The Three Kingdoms become stronger when they get treasures

Chapter 126 Chen Qun Comes Again

Chen Qun rode fast and galloped all the way to Xiangyang. When he passed Wancheng halfway, he went to meet Xiahou Dun and Xun You and conveyed Cao Cao's order.Cao Cao ordered Xiahou Dun and Xun You to prepare to attack Rangcheng immediately after receiving the news of Cao Ren's return.

Since Xiahou Dun stationed his army near Rangcheng, he has been detecting the terrain, building siege equipment, and trying his best to roughly calculate the number of defenders in Rangcheng.He also sent troops to the city of Rang several times to provoke, but the opposite side kept the city gate closed and did not come out to fight.

Xun You said to Xiahou Dun: "The governor of Xiahou, Rangcheng is easy to defend and difficult to attack. That Zhang Wu must be using Zixiao to delay time, and the city must be ready for defense. Although the old general Huang Zhong was not famous before, Obviously, he has won the three armies bravely. He has fought against Jiangdong for a long time, and he has a lot of experience. There is also Xu Shu, who is proficient in military art and has ingenuity. I'm afraid I can't take it off."

Xiahou Dun said: "How can a small Rang city hold back my [-] troops? According to reports from the spies, there are only [-] soldiers in that Rang city, and the new [-] soldiers are heavy soldiers who have never been on the battlefield. The [-] sailors on the water did not dare to go ashore. It doesn’t matter if we have more casualties, as long as we can quickly capture Rangcheng, we can then advance to Fancheng.”

Xun You thought about it, and what Xiahou Dun said made sense. After all, there was a big difference in military strength. Although Rangcheng had an advantage in terrain, its south was relatively open. As long as the army was deployed, first destroy its defenses with catapults, and then the army rushed forward. Just relying on a pile of human lives can bulldoze Rangcheng.It would be even better if they dared to go out of the city to fight back, and let these southerners see how powerful the cavalry is.

However, what Xiahou Dun and Xun You didn't expect was that although there were not many defenders in the city, the defense equipment was very sharp.A defensive crossbow has been set up on the city wall. This thing has a long range and can shoot accurately. It can take care of those generals who rush forward.In addition to the city defense crossbow, there are also rams specially used to destroy the enemy's siege ladder, the fork pole used to push the opponent's ladder, and the Yaksha sling nicknamed "staying with guests", which can be thrown at the people gathered on the city wall. Among the enemy groups under him, he repeatedly crushed the enemy, but he could still take it back.

Stones, blocks of wood, and arrows were piled up on the walls of the city, and a large amount of kerosene, gold juice and other sharp weapons for defending the city were stored in the city from Xiangyang.Of course, the most powerful one is the catapult phalanx formed by rows of catapults, especially in the south of the city facing the open terrain. No less than a thousand catapults have been arranged, and each hundred of them is organized into a group for easy command.

Huang Zhong had just finished inspecting the city defense situation and was standing on the city wall looking at Cao Jun's camp in the distance.In the past few days, the one-eyed Xiahou Dun has been sending people to the city to provoke him, and even asked Huang Zhong by name to go out and compete.At Huang Zhong's age, he has never experienced anything, so would he care about provocations?Especially after one arrow shot dead Cao Bing who scolded the most, the other party didn't dare to get so close to scold others.

Seeing Xu Shu also came to the city wall, Huang Zhong said: "Yuan Zhi is here, how is the arrangement?"

"General Huang, the catapults in the south and east of the city are almost ready, and they will be completed in a few days. A small number of catapults are also arranged in the west of the city. The governor is really talented. This catapult has undergone some modifications. , It’s so powerful.” He has experienced the battle of defending the city of Jiangxia, and he has a personal experience of the power and function of this new type of catapult.

"I also have great admiration for the governor. With so many catapults to help out, I can see how many soldiers Xiahou Dun is willing to die!" Huang Zhong not only admired Zhang Wu, but was also full of gratitude in his heart.He used to be just an obscure old soldier who was about to die in a remote place. Zhang Wu gave him the chance to be famous, and he didn't hesitate to let him be the commander-in-chief of the first army. He guards.As long as he wins this battle, he will really become famous all over the world.

How many people in this world can compete with Cao Cao's [-] troops as the leader of an army?That Xiahou Dun is also a famous general in the world, and he followed Cao Cao to destroy Yuan Shu, Lu Bu, Yuan Shao and other great princes in the world, but who knew who Huang Zhong was before?
Huang Zhong secretly made up his mind that he would swear to the death to follow the governor in this life. He never thought that he would have the chance to be famous in the world at such a young age. Even if he lost his life, it was worth it!
Chen Qun came to Xiangyang again, brought the emperor's edict and Fang Tian's painting halberd that Zhang Wu wanted, and read the emperor's edict on the spot at the state pastoral mansion.

Liu Qi and Zhang Wu were very happy after receiving the imperial edict.For Liu Qi, with the recognition of the imperial court, his state shepherd is legal and justifiable, so he can truly be regarded as inheriting his father's inheritance.Moreover, Liu Qi, as a clan member of the Han Dynasty, also attaches great importance to this aspect.

And Zhang Wu was officially appointed by the imperial court. On the one hand, his status as the leader of the highest army in Jingzhou has been officially confirmed, and the aristocratic families in Jingzhou can cooperate with him better; Officials officially recognized by the imperial court and the emperor, and they were also relatively high-ranking generals. This was somewhat useful in the late Eastern Han Dynasty when status was more important.

Zang Ba, a general under Cao Cao, also killed officials and rebelled and became a thief. Later, he joined Cao Cao, made many military exploits, and was finally named General Zhendong and a marquis.There is also Zhang Yan, known as the "Black Mountain Bandit", who was born in the Yellow Turban Army, and later defected to Cao Cao, who was named General Pingbei by Cao Cao and was also named Marquis.

It can be said that at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, although family background was still very important, after years of battles, the power of the aristocratic families was also severely hit. In particular, Cao Cao has been vigorously promoting and reusing people from poor families, and he also issued an order that only talents should be promoted.By the time of the Three Kingdoms period, the restrictions on talents by birth had been eased a lot.

In fact, in this era, those in power are free from restrictions, regardless of their background, as long as they are knowledgeable and capable, they can be officials. Those children from poor families or ordinary people are no match for children from aristocratic families. The most fundamental reason is the monopoly of knowledge.

From the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period to the Three Kingdoms period, until the Tang Dynasty perfected the imperial examination system, most of the slightly famous people in history were from noble families.Liu Yuxi also once said that there are great Confucians in talking and laughing, but there are no white people in communication.This is because these aristocratic families have monopolized knowledge, and ordinary people can't receive education and can't even read. How can they compete with them?

How to monopolize knowledge?On the one hand, productivity is not high in this era, and knowledge is recorded on bamboo slips, which is not widely spread and out of reach of ordinary people.On the other hand, even if ordinary people have the opportunity to come into contact with the bamboo slips that record knowledge, but they can’t understand, those knowledge need to be explained by teachers. If you don’t have money to pay tuition fees, who will explain it to you?
Some knowledge is passed down from mouth to mouth by the major families, and is not passed on to outsiders at all. For example, the experience of leading soldiers and fighting that many generals have personally practiced and summarized will only be passed on to their own sons.

(End of this chapter)