"Drive, drive, drive."
Dozens of knights driving ponies were struggling to escape. They kept whipping their horses to increase their speed to the extreme. If they didn't go faster at this moment, hundreds of barbarians behind them would catch up with them.
"Master Fu, our horses haven't eaten for a long time. I'm afraid they won't be able to sustain their horses running like this for long." Huo Jian, a soldier from Yueqi County, shouted to Gong Lu, the prefect in front of him: "This place is still dozens of miles away from the county seat, so we have to think about it." Use a strategy to get rid of the pursuers before you can circle back to An."
Gong Lu also felt that the speed of his horse had slowed down a bit. He whipped his horse whip a few times but it was useless. He said anxiously: "I can't do anything at the moment. These Sou and Yi people are so numerous that they have already sent troops to block our way back to the city." , we were already depleted of men and horses after taking a long way back to the city. I thought that if we continued like this, we would eventually be overtaken by the enemy, so it would be better to find a dangerous place and fight to the death, and wait for reinforcements, maybe there would be a glimmer of hope.
"Uncle Zhi, you have been in this county for a long time and you should be familiar with the geography here. Is there any dangerous place ahead?"
Huo Jian pondered for a moment, then raised his whip and pointed forward: "Master Fu, there should be a mountain peak not far away, which is a must-pass point. Although this mountain is not high, its terrain is quite steep. As long as we occupy this place, we may be able to Waiting for work with ease, staying firm and waiting for help.”
Gong Lu did not hesitate after hearing this: "Since there is such a dangerous pass, we will go and set up a stronghold to defend against the enemy. It's a pity that Lei Quchang and the others are not here. Otherwise, with more than 300 troops, we would be more confident that we can hold on." . Sigh, I don’t know how they are doing now?”
Hearing this, Huo Jian smiled bitterly and said: "The Yi people attacked suddenly and were caught off guard. If Lei Xiong had not led the infantry to stop the enemy in the morning, we might have been captured and killed."
Gong Lu also knew that this matter could not be changed, so he could only sigh: "I hope they can escape."
In fact, he already knew in his heart that Lei Xiong used 300 infantry to resist 2,000 barbarian soldiers in order to allow him and others to escape. At this moment, the situation was probably in danger. Although Gong Lu was exhausted from riding on his horse, he still couldn't help but recall what happened today. He always felt that there was something strange about this attack by the Yi people.
After the death of the late emperor in April last year, Gaoding, the commander-in-chief of Yueqi County, took the opportunity to launch a rebellion. He killed Jiao Huang, the prefect of Yueqi County, and then occupied almost the entire Yuexi County. Therefore, after Gong Lu was appointed as the new governor of Yueqi last year, he only dared to station in Anshang County at the northern end of Yueqi County, relying on Jianwei County to handle county affairs.
Although Gong Lu had done some things in the past six months, he only had more than a thousand troops, so how could he defeat Gaoding, the Yi king who had tens of thousands of people. Therefore, he still followed the strategy set by the imperial court and honestly protected the country and the people, waiting for the day when the king's troops would go south to put down the rebellion. In the past few months, Gaoding has not sent troops to attack Anshang County, so the two sides can be considered at peace, so everyone in Anshang County gradually feels relieved.
After the spring of this year, Gong Lu began to organize the military and civilians to seize the time to complete spring plowing. It happened that Chengdu Si Jinzhonglang's Mansion sent a batch of new plows and rollovers to the county, so Gong Lu ordered people to put these new farm tools into farming. go.
The curved shaft plow and the turning cart were very effective, and the Anshang people were full of praise after using them. After hearing this, Gong Lu felt that the people in the whole county should use the new farm tools to speed up the completion of spring sowing, so he has been working hard these days. He personally went out of the city to the countryside to urge the people to take advantage of this rare peaceful time to complete their farming.
Perhaps it was because these few months of peace had made Gong Lu a little less vigilant. This time when he went to the countryside to supervise farmers, he planned to visit the entire Anshang County. You must know that since he took office and was stationed in Anshang County, I have never visited the entire county. According to his thinking, since the entire Yuexi County cannot be recovered for the time being, he must at least do something practical, otherwise he will fail the purpose of the imperial court sending him here.
So yesterday he led a group of officials and soldiers to Dingxiang, which is the southernmost village in Anshui County. It is about fifty miles away from Anshang County. From here on, it is the boundary of Xindao County.
Xindao County was besieged by troops sent by Gaoding in the 23rd year of Jian'an. At that time, the imperial court's control over Yueqi County was still weak, and it was impossible to repel the barbarians with the power of the county. In the end, Li Yan, the governor of Jianwei at the time, He led his troops to defeat the Yi army.
So last year, the people of Xindao rebelled again when they saw Gaoding, and most of the people came to Anshang County. Today, Xindao County, which is sparsely populated, has neither barbarian soldiers stationed nor Han officials to manage it. More than 3,000 people in the city elected A few elders came out to take care of things, so Xindao County is now a place where no one cares.
In the past few months, only a small group of barbarian soldiers had appeared here a few times, so with such a buffer, Gong Lu felt that he should be safe away from the county this time.
Unexpectedly, this morning, just as Gong Lu and the others were preparing to return to the city from Dingxiang after inspecting farming, they were suddenly attacked by a large group of barbarian soldiers in the early morning. This group of barbarian soldiers didn't know where they came from, and Gong Lu only had less than 400 soldiers under his command. They were suddenly attacked by a sneak attack, and no one could resist it.
In order to allow the prefect to escape, the leader, Qu Changlei Xiong, volunteered to lead his infantry to stay and stop the enemy. After a bloody fight, Gong Lu finally escaped from the encirclement under the protection of dozens of cavalry.
He originally wanted to return to Anshang County, but found that the shortcuts back to the city had long been blocked by the barbarian soldiers and horses. He had no choice but to take a long way back to the city, but the barbarian soldiers also came in hundreds of cavalry. At this moment, he had no choice but to go up the mountain and refuse to defend according to the advice of his subordinates.
Today, Zhuge Liang's public room in the Prime Minister's Mansion was full of people. Chief Shi Wang Lian, Chief Secretary Zhang Yi, Chief Officer Liao Hua, Chief Officer Ma Su, Dong Cao Yu Jiang Wan, and Chief Secretary Yang Qing were all sitting in the hall with serious expressions on their faces. , Zhuge Liang, who was in the main seat, looked at the bamboo slips in his hand calmly.
This was an urgent report sent by Yueqi County more than 20 days ago. The prefect Gong Lu and more than 300 county soldiers under his command were killed in a surprise attack by troops sent by the Yi King Gaoding while inspecting farm work. Only a dozen of them escaped. Set up the county seat. Thousands of barbarian soldiers took the opportunity to surround Anshang City after killing Gong Lu. The soldiers and civilians in the city resisted vigorously and suffered heavy casualties. Sima Dong Huan, the highest ranking officer of the soldiers in the city, was shot dead by a cold arrow. Chen Song, the commander of the city guard, and those who attacked the city. The enemy troops fought hard and died. The county magistrate Lu Shen was also injured by the loss, and now his life or death is unknown.
Fortunately, the reinforcements sent by Wang Shi, the governor of Jianwei, arrived in time and they were able to repel the barbarian soldiers before the city was broken. Otherwise, the entire Yuexi County would have completely fallen into the hands of Gaoding.
Zhuge Liang originally thought that Gaoding would not make any big moves this year, because he had occupied all the places he could occupy in Yuexi County. Anshang County is located in the north of Yueqi County, with Jianwei County behind it. Jianwei's army can quickly come here for reinforcements, so Anshang County should be safe. Unexpectedly, it was only February, and this thief had already begun to plot. Could it be that he still wanted to invade Jianwei County?
Is this attack on Anshang a temporary act of chance or is it part of his overall plan? It seems that we still need to send the eunuch to Yueqi County to stabilize the situation and explore the situation.
Zhuge Liang had a preliminary idea in his mind. He looked up and saw everyone looking at him, and then asked: "Everyone has read the emergency report from Yuexi County. If you have any opinions, please feel free to tell me."
Changshi Wanglian closed his eyes and said nothing. Since this year, he felt that his body was getting worse and his energy was not as good as before. Therefore, after Zhang Yi returned to Shu from Soochow and was enlisted by Zhuge Liang to join the army, he suggested that Zhang Yi should handle the affairs of the Prime Minister's Palace on his behalf. Zhuge Liang agreed after considering his health. Therefore, among the officials in the mansion, Wang Lian is apparently the leader, but Zhang Yi is actually the leader.
So when Zhuge Liang asked, Zhang Yi had to be the first to speak: "Prime Minister, Gao Ding killed two of my governors in a row. It's so sad and crazy. If the court doesn't say something, I'm afraid people will be uneasy. Yi is afraid that Yue Si County will no longer be owned by the country from now on."
Zhuge Liang asked: "What do you think?"
Although Zhang Yi's statement just now was fierce, he knew that it would be impossible for the court to deal a serious blow to Gaoding at this time, so he said calmly: "Prime Minister, it is difficult to send troops to quell the rebellion within this year. , We must be patient and patient. But the imperial court must also take action. I intend to select an outstanding official as the prefect and go to Yueqi County to appease people's hearts to show that the imperial court is not afraid of the rebels."
This year, it was the consensus of the officials in the mansion not to use weapons, so Ma Su said: "What Mr. Zhang said is true, but the two prefects were killed by the barbarians. It will be difficult for anyone to go."
