The Warriors of the Three Kingdoms

And when comparing them together, Zhang Man's self-esteem as a man in his heart seemed to be crushed by Zhang Ning.

"What is Liu Zheng? Without him, don't we have to live?"

"Just tens of thousands of officers and soldiers scare you like this. Will the general's will be completed that day?"

Zhang Mancheng's face became a little ferocious, and he looked at Zhang Ning angrily, obviously already angry.

But Zhang Ning didn't realize that what he said made Zhang Mancheng so unhappy.

Seeing that Zhang Mancheng insisted on sending troops to fight against Liu Bei's people, Zhang Ning also knew that he couldn't persuade Zhang Mancheng.

She began to reflect on whether it was the right choice for her to follow Zhang Mancheng from Jingzhou to this Qingzhou.

Guan Hai stood aside, watching the dispute between Zhang Ning and Zhang Mancheng, hesitated to speak, looked at Zhang Ning, and saw that Zhang Ning gave him a wink, telling him not to speak.

In the end, Guan Hai didn't say much, but after everyone was silent for a while, Zhang Ning looked at Zhang Mancheng who had calmed down a little.

"Brother, do you really want to send troops?"

After a long silence, Zhang Ning asked.

"Otherwise, wait for the other party to call us?"

"Since you insist on this, it's hard for my sister to say anything, but I won't let you take me with you."

After Zhang Ning finished speaking, he walked out.

Zhang Mancheng, who was sitting by the side, was even angrier when he heard Zhang Ning's words.

"If you don't take it, don't take it. Do you think I will be afraid without your tens of thousands of people?"

Zhang Mancheng couldn't help but say that when he saw Zhang Ning leave, he also left. He planned to lead his troops to fight the enemy. The Yellow Turban Army claimed to have 50 men, but in fact, there were at most 30 men capable of fighting.

Among them, 4 to 20 people were brought over by Zhang Ning from Jingzhou before, and Zhang Mancheng's own people were only more than [-] Qingzhou soldiers.

However, the previous two consecutive failures caused Zhang Mancheng to lose more than 10 troops.

Now he can still mobilize the people scattered in various counties and counties of Qingzhou, that is, 12 people. If they are gathered together, if injuries are included, they can barely reach 15 people.

In addition, Liu Bei and Cao Cao only had 5 people. Zhang Mancheng still had some luck in his heart. He thought that he had three times the number of the enemy, not to mention defeating the opponent in one fell swoop. other side.

After Zhang Mancheng left, Zhang Ning returned to his residence, and Guan Hai followed Zhang Ning back.

"Saint, what should I do now? If the general is eager to attack and bring people over, I'm afraid the result will be the result."

Guan Hai still knew a little bit about soldiers and horses, and knew what the consequences of Zhang Mancheng's actions were, but he couldn't say too much in detail because of his face.

As long as Zhang Ning understands what he means, it will be fine.

"I originally thought that Zhang Mancheng was a smart person. Who knew that he was just a fool. He was in this situation. He only wanted to expand and never wanted to stick to it. It is easy to conquer the world, but it is difficult to defend the world. If this continues, let alone The enemy has not entered yet, even if there is no enemy entering, the people under him will be wiped out by him first."

At this time, Zhang Ning recognized Zhang Mancheng clearly. The reason why he was willing to travel thousands of miles to find Zhang Ning was actually because he wanted to catch Zhang Ning's power and conquer Qingzhou.

At the beginning, Zhang Mancheng himself was only more than 20 people, and he did not have enough food and grass, so he needed to rely on Liu Zheng's help. Now that he has improved a little, Zhang Mancheng's stupidity has been exposed.

Such Zhang Mancheng is not what Zhang Ning is willing to help.

Thinking about it, Zhang Ning couldn't help thinking of Liu Zheng who was thousands of miles away.

I don't know how Liu Zheng is doing now. Their intelligence capabilities are not as good as Liu Zheng's. In many cases, it takes a month or even longer for things that happen in Jingzhou to spread to Qingzhou.

At this time, Zhang Ning only knew that Liu Zheng had defeated Liu Biao, and the court sent tens of thousands of Ding Yuan's troops to Jingzhou to fight against Liu Zheng.

Although she had some concerns about Liu Zheng in her heart, Zhang Ning also understood that how could such a powerful person as Liu Zheng be afraid of the mere tens of thousands of imperial soldiers.

The tone is worried about Liu Zheng, it is better to worry about yourself.

"Now that the general is gone, Qingzhou is bound to suffer."

"There is no other way. We can't persuade him. We can only do our own thing well. Guan Hai, you immediately ask our people to gather from all over the country, and then all of them come to Beihai. The west side of Qingzhou can be given to Liu Bei and the others, but the east side, we must We have to hold on, if we can't hold on to the territory in the east, we won't be able to explain to Liu Zheng."

Chapter 556 Sending Troops

What Zhang Ning said was actually the trade node that Liu Zheng set up in two places in order to open up the shipping route.

One is that there is a transfer station in Yangzhou, and the other is a transfer station in Qingzhou.

If there is a problem with one of the links in these two places, there will be a problem with Liu Zheng's route from Youzhou to Jiaozhou.

Although Zhang Mancheng didn't care about these things, Zhang Ning had to care about them. The reason why Qingzhou's soldiers and horses were able to have so much military rations and ordnance, a large part of them were willing, was Liu Zheng's support for them.

Every time Liu Zheng's merchant ships go to Youzhou, they will inevitably transit in Qingzhou to bring them some food, grass and ordnance.

Even Liu Zheng gave Zhang Ning some of the war horses he bought from Youzhou, otherwise, how could there be such things as war horses in the Yellow Turban Army.

Once Donglai County is occupied by Liu Bei's people, it will be difficult for Liu Zheng's merchant ships to go to Youzhou. The officers and soldiers will definitely set up a navy on the coastline of Donglai to intercept Liu Zheng's goods. Not to mention, it is possible to kill Liu Zheng's people, and even go south from here to attack Liu Zheng.

Zhang Ning wants to protect Beihai County and Donglai County well. As long as these two places are not lost, Qingzhou is not the court's final say.

XNUM X Year X NUM X Month.

Zhang Mancheng assembled 14 soldiers and horses to Linzi City to fight the final decisive battle with Liu Bei's army.

In just half a month, he fought against Liu Bei's men several times.

However, in the end, Zhang Mancheng's men returned home in defeat, as Zhang Ning had expected.

The 14 soldiers and horses were completely lost within ten days, and the city of Linzi was destroyed. Zhang Mancheng did not escape and died directly in the city of Linzi.

Only more than 14 of the 3 army fled, and the rest either died in the battle with Liu Bei, or became prisoners directly. After all, most of these Yellow Turbans were just peasants with weapons.

A few days later, Zhang Ning received the news of Zhang Mancheng's defeat, but there was no look of sadness on his face.

She knew this result a long time ago, and naturally she would not be moved by this result. Although Zhang Mancheng is her own brother, after so many years, Zhang Ning is too clear about what kind of person Zhang Mancheng is.

At this time, the Yellow Turban Army, which still had some hope, became completely defeated and its strength plummeted.

But fortunately, Liu Bei, who forcibly attacked the city and attacked Linzi, did not have tens of thousands of soldiers and horses without damage. In order to take down Linzi City, Liu Bei and Cao Cao also lost nearly 2 soldiers and horses.

Liu Bei and Cao Cao, who had only 3 people left, did not take advantage of the victory to pursue, because there were still some people in the Yellow Turban Army who had not been wiped out by them.

While restraining the remnant soldiers who escaped from Linzi City, Zhang Ning began to set up defensive facilities in Beihai City, intending to rely on Beihai City and Liu Bei's soldiers to temporarily contain them.

However, even if Zhang Ning wanted to restrain him, he couldn't restrain him for too long.

Because Liu Bei and Cao Cao only needed to recuperate for a month or two in Linzi City, and when the wounded men and horses got better, Tao Qian from Xuzhou came from Taishan County, and the soldiers and horses of the two sides joined together.

You can have more than [-] soldiers and horses.

At that time, Zhang Ning's men will only be around 4. Even if he can restrain some remnants who escaped from Linzi, there will be at most 5.

It is not an easy task to use only 5 people to fight Liu Bei, Cao Cao and others.

"Saint, we only have more than 4 people now. It is not easy to block the attack of those officers and soldiers."

"I know it's not easy, but we can't just let it go. You immediately send someone to Donglai to inform the caravans that Liu Zheng stayed here, and let them find a way to tell Liu Zheng about the situation in Qingzhou. Give him two months at most."

"Yes, Holy Maiden."

According to Zhang Ning's instructions, Guan Hai quickly told the caravan members Liu Zheng left behind in Qingzhou about the situation in Qingzhou.

Among these people was Liu Zheng's spy agent in Qingzhou. After learning about the situation in Qingzhou, the news was quickly brought to Yangzhou along with the merchant ships going south.

But Liu Zheng was not in Yangzhou, and half a month had passed by the time these things reached Liu Zheng's ears.

For the past half month, Liu Zheng has been confronting Dingyuan's troops in Baling County. Neither side took the initiative to attack, but respected each other as guests, without even saying hello.

Before half a month had passed, Xu Huang, Liu Zheng's subordinate, led [-] cavalry to kill Changsha County.

With these [-] cavalry, even if Liu Zheng had the confidence to know that it was time for him to send troops, Liu Zheng did not delay.

He immediately assembled the tens of thousands of people gathered in Changsha County.

Then the army went directly to the city where Ding Yuan was.

Gan Ning, Huang Zhong, Zu Lang, three soldiers and horses, a total of 3 people.

Appeared at the foot of Ding Yuan's castle, looking intently.

An army of [-] surrounded this small county town. In the county town, Ding Yuan Lu Bu and others had already boarded the tower.

They have also been paying close attention to Liu Zheng's activities these days, and Liu Zheng's slight troubles can't escape their eyes.

Ding Yuan stroked his beard, stared at the tens of thousands of troops below the city with eagle eyes, and sized them up and down.

Ding Yuan, who had experienced many battles and battles, could naturally tell from the appearance of these soldiers that Liu Zheng's soldiers were not easy to deal with.

Without years of training, this ability of unified scheduling cannot be achieved.

As far as the degree of order and prohibition displayed by these soldiers and horses under Liu Zheng is somewhat stronger than those of his soldiers.

"Which of you is Liu Zheng?"

Ding Yuan watched for a long time, but he didn't see anyone coming out from the other side, so he simply opened his mouth and asked questions to the city.

Liu Zheng rode a horse and walked forward slowly from behind, also heading up and down the tower. He must be the old general Ding Yuan, governor of Bingzhou. "

Liu Zheng has never met Ding Yuan, but Ding Yuan's name impressed Liu Zheng deeply, firstly because he is Lu Bu's adoptive father, and secondly because Ding Yuan is an upright person.

If the Han Dynasty had a few more people like Ding Yuan, they would naturally not perish. Unfortunately, veterans like Huangfusong and Ding Yuan were all killed by Dong Zhuo in history.

"Liu Zheng, I think you can be regarded as a young hero. If you give up resistance and lead the crowd to surrender, I can still intercede for you in front of the emperor and save you from death. If you persist in your obsession and continue to do these things that punish the nine clans, the result But it’s up to you alone.”

Ding Yuan looked at Liu Zheng, and was quite surprised when he saw that Liu Zheng was only a young man in his twenties.

Chapter 557 Lu Bu's Call

Liu Zheng laughed a few times when he heard Ding Yuan talk about persuading him to surrender again.

"Hahaha, General Ding Yuan, your Excellency is also a veteran. Due to my age, I respectfully call you an old general, but it does not mean that I am afraid of you."

"You're trying to persuade me to surrender. Don't you look down on me, Liu Zheng? If I'm willing to surrender, why bother until today?"

Liu Zheng responded disdainfully to Ding Yuan.

"It seems that you are obsessed with obsession and determined to rebel. May I ask why you insist on rebelling?"

Liu Zheng was not in a hurry to attack anyway, Ding Yuan was interested in chatting at this time, and Liu Zheng hadn't found someone to chat with for a long time.

Simply, he answered Ding Yuan.

"Actually, when I first started, I wasn't a traitor. I was a person with lofty ideals and a warm heart. I was even a patriotic young man at one point. I wanted to join the army and become a general who went to battle to kill the enemy."

Liu Zheng opened his mouth to surprise everyone present.

Not only Ding Yuan on the tower, but also those subordinates around Liu Zheng. These subordinates, including Huang Zhong, Gan Ning and others, are not the yellow turban miscellaneous soldiers who followed Liu Zheng at the beginning. Based on Zheng's past, he only thought that Liu Zheng was a small leader of the Yellow Turban Army from the beginning.

Only Xu Huang knows Liu Zheng best, from a small soldier, step by step, to today.

Of course, Ding Yuan was most interested in what Liu Zheng said. After Liu Zheng finished speaking, Ding Yuan soon asked again.

"Since you have the ambition to serve the country in your heart, why didn't you abandon the dark and turn to the bright and seek refuge with the big man, but instead became a traitor?"

"Haha, speaking of it, I will become a rebel. In fact, it is also thanks to the big man you mentioned. A few years ago, when the Yellow Turban Army had just launched an uprising, I was in a county in Jizhou, looking for the official army."

"I'm going to join the army, dreaming of becoming an officer soldier, but the big Han officer you are talking about wants to kill me, take my head, and go to receive a reward, saying that I am a Yellow Turban rebel."

"Tell me, is such an officer, such a big man, worthy of my trust?"

After Liu Zheng told his experience and experience, the people present felt more or less emotional, especially the soldiers under Liu Zheng. There are many people who followed Liu Zheng from the Yellow Turban Army. come out.

They have more or less experienced some things being bullied by the officers and soldiers, and when they heard that their lord had also experienced such an experience, the feeling of empathy came out.

But Ding Yuan, who was on the tower, heard Liu Zheng's words, but he also had some feelings, because the incidents of officials and soldiers killing civilians and falsely receiving rewards happened everywhere, and in some places, they just turned a blind eye and closed their eyes. up.

Not to mention killing the Yellow Turbans, even if they were in Bingzhou, some soldiers would kill ordinary people, saying that it was the Huns who came to receive the reward.

This kind of thing, like corrupt officials, cannot be banned, even colluding with each other.

But how could Ding Yuan admit that it was the big man's fault? He continued to appease Liu Zheng.

"You can't blame the Han court for this matter. Corrupt officials, sinister and cruel officials are everywhere. If you think this country is not good, you should work hard to become a part of this country to change him and make him better. , let him become a peaceful and prosperous world, instead of being a rebel and serving the side of chaos."

Ding Yuan can be regarded as a scholar, and the principles in his mouth are a bit more scholarly than those who persuaded Liu Zheng to surrender before.

But Liu Zheng still just smiled lightly.

"Aren't I trying to change him? Rather than relying on the big man and cooperating with those corrupt officials, it is better to overthrow him and re-establish order. General Ding Yuan and the term "rebel" have always been just you talking about me. I have never admitted myself. It's a traitor."

"I hope that you call our people rebels!"

"Because, my surname is also Liu, and I have always had feelings for the big man. In the future, when I overthrow the rule of the imperial court and establish a new court, I will also be called a big man."

"In the past, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu was able to transform from a small person into an emperor. Why can't I, Liu Zheng?"