Riding and cutting the imperial pirates of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 285 Shouchun
Shouchun was called Shouying in ancient times.

In 241 BC, Lord Chunshen organized the last alliance of the three kingdoms in the east, but was defeated by the Qin army. Fearing that the Western Qin would retaliate, King Chu Kaolie at that time moved his capital here from Chen.

Fifteen years later, King Qin's government ordered the famous general Wang Jian to lead his troops to attack Chu, sweeping across the Huaihe River and capturing Shouying.

Although the state of Chu was destroyed, Shouchun's status as an important town in Jiangdong remained forever, until the Han Dynasty, it was still valued by the people of the time.

Just like when the Three Kingdoms were at the same time, Sun Shiwan attacked Hefei many times, but every time he hit a wall, he sighed at the ocean, and made Zhang Liao's world-renowned reputation, but few people knew that for the Soochow regime at that time, taking Hefei was not the goal, but the goal. In order to attack Shouchun foreshadowing.

Soochow Minister Zhu Huan once outlined a royal career for Sun Quan:
"First take Shouchun, occupy Huainan, and then go north to attack Luoyang. The Central Plains can be settled."

Sun Quan thought so, but Lu Xun, who was the shepherd of Jingzhou at the time, vetoed this proposal with one vote.

In fact, what Lu Xun vetoed was not the strategy itself, but Zhu Heng's words in the battle of Shiting at that time, which was to directly attack Shouchun.

In Lu Xun's view, Shouchun cannot be captured directly!

Because Shouchun is very close to Xu.

In the absence of Hefei, when attacking Shouchun, Cao Wei can send troops to reinforce, and even fortify the wall to clear the field, blocking the back of the Wu army.

In the feudal era, the importance of Shouchun in Jiangdong was much higher than that in Hefei.

On the one hand, if you look down from a high place and take a bird's-eye view, you can see that the surrounding areas around Shouchun are mostly fertile plains, criss-crossed by rivers, and are fertile lands with well-developed agriculture.

Second, the dynasties of the Chinese dynasties, except for Zhu Yuanzhang, who was a genius in the Ming Dynasty, were mostly from north to south. This is because in the feudal era, regardless of population, land, and even geographical location, the northern regime had more advantages than the southern regime. .For the most part, the southern regime was on the defensive.

If you want to guard the half of the south of the Yangtze River, the most important thing is to guard the Yangtze River, and to guard the river, you must first guard the Huai River. Hefei is not near the river, but Shouchun is just in the middle of the Huai River.

Over the past 400 years, this city has experienced wind and rain, and seen so many gold and iron horses. The former king's business was buried in the loess, and only the majestic city remained.

Since Yuan Shu took charge of Yangzhou Mu, today's Shouchun has replaced Liyang and has become the real political center of the 92 towns in the six counties of Yangzhou.

In May of the second year of Xingping, the sun was shining brightly and the wind was gentle, making people feel drunk.

Although since the beginning of the year, the state herdsmen and governors of the same state have been fighting, causing the city gate to remain on alert, but spring plowing and autumn harvesting, Yangzhou is also a land of fish and rice, with two harvests a year, and summer has become the season of "double robbery". Busy with harvesting, some people seized the time to do a good job of sowing.

Therefore, there are still many people going in and out.

In troubled times, the most precious thing is food, which cannot be wasted at all, so even though the gates of the city are supervised by soldiers and the guards are extremely strict, there are still countless ragged people queuing up to enter.

When entering the city, they were either empty-handed or carrying bundles of rice ears.

Those who returned to the city carried farm tools, or pulled wild vegetables and horse fodder collected.

On weekdays, there will always be soldiers on fast horses joining the shuttle team, and they will go on a rampage, forcing a passage with whips and scabbards.

Facing this kind of people, the civilians who were beaten could only think that they were unlucky. This kind of people returned after patrolling, or they were rewarded with military intelligence, and they were not something they could provoke.

If you want to blame, you can only blame yourself for your lack of eyesight, why didn't you see it earlier, and honestly give way?

And the soldiers guarding the gate are not surprised, they always laugh loudly at such scenes, and even when they are checking the people's access certificates, they will not forget to say hello loudly, hoping to get some news from the sentry cavalry. Do talk.

After all, everyone has heard about it. Not long ago, Sun Ce, the newly appointed general who killed the bandits, led his troops to attack. Withdrew to Dantu.

The high-ranking people are naturally happy to hear this kind of victory on the battlefield, but for ordinary people and soldiers
Instead, he was afraid that the enemy would retaliate with hatred.

In the past two months, there have been more rumors among the people, saying that Liu Yao has resentment in his heart, and he is ready to fight back, and he wants to pay back.

Even if there is no movement so far, it will inevitably make people panic.

Of course, when the guards asked questions, the sentry cavalry basically didn't give any response. No matter how loose Yuan Shu's military discipline is, there must still be rules under his nose. It's child's play.

The same scene happened again.

With the sound of horseshoes, the guards looked up and saw several black spots approaching quickly in the distance.

Before the people and horses arrived, they yelled and knocked on the city gate first.

"Idle people waiting, get out of the way!"

"You bastard, make way for me immediately!"

The guards, who are used to watching such scenes, didn't take it seriously, and when they saw who was coming, two or three familiar ones laughed and scolded:

"Your surname is Liu, you're going back to the city with such a big posture, you think you are Liu Yao"

Before they finished speaking, the scout shouted again anxiously: "Hurry up and drive the people into the city, close the city gate immediately, and lift the suspension bridge!"

What's the situation?
The gatekeeper felt a little bit in his heart, and subconsciously blurted out: "Could it be that Liu Jun is here?"

"It's not Liu Jun." The scout had just stepped across the overpass, and he responded in a rare way: "The general's flag is written with the word "Wang".

As he spoke, he picked up his horsewhip and lashed at the crowd in front of him several times. The defenders who realized the importance also raised their guns one after another, helping to push him to clear the way.

At this time, the people at the city gate also exploded.

As soon as they heard that there was a large army coming, they didn't care who they were, they put their lives first, and they all rushed into the city.It was a mess, crowded into a ball, and some timid women even ran while crying.

The gate guards didn't have time to examine them, so they couldn't put all of them into the city, so they cut down three or four in a row, and then forced them to change their way, and the soldiers escorted them into the city through other gates.

After a while, the gate of the city became quiet.

The suspension bridge was pulled up, the iron city gate was slowly closed, and the gatekeepers hurriedly rushed to set up defenses.The captain who heard the news also hurriedly boarded the tower and watched from a distance.

Not long after, a military horse appeared in sight, the distance was too far, about ten miles away, the flags were not clearly visible, but there was an approximate number of people, no more than a few thousand.

When approaching Shouchun, the trilogy finally stopped.

After a while, a horse from the army, galloped quickly to the bottom of the city, and immediately raised his head and shouted: "The guard on the city is listening."

"I am under the command of the General Inspector King of Xuzhou. My lord led the army here. I came here from Xuzhou because of the invitation of Yangzhou Mu. In order not to disturb the city, the army is now stationed ten miles away."

Governor of Xuzhou?

General Wang?
This nondescript address made people look confused, and the captain thought for a long time, and he had heard it before, before he realized it.

Is this the Yellow Turban Bandit called Wang Zheng?

Although he is a bandit, but this person has made a lot of noise in Qingzhou and Xuzhou in the past two years, the captain did not dare to neglect, and quickly raised his voice and shouted:
"But Wang Zhengwang's subordinates?"

"Exactly." The knight replied: "I am Gu Jian, the lieutenant of the Tianjun. My general said: In order to avoid misunderstanding, Yuan Zhou's pastoral order is not allowed, and it is not appropriate to act rashly. Therefore, the army is now camping outside the city and waiting. I am specially sent to pass on the message." .”

"If you don't believe me, you can wait for a while, your army commander Yan Xiang will arrive later!"

Yan Xiang should have been the first to do this kind of thing, but he is a scholar, and he couldn't bear to travel long distances. In addition, Wang Zheng marched very fast, so he couldn't hold on in the first few days, so he took a horse-drawn carriage and followed him behind.

"Brother, someone has already sent a report. You go back and wait a while. I have the responsibility to defend the city. There is no military order. I can't let you enter the city at this time."

Hearing this, Gu Jian snorted, but didn't leave, just steered his horse to one side.

Seeing this, the Captain didn't pay any attention to it, there was only one person in the other party, what could happen, he just paid attention to the movement inside and outside.

After a while, a carriage outside the city slowly approached, and at the same time, there was a rapid sound of hoofbeats in the city. The captain turned his head and saw a group of people approaching the city gate quickly.

After walking in a little bit, the captain turned pale with fright, and ran down the stairs, muttering to himself.

In order to welcome a bandit, so many high officials came.

This is naturally because he is humble and ignorant, and he does not know the weight of the king's government today.

If you look at the strength on paper, it is indeed far behind Yuan Shu, a top vassal, but after all, he is also a powerful party with three counties, not to mention Yuan Shu, even any vassal in the world would not dare to neglect and underestimate him.

Although Yuan Shu didn't greet him in person, as a show of respect, the ones he sent to welcome him must have status.

Two riders at the head, just one piece of paper and one weapon.

The rider on the left is Yuan Shu's first counselor, the long history Yang Hong.

As for the military general, he is the highest-ranking general in Shouchun City today, Jiujiang County Wei Ji Ling.

Both inside and outside arrived at the city gate, and their identities could be identified just by meeting each other. Ji Ling immediately ordered the city gate to be opened, the suspension bridge lowered, and then led a dozen civil and military officials out of the city to meet them.

As Yuan Shu's confidant, Yang Hong naturally knew why Wang Zheng was invited to Yangzhou.

While secretly giving Yan Xiang his thumbs up, he chatted casually with Gu Jian, and rode his horse all the way to Wang Zhengjun.

I saw thousands of troops, horses, and luggage listed for several miles. The soldiers were all well-armored, with sharp spears, and the ranks were well-organized and solemn.In front of Ru Lin's banner, there were a dozen or so officers on horseback.

The one in the middle is wearing a feather crown and a brocade armor, with broad shoulders and a thick back, and a sturdy figure. Before seeing his face clearly, he already gave the impression of a heroic figure.

Is this the stick?
Under the opponent's crown, the forehead was very long, covering most of his facial features. It wasn't until Yang Hong walked half a mile in that the general leaped off his horse lightly, and at the same time strode towards him with meteoric strides.

As the man approached, he took off his feather crown, revealing a very young face, full of vigor and vitality.

Even if he knew that Wang Zheng was young, Yang Hong couldn't help being slightly surprised when he saw his true face at this moment.

Is it really not as weak as the crown?
While thinking about it, he also got off his horse and greeted him with a smile: "Dare you be in front of General Tiangong?"

"It's Zheng Zheng." Wang Zheng cupped his hands with a smile and said, "I don't know what your Excellency is."

"This is the chief bookkeeper Yang Hong." Yan Xiang on the side introduced: "This is the county lieutenant Ji Ling."

After exchanging pleasantries, Yang Hong said with a smile: "I have received a letter from Yan Xiang, Zhou Mu originally wanted to send some troops and horses to meet him, but these few days are bothering me with chores, and I didn't expect the general to come so fast, we are being rude."

As he spoke, he cupped his hands.

"That's too serious." Wang Zheng quickly returned the gift. His behavior came as a friendship. Even though Yang Hong's status was not as good as his, but now the other party represented Yuan Shu, Wang Zheng naturally couldn't neglect it.

They were polite to each other on one side, while Ji Ling on the other side was looking at the camp of the Heavenly Army, and immediately asked, seemingly unintentionally, "General Tiangong, how many troops have you brought here this time?"

"Looking at the layout of this camp, the number of people seems to be less than [-]?"

"Jijun Weiguo is a famous general, and his skill of scouting horses is very good." Wang Zheng smiled and said: "I was in a hurry, and I only brought four thousand men and horses, which is indeed less than ten thousand, haha. "

4000 people?
As soon as these words came out, apart from Yan Xiang who knew about this earlier, Ji Ling was better, Yang Hong and other officials beside him all frowned.

What is the use of this number of people?
Yang Hong's face turned cold, and just as he was about to speak, he saw Yan Xiang winking at the side, and finally managed to suppress his dissatisfaction.

Compared with the time when the alliance was formed, the current Wangzheng is different in strength.

Although it was only one more county, Taishan County was able to take down such a strong town with one fell swoop. Yang Hong also knew what this meant, and he forced a smile and said: "It's rare for the general to have such a heart. By the way, Zhou Mu has already selected a rich and elegant mansion, and even set up a banquet to clean up the dust for you, let's go to the city now."

"Okay." Wang Zheng nodded.

The two got on their horses and went back to the city. During this period, Ji Ling took the initiative to express his goodwill, and asked whether the heavenly army would be resettled in the city, but Wang Zheng did not agree. He just brought a thousand heavenly punishment camps into the city together, and the rest of the heavenly army directly It is here to camp.

Regardless of Yuan Shu's real intentions, at least the excuse for this trip was to rescue the emperor. Along the way, Wang Zheng also took the opportunity to find out the truth, so he asked: "By the way, Master Yang, I don't know if the situation in Chang'an is like this. Is the emperor ever well?"

"The two thieves fought non-stop. Not long ago, I heard that Guo Si raised troops to attack Li Jue again. Li Jue was defeated and was shot by a bow and arrow. Fortunately, Yang Feng, the general of the Ministry, came to rescue him. After Guo Si retreated, Li Jue boldly committed a crime He robbed the emperor to his barracks, trapped him in a dock, and made people guard the gate of the dock to isolate the inside and the outside." Yang Hong sighed, and said, "Even at the beginning of this month, he proclaimed himself the Great Sima, hey, it is true."

He shook his head, stopped talking, and said in a low voice, "Fortunately, General Tiangong is here today. If we work together with Zhou Mu, we will be able to save the Son of Heaven from danger!"

You don't really plan to go to Chang'an, do you?
Wang Zheng laughed dryly, and quickly changed the topic: "The general heard that there is now Jiangdong, the great enemy Liu Yao, who is watching. If the state animal husbandry army knows that it will go to Guanzhong, I don't know if there will be in the future."

In the original history, Liu Yao did involve a lot of Yuan Shu's energy and made him be cautious.

In the winter of the second year of Xingping, Emperor Xian fled to the Yellow River alone. Yuan Shu once called together all his ministers to discuss, saying: "Now the world of the Liu family has declined, and there is a lot of turmoil at home. The four generations of our Yuan family are all important officials in the court. I, I want to uphold the will of heaven and conform to the will of the people, and I want to ascend the throne and proclaim myself emperor now, what do you think about it?"

When everyone was silent, only the director Yan Xiang dissuaded him: "The Zhou people from their ancestor Houji to King Wen accumulated virtues and meritorious deeds. Three points of the world can be said to be two points to them, but they still cautiously became the leaders of the Yin and Shang dynasties. Minister, although you, Minggong, have been high-ranking officials for many generations, you may not be as prosperous as the Ji family; although the Han Dynasty is declining now, it seems that you cannot be compared with the cruel and wicked King Zhou of Yin!"

These reasonable and restrained words did not actually dispel Yuan Shu's intentions, but what Yang Hong added later was the key.

Jiangdong is undecided, this is inappropriate!
It was Liu Yao who was alluding.

In the second year of Jian'an (197), Liu Yao died of illness. In less than ten months, Yuan Shu, who was overjoyed, proclaimed himself emperor in Shouchun.

It can be said that with Liu Yao, a clan member of the Han family, and the governor of Yangzhou hand-picked by the imperial court, Yuan Shu would be cautious no matter which direction he wanted to open up territory.

He and Liu Yao were in Yangzhou together, just like Cao Cao and Lu Bu hunting Yanzhou.

So in Wang Zheng's view, apart from the two possibilities analyzed by Mi Heng that day, Yuan Shu's invitation to Yangzhou may also have the idea of ​​using external forces to overcome internal enemies.

If Wang Zheng is really good at fighting, able to fight, and willing to help, plus Sun Ce who is in Qu'a at the moment, it is tantamount to three parties attacking Liu Yao together. Once this person is removed, Yuan Shu can completely relax and go all out.

"Liu Yao has just been defeated by a general of our army. At this time, he gathers his troops and dares not go out of the city. He is so timid to fight so far, how dare he stroke the beard of the tiger in the state?" Yang Hong glanced at Wang Zheng, and said lightly: "However, can General Tiangong have This heart is worthy of the righteousness of the alliance, and my lord will be pleased when he hears about it."

At this point, he finally couldn't bear it anymore, Yang Hong took the initiative to ask: "I heard that the general has tens of thousands of troops in Xuzhou, and it's a new source of troops like Taishan County. Why did only 4000 people come this time?"

"The people of Mount Tai are martial arts, and the bandits have not been cleared. Now that they are newly acquired, they must be guarded by heavy troops." Wang Zheng asked him whether he believed it or not, but said casually: "Don't be afraid that the master will laugh at you. The 4000 men and horses have already given their all and tried their best. , Fang barely made it out."

"General Tiangong's power is unrivaled, a few bandits can be wiped out with one blow, too modest!"

Hearing this, Yang Hong's face twitched, he just laughed, and suddenly quickened his whip, and walked away.

Your character is not as good as Yan Xiang.

Looking thoughtfully at the distant figure, Wang Zheng smiled casually, looked around, cupped his hands at Ji Ling and said, "Lieutenant Ji, it's not easy to ask Zhou Mu to wait for a long time."

"How about we speed up the pace?"

"Okay!" Ji Ling's attitude was much better, and even every time he faced Wang Zheng, he expressed some inexplicable respect in his speech and demeanor, which made him slightly surprised.

Not long after, Ji Ling raised his horsewhip, pointed to the front and smiled, "General Tiangong, my hometown is here."

When Wang Zheng looked around, he saw gray clouds and white dogs. Between mountains and rivers, a city rose from the ground, majestic and majestic.

It was Shouchun.

(End of this chapter)