The timeline goes back to the sixth day of February.

That is, the fourth day after Liu Bei killed the post governor, and it was also the first day that Liu Bei and Zhang He sent troops from Yecheng.

In Zhongshan County, in Lunu County, in the Taishou Mansion, Zhang Chun finally received a message that made him uneasy.

Early this morning, Xu Yi, who was under his command, came to report: "Fujun, according to the report of Anxi County and Weichang County, Zhang Shan inspected the three southern counties of the county, but suddenly disappeared - he arrived in Anxi County four days ago, and since then he has been sick and has not seen guests, and later even the Anxi Pang County Order was surprised, and forcibly went to the post house to check, only to know that Zhang Shan was missing.

And Guo County Ling of Weichang County and Wang County Ling of Wuji County also said that they did not see Zhang Shan inspect their jurisdiction. Yesterday was the day when the late head of the Wuji Zhen family and the former Cai Ling Zhen Yi broke the seven major gifts, and the officials of all counties went to pay their respects and met in Wuji before talking about it. ”

When Zhang Chun heard this, his left eye jumped, and an ominous premonition rose in his heart: "Have you found out the reason?" ”

Engaged in Xu Yi's recital: "I don't know the details yet, but the biggest suspect at present is that Liu Bei, the lieutenant of Anxi County, committed the crime - Zhang Shan's trip to Anxi is to go to Shatai Liu Bei's official position." Coincidentally, the day after Zhang Shantuo was sick and thanked the guests, Liu Bei left Anxi and did not return for four days.

I inquired about the county order of Anxi Pang, and said that early that morning, Liu Bei went to Wuji under the pretext of offering Zhen Yi and asking for a talisman before he could ask for a talisman. Later, the people of Wuji's Zhen family also confirmed that Liu Bei had indeed gone to worship, but after worshipping, he left Wuji on the same day, and he didn't know where to go-

Now it seems that Liu Bei is very likely to worship under the pretense of worship, and the golden cicada has come out of its shell. Maybe Zhang Shan had a conflict with him and was secretly victimized by him, and then Liu Bei absconded under the pretext of pretending. ”

After hearing this, Zhang Chun couldn't sit still at all, and suddenly straightened up from the front of the case, stood up on his knees, and subconsciously touched the hilt of the sword with his hand.

A person who is contacting a rebel is extremely nervous, and the slightest wind and grass will make him sensitive.

Historically, it would take another two or three months for him to raise troops, and the preparations at the moment were of course very inadequate.

However, maybe we won't be able to wait that long!

He paced back and forth for a while, and immediately ordered: "Let Wang Duwei immediately inspect the counties in the north of the county, and under the pretext of guarding against the Black Mountain thieves, gather the troops of each county lieutenant and sift them through to be prepared."

In addition, the guards patrolling the banks of the Hutuo River were also gradually gathered and concentrated in Beiping and Tang counties, close to the boundary of Youzhou. Also, find Yan Rou immediately, I want him to contact the Wuhuan Nanqiao King in advance and prepare to respond! ”

Xu Yi's spirit was in high spirits: "Fu Jun, Liu Bei's killing of Zhang Shan may be just a vendetta, and it may not involve leaking secrets...... If I make a move in advance, I am afraid that the soldiers and horses of the four counties in the south of the county will not be of use to me, and those eyeliners who were sent out to buy military supplies before will not have time to rush back......"

Zhang Chun: "Everything is for stability!" Money is heavy, people are coerced, that's all trivial! ”

Xu Yi hurriedly agreed: "Yes!" The lowly duty was to do it immediately. ”

Zhongshan County has twelve counties, and there are four counties south of Junzhi Lunu, and those counties are close to other counties in Jizhou.

The other eight counties, including Lunu, are close to Dai County and Zhuo County in Youzhou, and they are already on relative alert all year round.

Zhang Chun's plan was obviously to break through and flee to Youzhou in case he was discovered in advance, taking advantage of the concern that Jizhou Assassin Shi Jia Cong did not dare to easily pursue to Youzhou, and made a time difference to survive.

In addition, as long as you reach the boundary of Youzhou, it is easy to collude with Xianbei, Wuhuan and other barbarians.

……

The words were divided into two ends, three days later, on the ninth day of the second month, Wuji County on the north bank of the Hutuo River.

Zhang He and Liu Bei took 500 cavalry and stopped here for a while.

This was the first county seat they passed through after entering the boundary of Zhongshan County. Because Zhang He and Pan Feng got the order from Jia Cong to test whether Zhang Chun had different intentions first, after entering Zhongshan, they had to make a secret visit and investigate first, and it was impossible to go straight to Lunu County to solve it by force.

Zhang He garrisoned outside the city and took over a city gate, and then took Liu Bei and dozens of other horsemen into the county seat, and summoned Wang County to talk with several leading figures in the county.

"Zhang Sima has come from afar, I don't know what important things the envoy has, we will definitely cooperate." Wang Xianling was not Zhang Chun's confidant, so he didn't know about it, and he was very polite to Zhang He and Liu Bei.

Seeing this, Zhang He became more and more suspicious of Liu Bei: Didn't Zhang Chun say that he had already punished and cleaned up the counties of Zhongshan County? Why is there no movement at all in Wuji? Do you still allow us to control the city gate and enter the city to check it casually?

Zhang He knocked on the side and asked: "Near Japan County or the surrounding counties, what are the strange situations of thieves and the transfer of soldiers and horses?" ”

Wang Xian Ling was stunned for a moment, and thought for a while: "The patrol soldiers and horses along the Hutuo River have been withdrawn in the past two days - the prince originally said that he wanted to prevent the entry of the Black Mountain thieves in Changshan, but recently I heard that the north is close to the border of Youzhou, and there are Wuhuan people active, so he withdrew the men and horses guarding against the Black Mountain to guard against the Wuhuan. ”

Hearing the news, Zhang He hesitated again.

Liu Bei and Li Su listened to this conversation on the side, and they also knew that Zhang He was doubting the authenticity of the accusation.

Li Su felt that he needed to cut through the mess quickly, looked around at the dignitaries in the county who were present, and found that Zhen Yan of the Zhen family was also present, so he decided to start with Zhen Yan.

He had an idea and asked, "Brother Zhen, do you still remember being with County Lieutenant Liu?" Seven days ago, we came to mourn Ling Zun. ”

Only then did Zhen Yan notice that Li Su was standing behind Zhang He, and hurriedly returned the salute: "Of course I remember, what does Brother Li have to say?" ”

Li Su: "In recent days, Zhang Fujun has sent someone to Wuji to inquire about the movements of County Lieutenant Liu?" Is that a good question? ”

Zhang He listened beside him, not knowing why, so he just waited and saw what happened.

Zhen Yan quickly glanced at the others and replied truthfully: "The day before yesterday, Xu Yi, who was engaged in this county, came here, and specifically asked about the whereabouts of County Lieutenant Liu, and the investigation was quite detailed, oh, he also said...... also said that County Lieutenant Liu may have absconded in fear of crime. ”

"It's not a fear of sin and absconding! It's to go to Yecheng to seek justice! Li Su immediately decided the tone of the conversation, and immediately turned to Zhang He, and analyzed,

"Zhang Sima, obviously Zhang Chun was afraid of alarming the neighboring counties, so he did not win over the officials and soldiers of Wuji County, and they were not thieves, so they did not know where to go.

And Zhang Chun's eagerness to track down the whereabouts of County Lieutenant Liu is a manifestation of weakness. Fortunately, this Zhen Gongzi was anxious for justice and righteousness, and helped us turn around, so that Zhang Chun could be alarmed for a few days! ”

At this time, Li Suzheng and Zhen Yan need to use each other, of course, they have to sell each other.

As long as Zhen Yan helps him speak, Zhang He's actions will be more decisive, and the shorter the time for Zhang Chun to react, and the greater the combat exploits he will be able to capture at that time.

At the same time, Zhen Yan said a few ambiguous words, and he didn't have to pay any price - because he only needed to state some "factual judgments", such as whether Zhang Chun tracked down Liu Bei and how to track it down.

But what these behaviors represent, how to interpret them, and the "value judgment" behind them do not need to be judged by Zhen Yan.

Therefore, Zhen Yan does not have to take any risk of "false accusation".

If you fail, it is not considered a false accusation, but if you succeed, it can be regarded as "assisting the informant to rebel and helping the informant to escape secretly".

Although Zhen Yan is young, he is also from a family of officials, and he still has basic officialdom experience, so he immediately knows how to choose.

After listening to Li Su's hints, Zhen Yan also estimated that Zhang Chun might have some bad deeds that Liu Bei denounced and was suspicious of by Jia Tingshi, and hurriedly told the facts and details that were beneficial to Liu Bei and could prove that Liu Bei was tracked down and excluded.

"It seems that Zhang Chun did urgently mobilize troops and horses, and strictly investigated Liu Bei...... We can't hesitate any longer, let's go straight to Lunu County, as long as Zhang Chun doesn't dare to let our whole army enter the city and block it, then use force immediately! ”

Zhang He immediately made up his mind in his heart.

He believed that as long as Zhang Chun did not gather the soldiers and horses of the entire county to strictly defend Lunu County, it would be no problem to seize Lunu from Zhang Chun with the five hundred cavalry he had at hand.

However, if Zhang Chun wanted to run, or openly gather the men and horses of various counties, he would not dare to pursue with his five hundred cavalry, at least he would have to wait for an extra day or two, and wait for Pan Feng's two thousand troops to arrive.

Zhang He thanked him and said: "Thank you Zhen Shaojun for your assistance, if Zhang Chun's crime is true, he will definitely report the details of this to Pan Duwei, and Pan Duwei will show the assassin Shi the merit of his assistance." ”

After saying that, the cavalry had rested enough, and Zhang He immediately ordered the whole army to rush into Lunu County before the evening of the same day.

Wang Xianling, Zhen Yan and others watched the cavalry go away, and their hearts were also shocked.

Wang Xianling was worried about standing in line, but Zhen Yan was thinking: I didn't expect to help Liu Bei cover up his whereabouts, and it seems that he can get a credit for helping.

It's just that I don't know how much Zhang Chun has done, and how valuable this assistance can be.

If the result is really good, Liu Bei, a potential stock, can invest and make friends.

Thinking that seven days ago, he still regarded Liu Bei as an autumn wind fighter, Zhen Yan was very ashamed.