this, they all expressed their approval. So, Li Zhiyun ordered the army to immediately march and go to Xia County.

After two days of marching, the party came to a town called Gaoyang, and camped in the open field outside the town. Gaoyang Town is still fifty miles away from the county seat of Xia County, and Cheng Yanjin saw that the team was not leaving, so he hurriedly ran to Li Zhiyun and asked him why he stopped? Li Zhiyun frowned and said, "I haven't thought about how to attack the county seat." ”

"Then you think about it slowly. After thinking about it, don't forget to tell Lao Cheng, Lao Cheng is still waiting for meritorious service. ”

In the afternoon of the same day, Li Zhiyun was in the open space outside the military tent and asked Cai Hu to accompany him to practice swords. Fan Shuxiang ran over to hang out, she replaced Cai Hu and worked as a sparring partner for Li Zhiyun. Fan Shuxiang's swordsmanship routine is unique, Li Zhiyun is very uncomfortable, and he was stabbed several times in succession. He threw away the wooden sword in his hand and said, "Don't practice, let's rest." ”

Fan Shuxiang proudly said: "How is it, no, right?" You call me master, and I come over every day to accompany you to practice swords. Li Zhiyun didn't call her master, but said, "Miss Fan, are you willing to go with me to the county seat of Xia County?" ”

"Wow, of course I do. When are we leaving? ”

"Tomorrow."

The reason why Li Zhiyun wanted to go to Xia County was mainly to find out the situation. When Wei Chigong left Xia County, he only took the loot with him, not the prisoners, so Uncle Tang and they should still be in Xia County. As for where they were being held, dead or alive, it is not known now. So, if you want to rescue them, you have to figure it all out first. Of course, he could have sent someone to the county seat to reconnoitre, and the reason why he decided to go there in person was because of a deeper consideration.

Li Zhiyun led the army to Xia County, the main purpose was to save people, and the second was to defeat Xia County. If he rashly marched into the army, surrounded the county seat, and forcibly attacked the city, in case he annoyed Lu Zhenmao and killed the prisoners, then his plan to rescue his cousin and others would be in vain. Besides, according to the scouts, Lü Zhengmao had four or five thousand men and horses, and the army he led, in addition to the soldiers killed and wounded in the battle of Miragawa, plus the additional prisoners, now there are about 5,000 people, and the strength is not superior, if the city is forcibly attacked, there is not much chance of victory. The art of war is cloudy, the first is to fight and strategize, then to fight, and finally to attack the city. But he didn't know how to plot and make friends, so he had to slowly figure out a way after entering the city.

Li Zhiyun knew that it was naturally very dangerous to personally bring people into the city. But there is no other solution. Therefore, after thinking about it again, he felt that in order to save his cousin and them, he had to take this risk.

Li Zhiyun once went to Xia County, and many people knew him, so in order to prevent his identity from being recognized, he had to be disguised. He asked the man to make porridge with glutinous rice to make a paste, and then cut off the fine hair of the piglet as a beard, and used the paste to stick it to the lips and chin. After finishing it, I took a photo with a bronze mirror, and the original immature face had a little more vicissitudes, and the age was several years older all of a sudden, and I even felt strange when I looked at it. It seems that the effect of the makeup is still good.

Cai Hu also went to Xia County, and Li Zhiyun concocted the same method and put makeup on him.

You can't take that flintlock pistol with you, it's too big to hide on you. If he walked into the county seat with a pistol on his back, he would inevitably attract the attention of others. So, he brought a sword with him. Ancient scholars liked to wear swords, and regardless of whether they knew martial arts or not, they had to wear a sword to show that they were both civil and military.

Li Zhiyun and Cai Hu went to Gaoyang Town again and bought several sets of clothes from residents according to their sizes. He wore a blue hidden silk shirt, a round neck, and a sword, and looked like a scholar who had gone out to study. bought a blue skirt with floral flowers for Fan Shuxiang, and she looked like a maid when she wore it. And Cai Hu wore a purple plain cloth and dressed as a housekeeper.

They also spent money to rent a two-wheeled carriage in Qingbupeng, and found a lieutenant in the army who could drive the car, named Wang Wenqing. Captain Wang's name sounds elegant, but he is dark and stout, and when he wears coarse linen clothes, he really looks like a handlebar.

After some tossing, the four of them set off in the carriage. Fifty miles away, half a day. Outside the county seat of Xia County, Li Zhiyun, Fan Shuxiang and Cai Hu got out of the carriage and followed the carriage forward. The gates were guarded by soldiers, who were checking on pedestrians entering the city.

When several people reached the city gate, a soldier stopped the carriage and shouted, "What are you doing?" Li Zhiyun smiled and said softly: "Sir, we are from a foreign country, and we go to the city to visit relatives." ”

"Relatives?" The soldier's gaze swept over each of them, and he nodded, "Okay then, pay the money quickly." ”

"Pay what?"

"Gate tax."

"We are not merchants, what kind of gate tax do we pay?" Cai Hu argued.

"The order of the king of Wei, whether it is a merchant or not, must pay the gate tax when entering the city. Fifty wen per person, the four of you, a total of two hundred. ”

Li Zhiyun understood that the city gate tax was originally only collected by traders, but Lu Chongmao expanded it to cover everyone, and actually became a toll. Cai Hu still wanted to argue, but Li Zhiyun said: "Forget it, give it to him." Cai Hu took out the broken silver and handed it to the guards at the gate.

After paying the money, the four men entered the city without incident. Li Zhiyun glanced back, these soldiers were guarding the gate of the city, and they were specially collecting tolls. Lu Chongmao not only usurped the throne, but also levied and extorted violently, and had to pay 50 wen when he entered the city.

After entering the county seat, they walked along the street. In just over half a year, the county seat has completely changed, almost unrecognizable to Li Zhiyun. Of course, it doesn't mean that the scenery on the street has changed, but that the people on the street have completely changed. In his impression, Xia County was a fertile land, and the people lived a prosperous life. But the scene was different, and many people on the street seemed to be malnourished and had food on their faces. He was even more puzzled by the fact that there were many homeless people scattered along the streets, some of whom had laid straw under the eaves of their shops, on which were dirty and worn bedding, and some had built simple sheds out of tarpaulin. Children in tattered shirts chased passers-by for copper coins, and some homeless people sat in a daze on the side of the street, their eyes blank and their expressions numb.

Li Zhiyun didn't know where these displaced people came from, whether they were natives of Xia County, or had they fled from other villages?

They drove the carriage to the inn. The post house was originally used to receive officials, and after Xia County broke away from the Tang Dynasty, it is now mainly used to receive past business travelers. The post guards in the post house have all changed, and Li Zhiyun doesn't know any of the current post guards. It is better that he may not be secretive for fear of being recognized. He still lived in the same room as last time, Fan Shuxiang and Cai Hu lived next to it, and Wang Wenqing lived in a room closer to the stable because he had to take care of the horses. By the time they had settled down, it was already dark.

The next morning, Li Zhiyun took Fan Shuxiang and Cai Hu to the street. They came to a street with many shops on the side. When they pass by a shop, they find the owner arguing with several soldiers. Li Zhiyun stopped and listened to what they were arguing about. It turned out that the soldiers had come to collect money, but the shopkeeper said that it had not yet opened and that there was no money for them.

The owner was an old man in his fifties, wearing a brown cloth jacket, with gray hair and a thin body. The soldiers were very rude and ferocious, and when they saw that the shopkeeper would not give money, they were very impatient, and they came forward to punch and kick them. The shopkeeper fell to the ground, and one of the soldiers stepped forward and kicked him with his foot.

These soldiers bullied the old and weak so much, Fan Shuxiang couldn't help it, rushed forward and flew up, kicking the soldier to the ground. When an officer next to him saw it, he led several soldiers to walk towards Fan Shuxiang menacingly, and shouted: "Hey, the little lady's martial arts are good, do you want to find Ji'er?" ”

Seeing that the situation was not good, Li Zhiyun hurriedly stepped forward to stop in the middle, and said with a smile on his face: "Sir, misunderstanding, misunderstanding." How much does this store owe you? I came out for him. The officer looked him up and down, and saw that he looked like a Sven son, and he didn't want to make a big deal out of it, so he turned his head and asked the soldier next to him, "How much does this family owe?" ”

"One hundred texts."

Li Zhiyun turned around and asked Cai Hu for a piece of silver, handed it to the other party and said, "This is five taels of silver, and the extra will be used to buy wine and drink for the brothers." The officer took the silver, slapped it twice in his palm, and said, "This boy is quite acquainted." With that, he turned around, waved his hand, and led his soldiers to the shop next to him.

Fan Shuxiang walked to Li Zhiyun's side, stared at the backs of the soldiers, and was unwilling: "Why did you give them so much money?" It's too cheap for these guys. Li Zhiyun whispered: "Spend money to eliminate disasters, don't forget what kind of place this is, don't make trouble again." ”