It was late afternoon when I left the abandoned inn. At this time, I was penniless and had no money to give alms to the victims along the way. The plague and disasters in Jiangnan were also almost inspected. After I set off, I had no other plans and headed north quickly.

.

He was at the junction of Jiangnan West Road and Jiangnan East Road. Chang'an was thousands of miles northwest of here. If he wanted to rush back to Chang'an, he should go northwest, but he went straight north. His next destination was not Chang'an.

But Shuzhou in Jiangbei.

Shuzhou is the base camp of Li Zhongyong and Chen Liqiu, but he did not rush to Shuzhou to meet with his three senior brothers, because he had previously entrusted Li Zhongyong and Chen Liqiu to raise money for the court, and they should be outside at this time

Running around, at most one person was left to look after the house. The main purpose of his trip was to mobilize troops.

Previously, Ji Wang Li Bao and Li Maozhen led troops to attack the palace, and captured Qingyang on the way. The city was lost, and the 50,000 soldiers and horses stationed there were naturally gone. A few days ago, Song Cai had released carrier pigeons to notify the Ni family from the Western Regions.

According to Ni Zhuo's style of raising grain and grass, he would collect and ship it immediately after receiving the news. Qingyang was the only way from the Western Regions to Chang'an, and the court had to recapture Qingyang before the first batch of grain and grass arrived.

To fight a war, you must have soldiers. Zhang Shan originally had an army of 300,000, but he has lost more than 100,000 in recent times. Regardless of whether Luoyang was captured this time, the troops cannot be separated. Shuzhou has 20,000 troops.

This is the direct line unit of Li Zhongyong and Chen Liqiu. When he was recruited by the imperial court, he took the initiative and left 20,000 troops for the two of them. It was originally intended to be used to deal with Japanese pirates. The Japanese pirates were very energetic in the previous Silla War.

Hurt, there shouldn't be any trouble in a short period of time. If the matter is urgent, I will first mobilize the 20,000 troops and horses.

There are pontoons and ferries on the river, but there is no need for these. When you reach the riverside, you can directly activate the pure Yin spiritual energy, which spreads out through the four hooves of Black Master, condenses the ice plate, and provides support.

It was already midnight when we arrived in Shuzhou. Compared with the tragedy in the south of the Yangtze River, the situation in Shuzhou was much better. Firstly, Shuzhou was adjacent to the river in the south. There were many water transport trades and it could collect a lot of taxes. Secondly, Wu Yusheng knew that he was related to

With the relationship between Li Zhongyong and others, no matter how poor the Ministry of Revenue is, it can still take care of the cities of Shuzhou and Pingzhou.

Since it was getting late and the city gate was closed, I didn't bother to alert the gatekeepers, so I just rode my horse in the air and jumped over the city wall.

Arriving in front of Defu Yamen, he got off his horse and led the horse through the door.

The soldier on duty at the door didn't recognize him. Seeing him walking straight in, he hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, "Stop, who is he?"

"I am Li, who is in charge in the house?" he asked casually.

There were four soldiers standing guard at the door. Hearing the words, one of them reacted first, "Li? Are you Prince Chitose?"

After nodding, he handed the horse's rein to the soldier who spoke, "The horses are fed with fine feed. I can't stay long and will leave at the second watch."

"You, you, you are not going to die, die..." Several soldiers looked frightened.

Seeing the expressions of several people, he knew that the official document announcing his safe return from the imperial court had not yet been sent to the local prefectures and counties, otherwise everyone would not be so surprised, but naturally he would not be as familiar with a few soldiers guarding the gate, and said casually as he moved forward

Asked, "Who is in the house? General Li or General Chen?"

"General Ba," a soldier quickly followed, "are you really the prince, Chitose?"

>

Hearing the soldier's words, he frowned slightly. He didn't expect that Li Zhongyong and Chen Liqiu would leave Batulu here, but after thinking about it, it became clear. Batulu acted recklessly, and there were many dangers in the tomb. Let Batulu

Traveling with Tulu is prone to causing trouble.

The guard didn't know what he was thinking. When he saw him suddenly frowning, he just thought he was angry. For fear of being punished, he hurriedly explained, "Inquiry and interrogation are our duties. I hope you will forgive me."

"Okay, stop being verbose, just follow." He waved his hand impatiently.

He walked forward quickly, followed by the soldiers. Seeing that he was going to Batulu's courtyard, the soldier hurriedly pointed the way and said, "Your Majesty, General Ba is drinking with several generals in the back hall and is not in his room."

Hearing the soldiers' words, they turned around and headed north quickly.

Not long after, the two went to the backyard and saw an offering table placed in the middle of the yard with several offerings on it. There was also a brazier on the ground with burning ashes of yellow paper inside.

While looking around in confusion, the soldier quickly ran forward and knocked on the door eagerly.

"Who is it?" Batulu's voice.

"General, the prince is here." the soldier said loudly.

"Prince? Which prince?" Batulu had a big tongue and was obviously drunk.

"Elder brother, it's me." He stepped forward quickly.

There was originally a lot of chatter in the back hall, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the back hall was instantly silent.

He stepped forward and opened the door, only to see Batulu drinking with three generals. He recognized all six generals under Chen Liqiu. The people in the room at this time were Qin Chuan, Chen Xuanyi and Wang Zhendong.

One, a big basin, I don’t know what kind of meat it is, and a big jar of wine for each person.

Batulu and the generals were all flushed with alcohol. When they saw the sudden appearance at the door, the four of them stared in shock at the same time and froze on the spot.

"Senior Brother, don't look, it's really me." He stepped through the door.

Hearing the words, Batulu's eyes turned red instantly, "Lao Wu, are you worried? Are you coming back to see us?"

Batulu's words made him dumbfounded, "Elder brother, what are you talking about?"

"Today is your 100th day. We were saying just now that we didn't know if you would come back, but we didn't expect you to actually come back." Batulu sobbed and shed tears.

After hearing what Batulu said, he recalled and calculated in his mind that it seemed like it had been a hundred days since the incident happened.

While pondering the memories, Batulu had already left his seat and stood up, walking towards him, "Old Wu, are you suffering a lot over there? Why are you so thin? Oops, it makes me heartbroken.

.”

Seeing that Batulu was so sad, he was very moved and said, "Senior Brother, don't talk nonsense. I'm doing a good job. Look at the ground, isn't there a shadow?"

Batulu quickly stepped forward, hugged him, and cried at the top of his lungs, "The imperial court will hold a state ceremony for you."

How can you still be fine after being buried? Tell me the truth, are you using the same method as Master to defraud the corpse?"

Batulu cried with snot and tears, and took out a handkerchief to wipe it. At the same time, he looked at Qin Chuan aside, "General Qin, how much did he drink?"

Hearing the words, Qin Chuan and the others came back to their senses, hurriedly left their seats, knelt down on one knee, "See you, Your Majesty!"

"I'm not an outsider, so there's no need to be polite," he raised his hand and turned to Batulu, "Elder brother, stop crying, I'm really not dead."

"Will you come back in a hundred days before you die?" Batulu was heartbroken, "Old Five, do you have any unfulfilled wishes? Tell senior brother and I will help you complete it."

He was so helpless by Batulu that he couldn't move even after being hugged tightly by him. Seeing this, Qin Chuan and the other three people hurriedly stepped forward to explain, but Batulu was afraid that he would disappear as soon as he let go, no matter how hard the three of them pulled.

Just don't let go.

"Senior Brother, I haven't eaten for a day, can you let me eat?" He sighed helplessly. .??.

Hearing this, Batulu hurriedly pulled him to the dining table and pointed to the bowl of meat on the table, "These meat bones were originally prepared for you, can you eat them?"

Batulu was a little drunk and didn't bother to explain to him. He just pulled up a chair, sat down, grabbed a bone and ate it.

Batulu stared intently, seeing him devouring the food, and then he suspected that he might not really be dead. Then he took the candlestick and looked for his shadow, and there was something there.

"Lao Wu, are you really not dead?" Batulu asked nervously.

"You're really not dead," he said casually, "Don't stand next to me. Sit down quickly and I'll tell you what happened."

Hearing this, Batulu sat down uneasily. After sitting down, he was still worried and moved his chair to the left, closer.

While eating, he told what happened in a concise and concise manner.

After confirming that he was really not dead, Batulu cried with joy again. Seeing him become so thin, he felt even more distressed, "Oh, Fifth Brother, I feel really uncomfortable. Tell me how much you have suffered.

"

"Okay, Senior Brother, don't cry. Can you just let me eat in peace?" he said.

"Okay, okay," Batulu hurriedly reached out and rummaged through the basin, "come on, come on, the ribs are good to chew, eat this."

Batulu has been blowing his nose just now, but naturally he will not dislike him. There are many reasons why Batulu is so excited. One is that he drank a lot of wine and was emotional. The other is when he met them for the first time.

He was still a child, so Batulu always treated him as a child. In his impression, the youngest should be protected, but he died. Furthermore, Batulu was not smart and was not good at control.

Emotionally, if it were Li Zhongyong and Chen Liqiu, they would definitely not be so gaffe-like.

The food was not big and they soon couldn't eat anymore. Seeing the two brothers reunited, Qin Chuan and the others got up and left, allowing the two of them to calmly reminisce about the past.

"Don't leave in a hurry. Sit down first." He pressed his hands to the three of them, "I'm here this time.

The second and third senior brothers who came to mobilize troops are not here. This matter cannot be delayed, so I will tell you directly."

The three of them exchanged glances and said in unison, "Your Majesty, please give me your instructions."

The meaning is concise and concise, and I strive to be concise, "Now there are famines everywhere, and the court has no rice and grain for disaster relief. I can only recruit grain and grass from the Western Regions. However, Qingyang was captured by Li Maozhen some time ago. Qingyang is the only way from east to west. Qingyang fell to the Western Regions."

The rice and grain cannot be transported to Chang'an. Now Zhang Zhenzhen is fighting against Zhu Quanzhong and Sun Ru. I can't mobilize his troops, and the troops and horses temporarily mobilized from other places cannot be used for important tasks. Our soldiers have experienced actual combat, and we have this strong bone.

I can only chew it myself."

Hearing the words, the three of them all nodded. Wang Zhendong asked, "How many troops and horses are needed and when will they start?"

"This battle is not easy to fight. Not only must we win it, but we must mobilize all our 20,000 troops as soon as possible," he said. "We will assemble the army tonight and set off tomorrow. We will go to Chang'an first. I will send the troop dispatch documents from the Ministry of War after I return."

I will replenish you.”

Wang Zhendong did not answer immediately, but first exchanged glances with Qin Chuan and Chen Xuanyi to make sure that their ideas were consistent with his, and then said, "Okay, let's go back and prepare right away."

"My second senior brother and third senior brother are on errands and can't get away," he said, "I will lead you in this battle."

"Yes!" The three of them responded in unison. Although they were subordinates of Chen Liqiu and Li Zhongyong, they all knew how deep the feelings between the brothers were. Even if they did not discuss it with Chen and Li in advance, the two would not agree with each other.

If they are dissatisfied, let alone being a prince of the imperial court, he can mobilize them both in public and private matters.

"Hey, hey, what about me, I'm going too." Batulu shouted eagerly.

"You can't go, you have to stay and look after the house." He waved his hand.
To be continued...