Three days later, Li Xiao set out to Tielong City, Shan County, and brought the troops from the entire Xingzhong Town C camp led by Qin Liangyu here. They included 30 shield soldiers in the two A and B, 60 spearmen, 2,000 Xuanhu heavy cavalry, 2,000 flying harness light cavalry, 2,000 rampant squads, and 2,000 auxiliary soldiers. In addition, the newly established General C musketeers, which had 4,500 people, with three sentries below, 1,500 people per sentry, and 10 teams below, with 150 people per team.

As the main general, Li Xiao personally led a military formation of about 20,000 people in total and headed to Henan in a mighty manner.

Although Li Xiao's troops were only one-fifth of his number compared to Li Zicheng's troops, Li Xiao's elite soldiers and the newly established Lumi Gunners had considerable combat power.

Li Xiaojun, who was rolling in iron, walked west along the Yellow River in the bitter north wind, passed Cao County, Yifeng and Lanyang, and finally arrived outside Kaifeng City.

In this cold winter, the army was traveling westward. Looking at the Yellow River embankment far above its head, as if hanging in the air, Li Xiao couldn't help but sigh and revisited his deceased place.

The last time I went to Kaifeng, Henan was in the eighth year of Chongzhen. I was just a small general of Chifeng, but I finally set up an ambush in western Henan to defeat Gao Yingxiang's bandit troops. From then on, I was promoted step by step until now I became Duke of Tang.

But unexpectedly, when Li Zicheng was let go last time, he had already made a comeback and wanted to fight with him in Henan again. This was really a fate.

Looking at the high Yellow River, Li Xiao couldn't help but think that if the river bank broke, the turbid waves and turbulent waves of the Yellow River would probably fall from the sky, destroying all his army, as well as the vast plains and wilderness on both sides of the river, and destroying all the cities and villages.

So, if you go here, can you lift Li Zicheng's siege of Kaifeng and will there be no more tragedy of flooding Kaifeng in history?

Li Xiao felt inexplicably moved, but he clenched his fists secretly.

In fact, Li Xiao has made a decision now to crack down on Li Zicheng.

Although Li Zicheng can now provide himself with refugees and immigrate them overseas, Li Zicheng's power is growing increasingly, so that he swallowed and plundered Henan and Shanxi. The power is developing too fast and no one can control it anymore, but it is not what Li Xiao hopes to see.

In this world, there is no eternal cooperation, only eternal interests. If Li Zicheng's development momentum cannot be suppressed, Li Xiao is only afraid that he will pay a greater price when he deals with him in the future.

Li Xiao's entire army finally arrived at Chenqiao Town, which was about tens of miles away on the east side of Kaifeng City. Here, you can see from afar that Kaifeng City was surrounded by overwhelming bandits and horses, showing a scattered look, which made Li Xiao frown.

At this time, among the reinforcements sent by the court, only the more than 20,000 soldiers of Hou Xun, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, were stationed on the north bank of the Yellow River. In Kaifeng City, there were more than 20,000 soldiers of Chen Yongfu, the general of Henan, as well as the governor Li Xianfeng, the inspector Gao Mingheng and the regent Huang Shu, and the temporary formation of more than 10,000 soldiers.

Li Xiao first sent someone to inform Hou Xun, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War stationed on the north bank of the Yellow River, and asked his more than 20,000 soldiers to come and meet him.

Hou Xun, who served as the Minister of War, was from Suiyang District, Shangqiu City, Henan Province. He was a Jinshi in the Bingchen year of Wanli, the Wanli period in the Ming Dynasty (1616), and was appointed as the Censor of Shanxi Dao. He was also a relatively famous Donglin Party member.

During the Tianqi period, this man fought with the eunuch party Wei Zhongxian, and both father and son were dismissed from office. Later, in the first year of Chongzhen, he was re-appointed as the Henan Dao Censor. The following year he was appointed as the Taipu Shaoqing. In the third year of Chongzhen, he was appointed as the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War. In the sixth year of Chongzhen, he was promoted to the Minister of Revenue.

However, in November of the ninth year of Chongzhen, because he was envied by the cabinet ministers Xue Guoguan and others, Xue Guoguan instigated Song Zhipu and others to impeach Hou Xun and miss the country. Hou Xun was demoted and was imprisoned soon. This was the first time Hou Xun was imprisoned for seven years.

In the summer of the 14th year of Chongzhen, his father Hou Zhipu died. Hou Xun was released from prison while being guilty and went home to attend mourning.

At the end of that year, the bandits of Li Zicheng's troops swept across the Central Plains and then joined forces to siege Kaifeng. At that time, in Henan and Huguang, the military leader with the greatest military power was Zuo Liangyu, the former old subordinate of Hou Xun. Because Zuo Liangyu was fierce and domineering, he was never controlled by the court. Emperor Chongzhen thought about it repeatedly and with the recommendation of his ministers, Hou Xu, who returned to prison, was pardoned. As the Minister of War, he led more than 20,000 troops of the Beijing camp and rushed south to untie the Kaifeng siege.

Originally, Hou Xun had sent someone to send a message to Zuo Liangyu, who was in Xiangyang, quickly led his troops north to join him in the suppression of Li Zicheng's troops. However, Zuo Liangyu was afraid that Li Zicheng's troops had too many troops. After arriving in Nanyang, he stopped and did not come to Kaifeng to rescue the siege.

Therefore, seeing that Zuo Liangyu's tribe was not in charge, Hou Xun was very worried, but had no choice but to lead his troops to station on the north bank of the Yellow River and wait for reinforcements from other places.

Therefore, when Hou Xun saw the Tang army's whistle cavalry coming to report to him, telling him that Li Xiao, the Tang army had arrived in Chenqiao Town outside Kaifeng City and wanted to join forces with him to fight against the bandits, he was overjoyed.

"Okay, okay, the Duke of Tang came here very quickly. When the Duke of Tang's troops arrived, there was hope for the Kaifeng City to be rescued!" Hou Xun looked happy.

"Your envoy, please go down and rest first. My minister immediately ordered the troops to cross the Yellow River south to meet with the Tang Dynasty." Hou Xun said with a smile.

"Well, the military situation is urgent, so please make arrangements early."

"Don't worry, I will let this matter go as soon as possible."

After Hou Xun respectfully sent the whistle cavalry out of the Central Army's tent, a handsome young man in white next to him showed disdain.

This young man in white is Hou Fangyu, the eldest son of Hou Xun.

Hou was known as a talented man, and he was only in his twenties at the age of a scholar. This time, in Hou Xun's army, he deliberately asked his father to gain some knowledge, and secondly, he also went south along the way, preparing to go to Nanjing to stay after the war. You must know where, Li Xiangjun, a famous prostitute, one of the eight beauties of Qinhuai, was waiting for Master Hou...

In real history, in the Southern Ming Dynasty, Hou Fangyu was an aide to Shi Kefa. With the inheritance of the Donglin Party, Mr. Hou naturally did not take the Ming emperor seriously... So Mr. Hou gave instructions on the country, criticized the government, and criticized it. He felt that the Ming Dynasty was not good, so he decided to have no choice but to serve the Qing Dynasty.

However, this Hou Fangyu, who was known as one of the four princes in the late Ming Dynasty, participated in the Qing Dynasty's provincial examination after the establishment of the Qing Dynasty. Unfortunately, the Hou Prince, who was known for his talent and reputation, only won the deputy list and was still at the end of the list, and became a joke for a while...

At this time, Hou Fangyu saw his father, and when he heard that Duke Tang Li Xiao led his army to come, he was so happy that he could not help but feel inexplicable contempt in his heart.

At this time, the whistle cavalry had already retreated. Hou Fangyu sneered and said to Hou Xun: "Father, how could he be so forgot about hearing Li Xiao coming?"

Hou Xun glanced at him and whispered: "Yu'er, Duke Tang is the pillar of my Ming Dynasty. He is a pillar of the country's dynasty. His subordinates can be called elite soldiers and generals, and are elite soldiers obtained by the country's dynasty. If Kaifeng is saved this time, it must be the result of Lord Li. How can you, Huangkou, speak like this?"

Hou Fangyu snorted again: "Dad, you value this person so much and regard him as a pillar of the country. But in the eyes of the child, although this person has talent, he is not upright in his mind. Like Zuo Liangyu, he is a domineering person. It is hard to say whether such a person can still be used by the court in the future."

After hearing what Hou Fangyu said, Hou Xun looked straight: "Yu'er, you are young and know what's wrong. Lord Li has a high position and is now the prince-consort and married Princess Kunxing. He is the most popular person in the court. Duke Tang holds strong troops and has expanded countless overseas lands. In this way, the outstanding British talent that has never been seen in more than 200 years of the dynasty. How can you say this to him? But do you want to whine?"

Hou Fangyu sighed and said, "Oh, it would be a good thing if this person could always be loyal to the country and be used by the emperor and the country. But the child always felt that this person was more like a hideous tiger. If he was well raised, he could guard the house. If he couldn't raise it well, he would be afraid of overthrowing the country of our Ming Dynasty, but he would be too late to regret it."

"Stop talking, don't talk nonsense! The Duke of Tang is highly powerful, cares about the world, and is also a host of the country. The emperor's noble son-in-law is not something you, a child of Huangkou, can you comment on." Hou Xun stretched his face: "Why don't you get some clothes quickly and cross the river with your father to join forces with Lord Li."

After hearing his father's scolding, Hou Fangyu had no choice but to respond and get up to clean up.

About an hour and a half later, Hou Xun led the entire army to cross the river from the floating bridge and came to Li Xiao's army.

Seeing that Hou Xun was coming very quickly, Li Xiao was also happy, so he invited his father and son to talk to the Central Army tent.

Li Xiao first asked about the situation in Hou Xun's army. After knowing that he led 20,000 elite troops in the Beijing camp came, he was very happy.

"Okay! With the 20,000 troops and horses of the Marquis, and the more than 20,000 troops of our army, the two armies echo each other and fight together. It is not difficult to defeat Li Zicheng's more than 100,000 troops."

Hou Xun smiled, but his face showed regret: "Oh, Lord Li, originally, I had sent someone to send a letter to Zuo Liangyu, the general who suppressed the bandit, and asked him to lead his army north from Xiangyang to work with my minister to lift the siege of Kaifeng. Unexpectedly, for some reason, he had not arrived yet. My minister had no choice but to temporarily station in Hebei to wait for reinforcements elsewhere."

Li Xiaoliyan sneered in his heart.

Zuo Liangyu must have heard that the thief was so powerful that he was afraid that he would lose his power and consume his troops in vain. So he refused to come to Kaifeng. Although this person was domineering and arrogant, he was also an incompetent and timid person. Such fear of fighting is really disgusting.

"This person will definitely not come." Li Xiao said lightly: "I believe that Zuo Liangyu must be afraid of the thief, and waited for the day of delay on this road to be deliberately delayed, so that he has not arrived yet. In my opinion, Zuo Liangyu's subordinates must not be arrived, so I don't have to wait for him anymore."

Hou Xun asked, "But I don't know, Lord Tang, how do you plan to retreat to the enemy?"

Li Xiao pondered and said, "This is what I have to do, and I have to plan for it. What is the specific arrangement. When the entire army is in action, I would like to ask the Minister of Hou to cooperate with me with all my strength."

Hou Xun responded urgently: "This is natural, why do you need to say more? All my troops and horses obey the orders of the Duke of Tang."

Li Xiao nodded and chatted with Hou Xun for a few more words. Hou Xun pointed to Hou Fangyu beside him and introduced to Li Xiao: "Mr. Li, this is a dog son Chaozong. He has just reached twenty years of age. In my opinion, I hope that the dog son can serve with Lord Li, so I will have no regrets in my heart."

Seeing Hou Xun suddenly come like this, Li Xiao was stunned for a moment.

However, he was so smart that he soon guessed Hou Xun’s true thoughts in his heart.

This Hou Xun is worthy of being a veteran in the officialdom. Now he has seen that his future and future are limitless. He seized the opportunity to arrange his eldest son to find a future for him and find a way out. He has done a good job of doing it.

At this time, facing Hou Xun's inquiring gaze, Li Xiao sighed lightly and squeezed out a smile, which was considered to be acquiescent to Hou Xun's request.

Hou Xun looked happy, took Hou Fangyu's hand and walked closer to Li Xiao a few steps.

After hearing what my father had made for no reason, he just asked himself and recommended him directly to Li Xiao. Hou Fangyu was extremely unhappy.

This, my father is too flattering to Li Xiao.

While he was confused, he saw that his father's majestic gaze was casting over, revealing a smell of indefying. The father's subsequent dragging had a force that could not be resisted.

"My father..."

"Needless to say more, come over to see Lord Li quickly." Hou Xun shouted softly and said in a deep voice to Hou Fangyu.

Hou Fangyu muttered, but in the end he didn't say anything. He had to step forward and bow to Li Xiao: "Student Hou Fangyu, I am willing to serve under Duke Tang, please accept it."

Li Xiao stared at his unwilling face, pondered for a moment, and then smiled and said, "Very good, Hou Xueshi is a well-known talent in the literary world. I am willing to come to join me, and I will welcome me. However, if Mr. Hou is in his heart, he still has time to consider it. And after the war is over, Mr. Hou will make a decision, but it is not too late."

After hearing Li Xiao's answer, Hou Fangyu's face relaxed, but Hou Xun immediately tense up.

"Mr. Li is so generous, then Chaozong will thank you." Hou Fangyu bowed to Li Xiao for thanking him.

Afterwards, Li Xiao and Hou Xun chatted with other words, and Hou Fangyu and returned them to their own account first.

After entering the tent, Hou Xun shouted loudly: "Kneel down!"

Hou Fangyu was stunned: "Father..."

"Bang!"

With a crisp sound, five bright red finger marks appeared on Hou Fangyu's right face.

Hou Fangyu covered his face and looked at Hou Xun in shock, and was stunned for a moment.

"Kneel down!"

Hou Xun shouted again, and Hou Fangyu thrust and knelt on the ground.

"Hmph! Do you know why your father beats you? Look at you, you are so arrogant and have no ability. Just now, I seized the opportunity to recommend you to Lord Li. You are so unwilling to do so, what kind of heart do you feel at ease?! Do you really think that you can make a difference in the future with these two bad articles? Bah, don't lose your time!"

Hou Xun became more and more angry as he scolded: "You idiot, you don't climb up the ladder to climb, but you must roll in the mud, look at your prospects! Let me tell you, if you really follow this promising Duke of Tang, you will definitely be able to make a fortune in the future, have a bright future, and will greatly shine the lintel of my Hou family in the future. Why not seize such a rare opportunity? Why do you have to show off such a face!"

Hou Fangyu was ashamed and said unconvincedly: "My father has worked hard, and the child knows that it is also a good thing to be able to follow the Duke of Tang. However, the child is already ready to stay in the capital after the war..."

"Bang!"

Hou Xun slapped again and slapped Hou Fangyu's left face hard. Hou Fangyu's thin and tender left face also showed five bright red fingerprints.

'You are going to and from? What kind of heart do you have for staying and from staying? How can you not know about your father?! You told my father that you should talk to Chen Zhenhui, Mao Xiang and other people with false reputations, and talk about the past. Bah, you should go and go! My father knows that you are just unbearable, but you just want to find the beautiful prostitute Li Xiangjun of Qinhuai! You are still a scholar who studies, and you have no intention of being motivated at all. You are determined to hide in this pile of makeup and live a life of slut. The face of my Hou family has been lost! "Hou Xun pointed at Hou Fangyu's nose with an angry face and cursed.

Hou Fangyu covered his face with both hands, and the scorching pain on his skin made him suck in a cold air, but he no longer dared to refute.

"You boy, please listen. As soon as the war is over, you will obey your father's orders and serve Lord Li honestly. If you still dare to jump and get dissatisfied, break your legs for your father!" Hou Xun finally ordered sternly.
Chapter completed!