On the sixth day of August, Lao Cao led 18,000 troops and marched out of Luoyang in a mighty manner.
Emperor Zhao Huan of the Song Dynasty personally escorted him to the city gate. Yiyi shed tears and held his sleeves and said: "Brother, be very careful as you go. My hope is all in my brother."
Cao Cao said with a smile: "Your Majesty, please be at ease. When Wu goes here, he will definitely kill the common people, eliminate the traitors, revive the Song Dynasty, and return to the old capital - he will not disappoint your Majesty."
Then he looked at Zhao Gou and Zhang Bangchang: "Ninth Prince, Prime Minister Zhang, I am leaving now. The safety of Xijing depends entirely on you two."
When they first met on the banks of the Yellow River, Zhao Gou saw that Cao Cao was arrogant and accused him. He was beaten several times and was beaten so hard that he dared not show his face. Now he may have calmed down a little from the trauma in his heart. He heard that Cao Cao wanted to He went to capture Bianliang and offered to lead his own troops to guard Xijing.
Cao Cao did not care about the old things with the young man. He praised him a few times and left five thousand soldiers and horses to guard the city. Zhao Huan asked the new prime minister Zhang Bangchang to come forward to assist.
Zhang Bangchang had previously been the Minister of Zhongshu. Because of his merits in persuading the emperor to advance, his record of guarding the imperial city in Bianliang, and his loyalty in escaping from Zhenjiang Mansion back to Luoyang, he won the trust of Zhao Huan and was promoted to the head of the civil service.
Both of them knew that Lao Cao was now extremely powerful, so they agreed honestly. Cao Cao encouraged him a few words and led his army to set off.
In addition to Hu Sanniang, Shi Qian, Shi Wengong, Gongsun Sheng, and Dai Zong, he also had four generals: Liu Yanqing, Wang Wende, Zhang Jun, and Ling Zhen, as well as two brothers, Zhang Bofen and Zhang Zhongxiong, whom Zhang Bangchang slipped in through the back door. .
It turned out that Zhang Bangchang fled to Zhenjiang Prefecture, was demoted to a city gate official, and fled to Xijing angrily. Because the road was far away, he was afraid of encountering strongmen, so he coaxed the two Zhang brothers and the "crocodile tyrant" Luo E to go with him.
When he arrived in Xijing to face the emperor, Zhang Bangchang did not hesitate and took the credit for Zhang Shuye's work. He kept saying that he had guarded the imperial city and fought hard for many days and that he had made his own plans and led the troops. This made Zhao Huan overjoyed and thought that he was a great talent in both civil and military affairs. .
Zhang Bangchang boasted that Zhang Bangchang was afraid that the two Zhangs would be exposed, so he was about to find a place to go and send him away. Cao Cao happened to be back and wanted to send troops to fight, so he quickly found the door and claimed that the two Zhangs were loyal and good. Lao Cao listened.
As for Luo E, he is confident that he can use it for his own use, so naturally he will not recommend it.
Lao Cao had heard of Zhang Shuye in the past and knew that this man was a current official, so he had a good impression of the two Mr. Zhang, but was too lazy to brush off the Prime Minister's face, so he immediately summoned him to see them. Oops! The two brothers were tall and strong, frowning and glaring, as powerful as thunder gods. How does he look like a son of a civilized family? It is clear that Wu Xun will be the doorman!
The elder brother Zhang Bofen made two large melon hammers made of red copper and gold, and the younger brother Zhang Zhongxiong made a wild goose feather knife with a thick back and a thin blade——
This sword looked familiar to Lao Cao, and he thought for a moment, but it was similar to the weapon used by Zeng Shen, the fat man among the Zeng clan's five tigers. Although it was a single sword, it was long and big, weighing forty or fifty kilograms. If they collide with each other and strike with one sword, are they afraid that both men and horses will be shattered?
In fact, Zhang Shuye himself is not from a purely scholarly family. He has been fond of talking about the art of war since he was a child. At a young age, he took advantage of his father's influence and served as the official of Lanzhou to join the army. He was born as a Jinshi, and if his younger brother had not offended Cai Jing and was angered later, he would have entered the central government long ago.
As for the two brothers of the Zhang family, they did not inherit their father's literary talents and military skills, but their martial arts skills were far superior to those of his predecessors.
Cao Cao chatted with the two of them for a few words, and realized that the two brothers had a naive temperament. He liked them more and more, so he let them stay with him and temporarily appointed them as deputy generals.
Unexpectedly, when the two brothers heard about it, they suddenly got angry. The elder brother shouted: "Huh? You are a general marshal. You are just short in stature. How can you have a narrow vision? Can't you see that my brother is a top vanguard officer? You are just a deputy general. , doesn’t it mean that talents are buried?”
The younger brother pointed at the other generals: "Look at these generals, some are old, some are short, some are white, some are thin, there are also women and Taoist priests, you don't use the two of me as vanguards, but who do you want to use? "
Cao Cao followed his hand and looked, hey, sure enough, Liu Yanqing and Wang Wende were quite old, Shi Qian was short, Ling Zhenbai, Dai Zong was thin, Gongsun Sheng was wearing a Taoist robe, and Hu San Niang was a girl.
He is a real prime minister, how can he get angry with two fools? He laughed, pointed at Zhang Jun and Shi Wengong and said: "Brother Zhang Jun is a strong general in the Western Army, and Coach Shi is famous in the world. Can't I use them?"
The two brothers laughed, pointed at Zhang Jun and said, "Ask him if he dares to compete with us in the vanguard?"
Zhang Jun's face turned red and he turned his head.
When Lao Cao saw it, he knew that after they came to Xijing, they might have competed with Zhang Jun and Zhang Jun would think he was invincible.
Then he turned to look at Shi Wengong. Shi Wengong smiled, led Xue Saojiang, got on his horse, held the Ghost Crying Spear horizontally, and said with a smile: "If you want to be the vanguard in front of my brother's account, you must defeat me, Shi Wengong."
Zhang Bofen was overjoyed: "Okay, I'll fight you!"
Zhang Zhongxiong pulled his eldest brother: "No! I will fight him!"
The two refused to give in and were at each other's throats. Shi Wengong became impatient: "Hey! How can you be rude in front of the coach's tent? You two, don't be nagging and come together!"
The Zhang brothers couldn't help but stare. One said: "Brother, what did he say? Did I hear it wrong?" The other said: "Brother, I don't know if you heard it wrong. Anyway, I seem to have heard it wrong. .”
Then they both looked at Shi Wengong: "That's all, you guys, please say it again slowly."
Shi Wengong said calmly: "Stop talking nonsense, you two come together."
The Zhang brothers were immediately furious: "How dare these guys underestimate us?"
Angrily, they each got on their mounts, roared, and attacked Shi Wengong with two hammers and one knife.
Seeing his two moves, Shi Wengong's eyes couldn't help but light up. The gun "┗|｀O′|┛巷woohohoho~~" made a strange roar, and the shadow of the gun filled the sky.
The Zhang brothers were all surprised and shouted in unison: "Ah! Brother/Brother, his gun can actually scream."
Don't look at the nagging in his mouth, but his men are not slow at all, with hammers like clouds and swords like wind. Old Cao's expression tightened: No wonder Zhang Jun didn't dare to say anything. These two men are so stupid, but their martial arts are really powerful!
Shi Wengong was also very knowledgeable and did not dare to neglect at all. A spear was fired, and the sound of the ghost roar was heart-breaking. The two brothers did not lose any spirit. They yelled and screamed, and the swords and hammers clashed with each other. The fight was extremely intense.
Hu Sanniang and others all cheered when they saw this. They thought these two were too naive and looked down on him, but now they realized that they did have real talent and learning.
But when he saw the three horses whirling around like a revolving lantern, and the generals were coming and going, and there was a big fight between forty and fifty, Cao Cao was afraid that something would go wrong, so he couldn't help shouting: "That's it, stop it!"
When Shi Wengong heard this, he used the move "Wandering Dragon out of the Sea" to swing away the opponent's weapon, slap his horse and jump out of the battle group.
The two brothers shouted in unison: "You haven't had enough yet, how can you stop?"
Hu Sanniang said with a smile: "We are all brothers and not enemies. Do we have to tell the difference between life and death to be satisfied? Get off your horse and talk."
The two brothers were reluctant to dismount and looked at Lao Cao. One said: "Marshal, your general is really powerful." The other shook his head: "But his horse is also very good and his weapons are weird, otherwise he may not be able to do it." Hold hands against my brother."
Cao Cao smiled and said: "The weapons you two have are from famous masters? Needless to say, your brothers are so skilled in martial arts that they can indeed be the vanguard. I will lead the way for the army with a thousand troops and horses."
The two brothers were overjoyed and laughed so hard that they couldn't see their eyes. One said: "Brother, this marshal knows heroes." The other said: "That's right, brother, but you and I have to serve him well."
Shi Wengong also smiled to himself, shook his head and said with a smile: "It's amazing that these two brothers with such temperaments can practice martial arts to such a level."
So Lao Cao sent out troops, and sure enough he asked his brother to lead the army first, and he followed with the middle army.
After crossing the Luoshui River, we arrived in Yong'an County in one day's work. The flag on the city was "Liu".
It turned out that after the main force of the Jin soldiers left, the remaining troops were divided into two groups. One was the "Mountain Rear Army" led by Yelu Yanxi, and the other was the "Loyal and Righteous Army" led by Liu Yu. They couldn't get along with each other, so they simply split up. , Yelu Yanxi occupied Zhengzhou, but Liu Yu occupied Yong'an, Gongxian, and Sishui counties.
Liu Yu's nephew Liu Yi led 5,000 troops to garrison here. When he saw that the vanguard led by Er Zhang only had 1,000 men, he deceived him because of his small number of troops. He also relied on his superior martial arts skills and opened the city gate to attack.
He pointed and shouted: "I was about to lead an army to attack Luoyang. Unexpectedly, you Song dogs came to invade my territory first. My uncle is the King of Bianliang who was professed by the Kingdom of Jin. If you are wise, surrender early, otherwise If I take action, you will die without a complete body."
Zhang Bofen coughed and was about to answer, but Zhang Zhongxiong galloped straight out.
Liu Yi sneered and said, "I'll kill you first to establish my authority!"
At that moment, the horse came out of the battle, wielding a big knife, and chopped off the head. Zhang Zhongxiong swung the knife to knock it away, and then stabbed him. Liu Yi felt the tiger's mouth tremble, and secretly shouted: What a powerful force!
He raised the knife with both hands and slashed. The opponent held the knife with one hand and struck hard. It was obvious that his strength was far greater than his own. He immediately jumped away and used a set of delicate knife skills to defeat the opponent with skill.
Unexpectedly, Mr. Zhang Ergong has been taught this sword by an expert. While his right hand is dancing wildly, his left hand presses the back of the sword from time to time to exert force. The five-foot heavy sword of more than forty kilograms can be used in a variety of ways, just like a single sword of four or five kilograms. .
The two of them fought until they were close, and Liu Yi's arms were sore and numb. He threw out a solution and rode away.
The Second Young Master Zhang galloped in hot pursuit. The two men rode straight into the formation of the Loyalty Army with their horses' heads and tails. The Second Young Master Zhang swung his sword to slash left and right, immediately disrupting the formation. The eldest Young Master Zhang Bofen was overjoyed and hurriedly waved his troops to kill the general. Come up.
Liu Yi had no choice but to turn around and fight again, but Zhang Zhongxiong ignored him, slashing through the formation and crashing into the city gate.
Liu Yi was shocked, gritted his teeth and shouted: "They are only a thousand people, let's work together to kill them all."
Now he knew that Zhang Zhongxiong was brave and deliberately defeated the Song army's brigade first, and then slowly dealt with this lone general.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Bofen charged forward with a pair of hammers. The two hammers seemed to stir up a storm on the ground, and blood and flesh flew everywhere in front of the soldiers and horses.
Liu Yi was shocked and said: "How come the official family has so many strong generals?"
While he was talking, Zhang Bofen was already in front of him. Liu Yi had no choice but to grit his teeth and fight. Bofen raised his left hammer and swung away his opponent's sword. Then he charged forward with his horse's momentum and raised his right hammer. Poof! Liu Yi's head had already been beaten into a piece of tofu.
When Lao Cao arrived, he saw the city gate wide open and more than 4,000 people kneeling in front of it. However, as soon as Liu Yi died, all his sergeants surrendered.
(End of chapter)
