Li Hong led the Fengyun Iron Cavalry back to the Pingxiang camp.

Xian Yufu led the generals out of the camp. After everyone exchanged pleasantries, Ko Yi asked, "My lord, how did General Dong break through?" ”

Li Hong was pulling Zuo Yan to ask about the injury. Zuo Yan was beaten by Cheng Qiu very lightly, and it is still inconvenient to move.

Hearing this, Li Hong smiled and said to everyone: "You must not have imagined that General Dong used the cofferdam to break through and leave. Since General Dong's army ran out of food, the soldiers went to the cofferdam by the Weishui River to fish. Based on this, General Dong probably thought of a way to break out. He ordered his soldiers to build a tall cofferdam on the Weishui River overnight to cut it off, and then quickly crossed the river with his army under the weir. It wasn't until the next day that Qiang Hu found that General Dong's camp was empty. ”

Li Hong looked at the generals with admiration on their faces, and said with a smile: "General Dong is worthy of being a veteran of the battlefield, he can still be in danger and calmly act when the army has fallen into a desperate situation, which is convincing. ”

"Who is Fat Dong?" Koji Yi smiled, "He has been in Xiliang for decades, when has he ever suffered a loss?" June Thunder surrounded him several times, and he escaped several times, and it is estimated that June Thunder will die of anger. If you have the opportunity to encounter the June thunder, you must humiliate him. ”

Fist said unconvinced: "General Dong's ability to escape smoothly has a lot to do with our invasion of the enemy camp for several nights in a row. If it weren't for our containment and cover, he would have led more than 30,000 people to build a weir in the river, would Qianghu not know? ”

Li Hong said with a smile: "Of course, the Fengyun Iron Rider has made great contributions, and it will be rewarded heavily." Then he said to Koji Yi and other subordinates, "The thunder in June is very powerful. After discovering that General Dong's army had broken through during the day, he remained silent and prepared to encircle and annihilate us at night. ”

"What happened?" Zheng Xin hurriedly asked.

"General Dong has an opinion about us." Fist said dissatisfiedly, "He told Captain Huangfu, who had been traveling west of Wangyuan with his army, but he didn't tell us. Fortunately, Captain Huangfu sent someone to contact us to withdraw our troops, and we learned that General Dong had led his troops to break through the siege, otherwise we would have been miserable at night. ”

Li Hong waved his hand at his fist and said with a smile: "Okay, okay, don't be suspicious, maybe he sent someone, but he didn't find us." Our whereabouts are uncertain and difficult to find. ”

Everyone knows in their hearts, and everyone is angry. Although Li Hong did not lead his troops to attack Qianghu head-on to relieve him, Li Hong finally rushed to the vicinity of Wangyuan in time to contain the attack of Qianghu's army on him. Dong Zhuo not only did not feel grateful, but deliberately framed him, which is too much.

Hu Zi opened his mouth to curse a few words, but was then lightly kicked by Yan Rou. Hu Zi looked at Xu Rong who was standing next to him, and quickly closed his mouth. Xu Rong and Lu Yi glanced at each other, knowing that Dong Zhuo hated Li Hong. Those who are hated by Dong Zhuo will suffer losses and bad luck, as if they have not seen anyone who takes advantage of Dong Zhuo. With a sad look in their eyes, they looked at Li Hong, who was standing in the middle of the generals, talking and laughing. Li Hong didn't seem to take this matter to heart at all, and smiled very happily.

He waved his big hand and shouted: "The war in Xiliang is about to end, and we are going back to Jizhou." ”

"Let's go back to camp, let's go back to camp."

＝＝

The first thing Li Hong did when he returned to the camp was to visit Zhou Shen.

Because Tian Zhong sent a batch of medical craftsmen and medicinal materials to the Pingxiang camp in time, Zhou Shen's injuries were controlled. If the body is not painful, the mood will naturally be much better.

Li Hong first told him about Dong Zhuo's breakthrough with his troops, and then explained the reason why he took the initiative to attack the corrupt officials in Xiliang, and finally talked about the imminent withdrawal of the Western Expeditionary Army from Xiliang.

Zhou Shen was very surprised.

"People, how do you know we're about to withdraw? The Xiliang rebels still occupy Jincheng County, and it will take some time to completely quell the rebels, how can they withdraw? ”

"The treasury is already empty, and we will have no military spending this month." Li Hong said, "Some time ago, Lord Taiwei knew about it, but he was afraid of disturbing the morale of the army, so he kept it from us. A few days ago, Lord Shi Sang, the head of the Taiwei Mansion, rushed to the Shooting Tiger Valley to find me, just for this matter, Lord Taiwei urgently needed the confiscated money to tide over the difficulties. Now that Lord Taiwei has such a small amount of money in his hands, it is very difficult to maintain the daily expenses of the Western Expeditionary Army, not to mention crossing the Yellow River to the west to continue to suppress bandits. I guess we'll have to go back in a few days. ”

Zhou Shenliang was speechless for a long time.

"Is the Great Han Kingdom so poor?" Li Hong sighed, "The Han Kingdom has a population of more than 50 million, can't it even afford to raise more than 100,000 troops?" He paused for a moment and continued, "I casually copied dozens of petty corrupt officials, and I had hundreds of millions of dollars in property. The bureaucrats of my Han Kingdom are so rich, how can the country be so poor? ”

"That's because the country's money is being filled by these people." Zhou Shen smiled bitterly, "In the past few years, there have been many rebellions, many wars, more barren fields in war-torn lands, and there are more bureaucrats who take advantage of the war to profit from it than loaches across the river, so it is normal for the treasury to be empty." In October, after the autumn harvest, the counties began to pay taxes, and the treasury was paid. ”

"By October, we were all home. I hope that the people of Xiliang will have a better life this year. Li Hong said with a smile.

Zhou Shen frowned deeply, and suddenly asked: "Zimin, if you hadn't made trouble first, raided the corrupt officials in Xiliang, and dug up a sum of money, what would Lord Taiwei do now?" So many of our troops have no salary, no grain and grass in Xiliang, what will be the result? Doesn't there be an emergency solution for Lord Taiwei? Are you ...... ...... to be found? ”

Li Hong was stunned. He then thought about what had happened in the recent past and shook his head.

"I suppressed corruption in Xiliang, and I directly offended the traitors in the court, which did all kinds of harm to Lord Taiwei but not any benefit. Now I am his subordinate, although I did all these things, but the traitorous eunuchs in the court will think that it was instigated by Lord Taiwei, where can he get involved? The general was overly concerned. Perhaps there is a better way for Lord Lieutenant to get through this. Li Hong quietly glanced at Zhou Shen and said cautiously, "It's just that I acted recklessly, which caused the current situation of being unstoppable and difficult to ride a tiger, which embarrassed Lord Taiwei and General Zhou, I am very sorry." ”

Zhou Shen glanced at him and said dissatisfiedly, "Don't stop being embarrassed, it's a risk of your life." I'm a little better, Your Majesty and the Great General will defend me. But Lord Taiwei is passive, he belongs to the family bureaucracy, there are many protégés and former officials, and the students of Taixue also respect him as a teacher, if he is knocked down by a traitor this time, he is a party member, and if he continues to investigate, at least tens of thousands of people will be implicated, and the disaster will be great. Therefore, Lord Taiwei has been conniving at you to make trouble, and there is a lot of information here......" Zhou Shen looked at him and said solemnly, "You better think about it clearly and see how this matter ends." Don't let others take advantage of it, and in the end not only will you lose your life, but even your subordinates will suffer. ”

Li Hong's face changed color, and he was speechless for a while.

"People, think about it, the imperial court has no money to support Xiliang to quell the rebellion, and the consequences must be very serious. My army is small, and I can quickly withdraw to Luoyang. But what about you? You have three or four thousand miles back to Jizhou, you have more than 30,000 soldiers, and 10,000 of them are Hu people, what should you do? You don't have any way out except to take them to Xiliang to rob them. Now you can be regarded as robbing by doing this, grabbing it in advance. Now the Xiliang rebels are still at ease west of the Yellow River, but we are at a loss and have no power to return to the sky. Who will bear this responsibility in the end? Your Majesty? Your Majesty will admit that the treasury has no money? Will he believe that the treasury has no money? ”

Li Hong shook his head. He hadn't thought so much about it yet.

Zhou Shen's face was expressionless, his mouth was tightly closed, and he looked at the canopy of the big tent. After a pause, he continued: "Of course, the responsibility for the unfavorable rebellion in Xiliang must be borne by the Taiwei, Yuan Peng and Gai Xun. The three of them will inevitably have the same fate, that is, they have been fighting for a long time without success, and they will be dismissed from their posts. ”

"Just when they were in a hurry, you jumped out and made a mess of the current uncontrollable situation. Although you did everything alone, the entire Western Expeditionary Army, especially the Taiwei Mansion that commanded the Western Expeditionary Army, completely offended the traitorous party, and the two sides have become fire and water. Xiliang has always been the sphere of influence of the traitors in the DPRK and China, and most of the bureaucrats in Xiliang are their protégés and former officials, and the children of the clan. They have huge power, and they are deeply favored by the emperor, once the emperor believes their slander, Lord Taiwei and his gang will die. ”

"In this case, the three of them may unite to gather the Qingliu Party, the wealthy families, and the scholars of Xiliang, and then use your strength and Xiliang's illness to fight to the death with the traitors. If they win, the eunuchs will be killed, if they lose, they will be purged, but you and your men will not escape the fate of being killed, what will you do at this time? ”

Li Hong was stunned. His mind was a mess, his hands involuntarily clenched into fists, and his eyes showed a cold murderous aura.

Zhou Shen glanced at him coldly, a hint of mockery flashed in his eyes, and he whispered, "You will rebel." ”

Li Hong was shocked and replied instinctively: "Impossible, I am a citizen of the Han Dynasty, how can I rebel." ”

"Hmph......" Zhou Shen let out a sneer, "You don't rebel?" These Xiliang generals, especially that Koji Yi, are arrogant and rampant, and there is no one in their eyes, will he wait for the traitor to take a knife to cut his neck? Your iron horsemen, all brutes, will watch you die? ”

"I will not rebel." Li Hong looked at Zhou Shen and said resolutely.

Zhou Shen looked at him coldly, and a trace of murderous aura suddenly flashed across his face, "Okay, you don't rebel, okay." If Lord Taiwei asks you to lead your troops out of Tongguan and into Luoyang in the name of Qingjun's side and traitor, will you go? ”

Li Hong opened his mouth and stammered.

"Are you not going either? This is your last chance, your last chance to save your own lives; This is also the best way, and the best way to eradicate the traitors and eunuchs in the DPRK and China. ”

Li Hong's face was red, his heart was like numbness, he was hesitant for a while, and sat in a daze.

Zhou Shen lay on the sickbed and looked at the gray-black tent, silent. There was silence in the tent.

＝＝

Recently, Li Hong took the initiative to arrest a large number of corrupt officials in Xiliang and set foot in Xiliang officialdom because he was afraid of being framed by a traitor. Li Hong had a lot of contact with these bureaucrats, and he had a feeling of exhaustion. These people are especially good at saying that whether it is Fu Xie, the Taishou of Hanyang, or Shi Sangyang, the governor of the Taiwei Mansion, they can speak well, speak skillfully, and speak one set after another, which makes people have to believe it. Li Hong told them to go, and their heads were dizzy. He didn't know who to listen to, whose methods were right, whose words were true, and he didn't know how to protect himself and his subordinates to the greatest extent.

Li Hong had no direct knowledge of the crimes committed by the eunuchs, he had only heard from people but never seen them with his own eyes, and he had only come into contact with the eunuchs once, that is, Zuo Feng, who was killed by him in a fit of rage. Some of the things he is doing now are based on intuition, and some are based on Fu Xie's hints, all of which are taking one step at a time, without any specific purpose and without a clear goal. He never thought that he was doing this for the people of Xiliang and for the corrupt officials of Xiliang, and the real purpose in his heart was to take his subordinates back to Lulongsai alive.

Zhou Shen's words made Li Hong suddenly feel that he was too naïve. Because of his momentary anger, he recklessly arrested and killed people, and he didn't think about what kind of consequences his actions would cause to others, let alone consider the problem from the perspective of Luoyang, Taiweifu, and Xiliang. I'm too naïve. He was nervous and frightened, and a chill suddenly came from his back.

Li Hong thought about it for a long time and finally figured out a clue. He looked at Zhou Shen, was very convinced, and said admiringly: "General, the lower official has been taught." ”

Zhou Shen turned his head to look at him and said, "It's good that you can understand." ”

"General, if we go out of the customs and enter Luoyang, the world will be in chaos." Li Hong said respectfully, "The lower official is dull, please give the general some advice." ”

A smile appeared on Zhou Shen's thin long face, and he nodded slightly: "Why are the traitorous eunuchs and the Qingliu party fighting?" It's nothing more than a right. Whoever is in charge of the government will be able to do whatever he wants. Whether a relative is in power, a traitor is in power, or a member of the clan is in power, it is nothing more than to get promoted and make a fortune. How many of these people are for His Majesty's country and for the world's society? ”

Li Hong listened quietly and nodded again and again.

"Who of these people is not corrupt officials? Who is not a thief? Who doesn't sell the official beard? Who doesn't bring disaster to the country and the people? None of the good things are just a hill. ”

"This country is His Majesty's country, this money is His Majesty's money, and we are all His Majesty's subjects.

"People, you are loyal to the Han and Your Majesty, you should know how to deal with this matter."

Li Hongda admired and bowed to the ground.

Zhou Shen beckoned him and told him to get up.

"Thank you for your advice." Li Hong smiled, "No matter what I do now, the ending will be the same." The traitor in the court lost, and the Taiwei couldn't spare me, and I almost killed him; Lord Taiwei lost, and I, as Lord Taiwei's comrade, naturally couldn't escape, and I also affected my own subordinates. I can't survive anyway, so I might as well make a big deal out of it, and everyone will end up together. ”

Zhou Shen shook his head.

"Don't you have faith, people? You have made a big show to rectify Xiliang and eliminate corrupt officials, not only won the hearts of the people for Your Majesty, but also recaptured money for Your Majesty and increased revenue for the treasury, you are a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty, how can Your Majesty not believe you? ”

"How could Your Majesty believe me?" Li Hong smiled bitterly.

"If you get your Majesty's things back and return them to Your Majesty like last time, Your Majesty will trust you. Could it be that Zhang Rang will give his own land to His Majesty? Could it be that Zhang Wen will give his manor to His Majesty? Zhou Shen said slowly and in a low voice, word by word, "A true loyal minister, for the sake of His Majesty, he is willing to give even his life, let alone something outside his body?" ”

＝＝

When Li Hong returned to the big tent of the Chinese army, he found that more than a dozen of his subordinates were still gathered in the big tent and did not disperse.

He greeted everyone and said with a smile: "Since you are all here, then don't leave, eat here at night, I still have a little wild boar here, treat everyone." It's been a long time since we've been together, so let's talk about it. ”

Wen Chou and Beard, and several people in the fist took the lead in shouting, and the others were also happy.

Yan Wuxing shouted loudly: "My lord, enjoy the bar at night, I haven't tasted it for a few months." ”

The bearded and fist-drinking generals immediately coaxed, and the big tent suddenly became a mess.

Li Hong waved his hand at everyone and signaled to be quiet.

"Brother Zilie, Yuntian, Ziwei, we are going back soon, and it is estimated that you will also have to go back to the office, so today I will make an exception and send each other with wine." Li Hong walked up to Xu Rong, patted him on the shoulder, looked at Ko Yi and Hua Xiong, and said with a smile.

Xu Rong and Hua Xiong hurriedly bowed down and thanked them. Koji Yi's face changed, and then he took a step back, pointed at Li Hong unceremoniously, and said sharply: "My lord, what did you say that you were shooting in Tiger Valley that day?" ”

The atmosphere inside the big tent suddenly became tense.

Zhao Yun and Wen Chou immediately walked to Li Hong's side, looking at Lu Yi with a frosty face and hidden anger in vigilance. Yan Liang and Yan Wudang quietly moved behind Lu Yi. Yan Liang's hand rested on the hilt of the knife.

Xu Rong was taken aback, hurriedly pulled Koji Yi back a few steps, bowed down and said to Li Hong: "Yuntian's temper has always been bad, my lord ......"

Koji Yi pushed Xu Rong away and said loudly: "What did you say to our brother when you were shooting Tiger Valley that day?" ”

Li Hong smiled and said, "Brother Yuntian, don't you worry? Wait for me to say it's good, okay? When I was shooting Tiger Valley, I said that everyone is in the same boat, and of course I will not break my promise and turn my back on the three. Xiliang's matter, since I have started, I will definitely not give up halfway, please rest assured Brother Yuntian. ”

Koji Yi looked at him suspiciously and asked, "Then what did you mean just now?" ”

Li Hong hesitated for a moment and said, "In this way, I'll tell Lord Taiwei that we will all withdraw to the Zixiu Mountain camp." However, since everyone is not separated, then this wine ......"

"What do you mean, Koji-sama? Can't you just finish drinking and mess with us adults? Yan Wuxing became anxious when he heard this, and stepped forward to grab Lu Yi and shouted, "You have lost this wine." ”

Beard and fist rushed over together, surrounding Kojiyi, and almost hit him in anger. Koji was very embarrassed and his face was flushed.

Xu Rong pulled twice, didn't pull it away, and hurriedly looked at Li Hong with a look of help in his eyes.

Li Hong originally wanted to say, "I won't drink this wine", but when he saw Xu Rong's eyes, his heart softened, and he said: "The money for this wine is from Yuntian, what do you think?" ”

"Okay." Beard shouted, and immediately changed his fist and Yan Wuxing into a smiling face, pestering Koji Yi to buy wine.

As soon as the atmosphere in the big tent was relaxed, everyone immediately dispersed in twos and threes.

＝＝

Li Hong saw the bamboo slips piled up on the desk, and said to Zuo Yan with a smile: "Junyi, how can there be so many documents?" Do you want me to review it? ”

"Yes, sir." Zuo Yan smiled slightly, "This is evidence of corruption by some Xiliang officials, and all of them are Xiliang, the children of the Guanzhong family. Lord Sang came here specifically for this matter, and asked us to destroy it immediately. I didn't consult adults on this matter, so I ......"

Li Hong casually picked up a scroll and looked at it, and asked, "Can you catch it?" ”

Zuo Yan looked at him in a little surprise, and said cautiously, "The amount is huge, and it is definitely possible to catch it, but Lord Taiwei has already ordered ......it."

Li Hong didn't squeak and continued to look at the others.

"How many have you caught in the past few days?"

"In the past few days, we have been inquiring in the camp, and no one has been arrested."

Li Hong frowned, dropped the bamboo slip in his hand, and asked strangely, "Why?" Is it that no new evidence can be found, or that something can't be asked? ”

Zuo Yan touched the beard on his lips and groaned slightly.

"Pingshan ......," Li Hong shouted loudly.

Tie Yue, who was laughing with Lei Zi, hurriedly ran over.

"My lord, what's the matter?"

"What's going on lately? Why can't you ask something? Were those corrupt officials hard-mouthed or were you beaten to death? ”

Tie Yue smiled: "Adults are laughing, my method of forcing people to speak is still unique, and I will never miss someone to kill, but ......"

"But what......" Li Hong asked.

"My lord......" Zuo Yan took Tie Yue's words and whispered, "All the things that have been asked recently are about the rich people of the Xiliang clan, and we suspect that they have colluded with each other, so we ......"

"You're keeping them together?"

Zuo Yan shook his head.

"Hirayama, do you think these people's confessions are true or false?"

Tie Yue smiled contemptuously and said: "These pus, beaten casually, scared, even the eight generations of ancestors will be said, where can there be a fake?" ”

Li Hong was angry, he raised his voice slightly, looked at Zuo Yan, and asked solemnly, "Junyi, what's the matter?" Why not catch? What are you rubbing here? Do you want them to escape calmly and hide their belongings? ”

Zuo Yan hurriedly said: "My lord, you have offended all people, how can we gain a foothold?" ”

"Foothold?" Li Hong's face suddenly elongated, he raised his voice, and said loudly, "When have we ever gained a foothold?" ”

The noise in the big tent suddenly disappeared, and everyone looked at Li Hong nervously. Why did the adults lose their temper in the blink of an eye.

Li Hong waved his hand vigorously and said: "You have to rely on your own strength to gain a foothold, and no one will give charity." ”

He picked up the bamboo slips on the table, threw them to the ground, and shouted: "All of them are dispatched, catch me, and don't let any of them go." ”

＝＝