The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 390 Chapter 389 Undeclared War
Pengcheng, Prince Yan's Mansion.

Chengmen Xiaowei and Jinyiwei Commander Xu Sheng hurried in from outside the hall, saw Zhang Yan was discussing something with Chen Qun, he was hesitant to speak, and stood quietly aside.

Zhang Yan raised his head, glanced at Xu Sheng, and asked, "Seeing how flustered you are, is there something urgent?"

Xu Sheng nodded, glanced at Chen Qun, and said nothing.

Zhang Yan understood, so he said to Chen Qun: "This matter, let's do it according to what you said, and you will be fully responsible. We will strive to let the people in Hebei live a good life within three years."

Chen Qun, as the chief minister of the dynasty, was mainly responsible for agricultural production, income and expenditure of money and grain, which was a very important position. This time, Chen Qun suggested to Zhang Yan to build a wide range of water conservancy canals in Hebei to irrigate farmland.

However, the state treasury is currently short of funds, and it will take a lot of manpower, material and financial resources to build canals in the huge Hebei territory. Moreover, Zhang Yan is secretly building a new capital, and a lot of money is flowing from the state treasury like water. It flows out, but the existing tax revenue is limited, and taxes have been reduced or exempted in many places. Basically, the current treasury is beyond its means.

At this juncture, how could Chen Qun not worry about this matter, once the national treasury was empty and the military salary could not be paid, how could there be money to spend on construction?

But Chen Qun is Chen Qun, and he has his own unique method. He suggested to Zhang Yan that there are a group of rich gentry in Hebei who have serious violations of law and discipline, and they are going to crack down on them. For example, those who should be killed should be killed, those who should be severely punished should be severely punished, those who should be ransacked, those who should be exiled should be exiled, and those who should be distributed should be distributed.

Zhang Yan agreed with Chen Qun's idea very much, and entrusted Chen Qun as the imperial envoy to inspect Hebei. All officials must obey orders and not be neglected.

Chen Qun bid farewell with fists in his hands, holding an imperial decree written by Zhang Yan, bid farewell to Zhang Yan, and left the room in the hall.

When Chen Qun was gone, Zhang Yan asked, "Is there any important news?"

"Sima Yi has already served under Liu Qi's account, and helped Liu Qi to clean up Jiangxia, completely wiped out Cai's influence in Jiangxia County, and has already made arrangements to deal with unexpected events." Xu Sheng said.

After hearing this, Zhang Yan grinned and said, "I really didn't realize that Sima Yi is quite capable at such a young age..."

"King Yan, do you want people to continue to observe?" Xu Sheng asked.

Zhang Yandao: "Continue to observe. I want to find out Sima Yi's every move. Remember, let our people not expose their targets. Since Sima Yi has arrived in Jingzhou, he is bound to set off a bloody storm in Jingzhou. The calm lake in Jingzhou is about time. Broken!"

Xu Sheng said "here" and continued: "In addition, there is news from Jiangdong..."

"What happened to Jiangdong?"

"Sun Ce died. His younger brother Sun Quan took over Sun Ce's position and began to take charge of Jiangdong. He also appointed Zhou Yu as the governor, with power only under him." Xu Sheng reported the news just received today.

"What? Sun Ce is dead? How did he die?" Zhang Yan and Sun Ce saw each other. This is a very healthy young man. He is now in his prime, without any disaster or disease. How could he pass away suddenly?

"It is said that he was stabbed by someone. An arrow was shot in his thigh, but the arrow was poisoned. Two days later, Sun Ce died of poison. Before he died, he entrusted Jiang Dong to his younger brother Sun Quan, and asked Zhou Yu to assist him. .” Xu Sheng said.

"Assassinated? Do you know who it is?" Zhang Yan frowned and asked.

"The assassin is very cunning, and he was never caught, so we don't know who killed Sun Ce. However, according to the gossip, it seems that Jiangdong people sent the assassin." Xu Sheng said.

"Ah! It's a pity that Sun Ce died like this at a young age. He died young. After all, Sun Ce is also a relatively formidable opponent. It is better for him to die than to become a confidant after he is alive. Sun Quan Although he took over Sun Ce's position, there must be many people in Jiangdong who will not be convinced, and now is a good time for our army to send troops to Jiangdong..."

Before Zhang Yan could say anything, he saw a Jin Yiwei rushing in from the outside. As soon as he entered the hall, the Jin Yiwei clasped his fists and said, "His Royal Highness, Hushi General has an urgent report!"

The Hushi General is none other than Chen Deng who also serves as Yangzhou Shepherd and Jinling Prefect.

Chen Deng used to be the rear general, but since the right general Yu Jin was transferred to Lujiang, and Chen Deng's outstanding performance in imposing economic sanctions on Jiangdong, Zhang Yan specially named Chen Deng the Hussar General, and his official position was comparable to that of Yu Jin. slightly bigger.

Moreover, Zhang Yan was not at ease about Jin, otherwise, he would never have transferred him to Lujiang on the eve of attacking Hebei, and after arriving in Lujiang, he quickly named Chen Deng as the General of Hussars, intending to use Chen Deng to control The ban.

In general, Chen Deng has become the sole figure at the southern end of Zhang Yan's forces, fully responsible for Jiangdong's strategy.

Chen Deng suddenly sent an urgent report, which must be related to Jiangdong, so Zhang Yan personally took the urgent report, read it hastily, frowned immediately, and said in a low voice, "The person who assassinated Sun Ce was actually sent by Chen Deng!"

Xu Sheng was also surprised, and hurriedly said: "Chen Deng is bold!"

After Zhang Yan read the letter, he realized that Chen Deng had been secretly watching the situation in Jiangdong. Sun Ce broke free from the economic sanctions, causing Chen Deng's plan to fail. Seeing that Sun Ce was about to catch his breath, Chen Deng came up with this idea. As a bad strategy, Zhou Tai was sent to Jiangdong with dozens of elite soldiers, secretly lurking in Jiangdong, waiting for an opportunity to assassinate Sun Ce.

Originally, this action was decided by Chen Deng on the spur of the moment, and he didn't expect much, but who knew that Zhou Tai's assassination was successful after a blind cat bumped into a dead mouse.

After that, Chen Deng immediately mobilized his troops and horses, the army was ready to go, ready to go, and he only needed one order to attack Jiangdong immediately.

However, to attack Jiangdong, Chen Deng had to report the matter, otherwise, he would be suspected of exceeding his authority, which was also a crime of disrespect.

The envoy came all the way from Jinling to Pengcheng, hurriedly and quickly, and finally arrived at Pengcheng today, and handed the letter to Jin Yiwei, who passed it to Zhang Yan on his behalf.

Seeing that Xu Sheng was so angry, Zhang Yan waved his hands and said, "Chen Deng is also thinking about this king. Sun Ce is not dead, and Jiangdong is really not easy to attack. Originally, this king wanted to accumulate troops for a few more years, and then launch a fierce attack on Jiangdong. Chen Deng did this Stirring up the war has brought the war forward. Since this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and Chen Deng is already ready to launch a war, then give Chen Deng a chance to perform!"

After finishing speaking, Zhang Yan picked up the brush, wrote an order himself, then took out the Jade Seal of Chuanguo, stamped it, and then gave the order to Xu Sheng, and said: "Distribute it immediately, and send it to Jinling as soon as possible! "

"Here!"

Xu Sheng didn't dare to be negligent, so he immediately found a fast horse and sent a Jinyi guard to Jinling.

At this moment, Chen Deng was waiting anxiously in Jinling City, and after Zhang Yan sent out this order, he personally took command again, and immediately ordered Zhao Yun and Xu Chu to gather all the troops in the headquarters and follow him to Jiangdong.

Two days later, Chen Deng was anxious in every possible way in Jinling City, and finally waited for Zhang Yan's order, which was clearly written in the imperial decree, led by Hushi General Chen Deng, assisted by Right General Yu Jin, to launch a general attack on Jiangdong !

On the day Chen Deng received the imperial decree, he took Zhou Tai as the left vanguard and Jiang Qin as the right vanguard, divided his troops into two groups, and went straight to Wu County from Jinling City. He personally commanded Liang Xi, Liang Mao and others to follow, and let Xue Li Responsible for guarding Jinling.

In addition, Chen Deng asked the right general Yu Jin to lead an army across the south from the Lujiang River to attack Yuzhang County, and Lu Su and Liu Ye led the army to attack Danyang County. .

On the day the army set off, Chen Deng couldn't restrain his inner joy. His long-cherished wish for many years can finally be realized now.Sun Ce died, and Sun Quan should take over Jiangdong. Taking advantage of Sun Quan's failure to convince the public and fledgling, Jiangdong was still in deep pain, and Chen Deng, who had been eyeing Jiangdong all the time, came.

Chen Deng, Yu Jin, Lu Su, Liu Ye and others led the army in front and marched in three directions. Zhang Yan led Zhao Yun and Xu Chu to set off from Pengcheng as a follow-up force to capture Jiangdong. On the one hand, they could support Chen Deng and on the other hand On the one hand, it can also build momentum for Chen Deng.

The most important aspect is that Zhang Yan is ready to take over Jiangdong. In his opinion, Jiangdong seems to be in his pocket.

Zhang Yan's elite troops were all scattered on the northern border, but Zhang Yan didn't want to miss such a good opportunity, coupled with Chen Deng's full confidence, Zhang Yan decided to use Chen Deng's Yangzhou Army as the main force , launched a war against the Sun family in Jiangdong.

But out of safety considerations, Zhang Yan personally brought [-] elites and hurried over from Pengcheng. If support was needed, his [-] elites could serve as the mainstay.

Zhang Yan fought unannounced and caught Jiangdong by surprise. The two vanguards of the Eastern Route Army commanded by Chen Deng were both brave and skilled fighters. To achieve great feats in this battle, the left and right vanguards cooperated very tacitly with each other. With only a thousand light cavalry, they broke through six counties in Wujun County for three days in a row, went deep into the hinterland of Wujun County for more than 200 miles, and reached Wuxian County, the city of Wujun County. Down.

Zhu Zhi, the prefect of Wu County, was Sun Jian's former army. Seeing that there were only a thousand cavalry including Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin, he felt underestimated. He led his troops into battle and fought fiercely with Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin. Less wins more, and the five thousand soldiers were almost wiped out. Even Zhu Zhi himself was seriously injured, but fortunately he was rescued by his subordinates desperately.

Zhu Zhi and others did not dare to return to Wucheng, so they quickly retreated to Wucheng, and sent someone to notify Sun Quan, praying for help.

Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin captured Wucheng without any effort. Chen Deng led his army to arrive and directly stationed in Wucheng. When he learned that Zhu Zhi had fled to Wucheng, and there were only a hundred remaining soldiers, he personally led the army. Attack Wu Cheng.

Zhu Zhi was seriously injured on the bed, unable to move, and Chen Deng came very quickly. When the soldiers approached the city, Zhu Zhi was already surrounded by the army.

Chen Deng quickly defeated Wucheng, and when he learned that Zhu Zhi had committed suicide, he felt that Zhu Zhi was a loyal man, so he ordered Zhu Zhi to be buried generously.

Afterwards, Chen Deng adopted a quick-fix strategy and led his army to attack Qiantang, an important city in Wujun, in order to control Qiantang and intimidate Kuaiji County.

(End of this chapter)