The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 43
For the next two days, Zhang Yan stayed in Xiapi and started to deal with Xiapi's political affairs, basically taking over Xiapi.

Zhou Kui actively cooperated with Zhang Yan's work, and used his local influence and social connections to assist Zhang Yan in taking over Xiapi in a very short period of time.

On this day, Zhou Kui came in from the outside of the hall with several bamboo slips in his hands, and bowed to Zhang Yan who was sitting in the center: "The matter that your lord has entrusted to your subordinates has already been completed. Your household registration, as well as the money, food, weapons, equipment, horses, etc. in the treasury, are all here, sir, please take a look."

After speaking, Zhou Kui put the bamboo slips on the table in front of Zhang Yan.

"Thanks for your hard work, Mr. Zhou." Zhang Yan said a few words, then opened the bamboo slips and browsed them one by one.

Under the rule of the Xiapi Kingdom, there were seventeen cities, large and small. Except for the Xiapi City, the rest were county towns. The entire Xiapi Kingdom had more than 13 households, with a total population of about 6000, and the existing military strength was nearly 61 million people.

The territory controlled by Xiapi State is far larger than that of Pengcheng, and the population is twice as large as that of Pengcheng. In addition, the water system in the territory is criss-crossed and rich in water resources, and there are fertile fields almost everywhere.

However, during the few years of Ruo Rong's rule here, he built large-scale construction projects, built temples, and forced the people to believe in Buddhism. Many people even became slaves to monks. Except for the land around the temple, a large number of fertile land in other places were abandoned.

Zhang Yan once witnessed that those people who believed in Buddhism were used by monks and gradually reduced to slaves for their farming. Although Ruo Rong died, the problems left behind were as numerous as a cow's hair.

Afterwards, Zhang Yan checked the statistics of money and food. In the treasury of Xiapi alone, there were 30 gold, [-] silver, and hundreds of millions of five baht coins.However, there are actually [-] shi of grain stored in the granary. It can be seen that Ruo Rong has been in Xiapi for several years, and he has often searched for people's fat and people's ointment.

However, Zhang Yan is very grateful to Ruo Rong. All the money and food are now under his control, and he will no longer have to worry about money and food in the future.

In addition, there are more than 1 pieces of various weapons in the arsenal, about 13 arrows, and two to three hundred pieces of equipment for siege and defense.These weapons are enough to equip more than 1 new troops.

In contrast, the number of horses in the stables is pitifully small, only more than 1000.After all, Xuzhou has no natural pastures, and its soil and water are not suitable for raising horses, so the horses needed are generally purchased from Youzhou, Liangzhou, Bingzhou, Jizhou and other places. A soldier has been paid three months of military pay.

Therefore, the total number of cavalry in the entire Xuzhou territory does not exceed 500.But in Zhang Yan's army alone, there were more than [-] cavalry, which shows how much Tao Qian attached importance to Zhang Yan at that time.

When Zhang Yan opened the last scroll of bamboo slips, a letter suddenly appeared inside. He glanced at it hastily, his brows furrowed, and a wave of anger welled up spontaneously.

Zhang Yan suddenly became furious, and in a fit of rage, he overturned the table in front of him, and roared, "I never thought that old Tao Qian would be so insidious!"

Zhou Kui had expected such a fierce reaction from Zhang Yan, because he secretly put the letter in the scroll of bamboo slips.It can also be said that he deliberately let Zhang Yan read this letter.

"You put this letter in?" Zhang Yan's sharp eyes fell on Zhou Kui, and there were cold lights in his eyes.

Seeing this, Zhou Kui didn't dare to look directly at Zhang Yan, lowered his head, cupped his fists and said, "This letter was written by Tao Shijun to Ruo Rong, who went to Futu Temple that morning, and I accepted this letter for Ruo Rong. At that time, I planned to wait for Ruo Rong to come back and then show it to him. Who knew that Ruo Rong had already been beheaded by an adult. I thought Ruo Rong was dead anyway, so he would not be able to read this letter. Let me just open it and have a look. What was written in the letter. Who knows, after I read it, I broke out in a cold sweat. At that time, I was still hesitating whether to show this letter to the adults. I thought, since I have followed the adults, I regarded the adults as My lord, I should always be considerate of adults. However, I have not found a suitable opportunity for the past two days. It just so happened that everything was counted today, so I took this opportunity to stuff this letter into the In the bamboo slip..."

"You should have shown me this letter a long time ago. I didn't expect that Tao Shijun would secretly ask Ruo Rong to get rid of me..."

Zhou Kui said at the right time: "Your Excellency is loyal to Tao Shijun, but Tao Shijun treats you like this, which is really chilling. With your master's literary and military strategy, there are two places in Xiapi and Pengcheng, and there are nearly [-] people. As far as I know, Zang Ba, stationed in Langya, obeys Tao Shijun on the surface, but in fact he is also the overlord of one side. As long as the lord gets in touch with Zang Ba, Let's join forces at the foot of Tancheng, force Tao Shijun to abdicate and let the lord replace him, with the sage's wisdom and martial arts, he will definitely be able to accomplish something great."

After hearing what Zhou Kui said, Zhang Yan looked at Zhou Kui with admiration.Although Zhou Kui spoke his mind, he didn't intend to do anything to Tao Qian so soon.

Even if Tao Qian is replaced by force, Tao Qian's old party members may not be willing to accept it.What's more, he, who is familiar with history, knew that Tao Qian's life would not be long. He only needs to secretly develop his own power and wait patiently. Why use swords and guns to take over Xuzhou?
Besides, outside of Xuzhou, Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and others were all staring at this place.If a major event happens in Xuzhou at this time, then these dominant overlords will take advantage of the vacancy, and by then, Xuzhou is likely to be in danger.

Zhang Yan is not a person who is eager for quick success, so he laughed at Zhou Kui's proposal, and said lightly: "Although what you said is very right, but now is not the time. Moreover, if it were not for Tao Shijun's cultivation, I would not Become Prime Minister of Pengcheng. One cannot be ungrateful, the origin of this letter is unknown, it may not be written by Tao Shijun, I will make a decision after I have clearly observed it."

After finishing speaking, Zhang Yan stuffed the letter into his bosom, and seeing the slightly disappointed expression on Zhou Kui's face, he laughed and said, "Master Zhou, don't worry, as long as you follow me and work hard, I will guarantee you in the future." The future is boundless. However, the time is not ripe at this stage, when the time is ripe, needless to say, I will replace Tao Shijun in Xuzhou."

As he walked, he came to Zhou Kui's side, grabbed Zhou Kui's shoulders, and said loudly: "Come, accompany me to the barracks, granary, and arsenal."

On the school field of the barracks, Xu Sheng and more than 300 brothers brought out from the Futu Temple have put on uniforms and are now practicing on the school field.But the original Xiapi soldiers nestled in the barracks one by two listlessly to rest.

Ruo Rong's confidantes all held important positions in the army. After they were all beheaded by Zhang Yan, these soldiers had no leader and no one to restrain them, as if they had become a mess.

Accompanied by Zhou Kui, Zhang Yan inspected the barracks, and when he discovered this situation, his brows were tightly furrowed.

As the saying goes, a snake can't go without a head. The top priority is to find a head for these soldiers as soon as possible.

"I don't believe it. The army of nearly 2 people is full of cowards?"

Zhang Yan quickly ordered to gather all the people on the school field, preparing to select a strong warrior from among these people.

As soon as the order was issued, the Xiapi soldiers came out of the camp with great reluctance, and stood on the school field against the howling cold wind.

On the general platform, Zhang Yan's face was livid, and he glanced at the soldiers below. He saw that these soldiers were listless, and even the queue stood crookedly, like a mess of sand. I really don't know why Ruo Rong recruited such soldiers .

Wherever his eyes touched, the Xiapi soldiers all looked the same, just when he was about to look away, he suddenly saw a person among the Xiapi soldiers, and his eyes lit up.

This person is eight feet tall, standing upright, and stands out among the Xiapi soldiers like a chicken.He was about thirty years old, with a ruddy complexion, thick eyebrows, a square face, and a pair of piercing eyes staring at Zhang Yan coldly.

Looking at him, Zhang Yan seemed to see a hope, and immediately raised his finger to point at the soldier, and shouted: "You, come up!"

The soldier was called out by Zhang Yan, squeezed out from the crowd, strode up to the platform, and when he came in front of Zhang Yan, he immediately clasped his fists and said, "What's your order?"

"What's your name?" Zhang Yan asked.

"Lv Dai." The soldier replied straightforwardly.

When he heard Lu Dai's name, a message quickly flashed in Zhang Yan's mind: Lu Dai, courtesy name Dinggong, was born in Guangling Hailing, an official and general of Wu during the Three Kingdoms period.

This person is also a famous general. However, in the early days of the Three Kingdoms, his ability was not very prominent. In the middle and late stages, Lu Dai's ability gradually became prominent.This person has dedicated his life to serving the public and opened up territories for Sun Wu, which can be described as a great contribution.

Moreover, this person had a relatively long life. According to historical records, Lu Dai was 96 years old when he died.

After Zhang Yan saw Lu Dai, he was very happy. He pointed to Xu Sheng and said to Lu Dai: "If you and Xu Sheng fight alone, if you can beat Xu Sheng in force, or if you can draw a tie, I will fight you." I appoint you Sima."

Lu Dai glanced at Xu Sheng, raised his eyebrows, and asked, "Are you serious?"

"a man of his words!"

"Okay, my lord, leave me the position of Sima!" Lu Dai said happily.

Zhang Yan called Xu Sheng to his side, and said in a low voice: "Go and compare yourself with him, but remember to click as far as you can, and don't hurt him!"

Xu Sheng nodded, cupped his fists and said, "Master, don't worry, I have my own measure."

Lu Dai cheered up his spirits, he had already put on his posture, and shouted at Xu Sheng: "Let the horse come here!"

(End of this chapter)