Ji Han Liu Zhang

Nanzheng, official temple.

Li Xiu, the commander of the army who surrendered to Liu Zhang, stood up straight, like a tall and straight green pine. His head was not raised high, but tilted slightly downward, showing a spiritual posture and a respectful attitude.

There was no room for Li Xiu not to make this gesture. After all, standing in front of him was his new lord, Yizhou Mu Liu Zhang. Every time they met, he wanted to leave a good impression on Liu Zhang, at least not a bad one. No matter how you say it, he is a descendant.

But what moved Li Xiu was that Liu Zhang was only within a few steps of him, and seemed to have no defense or wariness against him. He never stayed far away from him because of his status as a descendant.

"Is Li Qing from Nanyang County?" Liu Zhang, who was admiring the courtyard of Nanzheng Temple, suddenly asked. As for the target of the inquiry, it was naturally Li Xiu who he specially summoned today.

Li Xiu heard the inquiry, he took a step forward, raised his hands and replied respectfully: "Xiu is from Nanyang County. In the past, Nanyang County was occupied by Zhang Mancheng, the commander of the Yellow Turban Canal. The Yellow Turban thieves went around plundering and killing, intimidating and persecuting the aristocratic families in Nanyang County." In order to avoid being ruined by the Yellow Turban thieves, the wealthy family migrated to Hanzhong... However, the current chaos in the world cannot be traced back to the Yellow Turban thieves."

After explaining the reasons why he entered Hanzhong County, Li Xiu criticized the Yellow Turban thieves. After speaking, he let out a long sigh, with deep hatred for the Yellow Turban thieves in his sigh.

"Yellow Turban Thieves." Liu Zhang murmured Li Xiu's name for the Yellow Turban Scholars. From what he had learned in his previous life, rebellion was justified and revolution was innocent. The Yellow Turban Scholars were an uprising, not a rebellion. The Yellow Turban Scholars were not thieves. They were a group of righteous men. After all, if the people were not in dire straits, how could the people rise up and create chaos in the Eastern Han Dynasty? The fault did not lie with the Yellow Turbans, the fault with the Han Dynasty, the fault with the official family.

However, this idea that transcended the times could only be hidden in Liu Zhang's heart, but he could not say it. He just said it euphemistically: "The imperial court blatantly sold off its officials and officials, and the local officials treated the people like fish belly. In addition, the tyrants were rampant in the countryside, causing the world to collapse. The people are in dire straits... Even if there are no yellow turban thieves, there are white turban thieves and black turban thieves. The chaos in this world is not caused by just the yellow turban thieves."

"What Duke Ming taught me is that if the ruler is wise and the ministers are wise, and the superiors and subordinates are in harmony, ambitious people like Zhang Jue will definitely have no chance to cause rebellion. And even if Zhang Jue causes rebellion with the intention of imposing great power, only the superiors in the local government will be able to do so. The captain can then tie up Zhang Jiao, throw him into prison, and kill him for the sake of future generations." Li Xiu did not dare to refute Liu Zhang's words, so he agreed.

Listening to Li Xiu's untrue words, Liu Zhang shook his head slightly. He knew that Li Xiu was not convinced by his words, but just bowed down due to his powerful position, but he didn't say much, so he opened his mouth. Topic: "Li Qing is good at civil engineering, but I wonder if he has any experience in building plank roads."

'Plank road? Li Xiu's mind turned over and over again, and he analyzed the plank road Liu Zhang said. The land of Shu is surrounded by mountains, and the road out of Shu is very difficult. Only plank roads can be built between high mountains and canyons to communicate with all directions.

The Ming Gong in front of him had the intention to leave Shu. As for where to go, considering that the plank road from Shu to the north to Guanzhong was needed, and that he could go down the river from Jingzhou in the east, Li Xiu had a clear mind and made an inference that Liu Zhang had The idea of ​​heading north to Guanzhong.

Li Xiu didn't think about it for too long. After a while, he responded to Liu Zhang: "Reporting to Duke Ming, my ancestors of the Li family made a living in civil engineering. They once had generals who were great craftsmen, whether it was palace construction, city construction, or Ming Gong's office." He is proficient in all the words and paths."

Liu Zhang smiled when he heard this. He turned around and looked at Li Xiu, the graying brother who sounded somewhat proud: "Does Li Qing know Ziwu Road?" "Ziwu Road?" Li Xiu repeated Liu Zhang's words, and he clicked at the same time. He nodded, indicating that he knew the road between Guanzhong and Hanzhong. It was unreasonable not to know, after all, he had been in Hanzhong for several years.

Liu Zhang nodded, and he stepped forward and patted Li Xiu on the shoulder: "There is something that Li Qing needs to do now. I'm afraid Li Qing will have to work hard."

"I don't dare. My Lord has an order, so Xiu must obey his orders." Li Xiu was a little flattered, and he quickly bowed his head and responded.

……

Zoumaling, Xinyangpingguancheng.

Faster than Meng Jie, the scribe of the Prefectural Mufu Mansion, had expected, Xun You and Zhang Su, who had been summoned by Liu Zhang, were not at Baishui Pass, but had already arrived at Xinyang Ping Pass. He rested for a night, and then rushed to Nanzheng to meet Liu Zhang the next day. Otherwise, he would arrive in front of Liu Zhang in a depressed and low-spirited state, somewhat losing his elegance and being somewhat disrespectful to Liu Zhang.

At this moment, Xun You and Zhang Su did not go to rest. They arrived at Xin Yangping Pass in the afternoon. Before the sun set in the west, they took a walk on the tower of Xin Yangping Pass to take a look at the original Xin Yangping Pass. The traces left behind by the offensive and defensive battles, and at the same time, take a look at this fortified city that blocked the Shu army for a long time.

"It is really a fortified city. No wonder it can stop Ming Gong for a long time... As a result, Ming Gong had to come up with a cunning plan to cross the Mianshui River south, walk along the mountains, sneak to Dingjun Mountain, and then capture Hanzhong." Zhang Su said from the city. Looking down, the mountain road is rugged and the road to siege the city is extremely difficult. In addition, the defenders are condescending. No matter what the attackers do, the defenders can have a panoramic view. It is nothing more than his Ming Gong giving up from Yangping. Guan Guan had to find another way to attack Hanzhong.

Xun You nodded and sighed: "It is not easy to attack the city, not to mention that Xinyangping is a mountain city, and the rice thief Zhang Lu carefully built the buildings, arranged for elite soldiers to guard them, and had sufficient food and grass... If it weren't for a wise man and a wise plan, he would not have been born. , cut down the forest and take the road, break into Dingjun Mountain, I am afraid that even if we fight until next year, Yangping Pass will not be captured. Although Hanzhong is close at hand, it is as far away as the world."

"Yes." Zhang Su responded in agreement. He pointed to the traces of the war on the wall of Xinyang Pingguan and said, "I can only see that there are many damaged tiles and stones on the top of the city, and there are countless arrows stuck on the wall. You can know that at that time The siege battle was so fierce, but even with such a rapid siege, I have never heard of anyone from our army being able to climb to the top of the Xinyang Ping Pass... Tsk, tsk, tsk, you should be in awe of the dangers of these mountains and rivers."

Xun You chuckled when he heard this and said: "You should be in awe of the dangers of mountains and rivers, but you should not rely on them too much. Just like the rice thief Zhang Lu, he relied on the danger of Yangping Pass that one man can guard against ten thousand men, but he ignored the fate under his nose. Junshan, when Duke Ming led his troops to Dingjunshan, Zhang Lu had no choice but to flee in panic, abandoning Hanzhong and not caring about it."

"Of course, virtue is not about danger, and the dangers of mountains and rivers are not enough to rely on." Zhang Su sighed with emotion as he looked up at the sun that was about to set in the western mountains. (End of chapter)