Jizhou, Anle County.

The walls were so dilapidated that they looked crumbling, as if they could not withstand the next destruction, and there was not much food left in the city.

Anle County can't hold it anymore.

The people have all withdrawn to Yuyang County, maybe in a few days they will have to retreat to the south, to the ancient and Zhuo County area, where it is not very safe, to go further south, to the Yanmen area, it is relatively safe.

Although the imperial court did not order the king of Beihai and Zhou Sheng to withdraw their troops, they had already set up defense lines in the areas of Yanmen, Boling and Hejian, obviously not optimistic about the defense of Anle County and Liaodong County, which was a precautionary measure.

The general Zhou Sheng was patrolling the city wall, looking at the orderly Khitan military camp not far from the city, and then at the soldiers on the city wall who were tired but still had firm faces, and felt a little relieved.

His Majesty's paperwork has not yet arrived.

There was no support from the imperial court, and there was no order to retreat.

Even if there was an order to retreat, Zhou Sheng had already made up his mind to fight to the death, because there were still many people on the road, if Anle County was lost, and the Khitans relied on the speed of cavalry, how could those people survive.

The food is only enough to support two days, and this is still the result of frugality, if there is no support, maybe everyone will have to die in Anle County.

The Khitans obviously knew that Anle County was short of food, and they did not attack in the past few days, and they may not attack in the next few days, and they wanted to drag down the Anle defenders alive.

Although dying on the battlefield is the highest honor for a soldier, Zhou Sheng is particularly sad every time he sees those young soldiers go forward and die one by one, or even in groups.

After decades of fighting, these two years have been the hardest, and there are a lot of emotions.

Since Zhou Sheng recaptured Anle County, his troops have been maintained at around 100,000, if many people died in the war, they would be recruited locally, but now they can't recruit young people, and the Anle Yuyang area has been empty, even if the Khitans are repulsed, they will not be able to recover in a few years.

"General, Vice General Shen has a document delivered!" the guard sent a letter.

When Zhou Sheng heard this, his spirits were greatly lifted, Shen Tongguang had been back to Chang'an for nearly a month, and now there was finally news, he hurriedly took the document and quickly opened it and read it.

After reading it, he was very excited and shouted: "General Mo!"

Mo Dao, the general on the side, bowed his head and said, "The last general." ”

Zhou Sheng said: "I ordered you to gather two thousand elites, march to the official road of Zhuo County, and meet Vice General Shen, he brought a large amount of grain and grass, but there is not enough manpower, you go to escort that batch of grain and grass, if the enemy attacks, no matter who it is, kill on the spot, and leave no one alive." ”

When Mo Daocheng heard this, he was very happy in his heart, and arched his hand and said, "The last general will obey the order!"

As he spoke, he stepped back.

Great, support is finally here.

Zhou Sheng thought for a moment, and then said, "Wait, I'll go personally!"

Mo Daocheng stopped and hesitated: "The defense of Anle County ......"

Zhou Sheng said: "The Khitans are clearly going to drag us to death, they won't attack in the next few days, even if they attack, it's okay to hold on to peace for a few days, that batch of grain and grass is the key, those bandits can sneak attack once, they can sneak attack a second time, you have to be careful...... You go and pass on my orders, let the generals pay attention to their duties, Vice General Shen is on the way, I will bring people to pick them up in a day or two, don't worry. ”

With that, he went down, selected two thousand of the most elite troops, brought a few meals of dry food, and set off.

Shen Tongguang's movements were also very fast, and Zhou Sheng met his grain team on the official road that night.

The two were very excited when they met.

After the gossip, Zhou Sheng sighed with emotion that the saint was wise, and finally did not give up Jizhou.

Shen Tongguang's face was embarrassed, and he explained: "These are not supported by the Holy Lord, but the grain of those rich families in Zhuo County and Shanggu County, and this time they took out all the stored grain. ”

Zhou Sheng was stunned for a moment and asked: "Those rich people? I remember that I owed them more than a million taels before, although they didn't say anything, but I was embarrassed to see them again, after all, it is not easy for them to save a little belongings, and we should protect the people of Dayan as soldiers." ”

After a pause, he raised his tone and said, "Are you using it strongly?"

For the people of Yuyangzhuo County and Shanggu, Zhou Sheng felt guilty.

You can't ask every common person to have such a high consciousness, those rich families have supported a lot of food before, and they have already done their best, and they can't put pressure on them because of the defeat of the imperial court, they also have to eat, and they also have families to support.

Shen Tongguang saw that Zhou Sheng was a little angry, and hurriedly waved his hand and said: "How dare my subordinates use force, I just brought one million taels of silver from Chang'an City, and first returned the silver taels owed before, this time the grain was lent to us, and I promised to pay it back after the war." ”

Zhou Sheng's face was a little better, and he wondered: "One million taels, where did you get it?" I remember that there is not much silver in the household department and the inner treasury, right?"

Shen Tongguang sighed with emotion and explained the source of the silver taels in detail: "Commander Li gave 200,000 taels, General Zhou, your son Chengwang took out all the savings of the Zhou family, and also sold some properties and made up 200,000 taels, Zheng Shilang 80,000 taels, Boss Guo 50,000 taels, and some other families made up tens of thousands of taels...... There are also 500,000 taels given by the fourth son of the Li family. ”

When Zhou Sheng heard this, he exclaimed: "The fourth son of the Li family, Li Wuchang, he gave 500,000 taels?"

Shen Tongguang nodded and said: "He also has a suggestion for the general, saying that you must fight a few big victories in the shortest possible time, in that case, maybe Your Majesty will retract the idea of giving up the northern part of Jizhou, Commander Li and Zheng Shilang have secretly looked for Your Majesty, saying that if it really doesn't work, they will order the withdrawal of troops, and Yanmen is already setting up a defense line." ”

Then he talked about Li Wuchang's suggestions, as well as the views of Li Lingwu and Zheng Heng.

Only then did Zhou Sheng understand that His Majesty had already planned to give up the northern part of Jizhou, and these grains were made up by old friends.

Combined with Shen Tongguang's words, after thinking carefully for a long time, Zhou Sheng asked the question in his heart, and said: "Li Wuchang's kid's proposal is very good, but where did he get so much money? ”

Shen Tongguang sighed: "The impermanent prince has a guarantee, saying that the money is not the Li family's, it is his private savings, and Commander Li doesn't know about it, and he also asked you not to tell it, and don't ask the source of the money." ”

Zhou Sheng frowned and was silent for a long time, his eyes were confused, and he sighed: "I didn't expect that the last person who supported Jizhou was actually a gentleman who everyone in Chang'an City laughed at, although I have only met him a few times, but I have already seen that he has a kind of compassion, and people also have great wisdom, if he comes to the army, he will have a great achievement." ”

Shen Tongguang coughed lightly and said, "Li Gongzi said that he is not the kind of person who worries about the country and the people, and this time he is willing to take out so much money completely for the old lady." ”

Zhou Sheng frowned, not knowing what to do.

Shen Tongguang explained: "Li Gongzi said a sentence: pity the hearts of parents in the world. ”

After a pause, he continued: "After the old lady knew An Le's condition, she fell ill immediately, it was Li Gongzi who used all his strength to save the old lady, and after the old lady woke up, she went around looking for those big families in Chang'an to ask for money, and after losing all her smiles, she almost knelt down, but unfortunately except for the Li family and the Zheng family and Boss Guo, no one is willing to help at this juncture, Li Gongzi really can't bear it, so he took out 500,000 taels, and there is only one request, that is, please ask the general not to leak this matter." ”

When Zhou Sheng heard what his mother had done, tears filled his eyes and he muttered, "Pity the hearts of parents in the world?"

Shen Tongguang said again: "Li Gongzi also asked his subordinates to bring a message to the general, saying that the general must fight a few beautiful battles and go back alive, not for Dayan, not for the people of Jizhou, but for your mother." ”

Zhou Sheng wiped away the tears that were about to fall, stood up, his expression became resolute, and said to himself: "Li Wuchang, this time I Zhou Sheng owes you, and the court owes you, not only for Jizhou, but also for my mother, but also for the impermanence of your expectations, I, Zhou Sheng, will definitely go all out to drive the Khitan people back." ”

After a pause, he said loudly: "Vice General Shen, give the order to go down, rest for an hour, and then hurry back to Anle and go back to fight the Khitans to the death." ”

"Yes, General!"

......

Li Wuchang, who had compassion in Zhou Sheng's mouth, was now doing something that was not very compassionate.

Because he left Chang'an City on an errand soon after, Li Wuchang decided to find out the truth about his mother's premature birth, and he couldn't ask Zhang directly, of course, he could only start with the people around Zhang.

Steward Qian is the old man of the Zhang family, who has followed the Zhang family for many years, and must know the truth, the last time he framed the Dongli Restaurant, after Li Wuchang went crazy, the Zhang family sent him to the Li family's Zhuangzi in order to settle the matter, which can be regarded as carrying the black pot for the Zhang family.

After Li Wuchang asked Fat Xiong to lead people to investigate carefully, he made some preparations, and then the group went to the Zhuangzi outside the Li family's city.

"Hello, Steward Money. In the courtyard of a big mansion in Zhuangzi, Li Wuchang met Steward Qian, who was quite leisurely, lying on a soft chair, playing a fan, and dozing off.

"Fourth Young Master, is it you!" Steward Qian opened his eyes and found that Li Wuchang was coming, so he quickly got up, his expression was slightly unnatural.

Although he carried the black pot for Zhang's last time, it was always a fact that he was drugged in Dongli Restaurant with Zhang Yanbo and Zhang Jincai, so he was very afraid of seeing Li Wuchang and afraid that he would find trouble

"You're always at ease!" Li Wuchang walked over, sat on the stool, and looked at Steward Qian with a smile.

Steward Qian didn't know why Li Wuchang came to Zhuangzi, so he was very flustered, with a smile on his face, and said: "The work on Zhuangzi is quite leisurely, and the little old man is quite comfortable." ”

After a pause, he said carefully: "The last time the matter of Dongli Restaurant was that Xiao Lao'er was blinded by lard, and I hope that the fourth young master will never have a chance with Xiao Lao'er." ”

Li Wuchang waved his hand and said, "Eh, I haven't paid attention to that matter for a long time, don't blame yourself, I came this time to ask you for one thing, I hope your old man will not disappoint me." ”

Steward Qian stood aside respectfully and said cautiously: "If the fourth young master has anything to ask, the little old man must know everything." ”

Li Wuchang stared at Steward Qian for a long time, staring at Steward Qian a little unnaturally, before he asked lightly: "You have been in the Li family for nearly thirty years, do you know why my mother was born prematurely?"

When Steward Qian heard this, he was shocked in his heart, cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he trembled: "The matter of the fourth lady is quite sad, the doctor said back then, it was an emergency. ”

Li Wuchang looked at Steward Qian, who was obviously lying, shook his head, and said lightly: "Steward Qian, it's not good for you to be like this, I treat each other with sincerity, but you fool me casually." ”

stood up, came to Steward Qian's side, and said, "I'll give you another chance, can you make it clear?"

The more calm Li Wuchang became, the more nervous Steward Qian became, and he could only say: "The fact is that way, the little old man knows so much." ”

How could he tell the truth?

Li Wuchang smiled and whispered: "Don't be so nervous, I heard that Steward Qian has a son, three daughters, and seven or eight grandsons and grandsons, yes, I invited them all today, recently Yongzhou bandits are rampant, if your family all die in the hands of bandits, it should be good, and it can be regarded as a family reunion." ”

Steward Qian's face instantly turned extremely pale.

Li Wuchang said coldly: "Fat bear, invite them all out, be polite." ”

The fat bear went down with a few brothers with a gloomy face.

Steward Qian's son and daughter, as well as a bunch of grandchildren and grandsons, came in.

"Father, are you okay, I heard from the fourth young master that you are sick and in a hurry to die, is there anything wrong?" Steward Qian's son and daughter hurriedly walked over and helped his old father.

Li Wuchang laughed and said to Steward Qian's son: "Brother Qian, Steward Qian's old man is fine, I just saw it for him, I invited you to come over this time, I also want you to care more about his old man, don't just worry about your own affairs all day long." ”

"Grandfather!"

"Grandpa!"

The grandson and grandson all came around, pestering the money housekeeper, looking innocent.

Steward Qian was dealing with his grandson and grandson, and at the same time looking at Li Wuchang who was smiling, as well as the big men with meaty faces around Li Wuchang, he only felt a chill in his heart.

"I'm fine, it's just an old problem, you all go into the house, prepare a meal, and you have to entertain the fourth young master today, this old problem is thanks to the fourth young master." Steward Qian smiled reluctantly.

The sons and daughters of Steward Qian didn't know that their old father was being threatened by Li Wuchang, and thought that Li Wuchang had really helped their father cure his illness, so they all thanked Li Wuchang for their gifts, and then took their children into the house.

"It's shameless to threaten others with killing the whole family, but I can't think of any other good way, please forgive me Steward Qian. Li Wuchang arched his hand at the light butler.

Steward Qian's expression revealed endless sadness and remorse.

At this point, what else could he do but tell the truth?