Chapter 91 Next City First

On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, Cao Zhang led 5,000 elite riders to Guangling. On behalf of Sun Shao, he was greeted by Cui Qian, the former general of Yue and the Marquis of Jin Ou. In order to shake his power, Cui Qian lined up the ten heavily armed war elephants. He sat high on the back of the elephant. With an order, the ten war elephants roared in unison, which shocked Cao Zhang from afar. However, the elite riders he brought were all experienced veterans. As soon as the situation had changed, they strangled the horse from afar, changed from the forward queue to the offensive team type, clenched the weapons in his hand, and waited for an order to enter the battle.

Cao Zhang raised a hand, ordered to stop moving forward, and urged the mount to walk forward slowly. In the territory of Guangling, these ten glittering giants suddenly appeared. I don't know what they were, and there was also the cold light of weapons. He did not dare to take it lightly. Chi Zhao, the governor of the department, followed closely with a hundred guards.

"Cao Ziwen, are you all right?" Cui Qian shouted loudly from afar, urged the war elephant, and greeted him.

Cao Zhang looked at it and laughed dumbly. He waved his hand to signal Chizhao and others to stop. He loosened the reins and trotted all the way to Cui Qian. He pointed to the war elephant where Cui Qian sat down and smiled, "Cui Jianzhong, is this the war elephant of Funan? What a big piece of meat. One arrow and two arrows really can't be shot to death. You just have to get a bed crossbow.

Cui Qian didn't think so. He laughed. He stood up on the elephant's back, crossed his waist, and looked at Cao Zhang condescendingly: "Cao Ziwen, why are you nervous? I'm coming to meet you by the order of my king, not fighting with you. If you really want to fight, you see if I don't crush your five thousand horse into meat mud, and then see who is more meat.

"I will accompany you at any time." Cao Zhang smiled disapprovingly and arched his hand.

"Let's go, my king is waiting for you." Cui Qian waved his hand and patted the war elephant's ears. The war elephant tamely knelt down his front legs. Cui Qian stretched out his hand and invited him: "Cao Ziwen, come on, let your eyes open."

Cao Zhang laughed and scolded, but did not refuse. He flew directly from the war horse and did not take Cui Qian's hand. He twisted his body and jumped on the elephant's back and stood firmly with Cui Qian. When the war elephant got up, he still didn't move at all.

"Oy, the balance ability has made great progress." Cui Qian said with a strange smile, "It seems that it's not easy to get you into the water again."

Cao Zhang was suddenly a little embarrassed. The time he was beaten into the water by Cui Qian was the only one-on-one defeat in his life. Cui Qian was always unable to open any pot, which was really angry. However, they don't know each other. They have a good friendship in Liaodong and have been in contact for years. Cao Zhang is very envious of Cui Qian's achievements in Funan, and agrees with Cui Qian's style of daring to make temporary decisions, because he is also a bold person who only seeks victory and does not like to stick to orders.

"Jianzhong, take Funan, are you rich?" Cao Zhang touched the yellow beard and smiled enviously, "You have made so much contribution. What did His Royal Highness Yue reward you?"

"It's okay." Cui Qian deliberately put on an indifferent look and said casually, "In fact, Funan is not big. At most, it is equivalent to Jizhou and Qingzhou. Well, there may be a three rivers. To calculate the population, it's about a million. Alas, there are few people. I said, Brother Ziwen, can you support us a little more?

"For you?" Cao Zhang rolled his eyes and said, "You are too bad in Yue. Prime Minister Yu did something to give the field, and almost even our farmers in Yuzhou were cheated away. How many people do you think we have now? To tell you the truth, the whole territory controlled by the State of Wei adds up to four million people. You can take a million people at once, and you should give us some.

"And!" Cui Qian disdained: "Funan is cooked three times a year. If you do it casually, you can eat and drink enough. It's hot, and you can even save clothes. Will they suffer from you?"

Cao Zhang's heart moved: "Then aren't you full of grain and can't finish it?"

"Of course." Cui Qian said without thinking, "We are not short of food, we are short of people. Otherwise, we would have done something to Tianzhu."

"Tianzhu?" Cao Zhang was a little puzzled: "Do you still want to hit Tianzhu?"

"Yes, those A San, seeing that we have made a fortune, they dare to shout. I want to deal with them for a long time, but we are short of troops. How's it going, brother Ziwen? Shall we work together? Take down Tianzhu and choose a place as you like. It's definitely bigger than your Wei County.

Cao Zhangfu was speechless. Cui Qian's words were very attractive. He had long wanted to fight abroad and win fame like the State of Yue, but it was impossible for him to go all the way to Funan. He thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "Although I have a heart, I will fight for thousands of miles. I'm afraid I'll lose half of it before I fight. If Brother Jianzhong really has the intention, why don't you help me first?

"Help you, how can I help you?" Cui Qian smiled and said, "We are sailors. We haven't developed cavalry. We can't help you."

"If you want to help, of course you can help." Cao Zhang smiled and said, "I, the State of Wei, want to conquer Xianbei. If there are troops, the grain can be squeezed out, but transportation is a big problem. If you can help us transport grain and even support us with some grain, then we will be much more sure. Of course, if you can support us with some more ordnance, I will be sure that I can't turn over the Xianbei people for ten years.

"How many troops do you have?" Cui Qian turned his head and looked at him: "How much food can you ask for us to transport it for you?"

"About 20,000 rides." Cao Zhang laughed and said, "The cavalry consumes a lot. If they bring their own weight, they can't speed up. If they don't bring it, they can't keep up with the pace if they transport food with walking. You transport it by ship, and the transportation capacity should be greater. From Liaoshui to Rao Leshui, it can be sent to the depths of the grassland. It is much more convenient for us to get food nearby.

Cui Qian pondered for a moment: "I can't decide this matter. You can mention it when you see my king later. According to my estimation, it should not be a problem."

Cao Zhang nodded. He was not sure, so he had to test Cui Qian's tone first. Cui Qian is now the first general under Sun Shao. If he says it's not a big problem, it's still possible.

The two entered the camp. Cao Zhang asked Hao Zhao to go to the camp with the people arranged by Cui Qian, and he followed Cui Qian to Sun Shao's tent. Sun Shaozheng laughed with Sun Shao, the governor of Guangling, Sun Guan of Qingzhou, and Zang Ba of Xuzhou. As soon as he saw Cao Zhang entering the account, he stood up to greet him except Sun Shao. Cao Zhang returned his salute one by one and sat down. Cui Qian said what he had just said on the road.

Sun Shao smiled and said, "This is a small matter. Whenever you want to do it, just talk to General Su." Sun Shao pointed to Su's thick legs sitting beside him: "Thick legs, arrange some ships to escort at that time. Don't let the pirates rob it. That's not good."

Su smiled with rough legs and said confidently, "Your Majesty, don't worry, you won't lose any grain of food."

Sun Shao nodded with satisfaction: "In fact, you can tell Sun Yijun about such a small thing. He often has merchant ships in the Bohai Sea. At worst, just pay him some freight. In fact, in my opinion, as long as you are willing to pay, you don't even need to bring your own food. Someone will ship it to you for a few years.

"Your food is so expensive that we can't afford it." Cao Zhang said jokingly, smiled, and frowned again: "If the king can make it cheaper, we also hope to buy grain. The king may not be very clear. The weather has been very cold in the past two years, and the harvest in Jizhou and Bingzhou has not been good. Many people freeze to death on the grassland every winter. They will come to rob in winter. We can't guard against it, so we plan to take the initiative to fight and simply kill the root of this disaster.

Sun Shao was silent. When chatting with Sun Guan just now, Sun Guan also mentioned a similar situation. Liaodong also responded to the same situation. However, the area he controlled was mainly in the area of daifang and Lelang, and Goguryeo was to the north. Goguryeo suffered heavy losses in the battle of Liaodong. Although the number was not large, it was After several robberies, the Yue cavalry, who were not robbed, honestly accepted their fate. They either hid far away and rob the weaker tribes, or surrendered to Yue and exchanged war horses, cattle, sheep, mink, ginseng and other materials for the food they relied on. For the latter category of people, Yue It has never been stingy, and the price is fair. It can always let them survive without taking risks. In addition, Yue has always had a great demand for Goguryeo specialties, so the situation in the two counties of Dafang and Lelang has been relatively stable, not as serious as Cao Zhang said.

But Sun Shao knew that he seemed to have heard that the Three Kingdoms was a period when the earth became cold. The global temperature fell, and the first one to be affected was the north. Specifically, it was north of the Yellow River. When the weather was cold, grain production would be affected, and the decline in grain production would directly cause social movement. Dang, social contradictions that were not prominent in the first place will become sharp. The Great Han in the East, Rome in the West, West Asia and Central Asia in the middle are the same. The Guishuang Dynasty, which used to be extremely powerful, is now falling apart, which is also inextraably related to this climate change.

Historians in later generations only pay attention to personnel, and most of them ignore natural changes. Human beings think of themselves as the spirit of all things. In fact, in the face of nature, there is not much difference between human beings and other animals. You don't see that in the 21st century of scientific prosperity, people's accumulated civilization and wealth are simply vulnerable in the face of the rage of nature. It's just a few slightly larger earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons, which are enough to make human beings who are the spirits of all things fall into the abyss of despair.

Sun Shao's silence made Cao Zhang unclear. He thought that Sun Shao was worried that the State of Wei needed too much funding, so he hesitated, so he turned his eyes to Sun Guan and Zang Ba and said with a smile, "The two envoys have made a fortune with Yue now, but they are all rich. If the army goes out for an expedition, they will ask Sun to sell more wars. Yi, Zangshijun supports some weapons.

Sun Guan and Zang Ba saw that Sun Shao did not speak, and they did not dare to nod and agree. They just smiled and did not say anything.

"Don't worry." Sun Shao came to his senses with emotion: "It happens that the people involved are here, so I'll make a statement first. If the State of Wei is ready to attack the grass wish, the State of Yue is willing to help, need food, money and money. If you don't have enough troops, I can also support some people. It's just a pity that I have too few cavalry, and there are only 2,000 people on Lelang's side.

Cao Zhang was overjoyed. He did not expect Sun Shao to support others. As long as he was willing to support money and grain, he was sure to defeat the Xianbei people.

"Yes, Ziwen, can you support some talented people who are good at riding to me?" Sun Shao suddenly put forward an idea: "I am now invincible in the world, and the peds are quite strong, but the cavalry is too bad. There are war horses, but I have never been good at riding. Can you help me?

"Does the king want to build cavalry?" Cao Zhang's heart tightened.

"It needs to be built." Sun Shao said seriously, "This expedition to Funan, I feel that there is a big problem. Without cavalry, the speed of the sailors will be greatly affected. If the elite horse brought by Ziwen was there at that time, we would have more confidence to take down Funan. Funan is already like this. What about Zhu that day? What about the big food? What about Daqin? It's definitely impossible without cavalry. I originally wanted to invite Ziwen to go on an expedition with me, but you were going to fight Xianbei again, so I had to figure it out by myself.

Cao Zhang breathed a sigh of relief. Whether it is true or not, Sun Shao has at least no intention to develop into the Central Plains at present, which is a good thing.

"Oy, I'll go back and ask my father for instructions. It shouldn't be a problem to send some old riders to the king."

"Hahaha..." Sun Shao laughed: "I knew Ziwen was refreshing. Come on, Ziwen, let me show you a gift that you will definitely like.

Sun Shao came up and pulled Cao Zhang out. Cao Zhang was a little puzzled. He didn't know what kind of gift Sun Shao was going to give him, and it was not easy to refuse, so he had to follow out confusedly.

Cao Zhang and Sun Shao stood in front of the tent. Sun Shao ordered a few words. A personal guard turned around. After a short time, a horse hiss came from afar. Cao Zhang, who was confused, was immediately refreshed. He has been a soldier for many years and is very familiar with the war horse. As soon as he hears the hissing of the horse, he knows that it is a good horse. However, when he fought in the northern Xinjiang, he had seen a lot of good horses, just a horse, which would not make him lose his temper. He smiled secretly in his heart. Didn't Sun Shaomo treat me as a local steamed bun that he had never seen the world? I dare not say anything else. I can see a lot more about good horses.

Cao Zhang's disdain soon flew out of the sky. He looked at the tall horse in front of him, which was as tall as charcoal. He was stunned and couldn't say a word. Not only him, but also Sun Guan and others who came out to watch the fun were also greedy.

This is a purebred Arabian horse, that is, the legendary sweat-blooded horse. Its shoulders are eight feet high, its body is more than one foot long, its limbs are slender and well-proportioned, and its strong muscles are rolling under the smooth fur. Four bowls of hooves are pedaled with dust. The long horse's mane and ponytail swing with the wind, which is extremely majestic from time to time. Twisting his neck, it seems that he wants to break free from the rope and run in the wind.

"Ziwen, try it?" Sun Shaohan smiled and pushed Cao Zhang, who was dumbfounded.

Cao Zhang was shocked, and then came to his senses. He subconsciously raised his sleeves, wiped the saliva that was about to flow out, and nodded hurriedly: "Thank you, your Majesty, thank you, your Majesty." After saying that, he strode forward and reached out to get the reins. The horse looked at Cao Zhang, raised his neck and hissed. He stood up, and his two front hooves tosssed in the air a few times and stepped on Cao Zhang. Cao Zhang was not panicked. He flashed from under the horse's abdomen, grabbed the horse's mane, twisted his body like a swimming fish, and stepped on the horse's back. The horse was furious and jumped forward and backward a few times, but Cao Zhang was steady. His legs clamped the horse's abdomen. Seeing that this move was useless, the horse suddenly turned around a few times. Suddenly, he raised his neck, spread his four hooves, and began to run in a short breath. He ran away like a gust of wind, and did not stop in front of the closed camp door. Four hooves, leaping by like a dragon, disappeared out of the camp in a blink of an eye.

"Good horse!" Sun Guan, who was old and strong, praised him, and his envy was overflowing with words.

"Good man!" Sun Shao praised: "I have heard for a long time that Cao Ziwen is a peerless brave general. Now when I see it, it's true."

"Such a good man is just crossing such a good horse, holding the sharpest sword to protect his family and the country." Sun Shao sighed: "If it's just the same race, wouldn't it be a pity?"

Sun Guan and others heard the meaning and nodded in agreement one by one. A famous general like Cao Zhang, if he does not deceive him to fight the Xianbei people, but uses it to fight against them, it is a big threat. Sun Guan and Zang Ba were most deeply touched by this. Cao Gan had always wanted to attack them, but because Sun Shao stood behind them, he had some scruples. When Sun Shao asked them to support Cao Zhang's Northern Expedition, they didn't understand, but now they fully understood Sun Shao's intention. People like Cao Zhang are born to fight wars. If they are not allowed to conquer foreigners, they will inevitably appear on the battlefield of the current civil war.

Understand Sun Shao's thoughts. Sun Guan and Zang Ba, including Sun Shao, were very happy. They returned to the account and talked and laughed. After about half an hour, there was a horse hiss outside the account, and then Cao Zhang's bright laughter was heard. Sun Shao paid the bill again. Cao Zhang held the reins and touched the sweaty horse's neck. As soon as he saw Sun Shao, he laughed and said, "Your Highness, it's really sweaty."

"Nonsense, I can't lie to you."

"Hahaha..." Cao Zhang repeatedly said, "Thank you very much. I really appreciate it. I only heard my father say that Lv Bu had a red rabbit horse, sweating like blood, but I didn't see it. I didn't expect to see it with my own eyes today.

"Do you like it?" Sun Shao blinked his eyes and said.

"I like it, I like it very much." Cao Zhang grinned and said, "I'm going to sleep with this horse in my back today."

"Hahaha..." Zang Ba couldn't help laughing: "General Cao, although this horse is beautiful, it is a mother. Isn't it inappropriate for you to sleep with it?"

Everyone laughed. Cao Zhang blushed and scolded with a smile, "Zang Xijun, you are a person with a grandson. Why do you still have this hobby?"

Zang Ba smiled and said, "Although I'm old, I can still ride a horse and fight. If you don't accept it, give me this horse and see if I can still ride it?"

Cao Zhang didn't want to think about it. He even shook his head and held the reins in his hand for a moment.

Sun Shao just smiled and said further, "Do you still want it?"

"Do you still have it, King?" Cao Zhang's eyes suddenly lit up.

"I still have a few, but I won't give it to you." Sun Shao smiled and said, "If you want, go to eat big food with me. There is nothing else. It is this kind of BMW. A large group, a large group, it makes people excited.

"Really?" Cao Zhang was overjoyed. After getting Sun Shao's affirmative reply, he touched his chin and nodded vigorously: "Os! I'll kill the Xianbei people as soon as possible, and then go to eat with you. Hey hey hey, if my cavalry can all ride such horses and use the sharp war horses provided by the State of Vietnam, how majestic it would be. It must be the strongest cavalry in the world.

"Of course." Sun Shao spared no effort to fool him and said, "If there can be such a 5,000 elite riders, I believe that Huo will be reborn, and he will not have your prestige."

"Hey hey hey..." Cao Zhang narrowed his eyes and became silvery.

Cao Zhang, who was itchy by Sun Shao, did not have much resistance in the next negotiations. He was soon persuaded by Sun Shao that the State of Yue first supported him to conquer Xianbei, and then waved his army to the west. He attacked the big food by land and Sun Shao from the waterway - God is pitiful, he still doesn't know where the big food is - the most Later, he was even willing to give up the position of General Luoyang.

Cao Zhang and Sun Shao fought hard and hit Liu Bei, who arrived later. Liu Bei originally didn't want to come, but he was the emperor's uncle. If he took the lead in defiance of the imperial edict, it really didn't make sense. He wanted to be sick - he was indeed in poor health - and he was afraid that others would coveted Shu because of this, so he had to force himself to come to Guangling. Since he came to Jianye to see Sun Quan in the 14th year of Jian'an, he hasn't seen Guangling again for 15 years. He was used to living in Chengdu, where he was led by heavy mountains, and suddenly came to Guangling in Yima Pingchuan. Liu Bei suddenly remembered his hometown in Zhuo County and couldn't help bursting into tears.

"Your Majesty..." Mi Zhu, who accompanied him, was very surprised and quickly persuaded him.

"Nothing, I just think of my hometown." Liu Bei shook his head and smiled miserably: "I went to study under Master Lu at the age of 15. At the age of 18, I came out to wander. I have never returned home. I don't even know when my mother will die. Now that I am the king of Shu, I have only one wish. I hope that I can accompany my mother in a hundred years. Unfortunately, such an opportunity is also very slim.

Miang Zhu was saddened by him. He couldn't help but look up at the north and said to his son Muwei beside him, "My house is not far from the north. After this meeting, you can go back and have a look and recognize the path of my family. Alas, for so many years, I don't know if any people are alive, and whether there are people who often worship in the ancestral graves.

Liu Bei listened and was even more sad. After sighing for a long time, he stopped crying. It didn't take long. Guan Feng, the queen of Yue, came to greet him in person. As soon as they met, Guan Feng felt that Liu Bei was not in good health. His hair was almost white, like frost and snow.

"King."

"Yinping, although your father and I are princes and ministers, we are the same as brothers. Just call me uncle." Liu Bei stretched out his hand and leaned to help him. Guan Feng smiled miserably: "Dare not to obey. I just don't know why my father refused to come, and let my daughter see him.

"Hehe..." Liu Bei smiled and shook his head and said, "Your father is not old. Although he is two years older than me, he has the son-in-law of the King of Yue. The golden-like fish paste can be eaten as a meal, and his body is very strong. This time, he led the army to the army to fight, and he was forced to win. The father and son bowed to my state of Shu. He was the first achievement.

Guan Feng smiled and was really hit by her husband. Liu Bei was very contradictory.

(to be continued)