The news of Zhang Xutuo's death reached Beihai County. His old subordinates were all mourning for it. Zhang Xuan ordered the three armies to mourn, and white banners were erected at the camp gate to mourn the old commander.

At the same time, Zhang Xuan wrote a letter to Emperor Yang Guang, asking the emperor to issue an order to thoroughly investigate the truth about Zhang Xutuo's defeat and restore Zhang Xutuo's innocence.

Although the soldiers of the three armies were indignant and wanted to fight to the death immediately by Xiangdong County and Wagang Army, the reality was very heavy, and the six counties of Qingzhou also faced a huge threat from the northern bandits.

Dou Jiande's army of 80,000 troops were suppressed by Qinghe County, with the troops aiming directly at Qi County, and Gao Shida's army of 100,000 troops stationed in the north bank of the Yellow River in Pingyuan County, with the troops of Qi County and Beihai County, and the troops of Qingzhou and Zhang Xuan were under tremendous pressure.

Although the Qingzhou area was the earliest place where the rebellion broke out in the Sui Dynasty, after several years of hard work by Zhang Xutuo and Zhang Xuan, the six counties of Qingzhou have gradually recovered their livelihood. Both the grain output and the population have recovered, even exceeding the level before Wang Bo's rebellion, which is also due to the sufficient labor brought by a large number of Hebei farmers fleeing south.

On the contrary, due to the chaos in Hebei, there are many bandits of all sizes and big and small. Although Dou Jiande and Gao Shida tried their best to rest and recuperate, they still could not stop the people of Hebei from fleeing south to Qingzhou.

Especially during the period when Zhang Jin said the raging, about hundreds of thousands of people from the four counties in Hebei fled to Qi County and Beihai County, and the number of people who fled to Qi County and Beihai County alone reached 200,000.

On the one hand, the large population flees south and brings vitality to Qingzhou, but on the other hand, it brings people's livelihood to Hebei, and the grain output has dropped sharply, which seriously affected the development of several Hebei bandits.

At this moment, the Sui court made a fool of himself and disbanded Yang Yichen's army, who had just defeated Ge Qian, and Yang Yichen himself transferred back to Luoyang, but the army and general who replaced Yang Yichen did not come in time, causing a vacancies of troops. It gave Dou Jiande and Gao Shida a great opportunity to expand.

Dou Jiande and Gao Shida were almost eyeing the mouth-watering fat piece of Qingzhou at the same time.

That afternoon, Dou Jiande's 20,000 troops had secretly arrived in Liaocheng. Although Dou Jiande and Gao Shida took the initiative to attack Qi County and Beihai County, Dou Jiande knew that Zhang Xuan's navy was cruising on the Yellow River, and it was difficult for them to cross the Yellow River in large numbers. Small-scale crossing of the river was easily killed by Zhang Xuan's navy.

Therefore, crossing the river in Qinghe County was just an illusion. Confusing the Sui army on the other side, Dou Jiande had to send an army to cross the Yellow River first, and secretly increasing troops to Liaocheng in Wuyang County became the best choice in Dou Jiande's plan to send troops.

Dou Jiande was riding a horse and standing by the Yellow River, looking at the other side from afar. Dou Jiande was about forty years old, with a wide face and deep eyes. He was tall and had long hands and feet. His shoulders were extremely wide and stubborn. He looked like an ordinary farmer, and he still maintained the unique simplicity and magnificence of Hebei men.

Dou Jiande was originally a general of Gao Shida. He began to form an independent army four years ago and developed in Xindu County and Hejian County. Especially after joining the Bohai Association three years ago, he received strong support from the Bohai Association and had sufficient financial and food support. His army grew from thousands to 100,000 today, and he had surpassed Gao Shida in terms of military personnel.

However, as his strength grew, Dou Jiande began to become increasingly dissatisfied with the Bohai Association, which pointed at him. He began to consider how to get rid of the Bohai Association's control, but it was not easy to get rid of the Bohai Association's control. His old wife and son were hostages in the Bohai Association's hands. Bohai Association was very cautious and hid his wife and children very secretly. Even ordinary members of the Bohai Association did not know.

This attack on Qi County was not Dou Jiande's original intention, but the request of the Bohai Association. The Bohai Association realized that Gao Shida had an attempt to attack Qingzhou, so he ordered Dou Jiande to occupy Qingzhou before Gao Shida.

The other side is Jibei County, and it is also a weak place for the Sui army. Dou Jiande knew Zhang Xuan's troops very well. Faced with the threat of nearly 200,000 troops, Zhang Xuan could not divide his troops to Jibei County again, so he could cross the Yellow River from Jibei County and first lay a foundation in Jibei County.

At this time, a small boat sailed towards the north bank of the Yellow River. In the boat were two spies pretending to be fishermen. They got on the shore and quickly came to Dou Jiande to kneel down to report, "Report to Duke Dou, there are only more than 3,000 Sui troops on the other side, stationed in Lu County."

‘More than three thousand Sui army?’

Dou Jiande frowned. How could there be so many troops? He asked again: "Is it Zhang Xuan's army?"

"Reporting to Duke Dou, it was not Zhang Xuan's army, but the county soldiers he recruited not long ago. The equipment and training were relatively backward, and Zhang Xuan had not had time to recruit them."

Dou Jiande was only a little relieved. Not long ago, many counties had excuses of serving the king and recruiting troops, and the county soldiers of Jibei County were one of them. He knew that these so-called county soldiers were actually the "three-no army", without equipment, no fighting spirit, and no training. They were just some idle prodigal sons who joined the army to earn a piece of money and food, and were just a group of mobs, which was not worthy of his care.

Dou Jiande looked at the sky and then ordered: "Cross the river at the first update tonight!"

The capital of Jibei County is Lu County on the south bank of the Yellow River. The prefect was named Song Wenqian. He was originally the Minister of Rites. In October last year, he was sent by the court to replace the prefect appointed by Zhang Xuan. The original prefect was named Sun Jian. He was originally the county magistrate of Linzi County. He was appointed as the prefect of Jibei County by Zhang Xuan because of his outstanding performance in Linzi County. However, the court did not recognize Zhang Xuan's appointment. After Song Wenqian took office, he demoted Sun Jian to the county magistrate of Jibei County.

Song Wenqian is not bad. Although he is a weak scholar, he is from a poor family and has a little real talent and knowledge. He tries to reduce taxes and pays less and does not disturb the people. He is not harsh on the former prefect Sun Jian, and does not deliberately suppress him. He treats him with courtesy as much as possible. Therefore, he has won a good reputation in less than half a year as the prefect.

As night fell, the gate of Lu County was closed, and every household was closed. The county town quickly calmed down. There was a military camp near the east gate of the county town, where two thousand county soldiers were stationed, and another thousand were stationed in Jibei County.

These were several wealthy families in Jibei County who paid money and grain, and asked Song Wenqian to recruit in the name of the government serving the king. Although they were nominally county soldiers, they were actually private troops of several wealthy families to protect the safety of their families and the countryside.

The three thousand troops were commanded by a general, named Zheng Lin, a native of Lu County. He was originally a general of the Eagle Fighting Army of the Sui army. He was laid off after the First Goguryeo Battle and returned to his hometown. He is now hired by Song Wenqian as a general of the county. However, Zheng Lin was a little worried these two days. He received a military order from Zhang Xuan three days ago, ordering him to lead 3,000 troops to Qi County for training.

Of course, Zheng Lin understood that Zhang Xuan was going to incorporate his army. Although he did not want to offend Zhang Xuan and wanted to lead the army to Qi County, the army did not belong to him, and his opinions were meaningless. After asking for instructions, several wealthy families unanimously opposed the army being incorporated by Zhang Xuan, and the prefect Song Wenqian also remained silent. After Zhang Xuan returned to Beihai County, he had never met Zhang Xuan in Beihai County.

So Zheng Lin was very embarrassed. He knew that Zhang Xuan was polite first and then the army. If he toasted without eating the punishment, then Zhang Xuan would soon lead a large army to Jibei County. Not only would he directly recruit his own army, he might also be kicked out of the barracks.

This made Zheng Lin very worried. He was helpless because the major families in Jibei County were ungrateful and worried about his future and destiny.

At this time, a soldier rushed over and pointed to the Yellow River in the distance and shouted: "Look at General, the beacon tower is rising!"

Lu County is about twenty miles away from the Yellow River. Zhang Xutuo built dozens of beacon towers on the edge of the Yellow River, extending from Fan County, the westernmost part of Jibei County to Licheng County. There is a beacon tower on the Yellow River to the north of Lu County.

Zheng Lin also saw the beacon and was shocked. It was a thief army that had crossed the river.

He turned around and ran towards the city, leading a dozen soldiers to the back house of the county yamen in one breath, knocking on the gate of the courtyard, "Open the door!"

It was almost two o'clock at this time, and the prefect Song Wenqian had fallen asleep. After a moment, a small crack was opened. An old man said impatiently: "The master has already fallen asleep. Let's talk about anything tomorrow!"

"Tell the prefect Song quickly that the bandits have crossed the Yellow River!"

The old family was also startled and ran back to report. Soon after, the prefect Song Wenqian came out wearing a robe and asked, "General Zheng, what's the matter?"

"Empress, the beacon tower by the Yellow River has been lit!"

Song Wenqian could still calm down. He frowned and said, "Can it be an alarm coming from Fan County?"

"No! It's the beacon tower here. There is no fire on the west side. You must have crossed the river from us. Please evacuate quickly!"

Song Wenqian said for a while: "I'm afraid I can't do it if I let me leave the people of the county and escape by myself!"

"Empress, let the people escape together. Now there is still some time. I will lead the army to fight and stop the bandits from landing."
Chapter completed!