"Young master, can this bird really deliver letters?" Looking at the pigeon that flapped its wings and gradually moved away, Wang Shuang asked a little ignorantly. The famous fierce general in history is still only a teenager under the age of twenty. But he was strong, tall and burly, and with the blue birthmark on his face, he even looked a little scary.

"Naturally!" Sima Yi said lightly, but sighed in his heart, this Zhao Botao is really powerful, he can actually make this kind of bird. I spent a lot of money to explore various post stations under Liu Bei's rule, and I only got these few. I relied on my own to find out how to raise it, and it took years of hard work to know how to use it to send letters. But now it seems that it was all worth it. It's not far from your goal.

"Father, the child is late to come back, the child is not filial!" In Sima Mansion in Hedong, Sima Yi, who had just arrived home and was covered in linen and filial piety, knelt in front of his father's spirit and wept bitterly. In the following days, Sima Yi was closed and did not go out, keeping filial piety for his father. Only when the occasional guest comes to mourn will he come forward to receive him.

At the second watch in the evening, Sima Yi looked around and no one noticed him, so he cautiously returned to the small courtyard where he lived, and looked at the pigeon nest, and two more pigeons flew back. Sima Yi untied the letter box tied to the pigeon's legs, and then returned to his room. After closing all the doors and windows, and blowing out the lights, Sima Yi listened carefully to the window again, and only after making sure that there was no movement.

With a "crunch", Sima Yi turned an inconspicuous-looking oil lamp on the table, and a door suddenly appeared on the blue brick wall on the side, and there was an extremely long corridor inside. Sima Yi entered lightly, closed the door again, and only then did he dare to take out the fire fold on his body and light a torch on the wall. With the dim light of the torch in his hand, Sima Yi walked dozens of zhang in a row before he reached the end of the road.

"Crunch" pushed open the door at the end of the corridor, and Sima Yi walked out of the door, already in a small courtyard. Gently stepped forward and knocked on the door of a hut, and an old voice immediately came from inside: "Is it Zhongda, the door is not locked, come in by yourself!" ”

"Father!" After Sima Yi entered the door, he bowed meticulously to the old man in the room who had just gotten up with his clothes on. That's right, this old man hiding in the small courtyard is Sima Yi's father, Sima Fang, who claimed to be dead.

"Zhongda, I'll do the math, it's almost time for you to come back. How's it going, right? After Sima Fang got dressed, he asked with a smile.

"Thanks to my father's concern, everything is fine!" Sima Yi said respectfully. Sima Fang nodded, and suddenly sighed and said, "Zhongda, once this matter fails, my Sima family will have no place to stand." is hiding his name for his father, just so that you can return to your hometown to preside over the overall situation. But you need to make sure that everything goes wrong! ”

The father was reassured that the child had been well planned. But when Cao Liu fights again, he can profit from it! Sima Yi said solemnly. Looking at his son's confident posture, Sima Fang also nodded with some reassurance, but still reminded: "Wu'er must not be careless, although my Sima family has a strong foundation, but my father has been sitting in Hedong for many years, but he has only accumulated this bit of belongings." At present, the military horses in the place where the division is subordinate, counting the protégés and former officials of the father, I am afraid that they can only mobilize 20,000 at most, and no matter how much they are, they will not be able to mobilize! ”

"An army of 20,000 is enough, and besides, the child has soldiers and horses elsewhere!" Sima Yi said with a smile. Sima Fang nodded, and said no more. Sima Yi said a few more words to his father, and then hurriedly left. In the months that followed, Sima Yi studied at home and planted vegetables, kept filial piety for his father, and managed the family business. And whenever relatives and friends come to visit, Sima Yi is also warmly received. But he himself rarely goes out to visit friends, and it can even be said that he does not go out of the door.

Of course, all this also reached the ears of Prime Minister Cao Cheng in Yecheng through secret agents. After reading the secret agent's report, Cao Ying was also noncommittal. However, Sima Yi was okay for the time being, and Cao Ying also relaxed a little and began to go all out to prepare for the restoration of the people's livelihood in Hebei, and then prepare for the next big war. However, in the winter of this year, when Cao Ying himself almost forgot Sima Yi, two uninvited guests came to Sima Yi's home in Hebei.

"Sima Gongzi, are you really willing to help us?" As soon as this person entered the door, he also asked Sima Yi impatiently. Sima Yi smiled when he heard this, and then said: "General rest assured, I, Sima Yi, am not a person who is untrustworthy. At present, Cao Ying is bullying the Son of Heaven and persecuting Li Min. The general was forced by the situation, how could Sima Yi stand by and watch? If the general can trust me, he will be able to find a place for his subordinates to live in a few years! ”

"Well, that's good!" When the man heard this, he also sighed. Looking at Sima Yi, who was smiling calmly, this person also said a little bitterly: "I have been gathering in the mountains and forests for more than ten years, but now it is difficult!" After the death of my father, I took these hundreds of thousands of people to live in the mountains and forests, and in recent years, I have fought with Zhang Jaw, and I have lost more than I won. I want to surrender to Cao Ying, but Cao Ying is in danger of being annihilated, and we are afraid of being harmed by him. Fortunately, Sima Gongzi helped him, and Zhang Fang was grateful! ”

"General Zhang's words are serious, and when the matter is completed, Yi guarantees that the general and his military horses can go to Guanzhong to live and work in peace and contentment! General, please see, this is the secret decree of the Holy Majesty today. You and I are called to fight thieves, why worry about Cao Ying! Sima Yi said as he took out the edict of Emperor Han Xian in his arms, and Zhang Fang nodded again and again after reading it. After reading it, Zhang Fang sighed: "Now Cao Ying's strength is strong, even if you and I join forces, it will only be tens of thousands of horses." If you want to defeat Cao Ying, it's really difficult! ”

"Don't worry, general, I have a plan. The general returned to Montenegro for the time being, and endured for a while. When everything is ready, start again! Sima Yi finally comforted a few words, Zhang Fang nodded hurriedly, and then took his leave.

As the largest remnant of the Yellow Turban Army after the Qingzhou Army, the Black Mountain Army has been entrenched in the Taihang Mountains for many years. Historically, after Cao Ying unified the north, the Montenegrin Army was absorbed. But now Cao Yingnan has Liu Bei, the big enemy, and almost after fighting the Huns, he fought with Liu Bei. In addition, Yuan Tan of Liaodong is also more tricky than the Montenegrin army, so their extermination has been delayed. Until the death of Zhang Yan, the first leader of the Montenegrin Army, his son Zhang Fang succeeded as the leader.

Now, Cao Ying and Liu Bei have temporarily ceased fighting, so naturally they can't leave such a big hidden danger alone, so since the beginning of spring, Cao Ying has sent the general Zhang Jaw to lead the army to exterminate the Black Mountain Army. Zhang Jaw is a veteran of suppressing the Yellow Turban, and Wu Dun and others were made nowhere to hide by him, so they were forced to vote for Liu Bei. Now Zhang Fang is fighting with him, and he is also losing and retreating.

The Montenegrin army claims to be 300,000, but in fact, it is only 300,000 for all the people who drag their families and mouths. But after the blow of opening the jaw, there are less than 200,000 left. If you talk about the number of troops, there are still 30,000 or 40,000. But with this amount of manpower, it is really difficult to gain a foothold in the troubled times. Zhang Fang had no choice but to lead his subordinates back to the deep mountains of Taihang Mountain, preparing to be a citizen of the mountains and forests like the people of Shanyue.

This year, Sima Yi suddenly sent his cronie Wang Shuang into the mountains to get in touch with Zhang Fang. Wang Shuang told Zhang Fang that Sima Yi was willing to take them in. Taihang Mountain is located between Hedong County and Jizhou, and Wang Shuang suggested that Zhang Fang could infiltrate the Sima family's sphere of influence in order to shelter.

Zhang Fang naturally didn't believe it at first, but later a small-scale flood broke out in the Taihang Mountain area, and it was even more difficult for the Montenegrin army to survive. At the same time, the Sima family took the initiative to help them. Zhang Fang was grateful for his kindness, so he agreed to cooperate with Sima Yi. At Sima Yi's suggestion, a part of the Montenegrin army, who were unwilling to gather in the mountains and forests, mixed in with the fleeing victims and began to flee to Hedong County to seek a living. Sima Yi's family has a great business and a lot of fields, so he has settled these 10,000 people. Of course, it is said to the outside world that these people are all disaster victims, and the Sima family is just taking them in. But after all, this kind of thing can't be hidden from his own people, and what Sima Fu said about Sima Yi taking in the dead is what he refers to. It's just that there were no more than a thousand households and thousands of people in general, and this kind of thing is not too noticeable. After all, in these years, it is normal for the family to take advantage of natural disasters to take in the victims as tenants.

In this way, Sima Yi gained Zhang Fang's trust. There are no less than tens of thousands of Montenegrin troops, and with the help of this right-hand man, Sima Yi can exert his hands and feet. As long as Liu Bei and Cao Ying start a war again, they will benefit from it. At the same time, Sima Fang took advantage of the election of officials in the Jiupin Zhongzheng system, and selected some of his cronies to serve as officials at all levels in Hedong. Although Cao Ying knows about these, the Sima family is a wealthy family in Hedong, and it is normal to select some of his own cronies. Moreover, even if Sima Yi wanted to do something, it would not be enough to rely on Hedong County alone. When Sima Fang died, Cao Ying's only little doubt dissipated into smoke. Who would have thought that he had already come up with so many tricks. Even later, when Zhao Feng knew that Sima Yi had actually taken precautions to this point, he could only sigh that this guy was too yin. It's just that he still doesn't understand why Sima Yi, who has endured for many years in history, is now taking risks?

What Zhao Feng didn't know was that Sima Yi was forced to do this. In history, Sima Yi survived for forty years, and after slowly accumulating fame and strength, he began to seize the Cao family. But now it is very different from history, first of all, the three-point posture no longer exists. At present, Liu Bei and Cao Ying's strength is almost the same, and in the next battle, if anyone loses, then he is basically doomed to complete defeat. In less than ten years, the world will inevitably be unified. Because of this, Sima Yi will take risks in advance. It is also precisely because of this that last time Sima Yi gave Cao Ying such a strategy that seemed to be polite to Cao Ying, but actually secretly helped Liu Bei's troops to surround Xuchang, in order to balance the strength between the two a little, so that the longer they confronted, the more opportunities they had to learn from it. The abacus has reached this point, and it really can't be described as fine.

To use an inappropriate analogy, now Cao Ying and Liu Bei are equivalent to Cao Ying and Sun Quan who originally confronted each other in history, while Sima Yi became Liu Bei at that time, and his strength was weak. Therefore, he can only take advantage of Cao Liu's exchange of troops to get something out of it. Just snatching food from Cao Liu's mouth, how can it be so easy? Sima Yi has been preparing until now, weighing the chips in his hand, and if he wants to say enough, he is a little reluctant. But as the so-called wealth and danger are sought, thinking that the opportunity cannot be lost, the time will not come again, and you can only come hard. Once the matter is completed, even if it is not good, it can also be divided into one side and compete for the world. This temptation is too great for Sima Yi, and it is absolutely impossible for him not to bet.

The mystery of this, Zhao Feng didn't know at this time. Now he is busy training soldiers and horses in Xichuan to prepare for the next Northern Expedition. Although Zhang Ren and Huang Quan both think that this year's success is good, they can appropriately recruit some new troops. However, Zhao Feng, who was in line with the idea of sustainable development, thought twice, and after recruiting the Invincible Flying Army, he only recruited 5,000 soldiers a little to enrich the local guards.

"At present, there are more than 100,000 Sichuan troops, excluding the three eastern counties and Hanzhong, and I still have 90,000 horses in Sichuan. If it is the Northern Expedition, it is necessary to leave more than 10,000 people to cooperate with the county soldiers to defend the southern frontier. In this way, after I have merged Zilong in Hanzhong and the uncles of the three eastern counties, plus the frustration and Tianfeng in Longxi, there will be 1230,000 soldiers and horses. In addition, Xiliang Ma Mengqi can mobilize no less than 40,000 or 50,000 horses. In this way, it is enough to seize Guanzhong and break Xiahou Yuan! Looking at the map on the table, Ma Tan spoke eloquently, his tone full of confidence. On this day, Zhang Ren came to report on the training of the new army, and everyone surnamed Suo went to explore military affairs. This kind of thing on paper, Ma Jian is really good at it.

"This is true, the person we are afraid of is the elite cavalry in the pass of Xiahou Yuan, and our Sichuan army is mostly foot soldiers, and the decisive battle with the Guanzhong Plain is very unfavorable. Now there are General Ma Mengqi and General Zhao Zilong's Xiliang Iron Cavalry, which is enough to compete with Xiahou Yuan. If he knows each other, he will guard the Jing River and Weishui, otherwise Guanzhong will be obtained for us! Zhang Ren also nodded again and again. However, when he turned his head and saw that Zhao Feng frowned slightly, he didn't seem to be very interested in Ma Jian and Zhang Ren's arrogant words, and Zhang Ren couldn't help but be a little stunned.

"Youchang and righteousness are not bad, but if you raise troops for the Northern Expedition, how to enter the army still needs to be decided by the lord!" Zhuge Liang said with a smile, and gently revealed the matter of the Northern Expedition in one sentence, and then everyone began to discuss how to arrange the defense of Nanzhong. Although Meng Jie and the others are still stable, there is a way that is not my race, and their hearts will be different, and Zhao Feng does not dare to pin his hopes on these people's own obedience.

"The general seems to be worried about another northern expedition?" After everyone left, Zhuge Liang suddenly asked.

"Kong Ming, I knew I couldn't hide it from you!" Zhao Feng shook his head and smiled bitterly. As Cheng Yu expected, Zhao Feng is really a little jealous now, whether to continue to make meritorious contributions. After all, it's not a legend. It's nothing to take Xichuan, Hanzhong, and Jiangdong by yourself, but Guanzhong is different, and it is the first strategic place in the Han Dynasty. If this credit falls on your head, it will be difficult not to attract attention. Therefore, Zhao Feng had already thought of countermeasures.

"Kong Ming, I think, if the next Northern Expedition wants to capture Guanzhong, you will wave the Northern Expedition, and I will sit in Chengdu!" Zhao Feng suddenly said that this proposal was really unexpected by Zhuge Liang.

(To be continued)