It was an autumn morning in the first year of Jian'an.
Inside the north gate of Huaiyin County, countless people trying to leave the city huddled together.
A carriage was blocked on the roadside and could not move. The driver could not help but look anxious.
The house leaked and it rained all night. At this moment, someone on the city tower suddenly shouted: "There is smoke burning at the west gate! Close the city gate quickly!"
The gatekeepers immediately tried to close the door, but the people in the front row saw that the escape route was close at hand, so how could they give up?
In a moment of chaotic pushing and shoving, the carriage was crushed by the crowd and its axle was broken, and it fell to the side of the road.
…
Zhuge Jing only felt a spinning and weightless feeling in his sleep, and then he was hit hard on the head and woke up in pain.
The pain was so thorough, it hurt from the body to the depths of the soul, and it was accompanied by a massive amount of memories flooding into the brain.
He couldn't help but widen his eyes, which were filled with bloodshot eyes. He stared at everything familiar and yet unfamiliar in front of him, with a look of confusion on his face.
"Jin'er, are you awake?" A beautiful woman next to her was originally rolled into a ball by the car accident, but when she saw Zhuge Jing open her eyes, she immediately turned from surprise to joy and reluctantly crawled over, holding his head and staring at his eyes for confirmation.
"I...I have a headache, please leave me alone." Zhuge Jing gasped and gestured. The beautiful woman put him down and handed him a leather bag.
Zhuge Jing sat in a daze for several minutes, drank a few sips of water, and then regained his breath and roughly understood the current situation:
Yesterday, he was a New Oriental gold medal lecturer who had just lost his job. He wrote a limerick in anger, and then he was struck by lightning.
But now, he actually traveled back to the late Han Dynasty and became Zhuge Jin.
What the hell is this? In his previous life, his ancestral home was Zhuge Town, Lanxi County, Wuzhou, Wuyue Province. It is said that all the people named Zhuge in the town were descendants of Wuhou. So strictly speaking, this current body is considered the eldest brother of his ancestor.
How can there be such a time travel in the world!
Taking advantage of the time when he drank water and rested his breath, he initially integrated the memory of the original owner of the physical body and knew that he was now on the way to escape to Wu County.
Since Cao Cao massacred Xuzhou at the end of the year before last, Zhuge and his family fled south separately from Langya's hometown.
Zhuge Jin originally wanted to go directly to Yangzhou, but when he first arrived in Guangling County last year, he heard that Sun Ce and Liu Yao were fighting fiercely on the other side, so he stayed in Huaiyin County for more than half a year.
Until more than a month ago, Yuan Shu invaded and fought against Liu Bei in Xuyi. Seeing that Guangling County was once again in the flames of war, and Sun Ce and Liu Yao of Danyang County on the other side had finished fighting, Zhuge Jin decided to continue fleeing south.
Unexpectedly, he was kidnapped on the eve of his escape, and remained in a coma until the scene just happened.
After accepting all these settings, Zhuge Jin took a long breath and looked up at the people in the car with him.
The beautiful woman is his stepmother Song, and the person driving the carriage next to her is her brother Song Xin.
Song Xin was considered his uncle in terms of etiquette, but the two were of the same age and were actually brothers. When his father Zhuge Gui was still alive, he asked his brother-in-law to study with his sons.
At this moment, Song Xin saw that Zhuge Jin finally recovered and couldn't help complaining and sighing:
"Ziyu, if you wake up early? If my eldest sister hadn't thought you had a strange disease early in the morning and was delayed for a long time, we might have escaped from the city! I heard that Yuan Shu's military discipline was corrupt and he burned, killed and looted all the way. What's going on now? good!"
Zhuge Jin was stunned by Song Xin's words and quickly opened the curtain to confirm that the city gate was indeed closed.
He couldn't help but be surprised: "In history, Zhuge Jin should have been able to successfully escape to Yangzhou? It seems that the butterfly effect of me seizing the body caused a slight delay in the trip, and the opportunity to escape was missed?"
Although he had only traveled through time for a few minutes, Zhuge Jin could already feel the cruel aura coming towards him.
In troubled times, human life is like nothing. Even historical celebrities with great luck may be pushed to the edge of life or death by the butterfly effect at any time.
This feeling is like hearing bad news when trading stocks, but not having time to sell, and then being blocked by the lower limit.
But now that the matter has come to this, we can only try to find ways to save our lives.
Zhuge Jin quickly comforted his stepmother and uncle: "Since I delayed my trip, I will find another way to make up for it. It's just that I couldn't escape to Wu County, so the sky may not fall."
In my opinion, Liu Shijun will not let Yuan thieves harm living beings. Since I am trapped in the city, I can try to offer suggestions to help defend the city. After repelling the Yuan thieves, we can make long-term plans. "
Mrs. Song didn't know much about foreign affairs, and when her son said this, she lost her mind.
But Song Xin knew that things were not that easy, and reminded him: "We are now a white man with no name, and we have no way to offer advice. Besides, Ziyu, you only read classics and history. When did you know how to fight? Yuan Shu has strong soldiers and horses, how can he do it?" Is it so easy to retreat?”
"It all depends on people. It's better to go home first and think about it in the long run." Zhuge Jin was still a little confused and couldn't come up with any accurate information at the moment, so he had to stall first.
The family had no choice but to put their belongings on the horse and prepare to ride away. As for the broken car and heavy luggage, we can only leave them behind temporarily, and make sure people are out of danger first.
Although at least it has been time for a cup of tea since the city gate closed, there are still thousands of people on the street who have not yet dispersed. Most of them are lucky and want to wait for a turn of events.
Zhuge Jin was afraid of hitting innocent people, so he could only control the horse's bridle and slowly squeeze out along with the crowd.
However, before he could squeeze out of the crowd, there was another sound of rolling horse hooves outside the city, as if a large number of cavalry were approaching. The defenders at the top of the city felt increasingly like they were facing a formidable enemy, and the crowded people became commotion again.
"It's Ji Ling's cavalry coming from the west of the city! Be on guard with crossbows!"
There were shouts of preparation for war on the city tower, and then there was a captain, who seemed to have noticed that the people at the door had not dispersed yet, and rushed down to maintain order sternly:
"Everyone like me, the people of Xuzhou, please step back a hundred steps away from the door!"
As the captain shouted, the archers next to him stood on guard with their bows and arrows, and the atmosphere became extremely tense.
When Zhuge Jin turned around and saw this scene, he was startled. He quickly persuaded others in a loud voice: "Get back quickly! Otherwise, you will be shot as if you are Yuan Shu's craftsman!"
Zhuge Jin knew very well that Ji Ling was already outside the door, and what the defenders were most worried about was that someone in the crowd would take advantage of the chaos and seize the door. Once a misunderstanding occurs, the consequences will be disastrous.
As he was riding a horse, his target was more eye-catching than other people on foot, so it was easy for him to cause trouble.
Even if it was just to save his life, Zhuge Jin had to bite the bullet and act bravely.
Because Liu Bei's army was strictly disciplined and he did not kill innocent people indiscriminately, the people nearby were still lucky at first and were not very afraid of the captain's order.
After hearing Zhuge Jin's explanation and seeing that he was a decent gentleman riding a horse, he seemed to be very knowledgeable, so he believed a little more, and began to retreat at a faster speed out of fear.
At this moment, another sudden change occurred.
Seeing that it was no longer possible to fish in troubled waters, there were dozens of "common people" in the crowd. Suddenly they advanced instead of retreating, secretly drawing out their sharp blades and rushing towards the captain.
When the archers saw this, they were almost about to shoot arrows, but the captain narrowed his eyes and quickly raised his hand to stop: "No need to shoot arrows! Don't hurt innocent people!"
The archers seemed to have great trust in the general. After hearing this, they immediately put down their bows and arrows and drew their swords one after another. A strong man next to him stepped forward and handed a Qinglong Sword to the captain.
(Note: The background of this book is based on official history, but the weapons of famous generals refer to novels. These are inherently harmless and do not affect the historical process. I know that there was no Qinglong Sword in the Han Dynasty. It is better to take into account the literary sense of substitution)
The captain held the sword in his hand and rushed forward with a powerful and heavy sweep. With a faint sound of breaking wind, he directly swung the few tricks at the front into two parts.
Then he quickly launched several moves, and the other archers also fought hard, and soon the group of door-stealing rats were all dead on the spot.
"Guan Yu?!" Zhuge Jin saw the iconic Qinglong Sword take action, and then noticed that the opponent was indeed red-faced, long-bearded, extremely tall and strong, and it was definitely Guan Yu.
After Guan Yu finished the killing, he brushed his beard a few times and shook off the blood splashed on his beard. He looked at Zhuge Jin with his peripheral vision and nodded slightly.
Zhuge Jin met the opponent's eyes, and suddenly a move occurred in his heart, and he came up with a plan - to attract the opponent's attention, and to strike while the iron was hot to ask for Liu Bei's advice. Isn't this the opportunity?
So he took a deep breath, prepared his words, and while Guan Yu was looking at him, he shouted loudly: "I have always heard that Liu Shijun is kind and righteous and loves the people. Now I see that when the general dispersed the people, he was still able to restrain the soldiers and prevent them from being injured by arrows. And innocence is evident.
But I think that although you are benevolent and righteous, you don't know how to fight! To defeat Yuan Shu, one should take the initiative to defeat the enemy quickly and stabilize Xuzhou's people. Or you can retreat to Xiapi and learn Tao Gongzu's method of retreating Cao's troops. But the only thing you can't do is stay with Yuan Shu for a long time - this is actually the worst policy! General, please think again! "
This rhetoric was based on Zhuge Jin's prophetic knowledge of history, and he thought of it in a hurry. The real purpose was to persuade Liu Bei to shrink his troops and be careful about stealing.
The other superficial nonsense, the logic may not stand up to scrutiny, they are just a cover-up for the subtext.
Because he knew very well that the key to the victory or defeat of Yuan Liu Guangling's battle was not in the frontal battlefield. Once Xiapi in the rear is stolen by Lu Bu, Liu Bei's best fighting on the frontal battlefield will be in vain.
And if Liu Bei is willing to change his plan and take advantage of the fact that Yuan Shu's main force has not arrived yet, he can first defeat his vanguard and lead his troops back to defend Xiapi. Wouldn't it be great if Zhuge Jin could also use the cover of the army to evacuate the dangerous areas of Huaihe together, and both sides would get their own place?
Guan Yu had a good first impression of this Confucian scholar. He felt that he had a keen eye and could think of subtle things in the crowd at the door.
But at this moment, after hearing his sudden rants and instructions about military aircraft, Guan Yu's expression suddenly changed. He squeezed through the crowd and rushed to him, grabbed his belt and shouted:
"Where did you come from? I know you have some knowledge. How dare you talk about military plans and destabilize the morale of our army? How can you, the commander of the army, know how to use the army?"
Fortunately, Zhuge Jin's equestrian skills were stable and he was not pulled off the horse.
He immediately realized that he must not entangle too much at this time. Guan Yu was famous for "Yu treats his soldiers well but is proud of the scholar-bureaucrats." He would definitely anger him by talking about military affairs on paper.
So he hurriedly spoke out: "I've heard that Liu Shijun is polite and virtuous, Corporal! If you feel that what I said is inappropriate, you can introduce it to me and let the envoy make a decision. If you block people's way of speaking, aren't you afraid of damaging your reputation?"
As long as there is a chance to meet Liu Bei, everything will be easy to talk about. In order to achieve this goal as soon as possible, Zhuge Jin had no choice but to speak out.
These words were like a basin of cold water, dousing Guan Yu's arrogance immediately.
Guan Yu immediately realized that there were so many people watching at the city gate, and they all heard that this mad man was here to offer advice. Even if what he said was ridiculous, it would be inappropriate for me to be rude to him in public, otherwise it would hurt my eldest brother's reputation as a good man.
But he cannot allow the other party to arbitrarily criticize his own troop deployment decisions in front of the soldiers, as this will affect morale.
In desperation, Guan Yu couldn't help but show a compromising look on his face: "If you want to offer suggestions, I will give you a chance! But there are so many people here, how can we talk about secrets!"
Guan Yu's words were more like an explanation to the onlookers, in order to maintain Liu Bei's image. After saying that, he did not ask Zhuge Jin for his opinion, but turned around and ordered a close confidant, Qu Junhou:
"Shiren! Take this guy to the government office! Let's just say that today I met a person who claims to be able to offer advice to our lord!"
The military lord couldn't help but look surprised: "Captain! Do you really want this rotten scholar to meet the lord?"
"A man keeps his word, so why not listen."
Guan Yu finished his instructions proudly, waved his hand to signal Shiren to step back, and ignored them. Then he turned to other troops and explained the defense deployment.
"I'll quickly light some firewood at the top of the city, pretend to be shouting in chaos, and put Fu Nu on guard! Since Ji Ling has sent so many door-seizing agents into the city in advance, he will definitely try to take advantage of the chaos to seize the door!"
