In front of Qingliu Pass, the Northern Expedition Army braved the rain and entered Qingliu Pass and occupied this powerful pass in advance to prevent the Qing army from leaving and returning.

The lush numbers on the mountain have turned into ashes, and endless sins and corpses have dissipated with the blue smoke.

The past has been hurt several times in the world, but what remains unchanged is that the shape of the mountain remains the same, and the green to gray and black was changed to gray. When the fire reached the third day, the smoke column was as high as a thousand meters, and even the Northern Expedition Army at the foot of the mountain had to retreat and avoid the smoke.

Under the heavy rain, the bluestone road was muddy. Hou Xuanyan walked towards the stairs, and his boots were dyed black. Fortunately, this continuous heavy rain, otherwise the raised ashes would be enough to make this place unpassable.

The ashes all over the mountains were washed into the clear stream river flowing in the mountains by rain. This Chuzhou mother river, known as "the gentle flowing green cloud belt, green peach and red clouds flying in the embankment", turned completely black for several months, and was called the Heishui River since then.

"The watershed of the Jianghuai River and the mountains on the southeastern foot. After passing this mountain, you will get out of the Jianghuai River. The scenery of my hometown has been gone for a long time. The last time I got to the northern border was still the same as Master Chongzhen." Although Zhu Dadian's hometown is Changshan Village, Jinhua, Zhejiang, his career in the officialdom was the most glorious in the north. In the 44th year of Wanli, he became the magistrate of Zhangqiu. In less than three years, he climbed to the high position of the Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War. The mud legs that came out of this mountain village were perfect in human relations, and they were truly perfect.

Hou Xuanyan looked at the dark Qingliu Pass, and the fire that lasted for seven days burned many corpses. A wisp of blue smoke drifted with the wind may be the pillar of a family, and his wife is looking forward to returning day and night.

Teams of Northern Expedition Army walked through the mountains and walked forward along Qingliu Pass. Because they did not know the movements of the Qing soldiers, all the soldiers and generals were cautious. Since crossing the river, several wars have become more and more tragic. Every time they are in raids and encounters with raids, they are in a fight. These veterans are not allowed to be vigilant and march.

Hou Xuanyan found a stone, rubbed off the black mud on his feet that had already affected his walking, and pondered: "There are two roads after passing Qingliu Pass. One is to go north to Fengyang, fight against Jiergalang, and beat the dogs in the water. The other is to go east to Huai'an, and attack the Qing soldiers of Huai'an with Li Haoxian's Huoba, and the troops are coming to Shandong. I think that road is easy to walk."

"Watch Fengyang, although Fengyang is big, it does not have a high wall and a big city. It goes straight to the Central Plains with one horse."

"You will attack Huai'an. If you take Huai'an and cross Shandong, you will be the Jifu. If you recover Shenjing, you will be able to make a northern expedition!"

"I think it's good to fight Fengyang. Zhongzhen Camp and the four pseudo-Qing princes fought in the Central Plains. If we can fight to the Central Plains, we will look to Shaanxi and Gansu in the north, and Hanzhong in the west, and Sichuan in the whole situation will be alive."

"Huai'an has taken it. We have countless supplies to transport through the salt road. Wherever we fight, we will be at home. The situation when we enter the Central Plains is complicated, and I'm afraid there will be many difficulties."

Everyone talked about you and I, and they started to discuss it fiercely. Only Yan Yingyuan was silent. Hou Xuanyan looked at him in surprise and asked, "What do Liheng think?"

Yan Yingyuan frowned and sighed, "When I was in Jiangpu, I heard from Zhang Mingzhen that Zheng Zhilong's navy was showing off his power along the coast of Huaiyang. Countless food, firearms, and gunpowder were transported from the water to Wakda in Huai'an. The Manchu Jiannu was like a tiger. I was afraid... the fire camp could not support it."

The Zheng family in Fujian is too rich. After so many years of accumulation and control of the Southeast Waterway, they have gained strong capital. Fujian's land is barren, but Zheng Zhilong can buy a large amount of grain from the people in the South China Sea, and the price paid is to allow them to go to the Southeast Waterway. The Zheng family naval master entrenched in the Penghu area has actually surpassed the strength of the Netherlands and Franchise people in this area and is a well-deserved maritime dominance.

Originally, Wakeda in Huai'an was an important piece for the Qing Dynasty to obtain strategic resources in the Jiangnan area. However, after Hou Xuanyan sent people to clean up merchants in Yangzhou, Wakeda lost its source. However, Zheng Zhilong's sudden collaboration with them allowed him to regain a new way. The financial resources of the Zheng family were enough to match all the merchants in Yangzhou.

Hou Xuanyan was full of anger. Zheng Zhilong had always been a thorn in his eyes. Unexpectedly, if he was harmed, he would be at the level of a traitor. This giant bandit who had controlled the southeast coast for 30 years seemed not as easy as he imagined.

After Yan Yingyuan finished speaking, Hou Xuanyan did not express his opinion. The generals below fell into a debate after a brief quiet moment.

Jiang Jianxun cleared his throat and was about to make a statement, but others were discussing it in full swing, and he couldn't get into the conversation. He thought he had coughed twice, and everyone was civilized, and he would definitely give him a slight slightest point, so he stopped to listen to his speech. Who knew that others didn't even look at him, Jiang Jianxun had to work hard and shout: "Everyone, please listen to me."

The generals on the mountainside, including Hou Xuanyan, were shocked by him and looked at him sideways.

Jiang Jianxun cleared his throat with satisfaction and spoke to Hou Xuan: "The officials thought it would be better to go to Huai'an than to go north to Fengyang to fight the Central Plains. Even if the Zhongzhen Camp in the Central Plains was defeated, we would still have Jingxiang, Huguang, Sichuan and Guizhou as a buffer. We will advance layer by layer, and our power will be continuous and powerful, and we will not be killed by a punch. But Yangzhou is different. With Zheng Zhilong's navy, the Qing Dynasty could even transport elite troops across the south of the Yangtze River and land in the hinterland of Zhejiang. If Yangzhou is lost, the Yangtze River will be ineffective. Our cronies, Suzhou, Songjiang, and Jinling are all exposed to the enemy's attack range."

After hearing this, Hou Xuanyan burst into a cold sweat on his forehead and said, "Hou Tu Camp stayed behind to guard Qingliu Pass, and the Shuizi Camp followed me to Huai'an. Huai'an is the heart of the world's salt transportation. Taking Huai'an is equivalent to cutting off one of the arm of the fake Qing."

Yan Yingyuan nodded, clasped his fists and said, "The emperor must guard this pass."

Qingliu Pass is the gateway of Jianghuai. As long as you defend this place, the Qing soldiers would not be able to go south from Yingtian Prefecture. In the Huaiyang area, there would be no reinforcements from the Qing Dynasty. Unless Dorgon was willing to allow the main forces of the two yellow flags guarding Jifu to go south to support Huai'an.

The Northern Expedition Army, which had lost the Houtu Camp, marched along the Laian River to Huai'an. The Laian River and Qingliu River formed a bowl shape, and happened to pour into the Qingliu River at the mouth of Qingliu Pass and gathered into a river.

A month later, the army came to Hengyang. The people here had not seen the Ming army for a long time under the power of the Qing Dynasty.

In a small town outside Hengyang City, local gentry recommended Xie Yuanwai and brought the food they had collected to pay the grain of Baojing. Dozens of people with shaved heads hid their braids in their hats and knelt on the side of the road waiting for the Northern Expedition Army.

The Northern Expedition Army in the past was unclear and looked at the strange people in confusion, but no one expelled them. After all, they did not pose any threat to them.

Hou Xuanyan rode on the horse and happened to see this strange scene. He immediately stepped forward and asked in surprise: "Brother-in-law, what is this?"

Mr. Xie did not dare to look up and buried his head, "Thank you all, my husband, this is the wish of the town. I hope you will be filial to us and spare the lives of the villagers in this town."

Qin He attached himself to him and explained to Hou Xuan that there was a rule in the places occupied by the Qing Dynasty. In the past Qing army marched, these small towns along the way had to pay the grain for protection, otherwise they would have to massacre all the people in the town. The people here did not know the identity of the Northern Expedition Army, and thought that the Qing soldiers were passing by again, so they knelt on the side of the road to wait for the grain to pay for safety. This was the grain collected by each household, and many of them were the last bite of life-saving food among the common people.

Hou Xuanyan drew his sword and picked his hat away, which scared Mr. Xie so much that he was trembling and thought he was going to commit an offense in the street.

Hou Xuanyan cut it gently, and the sword that was blowing his hair and immediately cut off his rat-tail braid, and then he inserted the sword back to his waist.
Chapter completed!