At noon on February 6th, Li Qingchen was sitting on the manger in the backyard of a small house in Chengfufang, looking at the spring rain outside the shed, and said a shocking sentence. "But he is about to die."
After saying that, he looked at Qin Bao who stopped. The latter was shirtless, but had a bunch of gauze wrapped around his shoulders at the back of the shoulder blades. There was even blood seeping out at this time.
Qin Bao was stunned for a moment and asked seriously: "Then what do you mean? Do you want me to see him, or do you want to take me back?"
"It doesn't matter whether he arrests you or not. As long as he doesn't kill you, I will release you anyway." Li Qingchen answered calmly.
"So, now you are the one who makes the decision in Dongdu City?" Qin Bao continued to lower his head to mix the horse ingredients. As he moved, blood seeped out from the side of his shoulder blades again. "You put the Nanya County Prince and the two
Where to put the Taibao?"
"Young masters have their own places to go. The two eunuchs are also very upset right now." Li Qingchen looked at the wound location of the other party again and replied seriously. "In short, I am in charge of criminal law and security. The chief eunuch will take care of it."
After the last few city defense soldiers were stationed, the second eunuch went to the palace..."
"What else is there in the palace?"
"A few Jin Wu guards, a few chamberlains, a few concubines, a few princesses, and of course a few young princes, as well as all the documents in the world, and some utensils in the Xiyuan. It is inevitable that there will be a pile of weeds and dust."
"That's true." Qin Bao came to his senses. "It's just that I'm shallow."
"Shallow or not..." Li Twelve Lang said sternly. "These things are the least valuable at this time, but they are still useful and will be valuable in the future. You must always take them into account."
Qin Bao said nothing: "So what do you want from me?"
"Go and see Zhongcheng!" Li Qingchen said seriously. "After all, it's a battle. Even if your lute bones are worn, Zhongcheng will not be sorry for any of us... When people are about to die, Zhang Xinghe thinks
Sister Miss is here and she wants to go too."
"Brother Zhang may not go, but let's go. I'll go."
Qin Bao paused when he heard this, then poured the horse feed into the manger, but it turned out to be mostly meat and eggs, which made the knobby-spotted beast burst with joy, and he couldn't wait to eat it, splashing all over his master and guests.
Li Twelve Lang immediately stood up from the manger, glanced at the horse material, and then at the weapons wrapped in oilcloth under the stable. He didn't say anything, but carefully moved to the front yard with his mouth covered.
Qin Bao followed soon after.
"Don't you want to eat at home?" Yueniang asked directly in the kitchen without going out.
"Wait until I come back." Qin Bao put on his clothes and lowered his head and replied. "I have something to say tonight...let me don't worry, mother."
"If you can't come back, should you go find Twelve Lang?" Yueniang rushed out of the kitchen.
"Look for me." Li Qingchen had already walked to the door with his sleeves rolled up. He turned around and faced him out of breath. "Just look for me."
Qin Bao nodded, put on his clothes, and followed out in the rain.
After leaving the door and turning to the main road in the middle of the square, the two of them did not ride on horseback, but got on an oilcloth cart, and then hurried along the road to the gate of the square, escorted by a dozen knights.
"There are still so many people on the street... Although it is depressed, there are a lot of people." While walking on the street, Qin Bao couldn't help but be surprised when he looked at the people queuing up to buy food in the drizzle.
"Of course it's a lot." Li Qingchen still held up his sleeves. "Where can they go? Is there a safer place in the world than Dongdu? There is endless food here, and there are countless gold, silver, pearls and jade. If you want to become an official, now
There are many vacancies, there is no war, there is no famine, the tall city walls are protected, the square walls are protected, the world is simply unified!"
Qin Bao sighed: "This is why I am determined to rebel. All these grains are shipped from Hebei, Dongjing, and Jianghuai. They are obtained by the sweat of the people all over the world every day. They did not appear out of thin air in Luokou warehouse."
But in Hebei, when I saw Liyangcang being released, I realized what kind of life the people there were living..."
"What was your day like?"
"I don't even remember the life I lived in those days. I didn't remember the construction of the Eastern Capital. I don't remember the preparation of the north-south ditches and waterways. But I conquered Dongyi first and then conquered Dongyi again. When I just came of age, I felt that everything was different.
Young and strong is like the grain in the urn. It seems that there is not much left every time, but it will bottom out soon..." Qin Bao leaned on the side of the car and said quietly. "And I am Cheng Zhili and Cheng Dalang's man.
, there are usually more than a dozen companions who carry swords and draw bows. Those officials dared to look for me. It’s ridiculous that I was still thinking about joining the army to gain a good career... I am always going against the trend, and my eyes are like this.
You can only see the shallowest layer and your own things.”
Li Qingchen was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed: "It doesn't matter, you are still young, and your abilities are there. In troubled times, with the ups and downs of princes, no one can do without your natural talent of charging and breaking... There are many people who are hungry for talents.
The thing is... If nothing else, just do something for me now. People in the entire Dongdu are in panic, gangs are running rampant and no one is controlling them. I don’t know how many dirty things they have done. Just clean up each shop for me.
Three squares a day can be cleaned in a month. Millions of people in the eastern capital are counting on you."
Qin Bao was silent.
While the two were talking, the vehicle had already left the square gate, and beyond the square gate, across a wide sky street, was the Lide Square occupied by Jing'an Terrace... I don't know if Dou Lide has any hope of coming here in this life.
This trip.
Just like that, when I came to Tianjie, Tianjie at this time was much deserted compared to the inside of the square... Although the inside of the square was also a bit dilapidated and lifeless, there were many people, and you could even occasionally hear ignorant children.
We were having a lot of fun in the spring rain, but there were very few people on Tian Street. The only people coming and going were motorcades, porters, and transporters of old grain and supplies.
"It's just a dead city." At this time, Qin Bao suddenly said. "The outside is broken, and Guanlong is also broken... It may not be a bad thing if Bai Hengqiu takes it."
Li Qingchen wanted to refute, but when he saw that after crossing Tianjie, he came to the bridge in Lidefang, he shook his head, got off the car first, and walked slowly inside.
Qin Bao had no choice but to follow.
When I came here, I saw another scene: a pool full of dead branches, a collapsed black tower, officials from Jingantai hurriedly going back and forth with their heads lowered, and the cracks in the bricks were so dilapidated that no one had cleaned up the grass in the spring. Going inside again
Walking, I came to a small courtyard opposite the Black Tower, and saw many people who were not moving around, including black and red ribbons, as well as some court officials and backbones of the rich families. They all looked solemn, and some even felt sorry for each other.
.
Li Qingchen walked forward with his sleeves rolled up, and when he saw a familiar older man coming out of the courtyard, he was surprised and asked: "When did Chai Changjian come back? Aren't you working as a general guard in Juoyang? Zhongcheng
Called you back?"
"How is that possible?" Chai Changjian, who had not been a regular inspection officer for a long time, spread his hands and smiled bitterly. "It's just a coincidence that I was kicked back."
"Your cultivation and experience can't hold down a small county?" Li Twelve Lang was really shocked. "Didn't Du Po Zhen go to Huaishang?"
"I was able to suppress the county, and I didn't see Du Po Formation, but Bai Hengyuan, the general manager of Nanyang, sent an army to the north, and everyone in the county responded. I couldn't go against the public opinion, but there is news here in the east capital.
, saying that Bai Hengqiu and Zhong Cheng fell out in Hebei and suffered a big loss." Chai Changjian looked towards the courtyard as he spoke, and his tone became bleak. "How could I pretend to be deaf and dumb? So I just came back.
.”
"Have you met Zhongcheng?" Li Qingchen continued to ask.
Chai Changjian nodded.
"How do you say it?" Li Twelve Lang continued to ask, and everyone around him also pricked up their ears.
"Inform me and let me stay here in Dongdu with peace of mind and supervise the distribution of food in the city." Chai Changjian said half hidden and half.
But Li Twelve Lang seemed to have known something for a long time. He just nodded and turned back to signal Qin Bao to follow.
Everyone looked sideways, but no one stopped them. Instead, they watched the two young men with very bad faces walking into the courtyard.
Under the inner corridor in the courtyard, an old man with an even worse complexion was lying on a raised couch. Uncle Cao, who was always energetic and energetic, seemed to have changed. He was lying there, motionless, with his chest covered.
A small brocade quilt, with saggy skin, pale complexion, and closed eyes.
An official slave followed the instructions and tried to tidy up the other party's messy hair, but was stopped by the old man who opened his eyes slightly and stared.
This point seems to be the same, his hair has never been as neat and clean as those of Bai Hengqiu.
"How is Zhong Cheng's injury?" Qin Bao stepped forward, bowed and asked calmly.
"My life is actually gone." Uncle Cao Huang's words were very clear, and his movements seemed to be agile, because he actually directly lifted the brocade quilt on his body, and then exposed almost the entire sunken chest, and the flesh and blood inside had obviously lost.
Living is just attached to the true energy. "Hang your life, meet a few people, explain the matter, and then die after hearing the news. Just like a flame, it has actually been extinguished, and the last bit of red is gone.
It means hiding in ashes.”
"Can't even the Grand Master live for a few more years?" Qin Bao was really puzzled. "They are all land gods."
"The land gods are not real gods either." Uncle Cao Huang lay there, looking at the sky in the courtyard, his face unchanged, his tone unchanged. "The world is in chaos, the three radiances suddenly opened, the true energy overflowed, and the sundries infected first turned into true
After the dragon, hundreds of tribes were civilized, and the four emperors were born to establish institutions. Starting from the Qing Emperor, the four emperors lived in the sky, and only with the protection and guidance of mortals from above, there were gods and mortals.
As for Long Live. However, even if you are a god, you have to achieve your own throne... But how difficult is it to achieve this? Not even two or three of a hundred great masters can get it, and most of them were born in a time of great strife.
Without attaining the throne, no matter how powerful you are, you are still just an ordinary person, just like an ordinary candlelight cannot compete with the stars."
After hearing this, Qin Bao was sure that his old boss, Uncle Wei Emperor, was really going to die.
Because this person would never express emotion about matters of life and death.
At this thought, even though Qin Bao had already made up his mind, he couldn't help but feel a little sad: "Zhongcheng, do you have any words for calling me a common man?"
"Zhongcheng didn't call you, I asked you to come." Li Qingchen suddenly interrupted and looked at Cao Lin. "Zhongcheng, although Qin Erlang is a fool, he is simple in nature and has strong martial arts, so he still remains here.
The best thing is to put him down and reuse him. Without him, we may not be able to gain a foothold in Dongdu in the future."
Cao Lin finally glanced out of the corner of his eye from the couch and glanced at Li Twelve Lang: "You are weak and cannot use this big iron spear."
Li Qingchen was silent for a moment, and then said seriously: "I'll do my best, and even if it's useless, he can scare people and reassure people even if he's here."
"Then let this gun gather dust." Cao Lin said with a sigh.
"If he leaves, won't he be covered in dust?" Li Twelve said without giving in, even a little excited. "Hebei now has a place for him? Zhang Xing is almost gone! Dongdu can survive, but Zhang Xing can't survive."
"
Qin Bao looked at the other party in surprise... He was picked up from the Dongdu army by the river and sent to the black tower. Then the black tower fell for several days before Li Qingchen fished him out of the underground prison.
At that time, everyone was concerned about the collapse of the Black Tower. What happened to Uncle Cao Huang?
And now, just two days have passed, and this question and its answer are still the same, and few people want to go anywhere else.
In other words, the information was limited to a certain range, and Qin Bao didn't know about it anyway.
"Bai Hengqiu's goal is not Dongdu. At least he uses cunning to deal with Dongdu and Hebei together." Li Qingchen answered frankly. "Now Bai Hengqiu, Duan Wei, Li Ding, there should be more
Xue Changxiong, with more than 100,000 troops, has already rushed towards the gang, and it seems that they have already engaged in battle... It is hard to say whether Zhang Xinghuo is alive, but the gang should have collapsed."
Qin Bao was not surprised, because he had already had a hunch when Zhang Xing invaded Liyangcang. The real enemy would not let the Gang do this. The only difference was that the person responsible for this task changed from the Dongdu Army to the Taiyuan Army.
-The Dongdu Allied Forces changed from Cao Zhongcheng in front of them to Bai Hengqiu.
The enemies have become stronger, there are just more.
"Zhang Xing is not that easy to die, and the gang is not that easy to die." Cao Lin was lying there and said slowly, but he didn't know who he was talking to. "Zhang Xing actually has some sayings, such as the Black Emperor and the White Emperor.
It's not false. But the most important thing is that he understands a truth, that is, kindness may not always be loyal, and fear may lead to chaos. In Henan and Hebei, he never killed people indiscriminately, never broke all kinds of order, and did everything contrary.
He wants Cao Che to come, so even if this scene goes bad, there must be die-hard loyalists to him in the gang who are willing to help him get up again... Besides, this scene may not necessarily go bad, isn't there no definite information yet?
?If we win with one blow, I am afraid that Duan Wei has already sent Pegasus into the Eastern Capital to win over people's hearts."
Li Twelve Lang did not answer, but directly asked: "Zhongcheng, can you give Qin Er some information?"
"It's up to you." Cao Lin replied calmly.
"Qin Er." Li Twelve turned around and spoke seriously. "Dongdu will not fall. Sima Erlong has led fifty thousand of the Xuzhou camp's elite troops to turn back. By this time, they should have reached Shouchun. Du Po's formation
There's no way to stop it."
Qin Bao was stunned for a moment, then nodded immediately: "Not even Li Shu can stop him."
"That's not what I meant." Li Qingchen stretched out his hands from his sleeves and spoke seriously. "I mean, the world is so big. If you want to protect the people, why do you have to go to Hebei? In the Eastern Capital and the surrounding departments directly under the jurisdiction, there are more than one million
The population, coupled with the world's personnel, geography, finance and military documents, the imperial dragon monument from ancient times is still here, and it also needs people to protect it. Sima Erlong will never be unfair to you when he comes back. You and Sima Erlong are not the same
Humanoids? We should fight side by side to protect the universe."
At this point, Li Qingchen finally reached out his hand from his sleeve: "Qin Er, Dongdu is not a dead city! This is the essence of the world, and it should not be poisoned by the disaster of war. If you stay here, you can do both public and private things, and you can do a lot."
Qin Bao obviously hesitated, but fell silent and did not answer.
When Li Qingchen saw this, he was about to say more.
Qin Er suddenly said, "In that case, how about you guard this Tianyuan while I build a new one with Brother Zhang?"
Li Twelve laughed angrily. He glanced at Cao Lin, who was sleeping with his eyes closed, and then shook his head at Qin Bao: "Let's go out."
Qin Bao lowered his head and turned around. He had just walked out of the courtyard and came to the middle of the group of red and black ribbons. Li Qingchen's words came from behind him: "Zhongcheng had an order, but Qin Er was stubborn and still took it and sent it to the black prison under the tower.
"
Qin Bao was not overly surprised and did not resist. He was only inspected by Chai Chang, Hu Yan and others, who were the first to catch him, grabbed him, and dragged him to the dark prison on the opposite side.
After the people left, Li Qingchen stood motionless in the rain, just staring at the backs of those few people in a daze, and there were many old and new officials in Jingantai around him like this.
The spring rain kept falling, and gradually became a little more urgent. At this time, between Shouchun and Xiacai, the important towns in Huaishang that were hundreds of miles away, just as Li Qingchen said, a war that could change the situation of the world was breaking out.
Great war.
Sima Zheng led an army of 50,000 people upstream. In the morning, under the cover of rain, he quickly arrived five miles away from the main camp of the Dupo Formation. Then suddenly the flag was shown, and the governor's army moved forward. At the same time, there were 3,000 people per battalion.
With a large opening, the twelve armies advanced together, launched an all-out attack, and suddenly broke into the water and land camp of Du Po Formation.
Du Pozhen was in a panic. He couldn't figure out why the Xuzhou Army came? Why did Sima Zheng come? When he was escorted by his personal guards and left the camp, he came to the preset hillside platform behind the camp and saw with his own eyes the fine details.
The Xuzhou army poured into the camp in the rain, but they were still puzzled.
No reason?!
In fact, he knew the news that Huankou was taken away by Xuzhou a few days ago, and it was Sima Zheng who sent an envoy to tell him, and the envoy wanted the Huaixi Army to withdraw... But these are the proper meaning of the title, which is to herd sheep.
You have to cut the grass when you have time, and you have to drink soup when you have meals.
In fact, it was precisely because the opponent did this that he relaxed a little and prepared to launch a general attack after the water rose in the spring and submerged the opponent's water stronghold in a few days.
As a result, it rained just a few days ago and no troops were sent out, but someone took advantage of it.
"Father!"
A horse was riding through the rain, and when it reached the hillside, it suddenly slipped and the horse stumbled and fell. However, the knight did not dare to be slow and jumped up, but the horse rolled down the hillside, whining and neighing.
After the knight jumped, he didn't care about the horse. He put away his energy and hurried forward, almost climbing to a recessed platform on the hillside. Then, regardless of the mud, he prostrated again: "Father, retreat quickly.
Come on! There’s no way to stop it!”
"Nonsense!" After coming back to his senses, Du Pozhen, who was standing here looking at the situation, was furious. "I can see it here better than anyone else. It cannot be sustained elsewhere, but the four battalions of the Taibao Army under your command
They blocked them all, and they even fought back just now, how can you persuade me to escape?!"
The knight, the Great Taibao Kan Leng, was startled when he heard this, wiped the rain off his face, and quickly explained: "Father! Only the Taibao Army and the battalion of spears brought back by Fu Bo from Hebei can fight! And they are only borrowed.
They come to fight in the camp, and the other troops and horses cannot stop it! If this continues, the rest of the camp will be trapped, and the twelve thousand Taibao troops and the spear battalion will also be trapped and die in the camp. It is better to kill these more than ten thousand soldiers earlier.
Take the foundation out, and then plan for the future..."
"What do you have in mind?" Hearing this, Du Pozhen became even more angry. "You said, the whole army is gone, what do you think of saving four battalions of more than 10,000 Taibao troops? You also need to save them for your auxiliary uncle.
What’s his background?!”
Kan Leng was stunned, and his heart was even more astringent, but he could only kowtow in the mud nest on the spot.
"Leader!" At this moment, Fan Shiyong, the former deputy leader of the Huaiyou League and one of the so-called gang leaders, hurried forward and almost hugged Du Pozhen. "Leader, please don't make mistakes! The Taibao Army is not Kan Leng
His foundation is your foundation, and even he is your foundation! Even the assistant and deputy leader is your foundation!"
Du Pozhen seemed to have come to his senses, but he asked at a loss: "But what should we do now? Is it true that we can't fight?"
"How to fight?!" Fan Shiyong asked helplessly. "Why would Kan Leng prefer to fall rather than rise up? Now he just can't hold on if someone rushes at him. What if Sima Erlong really presses him in person? He really needs the whole army.
Destroyed? There is also the Huainan Army on the other side. They are already being rescued, so why won’t they come? What will happen then?”
Du Pozhen raised his head in confusion, and then instinctively looked at the other side of the Huai River, and then saw a situation that made him both angry and somewhat relieved - on the Huai River, the inland river navy that the Huai You Alliance was proud of had actually abandoned it.
Shuizhai took the initiative to go upstream from the side door, as if trying to escape.
Of course, it can also be said that we are going to seize the mouth of the river.
And when his eyes swept across the chaotic camp again, he didn't say any more words of scolding or complaint.
"Boss." Du Pozhen pushed Fan Shiyong away and stepped forward to help Kan Leng up. "I was frightened by the situation... Now you go back and hold on a little longer. I'll send reinforcements from here to see if I can hold on."
...If Wang Daiji sends troops, or Sima Zheng takes action, don't wait, immediately withdraw the troops to the west as you want! Can't we not attack Huainan? Remember, don't take the nearest Fei
We have a pontoon bridge in Shuikou. We can take Yingshuikou or even Rushuikou to go home directly, otherwise we will easily be overtaken by others."
Kan Leng was relieved and kowtowed to the ground in the opponent's hands before leaving in a hurry.
As soon as the people left, Du Po Zhen immediately sent an order. On the one hand, he pushed the boat along with the current and asked the navy to control the upper river channel and the nearest Feishui mouth to assist the retreat; on the other hand, he quickly dispatched other soldiers and horses to the west of the camp to provide assistance.
After the military order was issued, he thought about it again and again, and looked at it again and again. Instead of having answers to his questions, he had many more questions.
"Why did Sima Zheng come to attack us? Is it Jiangdu's order? Wang Daiji's order?" Panting Du Pozhen suddenly turned to ask General Fan Shiyong.
The generals were speechless.
"Also, if that's the case, why hasn't Wang Daiji sent troops yet?" Du Pozhen continued to ask. "Why hasn't he sent troops? What is he worried about?! Didn't Sima Zheng tell him?"
On the other side of the Huai River, in the rain, King Jiulang Jiulang, the king of Huainan Wolong, stood on Bagong Mountain, where eight immortals are said to have passed the passage. Looking north, his heart was indeed full of doubts and fears.
Although he was rescued, he felt suspicious and fearful. Of course, it was not because of the rescue itself, but because Wang Laojiu was very sensitive to politics. As a person from Jiangdu, he knew very well that Xuzhou Camp was not allowed to be in the presence of the saint.
This shield left the station without permission to come to the rescue, let alone come out in full force... In fact, he didn't ask for help at all. He still had some strength left, waiting for the opportunity to counterattack... In other words, Sima Zheng brought
All the main forces of the Xuzhou camp came here absolutely on their own initiative and absolutely against Jiangdu's wishes.
So what does this mean?
What happened in Jiangdu?
Is the Sima family going to participate in the struggle for supremacy in the world?
A battle today, and then a annexation. Do you have the ability to resist?
Wang Daiji said nothing and stared for a moment. The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became. He almost felt a tightness in his chest. But suddenly, a gust of river wind brought rainwater and hit his face. Dongdu, Huainan Wolong immediately woke up.
Let's say that Wang Jiulang started from the lowest level of civil servants, with a little demon blood, and struggled to climb up despite discrimination. He climbed up with all his strength, and climbed for the sake of climbing. Until now, he is in troubled times, and has already been affected by
As I climbed higher and higher, I had a specific thought.
But it was precisely because of this climbing experience that he still knew that the more this happened, the more careful he had to be, the more he had to recognize the reality clearly, and he could not let go and walk into a dead end.
As soon as he thought of this, he immediately turned around: "General Wenren, led the navy to dispatch troops, and attacked the Huaixi thieves with Sima Gong! The victory or defeat will be today!"
When the former deputy leader of the Huaiyou League heard Xun'an's words, he bowed his hands and immediately turned down.
Two-quarters of an hour later, the Huainan Army launched a massive attack from the water.
This move caused the Huaixi Army to lose its final confidence. Without waiting for Sima Zheng to take action, the entire army took the initiative to retreat. However, they, who had already been defeated, fell into a rout as soon as they left the camp.
The army collapsed, and Du Po Zhen completely woke up... It was because his previous attack on Huaixi was so smooth that he became so arrogant that even when the news came that Zhang Xing was besieged by Dongdu and Bai Hengqiu, everything became a problem.
This gave him the motivation to persevere.
If Zhang Xing was defeated in the north and Li Shu was unable to do anything, but he swept across Huainan, wouldn't he be able to do a lot in the rebel army, or in the gang?
However, now that the army was defeated like a mountain, they could only suppress everything and grit their teeth and move forward.
When we return to Xuanpao City, we will regroup and discuss the future.
"Father!"
Du Po Formation here has just descended the mountain, heading to the Hekou area to the west. Among the chaotic defeated troops, suddenly a group of people rushed in. The first general was Wenren Xunan's nephew, Du Po Formation's latest Taibao Guo
Congratulations, he shouted in front of him. "The pontoon bridge at Feishuikou in front has been broken! Sima Zheng personally led three thousand troops around the mountain to break it! In front of everyone, he cut it off with a knife! The bastard of the navy pretended not to have any problems.
When I saw it, I went straight over!"
Du Pozhen stopped and was stunned for a moment, then suddenly laughed and wiped his face in the rain... His fingers were rough and his face hurt.
PS: Happy end of the Dragon Boat Festival everyone.