Riding and cutting the imperial pirates of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 270 East China Sea
It is the vernal equinox of the second year of Xingping, the month of mid-spring.

Qingming is approaching, and it is the time when the Yuan bird returns to the south, when the thunder shakes the world, when the dragon and snake wake up, and when the sun first rises, the wind brings gentle warmth and blows brightly.

At this time, a group of boats were sailing out of the pier one after another, heading east one after another along the wide river, but they quickly left the Kaiyang jurisdiction in less than half an hour.

The boat is a small cargo ship at this time, with a single sail, heavy and easy to handle. The only flaw is that it does not carry many people.

Looking far away, Wang Zheng saw that the weeds on both sides of the river bank had faded from green and yellow, and were full of bright emerald green. Occasionally, some unknown petals withered and fell into the torrent of muddy yellow water.

A few of them were wrapped in the wind as if weak and weak, and floated to the center of the river. They only floated for a moment before being swallowed by the mighty current.

At dusk, there was a gust of wind, and the speed doubled, and the shadow of another city could be faintly seen.

"General." A personal guard walked up to Wang Zheng who was standing upright on the bow, and said excitedly, "Could it be Yangdu County?"

Seeing Wang Zheng nodding his head, the guard couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "The waterway is indeed convenient, and it's only a day away, so I don't know if it's a hundred miles away."

"It's still slow." Wang Zheng smiled and said, "God is not strong today. If the wind is favorable, I'm afraid we can see Dong'an by now."

The big man is not well-developed in shipping, and the ships rely purely on sailboats. Under these circumstances, the speed basically depends only on whether the wind is favorable or not, and how the wind is. The wind may be smooth every time, so on average, it will be about forty or fifty miles per hour.

Kaiyang is located in the extreme east of Langya County, but Langya County is in the west. If you go by land, it will take you five or six days to drive in the starry night. In order to save time, Wang Zheng only brought two hundred people with him. The soldiers of the Tianzhu Battalion even chose the waterway.

In this way, even if it is a detour, it will take at most two or three days to reach Langya County.

Langya County, in the future Celestial Dynasty, also has a nice name, Qingdao.

"Historical Records. The Chronicle of Qin Shihuang" contains, "There is a mountain beside the Gaihai Sea, shaped like a platform, in Langya, so it is called Langya Terrace".

Langya County can be said to be named after Langya Terrace and Zulong.

It is said that after Qin Shihuang unified China, he made five tours of the world, among which he visited Langyatai three times. Besides, although this majestic city after a thousand years is not majestic today, it is one of the birthplaces of sea salt in the Celestial Dynasty. "Ancient Salt Area" is also the "Five Great Ancient Ports", and it is more likely that the earliest Chinese voyage to the ocean took place.
According to legend, Xu Fu's journey to North Korea and Japan started from here.

However, when it comes to taking a boat, everything feels new when you first board the sampan, but after a long time, it will only feel boring.

Most of Wang Zheng's soldiers were also young people, and they were quite excited at first. Seeing the lush and beautiful scenery along the way, and occasionally peeping at the villages facing the river, they even yelled loudly, but they all froze in the back, feeling weak. The delicious white boiled fish rice has become tasteless.

Fortunately, this time did not last long, and the sails sailed westward, passing through Juxian County and other counties in two days. At this time, the river suddenly became deep and fast, and the raging tide surged. , this waterway has come to an end.
Then by boat, he could only enter the sea along the river and headed for Beihai County, then took Tianzhuying off the pier and entered Dongwu County first.

Wu Niu, who had received the news earlier, was waiting with a group of people for a long time.

The so-called tree wants to be still but the wind does not stop.

Because he couldn't figure out why Yuan Shu, the skeleton king, urged him to attack Tao Qian, Wang Zheng decided to stand still for the time being, but he didn't want to attack Donghai, but someone in Donghai always wanted to attack him.

There is no way, after all, for most heroes in the late Han Dynasty, the yellow turban thief is the most suitable stepping stone to make contributions.

Donghai County, Tancheng, and the Pingyuan Army Camp in the west.

The wind was blowing weakly, and the loess was blowing weakly. Even the big banner with the word Liu engraved in Yingkou seemed listless, curled up on the flagpole, and there was a lot of noise everywhere. A group of soldiers saw them coming and going, and they were bored. Occasionally someone looked up and looked at the faint city on the other side, their eyes full of longing.

It was Jiqiu City in Langya County.

"Brother, what does Tao Qian mean?"

Zhang Fei stared with bloodshot eyes, stretched out two fingers and shouted: "We came here to help him in the robbery, and we have been in Xuzhou for almost two months!"

"It's been two months. He hasn't dispatched a single soldier. Was he scared out of his wits by the Yellow Turban bandits?"

Zhang Fei spat out thick phlegm fiercely, as if he was full of complaints: "You still can't trust us?"

At this time, Liu Bei had just finished his tour of the barracks and was leaning on the couch to rest his breath. When he heard this, he didn't make a sound, he just poured a ladle of water from the urn, drank half of it, and poured half on his head.

The coolness poured down his head, until Liu Da'er groaned comfortably, and immediately looked at the second younger brother on the left with a proud face, and asked:
"Is the luggage for this month here?"

"Here we come." Guan Yu said in a deep voice, "They allocated another [-] hu of grain, and this time they also sent some meat."

"As expected of a state shepherd." Hearing this, Liu Bei was taken aback, and immediately said with emotion: "It's generous to make a move."

When he was in Beihai back then, Liu Bei was full of pride and made Pingyuan country not worth mentioning, but that place is the only place where his three brothers live in Xiaoxiao, so how could he just abandon it and abandon it? In the end, the troops were divided into two places, some returned to the plains, and the remaining more than 1000 people were brought to Xuzhou by Liu Bei.

One hundred hu of grain, if eaten sparingly, is enough for the 1000 people to spend two months, and this is the second time Tao Qian has distributed grain and grass to them.
If you only look at food and grass, it is indeed preferential treatment, but neither Liu Bei nor his two sworn brothers came to Xuzhou for this food and grass.

Sure enough, when he heard this, Guan Yu snorted coldly: "Brother, if you really are rich, the feather arrows and war horses we have mentioned several times have never been approved."

"What a bitch." Before Liu Bei responded, he saw Zhang Fei yelling: "We only give food and grass but not soldiers and equipment, so how can we kill the thieves? If we don't kill the thieves, we will stay in Xuzhou." Dry bird? Just go back to the plains."

"I'm full from eating wind and sand here every day, so I'm holding my breath!"

"Third brother!" Hearing this, Liu Bei immediately scolded, "You are also a scholar, how can you be so disrespectful to the elder?"

Even so, if he takes a selfie in the mirror at this time, Liu Bei can also see his own face, which is actually as black as the bottom of a pot.

To be honest, Liu Bei was also full of disappointment at this time.

Not only was he not reconciled to the mispayment of his own passion, but he was also angry at Tao Qian's indisputableness.

As a person who came from a poor family to a high position in a state and state herdsman, Liu Bei had a lot of respect for this senior in his heart, and even regarded him as a hero.

Tao Qian's father died early. He lacked discipline and was unrestrained when he was a child. He had a bad reputation in the local area. When he was 14 years old, he played with the children pulling cloth flags and riding bamboo horses.But after talking with him, Mr. Gan, who was a prefect, found that he was different and would become a great talent in the future. In spite of his wife's strong opposition and neighbors' eyes, he insisted on marrying his daughter to him and gave him a famous Evaluation:

He has a wonderful appearance, and if he grows up, he will achieve great success.

Mr. Gan is an old official, and he can make the decision to marry a daughter, so he can see that Tao Qian must be superior.This should be compared with Lu Gong's evaluation of Liu Bang.Tao Qian did not let Lu Gong see it wrong. First he was admitted to Zhusheng, and then he was promoted as a scholar.

If Tao Qian had a smooth journey up to this point, perhaps with the help of his father-in-law Gan Gong, then his subsequent performance in martial arts could only be based on ability.

In the second year of Zhongping, when the Western Qiang invaded, Huangfusong led an army to quell the chaos, and asked the imperial court to send someone to go with him. Tao Qian was sent by the imperial court at that time, and the result was a complete victory;

Later, Bian Zhang and Han Sui rebelled, and Zhang Wen went to quell the rebellion. He even sent a special petition to ask Tao Qian to go with him. As a result, Bian Zhang and Han Sui were defeated and retreated to Yuzhong;

Later, when the Yellow Turban Army was in chaos in Xuzhou, the court once again named Tao Qian to quell the chaos. The result also depended on World War I.

For the first time, the imperial court selected generals at random. It was said to be random, but in fact they were selected from the talent pool of outstanding generals. As a result, Tao Qian, a civil servant, was selected, which actually shows that his military ability within the Han court has been recognized to a certain extent, and even I was favored, so the Han court sent him out, called practice, but actually gold-plated;
And for the second time, it was already the coach who went out to call him by name, which means that after the last training, his ability has been recognized by many senior generals;
As for the third time, the court solemnly asked him to lead troops to quell the chaos. This was a transformation from a general to a commander, and he was able to take on the responsibility of saving the country from fire and water, which meant that he had become one of the important officials of the court.

In addition to Wentao and martial arts, Tao Qian's governance ability is also remarkable.

After the Danyang soldiers were formed to quell the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Xuzhou, the imperial court appointed Tao Qian as the governor of Xuzhou and let him continue to manage Xuzhou. During this time, Tao Qian showed a superb level of governance.

First of all, he employed talents from the local wealthy family. These people were both capable and powerful, and helped Tao Qian to stabilize the situation quickly. In particular, he let Chen Deng take charge of agriculture and carry out farming, and agricultural production recovered quickly.

Tao Qian also had a strategic vision. During Dong Zhuo’s turmoil, when Yuan Shao led the [-]th Guandong princes to crusade, Tao Qian, the lord of the important town of Xuzhou, saw that this group of people was a mob and did not participate. The result was as he expected. When Dong failed, the feudal lords instead had civil strife, scattered like birds and beasts.

On the contrary, Tao Qian was one of the few separatist princes who took the initiative to pay tribute when Emperor Chang'an of the Han Dynasty was trapped and cut off from all directions. Therefore, he won the title of General Andong and the title of Marquis of Liyang, all of which were under his command and strengthened his rule over Xuzhou again. .

In the previous two years, Tao Qian responded to and organized the alliance headed by Zhu Jun twice.It can be seen from this that it is not that Tao Qian does not want to discuss Dong, but who he supports.Judging from the results, when the Eighteenth Route princes attacked Dong Zhuo, Tao Qian did not suffer from the internal struggle among the princes; to pay tribute to the beleaguered Emperor Han, the price was small but the profit was huge.Although the strategy may have been provided by the counselors around him, being able to adopt it shows that he has considerable strategic vision.

By this time, Tao Qian had reached the peak at the same time, whether it was his political status in Dahan or his prestige and popular support in Xuzhou.

It's a pity that such a scene came to an abrupt end after meeting Cao Cao.

What was even more unexpected to Liu Bei was that after a disastrous defeat, Tao Qian seemed to have completely lost his ambition, and even lost all his courage.

"If you continue to waste time like this." Thinking of this, Liu Bei was furious: "It's really better to go back to the plain as soon as possible."

If he was aggrieved, he would only be more prosperous than Zhang Fei.

These days, it is impossible for Liu Bei and others to just stay in the barracks and do everything.

Since they came here for the gangsters, they had to get to know their future enemy Liu Bei first. Now they already knew that the Yellow Turban bandits that ravaged Xuzhou this year were exactly the one that smashed Linzi last year.

Liu Bei knew better that it was precisely because of that Lizi named Wang Zheng who caused chaos at a critical moment that he and Tian Kai, the governor of Qingzhou, were wary at the same time, and he never participated in the second battle between Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao after the battle of Jieqiao.

Of course, in the original history, Liu Bei actually chose to rescue Xuzhou in the end instead of helping Gongsun Zan.

Although I feel a little bit emotional about the entanglement between each other, Wang Zheng has not been paid too much attention by Liu Bei until now.

One must know that the first battle of their three brothers' fame was to kill the Yellow Turban general Cheng Yuanzhi in Zhuojun. He was the strongest Yellow Turban of the first generation. I have fought.

But no matter what, that Zhuzi's record is not bad after all, and he is not as easy to deal with as ordinary thieves. Now that he has occupied two counties, if Liu Bei only takes these 1000 troops to deal with it, let's not talk about the odds of winning. Even if he must win, Liu Bei is not very willing.

This is most of my family property.

One thousand versus tens of thousands, no matter how miserable the yellow scarf thief is, it is impossible to be completely uninjured, and as long as a few hundred people die, it is also a loss-making business in Liu Bei's view.

Of course, the most important thing is Tao Qian's current ambiguous attitude, which makes Liu Bei wonder if the damage is worth it.

But going back to the plains is just talking.

In any case, although Tao Qian never asked them to quell the chaos, and even Liu Bei took the initiative to invite Ying several times, he always excused that the time had not come, but at least for now, it is still a courtesy to his brother.

If you leave without saying goodbye, not only will you give up halfway, but the original goodwill may turn into a grudge.

"I don't know what Taozhou Mu thinks"

Walking to the door of the big tent and looking at the soldiers in front of him, Liu Bei felt helpless.

If when my family first came to Xuzhou, with the power of Beihai's great victory at that time, under the high morale of the army, as long as Xuzhou's side cooperates in place, Liu Bei would have absolute confidence. of the two counties.

But now.
In two months, the morale and fighting spirit of his subordinate Erlang had already been exhausted.

"Speaking of which, this is a great river and mountain in Xuzhou." He smiled wryly, and said in a dull tone: "Now half of it belongs to rebellious officials and thieves."

"As for me, a member of the Han family, I have spent almost half of my life hanging around behind other people's buttocks. The current shelter is even more of a place to stand under the roof of others."

"Brother." Hearing this, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's eyes turned red, and they remained silent.

"Hey, second brother, third brother." Liu Bei sighed uncontrollably, "If one day my brother can have a state. No, even half a state."

"You don't have to look at other people's faces anymore."

While feeling sad and melancholy, he saw a group of cavalry galloping in at a high speed in the distance, and the one in the lead shouted loudly before reaching Yingkou:
"Mr. Xuande, the State Shepherd has an invitation, and I want to discuss something with you!"

(End of this chapter)