While the Central Plains region was full of smoke and the princes of all walks of life began to fight each other, the horse butcher was recuperating.

The Beidi Plain is the Yinchuan Plain.

Yinchuan Plain covers an area of nearly 20,000 square kilometers, the river (Yellow River) runs through it, flowing nearly 400 kilometers, during the Warring States Period, Qin began to dig canals in the Beidi Plain, Zhang Shui irrigation, and in the Western Han Dynasty, the Han Canal was dug on the basis of the Qin Canal, so that the irrigation system of the Beidi Plain was more perfect.

Later, the Yinchuan Plain won the reputation of "plugging the south of the Yangtze River", and became the intersection of the Central Plains culture, Hetao culture, Islamic culture, Xixia culture and other cultures, and finally created its unique historical and cultural environment, which occupies an important position in ancient Chinese history.

However, the development of the Beidi Plain by the Qin and Han dynasties was quite limited, and even in the heyday of Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty, the total population of the Beidi County was only more than 18,000, and these populations were scattered throughout Fuping, Lingwu, and Lian counties, and the development and utilization of the entire plain area was negligible.

It wasn't until Ma Yue moved a million people into the north that this Guangmao plain ushered in vitality, and finally became the largest granary in the north and even in the north.

……

In April (lunar calendar) of the second year of Emperor Jian'an of the Han Dynasty (189 years), after nearly half a year of digging by hundreds of thousands of people, the outline of the Fuzhu Canal (the name of the canal dug by later generations) began to appear, and the Fuzhu Canal was divided into two sections, south and north, which ran through the south and north banks of the river respectively, and almost included the entire Beidi Plain into the irrigation range.

However, at this time, heavy rains fell in the upper reaches of the river, and the river basin began to enter the annual flood season, and the rising water level of the river posed a fatal threat to the wheat fields on the plains on both sides.

In order to save the wheat fields on both sides of the river, he had to mobilize the people to strengthen the river's embankments, so that there would be no time to repair and dredge the canals, which would be clogged with a large amount of silt.

If the canals are to be repaired and dredged, it will be impossible to protect the river embankment, and once the river bursts, all the wheat that is about to ripen on both sides of the river will be flooded, and millions of immigrants from Guanzhong will suffer from famine due to lack of food.

……

Lie said that when it was empty, it ruthlessly roasted the earth.

The sky is thousands of miles, vast and cloudless.

The yellow sand is vast, and there is no wind.

A heavily armed hoplite was standing quietly on the unsheltered desert, the yellow sand was already hot for the feet, and the rolling sand dunes had a faint heat steaming, obscuring the vision of all the soldiers, and the air was suffocating in the air, and the air in the lungs was hot.

Gao Shun was dressed in heavy iron armor, like a hard stone sculpture, standing at the front of the team.

The swarthy iron armor absorbed the heat of the scorching sun to the fullest, like an impermeable steamer, firmly wrapping Gao Shun's majestic body, with crystal beads of sweat sliding down his face, gently dripping on the hot breastplate, only to hear a soft sound, the drop of sweat has already turned into a piece of vapor, only a small white spot is clearly left on the dark iron armor!

"Poof!"

One soldier finally couldn't hold on, and shook from side to side twice and fell to the ground, letting the hot sand hurt his face, but he no longer had the strength to struggle and move. After waking up at dawn and blowing the trumpet, without eating breakfast, he carried dozens of pounds of heavy iron armor on the desert for a long march of fifty miles, and then endured two hours of exposure under the noon sun, and the soldiers' physical strength was seriously overdrawn.

The two soldiers next to him just wanted to bend down to help their companions up, and a majestic figure had already appeared in front of them, and a cold muffled snort sounded for a moment: "Don't help him!" ”

The two soldiers retracted their steps in a daze.

"Now that he's down, you can lift him up, but if he dies on the battlefield, can you die for him?" Gao Shun's resolute gaze slowly swept over the soldiers who were still gritting their teeth and persevering, and said in a deep voice: "You must understand that war is not a game, but a fight for life, and losing on the battlefield means death!" ”

The desert, which had been silent and windless just a moment ago, suddenly howled and sand flew away.

But no one cared about the oncoming flying sand, and the eyes of all the soldiers were tightly focused on Gao Shun's face.

"Only the strongest and most tenacious soldiers will survive to the end! If you don't want your head to be the spoils of your enemies, you have to endure the most rigorous training and the most painful experiences! It's hot, tired, what are you afraid of? As long as you can survive on the battlefield, you are better than anything else! ”

"You can not be a soldier, but since you have chosen to be a soldier, you must be a good soldier!"

"Not for anything else, just for the egg under your crotch, if it's a man, straighten up, don't lie down!"

The wind howled, and the clouds were in all directions.

On April days, the child's face changed when he said that it would change, and the sky was still clear just now, and it was already raining heavily in a blink of an eye. Gao Shun straightened his body, let the cold rain wash the iron armor on his body to his heart's content, wash away the heat that had accumulated all morning, and in the hazy vision, the black hoplites in front of him still maintained a rigorous formation.

Half a year of hard training has finally not been in vain, these 5,000 hoplites have already begun to become a climate, they are well-trained and well-equipped, at least they look like that, and now, there is a lack of baptism of war! No matter how well-trained a recruit is, he can only be a recruit, and he will never be able to grow into an iron-blooded veteran without going through the baptism of iron-blooded war.

"Report~~" Suddenly, a fast horse galloped over, and howled bitterly in the heavy rain, "Lord Frustration has invited General Gao Shun~~"

……

The white is like the night, and the heavy rain is like a note.

Dressed in a robe, he hurried down from the river's embankment.

When Gao Shun saw Frustration for the first time, he couldn't believe his eyes, he could barely recognize Frustration! The original white face of Frustration was already dark at this time, and it was almost a fight with Dian Wei, and the face was still peeling in large pieces, which looked particularly terrifying.

Frustrated's already extremely thin body was even thinner, and the coat was draped over his body to look wide and large, which made people worry that a gust of wind would blow him away.

"Your Excellency."

"General Gao Shun."

The two of them hugged their fists and saw that they were not polite, and pulled Gao Shun up to the river embankment, pointing to the water surface of the river that had almost overflowed to the edge of the embankment and said worriedly: "The general has seen it, the water level of the river has risen to an extremely dangerous height, and the embankment is in danger of collapsing at any time. ”

Gao Shun looked back at the south bank of the river, and saw that in the storm, an endless wheat field was flooding with layers of wheat waves in the wind, and he couldn't help but gasp and said in a deep voice: "If the river bursts the embankment, the south bank will suddenly become a country, and the wheat that is about to mature will be harvested." ”

"If the embankment is not strengthened and raised, it is inevitable that the river will burst. ”

Gao Shun's expression was solemn, and he said to Fu Zhi with a solemn face: "If you have anything to say, Mr. Fu Zhu, please speak up, as long as you can Gao Shun will obey your orders." ”

"The 200,000 people need to hurry up and repair the canals, and strive to dredge the canals before the maximum flood season of the river, otherwise once the river water forms a backfill, the canals will be blocked by silt, so that the hard work of the 200,000 people for nearly half a year will be in vain!" ”

"Hmm." Gao Shun nodded and said, "This will understand. ”

"Therefore, the river embankment and the thousands of acres of wheat on the south bank can only be handed over to the general!" ”

Gao Shun said awe-inspiringly: "The last general understands!" Please rest assured, as long as Gao Shun is not dead, as long as Gao Shun's 20,000 troops are not dead, the river embankment will never collapse, and the wheat on the south bank of the river will never be flooded by the river! Millions of migrants will never go hungry because of lack of food. ”

"With the general's words, I will be relieved." Fu Zhi held Gao Shun's hands tightly and said emotionally, "Please, General." ”

……

At the beginning of the second year of Emperor Jian'an of Han Xian (189 years), the Yellow Turban of Qingzhou was revived, more than 50,000 people entered Yanzhou, killed Zheng Sui, the minister of the city and the country, and invaded the territory of Dongping Kingdom.

Bao Xin, the prime minister of Jibei, thought that the Yellow Turban thieves lacked grain and grass and were difficult to last, and advised Yanzhou Mu Liu Dai to strengthen the wall and clear the wilderness and hold on to the city, so that he could break the Yellow Turban thieves in a few months, but unfortunately Liu Dai did not adopt Bao Xin's strategy, but resolutely led the army to attack, and the result was unfavorable in the first battle, and he was defeated by the thieves, and he died in the chaos.

In the first month of the second year, the imperial court appointed Cao Ying, the Taishou of Qiaojun, as the pastor of Yanzhou, and led the army to crusade against the Yellow Turban thieves, officially opening the prelude to Cao Ying's entry into Yanzhou.

……

Yanzhou, Taishan County.

Cao Jun is in a large camp, and Cao Ying is convening his subordinates to discuss a plan to break the enemy.

At that time, more than 100,000 Yellow Turban thieves were stationed in Jibei Snake Hill, building a dock fort to defend themselves, and Bao Xin, the prime minister of Jibei, lost several battles, the morale of the officers and soldiers was low, and the thieves were arrogant.

Strategist Guo Jiadao: "Our army has few soldiers, the thieves are huge, and they have successively defeated Zheng Sui, Liu Dai, Bao Xin and other officers and soldiers, it is the time when morale is high, if our army launches a frontal attack at this time, I am afraid that it will be difficult to have a chance of victory." Therefore, Jia thinks that we should avoid the real and attack the false, and win by surprise. ”

Cao Ying said: "How to win by surprise? ”

Guo Jia said: "The thieves and soldiers are bound to lack military rations, and they do not have any baggage with the army, and the needs of the army depend on robbery. If they can cut off their supply, the thieves will be crushed without a fight! ”

Cao Ying said: "How to cut off its supply? ”

Guo Jiadao: "The lord can order Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Zangba, Li Dian six generals each to lead 500 elite soldiers, divided into three teams, take turns to fight, day and night non-stop attack and harass the snake hill, if the thieves advance, they retreat, if the thieves retreat, they advance, and if they can beat the drum and retreat, they will sing gold, so that the thieves are upset and confused, and they dare not go out to loot. ”

"Good!" Cao Ying struck the festival and said, "According to the plan of filial piety, Xiahou Xuan, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Zangba, and Li Dian listen to the order!" ”

The generals of Xiahou stepped forward, lined up in front of Cao Ying, hugged their fists and said sharply: "The last general." ”

Cao Ying said: "According to what Mr. Guo Jia said, each leader has five hundred elite soldiers, divided into three teams to attack the snake hill all the time, and there must be no mistake. ”

"Yes!"

The six generals of Xiahou agreed with a bang and took the order to leave.

……

Mobei.

The horse butcher took 3,000 Hedong elite soldiers to the old camp of 10,000 households on the right side of Zhoucang.

When he first attacked Liangzhou, the horse butcher once promised 5,000 Hedong elite soldiers and 6,000 Bingzhou elite soldiers that as long as Liangzhou could be defeated, all the living soldiers would each be rewarded with ten women! For his own subordinates, the horse butcher has always been generous, and he will not break his word.

The horse butcher fulfilled his promise, and the last surviving 3,000 Bingzhou soldiers went to the left 10,000 households of Guanqi (Guan Hai's widow), while the 3,000 Hedong soldiers followed the horse butcher to the right 10,000 households of Zhoucang (the division of the left, center, and right 10,000 households is based on the Central Plains in the south, so the right 10,000 households of Zhoucang are close to the Western Regions).

After nearly a year of bloody conquest and barbaric plundering of the Xianbei people in the central part and the Ding Ling people in the north, by the beginning of the second year of Emperor Jian'an of the Han Dynasty, the right ten thousand households of Zhoucang had developed into a large tribe with a population of nearly 100,000. Of the 3,000 old tribes of the horse butchers, 1,000 followed, and these 1,000 people have now all become lords of the grassland, most of them have thousands of slaves and thousands of cattle and sheep, and some have more than 100 slaves.

Fang Yue killed the most eloquent tribal leader of the central Xianbei in the first battle of the Wolf Juxu Mountain, Kebineng, and the central Xianbei has been in a slump since then, and the most powerful and populous Xianbei people have since become the lowest slaves, and have become the objects of enslavement of the Han people, the Huns, the Wuhuan people and even the Qianghu people.

Due to the existence of the enslaved ethnic group of Xianbei, the Xiongnu, Wuhuan, Yue, and Qianghu people were all able to settle for the status quo and willingly become the minions of the Han people. Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao only had 3,000 Han Chinese in their hands, but they were able to firmly control the grasslands in the central part of Mobei, which was inseparable from the strong support of these ethnic groups.

However, the support of these peoples is only temporary. With the passage of time, with the vigorous growth of the next generation of the three thousand old tribes, and with the foreign invasion and expansion of these three thousand households, these ethnic groups will continue to die out and be constantly integrated, and the prairie of Mobei will eventually only belong to the Han people!

From then on, there will no longer be northern nomads in the Far East, at that time, the nomads living in the steppe are the same as the people of the Central Plains, they are the grandsons of Yan and Huang, and in the end, whether the Central Plains people rule the desert, or the desert people rule the Central Plains, the world will still be dominated by the Han people.

However, the current horse butcher does not have time to think so much, he is busy injecting "fresh blood" into the right ten thousand households in Zhoucang, and the integration of three thousand elite soldiers from the east of the river will greatly consolidate the dominance of the Han people in the central grasslands, and the Xianbei and loose tribal alliances in the east and west can no longer pose a threat to the tribes in Zhoucang and Guanqi.

……

Weekly cang.

After the big salute, Zhou Cang first welcomed Ma Yue into the main seat, and then sat down next to Ma Yuexia, and the remaining six thousand households also sat down in turn, and the female slave served mare's milk wine and roasted whole sheep like flowing water, and the big tent was filled with a strong milky wine aroma and the smell of mutton.

With the old department, the horse butcher seemed very relaxed, reached out and tore off a fat leg of mutton and chewed it comfortably, scolding vaguely while chewing: "His grandmother's, or Zhou Cang, you know me, Lao Tzu is good at this bite, hey, I haven't eaten such authentic roast mutton for a long time, it's really fucking enjoyable." ”

Zhou Cang and the six thousand households laughed when they heard this, just like this, the former leader of Ma Da, who regarded his subordinates as brothers and was willing to work hard for his subordinates, but killed people like hemp and made the officers and soldiers frightened, seemed to be back.

Suddenly, Zhou Cang and the old brothers seemed to have returned to the years when the Eight Hundred Liukou swept through the Central Plains.

At that time, although the children had a hard time, there were no beautiful girls to sleep with the brothers, and there was still the danger of dying on the battlefield anytime and anywhere, but now in retrospect, it still tempts the nerves of these veteran ruffians like poison! If they could turn back time, they would like to go back to those memorable years.

A thousand households wiped their mouths and said to the horse: "Big leader, now you are also a prince of the Han Dynasty, when the rogues swept the Central Plains, it was impossible to do, but when the horse thieves wandered through the desert, it was possible to make it, did you order the old brothers of the central ten thousand households and the left ten thousand households to be gathered?" ”

"Yes, Grand Chief, the brethren have not fought under your command for more than a year." Another Qianhu coaxed, "If you don't have a big boss to suppress the formation, you won't have the same taste as before." ”

Zhou Cang was also eager to try: "Big leader, what the brothers said is right, it just so happened that Hou San had just sent back the secret letter, and the Law Department and the Deduction Department of Xianbei in the west did not open their eyes, and actually gathered 20,000 cavalry to do something to us, this time we will not wait for them to do it, we will go to the door first and kill him." ”

"Zhou Cang, let you say it this time, that's exactly what Lao Tzu meant." Ma Yue said this, his eyes showed a fierce look, just like his face when he thought of some vicious idea when he thought of it, and then said, "But this time, the big leader will no longer directly command the brothers, and the opportunity will have to be given to the young people. ”

"Huh?" Zhou Cang was puzzled when he heard this, "Young man? What young people? ”

Ma Yue clapped his hands and said loudly to the outside of the tent: "Ma Chao, come in." ”

"Yes!"

A clear promise sounded outside the tent, and a majestic figure at the curtain of the tent had already entered the tent, and when Zhou Cang and the six thousand households looked at it urgently, a young general had already stood in the tent, with long sword eyebrows and starry eyes, a face like a crown of jade, a lion-headed ghost helmet on his head, and a light fur and bright silver armor, which was very outstanding, but who else was not Ma Chao?

Ma Chao clenched his fists and said, "Ma Chao see the generals." ”

Zhou Cang and the six thousand households hurriedly got up and saluted, and said in unison: "The last general and others will see the major general." ”

Ma Yue waved his hand indifferently, motioned for Zhou Cang and the others to sit back at the original seat, and ordered Ma Chao to toast everyone one by one, and then said: "Zhou Cang, although Ma Chao is young, he has been taught martial arts by Dian Wei and Xu Chu, and Wen He and Gong Ze teach the art of war. ”

"The Admiral understands." Zhou Cang nodded and said, "Master can teach his disciples martial arts and the art of war, but he can't teach them the actual combat experience of the battlefield. ”

"That's what it means." Ma Yuejie said, "The three thousand old brothers were all brought from the Central Plains by the leader of this big country, and the three thousand Hedong brothers are also top veterans, what kind of scene have you not seen?" Even if Ma Chao is occasionally negligent, it will not cause a big disaster, and if Ma Chao is handed over to you, the big boss will be absolutely assured. ”

Zhou Cang lost his voice and said, "Big Chief, don't you go out with your brothers?" ”

Ma Yue shook his head and said: "Of course, the big leader will go out with the brothers, the brothers miss the life when they were in the Central Plains, why don't they want to?" Moreover, the big leader promised the three thousand Hedong brothers to reward ten women each, and now you have three thousand ownerless female slaves here, which is only enough for one, what should I do? Of course you have to grab it. ”

"Hahaha~~"

Zhou Cang and the six thousand households laughed comfortably, this reminds, they were reminded of the horse butcher's words when they gave them morale, these big-headed soldiers will never forget, in the Jingshan Jedi, the Yellow Turban Thief's morale is the lowest, the horse butcher promised them: "We want to live, and we must live well, in the future, not only to eat fragrant and spicy food, but also to marry ten or eight beautiful little ladies, change one night, and be a groom every night!" ”

(To be continued)