The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 349
Bodiao chased for fifty miles and plunged into the ambush circle of the Sasanians.Seeing the Sassanians run less and less, and the distance is getting closer and closer, Botiao is happy, but unexpectedly, two teams of ten thousand people rush out from both sides, and the Sassanids running in front of them turn around again. Opening their fangs at him, ten thousand heavy armored cavalry of the Immortal Army rushed towards him with an invincible murderous aura, immediately surrounding him in the middle.

Botiao was so regretful that his intestines were green, and he yelled at Ardashir for being too cunning, and he didn't forget to set traps when he escaped for his life.But Ardashir couldn't hear his curse, he commanded the army to swarm up, surrounded Bodiao in the middle and beat them up. The heavy armored immortal army even rushed towards Bodiao's personal guards continuously, trying to kill Bodiao's bodyguards. Kill the [-] Guishuang Jingqi before the reinforcements arrive.

Botiao was forced to a dead end with nowhere to go. Under the instinct of survival, he fought furiously, saying loudly that the iron cavalry of the Han people would come to rescue them, and encouraged the soldiers to persevere to the end. A dense formation to deal with the charge of the Immortal Army.The Guishuang people heard the Bodiao's order and encouraged each other to resist desperately. They used horns far away, and shouted directly at the near ones. The Sasanians are no strangers to the language of the Guishuang people. The Han Chinese cavalry were not far behind, and their morale was also affected. After all, they had just trekked in the desert for half a month, and their physical strength had reached their limit. They just suppressed the Guishuang people with their morale. , They have been a little unable to support, and now they hear that the Han cavalry will arrive soon, they are even more uncertain.

Ardasil soon got a report from the scouts that the Han Chinese cavalry were approaching. Although he wasn't sure how much sincerity the Han people had in coming to rescue Bodiao, he was more afraid of being entangled and unable to escape. The people of Guishuang had already been beaten to the point of embarrassment and suffered heavy losses. They decided to accept it as soon as it was good, and ordered the army to withdraw from the battlefield, covering each other and slowly retreating northward.

In just half an hour of fighting, Bodiao lost more than 3000 people, and more than 5000 people were injured and lost their combat effectiveness. The originally high morale plummeted.Looking at the corpses all over the floor, and listening to the wailing one after another, Botiao was extremely depressed, filled with remorse, and couldn't help crying.

When Xun Yun arrived with the Hu cavalry battalion, the Sasanians had already gone far away, walking on a messy battlefield, he was also secretly surprised.The Sasanian iron cavalry traversed the world, and Ardashir was able to fight well, and he really deserved his reputation. In just half an hour, he caused so much damage to the Guishuang people.This was after they had been severely injured by Lu Xun, and then walked in the desert for more than half a month. If they faced the Sasanians who were recharging their energy, he doubted whether the head of Bodiao would have been taken by the Sasanians now. cut it off.

The battlefield is dangerous, so you should not be careless. Any slight negligence may cause irreparable losses.The Sassanians hit the aggressive Guishuang people hard with a backhand blow. Although it was not a bad thing for the Han people, it dealt a great blow to morale.They came all the way by boat from Tianzhu to recharge their batteries. They originally wanted to make a good start, but unexpectedly they suffered a defeat first, which brought a lot of psychological pressure to the soldiers.

"Your Majesty, victory or defeat is a common matter in military affairs. Fortunately, the loss is not too great. Your Majesty should seize the time to regain control of people's hearts. Things can still be done. When we get to Taixifeng, it will not be too late for us to take revenge." Xun Yun patiently persuaded Dao, seeing the originally high-spirited tone suddenly changed like this, he also felt a little uncomfortable.

Botiao felt very embarrassed, so he had to wipe away the tears on his face, ordered the soldiers to pack up the soldiers to treat the wounded, and cremated the remains of the soldiers on the spot.Most of the Guishuang people believe in Buddhism, and they practice the afterlife. Moreover, the Guishuang people have inherited some of the original customs. They don't have too many taboos about death in battle. On the contrary, they think it is a relief.There are accompanying monks in the army, and after they recite sutras for the fallen soldiers, it is also possible to save some of the bones and bring them back to the country.

At night, the sound of chanting sutras and the blazing fire made people feel the danger of the battlefield and the erratic life and death. Even Cao Zhang and others, who were used to seeing blood, felt a little sad.Cao Zhang came back from the camp to visit the soldiers, looked at the endless grassland lit with fire, was silent for a long time, and suddenly said: "Is there really a heaven after death?"

Xun Yun thought for a while and said with a smile: "I still like to return my soul to Mount Tai and bury it in the Xun family's ancestral grave, and I don't want to throw my bones away."

Cao Zhang turned his head and glanced at him, frowned, then laughed again, and said with a self-deprecating smile: "I have killed countless people, I think those monks who are merciful will not do it for salvation, I can't go to this heaven I just hope to have the opportunity to enter the hall of sages of the great man. It is enough to let future generations know that I have done something for the great man."

Xun Yun was a little curious: "Do you really want to build the Xianxian Hall?"

"To be built." Cao Zhang said with a smile: "Before we came out, His Majesty told me personally. He said that the Yue Kingdom is a vassal state of the Han Dynasty, and they all have sage halls, so that future generations will remember those virtuous ministers who have contributed to the Yue Kingdom. Famous generals, how can a great man be inferior to a vassal state? The Hall of Sages is going to be built, and the address has been chosen. It is going to be placed in Piyongli outside Luoyang City, so that those scholars who enter the Imperial Academy can know their identity. merit."

"Really?" Xun Yun replied thoughtfully: "I don't know who can enter the hall of sages?"

"Of course he is a person who has made good deeds and meritorious deeds." Cao Zhang laughed, and patted Xun Yun on the shoulder: "Changqian (Xun Yun's word), you are a martial artist now, you have no time to learn, and you have killed a lot of people." Well, don’t count on this kind of morality, let’s make a good contribution. This four-nation alliance and the Sasanian expedition are also a great battle that will never happen in a century. It is not difficult to be famous in history."

Xun Yun concealed a smile: "Yes, I am just a martial artist now, and I have little knowledge. I really feel ashamed of my ancestors. If my ancestors knew about it, they would probably jump up from their graves."

The Xun family is the descendant of the great Confucian Xun Kuang at the end of the Warring States period. Although there were no great Confucianists after entering the Qin and Han Dynasties, the generation of Xun Shu, Xun Yun's great-grandfather, sprang up suddenly, and produced several great scholars one after another.Xun Shu herself was erudite but not good at chapters and sentences. Together with Chen Shi, Zhong Hao, and Han Shao, they were called the four elders of Yingchuan, and they were called gods.His eight sons are known as the Eight Dragons, and Xun Shuang's knowledge is the best among them. He annotated "Li", "Yi" and "Poetry", and founded Xun's Yi Xue, known as Master Confucianism.In the generation of Xun Yun's father, Xun Yu, Xun Yue's knowledge was the best, and he wrote thirty chapters of "Han Ji" and five volumes of "Shen Jian".In Xun Yun's generation, his brother Xun Kai was good at Confucianism, and Xun Can was famous for Taoism, but his eldest brother was not well-known among scholars. Of course, this had something to do with him marrying a woman from the Cao family. But the main reason is that he himself has no outstanding achievements in learning.For the children of these aristocratic families, no matter how big an official is, it is not as good as having a good reputation among scholars. Like his great-grandfather Xun Shu, the official was only Langling Houxiang and Tu Chang, but it did not affect his lofty status among scholars. Prestige, even celebrities like Li Ying and Li Gu worshiped under his sect and called him his teacher.

"Learning?" Cao Zhang sneered and dismissed it: "Broadcom classics are nothing more than picking up people's wisdom, and writing thousands of books is nothing more than establishing a family's opinion.

Xun Yun didn't say a word, the people of the Cao family were ignorant, so it was pointless to discuss these things with them.

Cao Zhang saw his eyes and was even more unconvinced.He thought for a while and said, "Your Xun's family has Xun's Yi, I think you know a little about the Yi school."

Xun Yun nodded calmly: "Know a thing or two, why, are you determined to learn Yi?"

"I don't study those." Cao Zhang curled his lips: "Let's not talk about it, there are more than [-] years in the Han Dynasty, and there are no less than a hundred people who have studied Yi Xue?"

Xun Yun couldn't help laughing: "There are more than a hundred people, there are thousands of people, and there are no less than 50 people who are outstanding and married."

"Those who study Yi say that they are studying the Dao of Heaven and Earth, claiming to know astronomy above and geography below, but in the end they didn't even understand that the earth is round, and they didn't know what they were studying." Cao Zhang stomped his feet, He said with a sarcasm: "They only know how to study every single word of the ancients, but they don't know if these are the true Dao. What's the use of ten thousand people? Can 1 mistakes be equal to one truth?"

Xun Yun was stunned and speechless.

Seeing this, Cao Zhang was in a better mood. He took advantage of the victory and chased after him, saying, "I haven't seen any Yi School studied by the King of Yue, but I obey his words. The highest state of Yi Xue lies in the way of 'one yin and one yang'. ’, and what we should practice most is ‘Tian Xingjian, a gentleman strives for self-improvement. The terrain is Kun, and a gentleman carries things with virtue’, and the rest are all his mother’s floating clouds.”

"Nonsense!" Xun Yun couldn't help retorting: "He just doesn't know how to learn. It's not those scholars from Funan College and Zhuya College who really do things? He is now invincible, so everyone Respect him, if this battle is defeated, see if he can still be as majestic as he is now."

"If he can't win, then you can win with a few great scholars?" Cao Zhang retorted, "Pedantry!"

"ignorance!"

The two stared at each other for a moment like two toads, and then couldn't help laughing.Xun Yun shook his head in disappointment, and took the initiative to change the subject: "Look how we got here, didn't we talk about heaven and hell?"

"Heaven and hell are just a thought." Cao Zhang said solemnly: "Those monks said, put down the butcher knife and become a Buddha immediately. After this battle is over, I will put down the knife and become a Buddha. I will go to heaven in the future." I look down on you rotten scholars."

Xun Yun burst out laughing, the two looked at each other and smiled, and walked towards the big tent side by side.

The next day, Cao Zhi and others who got the news came. After discussing with each other, they felt that after the failure to intercept the Sasanians, it was a foregone conclusion that the main force of the Sasanians would return to Taixifeng safely. No one was sure, so someone had to send the news to Sun Shao to see how he would arrange it.Before receiving Sun Shao's order, they rested in place, and at the same time, Chen Hai arranged for ships to transfer food and grass, and made preparations for besieging the city or retreating.The siege is a war of attrition, and the food needed by tens of thousands of troops is not a small amount. Even though the country of Yue is very motivated now, it needs to be prepared in advance to avoid a dilemma when the time comes.

In Damascus, Sun Shao is still waiting for the result of the Romans' discussion.The Romans did not know that Sun Shao had arranged for someone to intercept Ardasil in the Sasanian territory, and of course they did not know that the interception had failed, but they knew that although the Sasanian had suffered a lot of losses, they were far from exhausted , They had different opinions on the joint siege of Taixi and the closure of the city by Yue Guo and Guishuang.The conservatives, represented by Gordian, believed that it was a blessing for the Romans to survive the blow of the Maximus rebellion, and it was better to go deep into the Sasanian territory to fight a battle with little hope. Make peace with the Sasanians, and take advantage of the bad situation in Sasanians to ask for more benefits, such as returning the land occupied by the Sasanians, asking for some compensation, and so on.Even if the compensation is a little less, it is better than going to war and getting nothing in the end.

The radical faction headed by the Roman Emperor Quintus dismissed this. They believed that the Sassanians had always been a strong enemy of the Romans, and they were determined to destroy Rome. Feng, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you don’t take advantage of this opportunity to destroy Sassanid and carve up their land, don’t you have to wait for them to breathe before attacking Rome?Do you think Yue and Guishuang are our vassal states, and we come when we want them, and leave when we want them?At that time, only Rome will face Ardashir's anger alone. Can you, Gordian, be sure to defeat him?

Gordian was speechless, and the fire could not be covered with paper. Although Quintus did not clarify the matter, he knew that Quintus must have heard some rumors, and knew that he was actually fighting by the Timsach Lake. lost a battle.He also knew that the two battles that brought him such a good reputation were actually the credit of the Yue people. Without the help of the Yue people, he might have died in Byzantium.If he wanted to preserve his reputation and prepare for future power struggles, he couldn't push Quintus too hard.Besides, he couldn't bear this responsibility either. If he said he was sure to deal with the Sassanids now, but lost the battle when the day came, then the Gordian family would come to an end.

Gordian sidestepped the question and instead posed a question to Quintus and his supporters.The Sassanids still have 6 to [-] elites. Even if they lose something in the desert, at least half of them will return to Ctesiphon. Ctesiphon is a big city with strong defenses and a large population. He will recover soon. With these troops now, can he take Taixifeng?With the current strength of the Three Kingdoms, can they guarantee a long-term siege?What was the purpose of going to Ctesiphon if there was no certainty at all?Who dares to say that once you reach Taixifeng, you will definitely be able to win Taixifeng?
This time it was the turn of Quintus and the others to remain silent.They need to go to Taixifeng to make meritorious service, but they are not sure of success. Not only do they need to cooperate with Yue Guo and Guishuang, but they also need the support of Gordian. The 4 people who got up could only be regarded as subordinates in the Allied Forces of the Three Kingdoms. Even if they took Taixifeng, the benefits they got were limited, the risks were too great, and the benefits were too small, so who would want to go?Once the war is really as Gordian expected, then they will be miserable, and they can only listen to Gordian in the future.

Everyone is looking at their own interests and weighing the gains and losses. As for the interests of Rome, the interests of all Romans are just an excuse to attack others, and no one really takes these seriously.

Quintus was not stupid. Of course he saw the intention of Gordian and the members of the Senate. No matter how righteous they said, they were actually fighting for their own interests.But seeing it is one thing, how to do it is another.He not only had to rely on these councilors to counter Gordian, but also united with Gordian to bargain with Sun Shao, so even though he despised these people in his heart, he could only deal with them patiently.

He was exhausted by the fruitless discussions again and again, and in desperation, he had no choice but to seek advice from Momia again.

After listening to his complaints, Momia said lightly: "What they are looking for is nothing more than profit. Where does the benefit come from? We don't have it, and we won't give it to them for nothing. No matter who it is, if you want to get benefits, you must It is impossible to get it for nothing. It is not terrible for them to quarrel, which shows that they want to fight for interests. The fear is that they have no desires and no desires. The people who have no desires are the most terrible. The sages of the Han people It is said that only those who do not fight with others are invincible. If they have desires, they have a way to control them, and what they have to think about now is how to find this way.”

Quintus was a little surprised. He froze for a moment: "Who did you hear that from? I don't seem to have said that."

"You haven't said it, so I won't listen to others?" Momia said calmly: "There are many Han people in Rome, so it is difficult to find someone who understands Lao Tzu. But you, since After becoming an emperor, I no longer have time to study."

Quintus turned his head in embarrassment and squeaked twice.Momia is his queen, but he has a lingering sense of inferiority in front of Momia. Although he has admired Momia's beauty for a long time, he dare not make demands on her. Once or twice it ended hastily because of his psychological reasons. Although Momia didn't say anything, he felt great hurt from Momia's silence. In order to avoid this kind of hurt, he tried not to go to the Momia, anyway, there is never a shortage of women in the palace.Compared with his psychological disadvantage in front of Momia, he can enjoy the emperor's supreme dignity with other women.This fascinated him for a while.He felt that Momia was just accusing him of lusting after women and neglecting business.

"Well... how can we find this way now?"

"Go find a friend who can help you." Momia lowered her head, picked up the brush, and learned to write Chinese characters stroke by stroke, without looking at Quintus again.Quintus hesitated for a moment: "His Royal Highness? Can he help me solve this problem? Will he ask me more?"

"How do you know if you don't talk about it?" Momia said lightly: "Gordian relied on the help of the Yue Kingdom to win the battle. Are you willing to watch him help Gordian? Pull over from Gordian. Anyway, now you are the emperor of Rome. All Gordian can do is promise, but you can fulfill it immediately. I think the king of Yue will not be able to see the difference. .” She paused, giving Quintus a time to digest, and then said: “As for the conditions, we need to discuss them. At the beginning, he refused to come to Damascus to meet with you, and you worried that he would The city of Damascus was willing to let go, but didn’t the manor solve this problem later on?”

Quintus smiled, and the worries in his heart melted a lot.At the beginning, Sun Shao refused to enter Damascus, and Quintus did not dare to give Damascus to Sun Shao like Alexander gave Axum directly to Sun Shao. After all, Axum was just a distant vassal state, while Damascus was the official territory of Rome. Just when he was in a dilemma, it was Momia who reminded him and came up with a way to send a manor instead of Damascus, which successfully achieved his goal.And Sun Shao didn't insist, and he didn't expect it at first. Just like when he took a letter from Momia to ask Sun Shao to send troops to help the Romans solve the crisis, Momia can always play a role in the most critical time. irreplaceable role.

"By the way, King Yue didn't bring concubines with him on his trip this time. Would you like to choose some women to serve him?" Quintus suddenly thought of Sun Shao's lust, and his eyes lit up.Momia's hand trembled, and a drop of ink blurred on the paper. Quintus was lost in thought, but he didn't pay attention. He just talked about what he knew about Sun Shao's beauty selection criteria: "He likes Those who are plump, especially those with plump breasts, hee hee, his habit is really strange, why do he like women with such big breasts, isn't breasts like pigeons just right..."

According to the aesthetic habits of the Romans, women with big breasts are not good-looking, and the most beautiful breasts are described as pigeon milk, so Quintus has never understood Sun Shao's standards for beauty.Thinking of this incident, he was a little puzzled, but he didn't notice that Momia's face had changed several times.

"The people of the Han Dynasty are really strange. How could they connect such subtle thoughts with things between men and women? Since they liken such things to wars between men and women, why would they research something that makes people feel What about the knowledge of infinite happiness. Could it be that war is also a kind of enjoyment for them? But war kills people, and many people die, so what is there to be happy about? Speaking of which, this is better.”

Momia's imagination wandered.

"Queen...Queen..." Quintus patted the table, interrupting Momia's trance.Momia was taken aback, her face blushed involuntarily, she slapped herself secretly, and asked under cover: "What's the matter?"

"I said, can you choose a few women to give to the King of Yue as I said just now?"

"No." Momia blurted out, seeing Quintus' stunned expression, she was too late to regret, the blush on her face immediately faded away, and her already fair face was like jade.

(End of this chapter)