The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 172 Chapter 172
Groups of gloomy dark clouds moved heavily and slowly in the sky.The northwest wind was unstoppable, and it drove straight in, mixed with a menacing roar.

Zhang Yan and others, who had just crossed the Yangtze River, suddenly felt a burst of cold. There is only a river across the river, and the temperature difference between Jiangnan and Jiangbei is so large.

It's October now, Zhang Yan raised his head and looked at the gray sky, but he saw that the lead gray clouds were very low. According to his common sense of meteorology, it should snow soon in this kind of weather.

It was still late autumn when the whole army went out to fight, but now that the cold wind was blowing, the soldiers were all shivering.Fortunately, Jiang Duling was alert enough, and he led a group of yamen servants to wait by the river early, handing Zhang Yan and others warm clothes.

Chen Deng, Zhou Tai, and Jiang Qin were left in Niuzhu by Zhang Yan to assist Liu Yao in defending the Yangtze River. In order to express his gratitude, Liu Yao appointed Chen Deng as the prefect of Jinling County, Zhou Tai as the order of Shicheng, and Jiang Qin as the order of Danyang. He and Xue Li stationed in Moling, and gave Chen Deng all the command of the army.

As Chen Deng said in his letter to Zhang Yan earlier, although Liu Yao has the talent to govern the local area, he is not capable of commanding troops, and he has no political acumen.Otherwise, Liu Yao would not have done such a stupid thing.Giving Chen Deng all the command of his own army is tantamount to emptying himself out and becoming a polished commander.

Or, Liu Yao trusted Zhang Yan too much and didn't consider his future at all.

In Zhang Yan's view, Liu Yao was extremely stupid.However, Liu Yao's approach made Zhang Yan dispel his plan to replace Liu Yao in the future. Although the entire Jiangdong is still in a state of division, Chen Deng already has actual control. Taking Chen Deng as the leader, Wang Lang, the prefect of Kuaiji, also had a close relationship with Chen Deng. In addition, Chen Deng also took the initiative to write letters to Hua Xin, the prefect of Yuzhang, to contact each other.

What Chen Deng did was nothing more than laying the foundation for capturing the entire Jiangdong in the future.

Chen Deng stayed in Jiangdong, and the position of prefect of Guangling was vacant. After Zhang Yan thought about it for a while, he appointed Lu Dai as prefect of Guangling and led his troops to garrison Guangling City.

Zhang Yan led Tai Shici, Zhang Hong and others, and quickly returned to Pengcheng.

When the group reached Dongyang County, heavy snow began to fall from the sky. In order to return to Pengcheng as soon as possible, Zhang Yan ordered the army to speed up.

When they arrived in Xutai County, Zhang Yan and others took a boat and arrived in Pengcheng three days later.

Now that it has entered the cold winter season, heavy snow falls one after another. It has been falling for several days in a row, and the whole earth is covered with a layer of silver.

Winter is cold, but in Zhang Yan's mansion, it is as warm as spring.

Carload after cart of black coal was continuously transported from the mine to Pengcheng. Zhang Yan used the coal to keep warm in the mansion.In addition, Zhang Yan distributed the coal to his subordinates so that they could also enjoy these benefits.

Xuzhou is rich in coal resources. Taking advantage of his foresight, Zhang Yan has already started mining coal since last year. Using this coal, he transported it to various smelters, allowing them to forge weapons and armor, and constantly replenish the needs of the army.

Lu Bu died in battle, Cao Cao was repulsed, Yuan Shao was busy dealing with Gongsun Zan, and Yuan Shu stood still. The whole area south of the Yellow River, north of the Yangtze River and east of Hulao Pass was rarely peaceful. Zhang Yan took advantage of this time to concentrate on development On the one hand, they strictly ordered the training of soldiers from all over the country, on the other hand, they wantonly exploited mineral resources to create excellent armor and sharp weapons, and planned to replace the equipment for the entire army next year.

In addition, Zhang Yan also specially recruited a group of craftsmen, specially opened up a place, built houses, named it "Tiangongfang", and began to develop new weapons. Using existing resources and technology, see See if there is a breakthrough.

One day, Zhang Yan was in Tiangong Workshop, and said to a group of skillful craftsmen: "Now our military uses only ordinary crossbows, and we can only shoot one crossbow at a time, and the range is short and the speed of fire is slow. The gods once entrusted me with a dream. , It is said that there is another kind of crossbow in this world, called Liannu, which can fire ten crossbow arrows continuously, you are all skilled craftsmen in this field, I wonder if you can make this kind of crossbow?"

One of the craftsmen opened his mouth wide in surprise and asked, "Firing ten crossbow arrows continuously? Is there really such a crossbow in the world?"

"The gods told me in a dream. I don't think it's fake. During this period of time, in addition to researching and developing the crossbow, you can also improve the existing crossbow, so that the crossbow has a longer range and a faster rate of fire..."

Before Zhang Yan finished speaking, Chen Qun did not know when he came to Zhang Yan's side, and whispered in his ear, "My lord, the angel has arrived."

Angel, the messenger of the Son of Heaven.

As soon as Zhang Yan heard this, he hurriedly asked, "Where is the angel now?"

"Wait in the lobby."

Zhang Yan gave simple instructions to the craftsmen, and then left the Tiangong Workshop with Chen Qun, leaving behind a group of craftsmen who were frowning and thinking hard.

In the past, most of the messages were delivered by postmen. This was the first time that the emperor sent envoys, so Zhang Yan seemed particularly surprised.

Back in the mansion, Zhang Yan suddenly saw a middle-aged man in his 30s sitting in the hall. This man was tall and tall, with a long beard reaching his chest, a square face, and eight-character eyebrows. mighty.In addition, there are two entourages standing behind the angel.

As soon as Zhang Yan stepped into the hall, he cupped his hands and said, "The angel has come from a long way, and the lower official's house has lost his welcome. Please forgive me!"

Seeing Zhang Yan's arrival, the angel stood up hastily, looked at Zhang Yan, and said, "General Zhang is very famous. I have heard about it in court. When I saw it today, it was really extraordinary. I never expected that General Zhang would be so famous. So young!"

"Angel is overrated. I don't know what an angel is called?"

"My surname is Dong, and my first name is Cheng. I serve as a servant in the court. This time, by order of His Majesty, I brought the imperial decree of General Zhang, as well as some gifts from His Majesty."

It turned out to be Dong Cheng.In history, isn't he the father-in-law of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty?
Zhang Yan cupped his hands with a smile on his face and said, "So it's Dong Shizhong, sorry for your disrespect."

Dong Cheng didn't hesitate, and straight to the point: "Since General Zhang is here, then I won't delay things..."

As he said that, Dong Cheng took out the imperial edict and said in a loud voice: "The imperial edict has arrived! Xuzhou Mu, General An Dong, and Liuhou Zhang Yan received the edict!"

Zhang Yan immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowed and said: "I kneel to listen to the imperial decree!"

Chen Qun behind Zhang Yan also knelt on the ground, pricked up his ears, and listened carefully.

"By heaven, the emperor's edict said..." Dong Cheng opened the imperial edict and began to read aloud.

Zhang Yan and Chen Qun listened carefully. The emperor ordered Zhang Yan to be the general of Zhendong in the imperial decree, and added [-] households in his food town, so that Zhang Yan could also receive the prefects of Xuzhou, Qingzhou, and Yanzhou.In addition, Zhang Yan was also rewarded with a brocade robe.

After Dong Cheng finished reading, Zhang Yan said in a loud voice: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness, I will do my best to protect the environment and the people, and live up to your majesty's expectations of me!"

At this time, Dong Cheng opened the baggage he was carrying, took out a luxurious brocade robe, handed it directly to Zhang Yan, and said to Zhang Yan meaningfully: "General Zhang, the imperial decree was written by His Majesty himself, and the brocade robe is also written by His Majesty." General Zhang must cherish the clothes you usually wear, and don't disappoint His Majesty's expectations of General Zhang!"

Zhang Yan raised her head, and saw a strange flash in Dong Cheng's eyes, which was fleeting, and she didn't know what the intention was.

After receiving the imperial decree, Zhang Yan arranged for someone to treat Dong Cheng warmly, but Dong Cheng refused. He only drank some rough tea before leaving Pengcheng.

Zhang Yan earnestly persuaded Dong Cheng to stay in Pengcheng for a day, but Dong Cheng still could not accept it, so he rode his horse and braved the wind and snow to leave.

In desperation, Zhang Yan had no choice but to personally send Dong Cheng out of Pengcheng for ten li.

Before parting, Dong Cheng held Zhang Yan's hand tightly, his eyes full of anticipation, and said to Zhang Yan: "General Zhang, please take good care of your Majesty's imperial edict and the brocade robe you have given..."

When Zhang Yan heard this, he suddenly became suspicious. Dong Cheng was holding his hand very hard, and he didn't dare to show too much emotion in his eyes. Jinpao, what is it for?
He looked at the two entourages behind Dong Cheng again, the eyes of these two people had been staring at Dong Cheng closely, and their left hand was firmly grasping the long sword tied around their waist, their expressions were tense, It seems that there is something to worry about.

At this moment, Dong Cheng suddenly stretched out a finger, and quickly wrote four words on the back of Zhang Yan's hand, his brows were furrowed, and his gaze was even more urgent.

Zhang Yan frowned, feeling even more suspicious in his heart, he clearly felt that Dong Cheng had written the words "There is something in the robe" on the back of his hand.

Zhang Yan roughly guessed something, nodded to Dong Cheng, and said softly: "Dong Shizhong can rest assured, I will take good care of the things bestowed by the emperor!"

When he said this, Zhang Yan also shook Dong Cheng's hand vigorously, and quickly wrote the word "Understanding" on the back of Dong Cheng's hand.

Dong Cheng understood, and then stretched his brows, and let go of Zhang Yan's hand.

"Master Dong, it's getting late, let's hurry up and get on the road!" The entourage who had been behind Dong Cheng shouted impatiently.

Dong Chengdao: "Why are you panicking? Didn't you see that I was saying goodbye to General Zhang? You don't understand any rules!"

After reprimanding the entourage who spoke, Dong Cheng cupped his hands at Zhang Yan and said, "General Zhang, we will meet later, so let's take our leave!"

"Dong Shizhong, go slowly! I won't see you off!" Zhang Yan also cupped his hands.

Dong Cheng turned his horse's head around, gave a drink to the two entourage, and patted his horse away.

Zhang Yan watched Dong Cheng leave, gradually disappearing on the horizon, and immediately turned his horse's head around and rushed towards Pengcheng.

Returning to the burden, Zhang Yan immediately picked up the brocade robe bestowed by the emperor and groped it carefully, and found a bulge in a corner of the brocade robe.

Without saying a word, he immediately drew out his sword and directly lifted the brocade robe, a secret letter was displayed in front of him impressively.

(End of this chapter)