Prancing Horse Xiliang

Chapter 398
Xiangyang.

Liu Bei led his army to the north gate, and hundreds of people were waiting at the gate of the city.

Not only the gentry from Jingzhou came, but even Liu Qi, the nominal king of Chu, eagerly came to greet him in person.

Such honor can be said to be second to none.

However, when everyone was chatting, a fast horse rushed over like a whirlwind from afar.

"Report to the King of Chu, Yiling urgently reports!"

Laiqi rushed forward, and the messenger on horseback got off his horse and reported loudly with one knee on the ground.

"Yiling?"

Liu Qi smiled and said, "Maybe General Guan Yu has defeated the invading enemy army?"

Liu Bei and the others also looked at the messenger soldier, all of them in a good mood.

The summoner replied: "To the king of Chu, about the general who ambush Xu Huang in Baidi City, the whole army of [-] was wiped out, about the general who was defeated and captured alive by Xu Huang, now Xu Huang has led his army to surround Yiling onslaught!"

"Uh……"

Liu Qi's face froze, a little dazed, unable to recover for a while.

Liu Bei and the others all changed their expressions, and almost jumped up directly.

"What did you say?"

Liu Bei yelled, "My second brother Guan Yu was defeated and captured?"

The messenger hurriedly replied: "Exactly!"

"Ah, second brother!"

Liu Bei was so angry that he spat out a mouthful of old blood and fell back.

"Lord!"

"brother!"

Xu Shu, Jian Yong, Zhang Fei, Huang Zhong and others were shocked and immediately surrounded them.

Liu Qi didn't come back to his senses until this time, he didn't care about the ten thousand troops, so a happy look appeared on his face.

Guan Yu was defeated and captured, which is really wonderful, wonderful!

This is definitely good news. The power in Jingzhou has fallen to the sidelines. The gentry family has long wanted to step onto the stage of power in Jingzhou. They have always regarded Liu Bei as a stare. Now they hear that Guan Yu was defeated and captured.

"Xu Huang is a man!"

Just when everyone was secretly happy, they suddenly heard a roar like thunder.

Everyone was taken aback by the indifference, and their ears were tingled by the roar, and they turned their heads to look over.

Seeing Zhang Fei's beard and hair all stretched out, he shouted loudly: "Brother, please send troops to Yiling quickly to avenge second brother!"

Liu Bei woke up slowly, looked at Liu Qi and said, "Please give me the order!"

Although he gritted his teeth with hatred in his heart, Liu Bei is Liu Bei, unlike Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Even though Liu Qi has been emptied, he still has to do some performance skills, and he won't let the big and small things fall into the mouth.

Liu Qi had no choice but to issue an order.

Besides, now that Xu Huang is storming Yiling, Liu Bei really needs to lead his troops to resist the enemy.

Xuchang, Luo Zheng's temporary residence.

"I've seen the general!"

After Chen Gong went to the hall, he only slightly bowed his hands to Luo Zheng, then straightened his body and stood aside.

"Exemption from the palace!"

Luo Zheng waved his hand, "Sit down and talk!"

As early as when he first arrived in Xuchang, he already knew the reason why Chen Gong betrayed Cao Cao.

The world is really impermanent, and sometimes a trivial matter can lead to a catastrophe.

After this incident, Luo Zheng can be said to have a lot of feelings.

Of the heroes in history, which one is not the one who would rather tell me to bear the world and not let the world bear me? Cao Cao's killing of Lu Boshe is certainly a bit ungrateful, but for a hero, this is nothing at all .

The bad thing is that Chen Gong is too upright, and Cao Cao's ungrateful behavior was seen by him again.

However, Chen Gong has followed Qu Cao for many years, and has been cited by Cao Cao as his right-hand man. He is in charge of the government affairs under Cao Cao. It can be said that he is one of the core figures in the core of Cao Cao's military group.

The consequences were also disastrous for Cao Cao.

The destruction of Xuchang City is tantamount to ruining most of Cao Cao's painstakingly managed foundation.

This is equivalent to Luo Zheng when there is a strong attack and comes to make trouble, if Xun Yu, who is sitting in the rear, betrays him, he will also be destroyed.Chen Gong's position in Cao Cao's military group is the same as Xun Yu's position in Xiliang's military group.

Chen Gong didn't say a word, and sat down sideways.

Luo Zheng considered his words before saying: "The general is really pleased that the palace can abandon the dark and turn to the bright. Regardless of character, Cao Cao is actually a rare hero in the world. This general still admires his ability."

Chen Gong's eyes were piercing, but he didn't say anything, and continued to listen.

Luo Zheng asked: "Gongtai is a great talent in the world. This general is willing to create a great cause with Gongtai. I don't know what Gongtai wants?"

Chen Gongdao: "I heard that the general is kind to the common people of the great Han and evil to the barbarians. I wonder if he can treat the common people of the Central Plains kindly?"

Luo Zheng said with emotion: "As long as it is a Han people, this general is willing to treat them kindly!"

Chen Gong nodded, not doubting this, Luo Zheng was really good to the Han people under his rule, and his actions have proved that there have been no military disasters in Guanzhong and Liangzhou in the past few years, and the people live and work in peace and contentment, and their lives are rich. I heard that there is already a cultural The grand occasion of the scene.

"There is one more request!"

Chen Gong said without hesitation: "As long as the general agrees, I am willing to serve the general!"

Luo Zheng said solemnly: "Please tell the palace!"

Chen Gongdao: "General, please spare the Cao and Xiahou clans!"

"Gongtai is also a true righteous man!"

Luo Zheng sighed with emotion, and then said solemnly: "It's okay to let the Cao and Xiahou clans go, but all of these two clans must be relocated to Liangzhou, and adult men over 13 years old must be distributed!"

Chen Gong nodded and had no objection to this.

Being able to keep the Cao and Xiahou clans is also considered a right to Cao Cao.

The Cao family and the Xiahou family have a large population. If Cao Cao is not defeated, Luo Zheng will not be able to let the second family be free. He can keep the second family from being wiped out by the family. Chen Gong has achieved his goal. As long as he can survive, the distribution of the frontier is also Not a bad result.

After Chen Gong stood up and retreated, Luo Zheng asked Jia Xu who closed his eyes and lowered his eyebrows, "Wenhe, how should Chen Gong use it?"

Jia Xu opened his eyes, stroked the willow beard and pondered for a while, before saying, "Yanyu and Yuzhou are new, if we want to stabilize the situation as soon as possible, I'm afraid it will take a lot of effort. Besides, the Central Plains is not as good as Guanzhong, and the neighbors are all powerful enemies. There is no danger to defend, we must stabilize the situation as soon as possible to gain a firm foothold, my lord, why don't you use Chen Gong as the Governor of Yuzhou and order him to handle the government affairs of the two states!"

"This……"

Luo Zheng pondered and said: "Although Chen Gong is capable, he can be regarded as a great talent in the world, but after all, he has not been recruited for a long time, and the two states of Yanyu and Yuzhou are related to our army's general strategy of unifying the world. Is it wrong?"

Jia Xu said slowly: "My lord, I don't think there is any need to worry. Xu Guan Chen Gong is very upright, not a double-faced person. Although there is a reason for turning his back on Cao Cao this time, it is still a loss of reputation. Such a It is enough to do it once, since Chen Gong is willing to serve the Lord, he should not do such a dishonorable act again."

Luo Zheng thought for a while, and nodded slowly.

Jia Xu said again: "Chen Gong has followed Cao Cao for a long time, and has been leaned on by Cao Cao. This time, Chen Gong opened the door to sacrifice the city, which can be said to have dealt Cao Cao a fatal blow. There is absolutely no reason to follow Cao Cao. More importantly, Chen Gong Poison has prestige under Cao Cao's command, if this person appears to appease the gentry of the two prefectures of Yan and Yu, he will surely get twice the result with half the effort, and my lord can rest assured that he will entrust him with important tasks."

Luo Zheng thought about it, and said decisively: "Good, just follow Wenhe's opinion!"

At this moment, Cheng Ying walked in quickly, cupped his hands and said, "My lord, General Xu Huang hastened to report!"

"Xu Huang?"

Luo Zheng touched the stubble and said: "Speak!"

Cheng Ying said: "The military report was sent from Chang'an. Half a month ago, Guan Yu led an army of [-] troops out of Yiling. General Xu Huang was defeated in a row to lure the enemy to go deep. He defeated Guan Yu in Baidi City, and Guan Yu's [-] army was completely wiped out. "

"Oh, Gongming really lived up to my general's expectations!"

Luo Zheng's face showed joy, and he said Guan Yu twice in his heart.

Ten years passed in a flash, and it was still the first year of Chuping. When the princes were begging for Dong, they met Guan Yu once at Hulao Pass.

The wheel of history has gone astray, so I don't know that Guan Yu will really live for a few more years.

Cheng Ying said again: "Guan Yu led hundreds of remnants and fled to Zigui. General Xu Huang led his army to catch up and broke through Zigui. Guan Yu was captured alive by General Xu Huang after he failed to escape. Now he has been taken to Chang'an in a prison cart, waiting for the lord's release!"

"Oh!"

Luo Zheng thought for a while, then said: "You can behead on the spot and give the head to Liu Bei!"

Cheng Ying cupped his hands and said, "Obey!"

This year was a turbulent year. Yuan Shao sent 30 people from Hebei to the south, kicking off the largest battle for hegemony among the princes since the coalition of princes challenged Dong for the second time.

After the war, the world was depressed.

Some are happy, some are sad.

Yuan Shao lost the battle of Guandu and retreated to Hebei to rest. He could not send his troops south again within three or two years.

Although Cao Cao won the battle of Guandu, his old lair was copied, and more than [-] troops suffered heavy casualties. Only the [-] soldiers Cao Hong brought back from Huainan were left. .

Sun Ce and Liu Bei, who took advantage of the fire to rob, also suffered a great loss. Although Sun Ce captured Huainan and Lujiang counties, the 5000 troops under his command suffered heavy casualties. In Huainan, there were not even [-] people, and the rest were either captured by the Xiliang army, or fled to the mountains and forests to become bandits.

What's more, not long after Sun Ce returned to Shouchun, the military adviser Xiping died of illness.

For the Jiangdong military group, this is undoubtedly a heavy blow.

Liu Bei didn't take advantage of it, not only failed to take back Nanyang, but his second brother Guan Yu also died in battle, and lost [-] troops.

Hastily led the army south to Yiling to take revenge, but Xu Huang saw that the situation was not good, and immediately retreated to the fish belly. There are many soldiers and horses.

Zhang Fei didn't believe in evil, and personally led his troops to climb the cliff to climb over the mountain, but was almost captured alive by the ambushing Sichuan army.

Although Liu Bei was too sad, he finally had to accept Xu Shu's proposal and withdrew his troops back to Xiangyang.

The princes are busy fighting for territory, but the people are suffering from the war.

The main battlefield, the Central Plains region under the rule of Cao Cao, was almost destroyed, especially the two prefectures of Yanyu. Because of Luo Zheng's bad reputation, many county magistrates abandoned their officials and fled with their families before the Xiliang army arrived.

All the officials ran away, and all kinds of thieves jumped out one after another to take the opportunity to make trouble, and it was ordinary people who suffered the disaster.

With the war, no matter how Luo Zheng ordered the army not to disturb the people, the war still brought trauma to the people.

In the Central Plains area, there was a severe drought last year, and many people had no food to eat. When the military disaster happened, they had no way of living.

When Luo Zheng repelled Sun Ce and Liu Bei's soldiers and horses, and the two states of Yuzhou were around the same time, the Central Plains area was full of dead bones, rotting corpses and goshawks hovering in the air could be seen everywhere on the roadside, and there were countless refugees gathered in the town .

There are so many bandits taking advantage of the situation that there are no less than twenty groups of bandits in one county, all of them are taking advantage of the opportunity to loot and cause chaos.

More than [-] Xiliang troops were stationed in various parts of the two prefectures of Yuzhou, and seized the time to suppress bandits and stabilize the place.

In mid-October, the weather turns cooler.

Luo Zheng took Chen Gong as the governor of Yuzhou, led Yanzhou and Yuzhou, and had full power to govern the region.

He also ordered Zhao Yun and Gao Shun to set up farm camps in Nanyang and Yuzhou respectively to take in the refugees, build water conservancy projects, resume farming, and guard all parts of the Central Plains.

Since September, there has been an endless stream of horses and horses traveling from Guanzhong to the Central Plains. A large amount of grain from Guanzhong, Liangzhou, and Hetao was transported to Luoyang and Yuzhou. Millions of hungry people in the Central Plains survived.

Luo Zheng has been working hard in Guanzhong for several years, and the corn has been harvested year after year. The most important thing is food.

Millions of hungry people is not a small number, except for Luo Zheng, no prince can save so many hungry people.

At the end of October, before the first snowfall.

Luo Zheng led [-] cavalry from Xiliang to return to Chang'an. He originally planned to withdraw the army back to Guanzhong when the situation in the Central Plains stabilized.

At present, apart from the left-behind soldiers and horses of the counties in Guanzhong and Liangzhou, there are only [-] cavalry left.

Fortunately, there is no war between Guanzhong and Liangzhou, and [-] cavalry are enough to suppress all Xiaoxiao.

When the army arrived in Chang'an, the first winter snow came.

It snowed heavily until the end of the year, and the weather gradually turned fine.

The people in the Central Plains were most afraid of the coming of winter. Even if they had food, they would not die of hunger, but the houses with air leaks could not stop the severe cold. After the first heavy snowfall, many people were frozen to death.

Gao Shun, Chen Gong and others organized civilian husbands to repair houses for the people, and they were busy all winter without touching the ground.

Compared with the people in the Central Plains, the lives of the people in Guanzhong and Liangzhou are much better.

There is food to eat and firewood to burn, so you don't have to work hard in winter and you can relax.

For the people under Luo Zheng's rule, the bigger the snow in winter, the better, because winter snow means the harvest of the coming year.

In 201, the world ushered in a period of rare peace, and the princes of all walks of life are silently developing their strengths.

Cao Cao was appeasing the nobles in Xuzhou and consolidating his strength, but he was temporarily unable to send troops to retake the second state of Yuzhou.

Sun Ce is actively recruiting troops in Jiangdong, while Liu Bei is busy splitting up the gentry in Jingzhou to stabilize his power.

Yuan Shao was licking his wounds in Ye City, and Luo Zheng was also taking the time to digest the Luoyang and Yanyu prefectures that he had snatched. After he was ready to gain a firm foothold in the Central Plains, he sent troops to destroy Cao Cao as soon as possible, and then marched into Hebei.

All the [-] Sichuan troops have turned into professional soldiers, and the reorganization of the army is also proceeding quickly.

(End of this chapter)