A few days later, Ma Chao, Yan Xing, and their accompanying guards were each given a bow and a bag of white feather arrows, and they were extremely happy. Although the analysis bow is not as strong as their horn bow, it is well-made, like a work of art, and has a strong Nanyang style, so that these Liangzhou people from the northwest can truly appreciate the culture of Nanyang Emperor Township. While being ashamed of himself, he aroused more yearning, and at the same time there was a little dissatisfaction with the court.

Han Sui and Ma Teng were made marquis and received some rewards, but these had nothing to do with ordinary soldiers. Ma Chao, as Ma Teng's eldest son, still has the opportunity to benefit from it, Yan Xing is just a young general by Han Sui's side, and the oil and water he can share are pitiful. This is especially true of Pound and others. Seeing Sun Ce's generosity, he was able to have no complaints against the imperial court.

Leaving Xixian, Guo Jia did not take them to Wancheng, but took them south, along the Junshui south, to visit the ancient battlefield of Danyang. Xu Rong once allowed to ambush Sun Ce here, but Sun Ce was not fooled, but went to Xi County, Xu Rong's plan failed, and he had to go south to capture the people, and led to the massacre of Nanxiang and Shunyang.

Ma Chao didn't pay attention at first, but when they finished watching the ancient battlefield and listening to Guo Jia's talk about the ancients, they found that Guo Jia still had no intention of going east, but continued to go south, and couldn't help but be a little surprised, and couldn't help asking: "Guo Saijiu, when will we go to Wancheng?" ”

Guo Jia laughed. "General Ma, can I ask you a question?"

Ma Chao didn't think about it, and responded: "Of course you can." ”

"How does your martial arts compare to Wenhou Lu Bu?"

Ma Chao opened his mouth, not knowing what to say for a while. "I haven't fought before, so I don't dare to say anything." He paused, didn't think it was appropriate, and added. "Wenhou is a flying general, and he is ashamed of himself."

Guo Jia nodded. "The general is young, even if he is temporarily inferior, he will have the opportunity to compete with Wen Hou in the future. The two of you are the leading warriors of the Xiliang Army and the arrows of the Xiliang Army. With you, the Xiliang army can come from behind and overwhelm the state army. The fact that the Che Cavalry General can become a general relied on by the imperial court has a great relationship with the fact that he is from Liangzhou. Although General Sun defeated Xu Rong, he did not feel that he could defeat Xu Rong, and Xu Rong's defeat was not on the battlefield, but on internal discord, because he was not from Liangzhou. ”

Ma Chao was thoughtful and muttered something in a low voice. He knew a little about this matter, but Guo Jia mentioned this matter, obviously not to correct Xu Rong's name, but to remind him of something. The imperial court is in charge of Yang Biao and Xun Yu, they are both Kwantung people, Cao Cao is also Kwantung people, Lu Bu can also be regarded as Kwantung people, or the same state of Taifu Wang Yun, the court transferred him and Yan Xing to Nanyang, did he want the Bingzhou army to suppress the Liangzhou army?

Guo Jia waited for a while, leaving enough time for Ma Chao to think, seeing that Ma Chao's eyes were changing, knowing that he had become suspicious, then he continued: "A year ago, Xu Rong led 20,000 Xiliang elites into Nanyang, burned and plundered, and slaughtered Nanxiang and Shunyang two cities, many people died, on the occasion of this anniversary, the survivors remembered the tragic situation last year, and they were still sad and indignant. Understand the mood of Nanyang people and maintain a certain understanding of possible encounters to avoid unnecessary conflicts. ”

Ma Chao's face was a little unnatural. Guo Jia is threatening them, which is equivalent to saying that the people of Nanyang do not welcome the people of Liangzhou, so don't cause trouble.

Guo Jia sighed lightly: "To be honest, I don't really understand why the imperial court sent you, and both of them are from Liangzhou, this is not a challenge to General Sun, but a challenge to the entire Jingzhou." ”

Seeing that Ma Chao was speechless, Pang De hurriedly said: "Guo Xianjiu misunderstood, we just came to pass on the edict and invite General Sun to Chang'an to participate in the competition, not to challenge General Sun." ”

"What if General Sun doesn't go?"

Faced with Guo Jia's undisguised questioning, Pound didn't know what to say. Sun Ce is not going? Then there's only the challenge. But this sentence cannot be said explicitly, otherwise the edict will become an ornament. Ma Chao waved his hand and signaled Pound to stop arguing with Guo Jia, it was unnecessary and meaningless.

"What exactly does Guo Saijiu want to say? Let's put it bluntly. I'm waiting for Liangzhou Wufu, and I like to go straight. ”

Guo Jia clapped his hands and smiled. "It's good to go straight. General Ma is worthy of being a hero of Xiliang, happy and refreshing. What I mean is actually very simple, whether you are here to preach the edict or compete in martial arts, General Sun is very welcome. Meeting friends with martial arts and seeing the heroes of the world is the joy of martial artists, no less than the literati sitting and talking about the Tao, giving wine and chanting poems. But if you're taken advantage of, it's not fun, right? ”

Ma Chao snorted, his color slowed slightly, but he felt a little uncomfortable. Not against Guo Jia, but against Yang Biao and Xun Yu. Knowing that the people of Nanyang do not welcome the people of Liangzhou, they also sent the two of them to challenge, which is obviously an ulterior motive. What is the intention, it is naturally to weaken the strength of the Liangzhou people in the army and override the emperor Fu Song.

None of these Kanto people are good. I cheated Dong Zhuo before, and now I want to pit us again.

"The sacrificial wine is well-intentioned, we have already learned about it, so let's ask the sacrificial wine to lead us to Wancheng and meet General Sun. Although we are from Liangzhou, we are not General Sun's enemies, and we will not make trouble for nothing and make General Sun embarrassed. ”

"The two generals are sensible, and they are grateful."

——

Guo Wu traveled day and night, and it only took five days to arrive in Wancheng.

After reading Hongzhi's book, and asking Guo Wu about the entire war, Sun Ce did not dare to slack off and invited Zhang Hong to discuss. Guo Jia has detailed work in Lujiang, and Jiao Zhongqing is fully responsible. Because the battle in Lujiang was commanded by Sun Jian, they did not arrange other detailed work, and Sun Jian did not have the awareness of this, and rarely took the initiative to report the battle situation, so that their understanding of the war in Lujiang was very limited.

Judging from Guo Wu's limited account, Sun Jian's war in Lujiang seemed to be smooth sailing, but it was actually full of crises. According to Sun Ce's understanding, Chen Deng's retreat was not defeated by Sun Jian, but took the initiative to retreat, the purpose of which was to lure Sun Jian to Shu County and expose the logistics supply line to Zhou Ang's attack. It's just that Zhou Ang's ability is too poor, and he is not the opponent of Wu Jing who is in charge of logistics, which leads to the current predicament.

If Zhou Ang's ability was a little stronger, Sun Jian would have been cut back from the supply line and attacked by Zhou Ang and Sun Deng, even if he would not be defeated, he would not be able to hold out for too long, so he could only retreat to Runan County.

Sun Jian is too confident. He didn't regard Chen Deng as an opponent, thinking that Chen Deng was similar to those people he had met before, taking victory for granted, and not realizing the hidden murderous motives.

Chen Deng was also too confident, he overestimated Zhou Ang's ability and put himself in trouble.

When Zhang Hong arrived, Sun Ce said his analysis, and Zhang Hong agreed. This analysis should be basically reasonable. But the crux of the matter is how to reinforce Sun Jian, avoid major setbacks, and achieve the original strategic goal as much as possible. This was an important part of the realization of the southward expansion plan, and it was a task that Sun Ce was preparing to carry out on his own.

Zhang Hong thought for a long time and said, "Arrange someone to go to General Zhengdong's side to staff the military." ”