Deng Yu, Yan Guang, Li Tong and others came to Liu Xiu one after another and sat on the ground beside him. Li Tong lowered his head and whispered: "Lord, we still have one hundred and thirty-six people."
Seeing Li Tong's embarrassed look, Liu Xiu smiled at him and said softly: "It's already very good! These more than a hundred brothers have withstood the test, and they will be trustworthy in the future."
It is better than Liu Xiu expected to have more than a hundred people left. Of course, these people have nothing to do with Li Yi. They are servants, guardians and retainers of the Li family, and they are loyal to Li Shou, Li Tong and his son.
dedicated.
Li Yi said with an ugly face: "It's best not to let me meet those guys who run away in the future, otherwise I will never let them go easily!"
Liu Xiu smiled and said, "I'm afraid I won't have such an opportunity again in the future."
Li Yi was startled and looked at Liu Xiu in surprise. Liu Xiu said: "With Zhen Fu's character, he will not let them go. Even if they regret and betray, Zhen Fu will still execute them all."
Liu Xiu had learned about Zhen Fu's conduct and methods of doing things, and he knew Zhen Fu relatively well. In fact, Liu Xiu's words came true. In the end, few of those who escaped were
Survived.
Deng Yu changed the topic and said: "We have to go back to Chongling. I'm afraid it won't be peaceful on the way."
Zhu You answered: "We have to pass through Nanjiuju and Jiyang before we can get to Xinye."
Liu Xiu said quietly: "If the county government knows that we have escaped from Wancheng, how do you think the county government will respond?"
Yan Guang answered: "I think the county government will send two groups of soldiers and horses, one group of troops to chase our troops, and the other group of troops to gather in the south and stand ready to stop our troops."
Nanjiuju is located in the south of Wancheng, fifty miles away from Wancheng. Nanjiuju is not a city or a town, but the name of a water area. Nanjiuju is a large area washed out by Tang River, Baihe River and Jishui River. The land
It was fertile and favored by the people. Gradually, more and more people moved here to engage in farming, and it became a gathering place for the people.
Liu Xiu looked at Yan Guang and asked, "Ziling, how do you think we can safely withdraw to Chongling?"
Yan Guang said seriously: "If we go south along the official road, it will be difficult for us to escape the pursuit of the county army, and it will also be difficult for us to pass through Nanjiu Ju smoothly. Therefore, we must either go east or west. Go west,
The path has a lot of water, which is not conducive to our march, but it is even less conducive to the county army's pursuit."
Liu Xiu nodded thoughtfully, then he looked around at the others and asked, "What are your opinions?"
Deng Yu expressed his position: "I think Ziling's idea is feasible. We can detour westward to avoid the pursuit and interception of the county army."
Zhu You, Gai Yan, Li Tong, and Li Yi all had no objections and nodded in agreement. Liu Xiu clapped his hands and said, "Okay, that's it. Let's go west."
After deciding on the next route, Liu Xiu and others did not waste any more time and turned to head west.
The escape route of Liu Xiu and others really exceeded the county government's expectations.
The pursuers sent by the county government were exactly as Yan Guang expected. They were divided into two groups. They chased them all the way along the official road, and then took a shortcut all the way to the south to intercept them. As a result, both groups of troops were in vain. Even Liu Xiu and his party were defeated.
No shadow was seen.
The officers and soldiers who reported the news returned to the county government like a revolving door. After hearing the news, Zhen Fu was furious and asked sternly: "Can Li Tong and Li Yi still have wings and fly?"
An aide came close to Zhen Fu, bowed and whispered: "It is reported that Liu Xiu, Deng Yu and others are also rebelling with Li Tong and Li Yi this time! Your Excellency, since Liu Xiu, Deng Yu If he participated, then Liu Yan from Chung Ling must also be related to this matter."
A flash of light flashed in Zhen Fu's eyes, he slowly clenched his fists, squinted his eyes, and said in a solemn voice: "Liu Yan, Liu Xiu!" He turned to look at Captain Liang Qiuci and asked: "Master Liang, look How should this matter be handled?”
Liang Qiuci smiled calmly and said: "Simple! I can personally lead a group of soldiers and horses to Chung Ling, capture the two brothers Liu Yan and Liu Xiu, and hand them over to Master Zhen for a clear trial!"
Zhen Fu stared at Liang Qiuci and said nothing for a long time. He was considering whether he should give this credit to Liang Qiuci.
Just as Zhen Fu was thinking about it secretly, an officer and soldier hurried in from outside. He bowed his hands to Zhen Fu and Liang Qiuci and saluted, and then said urgently: "Sir, the imperial edict has arrived!"
Hearing this, Zhen Fu and Liang Qiuci stood up at the same time. They looked at each other and hurried out of the lobby to the courtyard outside. When they looked up, they saw Taizhong doctor Fei Xing holding the imperial edict in his hand. Walked in from outside.
Zhen Fu and Liang Qiuci hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed.
When Fei Xing came to Nanyang this time, he brought not one copy of the imperial edict, but two copies.
The imperial edict on the surface was to detail the crimes committed by the Li family and order Nanyang County to execute all of them without any mistakes. The second imperial edict brought by Fei Xing was a secret edict.
The content of the secret edict was to order Liang Qiuci to lead the main force of the Nanyang County army to garrison in Luyang, in the north of Nanyang County.
In the study room, after reading Wang Mang's secret edict, Zhen Fu and Liang Qiuci both looked at a loss, and their minds were filled with confusion. Now Li Tong and Li Yi from Wancheng have turned against each other, and the Liu brothers from Chongling are very worried. Maybe it's the opposite. If we don't encircle and suppress the rebels, why should we go to Luyang in the north?
Zhen Fu cleared his throat and said with an apologetic smile: "Master Fei, Your Majesty...Did Your Majesty make a mistake in writing this secret edict?"
Fei Xing's old face sank and he looked at Zhen Fu with cold eyes. Fei Xing was a typical selfless person who refused to recognize his relatives. No matter which minister made a mistake, as long as he knew about it, he would definitely impeach him in the court.
Li Shou was well-liked in the capital, but at the critical moment, it was Fei Xing who dealt the most fatal blow to Li Shou.
Zhen Fu knew Fei Xing's character well. When Fei Xing glanced at him, he trembled and bowed and said: "Master Fei, Li Tong, and Li Yi have rebelled in Wancheng, and this matter may also involve Liu Yan and Liu Xiu brothers who came to Chongling..."
Before he could finish his words, Fei Xing interrupted: "How many rebels are there?"
"Uh... Sir, Li Tong, Li Yi has more than a hundred subordinates, and Liu Yan and Liu Xiu have two to three hundred subordinates." Zhen Fu replied cautiously.
In front of Fei Xing, he did not dare to lie. Li Tong and Li Yi did indeed run away with about a hundred people, and Liu Yan's men in Chung Ling suffered a lot of losses when they put down the Green Forest Army, and now they are just Two hundred people.
Fei Xing glanced at Zhen Fu and said with a sneer: "So, you have less than five hundred rebels in Nanyang!"
Zhen Fu swallowed his saliva, bowed and said, "Yes, Master Fei."
"Does Master Zhen know how many rebels there are in the north?"
"This... I don't know!"
"There are nearly one hundred thousand red eyebrows in the north!"
The faces of Zhen Fu and Liang Qiuci changed. The latter quickly said: "Didn't the Grand Master and General Lian command an army of 100,000 to wipe out the Red Eyebrow rebels?"
Fei Xing looked at Zhen Fu and then at Liang Qiuci. He couldn't help but sigh and said, "We are defeated!"
"Ah?" Zhen Fu and Liang Qiuci looked at Fei Xing dumbfounded.
Fei Xing said word by word: "General Lian was killed in the battle, the Grand Master was injured, and almost all of the 100,000-strong army suffered casualties."
Zhenfu and Liang Qiuci opened their mouths in disbelief and asked in unison: "Lian... General Lian died in the battle?"
That was Lian Dan, a famous general who had been on the battlefield for many years and was brave and good at fighting. He actually died in the hands of the Red Eyebrow Army?
Not to mention that it was hard for Zhen Fu and Liang Qiuci to believe that Fei Xing, even Wang Mang, and the entire court found it hard to believe that the 100,000-strong capital army led by Wang Kuang and Lian Dan could not defeat the Chi army with only tens of thousands of people.
In the end, Lian Dan of the Mei Army was killed, Wang Kuang was wounded and fled, and the entire army of 100,000 was almost wiped out. How this battle was fought, no one can figure out.
In short, after this battle, the Red Eyebrow Army became famous. In a very short period of time, its strength expanded to nearly 100,000 people, and its power has spread to Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yanzhou, and Yuzhou. Under such a situation, Jingzhou appears
It is very important, and as the largest county in Jingzhou, Nanyang County is the top priority.
Looking at the two people who were stunned and unable to recover for a long time, Fei Xing smiled bitterly, took a deep breath, and said: "Otherwise, why do you think His Majesty wanted to hoard the Nanyang County troops in Luyang? He was just worried that the Red Eyebrow rebels would take advantage of the victory and advance westward.
, attack Luoyang, and capture Chang'an. Currently, the main forces of the imperial court are in the northwest border, and it will take time to mobilize them back. Therefore, your Majesty can only gather troops from various states and counties to contain the Red Eyebrow Army!"
That's it! Zhen Fu and Liang Qiuci really didn't expect that the war in the north had become so serious that even the capital was directly threatened by the Red Eyebrow Army.
Here in Nanyang County, there is no force of the Red Eyebrow Army. There is only the Green Forest Army, and it is still insignificant. In front of the county army, the Green Forest Army is often vulnerable and will be defeated in one blow.
Zhen Fu and Liang Qiuci did not pay attention to the rebels at all. They just felt that the emergence of rebels in the areas under their jurisdiction would affect their political achievements and thus their career.
"The capital city is in danger. Lord Liang, please act in accordance with your Majesty's secret edict! As for the rebels in Nanyang County, they are just a mob and are nothing to worry about."
Fei Xing, who is in the capital, the most direct threat he can feel is the Red Eyebrow Army. To him, there is no greater threat than the Red Eyebrow Army in the world. The top priority is to gather all the troops to stop it.
The Red Eyebrow Army marched westward to protect the capital. When the main force of the Capital Army guarding the border returned to the court, they regrouped and annihilated the Red Eyebrow Army in one fell swoop.
What Fei Xing didn't expect was that the secret edict he brought bought rare time for Liu Yan and Liu Xiu to start their uprising in Chongling.
If Liang Qiuci and the main force of the Nanyang County Army had not been transferred, it is hard to say whether Liu Yan and Liu Xiu's uprising would have succeeded!
History has no ifs.
The Dongchuang Incident caused by Li Shou forced Liu Yan and Liu Xiu to have a hasty revolt, but their revolt coincided with the Red Eyebrow Army's consecutive victories in the north.
The huge threat posed by the Red Eyebrow Army to the Xinmang court created enough room for Liu Yan and Liu Xiu to rise up.
It can be said that Liu Yan and Liu Xiu are very lucky, but there are many lucky people in the world, but very few successful people, because those who can grasp luck are often well-prepared people.