Facing the people begging like this, with Zhang Xi’s character, what can he say? !
Moreover, they have also brought you high-ranking people, who must be called "Uncle Liu Huang's benevolence and righteousness". What can you do to them? !
Fortunately, there were not many people, only more than a thousand people. Zhang Xi had brought food, grass and baggage carts, so it was not difficult to share some with them so that they could hold on until they returned to their hometown.
At the same time, after this battle, it is almost certain that the Guanzhong area can be won. It is also a good opportunity to calm down the people of Guanzhong.
It's nothing more than some military rations.
The only trouble is that doing this will take a little time.
There are more than a thousand hungry people standing in front of you. It always takes a certain amount of time to gather these people and distribute food and dry rations. At the same time, in order to show the benevolence and righteousness of the Han army, it is more or less important to come forward and say something nice to these people and appease them to return home to farm as soon as possible. Something like that. Trouble.
You know, Zhang Xi now wants to compete with the Wei thieves for time to seize Tongguan.
And according to the testimonies of these people, the reinforcements of the Wei thieves had passed here two days ago. They were traveling lightly without any food or supplies. It was really possible that they could not outrun them by robbing the people for supplies.
So. After setting out on the road again, within less than a day of walking, Zhang Xi encountered a group of ragged people trapped in a mountain col. Zhang Xi was really confused.
Although it was delayed a little time before, the impact will not be too great. If we continue to stop to help these people this time, it will really be delayed.
God knows how many hungry people scattered due to migration will be waiting for him? !
However, there are some things that Zhang Xi can harden his heart and give orders, but there are some things that Zhang Xi's temperament really cannot be ignored.
The people of these days are already suffering enough, and Zhang Xi was an ordinary citizen in his previous life. The education he received and his conscience really did not allow him to watch the people suffer and remain indifferent.
Another one. Liu Bei is based on "benevolence and righteousness". If the generals under his command ignore the people starving to death, Liu Bei will not be happy.
Tongguan is a mere area. If you can't capture it, you can storm it. At worst, you can confront it and turn the Tongguan area into a battlefield. Naturally, you can also cut off the passage for the Wei army to relocate. But if this popular support is lost, it will take more than a day to get it back. I can do it in two days.
Zhang Xi found enough reasons and excuses for himself, and ordered the entire army to suspend their march and gather the people in the mountain col for rescue.
By the way, he cursed Man Chong and the unnamed evil reinforcements general again.
The fuss made Wang Chang sneeze all the time.
Of course, Zhang Xi realized afterwards that the people this time were really not Wang Chang's fault, but they still had something to do with Wang Chang.
This group of common people were not robbed of food by the soldiers led by Wang Chang, but simply robbed by the Chang'an County soldiers who escorted them.
The previous batch of county soldiers who had robbed the food dispersed in a hurry, and inevitably some people came to the escort team of this group of people. Then when they said something, things got completely out of control.
Few soldiers of this era are of good moral character. Even if there are good people, they will not be much better after staying in the army of this era for a long time. As soon as I heard that the Shu army was approaching, I saw that my companions were robbing. Wealth, soft goods, and food, even if we can dominate that mountain and become the king, it will be much easier than dragging these people into the pass.
Then, let’s learn from it.
Although Wang Chang was not responsible for the robbery of the people in the mountains, and it can only be regarded as a normal occurrence in troubled times, if Wang Chang had not taken the evil cue to collect grain, other county soldiers would not have such great consequences. You have the courage to rob the people directly.
Besides, after all, it was the Wei army that robbed the people. Even if it had nothing to do with Wang Chang, could it have nothing to do with Man Chong and the Wei court? !
Along the way, Zhang Xi led the troops and helped the people along the way.
Some were unlucky enough to be robbed by the escorting county soldiers, and some were unwilling to move with the Wei army and hid in the mountains and forests. However, due to insufficient food preparations and the inability to hunt to survive in the winter, these people had to go out to the mountains to find a way to survive. , Zhang Xi really can't ignore it.
The commotion made Zhang Xi sigh with emotion. When other people went to a place, the people they met were all "eating pots of milk to welcome the king". If it were him, how could he become the captain of the relief brigade? !
Moreover, Zhang Xi also figured it out later. Whether they were robbed or came out of the mountains, the common people he met were basically from the same place. In other words, even if Zhang Xi represented Liu Bei, The public support of these people has been lost. With the efficiency of information dissemination in this era, the scope of influence is only a few villages, not even the county seat.
After rescuing thousands of people, the reputation of the Han army for its benevolence and righteousness was only spread in a few villages in Guanzhong. Compared with the huge Guanzhong area, this reputation had almost no effect or influence.
The input-output was seriously out of proportion, which made Zhang Xi lead his troops to Tongguan. After setting up camp, the first thing he did was to lead his troops directly to the gate of Tongguan City, where he wanted to personally scold the formation.
Needless to say, Zhang Xi, after three or four delays, would definitely not be able to outrun the Wei reinforcements from Chang'an. At this point, Zhang Xi no longer had any hope.
This time I came out to scold the formation in person, mainly because I wanted to see which army was led by an evil villain who actually robbed the people of their food rations.
Really, although the armies of this era were divided into different forces, military laws were universal. The seven bans and fifty-four beheads were all the same for plundering the people, and they were one of the clear fifty-four beheads.
If you want to spare Zhang Xi's men, you will kill as many of these leading generals as you want without mercy.
Zhang Xi had been very angry these days, so he took the rare risk of visiting Tongguan in person and asked the general of Tongguan to come out and answer the question.
This is an ancient pre-war ritual. Half of this kind of reply is used to persuade the troops to surrender or retreat. Even if the two sides are choked, they cannot start fighting directly. They must return to camp before the official battle. It is a kind of courtesy meeting.
But Zhang Xi is not sure how many people are willing to abide by this ancient ritual recorded in books in this war-torn era. What if the Tongguan guard is a reckless man who doesn't understand what it means and just greets him with a bow and arrow? manage? !
Therefore, Zhang Xi's timid and cautious character could take the initiative to answer the question to General Tongguan, which shows that he was really angry.
But fortunately, the current guard general of Tongguan is Wang Chang.
Being from the Wang family in Taiyuan, he was destined to be a child of an aristocratic family, so it was destined that Wang Chang would not neglect this ancient ritual. As soon as he heard that Zhang Xi wanted to invite him to answer questions in front of the battle, Wang Chang agreed without saying a word.
Of course, Wang Chang is somewhat proud now.
Since the fight with Zhang Xi, there have been two head-to-head confrontations. One was as a deputy general, and his tactics were easily seen through. The other was as a chief general, and he was easily manipulated and manipulated.
This time, it was rare that he arrived first, marched quickly under unfavorable conditions, and entered Tongguan ahead of Zhang Xi. This small sense of accomplishment that was slightly better than the world's famous generals still made Wang Chang feel happy.
After all, Wang Chang had just entered the officialdom not long ago, so he was still a bit competitive against famous generals recognized by the world.
Therefore, when Wang Chang led his troops out of the pass and faced Zhang Xi face to face in front of the pass, he still had the intention to say this.
"General Zhang, are you okay?!"
I mean, just to show off. Although I always suffered a loss in the past, this time, I arrived at Tongguan first.
But as soon as Zhang Xi saw Wang Chang appear, he couldn't hold back his anger.
According to the information Zhang Xi received, Wang Chang should have retreated to Chang'an in defeat, but now he suddenly appeared in Tongguan. Needless to say, the team that came from Chang'an to support Tongguan must be led by Wang Chang.
When he thought of this, Zhang Xi suddenly became furious.
"Wang Chang, you idiot, why should you behave like a human being?!"
Wang Chang was stunned by these words. What did he mean? !
Zhang Xi didn't care about Wang Chang's reaction and continued to curse.
"You have been reading poems and books in vain, you have sent troops to plunder the people's rations, and pushed the people to a dead end. Have all your books been read into the stomachs of dogs?! With such behavior, are you worthy of the teachings of the sages?! What kind of face do you have? Dare you claim to be a child of a noble family, a queen of a famous family?!"
Zhang Xi was really angry. His curse words were mixed with half-written words and half-words, and he didn't have the bearing of a famous general at all.
But this really doesn’t blame Zhang Xi for his lack of grace. It’s really Wang Chang’s actions that hit Zhang Xi’s pain points.
Really, if the general who leads the Chang'an reinforcements is a rough guy who doesn't understand these principles and just leads the troops according to the habits of troubled times, then Zhang Xi has nothing to blame but this damn world.
But you, Wang Chang, are a descendant of an aristocratic family and a direct descendant of the Taiyuan Wang family. You have read poetry and books since you were a child.
Although everyone knows how your family behaves, in the final analysis, your own interests come first, but at least you have to pay attention to giving face, so as not to look too ugly. You, as a descendant of the family, have done such things as plundering and plundering. In this world, Could there be a better one? !
Don't hate bad people who do bad things, and don't hate reckless people who do bad things. What's hateful is that so-called "modesty gentlemen" who are full of benevolence, justice and morality do such things that are worse than animals.
The human heart cannot be broken. Once the human heart is broken, the world is really hopeless.
The historical Rebellion of the Eight Kings of the Western Jin Dynasty, and the hundreds of years of chaos that resulted from it, were not the consequences of the unpopular hearts of these princes, nobles and aristocratic families.
That's why Zhang Xi was so angry when he saw the support army led by Wang Chang.
It's just that Wang Chang was completely confused when he heard Zhang Xi's scolding.
Why can't I feel sorry for the sages? Why can't I claim to be the queen of the Taiyuan Wang family? What have I done? !
Plunder and plunder? !
This kind of label should not be slapped casually. We have never done such immoral things, and the Taiyuan Wang family cannot afford such a reputation.
No matter in prosperous times or troubled times, the reason why aristocratic families are respected by the world is, in the final analysis, their reputation. No matter how many dirty things they do in private, their reputation on the surface is more important than life.
When Wang Chang heard that Zhang Xi had been slapped with such a heavy label, he became angry on the spot and asked, "Rat, how dare you bully me like this?! When did I launch an army to plunder?!"
Zhang Xi became even more angry when he heard that this guy actually dared to do it.
Without any nonsense, he directly recounted all the people he met and what he had seen along the way, and then he said a harsh word.
"If I don't kill you, I swear I won't be a human being."
After saying that, Zhang Xi directly withdrew his troops and returned to the camp, still building siege equipment and preparing to storm Tongguan.
(End of chapter)
