A large number of soldiers were summoned, and they lined up in rows waiting to be searched. There were so many people that it was impossible to see the end of the crowd.
Chang Ren and the other two were also in the team, and they were all very nervous at this moment.
The soldiers who were searched were required to take off their armor first, and then remove their cotton coats and trousers, leaving only a thin inner garment, and then be searched thoroughly.
This move made everyone suspicious, and they felt that this was more like looking for something than eliminating the traitor...
Did they lose something important? But the people above would not give them an answer, so all they could do was shut up and cooperate.
Chang Ren and the other two also cooperated and accepted the body search.
The soldiers in charge of the search moved their hands all over their bodies very carefully.
Although he didn't know what these people were looking for, Chang Ren was already feeling very uneasy.
According to this search method, once the girl is found, not to mention other things, the secret that she is a girl will be doomed to be exposed!
"Next!"
"Don't dawdle, take off your armor as soon as possible!"
As the searching soldiers urged loudly, suddenly a louder, deeper and longer voice resounded throughout the camp and cut through the night sky.
It was the sound of a horn to recruit troops! Everyone's expressions straightened up and they immediately became noisy.
It’s time to gather troops!
"No one is allowed to run around!" The soldier in charge of the search sternly stopped the rioting crowd and shouted: "Those who have completed the search, please gather together. The rest, stand where you are and continue to wait for the search! Those who try to take the opportunity to evade the search will be regarded as spies and punished by military law! Do you understand?"
"yes!"
Chang Ren and the other man looked at each other and temporarily retreated from here.
The two had just walked a short distance when someone suddenly patted Chang Ren's shoulder from behind.
Chang Ren looked back warily and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the person coming.
Fortunately, the girl is fine!
The sudden sound of the trumpet brought chaos to the surroundings. Soldiers were running hurriedly everywhere, shouting, the sound of armor and weapons clashing, and the blazing torches whistling in the wind, making people uneasy.
"...Where did the girl go?" After several people temporarily hid in a haystack, Chang Ren finally asked.
"I hid myself." As Chang Suining spoke, he took out three pancakes from somewhere, bit one of them, and handed the other two to Chang Ren and the others: "If I had known they were going to search me, I would have hidden myself."
Chang Ren took the cake that was obviously not his own, and was hesitant to speak. When the girl said "hiding", did she mean hiding in the sense of stealing a few cakes?
The other guard was suddenly moved. No matter how difficult the conditions were, the girl would not let them go hungry. She would steal bread to feed them! And the bread she stole was stuffed with meat!
He suddenly understood his companion's crazy words: "Even if the girl asked me to take off all my clothes and run around Zhuque Street, I would not hesitate."
Now, he can do it too! "Why did the girl know in advance that they were going to search her?" Chang Ren asked in a low voice while chewing a biscuit.
The girl's dark eyes glanced around vigilantly, and her voice couldn't be any lower: "Because what they are looking for is here with me."
She was carrying the things that He Wei gave her before his death, so it was naturally impossible for her to run to others.
Chang Ren's expression changed. Just as he was about to say something else, Chang Suining said, "Now is not the time to talk. Fill your stomach quickly and follow me to find dad."
They both nodded.
After quickly stuffing most of the meat pie into his stomach and hiding the rest, Chang Suining dodged out of the haystack and grabbed a soldier: "...Where is the war going on again?"
"Haven't you heard yet? The Xu rebels have broken through Jiangning and are now attacking Hezhou!"
"General Chang is recruiting his troops. We are going to set off immediately! All the troops from the third to the tenth army must follow. Which army are you from?"
"We are from the Ninth Army!" Chang Suining said.
"Then hurry up. If you go too late, you won't be able to bear the charge of delaying military plans!" said the soldier, and hurriedly ran ahead.
Chang Suining: "Let's go, follow them!"
The infantry of the first army of Dasheng consisted of 12,500 men, and the third to tenth armies had a total of 100,000 men.
Upon hearing that Chang Kuo would lead the troops in this battle, Chang Suining felt a little relieved. The fact that he was still able to lead the troops into battle at least proved that Chang Kuo was safe and sound at the moment, and in a sense he had "escaped from trouble".
But this "escape" must have been tacitly approved by Li Yi, probably because He Wei was dead and the threat was temporarily lifted.
But would Li Yi really let Old Chang go? Thinking of this man's act of killing He Wei, Chang Suining had almost no hope for this.
Therefore, Lao Chang's crisis is far from over. The so-called "escaping from trouble" is only superficial. She must meet Chang Kuo and follow him! Besides...
Jiangning is broken, and Hezhou is in danger...
Chang Suining almost squeezed out a curse from between his teeth: "Cowardly idiot!"
He didn't dare to do the important work, but he learned the behavior of the sewer rat! The cowardly man in the past, now under the influence of selfish desires, dared to plot to kill He Wei first, and who knows what evil tricks he is thinking of to deal with Lao Chang. A general without strategy can tire out thousands of troops, and a commander without strategy can frustrate ten thousand divisions. What's more, this commander is not only incompetent and strategyless, but also stupid and vicious.
If all the royal family members were of this kind, there would be no need for outsiders like Xu Zhengye or foreigners from the northwest to seize the throne. If the Li dynasty did not collapse, it would be unacceptable to heaven.
As Chang Suining ran quickly, he looked back in the direction of the commander's tent. The murderous intent in his bright eyes was forced to be suppressed temporarily.
The three of them quickly blended into the Ninth Army.
There was a quota of numbers, and Chang Suining and his two companions were able to sneak in because they knocked out three real soldiers of the Ninth Army.
A hundred thousand troops gathered, and Chang Suining mixed in the crowd. Even though he stood straight, he could not see Chang Kuo on the reviewing platform in the distance.
On the parade ground, a hundred thousand soldiers were ready to go, but in the commander-in-chief's camp, Li Yi had a frown on his face.
Whenever he got nervous, his palms would sweat and he would pace back and forth, and this was no exception.
"...Just let him go to Hezhou like this? How can we do that!" There were only two of his aides and a few trusted guards left in the tent, so he spoke without any reservations.
Chang Kuo volunteered to go to Hezhou to fight the rebels, and his two military advisors also agreed! "General, please be patient. I know that you want to get rid of Chang Kuo as soon as possible... But He Wei and his group of imperial envoys just got into trouble, and there are already speculations in the army. If we take action against Chang Kuo without any reason at this time, it will definitely cause chaos."
This is also the reason why they have only dared to put Chang Kuo under temporary house arrest in the name of recuperation during these days.
Chang Kuo is a man with great prestige in the army and he cannot be moved by force.
For this reason, they knew better than anyone that as long as Chang Kuo was there, Li Yi would not be able to truly command the 200,000-strong army and make them loyal and obey his orders.
"If I could, I wouldn't want to kill him!"
Li Yi continued to walk back and forth: "But in order to prevent him from seeing He Wei, he had been under house arrest for many days. When he saw He Wei's corpse today, he clearly sensed something, but he held back... It's obvious that he knew the timing was not good, and he would wait until later to settle accounts with me! He volunteered to go to Hezhou just to take the opportunity to get away!"
"I won't kill him, but he will definitely not let me go!"
"You were the ones who proposed to put him under house arrest in the first place, and you are the ones who let him go now. If he really leaves this military camp, how will I deal with him afterwards? You know that he is a big worry for me!" The more Li Yi spoke, the more sweat he had on his forehead. "Besides, you allowed him to lead an army of 100,000!"
Once the 100,000 troops left the camp, he would only have 60,000 left! Not to mention anything else, even if Chang Kuo led his troops to beat him, he would not be able to beat him!
Moreover, his "enemy" now is not only Chang Kuo, but also the saint... Once the news of He Wei's death is passed back to the capital, the saint will know his intention of not exchanging military power, and will punish him then - so he urgently needs to have enough troops to protect himself!
"General, please be patient and let me explain in detail..."
The two aides were dizzy from his walking. Every time they saw the general walking back and forth, they felt very sorry that they couldn't put a plow on him, otherwise how much land would they have to plow?
An aide stroked his beard and said slowly, "I just said that Chang Kuo cannot die at the hands of the general, and cannot die in this military camp... You must know that as a deputy commander, dying on the battlefield is the way of a general."
Died on the battlefield?
Li Yi looked at him.
The aide said, "Another point, since the general has decided to oppose the saint, then Xu Zhengye is no longer the general's enemy... why don't the general cooperate with him?"
Li Yi paused.
Cooperate with Xu Zhengye?
"I remember that Xu Zhengye once sent a secret letter to the general. Do you remember it?"
Of course Li Yi remembered.
At that time, his father, the King of Huainan, was still alive, and he had just been defeated in Duliangshan...
Xu Zhengye asked Luo Guanlin to write him a secret letter. From the letter, it can be known that the other party believed that he had deliberately given in the defeat at Liangshan and that he also wanted to overthrow the empress, so he tried to write a letter to invite him to accomplish the great cause together.
After he read it, his face turned red and white.
Bai was afraid that this letter would bring him trouble and that he would be labeled a traitor.
Red because... the defeat at Duliangshan was not intentional on his part! Did he fight so badly that the enemy suspected that he was giving in? This Xu Zhengye was probably deliberately humiliating him! He immediately burned the letter.
He had never thought of cooperating with Xu Zhengye at that time. He was devoted to the court and the saint... But as soon as his father died, the saint turned his face and disowned him. He first reduced the military strength of the Huainan Palace, and now he wanted to take away his military power and punish him! "Xu Zhengye is still gathering talents from all over the world to work together for a great cause. It is not too late for the general to reply now."
"Yes, Xu Zhengye was able to expand his power in such a short period of time, relying on the pretext of 'supporting the Li family'. The general is of the Li family's bloodline. If the general accompanies them, he will definitely help them win over the people's hearts."
"Besides, the general has a large army under his command, and they will certainly treat him with courtesy... If the general works hard to conquer various places and stabilize the people's hearts, and the current crown prince is not capable of the task... then why would the general care about the position of King of Huainan?"
Li Yi's eyes trembled, and his heart seemed to jump out of his chest.
He was still thinking, if the news of He Wei's death was reported back to the capital, and the saint attacked him, how could he truly win over the hearts of the army, what pretext could he use to truly intimidate them and make them willing to serve him...
Now he seemed to have the answer.
That’s right, he is also a descendant of the Li family!
Even though he is not a legitimate heir, the current prince is also adopted, isn't he? Since he is a descendant of the Li family, why not use the troops of the Li family to support the Li family's cause? This is the true destiny of heaven! But he alone is not enough to compete with the entire court, but if he can borrow the power of Xu Zhengye... that would be different!
After the troops were inspected, war drums were beating outside the tent. The drum beats seemed to hit Li Yi's heart, causing every part of his body to tremble violently.
After standing for an unknown amount of time, Li Yi slowly sat down.
"Chang Kuo is stubborn and a thorn in the side of Xu's army. General, why don't you take Chang Kuo's head as a token of your sincerity in cooperating with Xu Zhengye?"
Li Yi finally spoke: "But if Chang Kuoruo led an army of 100,000, he might not lose to Xu Zhengye..."
"General, you are joking. How can you have 100,000 soldiers?" An aide stood up and said with a smile, "The battle in Hezhou is crucial. As the commander-in-chief, you should have a better plan."
Li Yi raised his changing eyes and looked over.
…
When the army leaves the camp urgently, it does not mean that the whole army can set out immediately. Usually, the light cavalry and the vanguard are in the front, and part of the central army follows. The rear army that is responsible for transporting food, fodder, weapons and bags will move slower.
Chang Suining and two other men were reluctantly incorporated into the central army, and at dawn, they followed the main army out of the camp.
At the military parade, she had thought about showing the secret decree of changing the commander, and trying to capture Li Yi with Lao Chang before the army, but this idea was undoubtedly too presumptuous, and she quickly rejected it.
He Wei was dead, and there was no evidence. In a hurry, she and Chang Kuo could not discuss anything in advance, and Li Yi could have had someone shoot her with an arrow when she opened her mouth, and then determine that the imperial edict was forged, and then put the charge of forging the imperial edict on Chang Kuo.
I'm afraid that I won't be able to touch Li Yi, but will kill Lao Chang instead.
Li Yi may not be able to fully control the overall situation, but in terms of chances of winning, Li Yi, as the commander-in-chief, still has 70% chance, while Chang Kuo can only have 30% chance at most.
Even if Lao Chang regains the support of the people, it is not a safe strategy to use this 30% of the troops to start a rebellion, split the army into two, and fight against Li Yi.
There is one particularly crucial point - Hezhou is in danger at this moment, the military situation is urgent, and the people are in a critical situation. If she takes out this imperial edict to stir up civil strife at this time, then she will be no different from Li Yi, and she will not distinguish between the importance of the enemy and ourselves, and she will be both stupid and evil.
If Xu Zhengye knew about her "righteous act" of sacrificing herself to benefit the enemy, he would definitely kowtow to her and burn incense to thank her that night.
Furthermore, she had to be clear that she only had one chance to take out this imperial edict. In other words, she had to be sure of success.
But Chang Suining soon realized something was wrong when he followed the army not far out of the camp.
After walking another three miles, she was able to confirm her guess in her heart - this was not the marching route to Hezhou! Ordinary soldiers did not have a clear idea of this, but some lieutenants also found something unusual.
After thinking it over, one of the lieutenants rode forward and asked the deputy general in a low voice: "... Deputy General Qu, aren't we going to follow Deputy General Chang to Hezhou? Are we going to split up into two groups?"
The deputy general glanced at him coldly and said, "Important matters and secrets of the enemy, how can you just pry into them casually?"
The captain lowered his head slightly and said, "I am afraid that our subordinates will make random guesses and harm the morale of the army..."
"Just take care of your own people! If anyone questions the route, tell them that this is a decision made by the commander-in-chief and Deputy Commander Chang, and it must not be disclosed! If anyone dares to use this to disrupt the morale of the army, they will be punished by military law!"
The captain had no choice but to say "yes", slowed down his horse, and retreated back to the regiment under his jurisdiction.
During the break, the captain sat absent-mindedly on a huge rock until a soldier came up to him and handed him a kettle.
Faced with this attentive gesture, the captain frowned and said, "No need, I have water."
"I want to use this kettle to exchange something with Captain Bai."
The captain raised his eyes and looked at the soldier whose words were so absurd and bold.
Perhaps the other party's eyes were too firm and sincere, Captain Bai narrowed his eyes slightly and asked tentatively: "What do you want to change?"
"Three fast horses, and some dry food."
As the "little soldier" spoke, he raised his hand holding the kettle a little higher.
Captain Bai subconsciously looked at the kettle, and then his eyes changed slightly.
There was something in the palm of the hand holding the kettle.
After a moment, Captain Bai took the kettle and whispered, "Okay, I can prepare it for you."
…
Today I have 4,500 words. I'll make up 500 of them (just kidding). I'll make up for it when I recover. Good night!
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