Song Zhong and the others looked at each other, and they all felt like fools.

Obviously, Tao Qing was pretending to be bitter, but they all believed it, and they stupidly felt that the other party was really bitter.

Now, after Fan Xian's revelation in a few words, everyone understands.

They looked at each other, and they all felt that their faces were hot.

At this time, a lieutenant said: "It turns out that the king asked Brother Tao to boil salt in order to reward him."

It's ridiculous that we thought it was a punishment, and we had to run to petition, if I had known that there was such a good thing, I would have fought for it. ”

Song Zhong also patted his head next to him and said, "Come to think of it, since I saw Brother Tao yesterday, he has never complained.

I said that I wanted to go for him, but he resolutely disagreed, and at that time I thought that he was high-spirited and upright, benevolence and righteousness first, and he thought that he was the first interest.

If I had been replaced, I would never have come back. ”

Everyone calculated what Tao Qing had gained, and they all sighed and regretted it, deeply regretting why it wasn't themselves who went to boil salt in the first place.

……

At the same time, Cao's army, under the personal leadership of Cao Cao, set out from Xudu and began the northern expedition.

Now the time is not as good as it was then, now the Cao army has become the main attacking side, and the Yuan army has become the main defending side.

After Cao's army crossed the Yellow River, he quickly swept through the counties of Hebei, and the front of the army was directed at Yecheng.

On the battlefield of Guanzhong, Guo Yuan has been stationed in Hedong City, while Zhang Liao is holding the choke point leading to Guanzhong, and the two sides have been in a stalemate for a while.

Although there was a huge disparity in the strength of the two sides, Guo Yuan had 20,000 horses under his command, and it was not difficult to defeat Zhang Liao's 2,000 soldiers.

But Yuan Shang had no interest in Guanzhong, he just wanted to honestly hold the territory of Jizhou, if Cao Jun did not come to attack, he would rather let Guo Yuan hold his troops and hold Hedong steadily.

But now that the Cao army's offensive was so fierce, Yuan Shang couldn't sit still, and immediately ordered Guo Yuan to quickly defeat Zhang Liao's army, make a detour to attack the flank of Cao's army, and advance to the Central Plains, so as to delay the pressure on the frontal battlefield in Hebei.

The Hedong Army under Guo Yuan made a slight move, and Zhang Liao felt the pressure.

There was a solemn faction in the camp tent, Zhang Liao, as the main general, sat in the middle, the deputy general was Ma Lai, the captain of the Danyang Army, and the rest were more than a dozen centurions.

"General Wenyuan," Ma Lai arched his hand, "According to the report, Guo Yuan has led his army out of the city and killed our army.

Now that the enemy is strong and I am weak, and our side has no danger to defend, it is better to temporarily retreat to the front line of Xiling Pass to set up defenses, and then use our 2,000 troops to resist the attack of Guo's reinforcements. ”

In fact, the pressure on them is always there.

Although the Danyang army is strong, and the ability of the opposite general Guo Yuan is average, but this is a confrontation between foot soldiers after all, they are two thousand to twenty thousand, one to ten ratio, and they are above the wilderness, how to fight this battle?

If you retreat to the pass and occupy a favorable position, you will only have a battle.

"No way!" Zhang Liao flatly refused: "If you retreat to Xiling Pass, you can certainly stop Guo Yuan from attacking Chang'an, but you can't stop him from making a detour in front of me and entering the Central Plains."

If he is allowed to pass before me, what is the point of us being here?

The lord will certainly not agree. ”

"But we only have 2,000 troops and horses, how can we stop Guo Yuan's 20,000 people from attacking?" Ma Lai hurriedly said: "Cao Cheng only sent 10,000 of us into the customs at the beginning, and if he wanted to block the attack of Zhang Lu, Ma Han, and Guo Yuan at the same time, wouldn't he think that we would be overstretched?" ”

The Danyang army generals have followed Liu Ping since they returned to Shun, and later the meritorious service awards were brought to them by Liu Ping, so these people only recognized Liu Ping as the lord in their eyes, and they did not have much sense of belonging to the Cao family.

In their opinion, Cao Cao let Liu Ping bring such a few people into the customs, which in itself was a disadvantage to Liu Ping.

Then Liu Ping took this opportunity to break away from the Cao family directly and claim the title of king in Guanzhong.

What's more, Liu Ping's prince is still the title of the Han family, so he deserves to be so justifiable, what does he care about the Central Plains? What's the matter?

Retreating to Xiling Pass and holding Guanzhong is the best choice.

It's a pity that this suggestion was refuted by Zhang Liao in person.

Ma Lai sneered angrily: "Although General Wenyuan is brave and unmatched, he wouldn't think that he could kill 20,000 people with the strength of one person, right?" ”

"Presumptuous!" Zhang Liao is the general of the Liu Mansion, how can he let a little lieutenant sneer, he couldn't help but cross his eyebrows coldly, and said sharply: "Coming here to resist Guo Yuan, it is the order of the lord, and those who violate the military order will be killed!" ”

After all, he is a famous general who kills people like hemp, and such a ruthless tone made Ma Lai's heart suddenly, and he hurriedly saluted: "The last general knows his mistake and asks the general for mercy."

But...... If it is not for me to grow the ambition of others, it is a fact that I am outnumbered by the enemy in front of me, and if I face it head-on, I am afraid it will be difficult to win. ”

His words were also true, and although the centurions in the tent did not dare to speak, they exchanged glances and agreed with Marlai's opinion.

After all, the current form is not complicated, as long as a discerning person can understand it at a glance.

Zhang Liao saw that Ma Lai confessed, and he didn't chase after him, coughed twice and said: "Listen to it, the lord once said that he would have a clever plan to help me break the enemy, and I just need to wait with peace of mind." ”

Everyone in the tent looked at each other, and their faces were deeply puzzled.

Unless the lord can send reinforcements, otherwise in this wilderness, no one will have an advantage, what tricks can the lord use?

But reinforcements ......

Even if Ma Han in the northwest does not resist, and Zhang Lu in Hanzhong does not resist, and all the troops are transferred, it is only a ratio of one to two, and it is still at a disadvantage.

Not to mention the fact that it is impossible to draw all the troops over.

At this time, no one spoke in the tent, the atmosphere was depressing, and he was full of pessimism about the battle in front of him.

……

Since Liu Ping led his army into the customs, he quickly pacified Guo Yan's bandit army.

Some other small bandits also died down and went to other places to make a living.

After Liu Ping arrived, although he "borrowed" the Wei family's grain storage, it was only a "scourge" to the Wei family, but he did not commit any crimes against other wealthy clans, so for the time being, Guanzhong, which had been in turmoil, gained a rare peace.

Many wealthy families who were preparing to flee to Jingxiang or Shu, such as the Du family, stopped for a while and waited to see what happened.

After all, their ancestors have lived in Guanzhong for generations, and no one wants to leave their hometowns, migrate thousands of miles, and live in places where they are not familiar with their lives.

On this day, Du Yi, the head of the Du family, came to visit Wei Guan.

"Now the foolish brother has no property, he is alone, and the virtuous brother still comes to visit, which really touches the foolish brother," In the hall, the two sat opposite each other, and couldn't help but sigh: "Brother Du Xian, please use tea." ”

"Brother Wei, hey!" Du Yi let out a long sigh and took a sip of the tea bowl.

Previously, as the heads of the two largest wealthy families in the south of the city, the two of them had prominent family backgrounds and were really superior.

But now these two unlucky eggs have become brothers and sisters, and Du Ji donated the family's grain to Guo Yan, but they were burned to the ground.

And Wei Zhou lent the grain to Liu Ping, this account is very likely to become a dead account, and now the Wei Du family is not as rich as some slightly smaller families.