Spoiler History: Starting from the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 816: Enjoying the Snow and Drinking Zhending Pear

The warm atmosphere in Yecheng did not diminish in the slightest with the end of the first month of the year.

For the common people, compared with the emperor's announcement three months ago that Cao Cao had been defeated, Uncle Liu's announcement of leading his generals into Yecheng was obviously more convincing.

After all, for the common people, daily survival is full of hardships, and piecing together those fragmentary rumors, speculations, slanders and gossips in the market is one of the rare pleasures.

Before that, the person in front of him was undoubtedly Uncle Liu.

If they went to the fields, those old men would be able to tell a dozen or so versions of the story about how Emperor Liu started out by making shoes, how he escaped from Cao Gong's army, how he rose again with his sworn brothers and traveled around Sichuan and Sichuan, how he finally retook Hanzhong and Guanzhong, and how he became a thorn in the side of Prime Minister Cao.

If these rumors were true, it would seem natural for Emperor Liu to capture Prime Minister Cao.

The rumors that were talked about every day seemed to have come to an end. Even though the high and mighty Prime Minister Cao had not yet been seen tied up, the common people were no longer concerned about these things.

Because from three months ago to now, from the emperor announcing the defeat of Cao thieves, to Liu Huangshu entering Ye, to the revival of Han in the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty, one thing has been confirmed again and again:

The war is over, and the Han people have stopped fighting.

The chaos will end, and the joy will never end.

Therefore, even though it is already February of the 20th year of Jian'an, the common people are still talking about things that happened in the 19th year.

Carefully break off half a piece of coal and feed it to the dying flame in the burning pit in the center of the room.

There was a little more warmth, so the newly taken snow in the pottery pot beside the pit melted faster.

The flame stretched out and began to support the pottery jar above, and the old millet in the jar mixed with the boiling water began to emit fragrance little by little.

"Add some more coal cakes and make the fire bigger."

"That's enough for now, why add anything else?"

"Hey, since the twelfth lunar month, my uncle has been sending me coal cakes and corn every five days, and it has never been less. I already have some stored at home, so don't assume I don't know."

"Don't just look at the present! The emperor's uncle may not send it next December, so you have to plan for next year."

"What are your plans? Everything is peaceful now, so just farm in peace."

"You and I can farm, but what about the children? I have asked the soldiers of the emperor's uncle. In Guanzhong and Jingzhou, children have to decide whether to study or learn to work when they are seven years old."

"Tsk, what do you know as a woman? Do you know where Guanzhong and Jingzhou are? Don't spread rumors."

"How could I not know? Didn't Dalang die in Wulin, Jingzhou, along with that damned Cao? Not even a piece of his clothes was left behind!"

The woman's voice was a little sharper, which made Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun, who were passing by the wall, subconsciously look at each other and sigh.

The two of them agreed to walk in the snow and pass by here. Now they were a little hesitant whether to shout out to persuade each other.

Fortunately, there was no more movement in the house. There was only silence for a moment, and then the woman started talking about someone in the city exchanging money for coal cakes. She also said that she planned to exchange the saved coal cakes for money so that she could buy some things in the spring, or save it as travel expenses when the weather warmed up and cross the Yellow River to Luoyang.

Hearing this, Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun did not stop for long and continued walking along the street.

The two generals left the north gate of Yecheng, each took a horse, and walked freely northward along the Zhang River in the snow against the wind for half an hour, until they stopped only when they saw nothing but white in front of them and no people were around.

Today's trip was a spur of the moment decision, all because of Zhang Fei's words "I haven't seen the snow in Yanshan Mountain since I came to Yecheng".

Lord Xuande was unable to cope with the situation and General Guan was still recuperating, so in the end Zhao Yun was dragged out by Zhang Fei and they rode their horses in the snow together.

This sudden decision was more because of the next arrangement. Lord Xuande, the emperor, and all the civil and military officials were to return to Luoyang, including Zhang Fei.

But now that Cao Cao has been defeated, the area of ​​Hebei needs to be comforted, so Zhao Yun becomes the most appropriate candidate at the moment.

In other words, Zhao Yun will be able to return home soon and rush to the border of the Han territory, while Zhang Fei can only look at the "snow on Yanshan Mountain" from afar and then choose another day to go south.

Unexpectedly, as he watched the heavy snow connecting the sky and earth, Zhang Fei could not forget what he had just heard:
"Enough food and clothing, full granaries, these are what the people want, how difficult it is."

Zhao Yun remained silent about this and Zhang Fei was not surprised. After all, his fourth brother had dealt with the common people a lot when he was in Jingzhou. He was good at farming and knew agricultural affairs, so he understood the affairs of the people much earlier than he did.

However, after saying this, Zhang Fei quickly dissipated some of his pent-up anger. After all, making the world "adequately fed and clothed" was what his elder brother, the military advisor, wanted, and what all those who followed him wished for.

Whether it is to promote culture and martial arts, or to devise ingenious strategies to organize the army, what one seeks are just these six words.

Find a large rock sheltered from the wind, pull some dry grass and some dead branches from under the snow, sprinkle some coal powder you brought with you, light it with a tinder, then put three stones on it and place the clay pot filled with wine directly on it.

After a while, with the warm wine, the cold wind, the scenery and the ice and snow, Zhang Fei soon had a look of tipsiness on his face.

"Hey, I never thought that our Han dynasty would even lose the imperial seal."

After getting tipsy, the drinking experience inevitably turned into what I heard and saw a few days ago:
"It's a pity that most of the things we gave to the younger generation were found to be fake, otherwise I would definitely think of a way to help them."

Although he didn't say what the method was, Zhao Yun thought about the white bear that almost caused a big commotion in Gong'an County, and he felt that he could probably guess about three points. So he subconsciously turned his head to confirm that there was no one in the wilderness, and then advised:
"Brother, what you said makes sense. Rather than passing the imperial seal to the younger generation to be covered in dust, it is better for us to do our best to protect the country and the people so that it will not be lost."

However, Zhao Yun didn't know whether his brother had taken his words to heart, because he soon started to think about other things:

"The Tang Dynasty style did not bring down the reputation of the Han Dynasty, but it was a bit too chaotic and almost caused a big mess!"

"I intend to organize the troops and secure the border with Tang law. If the border people can combine Han style and Tang style, big brother will definitely praise me!"

At this time, Zhao Yun felt a little regretful. He had been busy for almost a year before and after the war last year. Yide had always abstained from drinking in the army, and he had declined many banquets after coming to Yecheng. He didn't expect that he was waiting here!
No wonder I felt the aroma of the wine was spicy and pungent when I was warming it up just now. I guess he must have brought the wine used by the military doctor here to drink. No wonder he only tasted a little of the wine at the banquet in Yecheng, probably because he was tired of the old wine.

At this moment, Zhao Yun suddenly remembered the name Wang Guangyang, and the evaluation of his descendants that he "lost his focus on work due to excessive drinking" became more concrete before his eyes.

I can only say that Yide has indeed improved compared to before. He dragged me to this deserted place in the wilderness to drink, which reduced the possibility of any mistakes to the lowest level.

As expected, the third brother in front of him burped and started pointing:
"Emperor Yongle is worthy of being called a hero, but the precious sword named after him fell into the hands of barbarians and was treasured. Even though it is not a sword, it is still a shame!"

"Since Emperor Hongwu knows about this, he must destroy the Qing Dynasty in order to appease me!"

"It's just that the Hongwu Emperor is in trouble. I don't know if Zhu Di is by his father's side. I'm afraid that his father, brother and son are all in a dilemma. I can't give him any advice. What a pity!"

Zhao Yun could only shake his head. Although Emperor Hongwu was difficult to deal with, it wouldn't be too embarrassing since they were still a family.

If Yide really comes up with two ideas, it might be impossible to save the situation.

Now there was nothing else to do in the wilderness facing the ice and snow, Zhao Yun just listened to his third brother's drunken talk for fun. After a long time without hearing the next word, he could not help but urge him:
"Third brother, where is the Song army map?"

"We haven't unified yet, what is there to talk about?"

Zhang Fei made a loud comment and then leaned to the side:
"I'm sleepy and need a nap, Zilong..."

He had barely finished his words when he started snoring.

Zhao Yun smiled helplessly, took off his fur robe and covered his third brother with it, then picked up some firewood to make the flames a little higher.

Standing by the fire facing the wind and snow, he simply did a set of boxing to warm himself up. Compared with his hometown further north, the wind and snow at this moment were relatively mild and not a big deal.

However, as his mind moved with his fists, Zhao Yun remembered the gift from the Emperor of Song a few days ago, which was a marching map that imitated the methods of later generations.

Simple lines were used to outline the offensive plan of the Song Dynasty, which was controlled by this person. The army was divided into two routes based on Henan. One route was to Hebei to resist the Khitan reinforcements, and the other was to Hedong to attack the Northern Han directly.

The Khitan army was sent out, using heavy troops to show weakness in order to destroy the enemy and advance northward. The Northern Han army was sent out, using the illusion of farming to deploy military equipment and quickly capture the city.

The subsequent plan was clearer. After defeating the Northern Han, they would use its route to attack the Khitan from two directions. First, they would seize Youzhuo in Hebei and defend Buwu Fort. Then, they would gather their strength and attack from three directions simultaneously to seek a battle to defeat the Khitan.

From Zhao Yun's perspective, the Song Emperor's plan was similar to his brother's donkey cart plan across Gaoliang River, but he just changed it to first consolidate the defense of Zhuozhou and then slowly advance to Youzhou, and adjusted the deployment of troops, which made it much more feasible. And if we take into account that this emperor was known for knowing both generals and soldiers, then the feasibility would probably be even higher.

Whether from Zhao Yun's own experience as a member of the White Horse Volunteers in his early years or from later historical records, the events in Hebei have always been simple and clear:
If we take Youzhou, we will be able to close the gate to Yanshan and secure Hebei. As long as we stabilize Zhuozhou and plan for Youzhou, this plan will be 80% successful.

He would lead his soldiers north after the spring. His purpose was the same as that of the Song Emperor. The safety of Youzhou was of utmost priority.

After his thoughts ran out and he put away his fists, Zhao Yun looked towards the north and whispered with fighting spirit:

“I wonder if I can eat Zhending pears this year.”

(End of this chapter)