Can I get to the other side?

Jizhou, Yecheng.

The climate in the north is severely cold, and it is now the middle of winter. Snow is falling all over Yecheng, and it is a snow-capped scene.

In such a cold weather, there are not even many people on the street.

An old man selling charcoal in thin clothes pulled a cart of charcoal and shouted on the street.

But because he didn't have enough food, even his shouts seemed weak. He only shouted a few times and then stopped to take a breath.

"Master, have a drink of water, I'll shout."

A little boy with a tiger head and a thick head who was following the old charcoal seller handed over the water bag, and then started shouting vigorously on behalf of the old man.

"Sell charcoal, sell charcoal——!"

"Cheap and durable charcoal -!"

The young and crisp voice carried far and wide on the snowy streets.

The old charcoal seller looked at the little grandson in front of him with loving eyes, but there was uncontrollable distress and sadness in his eyes.

This winter has been colder than ever before. If this load of charcoal cannot be sold, food will not be available for the next few months.

He was fine, he was old and tired, but his grandson was growing up, so how could he not eat well?

"well……"

The old charcoal seller sighed in his heart, opened his water bag and took a sip, and then prepared to drive the car to several other street corners to try his luck.

At this moment, several figures stopped in front of his charcoal car, seemingly looking at the charcoal on his car, which immediately cheered him up.

"Do you gentlemen want to buy charcoal? These are good charcoals that I burn myself. They are cheap and durable."

The old charcoal seller greeted warmly.

At the same time, he looked at the two guests in front of him.

The two people in front of me are both dressed as scribes, one is older and the other is younger.

The young one is about twenty-four or five years old, handsome and wearing a green shirt.

The older man next to him was about forty years old and looked fat and fair. He was picking up a piece of charcoal and looking at it carefully.

There was another servant who followed behind with his head slightly lowered.

After looking at a few pieces, the fat white scribe smiled and asked the old man selling charcoal: "Old man, how do you sell this cart of charcoal?"

Seeing that the customer in front of him wanted to buy charcoal, the old charcoal seller's eyes lit up slightly, he rubbed his hands, and then he said after careful consideration: "This cart of charcoal...for two stones of grain?"

"Then two stones...".

The blue-shirted scribe was about to agree after hearing this.

But the fat white scribe glared at him, and then said to the old charcoal seller: "Young people don't know how expensive firewood and rice are, so don't take it seriously."

"This cart of charcoal is actually not very good for burning. Two stones is a bit too much, but considering the weight, one stone and seven buckets of charcoal are worth it. What do you think, father-in-law?"

The old charcoal seller felt very distressed when he was bargained down by three dou at a time.

But it’s not easy to meet a buyer in this weather. If you miss the buyer in front of you, you don’t know when the next one will arrive.

So after hesitating for a moment, the old charcoal seller gritted his teeth, nodded and said: "Okay, let's kill seven buckets of stone for one stone. Where is Lang Jun's house? I will send it to you later."

The fat white scribe smiled and said: "No hurry, no hurry. I was bored at home, so I went out for a walk. If I'm not busy, please chat with me."

After selling a cart of charcoal, the old charcoal seller felt relieved. Hearing this, he said with a simple and honest smile: "I don't know a single person and have little knowledge. Sir, please don't think we are vulgar."

He could see that the two people in front of him were noble people with extraordinary status.

Even scholars from high-ranking families.

The fat white scribe smiled and said: "What is vulgar and not vulgar? That is all nonsense said by those who have read books. Some people who have read books are more vulgar than those who have not read books."

"How old is my husband this year? Why do you come out to sell charcoal in such a cold weather? Where is your son at home?

After saying that, he didn't mind that Tan Che's clothes were dirty, so he sat down in the free space at the edge, looking familiar.

The old man selling charcoal smiled and said: "I am now sixty-four this year. I joined the army in my early years and almost died on the battlefield. Later I went home to marry a wife and have children."

"But it should be because he committed a sin by killing many people. My mother-in-law and son died of illness one after another, and the family's wealth was completely depleted by the treatment."

"My daughter-in-law was kidnapped when she was fleeing famine the year before last and her whereabouts are unknown. Now this little grandson is the only one left, and he is the only one in the family."

"In recent days, due to the continuous heavy snowfall, food prices have risen rapidly, and the family is almost unable to open the pot."

A somewhat sad look appeared on the face of the old charcoal seller. As he spoke, he touched the head of the little boy next to him. There seemed to be tears in the corners of his eyes.

Hearing the words of the old charcoal seller, the young scribe couldn't help but be moved.

The fat white scribe continued to ask: "Didn't the imperial court allocate food and materials for disaster relief? Didn't my father-in-law go to Zhen's business to get them?"

The food and materials allocated by the imperial court for disaster relief were distributed to the people by Zhen's firm. Zhen had always been responsible for doing these things.

The old man selling charcoal shook his head and said, "I went to Zhen's store and asked, and they said they had finished sending it out."

"Has it been sent out?"

The fat white scribe's eyes suddenly froze when he heard this, and then he pondered for a moment, and then smiled at the old charcoal seller: "Let's stop talking about it today. I'll take my leave first."

As he spoke, he smiled at the little boy and wanted to reach out and touch his head.

But the little boy was still angry at the fat white scribe's bargaining behavior, so he hid behind the charcoal seller and made a face at him.

The old charcoal seller couldn't help but said in embarrassment: "This kid... don't blame me sir."

"fine."

The fat scholar was not angry, he took his hand back with a smile, and then left with the young scholar.

"By the way, sir, where do you want to send this charcoal?"

Then the old charcoal seller remembered that the other party had not said where to send the charcoal, so he hurriedly shouted.

"Someone will come to take it later."

The fat scholar did not look back, and gradually went away.

Disappeared at the end of the street corner.

Not long after, there was a sudden sound of horse hooves, and a team of guards riding tall horses and imposing came riding.

The gorgeous embroidered clothes could be faintly seen under the clothes of this group of people.

In the shock of the old charcoal seller, the leading guard clasped his fists to him, asked someone to put down a large bag of grain, and then took it away with the donkey cart.

After watching the other party go away, the charcoal seller came back to his senses, and then stepped forward to take a look at the grain in the bag, and couldn't help but exclaimed.

Because there was not only food in the bag, but also several strings of money, enough to buy his donkey cart and some left!

The old man selling charcoal still didn't come back to his senses for a long time until all the guards disappeared and left.

"Master, what's wrong with you?"

The little boy saw the old man selling charcoal in a daze and couldn't help asking.

The old man selling charcoal stroked the big money in his hand, his eyes were complicated, and he touched his grandson's hair and sighed: "Nothing, we just met a noble man."

...

The fat scholar and the young scholar.

They were Jia Xu and Guo Jia.

Guo Jia frowned and asked in confusion: "Your Majesty ordered the Zhen family to prepare disaster relief supplies long before winter, why is there a shortage of food and supplies?"

He was very surprised by what the old man selling charcoal said just now. Even the disaster relief supplies and food in the imperial city began to be in short supply, let alone other places.

This is a major event related to tens of millions of people. How can the Zhen family be careless about such a thing?

The shortage of food and supplies should have been reported to the court earlier so that they could be dispatched in advance. However, they could not be provided when they were needed. This was simply playing with the lives of the people!

Jia Xu looked indifferent and said nothing.

He came to inspect in person because he learned about the seriousness of the disaster. He wanted to see what was going on, but the result was unexpected.

"This matter needs to be reported to His Majesty as soon as possible."

Jia Xu said in a deep voice. Regardless of whether Zhen was incompetent or there were other reasons, the disaster problem needed to be solved as soon as possible.

Guo Jia nodded solemnly, and then the two of them got on the carriage and were about to go to the palace.

But at this time, a horse galloped over.

An embroidered messenger turned over and dismounted, came to the outside of the carriage, knelt on one knee, and said with a folded hand: "Report to Mr. Jia, there is an urgent report of the first grade!"

The error-free version is reading! 6=9+Shu_bar first published this novel.

"Grade A?"

Jia Xu's face changed slightly, and he immediately said, "Show it quickly!"

The intelligence is divided into four grades, A, B, C, and D, according to the importance of the information. Grade A is the information that is comparable to the 800-mile express and needs to be delivered as soon as possible.

The embroidered envoy took out a wax-sealed secret letter from his arms without saying a word and handed it to Jia Xu with both hands.

Jia Xu opened it and read it carefully. After reading only the first line of words, he couldn't help but widen his eyes, and his face showed an unbelievable look!

"Brother Wenhe, what's the matter?"

Although Guo Jia knew that the information of the embroidered envoy could not be easily leaked, he couldn't help asking when he saw Jia Xu, who was always calm, showed such an expression.

Jia Xu didn't answer and read the secret letter carefully.

Then he lifted the curtain of the carriage and breathed a breath of the cold air outside, and then whispered to Guo Jia: "Concubine Zhen... is pregnant with the dragon heir."

"What?!"

Guo Jia's face changed instantly, and he stood up in shock.

But he forgot that he was in the carriage. When he stood up, his head hit the roof of the carriage. He squatted down with his head in his arms in pain, looking miserable.

Ignoring the pain in his head, Guo Jia asked: "When did this happen? Why... so suddenly?"

This news is shocking. It has only been a few months since Lu Lingqi became pregnant, and Zhen Mi is also pregnant. The emperor suddenly has two heirs!

"You ask me how I know?"

Jia Xu curled his lips, and then said: "The intelligence said that Concubine Zhen had vomiting on the way home, and the situation worsened after returning home."

"After the doctor's diagnosis, it was confirmed that Concubine Zhen was pregnant with a heir."

After listening to Jia Xu's words, Guo Jia had a complicated expression and couldn't help sighing: "What should I do?"

Zhen Mi and Lu Lingqi were both pregnant. This was both good news and bad news. He didn't know what to think for a while.

"Let's go to the palace first."

Jia Xu sighed and said nothing more.

The carriage slowly drove towards the palace.

…

The battle of Tongguan has been going on for a while.

The fierce attack launched by the Han army under the command of Zhang Liao made the soldiers of the Western Liang army who were guarding this dangerous pass quite exhausted.

The reason was that the weather was too cold.

The climate in the north is cold, and it has been snowing for a while. How can people bear it?

The soldiers of the Western Liang army didn't even dare to hold their weapons for a long time, because if they held their hands for a long time, they might stick to the weapons. Such conditions were not easy.

But the Han army was also not doing well.

Although they had a lot of warm clothes to minimize the impact of the cold weather, they still couldn't conquer Tongguan.

The terrain of Tongguan is too rugged, easy to defend but difficult to attack, and impregnable, so the successive attacks caused the Han army to suffer a lot of casualties.

In the Han army camp.

Zhang Liao was inspecting the wounded camp with Sima Yi. Looking at the wounded soldiers in each camp, he couldn't help but feel distressed.

So he said to Sima Yi: "Military Advisor, we have been attacking for ten consecutive days. We need to slow down. If we continue like this, the soldiers will not be able to bear it."

Although it is inevitable to suffer casualties in a strong attack, the strong attack method adopted by Sima Yi is a way to put the greatest pressure on the enemy while not taking into account his own casualties.

Zhang Liao couldn't bear to watch his soldiers go to their deaths one after another. It was not because he was soft-hearted, but because he didn't want to continue to waste the lives of his soldiers in vain.

These are all soldiers he trained with great effort!

Sima Yi's face was cold and hard, and he said: "The casualties we are paying now are to take Tongguan faster and avoid more sacrifices of soldiers."

"Pang De has been turned against us. As long as Ma Chao sends him to guard Tongguan, we can easily take Tongguan!"

He turned Pang De against us through the embroidered messenger, and now he needs to keep putting pressure on Tongguan so that Ma Chao can send Pang De to help.

"But..."

Zhang Liao hesitated to speak. It's not that he didn't believe in Sima Yi's wisdom, but this was completely gambling with the lives of the soldiers.

What if Ma Chao came to guard Tongguan in person?

Seeing Zhang Liao's expression, Sima Yi said: "Hold on for another five days. If there is no news after five days, we will discuss other countermeasures."

"Now Cao thieves have also sent troops to Bingzhou. If we can't take Tongguan before Cao thieves' troops arrive, then this Western Expedition will probably be in vain."

They received the news that Cao Cao had sent troops three days ago, obviously to help Ma Chao get out of trouble and stop them from attacking Tongguan.

This is not good news for them.

Hearing this, Zhang Liao couldn't help but curse: "Damn Cao thief, when I go south in the future, I will definitely capture him alive with my own hands!"

After saying that, he left cursing.

And Sima Yi silently took out the brocade bag that Zhuge Liang gave him from his arms, with hesitation in his eyes.

If his plan failed, would he look at this brocade bag?

"This brocade bag contains a plan to defeat Ma Chao."

"I'll put it here, it's up to you to look at it or not."

"But I hope Zhongda can put the overall situation first. If you really have no other options, don't forget this brocade bag."

Zhuge Liang's voice rang in Sima Yi's ears, causing his palms to clench instantly, and once again ignited his raging fighting spirit and confidence.

"No, I won't look at it even if I die!"

Just when Sima Yi was about to turn around and return to the tent to summon the generals to discuss matters, a soldier hurried over, knelt on one knee and said: "Report to the military advisor, the scouts in front reported that Pang De's troops have arrived at Tongguan!"