The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 180 Chapter 180
After Zhang Yan's order was issued, Mi Zhu quickly completed the preparations. A thousand pairs of battle armor made of fine steel, a thousand sharp swords made of fine steel, and [-] stones of refined salt were all placed in the It was loaded onto the cargo ship within three days.

For this reason, Zhang Yan personally went to Qu County to see off Li Cai, Tai Shici and others. Thirty seagoing ships officially set sail on the fourteenth day of the twelfth lunar month. , at that time, just in time for the Chinese New Year, it can be regarded as double happiness.

Since Li Cai, Tai Shici and others left, Zhang Yan has been worrying about this every day, but the sea is no better than the land, and scouts can be set up on the land to inquire about the news, so the sea can only wait quietly.

Mi Zhu knew Zhang Yan's worry very well, so he said comfortingly: "Don't worry, my lord, Li Cai is very smart about business, and he has been selling horses for many years. Back with lots of horses."

Hearing Mi Zhu's consolation, Zhang Yan felt a little relieved, so he temporarily returned to Pengcheng, waiting for news, and told Mi Zhu that once there was news, he would be notified as soon as possible.

After returning to Pengcheng, Zhang Yan's hanging heart never fell. After all, it was the Wuhuan people who traded with Li Cai, and the Wuhuan people were Hu people. He was really worried that the Wuhuan people would turn against Li Cai, Tai Shici and the others. Once that time came, Tai Shici and the others would definitely suffer.

Since Xuzhou launched a series of resistance to Zhang Yan's promulgated laws and was suppressed, the rest of Zhang Yan's jurisdiction was deadly quiet.

Like Xuzhou, Qingzhou and Yanzhou were also the places where the Four Wars took place. From the Yellow Turban Uprising to now, there have been endless battles in the territory. Years of battles have caused huge damage to Qingzhou and Yanzhou. Most of the aristocratic families can migrate to other places. Most of the young and strong men were conscripted into the army, and some died or were injured. It can be said that the territory of Yanzhou and Qingzhou has been exhausted by the war, and everyone is tired of it. War, hoping to get a peaceful world.

Because of this, Qingzhou and Yanzhou didn't resist. Anyway, it doesn't matter who the ruler is. The most important thing is to let them live a good life in peace and tranquility.What's more, all the laws and decrees promulgated by Zhang Yan are aimed at the poor masses, which more or less have the effect of restraining the aristocratic family.

Although Zhang Yan is still the same Zhang Yan, Zhang Yan's thinking has already surpassed this era. He is familiar with history and knows that the development of history has entered the city. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were three kingdoms. It was not until the Sui Dynasty that they were unified again.

During the hundreds of years of splitting, during the period of the Three Kingdoms, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, the aristocratic families continued to develop and grow, and finally became able to control the entire country. This kind of development is terrifying.With the birth of the nine-rank Zhongzheng system, the situation of "the upper rank has no poor families, and the lower rank has no noble families" has become more and more serious.Over time, the right to select officials was monopolized by aristocratic families. In the Sui Dynasty, with the decline of the patriarchal system, this system was finally abolished.

And the person who created the Nine-Rank Zhongzheng System is one of Zhang Yan's current right-hand men, Chen Qun.

In view of the far-reaching influence of this system, Zhang Yan came up with many ways to restrain the development of aristocratic families, passed laws and regulations to restrain the behavior of aristocratic families, regulate their code of conduct, and thus answer the reasons for restraining their development.Fundamentally, the lifting of this system takes place.

Since Cao Cao was driven to the north of the Yellow River by Zhang Yan, and Pei Wang, Liang Wang, and Chen Wang all came to attach themselves, the Central Plains regained rare peace.

However, Zhang Yan deeply knew that this was not the time to relax his vigilance, because Yuan Shu from Huainan and Yuan Shao from Hebei were all spying on him with vicious eyes.

Regarding the movement of Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao's two armies, Zhang Yan has also been silently paying attention, because Er Yuan is his strongest enemy now.

After Cao Cao was defeated, he joined Yuan Shao's army instead. Yuan Shao treated this old friend well enough, not only allowing Cao Cao to continue to lead his old army, but also entrusting him with important tasks, regardless of military and political affairs. Ask Cao Cao for advice.When resisting Gongsun Zan's invasion, Yuan Shao blatantly used Cao Cao as his military adviser, and defeated Gongsun Zan completely in accordance with Cao Cao's strategic policy.

Although Yuan Shao used Cao Cao very much, in Cao Cao's heart, this kind of life under the fence was very awkward. He felt that he was firmly controlled, and the thought of recovering Yanzhou and revenge was deeply rooted.

But Yuan Shao seemed to understand Cao Cao's thoughts very well. He often told Cao Cao that it was not too late for a gentleman to take revenge for ten years, and compared him with Gou Jian who was hiding his courage.He also promised Cao Cao that as long as Cao Cao helped him unify the north, he would lead his people south to attack Zhang Yan and avenge Cao Cao.

At first, Cao Cao also helped Yuan Shao very hard. He really hoped to use Yuan Shao's power to eliminate Zhang Yan.

However, as Yuan Shao reused Cao Cao so much, Yuan Shao's original team was very jealous.Shenpei, Xu You, Guo Tu, Pang Ji, and Xin Ping all came forward to slander Yuan Shaojin, saying that Cao Cao was not a person who had lived under others for a long time, and he should be on guard against him, and he could not be given military power.

Yuan Shao had a lot of trust in Cao Cao, and he didn't listen to persuasion at all. In desperation, Yuan Shao's advisers could only sigh for a while.

On the other hand, since Yuan Shu got the jade seal pledged by Sun Ce, he has been thinking about how to be the emperor all day long, and he has no idea about the battle.After Sun Ce returned from Jiangdong's defeat, Yuan Shu not only did not punish Sun Ce for losing his troops, but also specially sent someone to appease him, saying that victory or defeat is a common matter in military affairs, and advised Sun Ce to attack Lujiang again.Threatening that Sun Ce could capture Lujiang, he asked Sun Ce to be the prefect of Lujiang.

Sun Ce, who was frustrated, agreed to Yuan Shu's proposal, and took Lei Bo, [-] soldiers, and his old troops to attack Lujiang.

Before leaving, Zhou Yu tried to persuade Sun Ce that it would be best not to attack Lujiang, saying that Yuan Shu was capricious and might not speak well.Sun Ce refused to listen, and as a result, when Lu Jiang was attacked, the prefect Lu Kang's reputation was too great, and many strong men spontaneously organized to defend Lujiang City with Lu Kang. Although Sun Ce was brave, he could not conquer it in a short time.

As a result, after several months of attacking, they couldn't take it down, but they were unwilling to reconcile, so they could only spend their time in Lujiang and Lu Kang like this.

News from Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao kept coming, and Zhang Yan was relieved seeing that neither of them had any intention of fighting against him.

However, a secret letter from Guanzhong once again caused a ripple in Zhang Yan's peaceful heart.

This confidential letter has not been signed, and it is not known who sent it.This secret letter was discovered by the scouts on the body of the dead Xuzhou scouts.This secret letter recorded the details of Chang'an City. It said that Li Jue often held banquets for Guo Si at his home, and sometimes stayed Guo Si at his home.

Guo Bang's wife was afraid that Li Jue would take away her love by sending her concubine to Guo Bang, so she wanted to provoke their relationship.

Once when Li Jue gave food and wine to Guo Bang, Guo Bang's wife called the fermented soy bean in the dish as poison. suspicion.A few days later, Li Jue entertained Guo Si again, and made Guo Si very drunk. Guo Si suspected that Li Jue wanted to poison him, so he quickly drank feces juice to induce vomiting.

The letter also said that if Li Jue and Guo Si continue like this, they will definitely break up in the end. At that time, it will be time to meet each other.

At that time, it will be the time when the Son of Heaven returns east due to the chaos. I hope Zhang Yan can make preparations early and respond at any time.

After reading this secret letter, although it was not signed, and the handwriting was deliberately scribbled, it was probably because he was worried about being discovered and recognized by others.Moreover, the things mentioned in the letter were very familiar with Li Jue and Guo Si's affairs, so they must be people close to Li Jue and Guo Si, but Zhang Yan couldn't figure out who it was.

But Zhang Yan can guess that the person who wrote this letter must not be the current emperor, let alone Dong Cheng, but this person not only knows everything about Li Jue and Guo Si, but also knows the edict given to him by the emperor Very detailed.Otherwise, why would this letter appear on the scouts he sent instead of other scouts?
The scout died, but the secret letter was still kept. According to the scout who found the letter, it was found at the joint. The scouts came to warn Zhang Yan.

According to Zhang Yan's deduction, the scout was probably killed by the sender of the secret letter.

According to the recollection of the scouts, there was no trace of a fight at the joint site at that time, but a wound was found on the back of the deceased. It can be said that the murderer stabbed it from behind.Moreover, there were also footprints of two people at the scene, which meant that the person who sent the secret letter at least knew the scout, otherwise, he would not have stabbed him in the back.Then, the sender killed the scout again in order to silence him, that is, he didn't want to reveal his identity.

As for whether the messenger of the murderer and the person who wrote the letter are the same person, it cannot be guessed.

However, Zhang Yan never dreamed of fighting, who would secretly help him in Chang'an City?And this person seems to be hiding deep enough.

Who is this person who can not only gain the trust of Li Jue and Guo Si, but also the trust of today's emperor?
Zhang Yan couldn't guess it, and he didn't want to guess it anymore, because the boat would naturally go straight when it reached the bridge. Since someone sent him such an important message, he believed that he would be able to meet this person in the near future.

In the next few days, the same secret letter was sent in the same way, and what was written in the letter were all subtle changes in Chang'an City, which was enough to help Zhang Yan figure out every move in Chang'an City.

From Zhang Yan's point of view, this person is like the eye of the sky, and no disturbance in Chang'an City can escape his palm!

So, who is this person?And why he did this, Zhang Yan didn't know.

The days went by day by day, and soon it was the end of the year. Zhang Yan arrived at Qu County early in the morning, waiting quietly at the harbor, expecting a sea-going ship full of horses to come to him.

It was foggy in the morning, and the sea surface was not very clear. At noon, the fog slowly dissipated.But Zhang Yan was eager to see through, but he didn't see a single sail on the sea level.

When it was dusk, Zhang Yan had given up any hope, and suddenly one after another with sails opened, sailed towards the shore at an extremely brisk speed.

Zhang Yanxi smiled, and witnessed with his own eyes that the sea-going ship docked, and horses were led out of the cabin.

Tai Shici happily walked in front of Zhang Yan, and said in a loud voice: "My lord, fortunately, the last general did not disgrace his life. I have brought back all five thousand high-quality war horses. My lord, please check them out!"

Seeing the war horses being led ashore one by one, Zhang Yan felt so happy. The heart that had been hanging for a long time finally fell to the ground at this time.However, he looked around but did not see Li Cai, so he asked Tai Shici, "Where is Li Cai?"

Tai Shi said kindly: "My lord, Li Cai said that he will stay in Wuhuan for a while, and find thousands of war horses for the lord, and then transport them back to Xuzhou next time."

Zhang Yan couldn't believe it and asked: "Ziyi, tell me the truth, these five thousand war horses were really bought with those things, without spending any money?"

Tai Shici nodded heavily, and said happily: "Our weapons cut iron like mud, and our battle armor is indestructible. The Wuhuan people can't put it down, and they like it very much. But at first, they were only willing to exchange a steel sword and a pair of battle armor. Give us a war horse. Later, Li Cai bargained with the Wuhuan people, and finally they were willing to give us [-] war horses. Basically, a weapon or a piece of armor can be exchanged for a war horse. As for the extra The three thousand war horses were all exchanged for refined salt, this time, we made a fortune."

Zhang Yan never expected that this horse dealer would be so capable.It seems that Li Cai really needs to go to open up business routes.

"You have worked hard all the way. Now that we have horses in Xuzhou, we can form a decent cavalry team again." Zhang Yan said happily.

Tai Shici couldn't restrain his joyful expression, and said loudly: "My lord, that Li Cai is really very eloquent. I have never seen such a person. Now, he is called brother and brother with King Wuhuan."

After Zhang Yan heard it, he was also happy for a while. It would be great if such a talent was discovered earlier.

Although there were war horses, Zhang Yan also saw unlimited business opportunities during his trip to western Liaoning. If he could bring back [-] war horses in one trip, he could have [-] war horses in twenty trips.

It's just that it's a pity for his swords and armor made of fine steel.He desperately asked craftsmen to build it, and his army was not fully equipped yet, and it had already begun to be exported.

For Zhang Yan, cavalry is good, but the cost of cavalry is very high. At most, he can buy another [-] horses to form a team of [-] cavalry and [-] infantry, which is enough for him to sweep the entire Central Plains.

With joy, Zhang Yan and Tai Shici transported the war horses to Pengcheng. The day they arrived in Pengcheng was the New Year's Eve. Tomorrow is the new year. A new year will bring new weather. Zhang Yan Yan is also planning to do a big job in the new year to achieve the goal of winning the Central Plains!

(End of this chapter)