Whoever speaks of an inch of grass will be rewarded with three rays of spring light. --------"The Song of the Wandering Son" by Mengjiao of the Tang Dynasty
It is said that Chen Long borrowed Hu Zhao's steel knife and used his unique skills to break the iron chain blocking the river in one fell swoop. On the other side of the Yellow River from Chenliu, several people packed their bags, destroyed their boats, and prepared to take the overland route, bypassing Puyang and Yecheng, and finally arrived at Zhangjiao Camp near Yecheng.
After the conversation was divided, the boatman from Hulaoguan slowly drove the boat back to the south bank, threw him off the boat and pretended to go to the toilet, then fled. The guards were all having dinner, and it was already late at night when they discovered it was an empty ship. Then he found blood stains on the deck and knew something had happened.
The guards at the ferry were on alert and sent people back to Hulao Pass to report the news. Wang Hu, the guard of Hulao Gate, was shocked when he received the news. He thought who was so bold to kill a whole boat of my soldiers in broad daylight. Hu Zhao was probably in danger. I wonder if it is related to the people who robbed Luoyang prison?
Early the next morning, several warships searched along the Yellow River. Only turbid waves were seen on the Yellow River, and there were no boats anywhere. Instead, they salvaged the bodies of several soldiers and rushed back to Hulao Pass.
An emergency meeting was being held in the General's Mansion in Hulao Pass. The person in the first seat has a thin appearance, a straight nose and a square mouth, and the corners of his eyes are majestic. His three-locked long beard, which is slightly gray, hangs straight to his chest. He is wearing a Confucian uniform with thin armor slightly exposed. He is a handsome Confucian general, who is under the emperor's order. Lu Zhi and Lu Ziqian went on an expedition.
Lu Zhi frowned and looked at the two broken chains on the table, and said to the generals present: "The bandit leader Ma Yuanyi was in Luoyang Prison. He was almost rescued by the Yellow Turban bandits. He thought he committed suicide because his hands and feet were broken. Today Long Yan was furious. , ordered Ma Yuanyi’s corpse to be torn apart in the market, and strictly ordered the remaining Yellow Turban party to be traced. I didn’t expect the Yellow Turbans to be so arrogant, and actually killed the generals and fled on the Yellow River.”
There was a person next to him with a majestic appearance, thick eyebrows and big eyes, his hair was combed high in a bun, and he was wearing a purple crown. He had a dark face and a short black beard. He looked full of energy. He picked up the iron chain and looked at it carefully. He spoke slowly, and a deep and powerful voice immediately filled the hall: "General Lu, I look at this man's martial arts, which is astonishing. This iron chain was broken by a huge force. Without the strength of a thousand catties, it is impossible to do it."
After speaking, he pointed to the corpse on the ground and said: "Hu Zhao was good at martial arts, but he was killed by a knife. I am afraid that this person's murderous skills were not based on brute force. In Tang and Zhou Dynasties, among you yellow turbans, are there any like this?" figure?"
The person standing in the hall, with a deer head and rat eyes, two thin lips, and twinkling eyes, is the traitor Tang Zhou who is seeking glory from the seller. When Tang Zhou asked, he quickly bowed and said: "Cao Yilang, I have thought about it again and again. Among the Yellow Turban bandits, there is no one with such high martial arts skills. However, he may be a master who was bewitched by Zhang Jiao and was sent to Luoyang to save people. .”
If Chen Long had been in the conference hall, he would have immediately recognized this deep and powerful voice. It was none other than Cao Cao, Cao Mengde, the Yilang of the imperial court. After all, he and Zhang Ning had listened to it under the bed in the Red Sleeve Garden. night.
Lu Zhi stroked his long beard and said: "Mengde, I recruited you here. I hope that after you return to Luoyang, you can secretly investigate the identity of this mysterious master. There are only so many clues now, and I really don't want to meet this opponent on the battlefield. We must be careful of this master's revenge."
Cao Cao cupped his hands and said, "General Futsi has told me that I will take the iron chain and Hu Zhao's body back to Luoyang and investigate them carefully." After hearing this, Lu Zhi stopped talking and said to Wang Hu who was standing next to him: "General Wang , my army is passing through the city, let’s go to the tower to take a look.”
Several court officials slowly climbed up the tower. I saw the front and rear gates of Hulao Pass open, and groups of soldiers carrying guns and knives passed through the pass. Their swords and guns were bright, their armors were bright, and their neat steps rumbled across the sky, rushing to the main battlefield in Hebei.
At the same time, Chen Long and the others were also on their way nervously, hoping to reach Yecheng before the imperial army and horses surrounded Zhang Jiao's troops. Zhou Buyi had hired a carriage on the road, and Zhang Ning hid in the carriage to avoid revealing his travels. If Zhang Ning heard what Lu Zhi said, the court actually tore up Brother Ma's body, not even sparing the dead man, he must have been devastated.
Hebei is a place with abundant people and prosperous merchants. At that time, the population of Puyang and Handan had reached 600,000 to 700,000, making them absolutely big cities. It's just that the corruption of the government in recent years, coupled with the rampant Yellow Turbans, have turned the good Jizhou into a mess and gradually started to show signs of decline. Although it is not that people are dying of hunger, on the road it can be seen that the whole village is deserted, the houses have collapsed, and there are even signs of arson. Chen Long felt heavy, wondering if these were caused by the Yellow Turban Army's plunder.
Zhang Ning also saw it and saw Chen Long frowning. Knowing that he felt sorry for the people, he said to Chen Long: "Wen Long, my mood is the same as yours. These plundered villages and towns, no matter who committed the atrocities, all have a hateful origin." War. My father’s original intention was to save all people from the fire and water, but his team is really a mixed bag of fish and dragons, and he can’t clear it out with his own strength.”
Chen Long nodded heavily and said: "I know that my father-in-law applied talisman water and performed medical treatment on the people, and saved many people. So the righteous flag was raised, and the world responded. It's a pity that the person was not appointed, not only did traitors like Tang Zhou appear, but also some The cruel and murderous Commander Qu. When we go to Jizhou, we also want to talk to my father-in-law about streamlining the army and solving the discipline problem, okay?"
Zhang Ning nodded in agreement: "Long Lang, your words are exactly what I want. If my father is defeated this time and the task of reorganizing the Yellow Turbans is over, I will convince my father to leave it to me to complete."
Chen Long thought to himself, if Lu Zhi, Huangfu Song, and Zhu Jun attack at the same time, the Yellow Turban will be severely damaged, and even your father's life will be on the line. When it comes to the future reorganization of the Yellow Turbans, I am afraid we can only take it one step at a time.
Hurrying all the way, we arrived at Yecheng this day. Led by Zhang Ning, the group bypassed the heavily guarded Yecheng, abandoned the carriage, and walked along the country road for two more days before arriving at Daming County, which is located between Handan and the plains.
Zhang Jiao's troops numbered nearly 100,000, but they were not outstanding soldiers. Most of them were ordinary people who had no food to eat and lacked systematic training. They were fortified from three sides by Yuan Yun's 5,000 elite troops from Handan, Han Fu's 10,000 elite troops from Yecheng, 30,000 elite troops from Puyang Qiao Mao, and Bao Xin's 5,000 elite troops from Pingyuan, and were compressed into a small space around Daming County and Guan County. , just waiting for Lu Zhi's army to arrive and complete his victory in one battle.
Several people saw that there were many military camps of the imperial court around them. Knowing that they were approaching Zhang Jiao's station, they hid in an empty house and waited for dark. In the dark night, several people passed through the gaps in the military camp and finally saw the city wall of Daming County.
Zhang Jiao relied on the city wall of Daming County to fight against the government troops and was temporarily in peace. When Chen Long and his entourage arrived at the foot of the city wall, they saw that the city was in darkness and the defense was obviously loose, so they loudly called on the defenders to open the city. Unexpectedly, not only did no one open the door, but a few cold arrows were shot out first, making Zhang Ning so angry that his mouth was filled with smoke.
Lu Chang shouted loudly: "The guards upstairs have heard that the Yellow Turban Saint is here. Please open the door quickly!" There was a burst of laughter from upstairs, and a broken gong voice sounded: "Saint? What do you think of the Saint? Are you crazy? Where did the spy come from? He dared to use the name of the saint." As he spoke, he shot another round of arrows randomly.
Zhang Ning suddenly shouted: "The sky is dead, Huang Tian is here to stand, and the age of Jiazi will bring good luck to the world!" After hearing this, the guards on the city showed their heads suspiciously and asked, "Is it true that the girl below the city is really a saint?" No one dares to open the door without authorization, I will notify General Zhang and wait a moment!"
The people below the city waited for a long time, and saw a person coming up from the torch in the city, shouting: "Is this my niece Zhang Ning below the city?"
Zhang Ning called: "Third uncle, it's really me, open the door quickly!"
The man called Third Uncle was Zhang Jiao's third brother, General Zhang Liang. Zhang Liang turned around and gave the soldier a slap in the face and said, "Who told you to shoot arrows casually? Open the door quickly."
The soldier was so frightened that he had no color on his face. He didn't expect that the saint was really at the bottom of the city, so he quickly went downstairs and opened the city gate. Zhang Liang walked out in three steps, took Zhang Ning's hand and said, "Niece, are you out of trouble?" After saying that, he looked at Chen Long and others behind Zhang Ning.
Zhang Ning pulled Chen Long and said to Zhang Liang: "Third uncle, thanks to Brother Chen for saving me."
Zhang Liang was slightly startled when he saw that Zhang Ning and Chen Long were very affectionate. He clasped his fists and said, "It turns out to be Brother Chen. I won't thank you for your kindness. Please come to the General's Mansion to talk about it. I have already informed Zhang Ning's father and second uncle. Come to the General’s Mansion. Please come quickly!”
Chen Long saw that his head was wrapped in a yellow scarf and he was wearing fine armor. He knew that Zhang Liang was on duty tonight, so he hurriedly met Zhang Liang. After greeting him, they took the carriage prepared by Zhang Liang and arrived at the general's residence in Zhang Jiao.
The general's mansion was brightly lit, several people entered the hall, and the two of them came out hand in hand. Chen Long saw the leader, with a tall bun, a horizontal hairpin, a yellow belt on his forehead, a gray Taoist robe, a pale face, a long beard with three locks, and a sword hanging from his waist, but he had a sick look on his face. It was Zhang Jiao.
Zhang Ning bowed down and called: "Father! Second uncle!" Chen Long knew that the person behind Zhang Jiao was none other than Zhang Bao, the general of the Earth. After Zhang Ning finished speaking, seeing his father's sick face, he quickly asked: "Father, are you sick?"
Zhang Jue did not answer, but looked at the people behind Zhang Ning with slightly cloudy eyes. Chen Long quickly took a step forward and said, "Chen Long, I have met General Tiangong."
Zhang Jiao smiled slightly and said, "Did you save Zhang Ning? Please sit down and tell me in detail how you rescued Mei Niang."
Several people sat down and told the story in detail about what happened in Luoyang. The Zhang Jiao brothers were shocked by what they heard, but they didn't tell Chen Long that he was the current Lingling prefect. Zhang Ning said: "Father, we failed to rescue Brother Ma. The imperial court has sent many soldiers to Jizhou. I was worried about my father's condition, so I hurriedly and slowly arrived. Father, are you feeling well?"
Zhang Jiao sighed: "Recently, the war has been unfavorable. I want to move the troops to fight and evacuate to Qingzhou or Youzhou, but the plan has not been decided. I have been tired from work and feel sleepy. I think I am sick. Although I have been treated, I have not been able to recover. , My daughter doesn’t need to worry too much.”
Zhang Jiao said, asking Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao to talk to his niece. He stood up, walked to Chen Long, and motioned for Chen Long to follow him. For some reason, Chen Long followed Zhang Jiao into the outer courtyard. The courtyard was filled with moonlight, and Zhang Jiao stood alone in the middle of the moonlight, looking up at the sky.
Chen Long stood behind Zhang Jiao without saying a word, knowing that Zhang Jiao had something to say. After a long while, the great teacher slowly turned around, looked at Chen Long and said: "Wen Long, my beloved daughter has always been the apple of my eye. I think she has great affection for you. You can risk your life to go to Luoyang to save her. I also like Mei Niang.”
After saying that, he sighed deeply and said in a sad tone: "Since I ordered the world to revolt, my army has been arrogant, but I have been defeated one after another. My daughter was lost and trapped in Luoyang. I am worried and have developed an illness. If it cannot be cured by medicine, I am afraid that she will not die soon." .This is also the number of days.”
Chen Long didn't know how to answer, so he had to listen silently to the sighs of this generation of heroes.
Zhang Jiao suddenly bowed deeply and said to Chen Long: "I see Wen Long as a man of great uprightness and a dragon or a phoenix among men. He will definitely achieve great things in the future. I entrust Zhang Ning to you today, and I hope you will never leave her and wait for her throughout your life." My life is not long, and it is in danger. If something happens to me, I am afraid that my arrogant daughter will not admit defeat and will follow me away. I also hope that Wen Longnian will save Mei Mei for the sake of you and me enjoying the moonlight tonight. Mom, go to a safe place to die. I feel like this, Wenlong, can you promise me?"
Chen Long's heart surged with huge waves. The heroes of this generation felt that they were strangers, and the words they spoke were particularly desolate. They were arranging their own funeral arrangements. He entrusted Mei Niang to him as soon as they met, and the situation was probably precarious, so he showed such a sad feeling.
Chen Long bowed deeply and said, "I dare not deceive the general. Mei Niang and I are indeed connected and love each other. You don't need to tell me. No matter what happens, I will ensure Mei Niang's safety."
Zhang Jiao said with a happy face: "Then you still call me general!"
Chen Long was startled for a moment, then understood, knelt down in front of Zhang Jue and said, "Father-in-law!" Zhang Jue burst out laughing, his laughter soaring into the sky.
