The news of the Shu army's appearance at Baoxie Road was like a strong wind, sweeping across the entire Guanlong area in an instant. At this time, the Chang'an garrison numbered only 20,000 people, and they suddenly fell into panic. When the emperor heard the news at midnight, his liver and gallbladder were all chilled. He hurriedly summoned Jia Xu, Yang Biao, Fude, Cui Yan and others. He discussed with them at the time of Yin and said: "Liu Yan is sending a large army at this time. What is the reason?" Plan? Could it be that you also want to rebel?" Then he looked sideways at Jia Xu and said, "I obeyed the orders of King Wen and Bu Feng, so why was there no result?"
Jia Xu obviously had a draft in mind when he arrived, and he answered questions fluently on the spot. He told the emperor that when the late emperor was here, it was Liu Yan who first pushed the shepherd's theory and failed to appease him. Although it was a pity, it was not unexpected. Fortunately, Liu Biao of Jingzhou has been ordered by the king, and the silk letter of gratitude has been sent to the minister's desk. In this case, it is only the Shu army that is causing trouble.
Then he analyzed that the Shu army's trip had no righteous intentions, and they had to travel far away from home in wind and snow, wading through mountains and rivers. The soldiers must be exhausted and embarrassed to fight. Therefore, we can leave a small number of troops to guard Shaanxi County, order the general to lead most of the army back, and then call in the Liangzhou garrison, which will yield about 100,000 troops. In recent years, there have been no famous generals in Shu. As the saying goes, the right time, right place and favorable people are all due to our army. Even if we fail to win, we will not be defeated. The only thing that is regrettable is that they cannot take advantage of the victory to invade and completely destroy the Bafu.
After hearing this, the emperor had no objections and handed over all military arrangements to Jia Xu. Jia Xu then sent envoys to Hedong and Hongnong to order Lu Bu, Han Sui, Dong Cheng and others to return to the court; on the other hand, he contacted Longxi, Hanyang and other places, and ordered the generals who originally stayed in Liangzhou to come to Guanzhong with their remaining troops; He also assigned officials from the capital to recruit troops around Sanfu.
For a time, documents from Shangshu Tai were sent to all counties and counties in Guanlong like snowflakes. Especially the troops on Longshan, like a trickle of water, went down to Longlong day and night. So much so that the guards who set up checkpoints on the official road in Shanggui could see Liang people riding horses and armored stomachs hurriedly passing by almost every half an hour.
The leader of these Liang people was Li Kan, the captain of Jincheng. When he had to collect letters, he left Linqiang from Longqi City, then followed the winding Huangshui River and turned into Longxi at its intersection with Taoshui. Then it passes through Zhang County to the source of the Weishui River, and finally follows the Weishui River through Ganshan Mountain and reaches the open land of Guanzhong.
And the first city he passed was Chencang.
From the beginning of the Liang army's surprise attack on Chang'an, in order to achieve a surprise effect, Jia Xu ordered the army to keep walking on small roads and avoid the big cities in various places. It was not until after Pingling that he made a big splash. Although such a battle to conquer Chang'an was miraculous, it also left a large number of Chen Chong's followers among the three assistants. Although the emperor replaced the governors and generals of the Northern Army, he tried his best not to abolish the post of county magistrate, except for the counties in Hongnong, Hedong, which directly faced Bafu. Chencang Ling Zhang Ji also happened to be in this position. among the columns.
The first time Li Kande saw Zhang Ji, he felt that he was an extremely capable young man. He wears a brown wide robe and Confucian clothes on the upper body, but wears a cool and popular leg-tie hakama on the lower body, and a three-foot-long sword tied around his waist.
After Zhang Ji met with Li Kan, he did not exchange too many greetings and discussed matters directly. He said that a resting house had been arranged for them in the north of the city, the food was almost ready, and hot water for heating was also prepared, so they could just go there directly. Li Kan was extremely happy. After running around for days, there was nothing more pleasant than sleeping directly. And for such a simple reason, among the many cities along Liangzhou, no one was as well prepared as Zhang Ji.
That night, Zhang and Li Kan dined together in the camp, drank hot wine together, and talked about the changes in the current war. Li Kan followed Jia Xu's suggestion and believed that the Shu army came from afar and consumed a lot of food and fodder, and there were few cavalry, so it would not be difficult to retreat from Shu. Zhang Ji disagreed. He retorted to Li Kan that the Shu army might be difficult to defeat, but the emperor had not been in power for a long time and the people in Guanzhong were uncertain. If the Shu army delayed and tried to win over people in Sanfu, one or two of them would repeat. So what about the situation? I am afraid that the Shu army will be completely victorious without a major war.
After that, he took out another document from his sleeve and asked Li Kan to forward it to the emperor. Li Kan opened it and saw that it was all about the gains and losses of the DPRK and the Central Government, as well as the plans that this war should not be taken lightly. Seeing him nod repeatedly, he praised and said: "It is said that there are many talented people in the court. I didn't think so at first. I thought I was just a disciple of Chengyu who has learned some words. But when I met Mr. Zhang, I realized that I had little knowledge."
That night, they talked about Liang Jun's various arrangements for this battle, as well as the customs, customs and various characters in Longshang. Between words, the two of them hated each other so late that they didn't fall asleep until midnight.
The next day, Li Kan led his army to continue marching eastward, while Zhang Ji went out of the city to see him off. After walking ten miles away, Li Kan saw farmers gathering among the streets, heading towards the city in groups under the leadership of some county soldiers. He couldn't help but be very curious. Zhang Ji explained: "I was afraid that the Shu soldiers had other plans on Chencang Road, so I recruited more strong people to be prepared."
Li Kan couldn't help laughing when he heard this: "If the Shu army is really divided into two groups, then if they encounter De Rong, they will be asking for death."
The two of them clasped their hands and parted, and Liang Ren's army gradually disappeared into the pale and empty sky. After Zhang Ji waited until all the troops had left, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and immediately turned around and rode back to the city. Unexpectedly, after walking slowly for two moments, he gradually heard the clatter of horse hooves behind him. Zhang Ji turned around and saw that a dozen young people dressed as Confucian scholars were catching up on horseback.
Seeing a stranger approaching from the east, the guards spontaneously guarded Zhang Ji, drew out their knives, and ordered the unknown young people to dismount and explain their origins. In the face of the cold front, it was inevitable that some of these young people who had never fought before would change their color. There were only two people at the gate who were indifferent. Zhang Ji couldn't help but be impressed by this courage.
He looked at the two people carefully. One of them was eight feet tall, with a beautiful and heroic appearance. Standing alone among the crowd, he was as eye-catching as a lone pine standing on the top of a cliff; while the other one had a plain appearance and narrow eyebrows. In one place, and with a height of no more than six feet, he would inevitably look insignificant and unpopular. However, in the situation where everyone was eclipsed in front of the sword, he kept his divine light restrained and remained calm, showing great composure. Come on.
The young man with eight feet was obviously the leader of this group of young people. He bowed his head slightly, and then discussed with his companions harmoniously. Finally, they all took out their famous thorns, put them into a pile in his hand, and handed them over.
Zhang Ji took it and looked through it one by one, only to find that they were actually some imperial students, and most of them were from Jingzhou. This eight-foot young man in white Confucian clothes came from Zhuge, Langya, and his name was Kong Ming. The other person is a descendant of the Pang family in Nanyang, whose given name is Shiyuan. This made Zhang Ji very suspicious. He thought: Now is the time when the war is in chaos. Even if these young people who have never seen battles are not frightened to go home, they should stay in Taixue. Why do they have to go to the last place? The chaotic Chen Cang is here? Could it be someone's spy?
But as soon as this idea came to mind, Zhang immediately laughed again. He looked at the young and energetic faces of this group of young people, and thought to himself: Just looking at the appearance of these people, you can tell that they have just served Yuan Dynasty. What kind of spy?
He immediately dismounted and walked up to these young men, returned the assassins to them, and asked them what their purpose was. But he made up his mind that no matter what these young people said, he would send someone to send them back to Chang'an.
Kong Ming, the leader, looked at the seal around Zhang Ji's waist, and then asked him: "Is your Excellency Zhang County Lord of Chencang?"
Zhang Ji was stunned when he heard this, nodded slightly, and then asked: "You guys are here to see me?"
Kong Ming shook his head slightly and said, "No, we want to ask the county gentleman to help us find someone."
Zhang couldn't help but wave his hand and said: "Now that the Shu army has entered Qin, state affairs are busy. I can be busy from Mao Shi to Hai Shi in one day. You asked me to help find someone, but I'm afraid I found the wrong person." Before everyone could show their disappointment, he Then he said with a smile: "You should have seen it when you came. The sergeants from Longshang have just passed by. It is best to go back before the war has affected the third assistant. What is the benefit of being here?"
After saying that, he was about to get on his horse, but Kong Ming showed a determined look, stepped forward and said, "The county king can hide it from others, but he can't hide it from me. I came to Chencang now because I wanted to see Xiping No. 1 It’s just a human being. If I don’t see you, I will never return.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Ji suddenly stopped. He changed his face, slowly turned around and looked at Kong Ming, and said, "Boy, don't talk nonsense. To you, it's just a few words. If they reach the ears of others, they may control thousands of people." People are dying."
Pang Shiyuan, who was on the side, heard the words and said with a smile: "Your Majesty is serious. In the final analysis, our group is just students. We have no armor on our bodies and no swords on our waists. How can we talk about life and death? Since we are just students." He is a student, and in the end it is just a study tour."
"Study Tour?"
"Yes, study tour. Isn't it the long-cherished wish of students all over the world to seek enlightenment from everyone and solve their doubts from the master? We guessed that the envoy is here, so we just wanted to give it a try."
"Hmm." Zhang Ji pondered slightly, but it was still difficult to grasp whether these people were deceitful or sincere. He simply asked: "How do you determine that the person you are looking for is here? You know, his appearance is very easy to identify, so it is not easy to hide him."
Kong Ming said with a smile: "He was able to escape even if Chang'an was sealed off, let alone the three assistants of the old people all over the place? What the county prince said was not sincere!"
He immediately explained: "The reason why we speculate like this is just because of one thing. The general from Chang'an has returned to the army and said that Longshou is not in the east of the river. Hedong is a place where life and death are at stake, but Longshou does not personally guard it. It shows that there is a bigger problem. plan. I thought about it. Although I don’t know what Longshou’s plan is, I also know that the places in Guanzhong are useful. If it’s not Xijing, it is Xi County, Chencang and Hongnong. Now Liang Shu is confronting Xi County, and Hongnong is If it is lost, the dragon head must be here."
It's just that after saying this, there was no solid evidence in it, it was all just conjecture. Kong Ming himself couldn't help but smile with shame. He still insisted: "Although the world is big, there are only a few people who can stabilize the country. I am just a young man who is waiting for this trip. If I can't meet the envoy, I may be in trouble for my life." What a pity! I hope the county gentleman can recommend me."
After Zhang heard this, he stroked his chin, considered it for a moment, and said, "No matter what, you can follow me into the city first."
