Heyang Ferry is an ancient ferry crossing. On the other side of the Yellow River is the famous Mengjin Ferry, which was the place where King Wu of Zhou met to defeat Zhou 1,600 years ago. Heyang Ferry Crossing is also the only ferry crossing on the north bank of the Yellow River that is suitable for large-scale landings by the army.

The bright autumn sun shines on both sides of the Yellow River. The autumn air is clear and cool. The cool breeze in late autumn brings a hint of warmth under the sunlight, blew the Yellow River water one after another. At this moment, hundreds of warships were moored quietly on the surface of the Yellow River. This is a fleet of 20,000 soldiers, full of Li Mi's ambition to go north. They attempt to take advantage of the opportunity of Yang Yuanqing and Dou Jiande in the eastern part of Hanoi County to occupy the western part of Hanoi County in one fell swoop.

But their ambitions were not so easy to achieve. At this moment, at the Heyang Ferry Crossing across the Yellow River, 10,000 Sui troops were ready to fight. Three thousand crossbowmen besieged a semicircle and blocked the entire two-mile-long ferry crossing. Behind the crossbowmen, seven thousand cavalrymen were holding spears in their hands and waiting for battle. The blockade of crossbowmen and the cavalry's charge would not be able to successfully land.

Xu Shiji, the chief general of the Sui army, immediately looked at the fleet on the river from a distance, hundreds of warships covering the sky and the sun, and flags were waving. Xu Shiji's eyes were a little complicated. He had a sense that Li Mi was probably on these warships. He saw a huge tower ship in the middle, twice as big as other ships. A black-edged apricot and yellow flag fluttered in the wind. His intuition told him that this was Li Mi's ship.

Xu Shiji is a person who values ​​old love. He also knows that there are many old subordinates in the big ship, colleagues who drink with him, and brothers who fight bloody battles with him. He has thought more than once when he will meet them again, but not now, now it is the battlefield, and he will never want to meet his old subordinates on the battlefield.

At this time, a soldier shouted: "General Xu, a small boat is coming!"

Xu Shiji saw a small boat sailing towards the shore. There were only three people on the boat, two rowers and one soldier, "Let them get ashore!" Xu Shiji ordered.

After a moment, the sergeant got ashore and was taken to Xu Shiji by the soldiers. The sergeant knelt down on one knee and said, "Report to General Xu, the King of Wei is leading the army to help His Highness the King of Jin attack Dou Jiande. Because time hastily, there is no time to form an alliance, but the letter of alliance has been sent!"

The soldier took out a book of alliance from the bag behind him and presented it to Xu Shiji. Xu Shiji opened the book of alliance and read it, and wrote thousands of words on it, including Li Mi's seal. What is the common righteousness, support the Sui Dynasty, benefiting the people of the world, etc., but it is not mentioned to jointly deal with Dou Jiande.

Xu Shiji was as careful as he found that the Zhu Ni on the Alliance Book was not completely dry, which means that this was the big seal just now on the ship. He sneered in his heart and said to the soldiers: "Go back and tell Li Mi that if he really helps the Sui army fight against Dou Jiande's army, then he should go to Liyang to cross the river and cut off Dou Jiande's retreat from behind, and should not appear here. Go!"

The soldier bowed and rushed back to the boat toward the middle of the river. On the boat, Li Mi looked gloomy. He saw the soldiers coming ashore to contact him, but the soldiers on the shore did not retreat, which meant that the other party was not moved. He felt annoyed.

It was not accidental that Li Mi wanted to seize Hanoi County. After his army failed to siege Luoyang, it suffered heavy losses, and its military strength had been reduced from the original 400,000 to more than 200,000. It included deaths in battle, escape and surrender, which were almost half reduced. However, due to the rampant bandits in the early years, famine and wars every year, nine out of ten households had been destroyed. In many counties, there were only more than a thousand people left in one county, and it was impossible to continue recruiting soldiers. The source of troops was exhausted. Not only was the shortage of troops, but the grain in his Luokou Cang was also exhausted due to a lot of waste and the army was fed.

At this time, Li Mi naturally thought of the Hedong counties with a large population, especially the south of Taiyuan, which had almost no bandits or disasters. They were densely populated and had abundant money and food. If he could seize Hanoi County as a springboard and recruit soldiers and grain in Hedong, his strength would be restored to the past, and his strength would be restored, and the strength of the Dongdu had not been restored. Then he would be able to finally win Luoyang.

Li Mi also had another worry about something that had just happened. He received information yesterday that Li Yuan's army left Guanzhong and seized Hongnong County. The prefect Yang Gongren surrendered, which made him feel a little frightened. Li Yuan's power expanded eastward and would sooner or later collided with him. At that time, what capital did he have to fight against Li Yuan? Does Henan Road be full of holes?

Li Mi began to deeply realize that the world's struggle for hegemony was strength, population, people's hearts and money. Li Yuan was able to occupy Guanzhong and grow rapidly because of his support for the Long nobles and the support of Shuzhong's money and grain. Yang Yuanqing was able to take action and drive Li Yuan out of Hedong because he accumulated strength in Fengzhou and saved for many years. However, he fought south and north and north and exhausted almost all his money and grain. He fought for many years, but in the end he made a wedding dress for people for nothing. He was not willing to give up. He was eager to find a place with abundant population, money and grain, and Hedong was undoubtedly one of them.

At this time, the soldier got on the boat and knelt down on one knee in front of him to report: "Your report to the King of Wei, the opponent's commander is Xu Shiji!"

"It's him!"

Li Mi gritted her teeth and did not miss her old love and cut off her own life. At this time, Bing Yuanzhen walked up and smiled and said, "Your Highness, Xu Shiji is a person who values ​​old love. I have worked with him for many years and knows him very well. Your Highness might as well impress him with his old kindness. He followed His Highness to seize Li Yang Cang and Luokou Cang with His Highness, which is enough to show his admiration for His Highness. If Your Highness personally advises him, he will bring Ma Qingwu and his old subordinates by his side and promise a great title, he may impress him."

Li Mi pondered for a moment, then nodded, "Put a car and ship out!"

After a moment, a thousand stone warship sailed out. This was a ship sailing by manpower. Invented by Zu Chongzhi of Southern Qi, it was also called the Thousand Miles Shibo. It was a medium-sized ship that could carry 200 soldiers. Li Mi and Bing Yuanzhen got off the ship and took Xu Shiji and several old subordinates. The ship slowly sailed to the shore. When he stopped dozens of steps away from the shore, a soldier shouted: "The King of Wei asked General Xu to answer!"

A soldier quickly reported to Xu Shiji. Xu Shiji was silent for a moment and then urged him to go to the embankment. When Li Mi saw Xu Shiji, he saw that he was handsome and handsome, and he couldn't help but feel a little regretful. If Xu Shiji could be kept, he would be his right-hand man now, so why wouldn't anyone be available now?

Li Mi is indeed facing a talent dilemma now. After Zhai Rang's death, many of Zhai Rang's former generals were unwilling to serve him and ran away one after another, such as Xu Shiji, Cheng Yaojin, Liu Heita, Zhang Shengwu, etc., and dozens of people left. Those who stayed were also stumbled on their way and refused to work hard. They could not attack Luoyang, which was also related to Zhai Rang's old subordinates' refusal to contribute.

Li Mi also hopes to reunite the hearts of the soldiers in Wagang, but Zhai Rang's prestige is too high, so it is not easy for him to win the hearts of the people.

Li Mi walked up to the bow of the boat, bowed her hands and said loudly: "Li Mi is here, are Brother Xu Xian? Are you safe?"

Xu Shiji also bowed his hand and said calmly: "Xu is very good. Thank you Mr. Wei for your concern. I advise Mr. Wei to return to the voyage immediately. The people of Henei County are in the Sui Dynasty. Mr. Wei will not use any more troops and trap the people in trouble!"

Li Mi smiled, "Brother Xu Xian, I, Li Mi, are not rebellious bandits. I am a descendant of a famous family. I am determined to save the people from water and fire. I also understand the principle that only by restoring the people can we prosper the country. How could I rush to fight against Hanoi County? Brother Xu Xian has been with me for many years. Don't you understand what kind of person I, Li Mi, is?"

"Since Duke Wei has the will to safeguard the people, please withdraw the troops. I have already said that the people of Hanoi County are loyal to Sui, and they will not accept the rule of Duke Wei."

Li Mi cursed in her heart, but she was helpless. He changed the topic and smiled and said, "I know that Brother Xu is a person who values ​​love and righteousness. When Brother Xu left without saying goodbye, did he have no confidence in me, Li Mi? Don't you want to join hands with me and seize the world together? Brother Xu, I still remember when we seized Li Yangcang, you still said that the one who seized the world was Pushan Gong. The Pushan Gong was still there at that time, but Brother Xu had left me, which is beyond sigh!"

Xu Shiji didn't say anything for a long time. He did say that he would help Pushan Gong seize the world, but things are unpredictable. Who could have expected what happened later?

At this time, Xu Shiji's old subordinate Ma Qingwu shouted: "Sanzhu, go back to Wagang! The old brothers are all thinking about you. You are leaving, your seat is still there. Once Wang Qi sat in your seat and was beaten up by us. We said, the third boss will definitely come back. The third boss, thousands of old brothers miss you!"

Xu Shiji looked at Ma Qingwu's rough and sincere face, and there was a little tears in Xu Shiji's eyes. He choked and bowed: "Shiji is not talented, thank you brothers for remembering me."

Bing Yuanzhen saw that Xu Shiji had moved, so he touched Li Mi gently. Li Mi knew it and immediately said loudly: "Brother Xu Xian, if you are willing to come back, I will assign you to the Qilu area, and I will grant you the King of Qingzhou, so that you can establish your own business. You can also be called a lonely person. It is much better than being a general of others. Yang Yuanqing gave you a general of Zuo Xiaowei, and he didn't even have a title. Follow me, but he can be named the king. Brother, you should understand which one is more important!"

Xu Shiji was moved by the old feelings of a group of old brothers, but Li Mi's words suddenly made him awake. Yang Sien, Su Dingfang, Pei Xingyan and others followed Yang Yuanqing for many years and had only accumulated merits and were named generals. But he had just arrived for a few months and had a small contribution. Yang Yuanqing appointed himself as General Zuo Xiaogu. Even Ma Shao followed Yang Yuanqing for more than ten years and only won an auxiliary general. How much does he pay attention to him? He remembered that Yang Yuanqing took him to the Pei family because of his regret for Pei Xue. How could he forget this affection? Also, Yang Yuanqing knew his former general of Wagang, but he did not hesitate to hand over the important task of blocking the Wagang army. Without any surveillance, how could he live up to this trust? Xu Shiji was secretly ashamed and almost told him.

Thinking of this, Xu Shiji gave a solemn greeting, "Thank you Mr. Wei for your kindness, and for your brothers' concern, but since Xu Shiji has served Yang Yuanqing, he will never go to Qin and Chu again. Take care of himself, please come back!"

After saying that, he turned his horse's head and rushed to Gao Gang, shouting loudly: "Prepare the crossbow arrow!"

The three thousand troops raised their crossbows and pointed them at Li Mi and others on the river. Li Mi was angry and hated, and helpless, so he had to wave his hand and "Go back!"

The car and ship turned around and sailed back to the large ship in the river, but Li Mi was unwilling to go back just now.

(To be continued)
Chapter completed!