At the head of the ruined and slaughtered Chen Cang City, a mighty and strong man over fifty years old with a resolute face, dressed in fine armor, walked calmly, and looked at the continuous thief camp outside the city with keen eyes.

This person has a square face, deep facial lines, and a majestic beard, and is the Huangfu Song among the three heroes of the late Han Dynasty, a generation of famous generals in Xiliang.

As the saying goes, insiders look at the doorway, and laymen look at the liveliness.

Huangfu Song was born in a family of generals, and he himself led the army for nearly 20 years, even if he just looked at the enemy camp from afar, he could see the clues from the smoke, flags, and dust. Roughly predict whether the morale of the enemy is still high and whether the daily activities are frequent.

"The cooking smoke is less than in the lunar month, but the cooking time is half longer. It was sunny and snowy for several days, but the dust collected by the patrol posts in the camp became less and less, and it seemed that the thieves were 'exhausted in one go', and they would soon retreat due to the spring famine! That's the time to hunt down! ”

After Huang Fusong observed, he talked to himself firmly.

However, a fat and strong general of similar age behind him, who was also observing the enemy situation just now, retorted at this moment:

"Huangfu Gong, the art of war is poor, don't chase it, and don't stop it. Our army was cowardly and did not dare to fight, and was besieged for May, and since the beginning of winter last year, it has eaten only one meal a day. I am afraid that the decline in morale is even worse than that of the thief army. There are more than 100,000 thieves, and our army is 40,000, how can we catch them? They are willing to withdraw from the siege, let them go. ”

Huangfu Song retorted sharply: "Dong Zhongying! This is not a poor man, this is a tired army that has besieged the city for five months! When I set out on the expedition, His Majesty granted me and supervised the various departments, and when you refused to chase, you can stay in Chencang, and I will bring 20,000 soldiers from my own department to chase and kill! ”

It turned out that it was the former general Dong Zhuo who quarreled with the left general Huangfu Song. In the early autumn of last year, the two were dispatched by the imperial court at the same time, each with 20,000 people, mainly by Huangfu Song, to intercept the Liangzhou thief kingdom and Han Sui from Tianshui. After the death of the kingdom, it continued to be at war with Han Sui.

Some officials may be surprised: these two famous generals, with a total of 40,000 Han troops, failed to repel Han Sui, who is known as "more than 100,000 people"?

Didn't you say that a Han enemy Wuhu was good? Didn't you say that Bai Bo, Montenegro, Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun were all "more than 100,000 people"? This Han Sui also only has more than 100,000, how can he fight so much?

This has to admit a misunderstanding, after all, because the Liangzhou soldiers committed a lot of historical crimes against the Han dynasty later in history, many images based on "Romance" more or less belittled the combat effectiveness of the Liangzhou army.

It is pertinent to say that in the late Han Dynasty and the Qiang Rebellion for more than 20 years, the people here have been tested by war for a long time, and they have not been pacified. Therefore, the power of more than 100,000 soldiers in Liangzhou is indeed higher than that of anti-thieves in other places.

There is no need to explain anything else, just say that Huangfu Song's subordinates pulled out a Liangzhou Army Sima Luyi, and when he was transferred to Hebei, which had not been in the war, he could fight well, and he could see a little gap.

Ignoring the growing differences of opinion with Dong Zhuo, Huangfu Song decided to prepare for the pursuit alone.

Even famous generals like Huangfu Song and Dong Zhuo, who have climbed for 20 years, now only have General Zuo and former generals, which shows the value of Emperor Ling.

With Liu Bei's qualifications, even if he spends more money, if he can play the role of "cooperating with Huangfu Song to completely annihilate Han Sui", it is possible to be enough to be a "general of Zhengxi" who is only one level lower than the front and back; But now he is only ordered to help fight back Han Sui and open up Chen Cangdao to deal with the much weaker Zhang Lu, so he is only worthy of the lower General Zhenxi.

……

On the banks of the Weishui River, more than 200 miles downstream of Chencang, Liu Bei's army spent three days, marching steadily and steadily up the river at an average speed of 60 miles per day.

On January 25, Liu Beijun finally arrived at Yixian, the last foothold east of Chencang, and went out to camp in Wuzhangyuan, the western suburb of Yixian and on the shore of Weishui.

The three county towns that came along the way were all built at the intersection of Weishui and the tributaries that flow into Weishui from the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains on the south side——

Mangshui flows into Weishui in Meiyang County, Luoshui flows into Weishui in Wugong, and Wugong Water flows into Weishui in Wuzhangyuan, west of Yixian.

The river valley where Wugong water passes through the Qinling Mountains is called Bao Slope Road, and the river valley where Luo Shui passes through the Qinling Mountains is called Fu Luo Road. These two roads are also the main roads over the Qinling Mountains, but they are much narrower than the Chencang Road, and Wugong Shui and Luo Shui cannot cross the main watershed of Taibai Mountain and Shen Ling, so they cannot reach Hanzhong in the south.

Liu Bei's camp is on the right side of Weishui, the front is Wugong Water, and the left side is against Taibai Mountain, the protrusion of the Qinling Mountains, so the defense is very stable, and fifty miles to the west is Chencang City-

This can be regarded as a historical coincidence, because the location of Liu Bei's current camp is the location of the camp when Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang confronted each other here in history. It was precisely because of this that Zhuge Liang was unable to bypass Sima Yi's camp and march into the army. It can only be said that the heroes see the same thing, and the vision of the soldiers who choose to camp is also similar.

Liu Bei didn't rush in, he was also afraid that Han Sui's strength was still strong, and if he found out that the Han army was reinforcing the army, he would abandon Huangfu Song and concentrate all his strength to besiege the city and send reinforcements to him, it would be troublesome.

Therefore, after arriving at Wuzhangyuan, Liu Bei set up a high base and deep ditch to prepare for the camp, and at the same time sent Zhao Yun to investigate Han Sui's recent situation with a light horse.

At the same time, some troops were also stationed in Yixian County behind it. Establish good relations with the Haoqiang clan, understand the local situation, and persuade the Yixian government to help provide food and grass for a period of time, so as to leave a backup for the protracted war.

When arranging the camp, Li Su also personally inspected it, and also took his current assistant teacher, sixteen-year-old Zhuge Jin, and Zhuge Liang, who had just turned nine years old, to watch the excitement with his assistant brother.

"The danger of the Qinling Mountains, really better than Mount Tai, since childhood reading history, "Xia Benji" depicts the situation of the world's mountains and rivers, often can not be solved, sure enough, you still have to personally walk all over the famous mountains and rivers, in order to get insight." The young Zhuge Liang looked at the Taibai Mountain on the left side of the camp in the spirit of traveling in the mountains and rivers, and groaned inspiringly.

Since his father was buried in October, in the past three months, he followed Liu Beijun's team of strategists from Suishui to Luo, traveled to the eight passes of Luoyang near the Beijing Division, and also saw the mountains and ravines in the east of the river, and understood why the Battle of Changping was fought like that in the history books.

After walking the Kunhan Road, seeing the danger of Tongguan Hangu and the obstacle of the pillars of Shaanxi Gorge, I finally came here again, and saw that Weishui was east of the Qinling Mountains, and Weinan could be fortified everywhere, and every tributary could form a great obstacle to the march of the attacker.

These insights have greatly inspired Zhuge Liang's young mind, and every night he has to take a small notebook to write down his experience of playing in the mountains and rivers in a diary, and he also sighs in his heart: Follow Master Li to play in the mountains and rivers, you can gain so much knowledge, which is more intuitive than reading.

Zhuge Jin on the side was still not familiar with military affairs, and after listening to his younger brother's complaints, he couldn't help but ask: "Most of the Weishui tributaries are on the south bank, and they are born because of the Qinling Mountains. ”

Zhuge Liang shook his head: "Brother, you have been with the army for two months, why haven't you learned the importance of grain and grass - if you go to the north bank and let the enemy set up camp on the south bank, then how else can the Weishui grain road be used?" Isn't it that every grain ship that passes through is robbed by the enemy? It can only be pulled out like a nail by one tributary.

But fortunately, Han Sui seems to be a scheming person, Xuande Gong has already passed through three Weishui tributaries all the way, and he has not seen Han Sui go out to set up camp and harass him, so that we can get here with peace of mind. ”

The Zhuge brothers chattered there for a long time, and Li Su returned to the account and ordered: "Ziyu, don't talk about this, the prince ordered me to go to Yixian County, and raise ten military supplies with the officials and famous families in the city, in order to prepare for a long battle in the camp, you have time to say this, it is better to accompany me on a trip." ”

Zhuge Jin hurriedly cleaned up: "This is coming." ”

Zhuge Liang also wanted to walk around and see the customs of Kansai, so he dressed up as a little scholar and entered the city together.

Li Su finished handing over the camp accounts with Lu Su and left.

After entering Yixian County, Yixian County ordered Jin Ji to take the lead in greeting him, placing wine and laboring troops, and respectfully asked Zhou Tai brought by Li Su to take over the city defense.

Li Su chatted with him for a few words, and the other party had to answer all questions, and Li Su knew that he was a member of the Jingzhao Jin family - that is, the descendant of the Jin Riyan family, a famous minister of the Western Han Dynasty, who lived around Chang'an.

The biggest official in the Jin Ji clan today is one of his cousins, Jin Xuan, who was an official in the Tianshui area of Liangzhou in the west a few years ago. But because Tianshui was entrenched by Han Sui, Jin Xuan could only go back to Beijing to find a "Lang" to do, which was also the standard configuration after losing land and spending money to avoid crime at the end of the Han Dynasty.

Li Su was a little surprised when he heard the name Jin Xuan, because he never paid attention to this kind of small role, in his previous life, he only watched the Romance of the Three Kingdoms to know that there was such a No. 1 Wuling Taishou dragon set, and he was seconded by Liu Bei, but he didn't expect that he was still from Guanxi, and he traveled thousands of miles to Jingzhou to be an official - it is estimated that he couldn't do it in Liangzhou, so he spent money to buy it in Jingzhou.

After contacting the officials of Yi County, Jin Ji recommended the famous people in the city to visit Li Su one by one, and Li Su got to know several famous people who helped the wind.

The first person was named Fa Yan, about forty years old, but he didn't drink with Li Su, just stopped after saying a few words. Li Su noticed that he was wearing a hemp hoop on his head, and knew that the other party was filial piety, and it was difficult to handle officialdom.

After careful questioning, I learned that this Fa Yan's original official position was not low, and he had always been a Beijing official in Luoyang, and he was the left supervisor of the court captain, because he lost his father last year, so he resigned and returned to his hometown to guard filial piety for three years. His father's name was Fa Zhen, and he was a famous scholar in Kansai, and he was well-educated during his lifetime.

Tingwei is Jiuqing, and Tingwei's adjutant is called Tingwei Zheng and Tingwei Zuojian, who are senior Beijing officials of the judicial department of Qianshi, much higher than the county order of Yixian County, no wonder Jin Ji is very polite in front of him.

After Fa Yan finished talking to Li Suke, he confessed and said: "My father abandoned the world and the anniversary, and it is not easy to smell the chores. If Li Zhonglang wants to collect donations, he can contact the dog, and he suspects that the dog is young, and he can handle the money and food. ”

It takes three years for a son to keep filial piety for his father, but it only takes one year for a grandson to keep filial piety for his grandfather. Fa Yan's father has been dead for more than a year, so he himself has not yet been filial, but his son has already been filial, although he can't enjoy himself yet, he can help deal with some officialdom affairs.

Li Su and Zhuge Jin then exchanged a few polite words with his son Fa Zheng and got to know each other.

Fa Zheng said generously: "The matter of donating to the army, although Zhonglang can rest assured, I will invite the big families in the city to talk with Zhonglang in a while, I will wait for the world to eat Hanlu, and I have heard for a long time that Xuande is a teacher of benevolence and righteousness, and I will help the army." ”

"The virtuous brother is capable, and he is really extraordinary." Zhuge Jin sighed enviously, Fa Zheng was still two years younger than him.

Fa Zheng smiled indifferently: "Where, it was also forced out in the past few months, my father did not show filial piety, I first showed filial piety, and I was asked to come forward in the affairs of the clan related to officials, which is also a necessity." ”

Zhuge Jin Zhuge Liang didn't have a taste in his heart: Your grandfather has been dead for more than a year, and he can force out this potential. Our father has only been dead for three or four months, and we have to do everything by ourselves, and I don't see any potential......

Fortunately, the people of the Zhuge family don't need filial piety in this life, so they can be less particular.