Early spring of the thirteenth year of Chuping (202 AD).

"I ordered Youzhou Assassin Shi Lu Zhi to lead the Xianbei Zhonglang General, lead the Pingyu General Shi Lian, the auxiliary general Geng Wu, and the Huya General Min Chun, lead the northern army of the Yan country, and protect the northern frontier of the Yan country."

"Wait for the order!"

"Ordered Xiang Ping to lead General Wei, lead the generals of the army Han Hao, Tian Yu, and Pingkou General Li Zhu, lead the southern army of Yanguo, enter the division, and recover the lost territory."

"Wait for the order!"

"Jingzhao Yin Jiangyan walked with the army and entered Luoyang."

"Command!"

"Ordered Jizhou Assassin Shi Gaoshun to be the general of Pingdong, and led the Jianzhong general Gongsun Xu, the Hengye general Guan Jing, and the Liehu general Yan Gang to guard Jizhou, Qingzhou Plain, Yanzhou East County, and strictly prevent Cao Cao from going north according to the Yellow River."

"Wait for the order!"

"Order Colonel Lieutenant Zhao Yun to assist the Prime Minister's Mansion in governing the Yan Kingdom."

"Wait for the order!"

"Ordered the general Tai Shici of the Dianjun army, Xu Huang of Baibo Zhonglang, Yang Feng of the Fujun Zhonglang, Zhang Yan of the Heishan Zhonglang, Gao Lan of Zhenwei Zhonglang, and Guan Hai of Jianyi Zhonglang to follow the king to the west and recover the land of Sanfu Xilong."

"Wait for the order!"

As soon as the military order was issued, Xiang Ao turned to look at Zhu Jun, who was already old, and asked with a chuckle: "Lian Po is old, can you still eat?" ”

When Zhu Jun heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then his face was ecstatic, and he returned excitedly: "King Yuyan, the old minister can chase after him on the horse, and he can kill him when he gets off the horse!" ”

"Hahaha..."Xiang Ao laughed and said loudly: "Order Zhu Jun to be the general of the Chinese army and go with me!" ”

"Command!" Zhu Jun knelt on one knee and answered the order aloud.

Xiang Ao nodded, chuckled and turned his head to look at the judges, Cui Yan, and Xun Chen: "Mr. Zhengnan, Mr. Ji Qi, Mr. Youruo!" This trip has to rely on the gentlemen's advice. ”

"It is a blessing for us to be able to serve the Yan King!"

The three judges replied with a wry smile. After the Jizhou War, the three surrendered to Xiang Ao's power, and they have only been used as staff members in the Prime Minister's Mansion, and they have contributed a lot but have not been reused by the Prime Minister's Mansion. Even so, every time Ao has a major decision, the three of them will come to discuss.

The three of them observed Xiang Ao for a long time, and slowly began to adapt to the benefits of Xiang Ao's system to the people and the family. Putting aside the interests of their respective families, in the eyes of the three of them, the current decree in Xiang Ao's forces may be more durable for Yanguo. However, in the four or five years after the recovery of Jizhou, Yanguo was too peaceful, making it difficult for the three of them to find opportunities to make contributions.

It's not that the three of them are not good at government orders, it's just that the deep-rooted concept of the family has not completely changed the three of them within five years, and it is also the fundamental reason why Xiang Ao does not dare to reuse the three of them for the time being.

After three or five years of repair, the Yan country can be described as strong and strong, with abundant grain and grass, and it is time to send troops again and take another big move to dominate the world. Although Xiang Ao's Yan State is strong, Cao Cao, who sits on the Central Plains, is not an easy person.

After Xu Shu secretly Chen Cang entered the Beihai Kingdom and contacted Kong Rong, he took most of Qingzhou under Cao Cao's unknowing. The Yellow Turban Army, which sent troops to Dongjun, only occupied the area of Baima (now northeast of Huaxian County) and Puyang, and the north of the Yellow River was taken by Cao Cao as the top priority and strictly guarded, without giving Zhang Yan and Guan Hai any opportunity.

After Xiang Ao sobered up, he took the initiative to write to Cao Cao, planning to replace the remaining boundaries of Dongjun with Qingzhou Beihaiguo, Donglai County and Cao Cao.

The northern part of Dongjun is Cao Cao's important place, and Cao Cao has been stubbornly guarding the northern part of Dongjun, just to insert nails into Xiang Ao's territory, so that Xiang Ao does not dare to develop with peace of mind. Beihai Kingdom, although there are many mountain ranges between Donglai County and Yanzhou and Xuzhou, it also makes Cao Cao feel like a man on his back, and he is terrified all day long. Even though Cao Cao was unwilling to give up the northern part of Dongjun, at Guo Jia's suggestion, Cao Cao agreed to exchange territory with Xiang Ao. After all, this is not the time for a decisive battle with Xiang Ao.

In this way, Xiang Ao and Cao Cao tacitly agreed to rule the water. Xiang Ao occupies the eastern county of Yanzhou, the plain county of Qingzhou, and the northern part of Le'an country; Cao Cao occupied all the boundaries of Yanzhou except Dongjun and most of the south of Jishui in Qingzhou. It's just that the hundreds of thousands of yellow turban remnants in Qingzhou that were too late to recover made Xiang Ao feel distressed, so he had to give them to Cao Cao and watch Cao Cao continue to grow.

Within two years, the princes and princes of all walks of life did not make much move, and seemed to be recuperating and waiting for the opportunity.

However, Liu Bei took advantage of Cao Cao's momentum and formed an alliance with Liu Yan in Jingzhou. Liu Biao not only evacuated all the troops within the boundaries of Nanyang, but also kept sending troops and food to Liu Bei, and the only requirement was to let Liu Bei defend Nanyang County and not let Cao Cao advance west for half a minute. As for Sun Ce, who was under the banner of avenging his father, he had contacts with Huang Zu in Jiangxia and had a lot of fun.

Xiang Ao, who had rectified the internal affairs, made Yanguo start to rotate non-stop, and he started thinking about Sanfu and Ma Teng's forces in Longxi.

Xiang Ao personally led the Western Army, with 10,000 white horse volunteers, 5,000 heavy armored cavalry and 5,000 cavalry, 50,000 elite Western Army, plus all kinds of soldiers and horses in logistics, a full 100,000 elite, and the art of war in Liangzhou. not only brought a lot of new generals, such as Tai Shici, Xu Huang, Yang Feng, Zhang Yan, Gao Lan, Guan Hai, etc., but also brought the commander Dian Wei and the general Xu Shu.

There are even more people who have joined the army, not to mention the trial, Cui Yan, and Xun Chen, and at the same time appointed Pang Tong as the military division of the army for this westward expedition, and gave advice to Xiang Ao along the way.

With such a huge formation, not to mention just Xiliang, even with the addition of Lu Bu in Hanzhong, Xiang Ao is confident that he will win it in one fell swoop. Si Li was attacked by the southern army led by Xiang Ping, even if there were still tens of thousands of white waves and yellow turbans in Hedong, Xiang Ao was not worried about Xiang Ping's ability. Thinking like this, Xiang Ao led the army directly from Bingzhou Shang County, crossed Rongcheng, and went directly to Xiliang Beidi County (now north to Yinchuan, south to Qingyang).

And Bian Jing, who has been stationed in Mrs. Fan's City, finally came in handy.

In the past, Han Sui rebelled, beheaded Bian Jing's father Bian Zhang, elected Ma Teng as the temporary head of the kingdom, and seized Xiliang. The revenge of killing his father has been buried in Bian Jing's heart for more than ten years. For more than ten years, Bian Jing thought that Xiang Ao had already forgotten the promise he had made to him, and his heart had gradually died when he captured Han Sui. After receiving Xiang Ao's edict, Bian Jing raised the edict in his hand with trembling hands.

"Chen Bian Jing, thank you Yan Wang Longen!" Bian Jing raised the edict above his head, knelt down with a thud, and bowed to the east.

Jiao Jing looked at Bian Jing, who had passed the age of confusion in front of him and looked a little old, and he was teasing.

"General Sijon." Jiao Jing stepped forward to help Bian Jing up, and said with a little emotion: "The lord asked Jing to speak." ”

"Huqiang Zhonglang will speak!" Bian Jing still behaved extremely humbly and bowed to Jiao Jing.

Bian Jing sighed slightly and continued: "The main office, General Bian has worked hard and made great achievements, and after the Xiliang matter is finished, General Bian will be given an explanation." ”

"Thank you again for the kindness of King Yan!"

Looking at Bian Jing, who was crawling down again, Jiao Jing sighed again. wants to let the tough guy Bian Jing wait for the revenge of killing his father for more than ten years, but it is difficult for Bian Jing. What's more, Bian Jing has been stationed in Madame Fan City all the year round, and his lifelong ideal has to be realized.

"The lord has already led the western army into Xiliang Beidi County at this time, General Bian must not be in a hurry."

"The end will not be in a hurry, more than ten years have passed, and there is no hurry for a while."

"Although there has been information from Xiliang from the General's Mansion, the lord still wants to hear General Bian's opinion on the situation in Xiliang. Jing came this time, firstly, to send ordnance and baggage to General Bian, and secondly, to ask General Bian to convey the current situation in Xiliang to the lord. ”

Hearing this, Bian Jing hurriedly walked to his bookshelf, took out a stack of extremely thick books and papers from the secret place of the bookshelf, and put it in front of Jiao Jing.

"General Jiao, this general has never stopped collecting intelligence for more than ten years." Bian Jing said, opened the books one by one, and gave Bian Jing a detailed explanation.

"After Yuan Shao was defeated by my lord, the Xiliang forces were ready to move. Han Sui not only advocated sending troops to Luoyang and entering Luoyang, but also colluded with the Qiang forces and planned to replace Ma Teng. ”

"Oh?! Is there such a thing? ”

Jiao Jing was a little shocked, such important information was not mentioned in Xiang Ao's intelligence system.

"It's a very secretive matter, and it was only discovered by the last few months ago." Seeing Jiao Jing's doubts, Bian Jing explained on the side: "Although Ma Teng is talented, he is a little indecisive. In the past, Han Sui rebelled against my father, and he also coerced Ma Teng to accompany him, but Ma Teng remembered the old relationship and did not agree. ”

"Even so, Han Sui still killed my father!" Bian Jing's face was a little grim and said, "Elect Ma Teng as the head of the kingdom." At that time, the two had already disagreed. ”

"Especially after Ma Teng, he can fight well, not only has a high prestige in the Xiliang army, but even the Qiang people are in awe of Ma Teng's son. As a result, Han Sui became more and more jealous of Ma Teng. ”

"Son of Marten? Xiliang Jinma Chao? ”

"Yes!" Bian Jing didn't seem to be surprised that Jiao Jing knew about Ma Chao, and continued: "This person is born with divine power, and he has the courage of ten thousand people. He is also good at military affairs, and has created a great reputation in Xiliang. ”

Before coming to Mrs. Fan's City, Xiang Ao told Jiao Jing to let Jiao Jing find out about Ma Chao. At the beginning, Jiao Jing thought that Xiang Ao was making a big fuss, but he was just a remote person in the Western Regions, even if he got it, what could he do. At this time, Bian Jing had to pay attention to it, and Jiao Jing had to look at Ma Chao again.

"What is this man's temperament?"

"Reckless and cunning!" Bian Jing Zhengse said: "This person is a rare general, and he is at odds with Han Sui. Although it is not jealous and hateful, it is also clear between love and hate. If the lord can get the allegiance of this person, the recovery of Xiliang is just around the corner. ”

"Jin Ma Chao!?" Jiao Jing nodded, lowered his head uncertainly, looked carefully at the information collected by Bian Jing, and kept muttering.

After a long time, after Jiao Jing read Ma Chao's information, he raised his head, looked at Bian Jing with a solemn expression, and said, "Please also ask the general to quickly send an eight-hundred-mile fast horse to deliver this information to the lord." ”

"That's nature, General Jiao rest assured!"

After that, Bian Jing hurriedly went out and ordered someone to send Ma Chao's information to Xiang Ao, who had already felt Beidi County.