In April of the seventh year of Dongxiao, Shaanxi Prefecture, Henan Prefecture.

Shanzhou is an important ferry under the jurisdiction of the Henan Governor's Office. Opposite it is Pinglu County in Shanxi, and it is also the location of the ancient Hangu Pass. It takes down Shanzhou, enters the hinterland of Henan, and goes north to the Three Jins. It has always been a must-fight place for military strategists.

Such places, whether they were the former Henan Jiedushi, Li Yan, who was suddenly killed recently, or Li Zicheng, attached great importance to them.

Not long ago, Li Zicheng, a general who was guarding Hanzhong in Dashun Kingdom, secretly interacting with the Ming court. Although the evidence was not a big deal, he has become suspicious since the defeat of Shanhaiguan. He has no trust in people who are not from Shaanxi or from the Eighteen Cavalry. He Zhen surrendered to the Ming army, which made him even more suspicious.

After Li Zicheng retreated to Xi'an in a mess, the prophecy that represents Song Xiance's "Eighteen Sons' Master Artifact" failed to work to a certain extent. Li Yan, who was also surnamed Li, managed Henan, which had no roosters in a thousand miles, and the reputation of "Prince Li" became famous in Henan, which naturally made Li Zicheng suspicious.

In addition, although Wang Lin, one of the fifth camps of the original Left, was respectful after surrendering to him, after He Jin's death, this person had a high reputation among the fifth camps of the Left. In the past, Ma Shouying, He Yilong, and He Jin's men were mostly willing to follow him.

This is something Li Zicheng doesn't want to see.

Therefore, when Li Yan was recalled to Xi'an last time, Lin Yangcheng, who was guarding Hezhou and He Zhen, who was guarding Hanzhong, were also recalled. As a result, He Zhen refused to go to the scene when he was sick, but asked his deputy Ta Tianbao to go on his behalf. Without his expectations, Li Zicheng killed Li Yan and Lin Yangcheng and the two were naturally the "interesting foreign countries" commonly used in this generation - this foreign country is either someone else, or the Daxia Kingdom.

After killing Li Yan and Lin Yangcheng, Lin Yangcheng's deputy, Niu Youyong, the former general under He Jin, immediately led most of the soldiers to surrender to the Kingdom of Daxia, but Henan Province was still stable.

The reason is very simple. Among the Five Give-Left Camps, Liu Xiyao was the first to hand over the military power in his hands and was dealt with by Li Zicheng. Therefore, he was most trusted by Li Zicheng. The generals and soldiers under his command were finally mixed together on a large scale, and it was unlikely that he would want to rebel.

Although Li Zicheng suffered a crushing defeat at Shanhaiguan, his prestige in Dashun Country is still very high.

After Li Yan's death, Liu Xiyao replaced him as the governor of Henan. Now the problem is that in the original Shaanxi and Henan, Shaanxi was the foundation of Li Zicheng, and Dingkou was also better preserved. Henan Province was greatly reduced due to repeated disasters between bandits and official troops, and the agricultural work was almost abandoned. Therefore, in Li Zicheng's original idea, Shaanxi must protect it. Henan can protect it if it can. If it really cannot, it would be a pity to abandon it.

What he did not expect was that Henan Province not only saved it, but recovered very quickly under Li Yan's governance. Originally, he only placed Liu Xiyao's right-wing camp here, plus the 5,000 soldiers of the Jiedushi recruited by Li Yan himself, totaling 35,000. It was originally the weakest place in the area with the weakest guard power, but there were no flaws under the oppression of the Hanhai Army of the Three Routes of Shandong in the east. Instead, it was the first to guard Shaanxi, where the army gathered, had problems.

This is probably another reason why Li Zicheng killed the enemy.

Less gossip, Li Zicheng still trusts Liu Xiyao. After Li Yan's death, his five thousand military governors did not rebel, but was resolved by Liu Xiyao, who was recently promoted to General Quan.

Liu Xiyao had Bai Heming, who was born in the Fifth Camp of the Gate, as well as Ren Jiguang, one of the eighteen cavalry, and Xin Sizhong's younger brother Xin Sixiao, who escaped from the Shanhaiguan Battle. The 30,000 Right-wing camps are now arranged on the riverside zone centered on Shanzhou, Xingyang and Kaifeng. They are guarded by Xin Sixiao, Ren Jiguang and others, while he himself brought 10,000 elite troops to guard Luoyang.

The remaining five thousand people were arranged in Runing Mansion.

However, the violent changes not long ago disrupted Liu Xiyao's arrangement. Now that the entire Shaanxi has been in the hands of the Daxia Kingdom, he must set up a defense line on the Tongguan line. Yuan Shizhong of Guide Prefecture had to be on guard again. He couldn't help but feel a little stretched. Finally, he sent the five thousand men and horses of his confidant Bai Heming to Nanyang Prefecture near Shaanxi, and let Li Yan's five thousand men follow him to guard Luoyang.

Shanzhou Daying.

Thirty-year-old Xin Sixiao rode on a flowery horse, her eyebrows were twisting like a "mountain" - he had just returned from Tongguan, and he had only five thousand men under his command, but he had to guard the entire Henan Prefecture. That's not all, but he also had to guard the Hanguguan Road and the Yellow River Ferry. It's not an exaggeration to describe it as being stretched.

However, it is the time when the Yellow River has the largest water volume. Generally speaking, the enemies in the north will not cross the river at this time, because the Yellow River not only has a large water volume, but also has a rapid flow. It is a dream to set up a floating bridge on the river.

So he only arranged a thousand people at the Shanzhou Ferry Quay, which belonged to him, and added ten cannons to plunder. Of course, in addition to the place where Shanzhou Prefecture is located, there are many places where he can cross the river, but if he wants to cross the army, Shanzhou is undoubtedly the most suitable place.

He arranged three thousand men and horses in Tongguan, so he would only have one thousand mobile men and horses in his hands. If these thousand men and horses were not cavalrymen, Xin Sixiao would be in tears.

Is this still the camp that was known for its military strength before?

However, to this day, the regulations of the Dashun Army have gradually become stricter. If the military generals want to increase their military strength, they must also approve the Ministry of War. Moreover, Henan was originally a place to give up in Li Zicheng's mind, so it is naturally impossible to arrange a large army.

In April, the temperature in Shanzhou was rising, but the wind and sand also rose. Xin Sixiao and his personal guards ran on the Hangu Ancient Road. Soon after, they were covered in dust. After arriving in Shanzhou, they were completely "shrouded" in dust, and when they flew away, they stirred up a large area of ​​dust.

Not far ahead is the wall of Shanzhou City, but Xin Sixiao regretted it as soon as he got off the horse.

"Because it's still early, go to the ferry to take a look."

Such diligent Xin Sixiao was impossible to see before.

After Li Zicheng's defeat in Shanhaiguan, Xin Sixiao, who survived, has always blamed himself. He always believed that his brother and himself had a major responsibility of unknown knowledge, which led to the loss of Beijing City. Although Xin Sizhong fought hard to die in his country, he still had an obsession in his heart.

In addition, he had an obsession in his heart.

After following Li Zicheng back to Shaanxi, the families of the Dashun Army stayed in Beijing because they were in a hurry. At that time, Nikan did not have such a family member in the agreement reached between Li Zicheng in Changli City. This is because when Li Zicheng went north, he did not have full confidence in seizing Beijing and then seizing the world of Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the families of the vast majority of soldiers stayed in Xi'an, and most of the families in Beijing were obtained by Xincheng's family.

Xin Sixiao was an exception. He had three wives and five or six children in succession, but they were all lost when he followed Li Zicheng to fight in the east, except for his only son Xin Longzi. Therefore, when he went north, he was reluctant to let him be alone in Xi'an and brought him with him, but the result...

This is Xin Sixiao's obsession. How much he wants to raise his elder brother's only living bones and blood by his side.

Not long ago, Han Haijun came to him and wanted to provide convenience when the army crossed the river. Of course, Xin Sixiao refused. If he hadn't had a nephew who was still in the hands of the Daxia Kingdom, he would have killed the man on the spot.

"Longzi, where are you? Are you okay?"

When I think of my nephew, even though he is a veteran of the Dashun Army who has been through the battlefield for a long time, I can't stand the tears and blurred my eyes.

He was about to get on his horse again and flew in the direction of the city.

"General, an old friend came to the city."

"Old friend?" Xin Sixiao snorted coldly. There were many people who came to find him during this period. In addition to the Daxia Kingdom in the north, the Ming court in the south also came to him repeatedly to persuade him to "anyway", but he was either killed or expelled. All of these people were under the name of "Old friend".

However, when he saw the personal soldier who came to report the news, he couldn't help but curse: "What are you saying together? Why are you hesitating?"

The man quickly replied, "There is a great joy, the eldest young master is back!"

Xin Sixiao couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard this. The "big young master" was naturally Xin Longzi. However, after experiencing the affairs of Yang Tingyu and Yue Zhenbang, he had become much more mature. He grabbed the man's clothes and said, "Who sent them?"

"Huangfuduan"

Xin Sixiao couldn't help but be furious when he heard this, "Is this guy? He still has the face to come to see me?"

"Walk!"

Xin Sixiao led the cavalry to gallop towards the city.

When he came to the city guard's mansion, he saw a middle-aged man who looked like a scholar and was standing there holding a boy who looked like an eight or nine years old. The boy was timid and holding the man's hand tightly.

Xin Sixiao flew off the horse and stirred up another cloud of dust. He spat on the ground. The man was Huangfu Duan. He heard that this man was already in the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture where Beijing City was located. Why did he come to the door on his own initiative today?

After repeated examinations by Xin Sixiao, the boy was confirmed to be his nephew Xin Longzi. Unfortunately, three years later, Xin Longzi's face changed a little, and he couldn't remember Xin Sixiao.

"Longzi, it's the second uncle," Xin Sixiao snatched Xin Longzi from Huangfu Duan, shaking his shoulders with both hands and shouted loudly.

After a while, he hugged Xin Longzi and started crying.

It was unknown how long it took him to stop and stare at Huangfu Duan and said, "You have some conscience at last. You send Longzi here yourself. Needless to say, there must be something to tell me. If you want me to surrender to the Kingdom of Daxia, don't think about it. If you didn't see Longzi, you would definitely die in my hands. You go and just pretend that I have never seen you!"

Huangfu Duan was still the same as before, with that annoying smile, as if he was not going deep into the enemy territory, but at his doorstep. After hearing Xin Sixiao's words, he didn't say much, "Sixiao, since that's the case, I'll leave. Don't think too much. Come here today, just send Longzi to meet you. He found his own uncle, and my wish is fulfilled, so I'll say goodbye."

"Slow!" Xin Sixiao suddenly called him, "You Huangfu Duan is known as a talented man in Liangzhou. At this moment, you sent Long Zi over here. Don't lie to me that you are kind-hearted. What does it mean?"

Huangfu Duan smiled, "Of course not. After sending Long Zi over, my wish is over. Han Hai Army can cross the river and attack the Central Plains without any scruples. Otherwise, the two armies will fight and be blind. If you are not in the formation, wouldn't it be a huge regret for Long Zi?"

Xin Sixiao naturally would not believe his nonsense, but he was eager to talk to Xin Longzi and didn't want to tear him down, so he nodded to a guard beside him, "You send this person to the river to cross the river. If he can cross the river, he can naturally pass by. You can send him a ride."
Chapter completed!