The night is vast, and the river is rolling eastward. The other side of the river was not flashing with scattered firelights, but the checkpoints set up by the Zada clan along the river. Zhou Guanghao crouched in the bushes. He glanced at the other side and said to his subordinates: "There are three checkpoints on the opposite side, and the bridge crossing the river has been destroyed by their people. We can only swim across. The sheepskin rafts prepared before are ready. Alright?"
A sergeant beside him said: "The returning troops are ready. Just wait for your order and the brothers will cross the river." Zhou Guanghao nodded and said: "Okay, let's take action immediately." Under the cover of night, everyone held their arms and crossed the river. The sheepskin raft waded into the river.
When the raft reached the middle of the river, a guard on the opposite tower said to his companion: "Agu, I always feel flustered tonight. Can you explain whether the army will come?" Agu said: "Come? Do they dare to come? We are here along the river. There are at least five hundred warriors on patrol. Are they blind? As long as the Ming army comes, our flying crossbows will shoot them into a hornet's nest."
With the help of the raft, everyone rowed slowly towards the other shore. After November every year, Lu River will enter the dry season, and the water flow in the river is very slow compared to usual. Therefore, people can only swim before they get into the water, otherwise they will be swallowed up by the current before they can cross the river.
When they were approaching the other side, Zhou Guanghao ordered his sergeants to puncture the rafts. As a result, all the rafts sank into the river. Everyone quietly went ashore and hid among the huge rocks and grass on the shore. Everyone was wet all over, and their teeth started to tremble involuntarily when the cold wind blew.
Zhou Guanghao whispered: "Everyone, eat some ginger slices. This can drive away the cold." Everyone took a small leather bag from their necks, took out the ginger slices from the oil paper, put it in their mouths, and started chewing. After a while, the chill in everyone gradually subsided.
Zhou Guanghao said: "The five of you find a way to sneak into the valley opposite. After entering the valley, you can imitate the screams of ghosts. The rest of you will follow me to deal with the guards at the checkpoints." Everyone did as they were told. The five soldiers circled out of each other's sight and quietly slipped into the opposite valley.
Zhou Guanghao and the remaining people hid in the bushes under a tree and looked through it. Not long after, an eerie cry came from the valley. The barbarians believed in ghosts and gods the most, and the sentries were very frightened when they heard the noise coming from the valley. Zhou Guanghao said to the people around him: "The five of you go around to the opposite side and deal with the two with spears. The rest of you will charge with me."
The sentry on night watch was already very tired and was taking a nap at this time. Suddenly a pair of big hands covered his mouth, and the sentry felt a pain in his throat and immediately stopped. Zhou Guanghao and the remaining soldiers quickly got behind those people and killed them.
According to the previous agreement, they stripped the sentinels naked and chopped off one of their legs or one of their hands. There were a total of five hundred patrol guards. In the following nights, at midnight, they would hear the sound of ghosts crying. The next morning, they would always find either human heads or bloody severed limbs in front of the sentry post.
People were panicked for a while, and within three days all these patrol guards withdrew from the defense line. After the enemy retreated, Zhou Guanghao ordered people to light a fire and send a signal to the other side of the river. Li Yingxiang led his army across the river, and that night held a banquet in the military tent for Zhou Guanghao and twenty soldiers to celebrate.
Inside the big tent, the lights are brightly lit. Li Yingxiang raised his wine glass and said sternly: "It was Li's fault before, Supervisor Zhou, I will apologize to you." Generals Bian Zhiyuan and Zhu Wenda also looked ashamed, raised their glasses and said: "The Supervisor is both wise and brave, we will wait for you. It's absolutely impossible." Zhou Guanghao smiled and said: "Generals, you are serious. We all serve as officials in the same court and we should serve the court."
After the four drank all their drinks, they all sat down. Zhou Guanghao said slowly: "Zhou's victory was due to luck. If the barbarians don't believe in ghosts and gods, my strategy will definitely not work." Bian Zhiyuan said: "As the saying goes: breaking the city is the worst strategy, attacking the heart is the best strategy. Prison. Jun's move is a tactic to attack the heart. Although I, Bian Zhiyuan, have a big head, I can't think of such a method."
Zhu Dawen smiled and said: "Although your head is big, it is empty inside. If a barbarian sees your head, he will probably be scared away?" Bian Zhiyuan said: "Your kid is probably drunk. If a barbarian sees it, he will probably run away." My head is scared away, why do we need to mobilize troops again?"
Zhu Dawen said: "No, no. Usually the pig heads sacrificed in temples are only this big. But your head has two pig heads on top. You put some oil paint on your face and you look like a big-headed ghost. You said that barbarians are afraid Aren't you afraid?" Bian Zhiyuan said: "You just like to talk nonsense. If you still talk nonsense in front of the general, you will be punished with three drinks."
The two of them bickered for a while, and the atmosphere in the tent relaxed. Zhou Guanghao said: "Now that the people from the Zada Department have returned to Tongcao to defend, I don't know what General Li will do next?" Li Yingxiang said: "Tongcao is the home base of the Zada Department, so we should wait until the scouts sent out come back."
Zhou Guanghao nodded and said: "The general set up a red and white flag to sweep away the north of Sichuan. According to the opinions of my subordinates, we can still act accordingly. The rebellious barbarians in the southwest live together with the Han people, and there must be good people among them. They are often forced to join the rebellion. Once the war breaks out, they will inevitably turn to our side."
Li Yingxiang thought to himself: "Xiao Yunfan's idea is indeed effective, but he is a rare talent. If he were here at this moment, Li would have a better chance of winning in this expedition to the south." While he was thinking, a soldier outside the tent saw He walked in, crossed his hands and said, "Report to the general, there is a man outside the tent who brought a sword for the general to see." As he said that, the soldier presented the sword hanging on his waist.
When Li Yingxiang saw that the sword was the sword he had given to Xiao Yunfan that day, he immediately said happily: "Invite this person in quickly."
It turned out that Xiao Yunfan returned to Sichuan after retrieving the sword. He first stayed in the Chishui Gang for a few days, and then visited Xu Yuantai. After learning about Li Yingxiang's southern expedition, he hurried here. Wearing a green shirt and carrying a long sword on his back, he strode into the tent.
Everyone here has seen Xiao Yunfan, but the appearance of the person in front of them is different from him. Li Yingxiang asked with suspicion, "Who are you, and where did this sword come from?" Xiao Yunfan laughed and said, "Brother Li, I don't remember, you gave this to Xiao!" Li Yingxiang looked at him again and looked at him for a few seconds. He said slowly: "You said you are Xiao Yunfan?"
Xiao Yunfan said: "If it's fake, it's Xiao Yunfan who is an innocent child." Li Yingxiang smiled and said: "Haha, who here has never seen Xiao Yunfan? Isn't it him who looks like this?" Xiao Yunfan stretched out his hand and touched his nose and said : "Yes, to tell you the truth, Xiao's original appearance is like this, and what you saw before was Xiao's appearance after disguise."
Li Yingxiang asked curiously: "Disguise?" Zhou Guanghao said: "My subordinates know that there is a kind of leather mask in the world, which can indeed change a person's appearance after wearing it. But even if the appearance changes, a person's voice and memory cannot be changed. Your Excellency said that he It’s Xiao Yunfan, so Zhou will ask you, does Xiao Yunfan have children?”
Xiao Yunfan smiled and said: "Without a wife, how can we have children?" Zhou Guanghao asked: "What is the name of Bench's father?" What he said was very ridiculous in the ears of others, but Xiao Yunfan understood that Bench was the person he was with the Bo people that day. Rescued children.
Xiao Yunfan said: "The father of the bench is named Yang San." It turned out that that day, he and Zhou Guanghao went through the missing persons lists in each county to find the parents of those children. Zhou Guanghao was shocked and then smiled at Li Yingxiang: "General, he is Xiao Yunfan. Because when the general went to northern Sichuan that day, Brother Xiao and I investigated the case together. The father of the abducted child was Yang San."
Xiao Yunfan said: "Can you believe me now?" Li Yingxiang pulled Xiao Yunfan and said: "Come, brother Xiao, let's sit down and talk. Are you going to run away again this time?" Xiao Yunfan laughed and said: "Look Come on, brother, you still want to bear my revenge."
Li Yingxiang said with a straight face: "It's not because Li has a grudge, it's really what you did wrong. You came here on the wish of Master Zhongcheng, so naturally I can't refute his face. But when you leave, it makes Li feel regretful." Are you here today simply to return the sword to me?"
Xiao Yunfan said: "Xiao is here just like Brother Li said. It's not as simple as returning the sword. I do have my own plans." Li Yingxiang touched his beard, his eyes flashing. He said calmly: "Brother Xiao, Mr. Li is very happy that you are here. But before you tell your plan, you have to drink first."
Xiao Yunfan said: "Just drink, why should Xiao be afraid?" Li Yingxiang said: "We here will each offer you a bowl first, you drink three bowls, and then we can talk about business after drinking." Xiao Yunfan thought to himself: "You... Lao Li has made it clear that he is threatening me. If I, Xiao Yunfan, give in, I will not be considered a good man." At that moment, he suddenly felt heroic and said loudly: "Okay."
Li Yingxiang waved his hand, and all the small cups on the table were replaced by large bowls. A sergeant picked up the wine jar and placed twelve large bowls in front of Xiao Yunfan. Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhou Guanghao advised: "General Li, if you drink like this, brother Xiao may fall down before he finishes drinking." Li Yingxiang said: "Brother Xiao is a hero, a dozen bowls of water and wine are nothing. Do you think so, Brother Xiao?"
Xiao Yunfan smiled and said: "Brother Li is right, thank you Brother Zhou for your kindness." He picked up a porcelain bowl. Li Yingxiang raised the wine bowl and said, "Please!" He drank it all in one gulp. Xiao Yunfan also drank three bowls in a row and drank nothing. Generals Zhou Guanghao and Bian Zhu also each offered a bowl. After drinking twelve bowls of wine, Xiao Yunfan's expression remained as usual.
Li Yingxiang laughed loudly, gave a thumbs up and said: "Brother Xiao is really brave, I admire you. Li. What do you think you have planned?" Xiao Yunfan said: "I will help the general to pacify the southwest, but I would like to ask the general to leave it to two of me."
Li Yingxiang asked: "Who is it?" Xiao Yunfan said: "One is Ji Qianyun, and the other is Xiao's friend." Li Yingxiang pondered for a while and said: "Okay, we have made an agreement. You will help me pacify the southwest. These two I will leave it to you personally, and Li will never interfere."
Zhou Guanghao said: "Wait a minute, general. Ji Qianyun is the culprit of the Sichuan chaos. I'm afraid this person will be handed over to the court." Xiao Yunfan said: "Brother Zhou, this person is from the Jianghu. The relationship between me and him is The grievances will be settled in the Jianghu way, so please show your respect to Brother Zhou." Zhou Guanghao said: "This..."
Li Yingxiang said: "Zhou Jianjun, what we want is to pacify the southwest. As for the Jianghu people, we'd better not get involved."
