The earth is renewed, and the grass by the roadside is green. The wind in the air was still a little chilly on my face, but it was much softer than in previous months. Yuan Xi's army lined up in a straight line and marched south. Everyone had no expression on their faces, but they were extra relaxed on their feet.

Yuan Xi had a special headache, and Youzhou's financial situation was worse than he imagined. Gongsun Zhan's savings were all taken away by his father Yuan Shao, leaving a mess. He has to reclaim fertile land, feed the army, and deal with vampires like the Cui family, and rack his brains every day. Fortunately, taking advantage of this time to go south with the troops, you can relax.

Out of Ji County to the south, it is a familiar road. At the beginning, he had wandered around here, and he had met Le Hodang. I don't know how Le Hedang and his son Le Qiyang are now, they have been on the grassland for a while, passing through the desert outside Juyong Pass, and to the west is the territory of the Xianbei people. With the means of Le He Dang, he should be able to make a lot of money, this is only the first step, and the income will continue to be invested, like a snowball, for Youzhou's finances to continue to transfuse.

Tian Chou rode his horse and pointed ahead: "Why do you want to take this road, I remember that there is a small road that can go directly to the destination in the south, so it will be a long detour." ”

Tian Chou knows the terrain of Youzhou well, and he can also count some paths that others don't know. If you want to fight Cao Cao in Youzhou in the future, this person will be of great use. Bah, it's really unlucky, if Cao Cao hit Youzhou like in history, he would have been unable to return to the sky, so he would simply surrender.

Yuan Xi replied to him: "This is the road to Wenjiabao, there are a few old acquaintances over there, who have played football together, go over to say hello to them." ”

"Oh......" next to Lu Fang let out an exclamation.

Yuan Xi asked, "What supplies are most lacking in the army now?" ”

Tian Chou said: "There is a lack of horses. ”

Yuan Xi said: "We are infantry, not cavalry, what horses are missing?" ”

Tian Chou said: "The infantry also needs horses, don't you need horses for reconnaissance and liaison and passing military orders?" It's just that this horse has a lot of expenses, and when Gongsun Zhan gathered the power of Youzhou, he also fed 5,000 cavalry, of which only 500 white horses were fine riders. If he is given twice as many cavalry, with Gongsun Zhan's martial arts, it is also possible to set foot in Jizhou. ”

Yuan Xi said: "Then you can brag, although the cavalry is powerful, they can't go to the sky." If I had been given a tank, I would have conquered the whole world. ”

"Tanks?" Tian Chou seems to have discovered a new continent. And Lu Fang shook his head and sighed, he was no longer surprised.

Yuan Xi explained: "A kind of box made of iron, people can sit in it and drive forward, and a strong crossbow is installed on it, which can be fired from a distance, but others can't hit it because the skin is thick. ”

Tian Chou stroked his beard and said, "Oh, similar to heavy cavalry, as long as you put iron armor on the horse, you can be invincible." However, the requirements for horses are too high, and it is impossible for Youzhou to produce such good horses. ”

Yuan Xi asked, "What did you just say that we are short of horses?" Youzhou is a place to produce horses, Gongsun Zhan can collect 5,000 horses, and as a historian of Youzhou, I should be able to forcibly recruit some horses. ”

Lu Fang said: "Second son, the last time we were in Yuyang, the people over there didn't say that someone south of Ji County was secretly buying good horses. ”

Yuan Xi said: "It seems that there is such a saying. ”

Tian Chou said: "This is also the practice of Youzhou......

Yuan Xi asked, "What's going on?" Let's hear it. ”

Tian Chou said: "Think about it, where did the horses in the Central Plains, the horses in Huainan, and the horses in Jingzhou come from?" Although there are also horse farms there, after all, the scale is small and the water and grass are poor, and most of the horses still have to be purchased from places like Youzhou and Northwest. Only horses in cold climates can endure hardships and stand hard work and resist horse plague. A horse that grew up in the south and migrated from the north is a completely different fighting force. Therefore, the southern princes are all fighting the idea of Youzhou horses. ”

Yuan Xi clenched his fists and said, "This is a big deal...... Why didn't I think of it......"

Tian Chou and Lu Fang looked at him like monsters, and said: "No matter how big the deal is, it has nothing to do with you, now the horses have been bought up by those tycoons, they raise their own horses, and then secretly sell them to the ranches in the south to collect huge profits." I heard that Cao Cao had a tiger and leopard cavalry, with a force of 3,000, most of whom were bought from Youzhou and Xiliang. ”

Yuan Xi said: "What? I can't buy this Youzhou Thorn Horse, and they dare to fornicate with foreign enemies? ”

But then again, compared to these wealthy lords, the weight of Youzhou Thorn History is too light. Even Yuan Shao did not dare to openly cut off the line of buying and selling horses privately. Cut off people's money, and people will fight hard with you. Cao Cao had a friend named Lou Gui, who raised horses in Jingzhou in his early years, and privately traded with the wealthy families in Youzhou, and bought a large number of war horses to go south. The horse trade is a big business, and the relationships involved are extremely complex.

As soon as Tian Chou said it, Yuan Xi suddenly felt that there was a lot to do in it, but he couldn't think of it for a while, so he had to say: "Go back and study it again." Lu Fang immediately took out the cloth and pen he had brought with him and wrote them down.

They walked for a while, and suddenly a gust of wind blew, and the surrounding trees shrugged and shivered, and birds flew up in the trees. Yuan Xi raised his head and looked into the distance, but unfortunately his vision was blocked by trees, and he doubted in his heart: "What's the matter?" ”

At this time, Xu Dayan ran over and reported: "I found that there was a group of cavalry, about twenty people, all white horses, who had taken a picture of our vanguard and swept past us. ”

"White horse?" Yuan Xi's eyes widened suddenly, and he said, "It's not good, it's the remnants of Gongsun Zhan, hurry up and gather the team." ”

"An order has been given to halt the advance, and now the companies are assembling."

Yuan Xi asked, "Have you seen what the other party looks like?" ”

Xu Dayan shook his head and said: "I saw a back, and it seemed that I also found that we were too many people, so I fled in a hurry." ”

Disturbed by such a small episode, the people's army changed its formation, cautiously advanced, and finally arrived at a small village and found someone to ask.

The old man's voice was muffled and he didn't know very clearly, but he finally knew that there was indeed a group of horse thieves nearby, robbing everywhere, and that it had only appeared last month.

This must be the remnants of Gongsun Zhan's army, since the fall of Yijing City, Gongsun Chan is dead, but many of his generals are wiped out, some have broken through, some have already organized rescue on the periphery, and some have hid when they saw that the general trend had gone. This gang of horse thieves only fled here last month, and they should have broken through from Yijing.

Yuan Xi rubbed his hands together and said, "Brothers, we have something to do again, this time it is a real combat drill." ”