But not to mention that Liu Bei's declining soldiers encountered Gan Ning in the canyon, whether he was defeated and captured or escaped smoothly, we pulled our vision back to the north.

The scenery of the northern country, thousands of miles of ice, thousands of miles of snow drifting. Look inside and outside the Great Wall, but the rest of the recklessness, up and down the big river, suddenly lost surging. Mountain dance silver snake, the original Chi wax elephant, want to be higher than the heavenly public test. It must be a sunny day, and look at the red makeup, which is extraordinarily enchanting.

Zhang Quan stood on Chang'an City, looking at the vast loess plateau covered with wisps of ice, there was no one for thousands of miles, only wisps of cooking smoke floated up and gradually dissipated; The Yellow River, which is still turbid, flows quietly, stops the turbulent waves, and flows slowly, exuding the warmth of the mother river; The faintly visible Tongguan and Kunshan Mountains turn into a desolate white earth color in winter, standing between heaven and earth, which is more majestic and magnificent.

For more than ten years before the crossing, Zhang Quan lived in the Yangtze River Basin, which was Zhang Quan's first winter in the north, but he just felt that it was warm.

The cold air blowing from Siberia covers the whole land of China, but in the north, especially in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, there is a shortage of water and dryness, and in winter, put a few fires in the house, you can let the dancers wear gauze skirts and dance, the so-called "dance hall is warm, spring is melting" is like this; It's like the southern winter, where the moist moisture is hidden in the quilt, and going to bed every night is the coldest thing.

Zhang Quan lives in the magnificent city lord's mansion in Chang'an City, after all, it is Chang'an, the capital of the Western Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, how can it have imperial spirit, although it is called the city lord's mansion, it looks more like a palace, of course, Zhang Quan did not call the dancers to dance in the mansion, at this moment there are many people in the world who are hungry and cold, frozen to death in the ice and snow, how can there be leisure and comfort.

Zhang Quan looked at the vast land of China on the city wall of Chang'an, his eyes drifted to the sky for a while and glanced back at the front of him, some of the peaks were graceful, some of the mountains stretched for thousands of miles, the Yellow River slowly flowed down from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and slowly drifted like the sea, the vast land of China, how to get tired of it.

"Meng Qi, how do you feel when you look at this high mountain, this big river, and this vast Loess Plateau that is pregnant with infinite vitality?" Zhang Quan looked at the distance and did not turn his head and said to Ma Chao beside him, Ma Chao was captured alive by Pang Tong in Shangyong, and he has not followed Zhang Quan at this moment.

"Hmph, what do you feel, the mountains, rivers, forests and soil are just dead things, not worth paying attention to." Ma Chao said disdainfully, this Zhang Quan broke his 60,000 Xiliang iron cavalry, and then swept the entire Liangzhou, and attacked Cao Cao's Chang'an, which can be regarded as having some ability, but it has been almost half a year since the occupation of Chang'an, but he did not continue to send troops, not because he was afraid of Cao Cao in the Central Plains and Yuan Shang in Hebei, so Ma Chao disdained Zhang Quan.

"Okay, yes, Meng Qi, what you said is right, although the mountains, rivers and forests are magnificent, although vast, although they are beautiful, but after all, they are just dead things, and they are not worth paying too much attention to, so what do we say?" Zhang Quan said.

"This still needs to be asked, of course, it is to fight on the battlefield and make contributions!" Ma Chao said.

"I can't help it if you say that." Zhang Quan thought that Ma Chao would say something earth-shattering, Zhang Quan thought that Ma Chao said that the mountains, rivers, forests and soil are dead things, and the talents who live in them are really worthy of attention, and it seems that it is still difficult to promote people-oriented thinking in this era. Zhang Quan changed the topic: "Then Meng Qi, what do you think of the princes today?" ”

"The princes of the world, let's talk about Liu Bei first, although he is famous, but the bigger and smaller the power, it is really not very convincing. After the death of Sun Ce and Yuan Shao, Jiangdong Sun Quan and Hebei Yuan Shang Yuan Tan were just dogs guarding the house. Cao Cao was evaluated as a capable minister in the world, a traitor in troubled times, a person who stole his power and steals his life, and a deviant person, although he is hot, I don't buy his account. As for the Venerable Zhang Xiu and you," Ma Chao smiled mockingly, knowing that Zhang Quan was trying to recruit him when he talked about the princes of the world, "It's just a bully who is afraid of the hard." ”

After listening to Ma Chao, Zhang Quan's Adam's apple fluctuated up and down, choked on saliva, and I shouted:

"Come on, serve the wine!" The rice wine of the Han Dynasty, I didn't get drunk after drinking, anyway, the political affairs of Chang'an were mainly controlled by the law, and now Jingzhou Yizhou and Liangzhou stopped sending troops to cultivate and recuperate, Zhang Quan was eating, drinking and having fun every day, and drinking wine as a drink to keep out the cold.

Zhang Quan poured two large bowls of wine, and pushed one bowl in front of Ma Chao, Ma Chao took a big bowl and dried it in one gulp, watching Zhang Quan drink slowly with the bowl. Zhang Quan drank half a bowl, put it down, and said to him:

"The south of Liangzhou is Yizhou, and the east is the Central Plains of Yongzhou, I don't know if you know what the north and west of Liangzhou are?"

"Crossing the Yellow River from here, that is, northeast of Liangzhou, isn't it a merger? In the north and west of Liangzhou, there is only the desert inhabited by the Xiongnu barbarians, and I disdain to compete with the barbarians for the desert where there is no grass. Ma Chao said.

"There is indeed a vast desert in the west of Liangzhou, stretching for thousands of miles, but there are also many prosperous small countries, not without grass, which grow a lot of exotic melons and fruits, such as watermelon and cantaloupe, when the Western Han Dynasty was subordinated to my Chinese orthodoxy, but now it is occupied by the Huns, and I will take it back sooner or later." said with heroic eyes, "As for the northern part of Liangzhou, it is indeed a desert, but beyond the desert is the vast and rich prairie where the Huns thrive, and the grassland is connected to the sky and the earth, and there is no end in sight, I don't know if you have been to Meng Qi?" I said.

"Nope." Ma Chao replied, didn't you ask knowingly.

Zhang Quan noticed the look of yearning in Ma Chao's eyes, and continued: "That's a pity, what's the point of riding a horse on the yellow earth of Xiliang? Led the army across the desert, galloped on the endless steppe, led tens of thousands of cavalry across the entire grassland, raced with the clouds and the sun in the sky, stopped when tired and let the horses graze on the spot, and a few hares with an arrow in their hands, broke into a Hun village to rob them of milk wine and poured it directly on the horse. The so-called ambition is hungry for Hulu meat, laughing and thirsty for Hun blood. This is the real battlefield and meritorious service! ”

Ma Chao's eyes looked at the northern sky, his eyes were full of war spirit and ambition.

"When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Wei Qinghuo went to the sick and went on an expedition against the Xiongnu and suppressed the Xiongnu for two hundred years and submitted to the Han Dynasty. Now not only the Xiongnu have betrayed our China, but now they are going south all the year round to plunder our Chinese children. Is Meng Qi willing to go north with me to fight the Xiongnu on the prairie? ”

Ma Chao looked at Zhang Quan and nodded heavily, at this moment, the rider returned to his heart.

"Good! Let's go to the city to straighten out the military horses first! Zhang Quan stood up and said.

However, it is said that after the battle of Guandu, Cao Cao fought a few more battles with Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shao, who lost his will to fight, was defeated repeatedly and died with hatred. After Yuan Shao's death, the eldest son Yuan Tan occupied Qingzhou (now Shandong), the third son Yuan Shang occupied Youzhou, and the rich Jizhou Cao Cao Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang were divided among the three families. Cao Cao Zailiyang crusaded against Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, and won several battles. All the generals wanted to take advantage of the victory to pursue, Guo Jia said: "Although Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang are brothers, they are not at odds with each other, and they have Guo Tu and Feng Ji as their advisers, if we attack too quickly, they will unite to resist us, and if we attack slowly, they will fight for the land of Hebei." Today's plan is that Zhang Xiu and Liu Bei are rampant in the south, and we might as well go south, we can pretend to attack or really attack them. Wait for Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang to change, and then go north to make a decision. Cao Cao said, "Good." So he led his troops to cross the Yellow River from Guandu and marched westward, vowing to recapture Chang'an.