July is on fire, and the weather is past the extreme heat.

The weather was still very hot, but it was a little better than the scorching heat of late June and early July.

As soon as he was in a lonely boat, Liu Tingzhou put on a brand-new crimson official robe, stood on the bow of the boat, and looked at the beautiful mountains and rivers on both sides of the Bianshui River, which had been destroyed and withered.

The news that Lin Jian intended to make peace with the exile army spread to Jiangning, causing a fierce quarrel between the two factions, but more people were silent. Neither the Ning Wangfu nor the Jiangning Military Department dared to abuse their powers, and asked Lin Jian not to make arbitrary claims, so they sent people to Beijing to ask for orders.

From Jiangning to the sea by boat, to Shandong, to Beijing to ask for instructions, back and forth, not more than half a month to get a response.

In addition to the Ning Wangfu and the Jiangning Military Department, Yue Lengqiu, as the governor of Jianghuai, can deal with the matter of recruiting the Liumin Army.

Liu Tingzhou couldn't wait for the imperial court to make a decree, so he decided to go north in a lonely boat to see Yue Lengqiu and convey Lin Bin's meaning to him; It is also the initiative to take the responsibility of recruiting peace and making peace.

Recruiting bandits is better than negotiating peace with Dongyu, and the reputation is much better, and Liu Tingzhou is not worried that his reputation will be stained because of this.

As a governor of Huai'an, and went north with the Huai army, Liu Tingzhou knew the situation of the Huaisi battle best.

Lin Jian led the army to retreat to Feixiaji and disengaged from the Liumin army - Yang Shi also led the water battalion to withdraw from Bianshui and retreat to Hongzepu, opening the blockade of Bianshui; Lin Tingli also disengaged from the displaced army in the Hao and Si areas in Dongyang Mansion - making a gesture of peace, what can others do?

If Liang Xi and Liang Chengchong can't quickly move south from Jinan and defeat the enemy in Jining in the shortest possible time, if they don't want to see the city of Xuzhou broken and the Changhuai army destroyed, the imperial court can only follow their proposal and recruit bandits.

Lin Jian is so disposed of, it is difficult for others to say anything.

As the envoy of Huaidong Jingkou, Lin Jian led the army to defend Huai, and there were only two temporary letters of transfer signed by the Ning Wangfu and the Jiangning Military Department. The central government pretended to be confused, and although it did not deny it, there was no official edict, edict, or official letter from the Ministry of War or the Ministry of Officials to confirm the matter.

In addition to the officials in Jiangning, the officials of the other counties even thought that it was still Yue Lengqiu who was presiding over the Huai army battle.

If Lin Tie doesn't fight, who can bite him?

Previously, the Jianghuai Governor's Mansion, the Jiangning Military Department, and the Ning Wangfu could not transfer Lin Jian to lead the army to cross the Huai to aid Xu, and Liu Tingzhou had no choice but to recruit the people to form the Huai Army.

The Huai army was almost wiped out when they went north, and Lin Jian had an excuse to hold Huai still.

Besides, after the Jiangdong Left Army was transferred to defend Huai, it set up camp in Shukou, consolidated the Huaisi defense line, recovered Suining City, and rescued the Huai Army.

Lin Jian wants peace, and the exile army also has the idea of making peace.

In any case, even if it is just to delay time, it is more conducive to the adjustment of the military deployment in the Huaisi area by the Displaced People's Army. He was even willing to send a boat to escort Liu Tingzhou into Xuzhou City to see Yue Lengqiu.

Xiao Kuian stood behind Liu Tingzhou, the general trend of the world and the imperial court and temples are all things that adults think about, he can't manage so much, Liu Tingzhou has the grace of knowing him, he can't let Liu Tingzhou go north alone at this time.

The wounded and pawns have been transported back to Shanyang County for treatment, and Lin Jian set up a large-scale medical battalion in Shanyang County, Xiao Kuian, who did not go north to Xuzhou with Liu Tingzhou, could only be transferred back to Huai'an to be the captain of the left battalion before him.

The remnants of the Duhuai Army have already transferred Lin Jian to Suining to strengthen the defense on that side.

************

Lin Jian stood on the north ridge of Feixia Rock, looking at the mighty Huai Shui.

Sun Jingtang and Liang Wenzhan also crossed Huai to see him.

"Regardless of whether the surrender can be accomplished or not, the construction of the walled city in Feixiaji must be done immediately and cannot be delayed," Lin Tie said with his hand, "The materials for the construction of the city need more support from Shanyang County......"

"The adults guard the Huai, so that the Huaishui is like a thunder pool, the bandits can not cross half a step, Shanyang is protected from the disaster of war, and the people of the county donate money to build a city fortress, of course, of course." Liang Wenzhan said.

Teng Xingyuan, the magistrate of Shanyang, has died, and Lin Jian has asked the imperial court to transfer Liang Wenzhan to officially take up the post of magistrate of Shanyang, to assist him in guarding Huai, no matter whether it can be done in the end, it will drag on for two or three months, and it will still be possible.

When the world is booming, there is no distinction between the outside and the inside.

At this time, the wars in various places are endless, and the troubled times will be completed, and the defense of Huai cannot only guard the inner lines such as Huai'an and Shanyang.

In the outer line of Shukou, Sikou and other places to choose the site to build a strong walled city, so that Shukou and Huai'an City are each other's surface and inside, so that Sikou and Shanyang City are each other's surface, in order to truly complete Huaidong's defensive posture.

Regardless of whether the surrender can be achieved or not, whether there is an official title of envoy or not, as long as the displaced army in the Huaisi area is not disabled, Lin Jian can stay in Huai'an and not leave.

Of course, Yue Lengqiu or someone in the middle of the court and Jiangning will try their best to restrain the Jiangdong Left Army from extending its tentacles to the north bank of Huaishui, but as long as this side takes the lead in building a walled city on the north bank of Huaishui and sends elites to garrison it, are you afraid that they will not be able to drive it away?

Lin Tie to the east, only eight or nine miles away from the mouth of the Surabaya River, about the fertile field of Pingchuan, only Feixia Rock has the terrain to borrow, dig out the floating soil, the foundation is stony, the natural stone bank is not afraid of the mighty Huai water erosion and has the danger of collapsing the embankment, it is a good place to build a city.

After the completion of the Feixiaji Walled City, it can not only control Surabaya, but also the mouth of Hongzepu Pudong into Huaishui, and Bianshui also flows into Hongzepu less than 30 miles away to the west (from Sizhou to Shanyang, Huaishui and Hongzepu are confluent).

This can be said to be the first strategic point in Huaidong, which is far from being comparable to Shukou.

Shushui water source out of the mountainous area in the south of Shandong, into the north of Jiangdong County, the water potential is bigger, the main river is more than 100 miles, the strategic position is naturally far from the communication of the river Bianshui, Surabaya can compare.

During this period of time, Lin Jian continued to transfer troops from Chongzhou to strengthen this side, and even 4,000 people from the Gongjia Battalion entered Huai'an, and most of them were transferred to Feixiaji to build a walled city.

The Liumin Army was happy to see the Jiangdong Left Army build a walled city on a large scale in Feixiaji.

Since the fall of Suining, in the narrow strip between Bianshui and Surabaya, the Liumin Army has stationed heavy troops on the Huaisi corner of Suyu and Siyang in the south, which is suspected of being top-heavy.

Lin Jian intended to make peace, and Liu Miaozhen and Ma Lantou led the main force back to the north, and set up camp in Qinglonggang, northwest of Suining, to build a new line of defense.

However, the Jiangdong Left Army had water camp warships, and the new defense line of the Wandering Army actually had a big hole, but it was much better to block the Huaisi Corner with heavy soldiers.

Lin Jian let go of his mouth, and Xu Sun Zhuang led Chen Yan and Zhang Gou to cross Surabaya, but blocked Chen Hansan's more than 20,000 soldiers and horses to the east of the Surabaya River.

At this time, there were only more than 6,000 soldiers and horses under Sun Zhuang's army in Yusu and Siyang, but they were all rare elites in the exile army.

In this situation, the more large-scale the Jiangdong Left Army built a city in Feixiaji, the more sincere it naturally was to negotiate peace.

Sun Zhuang is a belligerent person, and at this time, for the sake of the overall situation of the Liumin Army, he also held Siyang and Suyu out, and did not interfere with the Jiangdong Left Army to build a city in Feixiaji.

In addition to Ning Zechen leading the Feng Li battalion with 3,000 soldiers to garrison Feixiaji, Lin Tie transferred the Changshan camp and the remnants of the Duhuai Army to take the waterway to strengthen the defense of Suining.

In addition to the Changshan Battalion, the remnants of the Duhuai Army, and Gu Siyuan's headquarters, Ge Cunxiong also led the Jinghai Third Water Battalion to be mainly stationed in Suining. More than 200 armored cavalry and 400 sword and shield auxiliaries with small troops but lethal and destructive power in local battlefields were also stationed in Suining, and nearly 12,000 elites were stationed in Suining.

In the direction of Suining, Gu Siyuan was nominally the main general, but nearly 3,000 elites of the Jiangdong Left Army and the remnants of the Duhuai Army were all controlled by Qin Chengzu.

Only by occupying Suining, stationing heavy troops, and blockading Surabaya, blocking the three divisions of Chen Han on the east bank of Surabaya, and making a posture that can attack Xuzhou at any time, can we ensure that the Liumin army can also honestly sit down and talk about Zhao'an.

The sunset at dusk is gilded with a layer of gold in the mighty Huai water, and the eyes are sparkling golden waves.

Lin Jian said to Sun Jingtang and Ning Zechen: "I'll leave it to you first...... he and Liang Wenzhan went down from the simple plank road to the river beach, boarded the boat and headed for Shanyang on the south bank.

*************

In the southwest of Shanyang County, the Baitang River meanders and flows, flowing with sparkling golden waves in the setting sun.

Although the Baitang River is not wide and deep, it connects Qingjiangpu and Hongzepu, and is an important waterway connecting the Beiguan River to the Huai River.

The ferries at the east and west ends of the Baitang River form a rare prosperous town in Huai'an: Qingjiangjin and Baitangpu.

The Yanguan Mansion of the Ma family is in the west of Baitangpu, which is the first household where Hongze water enters the Baitang River, connecting the ancestral hall of the Ma family and the retreat garden, covering an area of more than 200 acres.

The village wall is as high as two zhang, all of them are made of bluestone bricks, the pink and white walls are covered with black tiles, continuous like a dragon's back, the momentum is extraordinary, showing the wealth and power of the Ma family as the richest salt merchant in Huai'an.

However, at this time, the Yanguan Mansion was tightly surrounded by officers and soldiers, and other families in the town had been ordered to close their doors and not be allowed to leave the court without a call.

The stone streets were full of patrolling soldiers, and the entrance and exit of the town and the ferry crossing on the river and the harbor were also blocked by a troop of cavalry.

Baitangpu is not only the Ma family salt merchant lived, many people who did not go south or took refuge in the city all watched the situation in the west, and speculated in their hearts: When the bandits were at the height of their momentum in Hongzepu the year before last, they had sent troops to storm the Yanguan Mansion several times, but they failed to capture it.

If the Ma family relied on the private soldiers in the rivers and lakes and the fish and meat township to still be there, and did not annihilate the homeless army in Feixiaji with the head of the Ma family after crossing the Huai, and to capture the Yanguan Mansion, it would really cost quite heavy casualties.

More importantly, there is no excuse to storm the Salt Mansion.

At this point, these are no longer obstacles.

Liu Tao, the Cheng of Shanyang County, straightened the black gauze crown, let the two soldiers take the high shield in front of him, approached the vermilion gate of the Yanguan Mansion, and shouted loudly: "Mafu violated the military order in Siyang, causing the Duhuai army to be taken advantage of by the bandits, more than 10,000 soldiers, and the corpses are gone, and his crime is also one." Another person testified that Ma Fu was a bandit, and his crime was two. Although Ma Fu died in the chaos of the army, but the crime of bandits has to be investigated, if you don't investigate, you will be sorry for the nearly 10,000 generals who died in Siyang, and if you don't investigate, it is not enough to strengthen the determination of everyone to defend Huai. ”

"Liu Tao, you usually receive a lot of benefits from my Ma family, and the golden flower and cui hairpin on your mother-in-law's head are also given by the old lady, but at this time, you came to be this leading thief, and your conscience is eaten by the dog. Aren't you afraid that giving birth to a son will have no farts and affect future generations? There was a shouting from the gate.

Liu Tao's old face was slightly red, the momentum had come to this, it was difficult to ride a tiger, and said: "I am an official of the imperial court, how can I allow you to slander wantonly?" This sin is also three. If the county lord of Shanyang doesn't open the door again, don't blame the official for being polite! Signal left and right, take a ladder, carry a wooden beam, and prepare to climb the wall and hit the door......

At this time, the gate suddenly opened, and the wife of Ma Fu, Yuan, was blocked at the gate in palace clothes, holding a pair of scissors in her hand, against her throat, and shouted: "Liu Tao, if you want to break in, step on my corpse and see who can save your life!" ”

Liu Tao's face was pale, and he didn't know what to do for a while.

The Yuan family is the daughter of the king of Chu, and she was named the county lord of Shanyang, and she is the noble daughter of the royal family.

Even if she is guilty and wants to arrest her, it is under the jurisdiction of the Zongren Mansion under the Ministry of Rites.

Regardless of this, Liu Tao is far too big to hang up his boots and go, and he will not be the county leader in Shanyang, but if he really forces the Yuan family to die in front of the gate, Liu Tao will have to worry that the head on his neck will be moved, and maybe he will raze the nine clans.

Liu Tao signaled to slow down left and right, don't be too anxious.

The south gate slowed down, but there was a commotion at the back gate, and I heard someone from Zhuangzi running and telling each other: "The officers and soldiers have attacked from the north gate!" Officers and soldiers have attacked from the north gate! ”

Liu Tao was shocked, and wanted to scold anyone who did not obey his orders and attacked without permission. After thinking about it, I thought again, if the system envoy wants to destroy the Ma family, how can he honestly let him lead the team, there must be other arrangements. He Liu Tao didn't dare to force the county lord of Shanyang County to death, how could other outlaws in the Shanyang County Yali who were eager to get to the top and dare to fight for wealth and nobility not find one or two people to come?

Seeing that the county lord of Shanyang was wrong, Liu Tao hurriedly ordered someone with quick eyes to step forward and snatch the scissors from her hand, and ordered the four sturdy women who brought her over, and said: "Take care of the county lord of Shanyang, keep your eyes open." If the county lord of Shanyang is missing a single hair, not only will your lives be at risk, but your family will be involved? "Secret Dao: If you want to blame, blame you for not fleeing to Weiyang and Jiangning in time to avoid trouble, who will let go of such a piece of fat in the Ma family? Even if there are no bandits in Mafu, where can the Ma family be clean? is the smuggling of salt, and the Nengma family will be beaten forever and cannot be turned over.

ordered the county lord of Shanyang to be placed under house arrest, and he personally led a team to rush into Zhuangzi, detained the servants, maids, and mothers-in-law one by one, and raided the salt official's mansion......