In October, the alliance went south to leave Lu County, and marched rapidly along the junction of Pengcheng and Langya County, then left Baodu Mountain, passed Lanling County, entered Xiapi County, crossed Yishui, and attacked Tancheng fiercely.

Tancheng is only more than 100 miles away from Linyi, the capital of Langya County, more than 300 miles away from Suyu, the capital of Xiapi County, and more than 400 miles away from Pengcheng, the largest city in Xuzhou. Therefore, the first person to receive the news of the rebel army's southward journey was not Xuzhou, but Qilu. Dou Xuan, the prefect of Langya County, was anxious and worried that the purpose of the rebel army was to attack Langya County from east to west, so he rushed to Donglai to report the emergency and begged Zhou Fashang to support him quickly.

Tancheng is just across from Donghai County, Shushui River, and is so close. While the rebels attacked Tancheng, some of the troops entered the Donghai area and robbed them.

Qushan, the capital of Donghai, is about 200 miles away from Tancheng. After learning that the Mengshan rebel army was heading south, the people of Donghai had to stand firm except for asking Pengcheng for help. Although the Donghai was rich, its geographical location did not have strategic value, so they only set up an Yingyang Mansion, and the garrison power was weak and they dared not confront the rebel army head-on. The Mengshan rebel army plundered Tongji Canal this summer and threatened the capital, which had long been famous. When the Donghai people encountered such a strong opponent, of course they should be careful to avoid losing their official hats if they lost their official hats.

At the beginning of the year, Tancheng was attacked by the Mengshan Rebel Army. At that time, the rebel army was limited in strength and urgently needed food. Therefore, the main targets were small towns and fort manors in towns. They surrounded Tancheng without attacking Tancheng, and the main purpose was to restrain the official army in the city. Since that attack, Tancheng realized that the crisis had come. After all, the Mengshan Rebel Army was nearby and came down to grab it without food or drink. In the long run, the loss of property was second, because they were afraid of their lives. For this reason, they strengthened the city defense and summoned young and strong to increase their defensive power. The surrounding nobles and wealthy people also moved into the city one after another. Some village clan groups were also joined by them. After this, Tancheng's defense ability was also greatly enhanced.

However, the Mengshan Rebel Army was not the same as the former Wuxia Ameng. After the Western Expedition to the Central Plains, the overall strength of the alliance has developed leaps and bounds, especially the main force of the alliance based on the Cangtou Army, which has made rapid progress. This time, Li Fengyun went to the front line to command, three armies in the inner palace and five armies in the outer palace, a total of more than 26,000 people, launched a tide-like attack on Tancheng.

The number of defenders in Tancheng was less than a thousand, including the Township Tuan Zongtuan and the young and middle-aged civilians. They were no match for the alliance soldiers at all. They collapsed after just one day of defense and Tancheng fell.

Almost at the same time, news of the rebels heading south reached Pengcheng.

Liang Dezhong and Cui Deben received the order to suppress the bandits in the East Capital as early as late September, but neither of them was active, because the suppression of the bandits involved the King of Qi Yang Nan. Anyone who had something to do with King of Qi Yang Nan was actively or passively involved in the battle of imperial throne. In addition, the drastic changes in the political situation of the Dongdu after the defeat of the Eastern Expedition made the King of Qi Yang Nan, who lived outside to suppress the rebellion, even more unpredictable variables in politics. These variables made the King of Qi and those close to the King of Qi fall into a clear danger. Therefore, this time, for Liang Dezhong and Cui Deben, who definitely did not want to have anything to do with the King of Qi, it was not about whether to be positive or not, but that they could not be positive at all.

However, the two of them should not be too negative. If the suppression of the thieves is not good, the King of Qi will certainly bear the blame, and their vital interests will be harmed. This requires an appropriate "degree". However, this matter is easy to say, but it is too difficult to do. Especially Liang Dezhong, who is responsible for the garrison of Xuzhou, is the direct person in charge of suppressing the rebellion and suppressing the thieves. Once the task assigned by the Dongdu is not completed, he will be punished. As for Cui Deben, he is only responsible for one Pengcheng County, and he is the Chief Executive, and his military power is temporarily granted and is subject to military restraint by the Weifu. Therefore, compared with Liang Dezhong, he bears much smaller responsibilities and has no positive reasons at all.

Cui De could have been more negative, but Liang Dezhong was not able to do it. He had to do what he should do, but fortunately he didn't have much to do. Before, King Yang Nan of Qi and Li Fengyun were entangled in He and Si, and directly threatened Pengcheng's security. For this reason, Liang Dezhong deployed Zhuyingyang of Pengcheng and the local army composed of local village clan regiments on the northern border of Pengcheng, strictly guarding and resolutely preventing Li Fengyun from going south. Now the Eastern Capital has issued an edict, which clearly requires the Xuzhou official army to encircle and suppress Li Fengyun. Of course, it must gather more troops and allocate more food and grass to act as an "active" to suppress the thieves.

However, beyond Liang Dezhong's expectations, he had just made an "active" action to suppress the thieves, and Li Fengyun led his army to Xuzhou. The rebel army went south and quickly changed the regional situation. It was a move that could be said to have a single move. Not only did Liang Dezhong feel tricky, but Cui Deben was also caught off guard. But for Duan Wencao of Lu County, this was good news, and for Chen Binghe and King Yang Nan of Qi on the Si front, it was even more good news.

Cui Deben was very annoyed. He immediately asked Xiao She and asked him if he had received news about Li Fengyun's southward journey in advance.

Li Fengyun went south to the south and involved the interests of all parties. Such a major secret. If Li Fengyun did not inform Xiao She in advance, it means that Li Fengyun's promise to Cui had been shaken, and the root cause would inevitably be related to King Yang Nan of Qi and the Guanlong people led by Wei, which would force him to make adjustments to the cooperation between the two parties. On the contrary, if Li Fengyun told Xiao She in advance and Xiao She delayed not reporting it for his personal interests, the problem would be even more serious, which means that there are many mysteries behind Li Fengyun's going south, involving major interests, especially the interests of the local aristocratic group in Xuzhou. In this way, the contradictions that need to be resolved will be more complicated.

After Xiao She learned that Li Fengyun went to Xuzhou, she looked very serious and had a complicated mood. Faced with Cui Deben's question, she replied after a long time, "I know."

Cui Deben's anger was immediately difficult to contain, but when he saw Xiao She's heavy expression, he guessed that there was a reason, and he had to hold it back. Lanling Xiao family is a rich family in the middle, the first family in Xuzhou, and the royal relatives, and his strength is extraordinary. The reason why he maintains a generational cooperative relationship with Cui is that both parties can respond politically to the north and south, and their interests complement each other. On the Xuzhou territory, the one who really keeps his word is Lanling Xiao family, whether Cui Deben or Liang Dezhong, if he wants to gain a foothold in Xuzhou and seek benefits in Xuzhou, he must win the cooperation of Xiao family. At this moment, Cui Deben had already premonitioned the crisis and urgently needed the help of Xiao family, so he did not dare to offend Xiao family.

"What's the secret?" Cui Deben asked.

Xiao She hesitated for a moment and explained the reason.

After the alliance returned to He and Si, Xiao Yi maintained close contact with Lanling. With Li Fengyun's tacit consent, many secrets of the alliance's top leaders were known to Lanling, including the "tactic understanding" established with King Yang Nan of Qi, the secret agreement reached with Duan Wencao, and the key point of this secret is the mysterious appearance of Li Baiyao, a famous Shandong scholar, and Xiao She shared these secrets with Cui Deben, and joined forces to deduce many things from it. What surprised the two the most was the mysterious appearance of Li Baiyao and the strategy of King Yang Nan of Qi to achieve imperial throne by living outside.

The former is related to Li Fengyun's identity secret. If Li Fengyun really comes from the Li family of Zhao County and is a descendant of Li Delin, it is directly related to the overall interests of the Shandong aristocratic group. The Cui family and Xiao family should not only pay attention to it, but also pay unprecedented attention; the latter is related to the development of the political situation in the Dongdu, and even directly related to the fate of Zhongtu. Once the King of Qi "spread his wings and soars", he will definitely leave a rich and rich stroke in the history of Zhongtu. However, the "sowing" of the King of Qi is not in the interests of Shandong people and Jiangzuo people. However, the Cui family and Xiao family were unfortunately involved in this storm with a very bleak prospect set off by the King of Qi, and they could not escape even if they wanted to.

The debate between the top leaders of the alliance on how to fight the encirclement and suppression this winter is also known to Lanling, but because Li Fengyun never made a final decision and the deployment of troops was focused on the Jishui line, the changes in the political situation in the Dongdu gave the King of Qi hope to attack the crown prince. This hope seriously undermined the "tactic understanding" between him and Li Fengyun, leaving both sides no longer trust. Li Fengyun was full of vigilance against the King of Qi, so Xiao She and Cui Deben both inferred that Li Fengyun was the most likely to go north.

However, the situation suddenly changed. At the end of September, Xiao Yi sent back two news in one day. One was that Li Fengyun suddenly decided to go south to Xuzhou, and the other was that Li Fengyun went to Heshui again to meet with the secret envoy of the King of Qi. This was the second time that the two sides met since the news of the great defeat in the Eastern Expedition spread. The mystery was so great that it can be imagined.

Xiao She could not view these two news independently. Whether from the political or military level, he naturally analyzed them as a "whole". The result of the analysis was that the political situation in Dongdu had new changes, and the King of Qi lost the hope of attacking the crown prince. Therefore, the King of Qi would inevitably use the opportunity to suppress the rebellion to expand his strength wildly. In this way, the relationship between King of Qi and Li Fengyun changed from "tactic understanding" to "cooperation". This is why Li Fengyun suddenly decided to go south to Xuzhou and completely ignored the danger of the alliance army being wiped out. Now Li Fengyun is a "sword" to kill people, and this "sword" is in the hands of the King of Qi, so the King of Qi's purpose is the top priority.

What is the purpose of the King of Qi? Of course, it is necessary to control Xuzhou to expand its strength. How does the King of Qi control Xuzhou? The most convenient and effective method is to replace people, drive away all the current military and political chiefs of Xuzhou and replace them with their own people. At the same time, use Li Fengyun's "knife" to threaten the local aristocratic group in Xuzhou, forcing them to "low their heads" to the King of Qi and use them for the King of Qi. Otherwise, they will join forces with Li Fengyun, work inside and outside, and work together to kill blood.

The arm can't twist the thighs. Although the local forces in Xuzhou have financial resources, they lack force. However, the Qi King Yang Nan and Li Fengyun have strong force on their hands, which forces the local forces in Xuzhou to bow their heads.

It is concerned about the interests of the people and the local interests of Xuzhou. The Xiao family of Lanling told the Xuzhou family that the bad news was as fast as possible, and summoned the respected heads, elders, and famous scholars of various surnames and clans to discuss countermeasures.

Cui Deben understood that Xiao did not conceal it intentionally, but did not dare to disclose it easily before taking effective countermeasures. This matter was too important and urgent to do so. Once the news was leaked and reached the ears of Xuzhou military and political chiefs who were not local, new changes that were unfavorable to the local aristocratic people would inevitably occur. For example, bureaucrats ignored Xuzhou for their own personal gain and "robbed" and "harmed" or even maliciously destroyed Xuzhou for the sake of the political interests of the group. This would be a disaster for the local forces in Xuzhou, and the consequences would definitely be more serious than the burning, killing, and looting of the rebels.

"Where will be the plan?" Cui Deben knew the reason, and felt heavier, and was more concerned about the crisis faced by the local aristocratic group in Xuzhou.

"I came here to ask for help from Ming Gong." Xiao She bowed his hand and spoke sincerely.

"As long as you can, you must do your best." Cui Deben made a promise without hesitation.

Xiao She smiled and whispered, "I received the news a few days ago. The other side said that the target was Liang Dezhong."

Cui Deben suddenly realized and blurted out, "Dong Chun. So that's it, good chess, good chess." Then he said solemnly, "It's not a wolf coming from Dongdu, but a tiger. It's very difficult for you to make a skin with a tiger."

Xiao She sneered, "A tiger growing up in a cage, with sharp teeth? The white-haired thief can play with it in his palms, let alone us."

Cui Deben shook his hand and warned, "The King of Qi is indeed not afraid, but the people around him are very powerful. Wei Fusi is very treacherous. If Dong Chun comes back and there is another brave and good warrior, life in Xuzhou will be difficult."

Xiao She looked disdainful, "Dongcheng lets go without hesitation? The Holy Lord will allow the King of Qi to repeat the mistakes of King Yang Liang of Han? In my opinion, if Dongcheng really fulfills the King of Qi's wishes and transfers Dong Chun back to Xuzhou, it can only mean one thing, which means that the Holy Lord is ready to destroy the King of Qi."

Cui Deben was silent. Xiao She said it was reasonable. If he wanted to perish, he would be mad. He would transfer Dong Chun back to Xuzhou and assist the King of Qi to rebel. This indeed enhanced the King of Qi's strength and also pushed the King of Qi on the road of madness.

Xiao She left quickly, and he got Cui Deben's promise as he wished, and Cui Deben also saw the mystery hidden behind Li Fengyun's southbound trip to Xuzhou. Considering that Cui Hongsheng was already in a political storm and it was very likely that Cui's family would be hit hard again with Cui Hongsheng's fall. Cui Deben resolutely decided to "protect himself". In this way, no matter how the storm on the battlefield in Xuzhou changes, he could be invincible. At worst, he would be transferred because of "inaction". The transfer is much better than demotion. At least he can keep his career and the hat of an official.

At this moment, Liang Dezhong took the initiative to come to the door, and his intention was to ask Cui Deben for help.
Chapter completed!