Two days later, Li Shuliang's army of 30,000 arrived at Tumen Pass, Qu Tutong greeted him, he hugged his fists and saluted: "May I ask Changshi, has the prince sent troops?" ”

Li Shuliang nodded, "The prince is behind, and the first batch of grain and grass will arrive at Tumen Pass tomorrow." ”

He glanced at Guan Pass and asked, "It seems that General Qu Tu didn't encounter a fierce battle?" ”

Qu Tutong said worriedly: "This is what I want to discuss with Changshi, I retreated before attacking the Sui army, it can be said that I occupied Tumen Pass without bloodshed, Changshi, there is a problem here!" ”

Li Shuliang understood what Qu Tutong meant, this might be the Sui army's plan to lure the enemy in, he thought about it and asked, "Is there any information about Youzhou?" ”

Qu Tutong shook his head, "I sent people to the nearby villages to inquire, but I don't know anything, and there are no pedestrians and merchants coming from the east at all, it seems that the road from the east has been completely blocked, long history, I think we need to be cautious." ”

Li Shuliang smiled bitterly, took out a copy of the royal order and handed it to Qu Tutong, "This is a military order sent by King Tang, the general has just left the military order, the general will take a look first!" ”

Qu Tutong took the royal order and looked at it, his face suddenly turned a little pale, and the letter ordered them to control Youzhou and Jingcheng at all costs before the winter came, Qu Tutong was not mistaken, this should be the second time that he mentioned doing whatever it takes.

"Why?" Qu Tutong asked with a sigh.

"I think it should be the Tang King decided to ascend the throne, the new Sui will also move the capital to Anyang at the beginning of the year, and Anyang has been renamed Zhongdu, the world has responded, not only Lingnan has served the new Sui, I heard that even the Shu County Taishou Yuan Zigan and Jianyang County Taishou Zhang Zhu also turned their allegiance to the New Sui, expelled Yang Shilin, the head of the Shuzhou march, and Liu Hongji led the army into Bashu to suppress it. These things happened before he ascended the throne, and King Tang was restless! ”

Qu Tutong's face was very solemn, he didn't expect the situation to become so serious, it seems that Zhang Xuan's establishment of the new Sui brought huge political pressure to the Tang king, so the Tang king had to attack Hebei at all costs and thwart the momentum of the new Sui. But the problem is that if you can occupy Youzhou, of course, it is good, once the army is defeated, wouldn't it be even worse?

"What is the attitude of the prince?" Qu Tutong asked again.

"Does the prince still have a choice?"

Qu Tutong was helpless, so he had to nod, "Then let's do our best!" ”

Li Shuliang immediately asked Qu Tutong to divide 5,000 troops to defend Zhending County, as a backup for the eastward army, Qu Tutong led 5,000 people to guard Tumen Pass, and Li Shuliang ordered a scout team to go to Youzhou to contact Luo Yi and arrange backup and outpost. Li Shuliang personally led an army of 30,000 into Hengshan County and marched in the direction of Youzhou.

Qu Tutong stood on the pass and looked at Li Shuliang's army in the distance, he really felt uneasy, the Sui army easily gave up Tumen Pass, obviously luring the enemy to go deeper, he faintly sensed a trace of something bad in his heart, if Youzhou was still in Luo Yi's hands, would Zhang Xuan dare to take such a risk?

Li Jiancheng's battalion was stationed outside the West Ancient Pass at the west entrance of Jingcheng. The grain and grass transported from Taiyuan were piled up, and the first batch of 5,000 mules and horses carrying 15,000 stone of grain was already on the road. Li Jiancheng is inspecting the military grain barracks, and the fundamental reason for the failure of the Eastern Expedition in the past two months is that the grain logistics cannot be guaranteed, and although Jingcheng is not the best route, it is much smoother than the north and the south in terms of grain logistics support, at least he does not have to worry about who will harass the grain and grass camp.

Li Jiancheng, who is plagued by grain and grass, is particularly satisfied with this. However, his exit from Jingcheng was in Hengshan County, hundreds of miles away from Youzhou, and he was worried that Li Shuliang's lone army would not be ambushed and intercepted by the Sui army, of course. If Luo Yi could send an army to meet him, the situation would be much better.

"Go and get Sima Zhang!" Li Jiancheng was a little upset and ordered a pro-soldier.

The pro-soldier agreed, and immediately turned around and ran in the direction of the Chinese army's big tent.

Although Li Jiancheng also set up an intelligence point in Jixian County, he was resolutely opposed by Luo Yi, who would never allow anyone to spy on his every move in Youzhou, not only Zhang Xuan, but also Tang, who had surrendered.

Just a month ago, Luo Yi took out Li Jiancheng's intelligence point in Beilu Liquor Store in Jixian County, and drove thirteen spies out of Youzhou, and at the same time Luo Yi sent someone to tell Li Jiancheng that if there is anything to contact him, if he doesn't trust himself, then please take back his Beiping County King.

In desperation, Li Jiancheng had to relocate the Hebei intelligence point to Anyang County, and it was the Tang army that lost the intelligence point in Youzhou, and Jin Wenyan did not send the information to Taiyuan in time after deciding to surrender, and at the same time Zhang Xuan blocked all the roads to the west and did not allow any merchants and pedestrians to go to Bingzhou, which led to Li Jiancheng's delay in learning the important information that Youzhou had been captured.

At this time, the marching Sima Zhang Gongjin hurriedly came, bowed and saluted: "See the Grand Governor!" ”

Zhang Gongjin was originally Luo Yi's long history, after Luo Yi decided to surrender to Li Yuan, he sent Zhang Gongjin to Chang'an on behalf of himself to accept Li Yuan's canonization, and at the same time placed himself in Changping County Palace, Zhang Gongjin was quite appreciated by Li Yuan, was named the Ministry of Rites, this time Li Jiancheng went east, specially invited Zhang Gongjin to go with him, and appointed him as his own marching Sima.

Li Jiancheng asked him: "I want to ask Gong Jin, if Youzhou is lost, how long will it take for the news to reach Anyang County?" ”

Zhang Gongjin didn't know why the governor asked himself like this, he thought for a while and said: "About five days or so, I mean there is no official report, and the news is usually transmitted through merchants. ”

"What if Youzhou deliberately blocks the trade route?"

Zhang Gongjin smiled bitterly, "If there is no official transmission of the news, and the business road is blocked, then the news will not reach Anyang County, after all, it is not safe on the road now, and many people are reluctant to go out to visit relatives and friends, like Zhang Xuan defeated the Bohai Society in Hejian County, which is only two hundred miles away from Zhuo County, but we never knew anything, until Luo Shou was captured, we knew that Gao Lie had been wiped out." ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Gongjin cautiously asked, "Is the Metropolitan Governor worried that Youzhou has been lost?" ”

Li Jiancheng sighed, "I'm not generally worried, so far, there is no news from Youzhou, no businessmen have come to Merge Zhou, and there is no news from Anyang County, so I wonder if Youzhou has been lost." ”

Zhang Gongjin thought for a while and said: "Did the Metropolitan Governor ask the merchants in Taiyuan, as far as I know, many of the big merchants are contacted through the pigeon letter and the Youzhou branch, if something happens in Youzhou, maybe they will know as soon as possible, generally speaking, these merchants are tight-lipped, if the Metropolitan Governor does not ask, they will not say it." ”

Li Jiancheng didn't think of this, he hurriedly said: "Then Gongjin must know which businessmen!" ”

"I know, it's mainly the Guan, Huang, and Wang families, and their business in Youzhou is very large, or I'll go to Taiyuan to inquire about the news."

At this moment, a soldier rushed to the scene and said in a loud voice: "Qiyu Metropolitan Governor, Youzhou Emergency Eagle Letter!" ”

Li Jiancheng was overjoyed, "Take it quickly!" ”

The soldier presented the eagle letter, Li Jiancheng couldn't wait to open the letter and read it, the letter was sent by the general Jin Wenyan, saying that Luo Yi was leading the army to attack Lushuicang, and the reinforcements from Beihai County had entered Hebei, Luo Yi implored Taiyuan to immediately send troops into Youzhou.

Li Jiancheng's heart suddenly fell, and he handed the letter to Zhang Gongjin, "What does Gongjin think?" ”

Zhang Gongjin looked at the eagle letter and said to Li Jiancheng: "Jin Wenyan is Luo Dudu's henchman, if Luo Dudu leads the army to attack Lushuicang, it is normal to send him to sit in Jixian County, and it is inevitable for Li Jing to ask Zhang Xuan for help, so the letter said that Zhang Xuan's reinforcements have entered Hebei, I think it is credible, and there should be no problem with this eagle letter." ”

Li Jiancheng also knew that there was no problem with this letter, Luo Yi had asked him to enter Youzhou before, but it was not good to attack Yanmen County at that time, this was the second time to ask for help, it can be said that the situation in Hebei is already very urgent.

Li Jiancheng didn't hesitate any longer, he said to Zhang Gongjin: "I will lead the army to Tumen Pass, please ask Gongjin to Taiyuan to investigate the news of Shangjia again, and if there is any situation, immediately send someone to Jingcheng to send me a letter." ”

"Humble duty understands!"

Zhang Gongjin then took his leave and rushed to Taiyuan, while Li Jiancheng led his army to leave Xiguguan an hour later and advanced to the depths of Taihang Mountain. (To be continued.) )