In the first half of the seventh year of Emperor Jian'an of the Han Dynasty (194), the war between Mu Ma Yue of Liangzhou and Cao Ying, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, finally ended with the Cao army occupying Hangu Pass and the Liangzhou army retreating to Tongguan.

At the same time, Cao Ying's number one general, Xiahoudun, also died in this battle.

Due to their own reasons (the Ma Yue Group is in full swing to recuperate, while the Cao Ying Group is busy annexing and integrating the old Yuan Shu Department), the war that took place in the seventh year of Jian'an did not further expand in the end, let alone evolve into a full-scale decisive battle between the Ma Yue Group and the Cao Ying Group.

However, this does not mean that Ma Yue and Cao Ying will be safe from now on.

In the spring of the eighth year of Jian'an (195), a group of Guanzhong merchants were sacked by thieves in the border of Nanyang, and the horse butcher took the opportunity to send Chen soldiers 5,000 to Wuguan, and set up a posture of attacking Nanyang.

When Cao Ying heard the news, he urgently ordered Cao Hong and Yu Ban to lead 3,000 troops to Wancheng to help.

The clouds of war loomed over the land of Nanyang overnight.

At this time, the princes of the rest of the places were not calm.

……

Jizhou.

In the name of crusading against the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou, the general Yuan Shao led an army of 50,000 troops into Qingzhou.

After more than a year of crusade, at the beginning of the eighth year of Emperor Jian'an of the Han Dynasty (195), most of the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou was exterminated.

In the summer of the eighth year, Yuan Shao took the second son Yuan Xi as the assassin history, and the trial was matched as the long history to stay in Qingzhou, and then led the army back to Tunye City, so far, Yuan Shao's enemy in the north of the Yellow River has only left the Zhang Ji family in Bingzhou, taking advantage of the great battle between Ma Yue and Cao Ying in Nanyang, there is no time for him to take care of the opportunity, Yuan Shao began to prepare intensively to crusade against the state.

……

Xuzhou.

At the end of the seventh year of Jian'an (194), Xuzhou Thorn Shi Taoqian was seriously ill.

Before dying, Tao Qian summoned Chen Gui, Chen Deng, Sun Qian, Cao Bao and other civil and military henchmen and Lu Bu, the minister of Xia Pei, to the sickbed, and solemnly entrusted Xuzhou to Lu Bu in front of Chen Gui and others.

……

Yangzhou.

Sun Jian, the Taishou of Wu County, adopted the advice of the military advisor Xu Shu, and took Zhou Yu, who was only a weak crown, as a general, and led 8,000 troops to fight Jiangdong. From the beginning of the seventh year of Jian'an (194) to the summer of the eighth year of Jian'an, in less than two years, Zhou Yu successively swept away Danyang Liu Miao and Yuzhang Xu Gong, and Tai Shici, the fierce general of the three armies, was also captured by Zhou Yu with family planning.

Shortly thereafter, Zhou Yu waved eastward again, forced the landing of Wucheng Yan Baihu and Huiji Wang Lang, and the four counties of Jiangdong were all owned by the Sun family.

After pacifying Jiangdong, Sun Jian adopted Zhou Yu's suggestion, set up land and water battalions in Shicheng and Niuzhu respectively, built ships and recruited troops on a large scale, and practiced at night.

Ma Yue and Cao Ying, who were busy leaning at each other, did not realize that the powerful enemy was rising in both the north and south directions at the same time.

……

Chang'an, Pingxi General's Mansion.

Frustrated, he straightened his clothes, strode into the hall with his head held high, and threw himself to the ground with a long bow to Ma Yue: "See the lord." ”

At this time, the frustration is no longer the frustration of more than a year ago, the frustration of a year ago was black and thin, and it seemed that it could float away as soon as the wind blew, but now the frustration looks rich and handsome, and the complexion is ruddy, obviously, for more than a year, with the restoration of the county system, the internal affairs under Ma Yue's rule have gradually begun to get on the right track, and the frustration no longer has to work as hard as in the past.

"No courtesy." Ma Yue smiled and said, "Hehe, is the complexion of the note good?" ”

"The lord doesn't know anything." Jia Xu, who was standing on the side, said with a smile, "Guan, Liang, and Hetao have had bumper harvests for two consecutive years, and the wheat harvest in spring this year is imminent, and it seems that it will be another bumper harvest." In the past two years, industry and commerce under the rule of the lord have gradually flourished, especially the trade between the Mobei grassland and Guanzhong and Liangzhou is even more prosperous. Hehe. ”

"Hey, Jia Wenhe, the account can't be counted like this." Frustrated and hurried, "You have seen this entry, but what about the item?" Do you know how many places are waiting for money? Not to mention anything else, let's just say that the cavalry team responsible for protecting the Mobei grassland to the Guanzhong trade road has to pay tens of thousands of yuan every month, not counting the wear and tear of the cavalry's equipment and horses, as well as the pension of the soldiers who died in battle with the horse thieves. ”

"Note, that's your fault." Jia Xu said, "Are you deliberately bullying and not understanding internal affairs?" ”

Frustrated, he said, "What do you mean by that? ”

Jia Xu said: "As far as I know, the cavalry team that protects the trade road is supported by the merchants, and it seems that there is no need for the government treasury to pay a penny, right?" ”

"Hey, this~~" Frustrated and said with a dry smile, "Everything can't be generalized, now you don't need the treasury to pay, but it wasn't like this two years ago, how could the merchants have money at that time?" Not all of them are paid in advance by the treasury, and the current income is regarded as making up for the previous deficit, yes, that's it. ”

"Alright." Ma Yue smiled bitterly, "Note, before General Ben reached out to you to ask for money, you have already started to complain." ”

"Lord, there is really no money in the treasury, I don't believe you can go and check it." "In the past two years, the expenses required to maintain the operation of the state, county, county, and pavilion political axe institutions at all levels have been borrowed from the major merchants in Guanzhong, and there are written documents to prove it. ”

"Okay, okay, don't look at any notes." Ma Yue smiled bitterly, "If there is no money, then there should always be food, right?" Don't tell General Ben that after two years of bumper harvests and the imminent spring harvest of wheat, in the end, you can't even send out tens of thousands of stone military rations!? ”

"There is some grain in the treasury, but it is all spare food." "In case Mobei suffers a snow disaster, or Guanzhong suffers an early disaster, a locust plague or something, and the people's lives are lost, they all have to distribute food from the treasury, and this food cannot be easily moved." But then again, tens of thousands of stone military rations can still be distributed. ”

"Hahaha." Ma Yue and Jia Xu looked at each other and smiled, "Then the trouble will be to prepare 50,000 stone of military rations for General Ben." ”

The fact that the horse butcher and Jia Poison Shi had gone around in such a big circle was just a cover, and this was the main point.

"Fifty thousand stones!?" Frustrated Zhu's face changed, and he shouted in his heart that he was fooled, and said bitterly, "Fifty thousand stone army food is enough for twenty thousand troops to eat for half a year, so much?" The lord shouldn't be going to make a big deal with the Kanto region, right? ”

"It's not a big deal." Ma Yue said indifferently, "The scale of 20,000 people will not affect the rest and recuperation of our army." ”

"Okay." Frustrated and helpless, he said, "I'll go and prepare here." ”

"Then bet and wait." Ma Yue suddenly beckoned, "There is one more thing, General Ben almost forgot to tell you." ”

Frustrated, he said, "What's the matter? ”

Ma Yue said: "Now that the commercial exchanges between Guanzhong and Mobei, the Western Regions, and the Kanto region have begun to flourish, is it possible to consider setting up a money bank?" If you think about it, the merchants in Guanzhong carried a lot of money to Mobei to buy livestock and furs, which was inconvenient to carry, and easy to be robbed by horse thieves. ”

Frustrated, he said, "How is it different?" ”

Ma Yue said: "Merchants can deposit the copper coins in their hands into the money village in Guanzhong, and then the money village issues a bill of the same amount, and the merchant can withdraw the same amount of copper money by virtue of this bill to the money village in Mobei, that is to say, the merchant only needs to carry a bill to Mobei to buy livestock and fur, isn't it very convenient?" ”

"yes, that's a good idea." The business-minded Fu Zhu immediately thought of the great business opportunities in it, and said to Ma Yue happily, "My lord, I will go back to the Ya to draw up a charter here, and then hand it over to the lord for review." ”

Ma Yue said: "Go, hehe." ”

When the figure of the frustrated professor was far away, Ma Yue said to Jia Xu: "As the saying goes, the army has not moved, the grain and grass go first, and now that the problem of grain and grass has been solved, it is time to think about how to fight this battle of Nanyang!" General Ben's meaning is to draw 20,000 people from Gao Shun's 50,000 infantry as the main force to participate in the battle, and then transfer 5,000 cavalry from Ma Chao's cavalry corps as a reserve, what do you think? ”

Jia Xu said: "Chen Ji's army is only seven or eight thousand people, Cao Ying will send at most five or six thousand people to help in the war, if the situation is not good, the reinforcements may increase to about 10,000, that is to say, the strength of the Cao Chen coalition army is between 10,000 and 20,000, in terms of strength, our army has 20,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry to participate in the battle should be more than enough." In addition, there is a more important point, the Cao-Chen coalition army is on the defensive, and it is necessary to divide troops to guard the key villages and towns everywhere, and the strength advantage of our army will be more obvious in actual combat. ”

Ma Yue said: "After the loss of Hangu Pass, the Liangzhou Army has lost its strategic advantage over Cao's army, in order to regain the strategic initiative, this Nanyang County General is determined to win, so this battle cannot be lost." Before sending troops, we must take all the unfavorable factors into account, so as not to cause problems and fall short. ”

Jia Xu nodded, flattened the map on the table, and said to Ma Yue: "My lord, please see, the biggest threat in the north is Yuan Shao, who is entrenched in Jizhou, but the Hetao and Jizhou are separated by the state, and there is the Yellow River and the Great Wall, General Fang Yue is also a battlefield general, can attack and defend well, and Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao have also conquered the eastern Xianbei, and they can go south to the Hetao at any time, so there should be no problem with the Hetao." ”

Ma Yue said: "Yuan Shao's current goal is to merge with Zhang Ji, and the general expects that he will not use troops against Hetao across the state." ”

"Hmm." Jia Xu nodded and said, "Tongguan has General Xu Huang sitting in the formation, and it is foolproof. ”

Ma Yue said: "What about Liu Biao in Jingzhou? ”

Jia Xu said: "Liu Biao is just a dog, and the Jingzhou army was also killed by the lord's eight thousand iron horsemen, so there is no need to worry." ”

Ma Yue said again: "What about Zhang Lu in Hanzhong and Liu Zhang in Yizhou?" ”

Jia Xu said: "After the death of Yizhou Mu Liu Yan, the fourth son Liu Zhang succeeded to the throne, Liu Zhang's surname is weak, every time he is immersed in Burmese wine, not enterprising, there is no need to worry, but Hanzhong Zhang Lu has a certain threat to Guanzhong, but since Yuan Shu became emperor, the prestige of the small court of Xuchang has been greatly reduced, and it is doubtful whether Zhang Lu will obey Cao Ying's order? ”

Ma Yue said: "Prepare for the worst outcome. ”

"The worst result is that Zhang Lu will use his Hanzhong army to attack Guanzhong." Jia Xu said, "The lord only needs to order the elite soldiers to guard the two passes of Chencang and Xieguan, and the Hanzhong soldiers will not be allowed to enter the gate, and the pass can be as stable as a rock." ”

"Hmm." Ma Yue nodded, and said in a deep voice, "Fang Yue wants to guard the Hetao, Xu Huang wants to guard the Tong Pass, Gao Shun and Ma Chao want to go out with the army, and Fa Zheng is far away in the Western Regions. ”

Jia Xu said: "Xu Baoju two people, can guard Chencang and Xiegu. ”

"Oh?" Ma Yue said happily, "I don't know who it is?" ”

Jia Xu said: "Fufeng Mengda, Su Ze." ”

"Meng Da, Su Ze?" Ma Yue frowned and said, "How is the ability?" Chencang, the slope of the valley is dangerous, in case of losing the pass, you must not be careful. ”

Jia Xu said: "Fa Xiaozhi thinks that the two of them can be the guardian of a county, and he thinks so. ”

Ma Yue said: "With Wen He's words, the general will rest assured, now Hetao, Tongguan, Xiegu, and Chencang have all made all arrangements, and the army can rest assured that they will go to Nanyang, this time, we don't play yin with Cao Ying, just set up a formation with him and do it clearly, hehe, if you want to say that you want to play yin, you really can't play Cao Ying and Guo Jia." ”

"Cao Ying is treacherous, Guo Jia is more wise, and the two of them are assisted by Xun You, Cheng Yu, Liu Ye and others, if you want to use tricks, there is really no one in the world who can stand out!" Jia Xu said this, and then said, "However, in the face of absolute strength, all conspiracies and tricks will be useless, and only by relying on absolute strength can we have a chance to defeat Cao Jun." ”

Ma Yue said: "General Ben has no worries, he can go all out to attack Nanyang, but Cao Ying can't!" ”

Jia Xu said: "Yes, Yanzhou is located in the Central Plains, which can be described as a real land of four wars. To the north is the powerful Yuan Shao, to the south is Sun Jian, who has become stronger, and to the east is Lu Bu, who has just entered Xuzhou. ”

"Therefore, General Ben would rather let Yuan Shao sit big, and kill Cao Shao first!" Ma Yue's expression turned solemn and said, "Wen and you think, if Cao Ying is allowed to gain a foothold and become strong in such a place of four battles, what will be the final situation?" ”

Jia Xu's expression also became solemn, and he replied: "At that time, Cao Ying's subordinates will inevitably have an elite army that has experienced a hundred battles, as well as a group of tiger and wolf generals who can fight well!" In the face of a huge army of veterans of a hundred battles who came out of the bloody storm, as well as a large group of battlefield veterans who have experienced countless vicious battles and bitter battles, ten years later, even if the lord does his best to fight the Central Plains with hundreds of thousands of iron horsemen in Guan, Liang, and Mobei, it is difficult to say that he will win. ”

"yes." Ma Yue said solemnly, "The life-and-death contest between General Ben and Cao Ying is not because of personal grievances, it is really inevitable!" Because the two of us represent two interest groups that are incompatible, the struggle will never stop until one of them eventually falls. ”

Jia Xu muttered: "The lord and Cao Ying are both heroes in the world. ”

"Hehehe, Wen He doesn't have to put gold on the general's face, what a hero, at best, he is just a hero!" Ma Yue said casually, "If it is possible, General Ben really wants to make friends with Cao Ying, if he can change his position, General Ben believes that he and Cao Ying will definitely become close friends." ”

Jia Xu nodded and said: "For this, Xu is also convinced. ”

……

Xuchang, Xiangfu.

Liu Ye, who was in charge of intelligence gathering, said: "My lord, according to the news sent back by Xizuo, Ma Chao has led 5,000 cavalry from Hetao to the south of Guanzhong, and in addition, Gao Shunzheng is leading 20,000 infantry to march towards Wuguan. According to the itinerary, Ma Chao's cavalry and Gao Shun's infantry would arrive at Wuguan at the same time in early July. ”

"20,000 infantry plus 5,000 cavalry?" Cao Ying muttered, "For a small Nanyang County, 25,000 troops have been dispatched, the horse butcher really looks up to his true appearance, Fengxiao, in addition to the remaining troops of each county, how many troops can our army transfer to the Nanyang battlefield at most?" ”

Guo Jia said: "Up to 10,000 people." ”

"Ten thousand?" Cao Ying said hesitantly, "Hey, even if you add Chen Ji's 8,000 men and horses, they are also at a disadvantage in terms of strength, Chen Ji's army still has to divide troops to guard the towns and towns in various places, and in actual combat, our army can only face the Liangzhou army's troops alone, and the disadvantage in strength is only more obvious, and the risk of this battle is very great." ”

"Prime Minister, there's something very puzzling." Liu Ye continued, "The military operation of the Liangzhou Army did not deliberately conceal the traces, the horse butcher used the soldiers to be treacherous, before the short encounter, it is generally difficult to find out his true intentions, let alone know his troop layout, but this battle of Nanyang is not the same, according to the current situation, the horse butcher is intending to have a dignified decisive battle with our army in Nanyang." ”

After listening to Liu Ye's analysis, Cao Ying's eyes couldn't help but pass a trace of gloom, and he said in a low voice: "This is not good news for our army, which shows that the horse butcher's style of using troops is also changing, and he is no longer as superstitious as before, and he is no longer as superstitious as before, and he is so superstitious that soldiers are dangerous and surprisingly successful!" The way of using soldiers should be combined with Qi Zheng, and the horse butcher understands this, and it will become more difficult to deal with. ”

"yes." Guo Jia continued, "Before that, if there was a weakness in the horse butcher, it was his adventurous surname! Now, even the only weakness is gone, and it will be difficult to defeat him! However, even if we knew that we would be defeated, our army still had to fight in this battle of Nanyang. ”

"What Feng Xiao said is extremely true." Cao Ying thought deeply and said, "Li Dian finally captured Hangu Pass and choked the throat of the Liangzhou Legion to enter Luoyang in the east, if the horse butcher is allowed to seize Nanyang County, wouldn't it be to expose Luoyang Jinggi to the Liangzhou Legion again?" ”

Xun You said: "If the Liangzhou army captures Nanyang County, the consequences will be more serious than the loss of Hangu Pass, from Nanyang County, the Liangzhou army can not only go north to attack Luoyang, but even swing eastward, directly threatening Xudu!" The threat from Nanyang is much greater than that from the Yellow River. ”

Cao Ying looked around at Guo Jia, Xun You, Xun Yu, Cheng Yu, Liu Ye, and Jia Kui, and said: "Nanyang's victory is unpredictable, and our army can't help but prepare for the worst!" Once the battle of Nanyang is lost, not only Luoyang is dangerous, but Xudu will also open the door, and Tiger Prison Pass and Yangzhai will become the last barrier of Xudu, and it must be heavily fortified. ”

Guo Jia's expression became unprecedentedly solemn, and then said: "Yes, if the battle of Nanyang is lost, our army will inevitably face the endless incursion of the Liangzhou Legion!" I can't help but plan ahead. ”

"Although the crusade of the 23rd Route Coalition Army three years ago greatly damaged the vitality of the Liangzhou Legion, with the plundering of the Western Regions, the Xianbei people in Mobei, as well as the Guandong and Jingyang, coupled with the horse butcher's vigorous support for the industry and commerce in Guanzhong, Guanzhong, Liang, and Hetao have had a bumper harvest for three consecutive years, and the speed of the Liangzhou Legion's recovery is greatly unexpected, and in the past three years, the horse butcher has been able to dispatch nearly 30,000 troops again, which is amazing."

"Prime Minister." Xun Yu, who had never spoken, suddenly said, "There is also the backlash of the people's hearts that is particularly worrying." ”

"In the past two years, the situation in Guanzhong and Liangzhou has been calm, but the situation in Guandong is frequent, and there are more and more people moving from Guandong to Guanzhong. In the long run, the population of Guanzhong will be more and more, and the population of Kanto will be less and less, and the advantage of the Liangzhou Legion will become more obvious. ”

(To be continued)