Three thousand cavalrymen were galloping in the night. They didn't know where they were. They only knew that the official road extended here, so they just had to follow this road.
The summer night was very hot, and even though the horses were running and the wind was blowing, it didn't cool the cavalry much. Soon, the horses could no longer run, so the three thousand cavalrymen had to slow down and dismount to lead them.
"It scared me. I was almost killed by your knife, you know?" Thinking of what just happened, Qin Changqian was still a little frightened.
"Are you shocked now? Hahahaha, you are too timid. How can Yi Xiaodao accept such a timid subordinate like you?" Xiao Kuan said with a grin.
Qin Changqian did not answer his words. He was a taciturn person and was not good at expressing himself.
Xiao Kuan pulled the horse aside and looked behind him. In the distance there was only a dark night, without any movement, and the Chu Xiang army was not pursuing him. The strength of a man's feet is incomparable to that of a horse, and it will take time to integrate with the Chu and Xiang troops coming from behind.
"I haven't had time to ask you, what's your name?" Xiao Kuan took off the kettle from his horse and handed it to Qin Changqian.
Qin Changqian took the kettle and took a big gulp. After swallowing, he felt refreshed: "Qin Liang...Qin Changqian."
"Qin Qianqian, the name is quite interesting. Do you think he will change his mind when he sees something different?" Xiao Kuan joked.
Qin Changqian couldn't help feeling a little depressed when he thought of the past, but finally replied: "No, it's just that times have changed."
Xiao Kuan could see that Qin Changqian was worried, so he stopped asking and said, "Do you know what big thing I want to do?"
"I don't know." Qin Changqian was an honest man, he would answer whatever he asked and say whatever he had.
"Brothers, tell me...forget it, there are too many people, so don't attract the pursuers. I'm telling you quietly, I want to be famous all over the world! Hahahahaha." Xiao Kuan seemed to have seen the scene where he became famous all over the world, and he was very happy. Mouth from ear to ear.
Qin Changqian had no idea about "being famous all over the world" and could only ask: "Like Master Yi?"
"Master Yi, that's Duke Wu Ding! Let me tell you, when you go to the court, don't be so careless in the court, you have to call me Duke." Xiao Kuan saw that Qin Changqian was not old, and the young man When talking to each other, they are often instructive and correct every word.
Qin Changqian said nothing and looked at Xiao Kuan blankly, waiting for his answer.
"Of course he is even more powerful than Wu Dinggong. Wu Dinggong has good fortune, but now he is only famous in the government and the public, and is still not well-known among the people. I want everyone in the world to know my name, Xiao Kuan , knowing that it was me who saved Daqi!" Xiao Kuan said in high spirits, with the firelight in his eyes shining particularly brightly.
"Then I wish General Xiao that he will get his wish." Qin Changqian blessed him tepidly.
"Bless yourself too. Where can you go now? You definitely can't go back, so why not just follow us. When you become famous all over the world, your name will be among the three thousand cavalrymen. This honor is great. You can't even fight for Wu Dinggong!" Xiao Kuan said happily.
Qin Changqian also knew his situation and sighed: "Okay, but let me make a promise first. If I meet... Wu Dinggong, I will go to him immediately."
"Is Wu Dinggong really that powerful? I heard that he was a little beggar in Wancheng before." Xiao Kuan couldn't understand Qin Changqian's thoughts.
Qin Changqian thought of Yue'er who suffered a bloody head on the top of Qucheng City, and Yi Xiaodao who fought hard for himself and Confucius...
"You just don't understand..."
…
In the middle, Zhou Ziru and Ge Cifeng also temporarily stopped fighting each other, each retreating more than 20 miles to the stronghold.
Chuxiang military camp.
"His Royal Highness, have you seen what happened today? The Tang Sect turned against us! This King of Sichuan and Shu doesn't take you seriously. It makes me so angry!" Jiang Rong, the leader of the Beggar Clan, was so angry that he was spinning on the spot. , walked back and forth dozens of times.
Ge Cifeng stared at Jiang Rong and turned around. He knew that Jiang Rong was not angry at what Sichuan and Shu had done, but was angry that the Beggar Clan was defeated by the Tang Clan. Ten thousand Beggar Clan disciples were actually beaten by a mere thousand Tang Clan. The Tang Sect was suppressed, even though the opponent was not only a thousand Tang Sects, but also a hundred thousand Yulin Army who acted as human shields for the Tang Sect. But the Jianghu people don't care about this. They just feel that ten thousand Beggar Clan disciples cannot defeat a thousand Tang Clan disciples.
"Gang Leader Jiang, please be patient. You are very angry, and so am I. Let's have a cup of tea to calm down the anger." Ge Cifeng waved his hand, but before the guards on the side took action, Zhu Ce had already rushed to Jiang Rong's place. Beside the seat, Jiang Rong poured tea eagerly.
Jiang Rong walked to the seat, pushed Zhu Ce away, and drank all the tea in the cup: "His Royal Highness, what should we do? If we meet again tomorrow, we will still suffer a loss! Sichuan and Shu must have passed the imperial court. , how about we return to Shiying City first, eat Sichuan and Shu, and then make a decision?"
Zhu Ce was pushed aside. They were "friends" two years ago, but now they treat each other like this. It wasn't that Zhu Ce didn't understand. He stepped aside with a smile, without any displeasure on his face. Just stay alive.
Ge Cifeng looked at Jiang Rong. Although he had known for a long time that the leader of the Beggar Clan was a reckless man with no brains, his estimate of him still exceeded his expectations.
"Gang Leader Jiang, if the Tang Sect is helping the imperial court, it is certain that Sichuan and Shu will side with the imperial court. But if we return to the army now, we will be at odds with each other. Then there will be a risk that the imperial court and Sichuan and Shu will attack us from both sides. . Do you understand?" Ge Cifeng patiently explained to Jiang Rong sentence by sentence.
"Oh, what His Royal Highness the Prince said makes sense! So what should we do now?" Jiang Rong suddenly realized, as if the clouds were clearing and the sun appeared, and he immediately asked this question that gave Ge Cifeng a headache.
Ge Cifeng simply ignored him and asked the generals: "Generals, we don't know how the troops and horses in the north and south are doing. You are all heroes of Chu and Xiang. What should we do now?"
"Your Highness, the general will think of the current plan. We can send envoys to Yingcheng to borrow food." A general came out and replied.
"You still want to borrow food?" Jiang Rong was a little surprised.
Ge Cifeng asked: "Oh? General Xu Ren, please tell me."
"We just pretended we didn't know about Tang Clan's participation in the war, and then sent people to borrow food. Sichuan and Shu are far away, and food and grass are hard to come by. Now they have been wasted with us for two years. We sent troops to borrow food, and Sichuan and Shu are in my territory. I dare not not borrow it. When he runs out of food, he will naturally return to Sichuan and Shu. Once the Sichuan and Shu army retreat, the Tang clan will not stay with the court for too long. We will settle the accounts slowly in the future!" Zhan named Xu Ren Jiang, expressed his thoughts.
Ge Cifeng nodded slightly: "It's indeed a good idea to remove the firepower from under the cauldron. Does anyone else have any ideas?"
No one answered the Chu Xiang generals. Now that someone has come forward, no one will look for trouble at this time.
Ge Cifeng sighed secretly in his heart. He knew that Xiao Jiujiu was in the hearts of all the generals, but there was nothing he could do about it. People's hearts were like this, so they couldn't force people to death. In the past, when I was not in charge of soldiers and horses, my life was so carefree and happy. Now that I am in charge of soldiers and horses, it is not as comfortable as I imagined.
"Then I will follow General Xu Ren's wishes, but I don't know who dares to go to Yingcheng to borrow food?" Ge Cifeng looked at Xu Ren, but he also lowered his head and remained silent.
It's okay to offer advice, but not to die. The King of Sichuan and Sichuan are in the same line, and the princess Peng Baby also has a bad temper. If she turns against him and is detained or killed directly, there will be no room for reasoning.
Jiang Rong said from the side: "Hey, Your Highness, I think Patriarch Zhu can do it! Patriarch Zhu is from a large Nanhuai family, and he is the best at dealing with powerful people. Unlike us who are so miserable, we can't beat a fart with three sticks." . Patriarch Zhu is here, he will definitely succeed!"
When Zhu Ce heard this, he was so angry that he secretly regretted why he didn't put some medicine in his tea just now and let him die suddenly on the spot!
"Chief Zhu, what do you think?" Ge Ci turned around and asked.
"This...I..." Zhu Ce was helpless. The Zhu family has now exhausted all their money and food, and few in the Chu Xiang army regard him as a human being, let alone the violent temper of the Sichuan and Shu princess...
Zhu Ce raised his head and looked at the Chu Xiang generals. Everyone looked away, no one looked at him, and he said angrily: "I have given you so many gifts in the past two years, and now you are adding insult to injury one by one, and do nothing to save me..."
"Clan Chief Zhu?" Ge Cifeng's tone increased.
"Ah? The villain is willing to go!" Zhu Ce blurted out before he could think of a countermeasure.
Ge Cifeng laughed loudly: "If Patriarch Zhu is also a villain, then none of us would dare to call himself an adult. Then there is Patriarch Lao Zhu!"
Only he knows how painful Zhu Ce is, others don't know and don't want to know...
…
Habayashi Army Barracks.
"Prime Minister Zhou, there is good news from Commander Tang in Wancheng: a great victory for the Southern Army!" A messenger handed Tang Xingchang's secret letter.
Zhou Ziru received the secret letter and opened it and saw: "The warships of the Chu Xiang Army on the south route of the navy and horses fought against the Nanhuai Army led by Zhongyi Gongsuo and more than 10,000 people. They all capsized in the river and the bandit general Xu Tong escaped. , General Yang Gong and his 20,000 Yulin troops are chasing him. Duke Zhongyi is determined to lead his troops to help. The general cannot dissuade him and will arrive soon. Tang Xingchang reports."
"Oh, I said they will definitely not be able to bear it!" Zhou Ziru folded the secret letter and said with a smile.
"May I ask Prime Minister Zhou, what is Tang Shuai reporting?" Someone among the generals couldn't hold back and asked.
Zhou Ziru held up the folded secret letter and motioned to the guards around him to send it down and circulate it one by one. He said: "Our army has won a great victory on the south road without spending a single soldier. Guess who is leading the troops?"
"It must be Duke Zhongyi who led the Nanhuai army, right?" someone guessed.
There have long been rumors in the army that Duke Zhongyi and Duke Wuding led troops to station in Tianzhu Mountain. Since Zhou Ziru has said that our army does not waste a single soldier, who else can do it except the Nanhuai Army, which is the best in water warfare?
"Yes, it is Duke Zhongyi! Now he is coming to us with 10,000 Nanhuai troops. A little less is better than nothing." Zhou Ziru said with a smile: "In the past, I regarded myself as a villain. The Li family of Nanhuai has been faithful to the hearts of gentlemen, and has been loyal and loyal from generation to generation!"
"Prime Minister Zhou was so impressed." The two of them opened the curtain and walked into the handsome tent, Li Dingxing and Xiang Lian'er.
"My lord! Madam my lord!" Zhou Ziru did not dare to neglect and stood up first to salute the two of them. The generals in the two rows on the left and right quickly turned around and saluted the two men together.
Li Dingxing returned the salute to everyone, and walked to the handsome desk. The guard on the side took the chair with a wink. Li Dingxing pulled Xiang Lian'er to sit down: "The Zhou family in the capital has been jealous for generations."
Zhou Ziru's expression did not change: "It is necessary to do this for the sake of the king. Please forgive me, Lord Duke."
"Since you have come to Prime Minister Zhou's army, you should treat Prime Minister Zhou as his leader. If Prime Minister Zhou needs anything, just ask him." Li Dingxing didn't care. Since Nanhuai withdrew from the vassal, Li Dingxing has completely lost his ambition to compete. As long as he doesn't want to compete with Xiang. Lian'er's two lives, love them as you please.
Zhou Ziru nodded and sat down happily: "With the help of Lord Zhongyi, we will definitely win this time! But I don't know where Lord Wu Ding is?"
Li Dingxing was shocked: "Isn't Yi Xiaodao here?"
