after being kidnapped by the general

The children of the Liu family were held in front of the governor's mansion to be beheaded.

The common people gathered around, looking at the silk and satin they were wearing, and listening to the soldiers announce their crimes.After hearing that these corrupt officials from aristocratic families took advantage of the heavy rain to destroy the embankment and cause floods, the common people were stunned.

It took them a long time to understand what this meant.

The elderly man suddenly slumped to the ground, his eyes dazed.The peasant couple cried loudly, unable to believe that the flood that drowned the crops they were about to eat, their houses and their relatives was intentional.

This makes them more uncomfortable than natural disasters.

When they were crying and mourning, a thin child suddenly rushed out of the crowd.The child was only eight or nine years old, but his expression was very fierce. He picked up the stone on the ground and threw it at the head of the Liu clan with all his strength, hitting the forehead of the head of the Liu clan with precision, smashing a bloody hole, and cursed bitterly: " You must die!"

The rest of the people were aroused by his actions. They picked up stones and threw them at Liu's disciples with trembling hands.

"Things that are not as good as pigs and dogs!"

"It's you who drowned the grain in our fields! You pay it back!"

"Kill them!"

The patriarch of the Liu clan has never been so embarrassed in his life.He buried his head and tried his best to avoid these stones, his face was extremely ugly, the pain made him dizzy for a while, he wanted to open his mouth to reprimand but was powerless.

As the head of the Xuzhou family, where did these gentry children suffer such humiliation?How dare these lowly people who only know how to work hard treat them like this?

Gritting their teeth, some of the disciples of the Liu family who were smashing against the stone suddenly shouted angrily: "If you want to kill, you can cut whatever you want, but you can't humiliate my son of the Liu family like this!"

The soldiers gagged their mouths rudely with cloth balls, "Don't worry, you will die in a while. Duke Wen has ordered before that your sins are serious, and you must let the people vent their anger before you die."

The soldiers didn't stop the people, and when the people were about to smash these people to death, the soldiers stepped forward to stop them.

The child who was the first to attack, however, relied on his short stature and nimbly sprinted past the soldiers, threw himself on the head of the Liu clan, and bit the head of the Liu clan fiercely with his mouth open.

The patriarch of the Liu clan screamed and almost passed out.By the time the soldiers took the child away, the child had already bit off the ear of the patriarch Liu.

He opened his mouth and spat out his ears, and then spat on the head of the Liu clan, baring his teeth and claws, wanting to go up and take another bite.

The soldiers looked at each other and took the child aside.

After the common people had vented their anger, the soldiers pressed the necks of these Liu's children, forcing them to kowtow to the common people, apologizing and admitting their mistakes.The disciples of the Liu family were powerless to resist, and before they died, they finally felt regret and fear, sobbing softly.

The common people stared straight at the severed heads, cried and laughed, applauded and celebrated.

They know that even if these people die, the food and relatives will not come back.But there are adults who are willing to save them and make decisions for them, and this is something that makes them very grateful.

After a long while, some people knelt down towards the governor's mansion tremblingly, and more and more people knelt down, kowtowing and thanking Lord Wengong and the governor together.

In the afternoon, the soldiers brought the child who bit off the ear of the head of the Liu clan to Yuanli.

After Yuanli heard what the child had done, he took a good look at the child carefully.

His gaze made the child stiffen with tension, his fists clenched.A pair of eyes showed the fortitude of having experienced disasters, and looked very different from other children.

Yuan Li felt a love for talent, and asked, "What's your name, do you know how old you are? Where are your relatives at home?"

The child tugged at the clothes on his body uneasily, and replied: "My name is Jiao An, and I am nine years old. My family members have all been drowned, and only one younger sister is still alive."

Yuan Li recruited him to his side, "You have learned to know numbers, who taught you?"

"My father," Jiao An didn't dare to get too close to Yuan Li, fearing that the dirt on his body would get on Yuan Li, "My father used to be a groom for others, so he could barely read a few words."

Yuan Li asked warmly, "Then where is your sister?"

Jiao An looked up at him, then quickly lowered his head, "I handed over my younger sister to an old lady to take care of her."

Yuan Li nodded slightly, feeling that the child had great potential, and asked, "Are you willing to follow me? I will give you and your sister a place to eat and live, but when you grow up, you need to serve me."

Jiao An froze for a moment, then nodded vigorously in ecstasy, "I am willing, both my sister and I are willing!"

Yuanli handed him over to Lin Tian, ​​and asked Lin Tian to arrange for the two brothers and sisters.

When the Liu family, the largest family in Xuzhou, fell, the other gentry tyrants no longer had the strength to resist.With the recovery of disasters in various places, the power struggle in Xuzhou has also reached its final stage.

This series of big actions will come to an end within two months.Yuan Li also breathed a sigh of relief. Although there were some thrills, it was still going to end well.

It's just that Yuanli doesn't quite understand it.

It stands to reason that Chen Wang should have known about his actions in Xuzhou long ago, and he should have reacted a little bit, why is he still so calm?

This kind of calm was like before the storm, which made Yuanli wonder whether King Chen had a bigger conspiracy.

On this day, the remaining gentry tyrants in Xuzhou used the last group of forces to launch a riot in the middle reaches of the Huaihe River in Xuzhou.After Chu Hechao learned about it, he led [-] soldiers to deal with the reactionary army.

And Chu Hechao hadn't left for a few days, Xiang Hongyun took Jingzhou Wang's family and fled for his life to find Yuanli in Xuzhou!

Seeing Yuanli for the first time, Xiang Hongyun said with a sullen face, "My lord, it's not good."

Yuanli had never seen Xiang Hongyun in such a distressed state.With disheveled hair, many scratches on his clothes, and mud spots on his face, he looked like he had escaped from death.

The same is true for Wang Qianzhi beside him, with muddy horse dung stepped on his feet, looking in shock.

Zhou Gongdan and Guo Mao looked at each other, with a bad feeling in their hearts, Guo Mao turned his head and asked, "What happened in Jingzhou?"

Xiang Hongyun nodded hastily.

Guo Mao murmured: "It's really a wave of ups and downs..."

Yuan Li asked Xiang Hongyun and his wife to sit down and asked them what happened.

Compared with Wang Qianzhi, who was absent-minded, Xiang Hongyun was calmer.He calmed down and said, "My lord, the governor of Jingzhou, Jiang Bing, wants to join King Chen."

There was naturally a reason why Xiang Hongyun went to Jingzhou to persuade Jiang Cai to surrender to Cheng Yuanli.When the first emperor was still there, Jiang Yu had an old grudge with King Chen, and the two sides even had a fight to the point of fighting.For this reason, Xiang Hongyun felt that he had the confidence to persuade Jiang Cai to join Yuanli and deal with King Chen together.

When they first arrived in Jingzhou, Jiang Cai was really too worried to think about eating and drinking.Xiang Hongyun successfully met Jiang Biao through the Wang family's connection, and expressed his intention to come, and told Jiang Biao the advantages of joining Yuanli, and Jiang Biao was also very moved.

For the next few days, Jiang Bing kept hesitating. When Xiang Hongyun felt that he would be able to persuade him soon, at the banquet one night, Jiang Bing's expression became a little strange.

Xiang Hongyun's eyes were bad, and it was night, so he couldn't see Jiang Bing's expression, but Wang Qianzhi, who was accompanying him, could see clearly.

After the banquet, Wang Qianzhi told Xiang Hongyun about it. Xiang Hongyun keenly felt that something was wrong. He bought the servants in Jiang Yu's house with money, and only then did he know that Jiang Kai had taken refuge in King Chen and wanted to kill him. They flattered King Chen in order to eliminate their old grievances with him.

After Xiang Hongyun learned of this, he prepared to flee Jingzhou.Who knew that Jiang Cai was even more determined to kill them, and even set up an ambush on their way back to the north. Xiang Hongyun used the strategy of diverting the tiger away from the mountain and crossing the sea to hide the sky, so he escaped to Xuzhou by another road.

After hearing what he said, Guo Mao frowned, disliking Jiang Yu's capriciousness very much, "Why did he suddenly decide to fall for King Chen?"

"Probably because of the distance." Xiang Hongyun took the wet towel handed over by the servant at the side, and hurriedly wiped the dirt off his face. "When I talked with him, I found that he was extremely worried about this. He and The king of Chen is too close, I am afraid that the lord will not be able to help him in time when the king of Chen decides to attack him, I am afraid that it is because of this that he decided to abandon the distance and seek the closer, and defected to the king of Chen."

Yuanli thought for a moment and said: "Yizhou, Yuzhou, Yangzhou, and now Jingzhou... Except for Jiaozhou and Xuzhou, King Chen will completely rule the south."

Zhou Gongdan sighed and looked at Wang Qianzhi, "What's wrong with him?"

Xiang Hongyun glanced at Wang Qian, and said helplessly: "Jiang Biao thought that the Wang family of Jingzhou had taken refuge with the lord, so he ordered to hunt down and kill the entire Wang family of Jingzhou. He never thought that Jiang Biao would be so cruel and still in shock."

Wang Qianzhi came back to his senses, wiped his face with a wry smile, "I made Duke Wen and all the adults laugh."

Seeing him like this, Yuanli asked him to go back to rest first.

When Wang Qian left, Xiang Hongyun straightened his expression and said very seriously, "My lord, when we passed Yangzhou, we found that there was a movement of troops in Yangzhou. This is not a good sign. Although there is still one year left before the five-year covenant. It takes a lot of time, but it does not rule out that Chen Wang will take advantage of the good opportunity of you staying in Xuzhou and want to act first. My lord, please leave Xuzhou as soon as possible, this place is no longer safe."

When Zhou Gongdan and Guo Mao heard about it, they quickly persuaded Yuanli to leave.

"I see," Yuanli said calmly, "If King Chen is really attacking, we can go to the east bank of Xuzhou and leave by boat. I have told Wu Kai to bring [-] Youzhou soldiers to come by land, and now there are more than two Months have passed, Wu Kai should be here soon."

Jia Qing, who had been silent all this time, said disapprovingly: "If King Chen really made up his mind to attack Xuzhou, even [-] more Youzhou soldiers would not be enough to fight against him."

Yuan Li nodded, "But Xuzhou can't ignore it."

The crowd fell silent for a while.

After a while, Zhou Gongdan frowned and said: "My lord is right, Xuzhou can't be ignored. If Xuzhou is also captured by King Chen, then he will have five states in his hands. As long as he is given two years, King Chen will grow up." It is a colossal monster, even we can hardly deal with it. Moreover, Xuzhou has an advantageous position and has always been a battleground for military strategists. It can approach Jizhou and Youzhou quietly from the waterway, so we have to defend this place."

"That's right," Guo Mao continued in a deep voice, "Xuzhou has now been captured by the lord, and it is also the place where Ouyang Daru served as the governor. It is hard to rectify it so that the government affairs can be facilitated and the victims of the disaster can be saved. If we just give it up like this , Not only will it damage our morale, but it will also plunge the people of Xuzhou into dire straits again."

In terms of emotion and reason, Xuzhou can't let it go.

Jia Qing got up and saluted, "Your lord and the general can leave by boat first, so Wu Kai will lead [-] Youzhou soldiers to defend Xuzhou here. It is easy to defend the city, but difficult to attack it. In the past, it would take a year or so to conquer the city. If the city is well defended, King Chen will not be able to take Xuzhou within a few months. After the lord and the general return, they can send troops from the north to support. By then, King Chen will have broken the five-year covenant first. , the lord's attack on King Chen is justifiable."

Yuan Li smiled, "That's what I mean too."

After that, he looked at the sky outside, "When the general returns, I will leave Xuzhou with him."

The place where the riot happened is some distance away from Xiapi, so Yuan Li counted his days and knew that Chu Hechao would not be able to return within a few days.He waited patiently for ten days, and when Chu Hechao hadn't returned after ten days, Yuanli felt something was wrong.

Shouldn't it be so powerful at the end of the crossbow that those remaining gentry coerced?

It stands to reason that he should be back by now.

After waiting for two days and still not coming back, Yuanli directly sent his own soldiers to check the riot.

Three days later, a large army came from outside the city.Yuan Li breathed a sigh of relief, and when he hurried over, he found that it was not Chu Hechao who arrived, but Wu Kai who hurried to Xuzhou by land.

Seeing that it was Wu Kai, Yuan Li's expression changed, and his right eyelid twitched several times.

Wu Kai originally wanted to salute Yuan Li and report what happened along the way.Seeing Yuan Li's expression, he was startled, and asked Jia Qing anxiously, "Did I come too late to make the Lord unhappy?"

Jia Qing shook his head and explained in a low voice: "It was the general who went to wipe out the reactionary army, but he didn't come back for almost [-] days. My lord thought it was the general who came back."

Wu Kai seemed to understand, "My lord, is he worried about the general's safety? Is it because the reactionary army is too far away, so the general came back late?"

"Perhaps." Jia Qing was not sure, but he believed in Chu Hechao's strength. After he came to Yuanli, he invited himself to compete with Chu Hechao. Qing has never won once.

There are very few people in this world who can deal with Chu Hechao.It's just some reactionary troops, and it probably won't cause any trouble to the general.

They were not worried, but Yuanli knew intellectually that maybe Chu Hechao was just delayed by something, but emotionally he felt some inexplicable uneasiness.

This uneasiness made his heart beat restlessly, making it difficult to stabilize.Yuanli took a deep breath and made up his mind. He asked Lin Tian to move Akabane here, then turned to Wu Kai and said, "Wu Kai, give me a cavalry force of 5000. Go rest yourself. Jia Qing, take your lieutenant and follow me to the general!"

After finishing speaking, Yuan Li turned on his horse gracefully, grabbed the rein tightly and said, "Quick."

Wu Kai and Jia Qing immediately agreed.Zhou Gongdan and others wanted to persuade Yuanli a few words, but Yuanli glanced at them and said clearly, "Don't say too much, I have made up my mind."

The counselors could only take a step back and said, "Then I will wait in the city for the Lord's return."

Knowing that he was anxious, Wu Kai and Jia Qing moved quickly.In less than half an hour, Yuan Li rushed out of the city with his people.

Five thousand cavalry raised billows of dust and gradually disappeared.

Yuanli traveled day and night, rushing to the place where the riot occurred.

When I was halfway there, I suddenly heard the sound of horses coming from the front.Yuanli was refreshed, and Jia Qing immediately ordered the army to stand ready.But after the two parties approached, Yuan Li recognized that the person on the opposite side was the soldiers he had sent out to look for Chu Hechao.

The leader of the soldiers immediately held a soldier in his arms.

Yuan Li's eyelids twitched again, he squinted his eyes and held his breath.Those sharp eyes that pierced through Yang with a hundred steps, saw the blood on the soldier's body almost instantly.

blood?

Yuan Li didn't know what happened, but in an instant, his heart kept falling into the abyss.Yuan Li unconsciously grabbed the rein tightly, and the rein strangled deep marks on his hands, but he didn't feel it.

The soldiers who rushed over also saw Yuanli, their eyes lit up, and they raised their whips to speed up.

When he reached Yuanli, he immediately stopped the horse.Carefully holding the seriously injured soldier, he quickly walked to Yuanli and knelt down, "My lord, my subordinate—"

Yuan Li interrupted him, "Talk about something."

The soldier took a deep breath and said with difficulty: "When I rushed to the riot, I didn't find the general. I only saw corpses all over the ground and traces of the battle. The corpses included people from both sides. We searched for a long time, but only found This seriously injured brother, he said..."

Yuanli had some difficulty breathing, he raised his hand and put it down again, closed his eyes, "What did he say?"

"He said that besides the reactionary army, there are other troops in the enemy, and there are navy ambushes on the Huaihe River." The soldiers lowered their heads, not daring to look at Yuanli's expression. Entering the Huaihe River...the other generals threw themselves into Hanoi to save the general...the enemy navy divided their boats to search, and now we don't know if the general and others...are alive or dead, whether they escaped or were captured by the enemy."

Yuanli froze.

In an instant, my whole body became cold.

These voices came to his ears clearly, but after he understood them, they became indistinct.For a moment, Yuanli couldn't tell what these words meant.

What ambush?

Who was shot by an arrow and fell into the Huaihe River?

His brain was blank, and before he could react, he heard his voice hoarse and broken like the wind blowing away: "Take me to their battle."