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On the twenty-third day of the lunar month, Cao Zhang led 5,000 elite cavalry to Guangling, and on behalf of Sun Shao, he was greeted by Cui Qian, the former general of the Yue Kingdom and the Marquis of Jinou. In order to shake off his majesty www.biquge.info Cui Qian lined up the ten heavily armed war elephants that were transported, sat on the back of the elephant, and gave an order, and the ten war elephants roared in unison, which frightened Cao Zhang from afar. However, the elite cavalry he brought were all experienced veterans, and as soon as he saw that the situation had changed, he reined in his horses, changed from the forward queue to an offensive formation, clenched the weapons in his hands, and threw himself into battle as soon as he gave an order.

Cao Zhang raised a hand, ordered to stop advancing, and urged his mount to slowly move forward. In the territory of Guangling, these ten glittering behemoths suddenly appeared, and they didn't know what they were, and there was also the cold light of weapons, and he didn't dare to take it lightly. The subordinate governor Chizhao took a hundred guards and followed closely.

"Cao Ziwen, don't come to harm's way?" Cui Qian shouted loudly from afar, urged the war elephants, and greeted him.

When Cao Zhang saw it, he smiled dumbly, waved his hand to signal Chi Zhao and the others to stop, let go of the reins, trotted all the way to Cui Qian, pointed to the war elephant where Cui Qian was sitting and said with a smile: "Cui Jianzhong, is this the war elephant of Funan?" What a big piece of meat, you really can't shoot one or two arrows, you have to get a bed crossbow. ”

Cui Qian didn't think it was wrong, laughed, stood up on the elephant's back, crossed his waist, and looked at Cao Zhang condescendingly: "Cao Ziwen, what are you nervous about, I came to meet you on the order of the king of my family, and I didn't fight with you." If you really want to start fighting, you see that I don't crush your five thousand elite horsemen into meat puree, and then see who is more meat. ”

"Always by side." Cao Zhang smiled disapprovingly and arched his hand.

"Let's go, my king is waiting for you." Cui Qian waved his hand, patted the ears of the war elephant, the war elephant knelt down with his front legs tamely, Cui Qian stretched out his hand to invite: "Cao Ziwen, come, let your soil bun open your eyes." ”

Cao Zhang scolded with a smile, did not refuse, flew up directly from the war horse, did not take Cui Qian's hand, jumped on the back of the elephant as soon as he twisted his body, and stood with Cui Qian steadily. The war elephant got up, but he still didn't move.

"Okay, my balance has improved a lot." Cui Qian smiled strangely: "It seems that it is not easy to get you into the water again." ”

Cao Zhang was suddenly a little embarrassed, the time he was knocked into the water by Cui Qian was the only time he lost in his life, but this Cui Qian was always so good that he didn't open which pot he wouldn't mention, which was really annoying. However, they don't know each other, they had a good relationship when they were in Liaodong, and they have kept in touch all these years. Cao Zhang was very envious of Cui Qian's achievements in Funan, and he also agreed with Cui Qian's style of daring to make temporary decisions, because he himself was also a bold faction who only sought victory and did not like to stick to orders.

"Jianzhong, take Funan, you got rich, right?" Cao Zhang touched his yellow beard and smiled enviously: "You have made such a great contribution, what did His Royal Highness King Yue reward you?" ”

"It's okay." Cui Qian deliberately put on an indifferent look, and said casually: "Funan is actually not big, at most it is equivalent to Jizhou and Qingzhou, well, there may be a Sanhe." If you want to count the population, it is probably a million, alas, there are few people. I said, Brother Ziwen, can you support a little more people for us? ”

"To you?" Cao Zhangyi rolled his eyes: "You Yue Guo is too damaged, what kind of land grant did Prime Minister Yu Cheng, and almost deceived our farmers in Yuzhou." How many people do you think we have now? Let me tell you the truth, the entire territory controlled by Wei adds up, which is at most four million people, and you can take down a million people at once, so you should send us a little. ”

"And!" Cui Qian was disdainful: "Funan is three crops a year, you can eat and drink enough if you do it, the weather is hot, and even your clothes are saved, they will come to your middle school to suffer?" ”

Cao Zhang's heart moved: "Then aren't you guys full of grain and can't finish eating?" ”

"Of course." Cui Qian said without thinking: "If we are not short of food, we will be short of people, otherwise, we would have already attacked Tianzhu." ”

"Tianzhu?" Cao Zhang was a little puzzled: "You still want to fight Tianzhu?" ”

"Yes, those Ah San, seeing that we have made a fortune, they dare to come and shout, I want to clean them up for a long time, but the troops are insufficient. How about it, Brother Ziwen, let's join forces? Take Tianzhu, pick a place as you like, it is definitely bigger than your Wei County. ”

Cao Zhangfu was silent, Cui Qian said very attractively, he also wanted to conquer foreign countries like Yue Guo and gain fame, but it was impossible to let him go all the way to Funan. He thought for a moment, shook his head and said: "Although I have the heart, but if I go on a campaign for thousands of miles, the soldiers are not adapted, and I am afraid that I will lose half of it before the battle." If Brother Jianzhong really has a heart, why don't you help me first. ”

"Help you, how can I help?" Cui Qian smiled: "We are sailors, and we have not developed cavalry, so we can't help you." ”

"If you want to help, of course you can." Cao Zhang smiled: "My Wei country wants to conquer Xianbei, there are troops, and the grain can be squeezed out, but transportation is a big problem, if you Yue can help us transport grain, and even support us with some grain, then our certainty will be much greater." Of course, if I can support us with some more ordnance, I can be sure that I will be able to defeat the Xianbei people for ten years. ”

"How many troops do you have?" Cui Qian turned his head and glanced at him: "How much grain can you want, and you still want us to help you transport it?" ”

"About 20,000 riders." Cao Zhang said with a smile: "The cavalry consumes a lot, if you bring your own weight, the speed will not be fast, if you don't bring it, you will not be able to keep up with the pace if you transport food with foot soldiers." If you use a ship, the transportation capacity should be large, and you can send it to the depths of the grassland from Liaoshui to Raoleshui, and we will get grain nearby, which will be much more convenient. ”

Cui Qian pondered for a moment: "I can't be the master of this matter, you can mention it when you see the king of my family later, according to my estimate, it shouldn't be a problem." ”

Cao Zhang nodded. He didn't have much confidence originally, so he had to test Cui Qian's tone first. Cui Qian is now the first general under Sun Shao, and if he says that the problem is not big, then there are still some possibilities.

The two entered the camp, Cao Zhang asked Hao Zhao to go to the camp with the people arranged by Cui Qian, and he followed Cui Qian to Sun Shao's big tent. Sun Shaozheng was laughing with Guangling Taishou Sun Shao, Qingzhou Mu Sun Guan, and Xuzhou Mu Zangba, and when they saw Cao Zhang entering the tent, everyone except Sun Shao stood up to greet him. Cao Zhang returned the salute one by one and took a seat, and Cui Qian said what he had just said on the road.

Sun Shao smiled: "This is a trivial matter, when you want to do it, just talk to General Su." Sun Shao pointed to Su Thick Legs, who was sitting beside him: "Thick Legs, when the time comes, arrange some ships to escort them, don't let the pirates rob them, it won't look good." ”

Su Thick Legs smiled, and said confidently: "Don't worry, the king will not miss a grain of grain." ”

Sun Shao nodded with satisfaction: "Actually, such a trivial matter, you can just talk to Sun Yuanjun, he often has merchant ships coming and going in the Bohai Sea, and you can pay him some freight." In fact, in my opinion, as long as you are willing to pay, you don't even need to bring your own food, and someone will transport it to you, and you can fight for a few years. ”

"Your food is too expensive for us to afford." Cao Zhang said half-jokingly, laughed, and frowned again: "If the king can be cheaper, we also hope to buy grain." The king may not know very well that the weather has been cold in the past two years, and the harvest in Jizhou and Bingzhou is not good. Many people freeze to death on the grassland every winter, and they will come to rob in winter, and we can't prevent it, so we plan to take the initiative to attack and simply eliminate this bane. ”

Sun Shao was silent, when chatting with Sun Guan just now, Sun Guan also mentioned a similar situation, and Liaodong also reflected the same situation, but the area he controlled was mainly in the area of Obifang and Lelang, and the north was Goguryeo, Goguryeo because of heavy losses in the battle of Liaodong, although there were not many of them, but they were armed to the teeth of the Yue cavalry, they robbed several times and were robbed, and honestly accepted their fate, either hiding far away and robbing weaker tribes, or surrendering to Yue and using war horses, cattle and sheep, mink, ginseng and other materials in exchange for food for survival, for the latter type of people, the Yue country has never been stingy, the price is also fair, can always let them live, not to take risks, plus the demand for Goguryeo specialties in the country has always been great, so the situation in the two counties of Daifang and Lelang has been relatively stable, not as serious as Cao Zhang said.

But Sun Shao knew that he seemed to have heard that the Three Kingdoms was a period of cooling of the earth at this time, and the global temperature dropped, and the first to be affected was the north, specifically north of the Yellow River, as soon as the weather was cold, grain production would be affected, and the decline in grain output would directly cause social turmoil, and the social contradictions that were not prominent would become acute, such as the Han Dynasty in the East, Rome in the West, and West Asia and Central Asia in the middle. The once mighty Kushan Dynasty is now falling apart, and it is also inseparable from this climate change.

Later generations of historians only paid attention to human beings, and most of them ignored the changes of nature, and human beings regarded themselves as the spirits of all things, in fact, in front of nature, there is not much difference between human beings and other animals. You don't see, in the 21st century, when science is prospering, the civilization and wealth accumulated by people are completely vulnerable to the wrath of nature, and just a few earthquakes, tsunamis, and typhoons of a slightly larger magnitude are enough to plunge mankind, which claims to be the spirit of all things, into the abyss of despair.

Sun Shao's silence made Cao Zhang unclear, he thought that Sun Shao was worried that Wei needed too much funding, so he hesitated, so he turned his attention to Sun Guan and Zang Ba, and said with a smile: "The two envoys have now made a fortune with the cooperation of the Yue Kingdom, but they are both rich people, if the army goes out, they will also ask Sun Envoy Jun to sell some more battle clothes, and Zang Envoy Jun to support some weapons." ”

Sun Guan and Zang Ba saw that Sun Shao didn't speak, and they didn't dare to nod in agreement, they just smiled and didn't say anything.

"Don't worry." Sun Shao came back to his senses from his emotion: "It just so happens that the relevant people are here, so I'll make a statement first." If Wei is ready to attack Caoyuan, Yue is willing to help, if you want food, money, and money, if you don't have enough troops, I can still support some people. It's just a pity that my cavalry is too small, only 2,000 people on Lelang's side. ”

Cao Zhang was overjoyed, he didn't expect Sun Shao to support others, as long as he was willing to support Qian Liang, he was sure to defeat the Xianbei people.

"By the way, Ziwen, can you support some talents who are good at riding for me?" Sun Shao suddenly put forward an idea: "I am now invincible in the world, and the foot soldiers are quite strong, but the cavalry is too poor, and there are war horses, but there has been no expert in riding." Can you help? ”

"The king wants to build cavalry?" Cao Zhang's heart tightened.

"It's going to be built." Sun Shao said solemnly: "This expedition to Funan, I feel that there is a big problem. There was no cavalry, and the speed of the sailors was greatly affected by the ashore foot battle, and if the elite cavalry brought by Ziwen was there at that time, we would have more confidence in taking Funan. Funan is already like this, what about Tianzhu? What about the big food? What about Daqin? Surely it would not work without cavalry. I originally wanted to ask Ziwen to go on the expedition with me, but you are going to fight Xianbei again, so I have to figure it out by myself. ”

Cao Zhang breathed a sigh of relief, whether it was true or not, Sun Shao at least did not have any intention of developing in the Central Plains for the time being, which is a good thing.

"Okay, I'll go back and ask my father for instructions, and it shouldn't be a problem to send some veterans who use horses to the king."

"Hahaha......" Sun Shao laughed: "I knew that Ziwen was refreshing." Come, Ziwen, I'll show you a gift that you're sure to love. ”

Sun Shao walked up and pulled Cao Zhang out, Cao Chang was a little puzzled, he didn't know what kind of gift Sun Shao was going to give him, and it was difficult to refuse, so he had to follow out in confusion.

Cao Zhang and Sun Shao stood still in front of the tent, only to see Sun Shao command a few words, a personal guard turned around, not for a long time, a horse neighing came from afar, and the confused Cao Zhang heard it, and suddenly his spirit was lifted. He had been a soldier for many years and was very familiar with war horses, and as soon as he heard the neighing of horses, he knew that this was a good horse. However, he fought in the northern Xinjiang and saw many good horses, and just one horse did not make him lose his temper. He laughed secretly in his heart, didn't Sun Shaomo treat me as a bun who had never seen the world? I don't dare to say anything else, I can see a lot more good horses.

Cao Zhang's disdain soon flew out of the clouds, and he looked at the tall horse in front of him like a coal, and he was dumbfounded, unable to say a word. Not only him, but even Sun Guan and others, who came out to see the excitement, were also greedy.

This is a thoroughbred Arabian horse, that is, the legendary sweaty horse, as high as eight feet at the shoulders, more than a foot long, slender and well-proportioned limbs, strong muscles rolling under smooth fur, four bowl-sized hooves, trampling dusty, long horsehair and tail swinging with the wind, majestic, twisting the neck from time to time, as if to break free from the rope, galloping into the wind.

"Ziwen, try?" Sun Shao smiled and pushed the stupid Cao Zhang.

Cao Zhang was startled, then he came back to his senses, subconsciously raised his sleeves, wiped the saliva that was about to flow out, and nodded busily: "Thank you, thank you." With that, he strode forward and reached for the reins. As soon as the horse saw Cao Zhang, his neck was raised, and he neighed, and the man stood up, and his two front hooves tossed a few times in the air, and stepped on Cao Zhang. Cao Zhang was not flustered, his figure flashed, he drilled under the horse's belly, grabbed the horse's mane, twisted his body like a swimming fish, and stepped on the horse's back. The horse was furious, jumped forward and backwards a few times, but Cao Zhang was steady, his legs clamped the horse's belly, the horse saw that this trick was useless, turned a few times, suddenly raised his neck, spread his four hooves, and began to gallop up in just a breath, like a gust of wind galloping away, in front of the closed camp gate did not stop, four hooves spread, like a dragon jumped over, in the blink of an eye disappeared outside the camp.

"Good horse!" Sun Guan, who was old and strong, praised his palms, and his envy was overflowing.

"Hero!" Sun Shao praised it: "I have heard for a long time that Cao Ziwen is a peerless brave general, but when I see it today, it is true." ”

"Such a good man, just crossing such a good horse, holding the sharpest sword, defending his family and country." Sun Shao sighed with emotion: "If it's just cannibalism, wouldn't it be a pity." ”

Sun Guan and the others heard the meaning, and nodded their heads in agreement one by one. A famous general like Cao Zhang, if he is not deceived into fighting the Xianbei people, but is used to fight them, it is a big threat. Sun Guan and Zang Ba felt this the most, Cao Ying always wanted to do something to them, but it was only because Sun Shao stood behind them that he had some scruples. When Sun Shao asked them to support Cao Zhang's Northern Expedition, they still didn't understand it, but now they fully understand Sun Shao's intentions. A person like Cao Zhang, who was born to fight, and if he is not allowed to conquer foreign tribes, he will inevitably appear on the battlefield of the current civil war.

Knowing Sun Shao's thoughts, Sun Guan and Zang Ba, including Sun Shao, were very happy, and they returned to the tent and talked and laughed. About half an hour later, there was a neighing of horses outside the tent, followed by Cao Zhang's hearty laughter. Sun Shao came out of the account again, only to see Cao Zhang holding the reins, touching the neck of the sweaty horse with affection, and when he saw Sun Shao, he laughed and said: "Your Highness, it's really sweat and blood." ”

"Nonsense, I can't lie to you."

"Hahaha......" Cao Zhang waved again and again: "Thank you so much, thank you, I am really grateful." I only heard my father say that Lu Bu had a red rabbit horse back then, sweating like blood, but I had never seen it, and I didn't expect to see it with my own eyes today. ”

"Do you like it?" Sun Shao blinked and said temptingly.

"Yes, very much." Cao Zhang grinned and laughed: "I'll sleep with this horse in my arms today." ”

"Hahaha......" Zang Ba couldn't help laughing: "General Cao, although this horse is beautiful, it is a peony mother, isn't it appropriate for you to sleep with it?" ”

Everyone laughed, Cao Zhang's face flushed, and he scolded with a smile: "Zang Yuanjun, you are the one who holds your grandson, why do you still have this hobby?" ”

Zang Ba said with a smile: "Although the old man is old, he can still ride a horse and fight, if you are not convinced, give me this horse and see if I can still ride?" ”

Cao Zhang didn't want to think about it, shook his head again and again, and refused to let go of the reins in his hand for a moment.

Sun Shao just smiled and said with further temptation: "Do you still want it?" ”

"The king still has it?" Cao Zhang's eyes suddenly lit up.

"I have a few more, but I won't give them to you." Sun Shao said with a smile: "If you want to, go with me to play big food, big food has nothing else, just produce this kind of BMW." A large group of people, it is called a heartbeat. ”

"Really?" Cao Zhang was overjoyed, and after getting Sun Shao's affirmative reply, he touched his chin and nodded vigorously: "Okay!" I'll kill the Xianbei people as soon as possible, and then I'll go with you to hunt for a big meal. Hehehe, if my cavalry can all ride such horses and use the sharp war horses provided by the Yue Kingdom, how majestic it should be, it must be the strongest cavalry in the world. ”

"Of course." Sun Shao spared no effort to flicker: "If you can have such a thousand elite horses, I believe that Huo Qu's disease will be reborn, and you will not be majestic." ”

"Hey, hey, hey......" Cao Zhang's eyes narrowed.

Cao Zhang, who was tickled by Sun Shao's words, did not have much resistance in the following negotiations, and he was quickly persuaded by Sun Shao, and the Yue Kingdom first supported him to conquer Xianbei, and then waved his army to the west, he took the land route, and Sun Shao attacked the Great Eclipse by waterway - the sky is pitiful, he still doesn't know where the Great Eclipse is - and finally he is even willing to give up the position of General Luoyang for this reason.

Cao Zhang and Sun Shao fought hotly, and dealt a big blow to Liu Bei, who arrived later. Liu Bei didn't want to come, but he was the emperor's uncle, and if he took the lead in disobeying the edict of the Son of Heaven, it would be a little unreasonable, and he wanted to take care of his illness - he was really not in good health - and he was afraid that others would covet Shuzhong because of this, so he had to force himself to come to Guangling. Since the fourteenth year of Jian'an, he came to Jianye to see Sun Quan, and he has not seen Guangling for fifteen years. Chengdu, which is accustomed to living in heavy mountains, suddenly came to Guangling, which is a horse and a flat river, Liu Bei suddenly remembered the hometown of Zhuo County, and couldn't help but cry.

"The king ......" Lu Zhu, who accompanied him, was very surprised and hurriedly persuaded him.

"It's nothing, I just think of my hometown." Liu Bei shook his head and smiled miserably: "I joined Lu Shimen to study at the age of fifteen, and I came out to wander at the age of eighteen, and I never returned home, and I don't even know when my mother died. Now that I am the king of Shu, I have only one wish, I hope that after a hundred years, I can be by my mother's side. Unfortunately, such a chance is also very slim. ”

Lu Zhu was sad by him, and involuntarily raised his head to look at the north, and said to his son Lu Wei beside him: "My home is not far from the north, after this alliance, you go back and take a look, and recognize the door of my Elk family." Alas, for so many years, I don't know if there are any people alive and if there are people who worship the ancestral grave from time to time. ”

When Liu Bei heard this, he was even more sad, and sighed for a while before he stopped his tears. It didn't take long, Queen Yue Guan Feng came to greet her in person, and as soon as they met, Guan Feng felt that Liu Bei's health was not good, his hair was almost white, like frost and snow.

"The King."

"Yinping, although your father and I are monarchs, we are no different from brothers, so you can call me uncle." Liu Bei stretched out his hand and helped each other. Guan Feng smiled miserably: "Dare not obey your fate." It's just that I don't know why my father refused to come, and let the daughter see his old man. ”

"Hehehe......" Liu Bei smiled, shook his head and said: "Your father is not old, although he is two years older than me, but he has the son-in-law of King Yue, the gold-like fish paste can be eaten as a meal, and the body is very strong. ”

Guan Feng smiled slightly, and sure enough, he was said by his husband, Liu Bei was very conflicted.

(To be continued)