Ji Han Liu Zhang

Chen Cang.

As soon as Wu Yifu, the prefect of Wudu and General Pingdi Zhonglang, stepped out of the Chencang Road, he saw that the terrain was flat and the Wei River was hot and cold. The land of Guanzhong, which he had not seen for a long time, suddenly appeared in front of him, filling his eyes.

“What a sight.”

Wu Yi sighed, and as if he was introducing a family heirloom, he explained to Zhang Ren beside him: "I have told people all over the world that Guanzhong is a place with four fortresses, and Chencang is one of them. It is the land of Qin and the An important road that must pass between Shu and Qin... Although there are many plank roads between Qin and Shu, not just the Chencang Road, but the other plank roads, such as Ziwu, Baoxie, Tangluo, etc., can be used by small troops. If you want to mobilize the masses, It has to be Chen Cang Dao.”

Zhang Ren was not originally a pioneer. He thought that he had not made any great achievements in many battles in Hanzhong and Wudu, and had very little merit, so he sent his troops to Guanzhong. He asked Liu Zhang for a vanguard position, and he and the vanguard coach Wu Yi Now they all appeared at the Chencang intersection.

After listening to Wu Yi's introduction, Zhang Ren nodded frequently and expressed his approval: "What Wu Zhonglang said was that when I was in Hanzhong earlier, I had nothing to do. I visited the Ziwu, Baoxie, and Tangluo plank roads. , but one of these plank roads has been in disrepair and has been cut off, and the other is bordered by mountains and ridges. It is actually a march. In terms of mobilizing the masses, it is not as far as the Chencang Road. "

Here Zhang Ren rejoiced, he raised his hands and said: "Fortunately, Ming Gong's wise and wise plan was not born. At the end of last year, when Li Jue, Guo Si and other thieves were chasing the emperor in Hongnong, Chen Cang was unprepared and sent Gan to the enemy. Ning and Lou Fa have taken Chencang, otherwise if Li Jue, Guo Si and other evil thieves stationed troops in Chencang and blocked the road, it would be impossible for us to set foot in Guanzhong."

After saying that, Zhang Ren looked at the vast and flat land of Guanzhong in front of him with fiery eyes. As the cavalry general under Liu Zhang, he had always been in a useless situation facing the mountains of Hanzhong and the Long Valley of Wudu. Now the land of Guanzhong The vastness is the place where his sharp spear can be used to fully display his talents and abilities.

Wu Yi glanced at Zhang Ren, and he could see the blazing heat in Zhang Ren's eyes. The brilliant brilliance like the scorching sun was a strong desire for achievement.

"Ming Gong is so wise that he cannot match Li Jue, Guo Si and other young men in Liangzhou for their ingenuity." Wu Yi vigorously praised his Ming Gong and at the same time declared to the land of Guanzhong in front of him.

"On this trip to Guanzhong, I will serve as the leader of the gangsters Li Jue, Guo Si and other thieves to eliminate harm for the world and make Ming Gong famous."

"Make Ming Gong famous all over the world." Zhang Ren responded enthusiastically. He came from a poor family and had no chance to stand out. Even if he did, he would just work around the counties and do official things. How could he be a Shu official today? The commander-in-chief of the land, he conquered the three auxiliaries, so his loyalty to Liu Zhang was brighter than the bright moon and brighter than the brilliant sun.

After a short rest, Wu Yi waved his hand towards his subordinate Bu Qu: "It's getting late. Hurry to Chencang City and meet up with Gan Ning and Xu Meng. They must have been impatient waiting for us."

The vanguard army continued to move forward. Not long after, Wu Yi, Zhang Ren and his party bumped into Gan Ning who came to greet them. At the same time, they learned a piece of news from Gan Ning's mouth, a slightly strange news.

"Li Jue and Guo Si retreated to Chang'an?" Wu Yiwu didn't believe it. He repeated a sentence and asked Gan Ning for confirmation.

"Yes." Gan Ning solemnly expressed the authenticity of the news: "Since that day, the Qiang and Hu tribes failed to stop Xu Meng and suffered a heavy defeat. The next day, Li Jue and Guo Si led the army back and headed west. , that is, heading towards Chang'an... I personally sent people to investigate the place where they camped before, and it was indeed empty. "

Zhang Ren looked thoughtful and said suspiciously: "We are going from Chencang to Guanzhong. If Li Jue and Guo Bang are not here to block us, we will go back to Chang'an. No matter how we think about it, it is not right. Liangzhou people have always been treacherous, among them I’m just afraid there’s some trick.”

"Well, there must be something fishy in it. It's just that the coming and going of Li Jue and Guo Si is not under our control. We can only let them go... As for what conspiracy there is, we only need soldiers to stop it and water to cover it up. Yes, when the time comes, we will be afraid of these Liangzhou thieves." Gan Ning didn't take it seriously. He didn't pay attention to the Liangzhou thieves.

Wu Yi stroked his long beard gently and smiled: "No matter what, Li Jue and Guo Si, the Liangzhou thieves, will return to Chang'an and won't be watching us in Chencang. We don't have to worry about the tired soldiers just after passing through Chencang Road." It will be a good thing that Li Jue and Guo Si will take advantage of it, so that they can rest for a while and recuperate their energy before moving on to Chang'an."

A few people were talking and walking, and not long after, the army arrived at the gate of Chencang City.

At this moment, the city gates of Chencang City were not closed like when Li Jue and Guo Bang were there. Instead, the city gates were wide open. Xu Meng, who arrived at Chencang earlier, and Lou Fa, who stayed behind in Chencang, also stepped out of Chencang City. Standing at the city gate, they welcomed the arrival of Wu Yi and Zhang Ren.

After a few people talked and greeted each other at the city gate, they greeted and commanded the army to enter the city. When the army entered the city, they did not simply crowd towards the city gate in a swarm, but divided into more than ten teams and entered the city one by one. , orderly and fast.

Of course, there are more than 7,000 soldiers under Wu Yi and Zhang Ren, so they will not all be stationed in Chencang City. After all, in addition to the 3,000 soldiers under Gan Ning and Lou Fa, there are also two to three thousand under Xu Meng's command in Chencang City. There are already nearly 6,000 people. If Wu Yi's 7,000 people are stationed again, and more than 10,000 soldiers are crowded in a city, eating, drinking, and eating together, there will be a plague.

Therefore, most of the soldiers under Wu Yi and Zhang Ren were stationed outside the city and were guarded by Zhang Ren in the camp. As the commander-in-chief, Wu Yi led his guards into Chencang City. After all, as the commander-in-chief, Wu Yi naturally You cannot sleep outside.

into the night.

Wu Yi ignored the hardships of the march, or in other words, under the supervision of the desire to make great achievements, he realized that it was not hard at all, and was very excited and could not sleep well, so he simply invited Gan Ning, Lou Fa, Xu Meng and others to discuss the military situation .

Although it was night, the spirits of Gan Ning, Lou Fa, Xu Meng and others who had been ordered to come showed no sign of fatigue. Their eyes were all bright, like hungry wolves looking for food at night, ready to bite. Prey in general.

"Li Jue and Guo Bin have returned to Chang'an. How is the situation near Chencang?" Wu Yi asked Gan Ning about the situation near Chencang without any polite words.

According to Wu Yi's speculation, even if Li Jue and Guo Si return to Chang'an, they must rush to Chang'an City to fight with Li Jue and Guo Si's gang of Liangzhou thieves. And the army must be guaranteed before setting off to Chang'an. To have a safe future, we must first sweep all the way from Chencang to Chang'an and eliminate all hidden dangers from Chencang to Chencang.

Gan Ning responded: "Li Jue and Guo Si led their troops back to Chang'an. Some of the Liangzhou Qianghu and Guanzhong generals who came to help Li Jue and Guo Si suspected that Li Jue and Guo Si had lost their courage and had lost their prime ministership. It has been revealed that they are not our opponents, so they abandoned Li Jue and Guo Si... Among these people, the Liangzhou Qiang and Hu plundered wantonly in various places. It seemed that they planned to plunder some goods and return to Liangzhou with a full load. , and the generals in Guanzhong returned to their hometowns, intending to wait and see the situation. "

"Yes." Wu Yi nodded to show that he was listening. After thinking for a moment, he said: "The Qiang and Hu people are harming the people. I can't let them do what they want. Besides, the elders in Guanzhong will be under the command of Duke Ming in the future. Li Shu, we can't just sit back and do nothing... Even if Li Jue and Guo Si lead their troops back to Chang'an, we will have no immediate worries. However, Ming Gong and others have not arrived yet, and we will not be able to send troops to Chang'an for a while, so we will take care of these groups first. The Qiang and Barbarians in Liangzhou can be settled in the counties near Chencang, so as to lay the foundation for Ming Gong to send troops to Chang'an in the future. "

As the pioneer coach, Wu Yi made a decision and made a heroic declaration: "The most important thing is to win the hearts and minds of the people for Ming Gong, and let the elders of Guanzhong know that when Ming Gong comes, there will be peace."

"Promise." Gan Ning, Lou Fa, and Xu Meng all accepted the order. Wu Yi, as the vanguard commander, upheld integrity and had arbitrary power. Since Wu Yi planned to annihilate the Qiang and Hu and pacify the counties near Chencang, they naturally There is no need to say anything. The next day.

Zhang Ren, who was stationed outside the city, knew about Wu Yi's military orders. Considering that most of the Qiang and Hus were cavalry and came and went erratically, the task of exterminating the Qiang and Hus in Liangzhou fell largely into Zhang Ren's hands, while Gan Ning and Lou Fa, Xu Meng and others assisted in driving away the Qiang and Hu, so that the Qiang and Hu could not plunder everywhere.

The strategy has been decided and the military order has been issued.

The vanguard army began to move. Zhang Ren, Gan Ning, Lou Fa, and Xu Meng were divided into four groups and began to march towards the counties and villages around Chencang. Wu Yi, as the commander, was sitting in Chencang, waiting for good news.

On the first day of the extermination of the Qiang and Hu, when the setting sun was level with the top of Chencang City, Wu Yi received a piece of good news. A tribe called the Shaodang tribe was the same Qiang and Hu tribe that had previously blocked Xu Meng's troops. .

Because his commander, Shao'otou, suffered heavy losses in the battle with Xu Meng's troops, he lost the energy to assist Li Jue and Guo Si, so he gave up following Li Jue and Guo Si and rushed to Chang'an, only plundering counties near Chencang. He planned to return to Liangzhou with some goods and some women hostage, and it would be a waste of time for Guanzhong and his party.

Unfortunately, Shao Ertou's fate was somewhat unlucky. When he was plundering a village, he encountered Zhang Ren's troops who were riding in. Zhang Ren saw the Qiang and Hu causing trouble, and he couldn't help but get angry and jumped with a single gun. The horses came out in large numbers, piercing the Qiang and Hu troops, and even dismounted the Shaoertou who came forward. Then Zhang Ren's troops followed Zhang Ren's figure, and scattered Qu Shuai, who was missing. The fleeing Shaodang tribe chased them to the north and killed all of them.

Now hundreds of heads and hundreds of captured horses were placed in front of Wu Yi.

Wu Yi looked at the pile of Qiang and Hu heads piled up on a hill. He looked very satisfied. These were full of military achievements, not to mention that there was a war horse nearby that the Shu army was most in need of. This made him very satisfied.

"Record them one by one and report your merits to Duke Ming." Wu Yi ordered the scribe.

……

River pond.

The summer harvest has been completed, and the grain and grass taxes collected have been put into the treasury early. At the same time, grain and grass from Hanzhong and Shu are also on their way. Because Liu Zhang defeated Nanzhong before and decentralized authority according to local conditions, in exchange for the grain and grass produced in Nanzhong. Gold, silver, leather, cattle, horses, donkeys and sheep. Therefore, not much manpower was used to transport grain and grass this time. More Nanzhong horses and Nanzhong cattle supplied by Nanzhong were used.

Outside Hechi City, Xun You, who is the chief secretary and military advisor, looked at the long grain team. Carloads of grain and grass were continuously transported from Hanzhong and Shu. The granaries in Hechi City had already been piled up like mountains. Now, The troops are well-prepared and the day for the army to launch its troops is only a few days away.

Here Xun You looked at the short Nanzhong horses with great interest. Speaking of which, when he first saw the Nanzhong horses, he thought they were donkeys or mules, but judging from their appearance, there were more It looked like a horse, which made him feel a little emotional. The emperor was so big that there were no shortage of surprises.

But what surprised Xun You even more was the load-carrying capacity and endurance of Nanzhong Horse. Although he was short in stature, Nanzhong Horse's load-carrying capacity and endurance were unparalleled, no less than an ordinary tall horse. With the help of Nanzhong Horse , their group sent troops to Guanzhong, so they would not have to worry too much about food and grass.

After counting the amount of grain and grass, Xun You returned to the official office in Hechi and reported the situation of grain and grass to his Ming Gong Yizhou Shepherd Liu Zhangtong.

"Thank you sir."

Liu Zhang expressed his condolences to Xun You. He was naturally a little touched by Xun You's diligent attitude as the chief clerk, and he personally went to the front line to count the provisions and baggage.

"How dare you talk about hard work when you are acting for Ming Gong." Xun You said humbly.

Liu Zhang nodded, and he ordered the clerk Meng Jie to gather all the civil and military officials for the pre-war mobilization.

However, this time it was only for the mobilization of a large number of civil and military personnel. The mobilization of the army also required a grand ceremony of sacrificing flags.

Not long after, Bingcao Pengyi, Junyi Xiaowei Fazheng, Perak Xiaowei Yinpu, Joining the Army Zheng Du, Xiaowei Wenpin, Meng Da, Li Xiu and others stepped into the house. These people will follow him to fight in Guanzhong.

Liu Zhang coughed slightly and then declared.

"At the end of the Qin Dynasty, Emperor Gao revolted from Peixian County to punish the Qin Dynasty. He entered Guanzhong from Wuguan and defeated the powerful Qin. However, he was forced by the Xiang family. Therefore, although he won the support of the elders in Guanzhong, he was not the king of Guanzhong, so he had to He became the king of Han and moved to Hanzhong."

"However, Emperor Gao's ambition remained undiminished, and he sent Han Xin, the Marquis of Huaiyin, to sneak into Chencang and conquer the Three Qin Dynasties. Wherever I, Emperor Gao, went, the elders in Guanzhong welcomed me wholeheartedly. It can be said that I took full advantage of the heaven and earth, full of vitality and all things competing. The realm is still in front of you.”

At this point, Liu Zhang paused. He glanced at the people below, and saw that everyone was leaning forward slightly, listening, with upright expressions and bright eyes.

Liu Zhang continued: "Today is a fierce and chaotic world. The elders in Guanzhong are harmed by Li Jue, Guo Si and other Liangzhou thieves, and they are very miserable... Although Zhang is not sensitive and his virtues are despicable, he still cares about the suffering of the people. , the common people encountered, I hope to fulfill the emperor's ambitions, raise righteous soldiers, fight against all evils, clear up the Guanzhong, and gather the three assistants."

"I still need to work hard for you all. Please work hard to help Zhang make this trip a success."

After saying this, Liu Zhang raised his hands and paid solemn tribute to the civil and military officials.

"To serve the Lord Ming, I should devote my whole life to it. There is nothing else to say." All the civil and military officials avoided the table and returned the courtesy, saying that they did not dare. Their expressions were very agitated, like the waves. (End of chapter)