The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 14 014 The richest man in Xuzhou
Zhang Yan said solemnly: "Mr. Tao, this time Cao Cao suffered successive setbacks in Xuzhou. My father and son died in Xuzhou. We in Xuzhou have formed a deep hatred with Cao Cao. Although Cao Cao led the army to retreat, it was just It is temporary, and once Cao Cao recovers, he will definitely send troops to conquer Xuzhou again. At that time, if we in Xuzhou do not have a strong army to resist, I am afraid that the end will be even worse than it is now."

When Tao Qian heard this, he couldn't help frowning. The joy of yesterday's victory suddenly disappeared, and what he got in exchange was endless sorrow.

Tao Qian knew the situation in Xuzhou better than anyone else. He had enough soldiers and food, but he lacked a general who could stand on his own.As the saying goes, a snake can't go without a head. If there is no general to lead these elite soldiers, they will be like a mess of loose sand, vulnerable to a single blow.

"This is exactly what the government is worried about...Mingda, you can see things that others cannot see at a young age, which is enough to prove your excellence. Since you came to the government on your own initiative and proposed There is a potential crisis in Xuzhou, so you must have a countermeasure, why don't you tell me?"

Although Tao Qian is old, he is not confused, and he has been in the officialdom for many years. If he still can't see Zhang Yan's careful thinking, then how can he manage Xuzhou for so many years?

Seeing that Tao Qian saw his intentions, Zhang Yan stopped beating around the bush and said straight to the point: "I want to report to Tao Shijun that if you want to resist Cao Cao, you have no other way but to form a strong army that can compete with Cao Cao." OK. In addition to this, we need to build a fortress, even if we cannot win in the wild, we can hold on for a long time if we retreat to the fortress."

Tao Qian said: "Building a fortress and forming a powerful army are all very good suggestions, but all of these require a general who can stand alone... Mingda, your performance in this battle against Cao Jun is outstanding, and the government wants to use you as a general." , just build a fort in Pengcheng and form a powerful army, what do you want?"

Zhang Yan clasped his fists and said: "Thank you Tao Shijun for your kindness, the last general will not hesitate to die!"

"Okay! Then I will leave it to you to build the fortress and form the strong army."

"In addition, the general has another request. It is okay to train soldiers and form a strong army, but how about building a fortress? The general is afraid that he will not be able to do what he wants, and needs a resourceful person to assist..."

Tao Qian thought for a moment, and then said immediately: "Chen Yuanlong, Captain of Diannong School, is very resourceful. He has built countless canals and embankments in Xuzhou for many years. He is proficient in this way. Let him stay to assist you in completing the construction of the fortress."

"With Master Chen's help, Mingda will naturally get twice the result with half the effort, and will definitely be able to complete the important task entrusted by the envoy!"

"I will have the money needed to build the fortress and form a strong army brought from Tancheng as soon as possible. Alright, you go back first."

"The last will be the first to retire!"

After Zhang Yan came out of the prefect's mansion, he was in a good mood. I didn't expect Tao Qian to be so straightforward. He not only asked him to build a fortress in Pengcheng and form a strong army, but also took the initiative to transfer Chen Deng to his side for assistance, and he himself became the prime minister of Pengcheng. .

He didn't immediately go to Chen Deng to share this joy, because Chen Deng would know the result before long, and what he had to do now was to bury the bodies of the fallen soldiers as soon as possible.

Zhang Yan rode a war horse and went straight to the west of the city. The Danyang soldiers had already gathered there, quietly waiting for Zhang Yan's arrival.

"See you, my lord!" When these Danyang soldiers saw Zhang Yan, they all knelt down on one knee.

The Danyang soldiers were brought over by Tao Qian from his hometown of Danyang. They were all brave and good at fighting. They were the foundation of Tao Qian's foothold in Xuzhou, and they were also the elite of the whole Xuzhou. Therefore, the Danyang soldiers would not accept anyone except Tao Qian.

After they became Zhang Yan's subordinates, they were not convinced at first.But in the battle, Zhang Yan always took the lead and charged forward, and he was even braver than them. Gradually, the Danyang soldiers had recognized Zhang Yan.

It just happened that last night Zhang Yan distributed the rewards to everyone, which moved the Danyang soldiers even more, so after some discussion, these Danyang soldiers were convinced by Zhang Yan and were willing to follow him.

Zhang Yan saw more than 2000 Danyang soldiers kneeling in front of him, and he knew in his heart that he had been recognized by these Danyang soldiers and became their leader through and through.And all of this was exactly what he wanted.

"Everyone is brothers who are born and die, you don't have to be like this. Get up, as long as I, Zhang Yan, eats every bite, you will never be hungry. From now on, we will have the same blessings and share the same difficulties." Zhang Yan said loudly. road.

More than 2000 Danyang soldiers stood up from the ground one after another. After Zhang Yan gave an order, they began to bury the corpses. Near noon, the corpses in the area Zhang Yan was in charge of were completely buried.

Just at this time, Chen Deng led people to send a stone tablet, which was engraved with densely packed characters, all of which were the names of those who died in battle.

Zhang Yan asked his subordinates to place a stele in the center of the cemetery, and then led more than 2000 Danyang soldiers to commemorate the fallen soldiers.

Standing beside Zhang Yan, Chen Deng said in a low voice: "Tao Shijun has issued an order to stay here to assist you in building fortresses and forming a strong army. Within three days, Tao Shijun will definitely leave Pengcheng. By then It's up to you to decide what to do in Pengcheng, do you have any plans?"

Zhang Yandao: "Brother Yuanlong has been in Pengcheng for a long time, and he is very familiar with everything here. I ask Brother Yuanlong to enlighten me on what to do."

"The top priority is to recruit refugees while repairing the city. But..."

"But what?"

"However, Pengcheng has become dilapidated. The strength of the city is definitely not as good as before. The city is in ruins. Even if the city wall is repaired and perfected, the construction of the city needs to be re-planned. In this way, it seems cumbersome. It is better to rebuild the city. Choose a site and build a new city.”

Zhang Yan said with some concern: "Build a new city? Wouldn't it cost a lot of manpower, material and financial resources? Mr. Tao Shi...will you agree?"

"You don't have to worry about Tao Shijun's place. I will handle everything. Take advantage of this time, you should visit someone first. If you can get that person's support, don't talk about building a new city, it is ten , One hundred seats, no problem."

Hearing what Chen Deng said, Zhang Yan immediately became interested and asked, "Who is this person who has such great ability?"

Chen Deng pretended to be mysterious and said: "Actually, you have seen this person before..."

"I've seen it too?" Zhang Yan was at a loss.

"This man's surname is Mi, his first name is Zhu, and his style name is Zizhong. He is from Qu County, Donghai County. His ancestors have been in business for generations, and his generation has accumulated wealth. He is the richest man in Xuzhou."

"It turned out to be him. Mi Zhu and I only met once. We are neither relatives nor friends. How can he help me?" Zhang Yan asked.

Chen Dengdao: "Mi Zhu is graceful and dignified, honest and honest, neither rapes nor abducts, all business depends on benevolence and righteousness to get money, and he takes a lot of profits. Moreover, he is a kind person who is willing to do good. As long as people who ask for it don't do evil, they will get his money." Funding. What’s more, we built a new city and set up a strong team to resist foreign invaders, for the sake of Xuzhou. As long as you explain the stakes, I think, as a person, he should not refuse.”

Zhang Yandao: "In that case, I will go see Mi Zhu in person!"

"If you want to go, you'd better do it as soon as possible, because Mi Zhu's task of transporting food, grass and luggage has been completed, and he may leave Pengcheng tonight..."

"Then I'll go find him now." Before Chen Deng could finish speaking, Zhang Yan turned around and wanted to leave.

"When I came, Mi Zhu was distributing food to refugees in the east of the city, you can go find him there!" Chen Deng hurriedly reminded.

"I see."

Zhang Yan called someone to bring his horse, and told his subordinates to return to the camp to rest and wait for his orders, while he rode his horse and galloped towards the east of the city.

He ran all the way, and soon came to the east gate of Pengcheng, but saw thousands of refugees lined up neatly at the east gate of Pengcheng, one by one to get food at the gate of the city, and the richest man in Xuzhou, Mi Zhu, was With a kind face, he distributed food to the refugees.

Zhang Yan rode his horse to the gate of the city, reined in the horse, jumped off the horse, walked up to Mi Zhu, cupped his hands and said, "Master Mi is here to distribute food to the refugees, Zhang really admires him!"

Mi Zhu was distributing food to the refugees, when he looked up and saw Zhang Yan standing in front of him, he was a little surprised and said, "It turned out to be Captain Zhang, I didn't expect to meet here, what a coincidence."

Zhang Yan said truthfully: "Actually, I came here specially to find Mr. Mi..."

Mi Zhu was stunned for a moment, and asked, "Oh? You came here to find me? What's the matter?"

Zhang Yan looked around for a week and saw that there were too many people here, so he said: "Master Mi, it's not convenient to talk here, can you take a step to talk?"

Mi Zhu handed over the things in his hands to the servants beside him, pointed to a far corner of the wall and said to Zhang Yan: "Lieutenant Zhang, let's talk over there!"

Seeing that there was no one there, Zhang Yan nodded and walked over with Mi Zhu one after the other.

Mi Zhu led Zhang Yan to the corner, and spoke first, "Lieutenant Zhang, there are only two of us here, what can we say now?"

Seeing that there was no one around, Zhang Yan straight to the point and said to Mi Zhu: "To tell the truth, Zhang came to find Master Mi and wanted to ask Master Mi for help."

"Help? Captain Zhang, tell me, what do you want me to do for you? As long as it's not committing crimes, killing or arson, or violating benevolence and morality, I will help if I can."

Zhang Yan said with a sad face: "It's like this. Mr. Tao called me over this morning and gave me two important tasks. One is to build a fortress in Pengcheng, and the other is to form a strong army. The purpose is to defend the city. Cao Cao..."

"This is a good thing. Mr. Tao thinks highly of Zhang Xiaowei, Zhang Xiaowei should be happy, but you look distressed?"

(End of this chapter)