Zhang Miaoshou and Zhao Dangshi have been partners in charge of the right wing of the battalion army for two months, and they have a good relationship and get along very well. In fact, in terms of qualifications, Zhang Miaoshou and Zhang Yichuan, Tuoyangkun they are equally divided, and in the early years, they can also be compared with Li Zicheng and Liu Guineng. Although he rebelled, his strength and prestige were greatly damaged, and he has not been able to restore the scale of his heyday, with thousands of troops, which can only be regarded as decent.

However, Zhang Miaoshou has a cheerful and optimistic personality, and has no feeling of melancholy and loss, and because he is proficient in archery, he is called "Miaoshou", "good at shooting, trying, 100 steps in the money hole", and another big Kou "shoot the sky" Li Wanqing said that Yu Liang was bright for a while, so that although the martial arts are good, the archery skills are mediocre Zhao Dangshi is greatly admired. The two departments are stationed next to each other, and they have not participated in a series of recent battles in the camp, so Zhao is free in the world, and often asks Zhang Miaoshou to teach archery skills, and the relationship between the two has become very good.

Under the repeated ravages of the battalions, several counties in the eastern part of Hanzhong are close to saturation of the carrying capacity of the army, and the transfer of the camps is imperative. Zhao Dangshi was very sensitive to the changes in the current situation, and had a premonition that Gao Yingxiang would make moves in the next two days, Zhang Miaoshou came to find him, and he only said hello to Xu Hui, who was in charge of military affairs in the camp that day, and then followed.

The tent of the Chinese army that broke into the camp was as quiet and gloomy as ever. Zhao Dangshi stayed here for two months, and he was already familiar with the rules and order in private, and when he entered the tent, he naturally stood with Zhang Miaoshou at the bottom of the tent.

Gao Yingxiang is still standing on the top tiger skin chair, and the two closest to him are his relatives, Gao Yingen, his younger brother on the left, and his brother-in-law "Fanshan Harrier" on the right. Under the two of them, it is his cronies Liu Zhe and the "scorpion block" Tuoyangkun. There were several more people in the middle before Zhao Dangshi. Zhao Dangshi went further, except for the guards guarding the door, there was no one else.

Several people in the tent were talking, obviously the military discussion had begun for a while, and Gao Yingxiang was silent as before. Zhao Dangshi listened attentively for a while, and probably understood that the topic discussed in the current military discussion was where the army should move next.

The goal is the most important thing, and a reasonable goal can change the embarrassment at a small level, and avoid the end of destruction if it is a big one. The generals in the tent are all old men on the battlefield, so they naturally understand the importance of this directional issue. Zhao Dangshi believes that this issue was definitely the first to be raised, and until now the generals are still arguing and unresolved.

The two most fiercely debated are Liu Zhe and Tuo Yangkun. The two of them stood opposite each other, and their loud voices ran through the entire tent, and it was not an exaggeration to say that it was the focus of the audience at the moment.

Tuoyangkun is very tall and thin, with deep eye sockets and high cheekbones. The sound is very similar to the chirping of a night owl, and it sounds like it is sinister and mean. Zhao Dangshi has never been in contact with him, but I heard that this person has an impulsive and strong personality and a very stinky temper, like a combination of Hou Dagui and Hao Shaoqi.

Carefully calculated, today's Dakou, in terms of strength and prestige, is ranked first by King Gao Yingxiang, whose status no one can shake. Next, there are the giants who can develop independently, and the number can be counted on one hand, which is nothing more than Zhang Xianzhong, the eight kings of Xiying, Lao Hui Ma Shouying, Li Zicheng, and Cao Cao Luo Rucai. In addition to these five battalions, they reached the floor of Zhang Yichuan, the sweeping king, Hui Dengxiang, the star of the sky, Liu Xiaoshan, the king of one word, and so on. The remaining camps are large and small, as many as stars, and they are all insignificant.

Tuoyangkun's reasonable positioning should be sandwiched between Li Zicheng et al. and Zhang Yichuan et al., which belongs to the type of being less than the upper and more than the bottom. In its heyday, there were more than 100,000 people, and the combat effectiveness of the old camp was also very strong, so Gao Yingxiang entered Shaanxi, and he could ignore Zhang Yichuan and leave Liu Guoneng, but he must ask Tuoyangkun to go along. Therefore, everyone present knows that Tuoyangkun is the most powerful partner of Gao Yingxiang at present.

Gao Yingen and Tuo Pan Gao are Gao Yingxiang's right-hand men, and Liu Zhe is his lips and teeth. Tuoyangkun didn't agree with Gao Yingxiang's idea of meeting Li Zicheng, so he quarreled with Liu Zhe.

"The officials and soldiers in Guanzhong are gathered, and the generals have not escaped the pursuit of the Hong Mansion, and it is not the right time to go north at this time." Tuo Yangkun spoke quickly, because of excitement, a thin and narrow cheek was slightly distorted, "What our family means, it is better to enter the Sichuan in the Han Dynasty and clean up the Sichuan, on the one hand, it can be replenished on the spot, and on the other hand, it can be waited and watched." ”

"Tuo Zhangpan said very much, to the year of the camp, back to the camp into Sichuan, devastating the withered, coming and going as if into no one's land, it can be seen that the Sichuan soldiers are weak. Our army has been exhausted for months, and is in dire need of a place to recuperate. When the situation in Shaanxi is clear, it is not too late for Xu Tu to act again. After Tuoyangkun finished speaking, the next person immediately echoed, Zhao Dangshi regarded it, knowing that this person was nicknamed "Yidougu", his real name is unknown, and he is the little brother of Tuoyangkun in Henan.

Liu Zhe didn't look at Yidougu, and said with a dry smile: "Entering the Sichuan and entering the Sichuan, to put it lightly, not to mention that my army is tens of thousands, how to pass through Hanzhong safely, and what route to walk, just say that when you enter the Sichuan, you think that you can easily gain a foothold there?" ”

"Brother Zhao, tell him about it." Liu Zhe saw Tuo Yangkun's face was gloomy, and without waiting for him to have a seizure, he directly threw out a sentence to Zhao Dangshi, "Brother Tuo has never been to Sichuan, I really think that it is the land of abundance, the land of gentleness, Brother Zhao only came out of Sichuan not long ago, you might as well listen to what he said." ”

Zhao Dangshi reacted quickly, promised loudly, and stepped out of the ranks.

Tuoyangkun was robbed by him, so unhappy, looking at Gao Yingxiang's face, he couldn't help but swear, pouted his mouth, and looked at Zhao Dangshi.

To be able to speak at this level of military discussion, Zhao Dangshi has not yet been dizzy enough to be self-righteous and speak freely. He understood what Liu Zhe meant by giving him this opportunity, cleared his throat, and said unhurriedly: "So that King Chuang and all the palms know that although the commanders in central Sichuan are unbearable, there are also hard stubbles like Hou Liangzhu and Zhang Ling, and the Tusi soldiers in the southeast are also extremely fierce." And its land is full of mountains and forests, and the forts are dense, so it is extremely difficult to sentinel food. Among them, a few forces are still bleeding for a small piece of land, and our army has entered, and it is really difficult to find a place to eat. ”

Tuoyangkun said anxiously: "Then go north to Guanzhong, under the noses of the officials and soldiers, can we have a banquet?" ”

Liu Zhe shook his head: "Brother Tuo, do you know, who is the new governor of Shaanxi?" ”

Tuoyangkun heard this, squeezed his eyebrows and looked at him for a while, and said: "I only heard that it is surnamed Sun, and he is not famous." ”

"Yes." Liu Zhe raised his eyebrows, "If it is Hong Manzi or King Lu Yan, you still need to be afraid of one or two, but this new Shaanxi Fu is a nobody, just a scholar, if I am afraid of him, won't it make people laugh off their big teeth?" ”

"But ......"

"I know that the palm of the plate is thoughtful, and I am afraid of accidents. It's just that as early as March, when the surnamed Sun arrived, I paid attention to him, and heard that he was only in office, without a single soldier, and after many begging, Hong Chengchou allocated 2,000 Gansu border soldiers to him, all of whom were old, weak, sick and disabled, what could they do? Counting that he has been in office since he took office, it has only been three months, even if Zhuge is resurrected, it is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice, and can prevent me from breaking into the camp? ”

Gan Xuekuo, the former governor of Shaanxi, "did not know what to do, his actions were laughing, and Qin Shi was in an uproar in the court", and he stepped down after being impeached by the Shaanxi governor Qian Shoulian. At that time, Sun Chuanting, who was the Shuntian Mansion, was the emperor to push the side of the court, and then appointed as Shaanxi Fu. The governor of Shaanxi in the Ming Dynasty, praised the military affairs, unified the Xi'an military garrison, Jing Wei military garrison, Shangluo military garrison, Tongguan military garrison, Han Qiang military garrison five provinces and the political division of Xi'an, Fengxiang, Hanzhong and Pingliang Prefecture Jingzhou, in addition to the Shaanxi capital division of Xi'an Zuo and other five guards.

On paper, it seems that the jurisdiction is extremely wide and the power is very great, but in fact, in this season, it has long been strong from outside. To give an example, the total number of soldiers of the four guards, which belonged to the Xi'an Left Guard, the Xi'an Right Guard, the Xi'an Avant-garde, and the Xi'an Rear Guard, which belonged to the Shaanxi Governor, was about 22,400, but after Sun Chuanting took office, he found that the local finances were in tatters, the original guard system had long since collapsed, and the more than 26,000 hectares of food army fields that originally belonged to the Xi'an Four Guards were invaded by the squire Haoyou, and a large number of the flag soldiers of the guard were scattered so that the Futai pacesetters could not even get together 300 people. Even the pacesetters Xu Zhong and Liu Shijie's rebellion against Lantian made Sun Chuanting helpless for a while. As a general in the camp, Liu Zhe has a high status and heavy responsibilities, and this collection of news from friends and enemies is the focus of his work. Based on the intelligence of all parties, he concluded that Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi, could not pose a threat to his army for a long time.

If you are not happy, you are not happy, Tuoyangkun has no doubts about Liu Zhe's business ability, and he will not go down with the other party for the sake of anger. He propped his chin on his thumb, was silent for a moment, and then said: "It's not impossible to go north, how to choose this route?" And where is the destination? ”

From the Hanzhong Basin to the north, there are many roads and trails that run through the Qinling Mountains, among which the famous ones are Chencang Road, Bao Slope Road, Fu Luo Road, Meridian Road, Yugu Road, etc., all of which run north-south. According to the current position of the camping army, Fu Luo Road, Meridian Road and Yugu Road are all within the range of selection, while Chencang Road is too far and Bao Slope Road is too close to Hanzhong, so they can be excluded first.

Liu Zheqi wanted to reply, but Gao Yingxiang said directly: "Take the meridian road." ”

"Meridian Road?" Tuoyangkun was stunned when he heard this, and the generals in the tent also looked at each other, "If you choose the Meridian Road, King Chuang is going to go to Xi'an?" ”

"Exactly." Gao Yingxiang was as calm as usual.

"This, this ......" Tuoyangkun was conceited and bold, but at this time, he was a little hesitant, and the few people standing beside him clearly saw that his sideburns were oozing sweat.

The meridian road was there during the Warring States period, first in the late Western Han Dynasty in the hands of Wang Mang repaired once, and then in the Tang Dynasty Tianbao years and then in the Tang Dynasty was an important channel for communicating the north and south of the Qinling Mountains. Different from other trails, it comes out from the north end of the meridian road and can directly point to Xi'an, an important town in central Shaanxi, so this road has been a military route since it was opened. During the Three Kingdoms, Wei general Cao Shuang cut down Shu, the Eastern Jin Dynasty Huanwen Northern Expedition to Qin, and the five generations after Shu fought for the Xiongguanzhong, etc., all took the meridian, and the importance of this road shape victory can be seen. There are tens of thousands of troops in the camp, and every step will attract the great attention of the officers and soldiers, so the possibility of smuggling into something is very small, and it is difficult to move an inch if you take the meridian road and get to Xi'an. To put it bluntly, it's a one-shot deal.

Thinking that the siege of Xi'an last year such as breaking into the camp, returning to the camp, and offering the camp was inevitably a failure, Tuoyangkun had great doubts about the idea of attacking Xi'an through the Meridian Valley. Not only him, but the other palm plates are also in the belly, and once he was bitten by a snake for ten years, he was afraid that the well rope could not be used at this time.

"You don't have to worry, this time is different from the past, when Hong Chengchou was in Xi'an, and all the officials and troops gathered in one city, we will not be prepared enough to return. However, at the moment, Hong Chengchou returned to Yansui, in charge of northern Shaanxi, and all powerful officers and troops were also under his command and chased after the generals, Guotianxing, etc., southern Shaanxi and Guanzhong are now all under the control of the surname Sun, this person has no soldiers in his hands, the foundation is shallow, Liu Shaozong, Sun Xianzu and shrunk in Hanzhong to protect the king of Raushzi, I wait for the north entrance of the meridian, there is no one who can be my military striker. After Gao Yingxiang mentioned it, Liu Zhe then said his thoughts.

After hearing this, the generals thought about it, Liu Zhe paused, and then said: "Do you know Wei Yan?" ”

Although most of the palms present did not know a single big character, the story of the Three Kingdoms was still very familiar, and Yidougu said loudly: "I have heard, I have heard, I have heard, it is the general of Shu Han, and he was killed in a rebellion." ”

"That's not what I'm talking about." Liu Zhe shook his head, he looked like a storyteller subconsciously, but he looked a little like him, "Prime Minister Zhuge went on the Northern Expedition, and Wei Yan once proposed a surprise attack on the Meridian Valley, can you know?" ”

Itogu was silent at this time, and like him, most of the people present listened to the book, and they basically couldn't answer the detailed content when they asked them. Fortunately, Tuoyangkun is a little cultured, and he can save some face slightly: "It seems that Zhuge Liang didn't listen to him, and then he was defeated?" ”

"yes!" Liu Zhe sighed, "If I had listened to Wei Yan at that time and made a surprise move to the Meridian Valley, then Cao Wei would have been defeated a long time ago, and the Han dynasty would have prospered." When the generals heard this, they all showed regret after him.

Zhao Dangshi was below, secretly laughing to himself, these rough men, the business has not been solved, and when it comes to storytelling, they are all unexpected. But having said that, from what Liu Zhe said, the step of going to Meridian Valley seems to be the most reasonable and promising move at present. When he went back to the camp before, he and his subordinates walked through Fu Luo Road, which was not easy to walk, and it was much more convenient to come to this meridian road.

Gao Yingxiang saw that the topic was a little offset, and said in a timely manner: "Everyone, taking the meridian road and hitting Xi'an is not a temporary intention of the surname Gao. Imagine, the officers and troops near Xi'an are weak, and our army is sharp and should sweep through Guanzhong. Once the important land of Xi'an is obtained, not only will the army be able to consolidate itself, but the official army of Shaanxi will also be in chaos at that time. No matter how Hong Chengchou can fight, he can't take care of each other, and they can also take the opportunity to break out of the encirclement and join me. Why not kill two birds with one stone? ”

Fighting Xi'an, the deployment of chaotic officials and troops, and saving Li Zicheng came naturally. As long as it succeeds, the situation in the world will change immediately. Such a feat can only be done by Gao Yingxiang, who has tens of thousands of soldiers in his hand and commands Fang Xuan, who has the courage to make up his mind to do it. Zhao Dangshi looked at Gao Yingxiang, only to feel that he was full of pride, and he couldn't help but be fascinated.