Diao Chan said angrily: "If you are asleep, how can you still speak?" ”

Zi Jia'er, who was lying on the bed, replied seriously: "I'm talking in a dream." ”

"Nonsense, talking in dreams is obviously not like this!"

Diao Chan snorted twice, and was made impetuous and upset by the voice next door, she groped to Zi Jia'er's bed by the moonlight, and asked in her ear: "The general and the princess have to make such a big movement every time, do they have to make it for so long?" ”

Zi Jia'er said softly, and suddenly exclaimed, "You can speak, don't do it....... Yes! ”

The moist and soft object reaches into the lips, bringing a sweet, hot breath. After a while, the voice of Si Xisuo sounded here, as if it was complementing the voice next door.

The moon rose in the middle of the sky and set quickly, and in the early hours of the morning, Chen Cheng took off the octopus-like girl in his arms and put it on the bed. He got up himself, put on his clothes, put on his armor, put on his weapon and helmet, and walked out of the general's palace.

On the street outside the courtyard wall, the guards were ready to go. Pang De held the torch in his left hand, knelt down on one knee, and said in a deep voice: "Lord, there are 300 guards and soldiers, all of them have arrived!" ”

Chen Cheng looked to the side, only to see Lu Bu, Fa Zheng, Meng Da and others in the ranks, he turned over and got on his horse and said, "Okay, let's go and join the army immediately!" ”

The sound of heavy horses' hooves immediately sounded in the streets, awakening many people's sweet dreams. Riding on the long street in the early hours of the morning? Could it be that something is wrong? Some people can't help but think so. After the Xiliang army entered Chang'an, the curfew also became strict. If it hadn't been for the emergency, no one would have done it.

Three hundred horsemen galloped on the wide, straight uninhabited street for ten minutes, and quickly ran past the Changle Palace, and went straight out of the Bacheng Gate. Five miles outside the city, the dense infantry cavalry had already been arranged in phalanxes according to the formation. After Chen Cheng arrived, he didn't say much, just said simply: "Let's go!" ”

The desolate trumpet sounded in the pre-dawn darkness, and one by one the cavalry and infantry battalions marched out of a queue of more than ten miles and embarked on the road to the east. The 10,000-strong army, equipped with many mules, horses and carts, traveled 100 miles a day along the official road, and it took only three or four days to reach Tongguan.

The army repaired at Tongguan for half a day and continued its departure the next morning. Chen Cheng moved quickly with his army, and even if he touched the city, he did not go in to rest, at most he only replenished some grain and grass and changed the pack horses. In this way, it took another five days to finally arrive in Luoyang.

From Chang'an to Luoyang, it took eight days to march on the road alone. After arriving in Luoyang, Fu Gan and Xu Rong had already received the news in advance and brought hundreds of people to greet them outside the city.

When marching on the road, you can often see farmers busy in the fields on both sides of the road. After nearly a year of recuperation, Hongnong has recovered a lot, but the situation in Henan is not very good, large areas of barren fields have grown half-human weeds, but no one takes care of them, only some wild beasts infested them.

Only in the vicinity of Luoyang did there become more populated. After Fu Gan took office as Yin of Henan, he took recruiting displaced people and developing production as his top priority. He distributed fields and seeds to the tens of thousands of displaced people he had recruited, and promised them that they would pay 10% of the harvest in the first year, and that the tax would be set at 3/10 each year thereafter.

These actions quickly stabilized the people's hearts, and Fu Gan recruited more than 1,000 young men from these people to form a police force to maintain law and order. Chen Cheng looked around and saw that many simple camps had been set up near the city wall. On the wooden poles in the camp, fishing nets and clothes were hung, and there were some food, such as peppers and garlic.

"Minister, meet the lord!"

"Minister Xu Rong, meet the lord!"

Chen Cheng jumped off the horse, helped the two of them up, and asked, "How is the war in Xuzhou now?" ”

The information received in Chang'an is always outdated, and it has been outdated for a long time. Luoyang is closer to Yanzhou and Xuzhou, and the situation of outdated news will be better, but it will still lag by several days. This is due to the limitations of the technological level of the times, and even if the technological level has developed to a very high level, the phenomenon of information lag still exists.

After Fu Gan stood up, he said, "Liu Yuanjun's soldiers and horses have retreated to the front line of the Huai River and are now defending Xuyi City. ”

Xuyi is located in the lower reaches of the Huai River, in the central and eastern part of the Jianghuai Plain, and like most places in Xuzhou, the terrain is flat and the waterways are longitudinal and horizontal, which is very suitable for large army operations.

Chen Cheng asked again: "How much grain and grass is there in Luoyang City now?" ”

Fu Gan showed a look of embarrassment on his face and replied, "There are only 20,000 stone of grain and more than 40,000 stone of miscellaneous grain, which is barely enough for the people and the army to eat. The ministers are frightened and have the trust of the lord. ”

Chen Cheng shook his head and said, "You have done a good job, the last time I came here, it was still overgrown with weeds and a desolate scene. ”

He said to Fu Gan and Xu Rong: "Let's go back to Luoyang first, and then talk." ”

The army was stationed outside the city as usual, and Chen Cheng only brought a few hundred people into the city. The city of Luoyang has been repeatedly burned by wars over the years, and many palaces in the city have been burned down. Fu Gan didn't have enough manpower and supplies on his hands, so he didn't send people to repair those palaces, but just cleared the streets.

Chen Cheng took the guards to live in some houses near Nangong, and then continued to discuss with Fu Gan and Xu Rong about sending troops to Yanzhou, before Cao Cao led troops to attack Xuzhou, the court first issued an order to reprimand, and then sent an envoy to mediate, but Cao Cao didn't care about what the court said for reasons such as "the general is outside, and the military order is not subject to it",

In order to seize territory and population, all the princes of the world are fighting bloodily, and who will pay attention to what the court says until the last resort?

The imperial court was also unceremonious, and then issued a "crusade order", ordering the surrounding princes to send troops to attack Cao Cao, and depriving Cao Cao of his position as Yanzhou pastor. It's just that Liu Biao, Liu Miao and others are too unhelpful, and after expressing to the angel that they will obey the will of the imperial court, there is no practical action.

"The food and grass in the army are only enough to eat for ten days, and I don't know when the grain purchased from Hanoi and Nanyang will arrive." Chen Cheng said: "We must fight quickly and take Yanzhou as soon as possible." ”

He said to Xu Rong: "How many soldiers and horses does Cao Cao have left in Yanzhou?" What is the combat effectiveness of those Yanzhou soldiers? ”

Xu Rong had entered Yanzhou with two thousand horsemen a month ago, so he had some understanding of the reality of Yanzhou.

"The main forces of Cao's army are attacking Xuzhou, and those who remain in Yanzhou are all weaker troops, but there are not many of them."

"How many?"

"After Cao Cao incorporated 300,000 Qingzhou Yellow Turbans, his troops increased greatly." Xu Rong said: "Although the main force of the Yanzhou soldiers is trapped in Xuzhou, but in Yanzhou, 100,000 troops can still be mobilized!" ”

"No wonder it is said that the Central Plains have the world, and with such a large population, Cao Cao can keep using troops in all directions." Chen Cheng smiled: "Fortunately, we didn't come to fight him this time." ”

Before the war, there were 150,000 households and a population of more than 600,000 in Dong County alone. The population of Yanzhou is more than 4 million, which is twice that of Guanzhong! It was because of such a large population that Cao Cao was able to become one of the most powerful princes in the world in a short period of time.

However, at this time, Chen Cheng was finally able to uncover the hole cards, he took out the holy decree prepared in advance, showed it to Fu Gan and Xu Rong, and asked: "If these people can be attached to the imperial court, then it will not take much effort to pacify Yanzhou." ”

Fu Gan was the one who handled this matter, and it was not surprising that the names of the people appeared on the holy decree, but he also admired Chen Cheng's strength. Yanzhou Mu has such a position, and he will be sealed out. Xu Rong only vaguely knew a little rumor, and after seeing the content of the holy decree, he couldn't help but be surprised, and said in surprise: "Feng Chen Palace as Yanzhou Mu?" Zang Ba is the general of Zhendong? ”

Chen Cheng saw the surprised look on Xu Rong's face, and asked with a smile, "How?" ”

Xu Rong thought for a while and said: "If Chen Gong and Zang Ba can really return to the imperial court, then they can cut off Cao Cao's retreat, even if he has more soldiers and horses, it is just a tree without roots and a source of water." But Chen Gong was Cao Cao's henchman, how could he suddenly fall to the imperial court? ”

Fu Gan coughed on the side and said, "Actually, it's not very sudden, before General Xu came to Luoyang, Chen Gongtai had already secretly written to me. After Cao Mengde took charge of Yanzhou Mu, he oppressed the local Haoqiangshi too much, and many people had long been dissatisfied. Before Cao Cao, he killed the old Jiujiang Taishou Bian Rang, which aroused the righteous indignation of many people. It is probably for this reason that Chen Gong decided to take refuge in the imperial court. ”

Xu Rong looked at Fu Gan, then at Chen Cheng, with a happy face, "In this way, great things can be done!" ”

He bowed to the ground and asked for battle: "Please be the vanguard, and the Lord will pacify the counties of Yanzhou!" ”

Chen Chengzhuang said that Xu Rong led 3,000 soldiers and horses out of the Tiger Prison Pass and rushed towards Yanzhou. Because Chen Cheng canonized Chen Gong as the pastor of Yanzhou in the name of the Son of Heaven, after leading his troops to the east, he basically did not encounter any decent resistance. Most of Yanzhou soon fell into the hands of the imperial court, or Chen Cheng.

After Zang Ba took Taishan's army and Chen Cheng's troops to converge in Yongqiu, only Juancheng was left in the entire Yanzhou, and Fan Cheng and Dong'e were still holding on. Before the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, Zang Ba was once wanted to rescue his father. After the Yellow Turban Army launched a great uprising that swept the world, or called the Great Rebellion, it gathered a lot of soldiers and horses and entrenched near Mount Tai.

When Tao Qian was in charge of Xuzhou Mu, he recruited Zang Ba and others to conquer the Yellow Turban Army in Xuzhou. Later, Zang Ba marched westward, was defeated by Cao Cao on the plains, and retreated to Taishan County. Because he had been beaten by Cao Cao many times, Zang Ba was not willing to be Cao Cao's enemy again, and when Cao Jun and Liu Bei were fighting, he just sat back and watched.

But now the situation is different, the imperial army is coming, and even Chen Gong has betrayed Cao Cao, so what else is he afraid of? So he gladly accepted the title of General Zhendong, and drove into Yanzhou with more than 30,000 people.