Everyone left the military conference cabin silently and returned to their cabin. Fang Xuanling was the only one left in the spacious cabin. He was Zhang Xuan's military advisor, and he was deeply trusted by Zhang Xuan and knew Zhang Xuan very well. He knew where Zhang Xuan's inexplicable anger came from today?

"Does the general really think that the bandits in Jianghuai are different from the bandits in Qingzhou?" Fang Xuanling asked with a smile.∈↗,

Zhang Xuan said for a while: "Maybe it was Wang Shichong's Huainan Army that left a deep impression on me. The soldiers were generally fierce and strong. As rioters, they were all very strong in their personal combat power, but they lost in training and formation. But under Wang Shichong's training, they were a very strong army. Du Fuwei was able to fight out of the bandits in the Jianghuai River, so there must be something extraordinary about him. The defeat of the bandits in the Huai River should have nothing to do with Du Fuwei. On the contrary, if Miao Haichao obeyed Du Fuwei's military orders and hid them, we had no way to deal with them."

"The general makes sense. A arrogant army will be defeated. We cannot underestimate the enemy anyway. It's just that the general seems to have deep resentment towards the officials of various counties in Jianghuai. I feel that the general is a bit wrong with them."

Zhang Xuan sneered, "I'm not wrong about them. They are like the officials in Qingzhou, and they are on two boats. Now they think Du Fuwei is too powerful, so they all secretly communicate with Du Fuwei. When the Sui army defeats Du Fuwei, they will definitely jump out to find out various reasons to free themselves. Do we still see this scene less?"

"They also have difficulties. The court does not allow each county to recruit rural bravery. The aristocratic families of each county cannot protect themselves and can only surrender to the rioters secretly. The local government is controlled by the wealthy families of each county. The skin is gone, and the Mao general is attached. The rioters secretly surrender to the rioters. Of course, the government can only compromise with the rioters. I believe they are not willing to do so."

Fang Xuanling knew that Zhang Xuan's inexplicable anger today was not because Luo Shixin underestimated the enemy, but because of the attitude of the officials of various counties.

The officials of various counties in Jianghuai have refused to come to Jiangdu to visit the envoys and discuss the plan to destroy bandits, which has really angered Zhang Xuan, so Zhang Xuan was eager to fight Du Fuwei and reverse his political weakness in Jianghuai.

But Fang Xuanling was afraid that Zhang Xuan would do stupid things in anger, such as severely punishing the prefect of Liyang County, etc., which not only would not intimidate other counties, but would instead lead to the governments in various places becoming more disinterested. In particular, the major families in the Jianghuai River began to resist Zhang Xuan, so he had to persuade him to calm down, not rush to achieve success, and not be impulsive.

Fang Xuanling's persuasion slightly calmed Zhang Xuan's anger, and he paced back and forth in the cabin with his hands behind his back. Fang Xuanling whispered again: "In addition, there is one thing I didn't expect, and I also need to reflect on myself."

"What?" Zhang Xuan looked back at him.

"It's the Jiangnan Association. After chatting with the officials of the Jiangdu County Office, I learned that the main reason why the Jiangnan Association was driven out by Du Fuwei in the Jianghuai area was the hatred of the Jianghuai family for the Jiangnan Association."

Zhang Xuan was stunned and asked for a while: "Why is this?"

Fang Xuanling sighed and said, "The resentment caused by history is the division of the south. The Sima family rebuilt the Jin Dynasty with the support of the Jiangnan tribes such as Lu, Wang, Yu, and Gu. The Jiangnan tribes took over the power of the dynasty. They have always oppressed and exploited the Jianghuai gentry. Later, the Song, Qi, Liang and Chen and other Southern gentry did not like the Jianghuai gentry. They were both guarded and oppressed, resulting in hatred of each other on the north and south sides of the Yangtze River. The Sui army was able to successfully cross the Yangtze River to the south, which was also related to the full support of the Jianghuai gentry."

Zhang Xuan was speechless. He understood what Fang Xuanling meant.

Fang Xuanling continued: "Du Fuwei's rapid rise in the Jianghuai River was largely because he clearly opposed the Jiangnan gentry and hated the Jiangnan Association supported by the Jiangnan gentry. This is the fundamental reason why the officials of the five counties of Jianghuai County refused to come to see the general so far. Unless the general can get the support of the Jianghuai gentry, the general reached a consensus on cooperation with the Jiangnan Association, and I realized that this was our failure."

"I understand what the military advisor means. The real purpose of Jiangnan Association is to use us to weaken the Jianghuai gentry, and Du Fuwei is the army secretly supported by the Jianghuai gentry."

Speaking of this, Zhang Xuan frowned again, "Since that's the case, why did Du Fuwei cut off the Tongji Canal? Isn't this harming the interests of the wealthy families in Jianghuai?"

Fang Xuanling sighed, "The general is very wrong. More than 90% of the business in Jiangdu is controlled by the Guanlong nobles and the Jiangnan geniuses. The condition for the cooperation between the Jiangnan Association and the general is to ask the general to take care of the Jiangnan Association's interests in Jiangdu? This is not a small number. Du Fuwei cut off the Tongji Canal in fact, in order to combat the interests of the Jiangnan Association. The interests of the Guanlong nobles are only accompanied by victims. Otherwise, why the court officials were so anxious to resume shipping? There is actually a deep mystery here."

Zhang Xuan sat down slowly, and Fang Xuanling's words completely solved the puzzle that had troubled him for a long time. Why did Du Fuwei cut off the Tongji Canal and cause trouble? Now he realized that there was a deep struggle for interests hidden here.

At this moment, Zhang Xuan suddenly thought of something. He quickly walked to the map and stared at the official road of Liyang County, his expression became extremely solemn.

From Jiangdu to Liyang County along the north bank of the Yangtze River, the first half is a plain, with a flat terrain and wide and easy to walk on. However, after passing the Chu River, the terrain gradually becomes more complex, especially after entering Liuhe Mountain, the mountains are undulating, with many hills and crisscrossing rivers and valleys, so the road is no longer easy to walk.

Pei Xingyan led 800 cavalry as vanguards and headed south. Their target was not Du Fuwei's old nest in Liuhe Mountain, but to rush to the north of Liyang County to cut off the merger of the two Du Fuwei troops of Luozhu Mountain and Liuhe Mountain.

Although there are many hills and the terrain is rugged, it still does not cause much obstacle to the Sui cavalry. Three days later, the cavalry arrived at Taoye Mountain and walked fifty miles forward to see Liyuling, where Du Fuwei's old nest is located.

"General Su, it's getting late, let's station troops on the spot!" The side general Chen Xu suggested to Pei Xingyan.

Pei Xingyan looked up at the sky. The sun had already set, but the afterglow still illuminated the sky. However, a trace of twilight had quietly emerged from the forest. They were located in a sunken basin, with mountains standing around them, and their vision was still wide. In front of them was a bottomless valley.

"How long is the valley ahead?" Pei Xingyan asked with a horse whip and pointed it at the valley ahead.

The person who led the way for them was the postmaster of the postmaster at Hushu Town, Liuhe County. He was named Zhao Changgui. He was over 40 years old and a local. He had been a postmaster for 30 years and knew the terrain of this area well.

Zhao Changgui smiled and said, "There are seven valleys in Taoye Mountain, and the fifth grain is in front of it. The locals call it Taowugu. It looks like the valley road is long, but it is not actually long, only about three or four miles."

"Can there be streams nearby?" The Sui army cavalry marched for a day, and they were trapped in people and were in short supply, so they urgently needed to find water sources.

"After passing Taowu Grain, there is Taoye Creek, which is very clear and sweet."

Pei Xingyan hesitated for a moment. It was dusk now. Should they pass through the valley? Zhao Changgui saw Pei Xingyan's hesitation and smiled and said, "General, don't worry! There are no rioters in this area. If there are rioters, will our post station still exist?"

This is very reasonable. Pei Xingyan was about to order forward, but Li Qingming, the cavalry officer who was accompanying him, advised: "General Pei, the military strategy is clouded, and he is suspected when he passes the valley. Moreover, it is not far from Du Fuwei's nest, so we'd better be careful."

Chen Xu smiled and said, "Li joined the army and said it makes sense, but water is also important. I am willing to take a team of brothers to get water."

Pei Xingyan nodded and turned to Zhao Changgui and said, "Please ask Zhao Yicheng to take us to get water."

"Okay!" Zhao Changgui saw that they were unwilling to pass the valley, so he had to reluctantly agree.

Chen Xu waved his hand, "First Brigade comes with me to get water!"

Hundreds of cavalrymen followed Chen Xu with water bags and rushed away, and soon disappeared into the valley. Pei Xingyan ordered other cavalrymen to rest on the spot.

It was already autumn, and the night was cooler, and the wind was particularly strong in the mountains. A gust of mountain wind blew, and the woods rustled, making a strange roar. For some reason, Pei Xingyan always felt a sense of badness in his heart, but he couldn't tell the reason, which made him look a little anxious. He stood up from time to time and looked at the valley.

Suddenly, there was a faint cry of killing in the depths of the valley. Pei Xingyan was stunned. What's going on?

At this time, many soldiers stood up one after another, and they also heard an abnormality.

"Get on the horse immediately!" Pei Xingyan shouted loudly, realizing that the situation was not good.

The soldiers boarded their horses. At this moment, two Sui cavalry ran out of the valley, all of whom were shot. They ran out of the valley and fell off their horses. Several soldiers rushed up to help them up.

"What happened?" Pei Xingyan asked sternly.

"There are ambushes in the valley, go quickly! There are too many enemies."

"Where is General Chen?" Pei Xingyan yelled in a hurry.

Before the "brothers all the formations" was finished, the soldiers closed their eyes and passed away.

At this time, the sound of killing in the valley was shocking the sky. I don’t know how many bandits came here. Pei Xingyan knew that the terrain here was extremely unfavorable for cavalry fighting. He endured his grief and yelled: “Get with me!”

The cavalry turned their horses one after another and followed Pei Xingyan and ran away outside Taoye Mountain.

Soon, thousands of bandits killed them. The leader of the general was the golden helmet and armor, and the tiger teeth and gold sword in his hand. He was majestic. It was Du Fuwei, the leader of the Jianghuai thief, and a middle-aged man was Zhao Changgui, who led the way for the Sui army. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!