"How come this chicken crows so early?"

The rooster crowing at midnight woke Li Tong, the Marquis of Gushi in the Eastern Han Dynasty, from his dream, and it was difficult to fall asleep again.

Li Tong's name is Diyuan, and his family was once the surname of Nanyang. The turning point in his life began on the day when he regarded the fifth reunion as a "passerby". The Li family quickly fell to the opposite side of the new dynasty, and later formed an alliance with the Liu family in Chongling, opening the prelude to the new rebellion of Nanyang. Li Tong, who had greatly lost his strength during the rebellion, quickly abandoned the Liu Bosheng brothers and supported Emperor Gengshi. The two brothers were able to be crowned kings, which was also considered as glorious...

Unfortunately, the Gengshi court was quickly destroyed, and Li Tong took his family to complete a dazzling jumping ship: before the Red Eyebrow Army conquered Wancheng, he brought his clan private soldiers to the hilly areas between the Dabie Mountains, which is the so-called "Minge San Pass" area (now Xinyang, Henan), and accepted a large number of remnants of green forests, such as Wang Chang, Ma Cheng, Lai She and others. After restoring their vitality, Li Tong quickly cooperated with Liu Xiu to send troops to Huainan and established a part of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Although the Liu family of Chongling and the Li family of Wancheng parted ways, who made Li Tong smart and marry Liu Xiu's sister in advance? Relying on past friendship and new achievements, Li Tong was appointed as the Weiwei by Liu Xiu, and his wife was named Princess Ningping. Every time Liu Xiu conquers all directions, he often lets Li Tong stay in the capital.

But this year, in the tenth year of Jianwu, Liu Xiu changed Li Tong's position and appointed him as "former general" and ordered Li Tong to take charge of Jiangxia County).

Liu Xiu told Li Tong so: "I will have something to do in Jianghan, Jingnan and Xiakou, and Deng Yu will coordinate the boats and grains and supplies. In Sui County, the three passes of Minghe are flanked to prevent the Wei army from attacking. Sui County will have the auxiliary general Zang Gong guarding the Minghe. In Minghe three passes, I will hand over to General Pang Meng, Pingyue, and each of them will be two or three thousand soldiers, but the two places still need to coordinate, and the dimension can take on this important task!"

The rift of the past has dissipated with time, and Li Tong once again became one of the people Liu Xiu trusted the most, and then he entrusted it with a heavy trust.

Li Tong was quite moved and immediately took office, but he did not stay in Xiling, Jiangxia County, but soon moved his shogunate to Anlu County.

"The county government is located in a remote location, not as good as Anlu. This place is the only way to go south of Sui County and Minghe Sanzhe. It is also the gateway to Xiakou north, so I am ready to settle here."

Since then, Li Tong has been diligently transporting grain and supplies to the two front passes. As a key to the north and south, the two places are quite steep, and the places are barren and hills, with very little grain output, especially the three blocks of Minghe, which is simply poor and bad water. The soldiers there cannot even maintain their own farming and rely on the supply to support them.

Li Tong also focused on establishing good relations with the two subordinates. Jian Yan, who guarded Sui County, was from Yingchuan, belonged to Feng Yi, Fu Jun and others, and was Liu Xiu and Jianye's loyal minister.

Pang Meng, who was in charge of the Three Passes of Minghe, was a little complicated. It is logically the "green forest system" of Li Tong, Wang Chang and others. However, he was originally from Yanzhou and was not close to people from the south. Instead, he had a "lonely minister". Pang Meng was just a captain when he first joined Liu Xiu. He made his mark and captured the Wei cavalry general Gai Yan. He was promoted to a side general because of his merits. Later, he wiped out Shanyue and was named "General Pingyue", which was quite trusted by Liu Xiu.

Why did Liu Xiu praise Pang Meng? It seemed to say: "Pang Meng can support a six-foot-foot-long loner and a hundred miles of life!"

Such a high reputation is rare, and even Li Tong is a little envious of it when he hears it.

Therefore, these two men guarded Beiguan, and there was no problem with both loyalty and ability. In addition, Li Tong was like a three-insurance insurance. Only after Liu Xiu arranged the flanks could he be at ease to use troops to Jianghan.

However, even though this is where the problem is the least problematic, there is still a big mistake!

On this summer night at the end of May, Li Tong was woken up by the rooster crowing. He was so hot that he couldn't fall asleep. When he was bored, the servant who had been with him for more than ten years came to report: "The head of the family."

"Ji Wenjun is here!"

"who?"

Li Tong was shocked and turned over from the cold couch, with a look of shock.

It was obviously the day of autumn, but Li Tong had goose bumps on his body.

"Didn't Li Yi enjoy wealth and honor in the fiefdom of Yuzhang County? Why did he appear here at this time!"

...

Li Yi is Li Tong's cousin. They grew up together in Wancheng Manor together. They are as close as compatriots and are still far away. Just from the shadow of his walking, Li Tong knew that the person who came was undoubtedly his younger brother!

Li Yi took off his hat and bowed respectfully to Li Tong, his voice choked with a little sob: "I don't want to see my brother!"

The two of them defected to Liu Xiu together, but their circumstances were very different. Li Tong continued to be trusted and used. Li Yi was only appointed as a small marquis and sent to the country of Yuzhang County, completely away from power. At that time, it was Li Yi who betrayed the alliance with the Liu clan of Chongling, flattered the Lulin Qushang, and supported Gengshi, and later obtained the status of the "Dueyin King". He also hated the Liu brothers and often stirred up shit in them and Gengshi and Green Forest. After the Kunyang War, Liu Xiu was released and Liu Bosheng was sent to Guanzhong to die. It was all Li Yi at work.

[To be honest, I have been using reading books to follow updates recently, changing sources and switching, and pronunciation aloud, both Android and Apple can do it.]

Although Liu Xiu was very tolerant and did not make things difficult for Li Yi, he could not reuse it again.

Since Li Yiyuanfeng and Li Tong and him have not seen each other for several years, I heard that Li Yi is quite honest and the surveillance of local officials has gradually relaxed, but he did not expect that he actually ran out!

Li Tong did not take his younger brother's stubbornness and said solemnly: "Ji Wen, have you left the fiefdom and received your Majesty's permission?"

The Eastern Han Dynasty inherited the system of the former Han Dynasty and did not report to the marquis and ministers, and did not report to the emperor. The marquis could not leave their fiefs without permission. Li Yi had no other official positions. After this rashly, he obviously violated a big taboo!

Unexpectedly, Li Yi was careless and smiled and said, "Brother, I don't know how many years the Han country in the southeast can last. Who cares about the system of enfeoffment?"

Li Tong became even more angry and slapped the table and said, "Bold! Why do you say this!"

Li Yi sat down and said, "At that time, my uncle served the national teacher Liu Xin in the new dynasty, and got the prophecies and divination of the heavenly books, saying that "Liu's revival, Li's support". So he believed it, and believed that all directions were disturbed, the new family would be destroyed, and the Han Dynasty would be even more prosperous. Only Liu Bosheng's brothers loved and could plan major events with him. This led to the later raising troops to rebel against the new."

"But now, everyone in the world knows that the Han Dynasty is difficult to revive. The fifth reunion has two-thirds of the world, and everyone is back to their hearts. Liu Xiu did not know the times and wanted to restore the Han Dynasty. Just like hitting a stone with an egg, how could he be defeated? This is why the drowning of Xiangyang and the loss of Huaibei depended on the dangers of Jianghuai and the underworld, so that he could barely defend this southeast corner. Next, it was Jiangxia, Huainan, and then guarded across the river. It would not last a few years. Just wait for the fifth reunion to pacify Bashu, and Gongsun Shu destroyed it, and then it was Liu Xiu's turn... By then, the river was too wide and it was useless. I knew this in Yuzhang that my brother was in the center and was in the front line, but he didn't know?"

After all, Li Yi was a prince of Gengshi, and he still had some knowledge. Li Tong scolded: "Nonsense! You don't know yet? General Feng defended Jiangling, and Your Majesty personally rushed the army to Jianghan. There will be a good news soon."

"Even if you win by chance, so what?"

Li Yi shook his head and said, "The fifth army stationed in one million troops, and the generals ranked thousands of troops, and he was soaring and looking at him. His talent is definitely not comparable to Wang Mang, and the south is definitely not an opponent."

Li Tong knew his intention: "Ji Wen, just say something."

Li Yi said: "When the Li family of Wancheng was in the Former Han Dynasty, although they had a fortune of a thousand gold, they only served as a small iron official, without power or power. If the court was in trouble, my family would be in danger of migration. In the new dynasty, by offering auspiciousness, my uncle was able to enter the court and become a small official. When it was Gengshi Dynasty, we bet on Liu Xuan, and we were even one family and two princes. What a glory!"

Li Yi will never forget the glory of the past few years he was a prince, and he is also wise to the power. Now, he has been driven to Yuzhang by Liu Xiu. The climate is humid and hot, and he is extremely depressed.

He seemed to be enjoying wealth, but in fact he was just a prisoner. Next to his fief is Haihun County, where the former deposed emperor Liu He died. Li Yi judged the gentleman with the heart of a villain. He always felt that Liu Xiu would hold a grudge against him in the future, and could take his life with a glass of poisonous wine.

So he always pays attention to the world situation in his fear and reluctance.

Li Yi said: "We are not loyal to the new and Han people. We are just for our own wealth and prosperity. Now the Han Chau is destined to be overthrown. In order to prevent the Li family from being destroyed, we will be able to follow the Emperor of Wei to protect ourselves!"

"You...had you already secretly defected to Wei State?" Li Tong pointed at Li Yi, his voice trembling.

Li Yi was not shy about admitting: "Yes, a few years ago, after the officials sent by Liu Xiu relaxed surveillance, I had a lot of contact with the Wei State Embroidered Uniform Guards and often sent messages. Since this year, Liu Xiu has frequently gone to Xiakou and Chaisang to dispatch troops, thinking that he could hide it from the fifth relationship?"

With a blink of an eye, Li Tong pulled out his sword and pressed it against his cousin's chest: "So the Wei people did it carefully and assigned you to come here to persuade me to surrender?"

"That's right." Although Li Yi's answer was loud, he felt very guilty. In fact, he was a down-and-out marquis and could not access the military information of the Han Dynasty. He could only provide information about three or four hands. The level was very low in the intelligence network of the Xiuyiwei...

He knew that he had not invested enough, and was anxious about it. After entering Xia, he smelled the war was about to break out. He also heard that Li Tong was appointed as a former general and presided over the defense of northern Jiangxia. Li Yi came here at night, hoping to earn the "uprising" with his brother to make great contributions and become a marquis in Wei State. Even if Bo still couldn't get power, at least he had no personal grudges with the fifth family, so he didn't have to worry about being poured poisoned wine every day.

Li Yi knew Li Tong very well and knew that his brother would never kill him. He still said earnestly: "Brother, we have friendship with the fifth relationship! Now that Emperor Wei is surrounded by handsome men and the people are popular, if my family can realize success or failure, and make a big plan, we can still talk about success and career like Weizi and Xiang Bo, and turn misfortune into a blessing. Once hesitate, when the northern tiger cavalry suddenly enters, the strict army besiege the city, even if there is regret, it will be too late!"

"shut up!"

Li Tong said angrily: "When Green Forest entered Nanyang, I believed what you said, and was coerced by the Green Forest Qu Commander, he changed Gengshi to the emperor. If he had supported Liu Bosheng and Liu Xiu's brothers at that time, he did not have private plans and devoted himself to revitalizing the Han Dynasty, how could the fifth relationship kill Bosheng and easily take the north?"

"Now your Majesty is about to encircle and annihilate Cen Peng's brutal people with a benevolent army. Even if this strategy fails, Jiangdong soldiers are well-educated and food, and the dangers of the Yangtze River can maintain the country. Li Tong was favored by the emperor, how could he ignore the world's ridicule and surrender the thief?"

"I was wrong once, but now, I won't be wrong for the second time!"

Li Tong withdrew his sword and turned around: "You don't have to say anything anymore, let's go..."

Li Yi's persuasion failed. His face turned pale. He stared at his cousin's back and groped with the dagger in his sleeve. But in the end he couldn't do it. He just retreated in disappointment. He bowed again before leaving and said, "I know my brother's intention. I want me to go to Wei quickly. Although I can't make great contributions, I can at least save my life. Please rest assured that when the Han tripod of Jiangdong is overthrown in the future, even if my brother insists on burying Liu Xiu, even if I am not talented, I will do my best to protect the Li family in Wancheng!"

Li Tong's body shook, and he knew that his brother was better than his brother. He was so he could guess that Li Yi had no choice but to look back. He raised his hand and waved his hand weakly, asking his confidant to send Li Yi away, and prepared a horse, guard, and money for him. Since then, the brothers parted ways, but it can indeed make the Li family in Wancheng in an immortal state.

Although he agreed with Li Yi's statement that "Han will be defeated", Li Tong still worked diligently for Liu Xiu and strictly guarded the northern part of Jiangxia. Sure enough, in late May, he found important information:
Chapter completed!