Delong

Chapter 366 River Walk (23)

Both moons are already semicircle.

In Pengcheng City, on a tall building, the tall Sima Zheng was dressed in white, standing with his hands behind his back on the outer porch, looking at the sky quietly. In the attic behind him, a pair of simple and simple armor could be faintly seen.

And downstairs, because it just entered the night and the city was full of soldiers and horses, it was still brightly lit and noisy.

During the day today, the person in charge of Fang Town in Xuzhou, the youngest grandmaster of the Great Wei Dynasty, the undoubted leader of the next generation of the eminent Sima family in the empire, and actually the second-ranking figure in the imperial army system, met his seventh uncle Sima Jinda, The latter brought an autographed letter from Sima Zheng's father, Sima Huada.

In the letter, everything was explained very clearly.

Sima Huada wanted Sima Zheng to cease fighting with Zhang Xing and return Linyi, the capital of Langya County, and then make an agreement not to fight, in exchange for the withdrawal of the captured Sima Shida and the soldiers who had already killed Jiangdu County.

In addition, Sima Huada also described in the letter Sima's embarrassing situation in Jiangdu, how difficult it was for him to support the situation, and the sage's moodiness.

Inside and outside the words, Sima Zheng must consider the survival of the entire Sima family and help him out of this siege.

At this time, although he had expected it before, Sima Zheng still fell into some kind of extreme depression after verifying all Zhang Xing's strategies.

After all, there are some things he can refute and ignore. For example, his third uncle, when he returned to Pengcheng that day, he really had murderous intentions... This guy is too pitiful. Yes, if it weren't for this third uncle, he would have been surrounded by Zhang Xing's long arms and stopped the matter from the outside. Here in Xuzhou, he might be able to stand up and say everything.

So he really didn't care about this person's gain or loss.

But there are some things that he cannot and is powerless to refute.

For example, the issue of family survival - if my father's deception, hiding military information, and loss of generals are really revealed, according to the temper of that saint, he may really want to execute his father, and if this happens, it will be terrible. Something will happen, either his family is destroyed, or the saint is overthrown to the ground by the already unstable imperial army group led by his family.

And no matter what kind of result it is, it means that the Sima family is doomed.

It also means that some of Sima Zheng's persistence, plus his grandfather's life experience and achievements have become ridiculous.

For example, when Li Wenbai and the other two local tycoons who surrendered in Langya were executed, his actions in Linyi and the frictional battle with the Dragon Gang became meaningless.

How can you make those people in Linyi believe in themselves again?Who dares to surrender? !

Of course, there is still a real military threat in front of us—it turns out that Zhang Xing is really not exaggerating. The person who takes down Zhao Guang within a day, regardless of whether it is a strange formation composed of people from the North, is equivalent to a standard master cultivation base, and then With the addition of Xiong Bonan, Bai Yousi, Wu Jingfeng, Wu Changzai, and Zhang Xing in front of him, the combat power of the Dragon Clan has indeed expanded to a certain extent.

In this case, insisting on military confrontation is likely to be self-defeating, and at most it will hurt the enemy by [-] and self-damage [-].

"General, are you looking for me?" Under the twilight, Wang Tong came in a hurry.

"I have something to work on for you." Sima, who had already arrived downstairs, looked at the other party and said calmly. "I want you to go to Langya, take over the defenders in Linyi, and then go find those Langya nobles who surrendered, tell them that we are about to withdraw, and ask them if they would like to go south with us and settle in Xuzhou?"

Wang Tong was stunned for a moment, thinking of Sima Jinda who had come during the day, he immediately came to his senses: "General, are you going to negotiate a peace?"

"Yes." Sima Zheng didn't hide, complain, or push the matter to anyone. "Zhang Sanlang didn't lie to us. He is a master of the two routes. The one on the southern route has a grand master. I only thought of Langya. I was really ashamed to be transferred from the mountain and win with one blow."

"What shame is there for the general? Half of the troops at Sishuikou belong directly to Jiangdu, let alone Jiangdu? Our side has not suffered at all." At this point, Wang Tong sighed. "But it's still a pity. If I had known this earlier, it would have been better to make more money here before, but now that the peace talks have been made like this, the hearts of the soldiers will be uneasy."

Sima Zheng nodded: "What you said is true, I will try my best to give everyone an explanation."

Wang Tong wanted to explain that he didn't mean this, but as the other party's trusted general, he was somewhat aware of the other party's temper, but he hesitated to speak, and then he just bowed his hand: "So, I will go to Langya to clean up the situation and wait for the general's order."

After saying that, he also left, but was dispatched overnight.

After Wang Tong left, Sima Zheng, who had made up his mind, also went to bed. Early the next morning, he sent a messenger to invite Zhang Xingcheng to the North River Xiaozhou for a while.

Zhang Xing received the invitation and immediately responded.

At noon, he set off from the outpost camp which was only ten miles away from here, and arrived at Hezhong Continent together with Bai Yousi.

In addition, the Bian River and the He River meet in the north of Pengcheng, and then continue southward from the east side of Pengcheng, and then it is called Surabaya.Therefore, no one knows which river the stone island in the river at this confluence point belongs to, and the locals just call it Stone Island.

Leaping up to Shitou Island, Zhang Xing and Bai Yousi saw each other standing there from a distance, there was no feast for each other, but the armor was distinct, only gleaming in the noon sun, they were speechless to each other, and then they kept Be careful, while walking over.

They can still trust each other's character.

"Is it this armor?" Walking up to him, Zhang Xing, dressed in white, pointed his finger at the opponent's body.

Of course Sima Zheng knew the meaning of the other party, but shook his head directly: "No, that armor is an old armor passed down from the family, how could it be so brand new."

"Just put it on and take care of it." Bai Yousi said. "Sanlang's flag has been used for two or three years, and it gradually became damaged, but this time after Xiong Tianwang used it, it became inexplicably brighter, which made Sanlang very surprised..."

"I've been studying this for the past few days." Zhang Xing also smiled. "To be honest, it was only at this time that I realized that I still underestimated the vitality of the world... Without this thing, this world is more or less materialistic... With it, of course it is also materialistic, but obviously its laws must override it." over other laws."

Sima Zheng was dumbfounded when he heard it, he didn't understand the mighty materialism, but he guessed the meaning of the second half of the sentence, and nodded immediately: "So it is called the vitality of heaven and earth, which is the essence of heaven and earth. It wasn't by brute force."

"But where did this thing come from?" Zhang Xing looked around. "Come from the river? Emerge from the ground? Fall from the sky? Is it brought out by the sun, or the red moon? Is the stock fixed or uncertain? It is produced by human activities, or what? Specially gifted by the Almighty?"

Sima Zheng shook his head slightly: "There is no end to this kind of thing, and it is a very difficult question... Zhang Sanlang, you should know why I am looking for you, right?"

"Naturally, there's also a letter from Shanyang." Zhang Xing answered frankly, without any of the arrogance he had when he was in Liu County.

In other words, this also exposed some falsehoods-when there was no definite news from the southern front that day, Zhang Laosan's attitude was as arrogant as it was, but it was essentially a guilty statement after the defeat of the North Road; now On the contrary, he was happy and generous when the southern route was successful.

"I roughly agree with the deal between you and my father." Sima Zheng said bluntly. "I lost this round, and you won."

Zhang Xing stopped talking.

"Where is the victory or defeat between the two of you?" Seeing this, Bai Yousi smiled slightly. "If you have to say that you lost, it's because you thought this battle was between you and him."

"Not bad." Sima Zheng sighed. "There is some reason for this. This battle is essentially a showdown between my father and Zhang Sanlang...but as a part of it, I still lost."

"Actually..." Zhang Xing finally had no choice but to correct it. "I think you are still mistaken... This battle is essentially a battle between me and your father and the emperor of Jiangdu. If you insist on losing, it is not a battle. You are in Xuzhou. You didn’t lose at all, it’s just that you didn’t understand which side you were on and who you were fighting for.”

Sima Zheng was slightly taken aback, but he didn't refute this ridiculous statement.

"In short, that's the way it is." Zhang Xing continued. "You just said that you generally agreed, so that means there are still things you don't agree with, right?"

"Yes." Sima replied calmly. "I only have one request, I want you to hand over my third uncle Sima Shida directly to me."

Zhang Xing was stunned for a moment, and then came to laugh: "It is possible! I will inform your seventh uncle that Sima Shida will return it at the end, and return it when we finally evacuate Xiao County... Is that enough?"

Sima Zheng nodded: "That's all."

Zhang Xing turned and left, Bai Yousi nodded, also turned and left, this battle was too difficult for the people on the Xuzhou battlefield.

Walking to the side of Hezhou, when he was about to jump up, Chief Zhang looked back again: "Sima Erlang, the armor is really good!"

Sima Zheng just stood on the water island, watching the two jump up, without saying a word.

In late June, the battle in Xuzhou suddenly relaxed.

In Xiao County, everyone was a little confused about the stinking deformed corpse at first, because his mother couldn't recognize him after beating him, let alone the members of the Dragon Gang?
But all the murder weapons were brought, Xie Minghe seemed to be quite embarrassed about this matter, so how could he say no, so as to question the division of Chief Zhang and Xie?I can only watch helplessly as the head, which is full of worms, is hung up and passed on for public display.

Of course, very soon, with the news that Xuzhou soldiers and horses had withdrawn from Linyi, and that Zhao Guang and Sima Shida were personally escorted by Wu Jingfeng and Bai Yousi, everyone had to believe it.

After all, under Chief Zhang's overall planning, this head is not bad.

At this time, except for the Wu brothers and Zhou Xingfan who were slightly depressed, most of them couldn't help stomping their feet. They all felt that Xie Bingguan's attack was too harsh and it was better to be punished by Ming Zhengdian.

But this stamping soon stopped, and was replaced by a new sense of amazement and joy—a batch of silk, coral, jade, and several whale ribs were sent over.

This most obvious statement from the enemy is more secure than anything else.

Zhang Xing also began to order the return of Pei County, marched into Linyi, and withdrew his troops steadily.But at the same time, his complexion turned pale.

Without him, Chief Zhang was not prepared to open his mouth at the beginning, especially because the military affairs were difficult, so he wanted to speed things up.However, Xie Minghe asked for a lot of extra food, armaments, and goods there, which was a kind of unexpected joy.However, Du Pozhen laughed at the food and armaments in Shanyang, and only sent silk and whale bones...you can't say anything!
Not to mention, in the next few days, high-end furniture, sculptures, goldware, ritual vessels, and whale bones will be sent here for free, especially whale bones, which are directly piled up in Xiaoxian County. Xiao Shan made his heart ache even more, because these useless things that took up space reminded him proudly all the time that Du Pozhen had scooped up that batch of food and armaments.

And he can't swear like everyone else, but he wants to appease others and let them talk about the overall situation.

As the saying goes: "We are all for the anti-Wei, we are all a family, how can we divide each other?"

He said too much, and he believed it himself.

"Actually, it can't be said that it's useless." Xu Shiying reminded seriously. "I said before that I would reward the whole army, but it turned out that there was no time at all. I happened to use these good objects as rewards, especially the rewards for this trip to the army, or the rewards for the leaders, so that the leaders can exchange military merits for these objects."

"Indeed." Zhang Xing certainly agreed. "Indeed, these silks are from Xiayi. I didn't expect them to be returned to their original owners. The internal servants went back first, so they first allocated a part of them to the internal servants as a reward, and the rest will be handled according to this, but..." But At this point, Chief Zhang looked at the pile of whale bones that could be seen from a distance across the courtyard wall, and finally couldn't bear it anymore. "But what are these bones for?"

Xu Shiying was also at a loss.

"It's engraved, plus it's made of furniture." Bai Yousi blurted out as he was beside him. "Whales have been called half-dragons since ancient times. Dragons are hard to find, but whales are easy to find. They often use whale bones to carve beds and seats. However, the throne and bed in Dongdu are said to be real dragon bones."

Zhang Xing immediately thought of an old man from Huai Shang, and at the same time came to his senses: "So, this is for the royal family?"

It has only been four or five years since he traveled here, and some things are really a bit imaginary. Maybe he would think it was jade when he saw similar objects in person. As for Xu Shiying and the other leaders who watched the fun, they were even more surprised on the spot.

"It's not just the royal family, it's more like the royal family. Dukes and concubines generally have specific whalebone ritual vessels." Bai Yousi continued to explain. "And when you become a king, a whale bone is often set aside for special production to correspond to the seal ribbon of the ritual vessel, so sending a whale bone has a specific meaning."

Chief Zhang was completely stunned: "Sima Gong is trying to put me on the fire!"

"He's not that smart." Bai Sanniang answered seriously. "I'm afraid he really thinks this thing will appeal to you."

"So...then let's stay!" Zhang Xing thought about it for a while, and then nodded, which attracted many leaders to look at him, or exchanged glances.

But the next moment, these people were dumbfounded.

"Make the seal ribbon first, and the team will use this stuff." Chief Zhang continued. "Then the big leaders each get a stool, and each leader has a whalebone horse tie. Li Longtou, Wei Longtou, and Du Longtou will each give half of it... If there are any leftovers, give them to Liangjun, Huaiyang, Jijun, Those in Wuyang County gave some to Li Ding of Wu'an County, Baigong of Taiyuan, General Xue of Hejian...and Wang Jiulang, isn't he going to Huainan? Give him half a root too...We have seen some Everyone deserves a bit of regal air."

Shang Xia completely lost his voice, but soon, he couldn't help feeling impetuous, could he really divide the Maza?

Facts have proved that it is indeed possible to divide a Maza!

In the next few days, the two sides will naturally continue to slowly retreat the troops in an orderly manner, but Chief Zhang, who is in a panic and can't leave the battlefield early, actually cuts and polishes for the craftsmen himself. Sure enough, he quickly made a few whale bones. Maza, the leaders of the retreating army were taken one by one, and they were only hung on the horse.

It is said that the weather was so hot along the way that many people even got off their horses to rest seven or eight times along the way.

Finally, following the quick fulfillment of the agreement between Zhang Xing and Sima Zhengjun, at the end of June, [-] Taibao soldiers also boarded the waiting fleet in Zhongli County and successfully returned to the Huaixi area.

But Zhang Xing didn't delay, he let Zhao Guang back first, then he only broke Sima Huada's legs, tied them into rice dumplings, stuffed them in his mouth and hung them on the city gate. , Wu Changzai and other top fighters in the gang were withdrawn together.

Although Chief Zhang was unwilling to fight this battle at the beginning, and the process was actually not perfect, but at this point, it was resolved in name after all-the Dragon Gang took back Linyi, beheaded the traitor, and fought all the way. Advance the attack to Xuzhou's base Pengcheng City, forcing the opponent to complete the alliance under the city, and then turned back.

In fact, the Dragon Gang also propagated this way to all forces in and around the territory.

As for the effect, it's hard to say, because so far, except for Liangjun and Huaiyang, which are close to each other, most of the surrounding forces are still staying in the Dragon Gang, which has completed the reorganization of internal power order. Zhang Xing became the chief and sent troops On the shocking news of Xuzhou punishing traitors.

As for Liangjun and Huaiyang, although they heard the news, they were more shocked by the two whale bones... The two eunuchs are not uneducated like Zhang Xing, nor are they bumpkins like Xu Dalang. Of course I know what this means, but each panicked and instinctively wanted to refuse.

However, the news that accompanied the arrival of the whale bones worked again - Xuzhou had a "big victory" in the First World War, and the bones came from Jiangdu. The newly appointed Chief Zhang distributed the whale bones to the gang leaders and friends around.

After repeated attacks, he didn't dare to refuse in the end. He just took the whale bone and carefully hid it in the warehouse.

Leaving aside these things, let’s just say that Zhang Xing left Xiao County with the last dethroning dragon army, and the Xuzhou army rushed in immediately. Sima Zheng, who was in the lead, also saw Sima Shida hanging on the city gate, but finally let go. tone.

"It's good that I'm not dead." Sima Jinda also heaved a long sigh of relief, then turned to look at his nephew, and spoke earnestly. "Erlang, let your uncle go, I'll take him back to Jiangdu to recuperate from his wounds... A little humiliation is nothing."

Sima looked at Ning Dan, the only one of his uncles, without expression.

And Sima Jinda was a little puzzled at the beginning, but soon, as his nephew stared at him, he suddenly remembered the relevant rumors in Xuzhou City, and then he was sweating profusely, and his voice trembled: "Two... Erlang, don't do anything stupid!"

The surrounding generals also came to their senses, and fell into a trance for a moment, such as Chen Yonglue, who had status, reined in and stepped forward, ready to persuade.

Unexpectedly, Sima was looking away from the face of his seventh uncle, but when he glanced back, a wave of invisible true energy suddenly swayed, and dust rose on the ground. All the generals from Chen Yonglue and below were silent and did not dare to speak. .

"Everyone." Sima Zheng was tall, with dazzling armor, sitting on the horse, but looked at the generals as if condescending, but his face was as usual, but his tone seemed serious. "The two armies fought, each had its own victory and defeat, and each had many sons killed. Zhang Sanlang ordered someone to beat Li Wenbai to death in Jiangdu, and brought him back to Linyi. Naturally, he can give an explanation to the brothers in the gang, but what about me? We in Xuzhou What? If we can't kill one person, how can we give an explanation to so many brothers who died in the battle on the south bank of Bianshui? How can we give an explanation to General Zhao who was seriously injured in bed? How can we give an explanation to so many heroes who defected to Langya?
"Besides, I heard a person say that the so-called 'if the trickle is not blocked, it will become a river'. He said that if the trickle at the source is not blocked, it will flow into a river sooner or later. Sima Shida ran away , which led to the instant collapse of the camp on the south bank of Bianshui that day, it was really our number one contributor to the loss of soldiers and generals this time, and it was also the trickle of the three counties of Xuzhou!

"And this trickle is precisely my uncle, so naturally I blocked it with my own hands!"

As he said that, Sima was taking a pair of bows and arrows from the back of his stunned seventh uncle's horse, then turned the horse's head, bent the bow and set the arrow, with good luck, but it turned out to be the sharpest Duanjiang Zhenqi, and then only Amidst the silence of countless soldiers below the city and the struggling whimper of the man at the top of the city, he let go of the bowstring.

The long arrow flew like flying, and directly pierced a big hole in Sima Shida's chest. The flesh and blood exploded for a while, and spread two or three feet away, and then the entire body of the arrow was also nailed into the city wall.

At this moment, Sima Zheng just returned the bow to his seventh uncle, and then rode forward alone, passing under the city gate that was still dripping with blood, and the blood dripped onto the gleaming armor like oil dripping On the hot pan, there was a sizzling sound immediately, and then disappeared.

The generals in Xuzhou were silent for a moment, and then they didn't know who would take the lead, but they rushed to follow each other from the blood-stained horses, leaving only Sima Jinda at the gate of the city stunned to see his third brother's corpse.

Three days later, Sima Jinda played, and his son-in-law Sima Shida chased the Huankou bandit army, was caught in an ambush, and died honorably for the country.

This memorial was in cooperation with Wang Daiji, the former sent back the memorial one day earlier, he had successfully expelled the Huankou bandits from the base after working hard with the generals of the Xuzhou camp, and the bandits left in a hurry, while he I also temporarily left the Xuzhou generals, and led 1000 people to continue westward to Huainan County.

Of course, the actual situation is that Wang Daiji simply watched the other party board the boat in Zhongli County, watched the other party tidy up on the other side for several days, and moved away from Huankou Town.Including after the other party went upstream, he also led the 1000 people to monitor the westward journey on the south bank.

It wasn't until the other party went northward from Rushui, the largest tributary of the Huai River, that he finally felt relieved, and then turned back downstream for dozens of miles, crossed Bagong Mountain, went south, and entered Shouchun City, the prefecture of Huainan County.

When I came here, before I could sit still, I saw Zhang Hang's gift sealed by Cao Fan, the governor of Huainan County, which was exactly half a whale bone.

Along with it came a note hidden in a small box without any seal.

Wang Jiulang opened the note carefully, but his eyelids jumped.

It turned out that there was only one sentence on the note - Shouchun is the first city in Huainan, and it has always been royal, I hope the ninth brother encourages it.

Who is Wang Daiji, how does he not know that Zhang Xing is sowing discord, how does he not know that he only leads a thousand people to come here, and has to rely on Jiangdu and Xuzhou foxes to build his own foundation, how does he not know that such things are all false ?
You know, in Jiangdu that day, he heard that Sima Huada was going to give Zhang Xing a whale bone, and he felt mocking on the spot.

"Ambassador Wang?" Cao Fan, governor of Huainan County, asked cautiously. "This bone..."

"Lock it in the warehouse!" Wang Daiji glanced at the sheriff who kept the note for him for several days, and smiled very happily. "After a while, I will send it to Jiangdu Sima Gong after a while."

Cao Fan immediately nodded and regained his composure.

Summer is still the same, on the last day of June, Du Pozhen also arrived at his loyal Runan County, Runan County, and then saw a city under the guidance of Xie Minghe.

"That's Xuanpao City." Xie Minghe stood on the bow of the boat and sighed. "Where is the first army town in Huaixi! With this city in hand, you can control the overall situation in Huaixi!"

Du Pozhen picked up the whale bones on the boat and came to look greedily... In this world, experts above Condensed Core can have a severe impact on the siege, but this does not mean that the cities and passes are useless. Restricted by the checkpoints, not to mention the role of commercial exchanges and public security, so even if the influence of cities and passes is reduced, it is only a difference of ten to eight points... Then, a famous city, a big city, and a vital city will undoubtedly give people a strong sense of security. psychological hints.

Xuanpao City is a typical city of this type. Rushui passed through here, and because of the solid foundation under the city, it made a direct detour, as if drawing a gourd on the side out of thin air.

However, when the Tang Dynasty crossed the south, the North and the South had been fighting for hundreds of years, and the tension between the Jianghuai River and the Huaihe River became more and more tense. No matter who controlled the situation, the two sides expanded the city here, and finally established a huge moat on three sides that encloses the entire Paogua. A giant military fortress that can garrison over ten thousand troops and release thousands of horses.

From then on, there is no need to say much about Xuzhou to the north of the Huaihe River, but the border of Huaixi to the west of Xuzhou is headed by this city, and it has experienced countless wars for hundreds of years.

It is even mentioned many times in historical novels that in the river to the west of this city, the small Hejian Island is rich in chestnuts.

Du Pozhen, who hadn't read for a long time, of course didn't know these details, but with his back to Chestnut Island, touching the whale bone, and looking at the city in front of him, he felt that half his life had been hard, whether it was herding sheep or stealing sheep, in front of Zhang Xing It's all worth it to stay low and be small, and be careful in front of Sima Zheng.

He now has soldiers, food, armaments, and land, and he is about to use this as a foundation to clean up the six counties in Huaixi, recruit heroes, work hard, and build a foundation!
"Who? Where? What?"

On the same day, Chief Zhang, who had just taken the last opportunity to arrange the drought relief work in Dongjun County, was about to cross the Hebei River when he was caught off guard by news at Sikouguan.

There is information that Xue Changxiong in Hejian seemed to be in a state of instability after learning that Zhang Xing sent troops to Xuzhou, and he was transferring troops, so he left Henan alone and hurried back. At this time, Zhou Xingfan Fu, who had already crossed the river as the vanguard, Turning back and rushing to report the military situation, everyone naturally thought that Xue Changxiong had already moved.

However, everyone was stunned by the result they heard. Xiong Bonan, Chen Bin, Wei Xuanding, Xu Shiying, Ma Wei... no matter who they were, they were all stunned.

"It's my second uncle Zhou Xiaoshang..." Zhou Xingfan was also in a daze. "Just now, my cousin who I haven't seen for a long time suddenly greeted my banner on the north bank and told me that my second uncle heard that third brother you have become the chief of the Dragon Gang, so he stopped waiting and hesitating, and directly raised troops in Yong'an County, and conquered it in an instant. Next to Yiyang County and Anlu County, and then sent my cousin over to ask for a title... He came here just as we were returning to the army, and he chased for a long time before catching up here."

Ma Wei pinched his fingers and counted: "If Bai Hengyuan in Xiangyang is counted... then the north of the Dajiang River, the south of the Dahe River, from Hanshui to Jiangdu, there is only one area around Jiangdu and Dongdu that have not been separated."

No one around said a word.

Zhang Xing thought for a while, then suddenly turned around and asked earnestly, "Who knows if there are still whale bones left?"

As the saying goes: If there is no trickle, there will be a river.If Yingying can't be saved, what can Yan Yan do?

PS: It’s a rare time for boring science popularization. In historical names, people habitually call the area in the west of Huaibei Huaixi, not the entire upper reaches of the Huaihe River; Huainan also generally refers to the central and western regions of Huainan, mainly because Xuzhou and Yangzhou's particularity and its status are too detached, so it is generally discussed separately.

(End of this chapter)