After Chengfu's battle, both the Huainan Army and Shi Cong's troops were shrinking into the town and no longer had any major moves. For a time, a region along the north bank of the Huai River became a hollow area between the confrontation between the two sides, and only the respective rangers wandered around the area to monitor the movements of the other party.

But hollow does not mean vacuum. Although both troops withdraw, there are still many people in this area. Some are fleeing refugees, while others are bandits hiding in the wilderness. They take advantage of this short space to go out to play and try to pick up some cheap things.

Located between the land of Shendi of Yingshang, there is a vast mudflat reed pond. In this midsummer, the thatch is dense and lush, and there is an extremely empty place in the depths of the reed pond that is difficult to reach.

This is a real land in the reed pond, with a radius of more than ten hectares, more than half of which have been sorted out, and many crops such as beans, seedlings, and vegetables have been planted. There are dense forests near the ground and blocked by reeds, just like a pure land independent of the world.

There are houses and villages outside the arable land, and the sheds are densely packed. At least a thousand people live in and out. There are many people entering and leaving inside and outside the sheds, and the wooden racks are dried with fermented hemp silk and air-dried dried fish, which is full of self-sufficiency.

In the center of the village, there is a bamboo and wood loft of more than meter high. Although it has not been repaired much, it is already the most impressive building here. There are strong men inside and outside the loft, including bamboo armor covered with bamboo pieces and hemp ropes, and some of them only have simple hemp shirts. As for the weapons they have in their hands, they are all kinds of, including bamboo guns, wooden sticks, and short knives and iron hoes.

In the attic, several people sat in groups, and one of them was Li Tao, the owner of Huainanwu who had entered the town to visit Shen Zhezi earlier. As for the others, they were both old and young, and had many similar appearances, as if they were blood relatives of the same clan.

"Shen Weizhou is still talented and courageous. In addition, he was born in the Jiangdong Xianshu Sect, so he widely used goods and goods to the town to support the people, and was able to lead his troops across the Huai River to defeat the thieves. Since he entered the town, the atmosphere in the town has been completely renewed, and the local improvement is far better than in previous years."

Li Tao sat in the seat and spoke to several people, and there was no shortage of praise for the inner historian Shen Weizhou: "Actually, I hope that the elders of the family can lead their families to the south. Most of the slave army is coming to the south. Although the plants and trees are covered here, it is definitely not a dangerous place. If they are swept away by the slaves, they will never be able to protect themselves!"

However, as soon as he finished speaking, a man next to him snorted coldly: "But what I heard is different from what my brother said. The village said that this young general was too powerful and even refused to allow the villagers to protect themselves, and wanted to hold all the lives of the scholars and commoners in his hands. Although he had a narrow victory before, this time he was attacked by a million soldiers from Jie Kingdom. Tens of thousands of tired soldiers in Huainan were still able to run around in poverty before. When the strong enemy came here, what would he do to resist? My brother also said that his son-in-law of Jiangdong, the son of the imperial family, could abandon the town and return home even if he did not defend himself. But for us, it was a tragedy of family destruction and death!"

"Brother, you have such a great reputation for him, but you ignore the powerful enemies who are about to urge you to come to the south. Could it be that you are the sects who are allocating you so that you cannot compete for the position of the commander of the Huainan Army?"

When Li Tao heard this accusation, his face immediately became ugly: "Sixth brother, you are so suspicious and disgusting to me, how can I argue? The family business is here, which is decided by my father. Since I have managed the family, I have tried my best to maintain it. How can I complain? But the current situation is indeed not good. I am just worried that the family business here will be detected and will cause death..."

"Ha, I'm sorry, Brother A. I heard that the goods, cargo ships and boats in Jiangdong are transported continuously, and even ordinary cold soldiers can eat new rice and new cloth and shirts. Brother A. You are not an unknown person in Huainan. You have such a lot of money. Can't you share a little bit of money? As a result, what did you send across the river? It's just a few pieces of old hemp, bitter salt and poor rice. This is what you said to maintain? If there are still one or two bloodlines, why would you be so harsh? If you didn't want to gather the strength this time, I'm afraid you wouldn't come here to see how my brothers are doing worse than you!"

The more the man said, the more angry he looked, and the people next to him also showed a look of the same feeling, and he was also unkind to look at Li Tao.

When Li Tao heard this accusation, his face became even more ugly. He was silent for a while before bowing to an old man beside him: "I have never had a strong voice since I was in charge of my family and dare not boast about it. But if I say that I have to keep my business, I still have something to say. My uncle and my brothers have lived in this bad situation for a long time, how could I feel at ease! As for the help of resources, there was no ban on Huai before, so I could naturally put the boards and freely travel. But now the ban on Jiangi is strict, and even if I pass by Huai by myself, I must be very careful. If I carry too much goods and goods here, I am afraid that the Huainan family will suffer a disaster..."

"You are still saying that Shen Weizhou has talent and moral integrity, why are you worried about the lack of security of your family business now?"

Hearing this, the man's face was even more contemptuous.

After a moment of silence, the old man looked at Li Tao and said, "Sanlang, you have difficulties, and I can think of it. The separation of the family is established in the early years. Now that the situation is not at a desperate situation, there is no need to change it quickly. Although the situation in Huainan has improved, the Jie army is fierce, and Huainan may not be able to be safe. Although Liulang is anxious, it is not unreasonable. Instead of trying hard to persuade the clan to return home, it is better to be more careful and carry more resources to help."

"Huaibei is now corrupt, and the food is too scattered. If my family can store a lot, they will naturally be able to gather more food. Pick up Ding Yong, so there is no need to hide this bad reed pond, or even directly capture a water and land area. There are both people and fortresses. At that time, no matter whether it is north or south, who dares to underestimate it? It seems that Sanlang, you are in Huainan. Although you have a stable moment, you are underestimated and you are even unable to compete for the position of the commander of the Huainan army. This is really a waste of the opportunity for the heavenly hero to leap forward!"

Hearing that his uncle became stronger and stronger and talked about the family business plan, Li Tao couldn't help but widen his eyes. He had no ambitions and was very moderate, such as following Zhu Feng to fight against the general, and then followed Ling Zhuo to bow to the general, not fighting for the first place in everything, and was unwilling to go to danger. This time, he went to Huai to take advantage of the fact that the Jiang Fang had not been completely locked up and wanted to lead these family members back to the stable place in the rear, but he did not expect that these people were more ambition than the sky and had the spirit of planning major events.

Especially when Li Tao heard words like recruiting food, he was even more frightened. His family was hiding in this shallow and was already lucky. If he went out to show off, wouldn’t he be afraid of dying too slowly?

But when he persuaded him again, the family members not only did not change their minds, but instead repeatedly accused him of being timid and asking for money became even more urgent.

In the end, there was no shortage of bad news. These ambitious tribe members simply detained Li Tao here and drove his followers back to threaten to seek funds. A few days later, a ship of dozens of husks of salt and a hundred bow knives were sent here. Not only did these tribesmen not release Li Tao, but instead used this as evidence of his previous shirks' ruling, he was even more humiliating and forcing him.

"Brother, it's not that I want to force you. You obviously have the strength to do things, so why do you have to treat your tribe so harsh? You don't have the courage to advance, but we are not timid people. The family's resources are shared, and you can't enjoy them alone. Go and send them to your house immediately and collect funds and deliver them! If my family can be distinguished in the future, wealth will be shared with you!"

In order to force Li Tao to submit, Liulang even threatened his life, directly cut off his left finger and forced him to write a bleeding letter to send it back to Huainan. However, the defense of the river became more and more strict. Although the Huainan family was worried about Li Tao's life, they could not find a way to transport too much money to cross the river. In anger, the tribesmen poured their anger on Li Tao, and they had to beat him up every day.

A few days later, the tribesmen went out to recruit food and actually contacted a powerful enemy. They joined forces and lived in the reed pond together. The crowds had more than doubled and were brave. So they became more courageous and went out frequently. Everything they saw in their eyes was plundering and returning.

The reed pond was gradually overcrowded, and as the population increased, the tribesmen had no time to insult Li Tao anymore. Moreover, another slave family felt that after the atmosphere was coming, they could borrow Li Tao in Nantou, so they detained him.

Li Taoku stayed here, and his mood was tormented. Seeing that the tribesmen became more and more crazy, their behavior became more and more unscrupulous, and even began to plan whether to help Jie Kingdom grab a boat and cross the Huai River, or to have a greater future in the south.

On this day, a large number of Ding Zhuang roared out again. Now the group of people has grown to a large scale. Previously, they have merged all the bandits and even obtained dozens of horses, so the area of ​​activity has become larger.

However, until the night, the person who went out had not returned. Li Tao felt something bad in his heart, so he immediately went to see the old uncle in his clan.

"Sanlang, you have been wronged these days. But don't blame your brothers. Zhao Lord Shi Shilong, a Hu slave disciple, can take advantage of the chaos to become bigger. How can we be so kind of good guys swallow our voices and endure it! We have rich and poor, good fortune and fortune for a lifetime. You are in every life, and you can't stand the disaster. Now my family has gathered nearly 10,000 people, and thousands of people hold swords. How dare you imagine that you have such a momentum in previous years? Even if you have said as you have been, it is much better to go south at the moment than you said earlier, right?"

The old man felt a little guilty about treating Li Tao harshly, but when he thought of the crowd and momentum he gathered, he was very proud.

Before Li Tao could say anything, a loud noise came from outside the reed pond, and his face changed immediately. The old man sitting opposite him also changed his face, but he was not frightened, but full of joy: "Will the men have gained such a strong voice?"

There was no big gain, but the disaster was already on the verdant. Nearly two thousand slave soldiers were attacking the reed pond. Their scouts found people hunting in the wilderness, and then most of them killed them, wiped out all those who went out, and then traced the source and killed them directly here.

There is almost no suspense in the battle. Although there are many shallows in the reed pond, they have frequently entered and left several fixed paths recently. The Jiehu people rushed in and swept back and forth. There were not many living people in the entire camp, and thousands of people were corpses here!

Li Tao was inside and was lucky enough to save his life, but he was soon identified by the slaves and was taken to the general of the slave cavalry. The slave general was only in his early twenties, and thick plasma was hung on his armor and his arms. He dismounted to Li Tao, lowered his head and asked, "Are you an official of Shen Weizhou, Huainan?"

"Yes, yes, he is..."

The old man who was captured together nodded quickly. The fierce fighting made him so scared that he fainted and woke up several times. When he heard the slave general's question, he hurriedly said, wanting to beg for life. However, halfway through the words, his head had already flew out.

"I deserve to die. I didn't ask you again!"

The slave will take back the blade, and then look at Li Tao with a grim smile: "The thieves in Huainan have fled too quickly. I am worried that I can't find anyone to inform the southern thief Chen Weizhou. Leave your life and go back and tell him that Zhang Xiong under the command of the King of Zhongshan will come here and let him clean his head and wait for death!"
Chapter completed!