At this time, Hengshan County has entered into intense preparations for war. Xiangzhuang, which originally had more than 30,000 troops, has been recruiting troops continuously during the past six months. At this time, the 15,000 permanent troops stationed in each county have been abandoned.

In addition, Xiangzhuang's available troops have reached 30,000.

These 30,000 soldiers and horses are the elite troops carefully selected by Xiang Zhuang. When they go north in the future, this army will also become the indispensable main force of the Xiang family.

At this time, in the school grounds, flags were flying fiercely, drums were beating loudly, and 30,000 Jiangdong Chu troops were waiting in formation. Soon, from the west gate of Dazhai, a group of personal guards escorted several officers and slowly marched towards the school grounds.

At this time, the news of Chen Sheng's defeat and death has come, and the battle in the Central Plains is inevitable. The day for the Xiang family to go north is gradually approaching. Xiang Zhuang is now gradually shifting his attention from the craftsman shop to the army, buying horses one by one from Guanzhong.

The war horses were distributed with five thousand cavalry. These were all the money Xiang Zhuang earned from selling weapons to various places over the years, but this money was meager and not enough to meet the strong military needs. What's more, Xiang Zhuang wanted to

Establishing a strong information network across the country is still far away, and we don’t know when it will be realized.

Moreover, Xiang Zhuang is about to return to Jiangdong in the past few days, preparing to discuss the details of going north with his uncle. At this time, Zhang Han is heading west. It is a good time for the Xiang family to show off their skills, so Xiang Zhuang will take Cao Feng and Kong with him.

Ji, Ding Gu and others came to inspect the army and review the three armies.

This is also Ding Gu's opinion. In the past few months, Ding Gu has been responsible for all the military training. He hopes that Xiang Zhuang can come and take a look and make up for any shortcomings.

At this time, everyone came to the general stage. Several generals had already hurried over, knelt down on one knee, raised their hands and said: "Greetings to the general, everything is ready. Do you want to start?"

Xiang Zhuang couldn't help but smile and said: "Tell me, what do you practice every day?"

"Array formation, fighting, bow and arrow, riding and shooting, these are the skills that every soldier must learn." One of the generals replied. At this time, Xiang Zhuanglang smiled and said: "Okay, let's get started."

On the side, Ding Gu took a step forward and shouted: "Array."

On the general platform, the flag was raised. Below, 30,000 soldiers and horses evolved into various formations. The cavalry galloped back and forth. Shield soldiers and soldiers complemented each other. There was the chaotic sound of horse hooves, footsteps, the shouts of the soldiers, and the sound of drums.

, the sound of horns is endless...

Seeing the soldiers training, Xiang Zhuang nodded with satisfaction and praised: "General Ding trains soldiers and horses meticulously. You will be in charge of Hengshan County for me. I am relieved for this trip."

Seeing Xiang Zhuang's praise, Ding Gu immediately raised his hands and said with a smile: "I am willing to serve the general."

...

The next day, at Shaxian River Port, warships docked one after another. Several soldiers put the planks of the ships on the river port. At this time, Xiangzhuang's personal guards began to board the ships one after another.

Soon, more than a hundred carriages came, loaded with wooden boxes. Hundreds of soldiers rushed to slowly carry these boxes onto the ship. These were the first batch of carriages built by Xiang Zhuang for Jiangdong.

Iron weapons.

At this time, at the river port, Xiang Zhuang said goodbye to Ding Gu, Li Ji and Gong Ao. When Xiang Zhuang returned to Jiangdong this time, he would discuss the specific details of going north with his uncle, and they would be stationed in Hengshan County, ready for orders at any time.

At this time, Ding Gu had put his right hand on his chest and assured Xiang Zhuang: "Don't worry, general, I will take good care of Hengshan County and not give the Qin army any opportunity."

Xiang Zhuang nodded, looked at Gong Ao again, and said, "You and General Li Ji must fully cooperate with Ding Gu and not be negligent in the slightest."

The two nodded. Xiang Zhuang looked at the time. It was almost noon. In the distance, the wooden boxes were almost finished being moved. At this time, Kong Ji came over and said with a smile: "General, the time is up, it's time to set off."

.”

...

About three days later, the fleet sailed along the mighty Yangtze River, passed Penglize, and stopped at the river port of Yugan County.

The large ship began to approach the bank, and the Chu army from the east of the Yangtze River slowly disembarked from the ship and chose an open space to build a camp next to the river bank.

Xiang Zhuang was worried that something unpleasant would happen when Cao Feng and Wu Fang met, so he had to let Cao Feng inspect the camp and supervise the construction of the camp. He and Kong Ji hurried to Poyang County with a hundred personal guards.

After walking for about half an hour, in the distance, on the galloping road, a group of army horses came slowly, led by a female general, wearing dark brown leather armor and wearing a short sword at her waist. After a while, she came to Xiang Zhuang and others,

He cupped his hands and said with a smile: "General Xiangzhuang, when my father learned that you were coming to Poyang, he asked me to come and greet you."

After saying that, Wu Fang smiled sweetly, and Xiang Zhuang clasped his fists and replied: "Thank you, Miss Wu Fang."

The two teams merged and headed to Poyang together. About an hour later, the team arrived at the foot of Poyang City. At this time, there were troops arrayed under Poyang City to greet them. Seeing Xiang Zhuang and others arriving, drums were beating slowly on the city tower.

Behind the welcoming team, there was a military band. At this time, the military music played slowly. Wu Fang suddenly took Xiang Zhuang's hand and said with a smile: "Let's go, let's go into the city. Dad is still waiting."

Wu Fang's sudden move made Xiang Zhuang feel uncomfortable. He did not expect that Wu Fang would hold his hand in public. After all, he was a man, so such a move was nothing, but Wu Fang was a girl.

In this era where the Three Obediences and Four Virtues are highly valued, Wu Fang's actions will undoubtedly give people a reason to talk about her behind her back.

But Xiang Zhuang would never have imagined that Wu Fang's every move and her thoughts would not escape Wu Rui's eyes. The main reason why Wu Rui did not object to Wu Fang's relationship with Xiang Zhuang was that Wu Rui had already fallen in love with her.

After marrying Xiang Zhuang, he really wanted to win over Xiang Zhuang and become his second son-in-law.

At this time, everyone came to the living room of the government office. Kong Ji saw Wu Fang holding Xiang Zhuang and not letting go at all. He couldn't help but feel annoyed. He walked to the two of them and coughed intentionally or unintentionally. Only then did Wu Fang realize that she had already

He held Xiang Zhuang's hand for a long time.

Not sure whether he was embarrassed or shy, Wu Fang suddenly let go of Xiang Zhuang's hand, blushed and said with a smile: "General Xiang Zhuang, please... sit down for a while, dad will be here soon."

After saying that, Wu Fang walked quickly to the back office. Looking at her back, Xiang Zhuang shook his head helplessly. On the side, Kong Ji couldn't stand it anymore. He vaguely felt that Xiang Zhuang seemed to be very interested in this girl.

This would threaten his sister's marriage. Kong Ji believed that he needed to wake up Xiang Zhuang. After thinking for a moment, Kong Ji sighed: "As a general who is a guard general and has military power, he should not be too nostalgic about his children's personal affairs...

"

Kong Ji did not continue speaking, but Xiang Zhuang had roughly understood the meaning of Kong Ji's words. As his future brother-in-law, he would definitely stand up for his sister and wake himself up. This kind of thing is human nature. Xiang Zhuang

He nodded and smiled back: "I remember what Brother Kong said."

At this time, there were hurried footsteps outside the door. Not long after, Wu Rui's laughter was faintly heard. Soon, Wu Rui, Mei Rong and others walked in quickly with Tabu, and said with a big laugh: "Let Xian

My nephew has been waiting for a long time."

Xiang Zhuang and Kong Ji also returned the favor. At this time, Wu Rui pointed to the side hall and said with a smile: "The banquet has been prepared. You don't have to be polite, nephew. Let's chat while we eat."

Wu Rui was in front, Xiang Zhuang was behind, and everyone walked slowly to the side hall. Here, more than ten tables of banquets had already been set up. The maids were busy serving dishes and pouring wine, and several musicians were playing music behind the screen.

Beautiful Chu music, several graceful girls in bright clothes danced in the room.

At this time, everyone had been divided into guests and hosts. Not long after, Wu Rui was the first to speak and said with a smile: "Not long ago, your third uncle came to Poyang to formally propose marriage on behalf of the Xiang family. I have betrothed my youngest daughter to Xiang You.

It won't be long before our two families become in-laws."

Wu Rui spoke very calmly, but his eyes never left Xiang Zhuang's face. At this time, Xiang Zhuang had already cupped his fists and said with a smile: "If so, I would like to congratulate Uncle Wu."

Seeing that Xiang Zhuang's expression did not change at all, Wu Rui had no choice but to laugh dryly and pick up the wine glass: "Here, let's have a drink."

After finishing the first round of drinks, Wu Rui looked at the dancing showgirls in the house and laughed: "Since our two families have made an engagement, how can I favor one over the other? In this way, nephew, look at these dancers, they all have different looks.

Beautiful fairy, if my nephew likes it, I can give you some and take them back to enrich the backyard."

Seeing what Wu Rui said, Xiang Zhuang shook his head. At this time, Wu Rui sighed and said with a smile: "By the way, my nephew is from the military. I think these dancers are not to his liking, so I'll give them some military music."

Soon, tight military music sounded, and a group of dancers wearing leather armor rushed into the lobby, holding shields in their left hands and swords in their right hands, dancing gracefully in the room with unrestrained and uninhibited movements. Many people's eyes widened when they saw this.

At that moment, a girl wearing fish-scale armor suddenly ran into several dancing girls, with a short blade flying left and right like a dragon swimming in the water.

When everyone saw this, they all applauded. At this time, Wu Rui pointed to the dancing girl and asked with a smile: "Is this woman suitable for the general's taste?"

Xiang Zhuang was also extremely surprised at this time. The girl in front of him danced lightly and her sword shadows were flying. At first glance, she was Lian Jiazi, but her face was covered with a layer of white gauze, making it difficult for Xiang Zhuang to distinguish the woman.

He couldn't help but get up and look at her appearance. On the side, Wu Rui thought that Xiang Zhuang had taken a fancy to this woman, so he couldn't help laughing and said: "Since the general is interested in her, how about I marry her to the general?"

Before Xiang Zhuang had time to reply, the woman had put down her sword, and the dancing women on the side also retired one after another. After the music stopped, the woman took off her veil, and she turned out to be Wu Fang.

At this time, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense and silent. Everyone's eyes fell on Xiang Zhuang and Wu Fang. Wu Rui's words just now made it very clear that Wu Rui intended to recruit Xiang Zhuang as his son-in-law, but Xiang Zhuang, at this time,

Don't know how to refuse.

Rejecting Wu Rui in front of Wu Fang? How hurtful would that be? Moreover, Xiang Zhuang cannot do this.

Tangled, helpless, tossing and turning, Xiang Zhuang suddenly came to his senses, picked up the wine glass, laughed dryly, deliberately changed the subject, looked at Wu Rui and said: "Uncle, have you heard in recent days? Chen Sheng has been defeated and killed in Chen County. I am afraid that the Xiang family will go north.

It’s coming!”

Xiang Zhuang deliberately changed the topic, and Wu Rui knew clearly that it seemed that he still couldn't accept Wu Fang. When Wu Rui was melancholy in his heart, sighing and shaking his head, Wu Fang snorted, took the sword, and left quickly.
Chapter completed!