On the fourth day of Hua Bushi's illness, Li Zicheng returned to the mountain, and as soon as he heard that Brother Shi was sick, he came to visit him almost without removing his clothes.

At this time, Hua Bushi had already taken several medicines, and his spirit was a little better, although he couldn't walk on the ground, it was no longer a problem to sit up and talk in bed. In the past few days when he was sick, Yang Jiangyi stayed in front of the bed every inch, Ximen Tong and Li Hu also came to visit the house from time to time, and Xiao Ningning came every morning and didn't leave until dark.

The so-called minor illness is a blessing, although the eldest young master can't move, he doesn't have to worry about lying in bed unaccompanied, the small stone courtyard on the mountain behind Biluo is much more lively than when he was not sick before.

Li Zicheng saw that Hua Bushi was fine, and his face gradually widened, but after chatting a few words, his brows wrinkled again. Hua Bushi asked the reason, and Li Zicheng did not hide it, and immediately told him what worried him.

The thing that made this "Eight Team Breaker" helpless turned out to be food.

There are 3,000 people and horses on Biluo Mountain, plus 13,000 displaced people who came to defect, and the previous source of food was to plunder the large landlords in various parts of the Henan realm, and second, to reclaim the land under the mountain and plant some crops, but it was barely self-sufficient.

However, this time I went to Liaozhou "Jinliang Village" to participate in the uprising meeting, and the righteous army from all walks of life was formed into 36 battalions, and the result of the discussion among the leaders was that the battalions crossed the Yellow River together and marched into the Henan realm.

In fact, this is also a last resort, just because the current imperial court has gathered nearly 70,000 officers and soldiers in the Jin realm, led by the governor of the three sides, Hong Chengchou, is vigorously pursuing and suppressing the righteous army, even if the "Zijin Liang" Wang Ziyong, the "Eight Kings" Zhang Xianzhong and the "Chuang Wang" Gao Yingxiang have the most soldiers and horses among the righteous armies, they can't resist it.

There are more than 10 ways of the righteous army to enter Yu from the Jin realm, in addition to Wang Zhanggao, there are Liu Guoneng and Luo Rucai, nicknamed "Cao Cao", etc., a total of more than 40,000 people, after they cross the Yellow River, they plan to assemble in Li Zicheng's Biluo Village, and then prepare for the next move. This can also be regarded as the most reasonable choice, Li Zi cost is the strongest way in the Henan realm of the righteous soldiers, and Biluo Village is located in northern Henan, not far from the Yellow River ferry, it is more convenient for the righteous army to come, and the terrain of the mountain is rugged and complicated, and it is not easy for the officers and soldiers to go into the mountains to chase and suppress.

One of the most difficult to solve is the problem of eating. The rebel army in the Jin realm has fought many fierce battles with the official army in recent months, and now they will not carry too much grain and grass when they cross the river, and the existing grain stock in Biluo Village will supply the forty or fifty thousand rebels, and it will be exhausted if it cannot last for a month.

A few days ago, Liu Zongmin, a general under Li Zicheng, led his troops to "borrow" grain from the vicinity of Luoyang, but the harvest was very limited, and it was difficult to meet the sudden increase in the demand of many people and horses. In fact, the big families who can "borrow" grain from all over Yujing have already been patronized by the righteous army many times, and the warehouses are empty, and they can't squeeze more grain from them.

However, it is not true that there is no grain and grass in the Yu Realm, but it is really difficult to obtain it, because almost all the grain and grass are now concentrated in the warehouses of several big cities. And these big cities are heavily guarded by officials and soldiers, and if you want to grab food, it is tantamount to pulling teeth out of the tiger's mouth.

But now there is no other way, and it is imperative to storm the city!

Kaifeng and Luoyang are all big cities in the realm of Yu, if they can be captured, let alone 50,000 righteous troops, no matter how much 50,000 they have, they don't have to worry about food. It's just that these big cities are all high walls and deep pools, and each city is garrisoned by at least 20,000 officers and soldiers, and it is almost impossible to capture them.

Don't look at the fact that the rebel army has 40,000 or 50,000 people, which seems to be a lot compared to 20,000 or 30,000 officers and soldiers, but if you want to attack the city, you must have at least five times the strength of the defenders to be sure. Among the rebel armies, there are too few elite soldiers like Li Zicheng's command, most of them are extremely weak in combat, few untrained farmers, their weapons and equipment are even more rudimentary, armor is impossible, many people are wearing cloth clothes with wooden forks and bamboo branches, and they don't even have a few broadswords and spears. These 50,000 rebels and 20,000 or 30,000 officers and soldiers fought on flat ground, and they had no chance of winning, let alone besieging the city?

Among the several large cities in northern Henan, only the garrison of Huaiqing Mansion is the weakest, and there seems to be a possibility of being captured.

Of course, the so-called weakest garrison is only relative to Luoyang Kaifeng. Huaiqing Mansion also has 8,000 garrisons, commanded by the general soldier Yu Jue, and although the city wall of Huaiqing is not as high as several other big cities, it is also more than three zhang, and there is a moat, which is not an easy bone to gnaw.

What worries Li Zicheng even more is that there are still several Jianghu sects in Huaiqing City, among which the largest "Iron Elephant Gang" has six or seven hundred disciples, plus the gangs of several other gangs, there are at least nearly two thousand people. Not to mention the many masters in several sects, just these gang disciples who have practiced martial arts are not comparable to the combat power of ordinary officers and soldiers.

Generally speaking, as long as there is no conflict of interest, the Jianghu sect and the rebel army are originally well water and do not interfere with river water, and they have nothing to do with each other. However, Huaiqing City is the foundation of several sects such as the "Iron Elephant Gang", and most of the properties in the city belong to these sects, and if the rebels storm the city, their interests will be threatened, and these sects are likely to help the official army defend the city.

If it is said that against the 8,000 officers and troops in the city, the righteous army still has a glimmer of hope of breaking the city, but if there are liliang of these many sects to obstruct it, it will be even more difficult to break through Huaiqing.

However, Huaiqing City must be beaten, which is not only related to the way out of the forty or fifty thousand righteous troops who entered the Yu Realm, but also the hope of the survival of the more than 10,000 displaced people sheltered in Biluo Village. Without food, all people can't live!

After listening to Li Zicheng's words, Hua Bushi was silent for a while.

Fang Changsheng's "Hero's Banquet" was placed in Qijiazhuang, the main altar of the "Iron Elephant Gang" in Huaiqing City, if the righteous army attacked Huaiqing at this juncture, it would probably not only face a few sects in the original city, but also many masters in the various Baidao sects in northern Henan.

From the position of "Evil Dog Gate", Hua Bushi didn't need to care about these things, but now he can't stay out of it. The friendship with Li Zicheng is a reason, and among the more than 10,000 displaced people sheltered by Biluo Village, there are also more than 1,000 people who followed the "Evil Dog Gate".

After thinking about it for a long time, Hua Bushi informed Li Zicheng of the Mid-Autumn Festival "Heroes' Banquet", and said: "Huaiqing City has now gathered most of the principals of the Baidao sects in northern Henan. Why didn't Brother Hongji persuade King Gao Chuang and the leaders of the rebel armies from all walks of life to delay some time before attacking the city, it would probably be easier. ”

Li Zicheng didn't know anything about the "Hero's Banquet", and was taken aback when he heard the news, and said: "If it is really as Brother Shi said, we can only postpone the siege of Jihua, and wait until those masters of the Jianghu sect leave Huaiqing before acting." It's just that there is not much grain in Biluo Village, and once the soldiers and horses of the rebels from all walks of life arrive, I am afraid that it will not last long. ”

Hua Bushi said: "Brother Tai don't worry, since it's just a banquet, the people of all factions will definitely not stay in Huaiqing City for too long." Moreover, in the opinion of the younger brother, if the righteous army can declare that after capturing Huaiqing, they will not infringe on the properties of the various gangs in the city, even if it is the 'Iron Elephant Gang', they may not be able to help the officials and soldiers defend the city. ”

Hua Bushi was originally born as the eldest young master of the gang, and he knew very well what the people in the sect thought. As long as their own property and interests can be preserved, most of the Jianghu sects will not do things such as helping the officials and soldiers defend the city and act as cannon fodder in vain, as for whether the city is in the hands of the government or the rebel army, there is not much difference for them.

Li Zicheng thought for a moment and said, "If this is the case, it would be better! We are waiting to attack Huaiqing just to obtain the grain and grass that the government has gathered in the city, and there is no need to move other industries." ”

Hua Bushi nodded, and said: "The 'Hero's Banquet' on August 15, although the younger brother can't go to Huaiqing because of illness, he will send his disciples to go, and he can take the opportunity to explore the strength of Huaiqing City to see how to capture this city." ”

Li Zicheng was overjoyed and said: "With the help of Brother Shi, our chances of winning the siege will definitely be much greater!

Hua Bushi smiled lightly: "Brother Hongji's words are serious, so he is only for the sake of Brother Tai to take in those homeless homeless people, and the younger brother should also try his best to help." ”

The two talked for another half an hour, until Hua Bushi felt tired, and Li Zicheng said goodbye and left.

At this time, it was almost noon, Hua Bushi ate a bowl of gruel, and was about to lie down to rest, but a disciple came to tell him that Chu Yiyi had also returned.

When Chu Yiyi entered the door, Hua Bushi half-sat up from the bed and said, "Mrs. Yiyi is running back and forth, it's really hard!"

Chu Yiyi walked quickly to the front, helped the eldest young master to lie down again, and said, "This hard work is not worth mentioning, but Yiyi received the news that the son is sick, is it better now?"

Hua Bushi said: "I just accidentally suffered from the wind cold, and I was just a little sick, and it will be fine in seven or eight days." But I don't know what Madame will gain when she travels to collect information in the Yu Realm?"

Chu Yiyi said with a slight annoyance: "As soon as Gongzi saw Yiyi, he asked about the information, you don't know how worried Yiyi was when she heard that Gongzi was sick, and she rode a fast horse for a day and a night!"

Hua Bushi saw Chu Yiyi looking at him with a pair of beautiful eyes, and sure enough, they were all caring, and there was a lot of dust on her jade face, which was obviously a lot of road, and she couldn't help but feel a little moved in her heart.

Chu Yiyi is a very attractive woman, that is, gentle and coquettish, and is cared for by such a beauty, but it is easy for men to think about it, and it is difficult to control it.

After a while, Hua Bushi stabilized his rippling mind and said with a smile: "Mrs. Yiyi doesn't need to worry, Xiao Ke's illness is really fine, and she has already seen much better after taking a few pairs of decoctions." Madame, let's tell me about the information I've gotten these days!"

Chu Yiyi stared at Hua Bushi, sighed, and said, "Okay, if Yiyi doesn't say it quickly, Gongzi must not be at ease." ”