Shu Chen

Chapter 298 Qu Bing
Zhangye County, Yanzhi Mountain.

Yanzhi Corridor is a section of valley between Yanzhi Mountain and Qilian Mountains, about [-] (Han) miles long, and it is the first choice for Wuwei to enter Zhangye County.If you do not take this road to enter Zhangye County, you will have to detour hundreds of miles from the northern foot of Longshou Mountain, and the road conditions along the way are bad and it is difficult to find water supplies.

Cang Ci heard that Jiang Weixi had attacked Wuwei County, so he sent troops here to guard the fortress.

There are about [-] troops, all of whom he recruited from the back of the county to be lonely and weak or from the small tribes. They are hardworking farmers and few perform martial arts, so their combat power is naturally not strong.

But it was the only force he could muster.

The former county soldiers had long since followed Jia Xunan's order to stay and never return.

However, these farmer troops are willing to serve and are willing to die.

It is because of the benevolent government of Cangci that their family can survive in the bitter cold and barren Hexi.

And Cangci, who hadn't known that Jincheng County had changed hands, was based on this, and felt that the Han army would not be able to break through for half a month if he guarded his fortress.

Yes, half a month is enough.

Huang Hua, who has returned to Jiuquan County, sent a letter a few days ago.

He claimed that he had invited Ke Wuju's family to move here, and now he was recruiting troops to accumulate the valley, and in half a month he would send troops to guard the Yanzhi Corridor with Cangci.

Cangci did not like Huang Hua, who was very selfish and rebelled, and never trusted him.But now the two counties of Zhangye and Jiuquan have become a trend of loss and prosperity, and there is no need to worry about each other harboring evil intentions.

Naturally, if Dunhuang Zhang sent troops to help, Cang Ci would feel more at ease.

But that's just delusion.

After learning that Jia Xu was defeated and killed, Cang Ci also wrote a book and went to Dunhuang, earnestly asking Zhang Jiudu to help.But Zhang evaded it as before, which made Cangci furious, angrily denouncing him for being unfaithful and unrighteous.

Or, to put it another way, Cang Ci also understands to this day that the Zhang family in Dunhuang no longer regards themselves as Wei Chen!
This is also the case, which made Cang Ci firm in his belief-how can there be no ministers who eat the emperor's salary in Hexi without a death festival!

So he sternly rejected Zheng Pu's invitation to talk.

Even if he persuaded him with the life of Li Shu in the county, he still didn't change his mind, thinking that the Han army was playing tricks, but after only five days, he was ashamed in front of the facts.

He saw more than ten thousand Han troops lined up in the valley road.

And the array is dense, spears are like forests, shields and sculls are like walls, more than ten thousand people gather without a sound.One can tell at a glance that they are elites who have experienced martial arts and battles for a long time, and they are by no means a mob assembled from the Lushui Hu tribe and young and strong farmers who were forced into the army.

He also heard the terrified voices of the troops under his command.

The opponent just lined up, and there was a chilling air coming towards him, no matter the number or morale, it was definitely not a soldier to be a farmer.

Perhaps, it only takes two or three days for the Han army to break through his camp and capture all [-] of his soldiers.

And what made Cangci most disappointed was his realization: If Jincheng County had not been breached, why would there be more than ten thousand soldiers attacking the Han army who just occupied Wuwei County?

No wonder, Bi Baopu dared to write a book to persuade me.

Cang Ci sighed, looking around at the panicked farmer under his command, caught in the battle between heaven and man.

He wants to fight to the death, but he wants not to disgrace his reputation.

However, he couldn't bear it, and didn't want the soldiers under his command to die in vain.

Because he knew in his heart that these villagers came here with swords and swords, not to be loyal to the Wei State, but to repay his kindness!
"Prefect, the envoy of Shu is back."

Just when Cang Ci was hesitating in his heart, the county meritorious officer beside him suddenly spoke out.

Following the line of sight that the meritorious Cao was engaged in, he saw a person jumping out of the Han army array, and looked at him coming quickly.It was still the same messenger who came to deliver the letter the previous two times, but this time he was only here to deliver a message.

Said:
"I was ordered to come and invite the eunuch of Cang to go out. My guards have prepared drinks. I don't want to see your soldiers die in vain. If the eunuchs still decide to fight to the death, my guards will be full of eunuch ambitions. The governor will come to attack in two quarters of an hour. .”

After saying that, before Cang Ci could reply, he turned and went back.

Such a vaguely threatening attitude made all the subordinates guarding Cangci look red.

That meritorious Cao engaged in even more generously asked, "The Shu army is rampant, scarred and rude! Please also order the prefect to shoot the messenger to strengthen our army's momentum and show our army's determination to die!"

But Cang Ci waved his hand, his interest faded, "Forget it, don't do unnecessary things."

Also, killing an envoy is useless.

So he frowned for a moment, then got up and strode forward, and told the meritorious Cao to do the right thing, "Your good life, supervising and ordering soldiers, don't let them make trouble, I will go back when I go."

Hearing this, Gongcao was astonished.

It took a while for him to realize, he stepped forward and grabbed Cangci's sleeve, and said in a loud voice, "The eunuch must not go! If Baba Pu has malicious intentions and uses his troops to rob the eunuch, all our soldiers will lose their ground! "

"Hehe~~"

Unexpectedly, Cangci, who had a sad face, smiled instead, and gently pulled out his sleeve, "I hope that Babapu will kill me, but judging from his past behavior, he is definitely an ignorant person."

That Gongcao was stunned again, silently looking at Cang Ci's back, it took a long time to show a look of surprise on his face.

It was only because of his desperation that he became obsessed for a while.

In any case, Zheng Pu would not Jiecangci threaten Wei Jun to abandon their weapons and fall to the ground.

Because once Cang Ci is hijacked, he will show his will with death, and all the soldiers who came to repay Cang Ci's kindness will turn into mourning soldiers, and they will fight the Han army until they die.

Moreover, there is now a huge disparity in the strength of the two sides, and the Han army is sure to win.

Bi Baopu will definitely not do such tricks, which will only increase his reputation and make the war more difficult.

However, the prefect went alone, because he wanted not to fight, huh, did he want to eliminate the soldiers?

Suddenly, Gong Cao engaged in such a thought in his mind.Immediately, he shook his head abruptly to put away the thoughts in his heart, and concentrated on walking in the ranks to appease the emotions of the soldiers.

At this time, Cang Ci had already approached the Han army formation.

Zheng Pu greeted him with a gurgling smile. Seeing Cang Ci's thin body, no accessories, no embroidered clothes, old and mostly mended with needles and threads, he couldn't help but sighed, "I have heard that the emperor of the government is clean and strict, Chang Ji is lonely, and his salary is high. Two thousand shi, but the family has no money left, and his wife and children are starving, and seeing him now is a worthy name!"

"Guardian don't talk about irrelevant matters."

Cang Ci returned the salute with his hands folded, and said in a calm tone, "Your invitation, I will come. I don't know what your plan is to make the innocent people die in vain?"

"This place is not a place to talk. I have set up a table and sat inside."

For Cang Ci's lack of appreciation, Zheng Pu didn't take it seriously, and still smiled and stretched out his hand to lure him in.

After the two sat down, seeing that Cang Ci was still indifferent and showed no intention of chatting, Zheng Pu said bluntly, "If the governor does not make unnecessary resistance, after our army enters Zhangye County, we will govern according to the prefect's old affairs, such as raising the orphans and widows in the farmland, asking questions, etc. The sons of the poor and less powerful, etc., are only held accountable by the conscripts and orders to live in the rich and right homes, and do not disturb the livelihood of the common people. And I, the great Han, comfort the counties and counties, without any sense of family status, rewards and punishments must be believed, those who have an inch of merit will advance, and those without virtue They must be punished; the villages and towns must respect the elders, set up elementary schools, ask people to be self-reliant, and behave in awe-inspiring manners."

At this point, Zheng Pu paused for a moment, and then asked back, "Your Majesty has been in Hexi for many years, and you must have tasted the virtues of my Han Dynasty's administration after returning to Longyou, and also know how good my Han Prime Minister is in law enforcement. Why worry about evil?"

Suddenly, Cang Ci fell silent.

The reason is that as early as when the Han army first settled in Longyou, the generals in Wei Liangzhou led their officials and officials to publicize the harsh treatment of the people in Bashu, the plundering of assets for military use, and the strict law enforcement of Shuke, in an attempt to motivate the soldiers to fight.But later, as time went by, news of many details came back one after another, and the Wei government no longer slandered the people's livelihood of the great man.

In contrast, the official government of Wei State is more tyrannical than the Han Dynasty
In other words, following the Battle of Xiangfan and the Battle of Yiling, the Great Han used its already declining national power and the background of only one state to repeatedly use troops, so that the people had no complaints and all the soldiers worked hard. This is enough to prove the uniqueness of Prime Minister Zhuge Liang's governance place.

Facts speak louder than words.

Some things cannot be slandered, and even the hostile Wei State cannot find a place to blame.

Naturally, with Cangci's character, he didn't bother to argue with Zheng Pu who turned black and white.

So after a moment of silence, he sighed wistfully, "Forget it, I have no idea how your army will keep the people safe. I just want to die and be honored by my full name."

Want to die?
Zheng Pu raised his eyebrows slightly, and his hostility suddenly appeared, "If the lord of the government dies, I will lose my home if the lord dies, and I will be punished as a slave!"

(End of this chapter)