Two days later, Zhang Xuan led 1,700 soldiers to leave Zhuo County and followed the instructions of the Ministry of War to gather in Luoyang.￥f.￥f

More than 800 people in his army were originally archers of the Youzhou Army, but since their chief general was killed, Lai Hu'er organized them into Zhang Xuan's 16th battalion as supplementary forces, making them officially become Zhang Xuan's subordinates, and upgraded the 16th battalion from a small camp to a central camp.

In this way, Zhang Xuan had a quota of 2,000 troops, and Zhang Xuan himself could add about 300 people, either recruiting himself or applying for allocation from the court.

However, what Zhang Xuan is facing now is not the issue of military source, but the ownership of his army, which is related to the source of food and grass in his army and the survival of his army.

In fact, it was not only him, but every army that returned from Liaodong faced the same problem. This time he went to Luoyang, in name, to receive honors, but in fact he was to face a great military purge. The head general of each army was heavy in his heart, and Zhang Xuan was also not at ease.

Zhang Xuan led his army to the south along the Yongji Canal. Before leaving, Guo Xuan gave him thirty grain ships. They consigned food, grass, tents and other supplies on the ship. The thirty grain ships lined up in a long string and walked slowly along the river, greatly reducing the burden on the soldiers to carry food, grass and supplies.

At the same time, Zhang Xuan hired a 500-stone small building boat to accompany the food and grass fleet to settle Lu Qingyuan's wife and daughter and his little maid A Yuan.

Although the journey was not peaceful, under the deterrence of the army, they went smoothly and were not attacked by bandits. In the evening of that day, the army set up a large camp near Qinghe County, and the night was not safe. Lu Qingyuan's wife and daughter and A Yuan both entered the military camp.

Lu Qingyuan seemed a little worried. He found Zhang Xuan who was commanding the soldiers to camp, "Yuan Ding, I have something I have to tell you."

After traveling with him for five days, Zhang Xuan found that Lo Kyung-won was actually a very long-winded and overly cautious person. He was worried about this and that along the way, and he refused to calm down.

Now, he ran over worriedly again, which made Zhang Xuan feel a little overwhelmed. If he really married Lu Qing in the future, wouldn’t he be so annoyed by such a brother-in-law?

"Brother Lu, what's the matter?" Zhang Xuan forced a smile.

"I don't think I should have camped in Qinghe County. Have you heard of Gaojibo, a good brother from Qinghe County?"

Zhang Xuan nodded, "Of course I know. Is it far away from here, one of the two major nests of the Shandong bandits?"

"Gaojipo is about two hundred miles away from here, but now the leader of the thief in Gaojipo is Zhang Jinsheng. He defeated the militia of four counties a few months ago and was powerful. He has gathered 70,000 to 80,000 people and dared to challenge the officers and soldiers. I heard that last month he sent his general Yang Gongqing to rob the withdrawal army in the south and seized dozens of war horses. We are stationed in Qinghe County. Will we also be in danger?"

Although Lu Qingyuan is usually very long-winded, his words today are somewhat valuable. Zhang Xuangang led his army back from Liaodong, and he knew almost nothing about what happened in the Central Plains. However, he knew that Zhang Jin had defeated the militia in the four counties, which triggered Zhang Xutuo to Beijing, and even Cheng Yaojin was one of the defeated militias.

Especially a few days ago he snatched dozens of horses that Zhang Jincheng had. Maybe Zhang Jincheng already knew it, how would he take revenge on him?

Zhang Xuan could despise Zhang Jincheng in strategic terms, but he did not dare to be careless in tactics. Zhang Jincheng claimed to be the King of Qinghe. He had tens of thousands of people under his command, and was a very powerful leader of a bandit.

He pondered for a while and asked again: "Is the bandits robbing the army rumor or the exact fact?"

"It was Cui Li who told me that this matter was concealed by the military. He told me not to go south recently. Recently, because of the autumn harvest, Zhang Jin said that he was very arrogant and attacked from all over the world to grab food."

At this moment, a soldier rushed to report, "General, there is a hero outside the camp asking for a visit."

"Who is it?"

"He said he was an old friend of the general and came from Mayi County."

Zhang Xuan's thoughts changed, could it be

Zhang Xuan walked quickly to the outside of the camp and saw a majestic hero standing outside the camp. It was Yuchi Gong who was separated from the grassland, holding a big iron stick and holding a horse with a horse. Zhang Xuan was overjoyed and shouted from afar: "Is it Jingde?"

Yuchi Gong walked forward quickly, knelt down on one knee and said, "Yuchi Gong meets the young master."

Zhang Xuan hurriedly stepped forward and helped him up, feeling extremely happy, "I didn't expect to see Jingde in Qinghe County. Did you come directly from Mayi County?"

"Reporting to the young master, I received a letter from my husband saying that my husband was in Youzhou, so I hurried to Jixian County. But I learned that the young master had gone south, so I chased him all the way. Thanks to my way of going the right direction, I caught up with the young master."

Zhang Xuan knew that the gentleman Yuchi Gong was talking about must refer to Li Jing. After the end of the Goguryeo War, Li Jing left Pyongyang first. Unexpectedly, he thought about it carefully for himself and found Yuchi Gong. Zhang Xuan was grateful to Li Jing for his kindness and quickly smiled at Yuchi Gong: "Speak in the account first."

Zhang Xuan took Yuchi Gong into the big tent that had just been laid, asked him to sit down, and asked with concern: "How are your wife and children?"

"Thank you for your concern. They are very good. After breaking up from the grassland, I returned to Mayi County. But my wife complained that I forgot my righteousness when I see profit and don't care about my son after getting the benefits. I feel ashamed and go back to Ji County to find my son again. But I heard that my son went to Liaodong with the army, so I had to go home first. This time I settled my wife and children, and I came to find my son again. I am willing to serve my son."

Yuchi Gong knelt down on one knee again, holding his fists high, and his attitude was very sincere. Zhang Xuan sighed in his heart that Yuchi Gong came to find him twice, which shows his sincerity. How could he not accept such a fierce general?

"We don't need to be respectful and respectful. We are brothers. If you are willing to help me, I will certainly not ask for it."

Zhang Xuan asked Yuchi Gong to sit down again. At this time, Yuchi Gong whispered: "Young Master's situation may be a little bad."

Zhang Xuan was stunned, "How do you say this?"

"When I chased the young master, I found someone following the young master. I eavesdropped on them. It seemed that Zhang Jin said he was trying to beat the young master's food and horses. The young master should be careful at night."

First, Lu Qingyuan reminded him, and now Yuchi Gong has discovered that Zhang Xuan also knew that the situation was not good, and he only had 1,700 people. Once Zhang Jin said that he would send tens of thousands of troops to siege, the situation would be very unfavorable to them.

Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment and immediately ordered his subordinates, "Come all the lieutenants and brigade commanders for me, go quickly."

The soldiers rushed away. Soon, more than a dozen officers above the brigade commander rushed to Zhang Xuan's camp. Zhang Xuan introduced Yuchi Gong to them and told everyone about Yuchi Gong's discovery.

This made all the generals worried. Most of these generals came from Douzigang and knew the habits of the bandits in Hebei. The brigade commander Yu Jingqiu raised his hand and said, "General, I have been a small leader under Zhang Jincheng. Can I say a few words?"

Zhang Xuan nodded, "You said"

Yu Jingqiu stood up and said to everyone: "Everyone knows that there are three major bandit leaders in southern Hebei, Dou Jiande, Gao Shida and Zhang Jin said. The saying that circulating in Hebei is Dou Jiande's mercy, Gao Shida's greed, Gao Shida's greed and Zhang Jin said brutality, Zhang Jin said that he killed people and robbed people, even massacres and plunders, and was full of atrocities. Many families in Qinghe County were destroyed by him.

Until Zhang Xutuo arrived, Zhang Jin said that he had lost several times in a row and suffered heavy casualties, so he had to hide in Gaojipo. This man was scheming and especially liked sneak attacks at night and was good at fire attacks. If he had the idea of ​​us, I would like to remind the general to be careful of his sneak attacks and fire attacks."

Another lieutenant stood up and said, "Supervisor Yu Lu said it well. We do not have a camp and enough spear to defend against enemy raids. Beizhi suggested that we withdraw to Qinghe County immediately. Use the county walls to resist the attack of the bandits."

At this time, Lu Qingyuan said on the side: "I heard that Zhang Xutuo's army is stationed in Qi County. It is more than 200 miles away from us. It is better for us to ask Zhang Xutuo for help at the same time."

As the saying goes, three cobblers, who are more than Zhuge Liang, are talking nonsense and make their own suggestions.

Soon, a complete plan came out. Zhang Xuan ordered the army to set off again and retreat into Qinghe County. At the same time, the food and grass were also moved into the county town. In addition, Zhang Xuan wrote a letter and asked the two cavalrymen to rush to Qi County quickly and ask Zhang Xutuo's army for help.

Qinghe County was originally the capital of Qinghe County. Due to the turbulent rebellion in the territory, Qinghe County was captured by bandits several times and was no longer safe. The county yamen temporarily moved to Gaotang County, which was close to Qi County, and the prefect and the chief minister also moved there.

Currently, the highest official in Qinghe County is the county magistrate. The county magistrate is Wang. He is about 36 or 37 years old. He is a disciple of the Cui family. He was recommended by the Cui family to be the county magistrate five years ago.

When he heard that an army was about to enter the city, the magistrate Wang was really worried and rushed to the city gate, but he saw that the city gate had been opened. In the twilight, an army was lined up to enter the city.

The magistrate Wang secretly complained in his heart. He and Zhang Jinsheng had reached a tacit understanding. As long as he did not allow the Sui army to enter the city, Zhang Jinsheng would not attack the county. Now that this army enters the city, wouldn’t it cause trouble for himself and Qinghe County.

He quickly found the militia leader guarding the city gate, gritted his teeth and scolded: "You idiot, why did you let them enter the city?"

The militia leader said with a frown: "The militia only has a hundred people, and they have nearly two thousand troops. How dare we refuse them to enter the city?"

"Then why don't you report me in advance?"

"Didn't you send someone to report it? How could the county magistrate know?"

County Magistrate Wang stomped his feet in hatred, ran towards the army entering the city, and asked loudly: "Who is the general in charge?"

Zhang Xuan had just rode into the city and saw an official running towards him. There were several yamen runners following him. Seeing that he was the county magistrate of the official uniform, Zhang Xuan turned over and got off the horse and smiled and said, "I am, may I ask you,"

The magistrate Wang quickly saluted, "When the magistrate of Xiaqinghe County, Wang Kui, please ask the general's surname."

"My surname is Zhang"

"It turned out to be General Zhang. I don't know why General Zhang led his army into the city. The small county had a small grain, a sparse population, and a poor people, so it really could not support the army."

"I have the food and supplies myself, so we won't disturb the people. We just stay for a night and leave tomorrow morning."

Zhang Xuan did not tell him that there would be a rioter attack. He was afraid that he would scare the thin county magistrate. Wang County Magistrate breathed a little relieved. If he left early tomorrow morning, it would be no big problem. He hurriedly said: "There are many empty rooms in this county. Why don't I arrange some rooms for the general, which can not only facilitate the soldiers to rest, but also avoid disturbing the people. What does the general think?"

Zhang Xuan looked at the county town. It was pitch black, with neither shops nor pedestrians, as if it was a dead city, and the surrounding city walls were riddled with holes. He was also thinking about recruiting civilians to defend the city together. Now it seems that this county town cannot be counted on.

Zhang Xuan frowned and pointed at a row of black houses not far away with his horse whip and said, "Is there anyone in these houses?"

"The houses near the city gates are almost uninhabited."

"Then let's live here."

Zhang Xuan turned around and ordered: "Look for some solid houses near the city gate, put the food and supplies in place, and repair the city wall as soon as possible."

County Magistrate Wang was stunned. He was very smart about repairing the city walls and asked in a low voice: "General Zhang, what happened?"

"Nothing happened, just in case there are many thieves here. If there are bandits attacking at night, we have to be prepared in advance. County Magistrate Wang said, "

Although it makes sense, County Magistrate Wang still felt that it was a bit strange. Generally, the army would not enter the county town, but this army entered the city overnight and struggled to move the food off the ship.
Chapter completed!