Zhao Yan took his hands, squinted at Zhang Liao, and said in a very stiff tone: "At the beginning of the year, Xu Rongkou and I Yingchuan, can the captain be among them?" ”

"At that time, Zhang Liao was still in Luoyang and did not attend the meeting."

Zhao Yan's face softened slightly, and he said reluctantly: "In this case, for the sake of General Sun's face, I will talk to you." ”

Zhang Liao couldn't cry or laugh, but he still politely ordered someone to bring wine and food, and invited Zhao Yan to take a seat. Zhao Yan stood proudly with his hands behind his back, not even interested in sitting down, let alone drinking with Zhang Liao. "The lieutenant probably thinks that the Son of Heaven is in Chang'an, Dong Zhuo is the Taishi, and Xu Rong is the general appointed by Dong Zhuo, so he can represent the imperial court, and General Sun is not appointed by the imperial court, and since Nanyang, he is a rebel, so you are bright and he is dark, right?"

Zhang Liao did not say a word.

Zhao Yan sneered: "Such nonsense, I'm afraid the captain himself doesn't believe it, right?" ”

Zhang Liao closed his lips tightly and said nothing.

"Dong Zhuo, as a general, supports the army and respects himself, and has repeatedly disobeyed the edict of the dynasty before, the first emperor is rebellious, raising tigers is troublesome, He Jin is stupid, luring wolves into the house, and finally the tiger and wolf are devoured, and his reputation is ruined. Dong Zhuo seized power by force, and at first he could pretend to be pretentious, lure celebrities, and introduce sages, but soon he reverted to his old ways, drove the people of Luoyang west into Chang'an, burned down Luoyang, Kyoto, and slaughtered the people with soldiers, leaving nothing behind within 200 miles. Changed the court system, abolished without authorization, first for the country, and then for the prince, did not enter the court, and went to the palace with a sword, even Wang Mang, who usurped the Han Dynasty, was not so presumptuous. Does he still have the Son of Heaven in his eyes, and the court? ”

Zhao Yan's voice was violent, Zhang Liao lowered his eyelids, he didn't dare to look at him, but he couldn't suppress the fever on his face. Dong Zhuo did these things, he knew better than Zhao Yan, but he had always refused to admit it, and now that he was reprimanded by Zhao Yan in person, he was even more speechless, and his face was panicked.

"You think you have been commanded to conquer and not to obey, but you have taken the people captive. General Sun did not have the task of the imperial court, but he did not hesitate to risk his life in order to save the people, and took the lead in the soldiers, and relieved the siege of Licheng in a battle, and relieved the people from hanging upside down. Didn't you hear the cheers of the people of Licheng when you were defeated and fled? Or are you hiding your ears and stealing the bell and deceiving yourself? How could General Sun be friends with a stupid person like you? ”

Zhang Liao's face was so hot that he couldn't even lift his head.

Zhao Yan raised a hand and pointed to the sky. "Haotian is clear, rewarding evil and punishing good, although sooner or later, it will be unhappy after all. With the dignity of the Emperor, he is cruel and unkind, and the heavens cannot tolerate it, let alone Dong Zhuo Pifu. At this time, he did not repent and introspect, and he also did his best, thinking that he could be invincible in the world, which was really stupid. Once Chang'an changes, the imperial court kills Dong Zhuo, how can you and other rebels stay out of the matter? You think you are ordered to go on an expedition, but it is no different from sitting on the accumulated salary and playing with fire. Captain Zhang, it's not too late to make amends, don't you know which is bright and which is dark, and don't you understand General Sun's hard work? ”

After Zhao Yan finished speaking, he flicked his sleeves and walked away.

Zhang Liao's face changed greatly, and he got up to stop Zhao Yan, but he didn't speak, hesitated for a moment, and sat back again, bursts of cold sweat came out of his body, instantly soaking his robe.

Zhao Yan's words reminded him. Murderers, people will always kill them, Dong Zhuo has killed so many ministers, killed so many people, there are too many people to kill him, otherwise he would not build a city in Hewu to accumulate food. The only people who can protect him are Xiliang soldiers, at this moment Xiliang is exhausted, and Nanyang is conquered in two ways, once Chang'an changes, who can protect him, who will protect him?

Zhang Liao immediately thought of Wang Yun. Wang Yun was a famous scholar in Bingzhou, and when he was young, he became famous for his straight road, and in order to confront the eunuchs, he refused to bow his head even if he died in prison. He suddenly attached himself to Dong Zhuo, this change was too sudden. If he didn't recognize Dong Zhuo's true face at the beginning, he still had a reason to do this, but now that Dong Zhuo's murderous face has been revealed, it seems very abnormal that he is still attached to Dong Zhuo.

Also, the conquest of Nanyang seems to be Wang Yun's proposition.

The more Zhang Liao thought about it, the more frightened he became, and his whole body was cold. He felt that there was darkness in front of him, and there was no hope in sight. If there is hope, then Sun Ce is his only hope. But his brother Zhang Pan is still in Xu Rong's camp, and Xu Rong trusts him so much that he does not hesitate to quarrel with the generals of Xiliang for this reason, how can he ignore Xu Rong and surrender to Sun Ce alone?

Zhang Liao thought about it for a long time, set up camp overnight, and rushed back to the camp in Xixian County.

——

Lou Gui repaired the city well, Sun Ce gave Wen Ping face, appointed Lou Gui as the military commander, and assisted Wen Ping in guarding Licheng.

Lou Gyu was grateful. Although the military Sima is only a thousand stones, he can theoretically lead the troops to fight, and he can be promoted in the future after making military achievements. It must be far worse than when he commanded 10,000 people before, but now it is not as good as in the past, where do you dare to expect too much. Compared with Cao Cao's apparent trust, but in fact, he cheated him hard, Sun Ce was already very tolerant in doing so.

Immediately afterwards, Sun Ce received news from Qiao Rui. Xu Shu had already arrived at Wuguan, and Wuguan was unharmed, but there were Xiliang soldiers on the east and west sides. Because of the lack of information, the soldiers of Wuguan were nervous for a while, thinking that Nanyang had been lost. Seeing Xu Shu, he learned that Wancheng was unharmed, the army's heart was settled, and Qiao Rui was confident that he would hold the Wuguan. Xu Shu is brave and resourceful, and has been appointed by him as the Sima of the Zuojun to assist in guarding the Wuguan.

Finally, Qiao Rui expressed his condolences to Yuan Shu, expressed respect for Yuan Shu's will, and accepted Sun Ce's command.

Sun Ce breathed a sigh of relief. Knowing that Xu Rong broke into Nanyang, he almost suspected that Qiao Rui Xianguan had surrendered. Now that he knows that this is not the case, his worries can be put aside for the time being, with Xu Shu assisting Qiao Rui to guard Wuguan, the safety of Wuguan has another guarantee, and it is not so easy for Xu Rong to leave Nanyang smoothly.

But new doubts arise. How exactly did Xu Rong get into Nanyang, and why did he do it? The use of troops pays attention to defending with righteousness, winning with odds, and breaking into Nanyang with strange soldiers is certainly advantageous for the first time, but once the situation is unfavorable, he will have to bear the serious consequences of insufficient baggage. This is not in line with common sense in the use of troops, especially for a famous general like Xu Rong, this is a mistake that should not occur at all.

Sun Ce thought about the map for a long time, but still felt incomprehensible. He decided to use his collective wisdom and ask the future to deliberate. He couldn't figure out this question, and he always felt that something was wrong.

It didn't take long, and Qin Mu was the first to arrive. He shook off the snowflakes from his body and grinned at his hands. "What the hell is this weather, it snowed two days after it was sunny, and it was colder than outside the plug, so cold that my hands were sore, and it hurt to scratch, and it was itchy if I didn't scratch." As he spoke, he rushed to the fire and stretched out his hand to bake the fire.

Wen Ping walked in. "In my opinion, you Guanzhong people brought this together. It was rare for snow to fall in Nanyang before, and it is even more rare to have two consecutive snowfalls like today. ”

Sun Ce didn't speak, staring at Qin Mu's red and swollen hands, the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, and his eyes were smug with a hint of indescribable insidiousness. Qin Mu was startled and hurriedly retracted his hand. "General, what kind of eyes do you have?"

Sun Ce smiled and said, "Meng Chang, are the knights under your command the same as you, all tortured by this frostbite?" ”