At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 341: The cutting continues, and the reasoning remains chaotic.

Jingzhou, Xiangyang, Prince Chu's Mansion.

In the recent period, the Yuan Army has put increasing pressure on the Jingzhou Army. If it were not for the fact that the three cities of Xiangyang, Fancheng, and Dengxian are at the corners of each other, and the three cities are located on the banks of the Han River, which greatly eased the pressure to defend the city, I am afraid that Zhou Qi's life is even more difficult.

Seeing that the pressure on Xiangyang was increasing and there was no fighting in Yangzhou, Zhou Qi immediately ordered Xu Huang, Zhang Liao, and Zhou Cheng to recruit troops and horses respectively. While ensuring the safety of their own counties, they attacked Runan north to open up a second front with Yuan's army. , so as to relieve the pressure on Xiangyang.

However, Zhou Qi gave the three men a death order. If Yuan Shao divided his troops and rushed to aid Runan, he would not be willing to fight.

Zhou Qi's greatest confidence is that Yangzhou is not in chaos.

Once the troops and horses of the three men were defeated by Yuan Jun, the Yangzhou front would collapse instantly, and Zhou Qi had to be cautious.

What Zhou Qi didn't expect was that Yuan Shao seemed determined to fight Zhou Qi in Xiangyang. He gave Zhang He and Zheng Tai the order to defend Ruyang, and then continued to attack Fancheng day and night.

As the gateway to the north of Xiangyang, Fancheng is the only place to go south to Jingchu, so its importance is self-evident.

Only by defeating Fancheng could Yuan's army attack Xiangyang.

Yuan Shao gathered various talents from the Central Plains under his command, including many skilled craftsmen. They imitated the city defense weapons of the Jingzhou Army and soon imitated the Thunderbolt Chariot, which put great pressure on Fancheng.

In the continuous offensive and defensive battles, the north gate wall of Fancheng was defeated several times. In the end, Huang Zhong, Gan Ning and others took the lead, defending the gap with their flesh and blood, and then quickly built an inner wall inside the city.

Because the people of Nanyang County moved south, there was no shortage of manpower in Fancheng. Coupled with the support from the entire Jingzhou area, the efficiency of city building was also amazing.

It is precisely because of the support of the entire Jingzhou that Fancheng was able to withstand Yuan Jun's fierce offensive and has persisted until now.

However, Zhou Qi was also worried about the situation in Yizhou when he fought with Yuan Shao at first.

It wasn't until Zhou Ji received good news, telling Zhou Qi that Yan Yan had led troops to Chengdu and relieved the crisis in Chengdu, that Zhou Qi felt slightly relieved.

What Zhou Qi didn't expect was that resolving the crisis in Chengdu was only the beginning.

Immediately afterwards, a steady stream of good news came from Yizhou. Even with Zhou Qi's current qi-nurturing skills, he was inevitably shocked.

When Zhou Qi learned that Guo Jia had died at the hands of the Qiang people, he was even more surprised and silent for a long time.

According to Zhou Qi's subjective feeling, he thought that outstanding people like Guo Jia would never die in obscurity since they were out fighting.

Even if he dies, he will die vigorously, just like in history, when he gave his final plan to Cao Cao to help him pacify Liaodong.

But things just happened, and Guo Jia did die in the hands of the Qiang people.

After Zhou Qi learned the details of the incident, he could only sigh secretly that the situation was unpredictable.

No one expected that Pang Tong just had a big quarrel with the Qiang leader of Mianhui Road and then deliberately gave the Qiang leader some food and grass, which provoked the suspicious Ma Chao to go on a killing spree and even slaughtered the entire Mianluo people. Hui said.

The massacre of the Mianhui Dao Qiang people also determined Guo Jia's life and death.

The whole incident seems a bit magical, but if you think about it carefully, it also feels reasonable.

If you were in Ma Chao's shoes, would you be wary when you learned that an enemy lobbyist was meeting with the leader of Mianluo Road?

The answer is yes.

When Ma Chao learned that Pang Tong had just left not long ago, he sent people to send a lot of money and food to the Mianhui Daoqiang people. Was he afraid?

Of course I'm afraid!

Why did Pang Tong send money and food to his mortal enemy the Mianhui Daoqiang people for no reason?

The answer is that the Mianhui Dao Qiang people were persuaded and chose to secretly seek refuge in Yizhou. This is what normal people should think.

Ma Chao led a lone army into Mianhui Road. He must have been frightened at this time, fearing that the Qiang leader of Mianhui Road would suddenly kill himself and all his soldiers.

Not to mention Ma Chao, who grew up in a chaotic place like Liangzhou, anyone might have this idea.

Many times I feel that things are unbelievable because I like to look at things from God’s perspective and fail to put myself into the situation of the person involved.

At this point, Ma Chao was wary, but he also retained some sense, so he deliberately asked the leader of the Mianhui Dao Qiang people during the banquet about what they had discussed with Pang Tong.

If the leader of the Mianluo Qiang people told Ma Chao that Pang Tong was here to persuade him to surrender, and the other party promised to send a lot of money and food, Ma Chao might relax his vigilance.

As long as the leader of the Mianluo Qiang people is willing to tell the story, at least he has no intention of harming Ma Chao.

Of course, the above is all Ma Chao’s opinion.

In fact, the leader of the Mianluo Qiang people did not seek refuge in Yizhou, and even had a big quarrel with Pang Tong.

Because when the leader of the Qiang people in Mianluo Road met with Pang Tong, Pang Tong deliberately sent others away, so not many people know the content of the conversation between the two.

When the leader of the Qiang people in Mianhui Province told the truth, Ma Chaoyun would think that the other party was deliberately concealing it for the purpose of plotting against himself, so he struck first to gain advantage.

From Ma Chao's standpoint, there is nothing wrong with what he did, but his methods were a little too radical.

If it were someone else with a stable personality, he might have excused himself and led the troops to evacuate quickly, which would have left room for change.

It's a pity that Ma Chao is not this kind of person.

Just like that, Guo Jia died.

But Pang Tong had a grand plan, and the relationship between the Mianli Dao Qiang people and Ma Chao was only part of a series of plans.

Perhaps even Pang Tong didn't expect that the chain strategy would create such rich results just after he used it.

Next, Zhang Song was asked to pretend to surrender to Ma Chao, and then deliberately contacted the Hanzhong Yang family who were dissatisfied with Chu State, using them as bait to make Cao Cao think it was profitable and then attack Gayang Pingguan.

Then he planned to capture Xiahou Yuan and defeated Cao Cao's army. Cao Cao even ordered Cao Cao to cut off his beard and abandon his robe.

The chain of plots is still not over yet.

One move to alienate Cao Cao and Ma Chao immediately turned against each other. In the end, Cao Cao killed Ma Chao's family, and Ma Chao killed Yu Jin and gave Baishui Pass.

At this point, the Battle of Yizhou has come to an end, and Cao Cao has completely lost.

After the war, the Yang family in Hanzhong was undoubtedly cleaned up again.

Yizhou's continuous good news made Zhou Qi finally feel relieved when he faced huge pressure from Yuan Jun every day.

Now that the northern part of Yizhou has been secured, troops and horses from Yizhou can be mobilized to help Xiangyang, and Zhou Qi's pressure will be much less at that time.

Zhou Ji also mentioned in his article that although Pang Tong was the protagonist of this clever chain plot, Zhou Yu, Lu Xun and Zhang Song also played a very important role in the middle.

When Zhou Qi saw this, he couldn't help laughing and scolding: "Stepher also knows how to buy people's hearts. This is asking for credit for them."

Zhou Qi was not stingy, and regardless of the battle with Yuan Shao, he immediately rewarded those who worked hard in the battle of Yizhou.

After the reward, Zhou Qi immediately ordered Zhou Yu and Yan Yan to lead 50,000 troops to reinforce Xiangyang, and asked them to bring Ma Chao and Xia Houyuan over.

"Ma Mengqi, Xiahou is an outstanding talent!"

Zhou Qi couldn't help but sigh when he thought about meeting these two famous generals from the Three Kingdoms period.

The reason why Xia Houyuan was transferred to Xiangyang was naturally because Zhou Qi still cared about his friendship with Cao Cao and did not forget how much Cao Cao had helped him.

The reason why the two of them are standing opposite each other now is just for their own interests. But in Zhou Qi's heart, he still has admiration and appreciation for Cao Cao, the biggest boss in the Three Kingdoms period.

If they didn't both want to compete in the world, they would definitely be very good friends.

Moreover, both Cao Cao and Xia Houdun had helped him. With the relationship between Xia Houyuan and the two of them, Zhou Qi would not kill them no matter what.

Even if you don’t kill, you can’t let go.

Xia Houyuan is the top general of the Cao Group. If he is returned to Guanzhong, it will be like letting the tiger return to the mountain.

Although Zhou Qi cares about the friendship with Cao Cao, he will not act recklessly.

Therefore, it is the best choice to bring Xia Houyuan to Xiangyang, comfort him, and provide him with good food and drink.

If one day, Zhou Qi can unify the world, he might still use Xia Houyuan.

As for why Ma Chao was brought here, it was also because of a letter from Pang Tong.

This time, Pang Tong cleverly devised a series of tricks to defeat Cao's army, and became famous in the world in one battle. If it were anyone else, he might have been so successful.

Pang Tong was different. Instead of getting carried away, he went up to apologize to Zhou Qi.

Why?

Just because although Pang Tong designed to force Ma Chao to surrender, he also indirectly caused the destruction of the other party's family, Ma Chao may not hold a grudge for this.

Zhou Qi originally wrote to Zhou Ji, asking the other party to find a way to recruit Ma Chao to surrender, because he also took a fancy to Ma Chao's influence in Longxi.

As long as Ma Chao adheres sincerely, it will be much easier when Zhou Qi is free to attack Liangzhou in the future.

However, if Ma Chao always harbors resentment, it will be like a time bomb with unpredictable consequences.

In order to force Ma Chao to surrender but harm the whole family, Pang Tong also felt guilty in his heart.

It was after seeing Pang Tong's confession that Zhou Qi planned to transfer Ma Chao to Xiangyang first, lest he and Pang Tong would break up with each other when he knew the inside story.

The war is still going on. Whether it is the Xiangyang battle or the Runan battle, it is almost a stalemate.

With the arrival of 50,000 Yizhou reinforcements, Xiangyang's defense line was finally completely stabilized.

When Zhou Qi saw Zhou Yu, looking at the much mature Mei Zhoulang, he couldn't help but stepped forward and patted him heavily on the shoulder, sighing: "I know that Gong Jin is a talented man, and he will shine brightly sooner or later, but... I didn’t expect this day to come so quickly.”

"With you in Chu State, I have nothing to worry about!"

Zhou Yu said humbly: "It was possible to accomplish this feat thanks to Pang Shiyuan's planning behind the scenes. Lu Boyan and Zhang Ziqiao also contributed a lot, and the soldiers who fought hard were indispensable."

Zhou Qi nodded and said: "You have become famous at a young age, but you are not arrogant or impetuous. It is really commendable."

"Any meritorious officers and soldiers will receive the rewards they deserve."

"When your father heard the news that Baishui Pass had been breached and Chengdu was besieged, he was so shocked that he couldn't sleep all night for half a month, and his health deteriorated."

"Even if good news comes from Yizhou later, my father's health is still not well. You should go back to your home to spend time with your father."

Zhou Yu couldn't help but feel worried when he heard this.

Obviously, he was unaware of his father's illness.

It wasn't that Zhou Qi didn't want to tell Zhou Yu, but that Zhou Yu's father didn't want him to be distracted on the front line, so he kept it secret from Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu has now returned to Xiangyang, and his father's health is gradually improving, so there is no need to continue to hide it.

After sending Zhou Yu away, Zhou Qi met with Yan Yan again, took his hand and said, "If the general hadn't recruited 30,000 barbarians from the Ba people this time, I'm afraid the crisis in Yizhou would not have been so easy to be relieved!"

Yan Yan hurriedly bowed and said, "What does the general's meager reputation mean? If the Lord had not implemented benevolent policies in Badi and benefited countless Ba people, how could the general be able to persuade them to send troops to help?"

Zhou Qi gently stroked his beard and said: "The Ba people have always been friendly to the Han people and loyal to the court. I will never let them down in the future."

There are many reasons why Zhou Yu and Yan Yan only brought 50,000 soldiers and horses to Xiangyang this time.

In fact.

As early as Zhou Qi learned that Yuan Shao wanted to attack Chu, he began to recruit troops and horses across the country, and Yizhou was no exception.

The reason why the Yizhou Army did not come to Xiangyang's aid was because Yizhou was previously divided into two war zones.

The northern theater is headed by Zhou Yu and needs to be on guard against Cao Cao.

The Southern Theater Command, headed by Xiang Hong, is still fighting in Jiaozhou. Due to the foreign troops fighting and the Shi family's huge influence in Jiaozhou, the battlefield situation is still not optimistic.

Since Yizhou has two war zones, many soldiers and horses have been mobilized before without affecting people's livelihood.

When Yan Yan entered Yizhou, he successively recruited 30,000 Banzhen barbarians and 10,000 Han people in Badi. This recruitment ratio was actually a bit appalling.

If the war in Yizhou does not subside for a long time, it will not only affect the most basic farming of the Han people in Badi, but also the lives of the various tribes of the Ba people will be greatly affected.

Therefore, after defeating Cao Cao, Yan Yan disbanded his troops, and in the end only brought 10,000 Banzhen barbarians.

As for the other 40,000 soldiers and horses, they are all Zhou Yu's subordinates.

If the Qiang of the Six Paths and Cao Cao had not experienced disastrous defeats and would no longer have any spare efforts to plot northern Yizhou in the short term, Zhou Qi would not have dared to mobilize so many troops from Yizhou.

Even so, after taking away 50,000 troops, the defense in northern Yizhou was somewhat empty. Zhou Ji had to order the counties to recruit and train militiamen who could fight at any time.

These militiamen need to prepare their own weapons and armor, and they usually farm at home. Once Yizhou encounters another war, they must be unconditionally recruited into the army to prevent further chaos in Yizhou.

"Bring Xiahou Miaocai here."

After sending Yan Yan away, Zhou Qi thought for a moment and finally chose to see Xia Houyuan first.

Speaking of the relationship between Xia Houyuan and Cao Cao, apart from the constant tension and confusion between the two families, the two are also brothers-in-law.

Their wives are sisters, both descended from the Ding family. It is self-evident that they have a close relationship.

When Zhou Qi fled to Qiao County, he did not see Xia Houyuan, because when Cao Cao was dismissed from office and returned to his hometown, it was actually Xia Houyuan who took the heavy responsibility for him, and Cao Cao was freed.

However, Xia Houyuan was imprisoned for this.

At that time, Xia Houyuan was in prison, so Zhou Qi naturally couldn't see him.

It was not until the situation in the court changed later that Cao Cao made great efforts to fish out Xia Houyuan and exempt him from the serious crime.

Therefore, Xia Houyuan can be regarded as half of Cao Cao's benefactor.

(End of this chapter)