On the morning of the eighth day of the eighth month, Wu Benlang General Yin Shishi led the Xiaoguo army to the Jumahe battlefield. The two sides then faced Qicheng as the center and confronted each other with heavy troops, temporarily forming a stalemate.

Duan Da, the remaining subordinate of Zhuo County, ordered Xiaoguo to repair his strength for a day, to accumulate strength, and launch an attack tomorrow. Be sure to defeat the rebels, quickly stabilize the situation in Shanggu, and ensure that Youzhou is not attacked by rebels.

On that day, Duan Da, Yin Shishishi and Feng Deyi repeatedly discussed, and Duan Da wrote a memorial to detail the rampant thieves in Shanggu. After several days of fierce fighting, it was basically confirmed that the rebels had considerable strength and had posed a threat to Youyan and northern Hebei. This led to the reinforcements of Zhuo County having to stay on the Jumahe line to suppress the thieves with all their might, in order to prevent the rebels from taking advantage of Zhuo County's reinforcements to the south to Gaoyang to attack Youzhou, threatening the safety of the Holy Lord and the Palace.

The memorial mentioned Li Zixiong in an "understood manner", as well as wealthy nobles such as Yang Gongdao, Han Shiyan, Zhou Zhong, Lai Yuan, Pei Shuang, Yu Rou. This is the focus of the report, but because it involves too much, involving the royal family and several core ministers of the central government, it is impossible to determine the attitude of the saint and the central government at all. Feng Deyi and Duan Da could only avoid the important and test it without any trace, so as not to be too irritated to the contrary.

This memorial must be presented to the Holy Lord as quickly as possible. After Feng Deyi carefully considered this, he still left Pei Shiju's "backdoor". After all, nobles such as Li Zixiong and Yang Gongdao are now under the White-haired Thieves' tent, giving priority to passing the news to Pei Shiju. This can allow Pei Shiju to discuss the rebellious force of the White-haired Thieves and their purpose of going north, as well as their huge impact on the future situation in the entire northern border and the relationship between the North and the South, so that they will not neglect because of contempt or make wrong judgments due to carelessness.

=

At noon on the eighth day of the eighth month, the King of Qi led his army to Hejian City, the capital of Hejian County.

Hejian City is located on the east bank of the Hutuo River, more than a hundred miles away from Gaoyang on the west bank. The King of Qi ordered camping on the bank of the Hutuo River, while making a move to cross the river, requesting the Hejian County Government to provide food and grass supplements. At the same time, a large number of scouts crossing the river and seeking news about Gaoyang.

There was not much information that the Hejian County Government could provide, mainly because the incident happened too suddenly. The rebels seemed to have "fallen from the sky" and "drown Gaoyang" overwhelmed the sky. The Hejian County Government had no time to react. By the time they realized the serious problem, the rebels were waiting for troops on the west bank of the Hutuo River. The front pointed directly at Hejian City and couldn't take care of themselves.

The Hejian County Government was originally suffering from the Bohai pirates because of the golden waterway of Yongji Canal. The Pingyuan thieves and Qinghe thieves frequently invaded and plundered, so the government sent all its limited forces to the Yongji Canal. Even if it was willing to rescue Gaoyang, it was still willing but not enough. Now the Yongji Canal has just recovered its smooth operation. The thieves in Hebei, especially the Bohai thief Geqian, were eyeing Gao Kaidao on the Yongji Canal. If the troops from the guard channel were transferred to rescue Gaoyang, Yongji Canal would be defeated by the thieves.

Once the channels are interrupted, the consequences will be unimaginable. The Hejian County Government wisely chose to protect the Yongji Canal to ensure that the channels are unobstructed. At the same time, it sticks to the Hutuo River and blocks the rebels' attacks. In name, it is passive defense, but in fact it is to watch coldly and watch the changes. Gaoyang Palace is the face of the Holy Lord. If Gaoyang Palace is captured by the rebels, it is equivalent to slapping the Holy Lord in the face. Therefore, Hejian County Government has enough reason to determine that Duan Da, the remaining subordinate in Zhuo County, will definitely rush to help quickly.

As a result, they were surprised, day after day, and they were eager to see. More than ten days passed, and the rebels wiped out all the towns and towns around Gaoyang, and plundered all the food, livestock and young laborers. They didn't see any signs of the reinforcements in Zhuo County. This was really incredible. The news from the inquiry was even more surprising. The rebels were very large in scale, and some of them burned and killed and plundered them in Shanggu, and successfully blocked the reinforcements in Zhuo County on the front line of Jumahe.

The Hejian County Government was surprised. Hebei thieves were concentrated on the Yongji Canal and the north and south sides of the Great Henan. When did they go to northern Hebei? Could it be that there were also rebels in northern Hebei and Youyan who rebels? If there were also rebels in northern Hebei and Youyan, then Hejian County would be in trouble. In the future, they would be trapped in the front and back attacks of the rebels, and they would be attacked from both sides and would never have peace.

At this moment, news came that the King of Qi went north to suppress the thieves. This was a rich association. Before Yang Xuangan rebelled, the King of Qi rushed to help the Eastern Capital to suppress the rebellion. Now the rebels in northern Ji were swarming, and the King of Qi rushed to the north to suppress the thieves. He was there wherever there was chaos. The King of Qi robbed merit everywhere, and his purpose was too obvious. People who didn't know the "details" thought he was going to move into the East Palace as the crown prince. People who knew the "details" knew that he was "struggling to death". At this time, he had to stay away from him to ensure safety.

So the prefect of Hejian County and its main subordinates immediately plundered Yongjiqu as an excuse, "out of all the nests" and ran away, leaving only the Hejian County Magistrate to stay in the city.

What information can a Hejian County Magistrate provide to the King of Qi?

The King of Qi was furious about the "negativeness" of the local government. Fortunately, before Li Fengyun left Gaoyang, he had already instructed Hao Xiaode to pay close attention to Hejian City. As soon as the King of Qi arrived, he would send someone to contact him immediately. Therefore, the King of Qi had just set up camp, and the secret envoy from Hao Xiaode arrived. He directly found Li Baiyao and told Gao Yang's military situation and the battle situation in the Shanggu in detail, which solved the King of Qi's urgent needs. Otherwise, he would have darkened his eyes and would not know what to do.

Gaoyang Palace was not lost, and the palace supervisor Xu Hua was still holding on, which made the secretly uneasy King Qi breathe a sigh of relief. He was afraid that Li Fengyun's subordinates could not burn Gaoyang Palace with lawlessness, so he really shot himself in the foot, and he was crying without tears. In addition, Li Fengyun personally rushed to the Shanggu battlefield to command the battle. The alliance army fought fiercely with Zhuojun reinforcements on the Jumahe Line and the west bank of Laishui on the sixth day of August, and gained a clear advantage. This is also good news, and the expected purpose is basically achieved.

"Grand hair has suggestions. If we can enter the battlefield of Shanggu as quickly as possible, the situation will be more beneficial to the king." Wei Fusi saw that the King of Qi was still hesitating and spoke decisively, "Grand hair has already dragged Duan Da in the Juma River and Laishui River area, which has posed a threat to Youzhou and even directly threatened the safety of the Holy Lord and the Palace. Duke Jianchang (Li Zixiong) has led his army into Yanbei, and Zhuo County has fallen into a dilemma of being attacked from both sides. Duan Da is in a dilemma. In this case, he will never be able to come to Gaoyang to compete for merit with the king."

The King of Qi shook his hand slightly and said worriedly, "The white hair made a big noise, and the result may be counterproductive. The rebels are so powerful that although they did give Gu an excuse to shirk responsibility, Bai Hai became the target of public criticism and will be encircled and suppressed, and Gu was also affected by this. In order to prevent problems before they happen, the Holy Lord would definitely prevent Gu from going north to guard the border, so as not to sit in the northern border and raise tigers as a disaster."

Wei Fusi thought for a moment and advised, "King, things have come to this point, there is no way out, you can only face the difficulties."

Li Baiyao also made a statement in time, "King, if the saints mainly encircle and suppress white hair, the saints can take the opportunity to enter the northern border to form a fact of guarding the border to reverse the current situation. Once the saints take the initiative, they can force the saints to coerce the center with the situation in the northern border and the relationship between the north and the south, forcing them to accept the facts and agree to the saints to guard the border."

As soon as this statement was made, Wei Fusi immediately agreed, and Li Shanheng also agreed very much. There was no way. If you don’t want me to go north, I will enter the northern border by myself. It is a fait accompliment. If the father and son turn against each other, the king and minister break up, and the snipe and clam fight, the fisherman will benefit the Northern Barbarians. This is probably a situation that the Holy Lord and the Central Master will definitely not want to see. In this case, the Holy Lord and the Central Master can only take the minority of the two evils. First use the power of the King of Qi to consolidate and strengthen the strength of the Northern Frontier. When the war between the North and the South is over, the Northern Barbarians are defeated, and the North and the South relationship is stabilized, then free up hands to solve the hidden danger of the King of Qi, but the King of Qi has won the time to dominate the Northern Frontier.

Time is too important. When Li Fengyun was explaining the plan to go north, he was most worried about not enough time. If his prediction was correct, the war between the north and the south would break out within two years, then the King of Qi would have to seize the time and enter the northern border this year. Now is the best time. Taking advantage of the current Holy Lord and the Central Committee, they are in a hurry and lose sight of the other. Taking advantage of Li Fengyun and the alliance army, they are roaring northward, follow the trend and achieve it overnight.

The King of Qi had no way out, so he could only face difficulties. The worst situation was to go north without authorization. Fortunately, the way to go north without authorization had been opened by Li Fengyun, so he had to make up his mind.

The King of Qi no longer wandered, and time did not allow it. Opportunities were fleeting and hesitated, so he resolutely ordered the army to quickly cross the river and to arrive at Gaoyang tonight. Before midnight, he must defeat the rebels and relieve Gaoyang's danger.

Because Hao Xiaode had promised that as long as the King of Qi crossed the river, he would evacuate, and of course he would leave some people to cooperate with the King of Qi to engage in a "fighting battle", so this contribution was a foregone conclusion, and for this reason, King of Qi wrote a memorial to report the victory by the Hutuo River and flew to the palace.

Wei Fusi, Li Shanheng and Li Baiyao discussed it privately, and then made a suggestion in a secret letter to Li Fengyun that if conditions permit, they could attack Youzhou to directly threaten the Holy Lord and the Palace, and then force the King of Qi to a dead end, forcing him to make up his mind and have to seize this rare opportunity in front of him and quickly enter the northern border.

=

On the eighth day of the eighth month, Linshuo Palace.

The Holy Lord was in a very gloomy mood. Although he received a memorial from the King of Qi yesterday, Yang Xuangan had died in Tongguan in the second day of the first lunar month, and the rebel army was wiped out. The two-month storm in Dongdu was over. This should have been a happy thing, but what made him angry was that such good news, where was the memorial from Dongdu's memorial? Obviously, Dongdu's memorial was "intercepted" on both the two station systems of the water and land, and the "intercepted" was King of Qi.

The King of Qi was too arrogant. If the Holy Lord did not order him to go north to rescue Gaoyang and make some positive hints, would he continue to cut off the connection between the Eastern Capital and the Palace? This is unreasonable!

The Holy Lord's attitude towards King Qi was a little shaken, but this morning bad news came from Yanbei. The rebels with white-haired thieves inside were "progressing" on both sides of the Sanggan River, and several Turkic tribes outside had abnormal movements outside the Great Wall. The situation in Yanbei was taking a sharp turn and urgently needed support. In the afternoon, Fengdeyi and Duan Da made another urgent report. The thieves in Shanggu were very rampant. The two sides fought for days and the war was fierce. Reinforcements were blocked from the Jumahe line and could not advance in an instant.

Suddenly, the Holy Lord discovered that King Qi had become a "hot commodity". At present, only his army can be mobilized, so whether it is Gaoyang, Shanggu or Yanbei, he is urgently needed for his support.

However, it was so uncomfortable to be coerced. Even if this person was his son, the Holy Lord could not accept it and was furious.

=

=
Chapter completed!