The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 601 600 The Burning Yangtze River (40)

Zhang Yan personally led the army to march south, and Jingzhou surrendered after hearing the news. Even Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who were separated from Jingnan, were defeated by Zhang Yan, regained Jingnan, and completely owned the entire Jingzhou.

Now, Zhang Yan has led the army, from Jingnan to Xiazhi County in Jiangxia, and Xunyang where Zhang Liao, Gan Ning, Lu Meng, Li Dian and others are stationed is only separated by the Yangtze River, and the two places now form a corner Together, they are coveting Chaisang on the other side of the Yangtze River.

In terms of Zhang Yan's current strength and strength, it has already surpassed Sun Quan by several times. The horse infantry has also arrived within a month, and the mobilized counselors and famous generals have also arrived one after another. It stands to reason that there should be further actions is.

However, Zhang Yan did not take any action for a long time, and kept his troops on hold. There were hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in Xiazhi, Xunyang, and Jinling, but there was no sign of attacking at all.

This also confuses Zhou Yu who is stationed in Chaisang. He is always ready to drive his navy to face Zhang Yan, but the opponent has no intention of attacking.However, Zhou Yu didn't dare to slack off easily, for fear that Zhang Yan had deliberately pretended to show Zhou Yu, the purpose of which was to make Zhou Yu relax his vigilance, and then take the opportunity to catch Zhou Yu by surprise.

Zhou Yu had few soldiers and dared not take risks, so he sent out a large number of scouts almost every day to spy on the enemy's every move.But after one month in a row, Zhang Yan's army just stood still, and even the training was reduced a lot.

Zhou Yu felt that Zhang Yan was paralyzing himself, so he didn't dare to take it lightly, and asked the army to maintain a high degree of vigilance, always paying attention to the enemy's situation on the other side of the river.

Zhang Yan lived in the county seat of Xiazhi County. Due to Zhang Yan's special status, the defense around the county government was extremely tight. There was a watch every three steps, and a post every five steps. It could be said to be airtight.

At this moment, in the hall of the county government office, Zhang Yan is sitting there reviewing the official documents sent from Pengcheng. He is the regent, the prime minister, and the general. Report to him for approval first.

Zhang Yan knew his own importance. Originally, when he personally led the army to march south, the ministers advised him not to go, but to send someone directly.

However, Zhang Yan believed that this Southern Expedition was to pacify Jiangnan, and he had to personally direct it, otherwise, he would not be able to rest assured at all.

Therefore, when he came out, Zhang Yan, as before, divided the political affairs of the country into three, six, and nine grades, and then handed them over to the various power agencies for their own handling. If major matters were involved, they would report to the cabinet. The cabinet has certain powers. Handling of government affairs, but in case of major events, Zhang Yan must be played.

Holding the official document in his hand, Zhang Yan skimmed through it in a hurry, feeling rather satisfied psychologically.Only one of these official documents needs to be reviewed by him, and he is looking forward to his decision, while the others are brief government affairs drafted by various ministers these days.

The official document that needs to be reviewed by him is not a big deal. It will be Emperor Liu Feng's birthday in one month. The Queen Mother Gongsun has never celebrated Liu Feng's birthday. Celebrate Liu Feng's birthday.

The members of the cabinet did not dare to make a hasty decision on such a matter, so they still sent someone to directly hand over Gongsun Taishou's request to Zhang Yan, and Zhang Yan made all decisions.

After reading it, Zhang Yan felt that this was a reasonable request, so he directly wrote a reply on the official document, and then sent it to the cabinet, asking the cabinet members to start arranging Liu Feng's birthday, and specifically asked that it must be done in a grand manner a little.

Back then when Liu Feng ascended the throne, because it was an eventful time, Liu Feng was still just a baby, so the enthronement ceremony was just for show. Now that Liu Feng has grown up, it is time for him to be lively.

Perhaps, this is the last time Liu Feng celebrated his birthday in Pengcheng, and at this time next year, he may celebrate his birthday in Luoyang Xindu.

Then, Zhang Yan looked through the official documents sent one after another. Judging from the reports on these official documents alone, it seems that he did not cause any turmoil after he left Pengcheng.On the contrary, many officials still go to school, looking forward to Zhang Yan's triumphant return and making new achievements.

Zhang Yan had just finished reviewing the official documents, and saw a Jinyi guard coming in from the outside of the hall. As soon as he entered the hall, he immediately cupped his fists and said, "His Royal Highness, Ma Chao, General of Zhenxi, Pang De, General of Anxi, and Pang Tong, the governor of the Western Regions." , See you outside!"

"Oh? We finally waited for them, let them in quickly!" Zhang Yan said happily when he heard that Ma Chao, Pang De, and Pang Tong had arrived.

Among the generals Zhang Yan convened, Ma Chao, Pang De, and Pang Tong in the northwest, and Jia Xu, Zhang He, and Zhuge Liang in the northeast were the farthest. I am childish, but these three people from the northwest have not arrived yet.Originally, Zhang Yan thought he would have to wait a few more days, but he didn't expect that they would arrive today.

Not long after, Ma Chao, Pang De, and Pang Tong came in from the outside of the hall, and then bowed to Zhang Yan with fists together: "See His Royal Highness King Yan!"

Zhang Yan hurriedly said: "All of you are free of courtesy, you have come from a long way, and you have been through mountains and rivers all the way, it is hard enough for you, please sit down."

"Thank you for your seat!" Ma Chao, Pang De, and Pang Tong said in unison.

After Ma Chao, Pang De, and Pang Tong were seated one after another, Zhang Yan asked curiously: "Shi Yuan, you are the governor of the Western Regions and stationed in Dawan. It stands to reason that your journey is longer than that of Generals Ma and Pang. Even further away, why did you come with them?"

Pang Tong laughed and said: "His Royal Highness Yan, this is not thanks to the good horses produced in Dawan. This time I came to see King Yan, and I even brought back twenty high-quality horses The Dawan horse is a gift from Ayub, Marquis of Anguo in the Western Regions, to His Highness."

Hearing this, Zhang Yan regained his energy immediately, and immediately asked, "Where are those horses now?"

"Just delivered to the stables, the groom should be feeding them fodder now." Pang Tong replied.

"Let's go, let's go to the stables!" Zhang Yan was elated, got up immediately, and said to Pang Tong and the others.

King Yan wanted to see the horses, so Ma Chao, Pang De, and Pang Tong naturally wanted to follow. The four of them came to the stable together. Before they got close, they heard neighing in the stable, one after another, very lively.

When I walked into the stables, my good fellow, the place that was originally empty and only bred a bloody horse like Bailong suddenly became a bit crowded. Twenty horses with vigorous postures, strong physiques, and muscular hooves They lined up in a row. Although the mangers were full of high-quality forage, these horses just sniffed with their noses and did not open their mouths to eat the forage. Instead, they kept neighing there, as if they were protesting. .

The groom in charge of the stables saw Zhang Yan and the others coming, and immediately walked over with his head bowed, respectfully and tremblingly bowed to Zhang Yan: "See... see His Royal Highness King Yan!"

"What's the matter with these horses, why don't they eat grass?" Zhang Yan pointed to the screaming horses, and asked the groom, "Is it because the fodder you gave is not good? I tell you, these horses are all They are precious Dawan horses, which were transported here from the Western Regions for thousands of miles, if you dare to neglect them, this king will let you go around without food!"

The groom was so frightened that he knelt down on the ground, and quickly kowtowed to Zhang Yan: "His Royal Highness, the young one feeds them the best fodder here, and I absolutely dare not feed them indiscriminately. As for why they don't eat it, the young one It's not very clear either!"

"Your Highness, I can't blame the grooms. These horses are all from the Western Regions. When they were in the Western Regions, they had special pastures and ate fresh grass every day. No matter how high-quality the forage is, it will definitely not suit their appetite. Ma Chao interrupted suddenly.

Ma Chao is also a horse lover, and he has lived in Liangzhou for a long time. Dawan horses are famous all over the world. How could he not know that in his early years, he once wanted to buy a Dawan horse in the Western Regions, but due to its high price , and finally had to settle down.

Originally, he and Pound came together. When they arrived in Jiangxia, the horse team led by Pang Tong caught up from behind. When Ma Chao first saw the horses driven by Pang Tong and others, he immediately fell in love with these horses. When I learned that these were Dawan horses, I was so happy, I wished I could ride them immediately and own them, no matter how much money I spent, I would buy these horses.

Unfortunately, when Ma Chao learned that these horses were given to His Highness King Yan by the Marquis of Anguo in the Western Regions, he was a little disappointed. After all, these horses were tributes, and King Yan Zhang Yan loved horses so much, he would definitely not sell them for him.So, along the way, Ma Chao was extremely depressed.After much deliberation, Ma Chao finally decided to spend a lot of money to buy a horse from Zhang Yan after seeing Zhang Yan, so as to fulfill his childhood dream.

After hearing Ma Chao's words, Zhang Yan frowned, and said slowly: "This is located in the south of the Yangtze River, the water area is very wide, and there is no grassland at all. Where can I find delicious aquatic plants to feed these horses?" ah!"

Suddenly, Zhang Yan remembered something, turned his head to look at Pang Tong, and asked, "Shi Yuan, what do these horses eat on the way here?"

Pang Tong said: "At first, we ate delicious aquatic plants brought from pastures in the Western Regions. After eating these things, wherever we passed, we would first inquire about pastures nearby, and then take these horses to feed them. Eat enough, and then go on the road. Later, the more we came to Jingzhou, the less we could see the pastures, so we simply turned back to the place where we used to eat, and then cut some aquatic plants, and carried them along the way, so we persisted here.”

Zhang Yan let out an "oh", and fell into deep thought, looking at the twenty horses that refused to eat grass, he was also very worried.

Ma Chao has been standing behind Zhang Yan. Seeing that Zhang Yan was at a loss, he immediately stepped forward and said softly: "Your Highness, I have a way to make these horses eat grass obediently. From then on, they will no longer rely on delicious food." the aquatic plants."

"Oh? What way?" Zhang Yan asked hastily.

Instead, Ma Chao played tricks and said, "Your Highness, my method will definitely work. However, I have something to ask, and I hope Your Highness will grant it!"

"I can't tell, but General Ma still has conditions?" Zhang Yan said with a smile, "Let's talk about it first."

"Ma has been fond of war horses since he was a child, and he is very fascinated by Dawan horses. He has wanted to own one for a long time. Unfortunately, he has not been able to get what he wanted. If his subordinates can solve the feeding problem of these horses this time, I would like to ask Your Highness to sell me one of these twenty war horses!" Ma Chao said sincerely.

After hearing this, Zhang Yan laughed loudly, and said, "General Ma, since you like this Dawan horse so much, I will just give you one as a gift. Why buy it?"

"Really?" Ma Chao's eyes lit up, but he asked cautiously with some doubts.

"This king is full of promises. What you say is like poured water. It must not be taken back. Moreover, General Pang and Duhu Pang can testify for you. How dare this king make jokes?" Zhang Yan said.

Ma Chao was elated, and the expression on his face also changed. You said that people are in good spirits on happy occasions. This sentence is not false at all, but seeing that Ma Chao was already smiling from ear to ear, he knelt down in front of Zhang Yan and kowtowed. Said: "Thank you, Your Highness, for the reward!"

"General Ma, get up quickly. I didn't say I would give you the Dawan horse right now. What I mean is that you must first solve the problem in front of me. The Dawan horse is for you." Zhang Yan said.

Ma Chao stood up, rolled up his sleeves, exposed his thick arms, clasped his fists and said to Zhang Yan: "His Royal Highness, please borrow the white dragon from your highness!"

(End of this chapter)