The weather was hot in summer, and the defenders at the south gate of Jiexiu City did not finally fall asleep until the third watch, and the stone thrown by Li Wei, the captain of the Han cavalry, had no effect on them as much as a few nasty mosquitoes "buzzing". And before dawn, there is a darkest time, and this time is often the time when everyone sleeps most soundly. After this period of time, the sky gradually brightens, and the person's biological clock will also take effect, and it will become easier to wake up. It was this darkest time before dawn that Hou Qinu took advantage of.

When Hou Qinu and his brothers came to the city of Jiexiu, it was quiet on the top of the city, and there was no one to be seen. The city wall is not high, it has not been repaired all year round, and the surface is full of potholes. Such a wall was not a problem for Hou Qinu at all, and he didn't even need to use any tools, so he climbed it with his bare hands.

There should have been a few soldiers on night patrol at the head of the city, but presumably because they were too sleepy, they didn't know which garrison cave they had hid in. When the sun comes out, the weather will soon get hotter and hotter, and it will not be easy to get a good night's sleep.

Hou Qinu turned over the battlements, looked around vigilantly, and after being sure that there were no defenders, he lowered a rope along the wall. The ropes are specially made and are so strong that they can bear the weight of four or five people. The soldiers of the special brigade waiting in the city grabbed the rope and went up to the city like a spirit ape.

Occupying the head of the city will occupy the commanding heights of Jiexiu City, and the situation inside and outside the city is clear at a glance. Hou Qinu made a gesture lightly, and more than a dozen soldiers followed the city ladder to the city gate. A soldier guarding the door happened to come out at night and saw a faint dark shadow flickering. He was about to shout, only to feel the wind behind his head, and the crisp sound of "click", and he lost consciousness. His neck had been wrung off.

After a cup of tea, two crisp insect chirps came from the city gate, which was a signal that had been agreed in advance. Hou Qinu breathed a sigh of relief and made another gesture, and the soldiers lit their torches and shook them three times in the air. Don't look at Hou Qinu's swear in front of Zhang Liao, in fact, this is his first mission, so he climbed to the top of the city in person just now, and he really sweated in his heart.

Not far away, Zhang Liao waved his broadsword, took the lead, and led 3,000 cavalry straight to the city. Hou Qinu saw it from the city, and learned two more hundred tongue chirps, and the city gate slowly opened with a "squeak".

Jiexiu City was the southernmost city in Taiyuan, bordering Hedong County, where Yuan Shao deployed 3,000 defenders. However, the Han army came too quickly, and many people were taken prisoner in their sleep, and a few who wanted to resist were cut in two by the sabers of the Han cavalry before they could catch the swords and guns. The follow-up Han army brigade swarmed in and quickly took control of the four gates.

In fact, a small city like Jiexiu, even if the defenders were prepared, I am afraid that they would not be able to withstand the strong attack of the Han army for half a day. However, if you can quietly take Jiexiu City, you can take it by surprise, so that the other counties in the north will not be aware of it, and you will lose the opportunity to prepare.

After the Han army entered the city, it strengthened the city defense while going out to calm the people. Suddenly, the soldiers at the head of the city found a large group of men and horses coming from the north and hurriedly reported to Zhang Liao. Zhang Liao didn't expect the enemy to come so quickly, he was taken aback, and quickly ordered a team of cavalry, opened the city gate, and rushed out.

Because Zhang Liao had already seen the situation of the city, the city was in decay and must be repaired as soon as possible, so he knew that his soldiers were tired, so he could only go out of the top of the city to buy a little time for arranging the city defense.

When Zhang Liao left the north gate, the sky had already brightened a little, and he saw clearly that the team in the distance was not the army, but the fleeing people. Zhang Liao waved his big knife and rushed over. The cavalry behind him immediately divided into two groups, outflanked the people on the left and right, and surrounded the group in the middle. When the people saw the cavalry of the brigade killed, they immediately became a mess, crying and screaming.

Zhang Liao stepped forward, slashed his big knife, and shouted: "Who are you waiting for?" ”

Now is an extraordinary period, Zhang Liao is afraid that these people will be cheating, and he has to guard against it.

The crowd was in confusion for a while, and pushed an old man forward. The old man stepped forward tremblingly, and when he saw that the cavalry were all black-eyed and yellow-skinned Han Chinese, his heart was a little calm, and he arched his hand and asked, "Dare to ask who the general is?" ”

Zhang Liao said in a deep voice: "Zhang Liao, the commander of the Fourth Legion of the Han Dynasty, who are you?" ”

The old man's face suddenly turned happy, and he said, "So, you are the Jingzhou army?" We are from the people of Yuci County, worried about the scourge of the Xianbei people, so they fled here, not a spy, and hope that the general will see it. ”

Both Yuan Shao and Cao Cao only recognized Liu Xin's identity as Jingzhou Mu, so Liu Xin's army had always been called the Jingzhou Army by them, and Zhang Liao didn't bother to correct them.

For the topography of Taiyuan County, Zhang Liao has long been familiar with it, Yuci is only not far from the southeast of Taiyuan City, these people actually fled here, and couldn't help but ask in a deep voice: "How far are the Xianbei people from here?" ”

The old man hurriedly replied: "General Hui, we are all people from the countryside of Yuci, and the Xianbei people do not enter the city, and they specifically harm us rural people. We had no choice but to find a city to hide. However, it has been two days since I left Yuci, and I really don't know where the Xianbei people have gone. ”

Zhang Liao frowned and said, "There are so many cities in front, why don't you go and go here?" ”

The old man sighed and said, "The gates of all the counties along the way are closed, and you can't get in!" ”

Zhang Liao was stunned for a moment, could it be that Yuan Shao had already prepared for his actions, but seeing that Jiexiu was lax and guarded, he didn't look like it, so he couldn't help but groan: "Why don't the counties of Shentu let you wait to enter the city?" ”

The old man shook his head helplessly and said, "It's not that I'm afraid of offending the Xianbei people." ”

Zhang Liao nodded and said, "Do you know how to enter the city?" ”

A middle-aged woman said angrily: "Rich men can naturally enter the city, no matter how poor it is, there are beautiful big girls in the family can also enter the city." ”

Zhang Liaoqi said: "Why is this? ”

The woman said, "The rich lord can buy the guards of the city gate, and the beautiful eldest girl has no food and clothing, which is just right for the officials and lords to take concubines." ”

"Come on, escort these people to Jiexiu City, so that they can be resettled!" Zhang Liao commanded, turned his horse around, and went straight to Jiexiu County.

Jiexiu County Commander He Xiang was pulled out of the bed by the soldiers, wearing only a pair of small pants and shivering, and the female dependents of the family were also gathered. The soldiers had already put the county government in order, and this was Zhang Liao's temporary command post. And after they captured the city gate, they had disappeared.

Zhang Liao went straight to the back office, ordered all the ladies of the He Xiang family to be brought up, selected six young women who were quite beautiful, and then said: "Quick, all dress me up!" ”

In troubled times, human life is like a mustard, and women are even more miserable, especially beautiful women. The daughters of He Xiang's family became captives, and they all cried and cried, panicking. The six women who were selected were relieved, and it was better to be chosen by the generals than to be insulted by the soldiers.

The gold and silver belongings in He Xiang's house had already been confiscated by the soldiers, and boxes of clothes were piled up in the back hall. The six women selected by Zhang Liao were He Xiang's concubines, He Xiang's daughters, and ordinary maidservants. The concubine and the daughter had their own clothes to wear during the festival, and those maidservants were not dressed, so they simply opened the master's suitcase and picked them up. The women did not care about shame, and changed their clothes in front of Zhang Liao and the soldiers, hoping to dress themselves up beautifully in order to win the favor of the general. Besides, this general is dignified and heroic, and he will not suffer from him.

Who knows, Zhang Liao didn't see the interest of these women in changing clothes, and had already walked out quickly. After a while, several women changed their clothes, dressed up in fancy ways, and were taken out by the soldiers, but they saw that in the front hall, several old and young men in satin clothes were already waiting there, and the general they saw just now also changed into a robe and became a polite old man.

A large convoy drove away from the north gate of Jiexiu City, loaded with goods, and several carriages with beautiful maidens on them, flanked by guards and servants. These people traveled all the way, made a big detour, and finally appeared at the east gate of Wu County at dawn.

These days, from time to time, people fleeing from the north cross the border, and Jiang Lang, the county commander of Wu County, has ordered the city gate to be strictly guarded. Except for the people in the county who go to the city to sell vegetables, other people must be strictly screened before they can be released. The so-called screening is not to prevent spies, but to bring many unexpected problems to the management of the city after the excessive influx of refugees into the city. More magistrates are better than less, and under normal circumstances, refugees are not allowed to enter the city.

However, since the soldiers guarding the gate are allowed to screen, there will be loopholes. These soldiers had already been hinted that if the people who wanted to enter the city had beautiful women, they could open the net. And the soldiers carried forward this rule, and as long as they were willing to give them money, they could turn a blind eye.

The captain of the city gate at the east gate is Jiang Lang's own brother, named Jiang Tao. Most of the people who fled would enter the city through the north gate, but he was responsible for guarding the east gate, and he had not caught any oil or water in the past few days, and he was anxious. Just now, a group of people passed under the city, and he specially opened the city gate in advance to go out to take a look, but the result was some bitterness, not only was he so poor, but even the few women in the team were not liked.

Jiang Tao returned to the city in a daze, and finally arrived at the time of opening the city gate, letting in the local people who had entered the city to sell vegetables, and was about to sleep back when he saw a luxury motorcade in the distance galloping forward.