Liu Xiu suddenly realized, and then he was frustrated.

If the number thirty-six may still be a coincidence, then this slogan proves Liu Xiu's conjecture. No matter how idiotic he is, when he hears this slogan, he knows that this Qiang chaos must have something to do with Taiping Dao.

He didn't know what year the Yellow Turban Uprising was, but the sentence "The sky is dead, the yellow sky should stand!" He knows the slogan of "years in Jiazi, the world is auspicious". According to the Ganzhi chronology, this year is the year of Gengwei, and there are still a few days left to pass the year of Xinyou, which means that there should have been three years before the Yellow Turban Uprising in history.

But now, this slogan has appeared in advance, and not in the East, but in the West. The course of history has changed, and this change is not for the better, but for the worse.

He is the one who started it. Everything he did not only failed to save the Han, but accelerated the arrival of turmoil.

With a "snap", the handle of the horsewhip was choked off by Liu Xiusheng.

"General?" Seeing that Liu Xiu's face was not good, Xun You and Fu Xie were taken aback. They thought that Liu Xiu was worried about the deterioration of the situation in Liangzhou, so they hurriedly persuaded him. At this moment, being anxious will not work, and being anxious will only mess up the situation and will not solve the problem.

Liu Xiu took a deep breath, looked around, got off the horse, and climbed to the cliff next to him. Xun You and Fu Xie looked at it and hurriedly followed. The mountain is not steep, but it is really difficult to walk compared to the flat land, Liu Xiu is said to practice the Five Elements Technique, and his skills are agile, this slope is no different from peace for him, Fu Xie's body is strong, and he can keep up, but in comparison, Xun You's body is much weaker, and he was left far behind after taking a few steps. Liu Xiu climbed on top of a boulder and stood still, looking west, Fu Xie rushed over and stood behind him, and after a while, Xun You climbed up panting, panting wildly with his mouth open, making people very worried about whether he would die of lack of oxygen.

"General......" Xun You shook his hand again and again, lowered his head, swallowed two mouthfuls of saliva, and then said in a dumb voice: "The Qiang people seem to be powerful, but they want to rob the Han people to be handsome, which in itself shows that they lack confidence. Yan Zhong ......"

"Yan Zhong won't bow to them." Liu Xiu interrupted Xun You's words. He was still a little suspicious of Yan Zhong, but now he didn't doubt it, if Yan Zhong really planned to rebel, there was no need for him to come to Chang'an to see him, he had to be a small Zhonglang in his shogunate. Since he has entered the palace, he has the friendship of kings and ministers, and if he betrays without a strong reason, he will be supplied with the name of disloyalty, and in this era, such a person will be spurned. Why was Lu Bu rejected? Largely because he killed Ding Yuan, who promoted him, not because he killed Dong Zhuo.

Xun You was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses again, and hurriedly said: "What the general said is very true, Yan Jun must have been kidnapped by them, and Bian Zhang and the kingdom must have felt that their prestige was insufficient, so they had to take Yan Jun as their commander." Cowardice before a fight is a soldier's plan. ”

Fu Xie understood a little: "The general knows Yan Zhong? ”

"Of course I know, he is the one in my house." Liu Xiu had regained his composure at this moment, and said with a calm smile: "Yan Zhong went to Jincheng, I sent him, originally to use his reputation to persuade Jincheng heroes to cooperate with me, but I never thought of such an accident, but put him in danger." ”

Fu Xie was a little stumped for a while. He originally thought that he was willing to help Liu Xiu, which was to give Liu Xiu a lot of face, but he never thought that Yan Zhong would actually invest in Liu Xiu's General Wei Mansion long before him, and he was only a 600-stone Zhonglang. Yan Zhong is a famous man in Hanyang, and he may not be anything in the eyes of the people of the Central Plains, but in the eyes of the people of Xiliang, Yan Zhong is definitely a famous man, whether it is the Han or the Qiang people, they all admire him, otherwise they would not have kidnapped him as the leader.

"Gongda, there are no idle people here, if you have any ideas, just say it." Liu Xiu held his horsewhip behind his back and looked at the undulating mountains under the western sky, "After this mountain, we may not have much time to stop discussing." ”

Xun You secretly thought to himself, it turned out that the general specially left the brigade to take care of my habits. Although there is such an outsider as Fu Xie here, Fu Xie is a newcomer and a little arrogant, and the general asked him to listen to my opinion, not to show me my intelligence and give him a dismount. I can't let this frontier man underestimate him.

Fu Xie didn't think too much about it at the moment, but felt that Liu Xiu had already given him a lot of face by only taking Xun You and him up to this high place. He had also heard about the special status of the Xun family's uncle and nephew in the General's Mansion, and he wanted to hear the high opinion of this wise man.

Although Liu Xiu didn't look back at the two of them, he guessed their respective thoughts. Wen Wu first, Wu Wu no second, although Fu Xie is from the border, but can be appreciated by a famous person like Fan Jin, of course the knowledge will not be bad, most of the people in the border area do not lack martial arts, such people are often more arrogant, Wang Yun is a typical example. Such people are used well, they are talents, and they are not used properly, but they are also the most prone to dissent, because they can easily see your confidence and know whether you have the possibility of success.

When he came to this high ground, he just felt depressed at first, and he didn't want to lose his temper in front of everyone, but now Xun You and Fu Xie followed, so he pushed the boat down the river and listened to their opinions. Fu Xie wants to test him, and he also wants to take this opportunity to test Fu Xie, in case this guy is also a fake celebrity who has nothing to show for himself, and when he officially enters the palace, he will not be able to pay the heavy responsibility.

"Nanrong, after you arrived in Ji County, how is the situation in Ji County?" Xun You thought for a while, turned his head and asked Fu Xie: "Liangzhou Assassin Zhou Hong's death, what impact does it have on them?" ”

Fu Xie thought for a while: "I stayed in Ji County for a short time, but I just met Fan Fujun, and I hurried back when I heard the news. Judging from Fan Fujun's reaction and the situation along the way, it seems that there was not much shock, at least not in line with the actions of the Qiang people. ”

Xun You nodded, turned his head and said to Liu Xiu: "General, Hanyang is the gateway to Longshan, and to occupy Hanyang is to guard the west gate of Guanzhong." Now that Hanyang has not been affected, I think that the general should immediately enter Ji County, control Hanyang County, and stabilize people's hearts. The county town of Ji is high and deep, easy to defend and difficult to attack, the general occupies it, then Hanyang can be an, Jincheng, Longxi Qiang people are not willing to act rashly, if it is occupied by the Qiang people, or the people of Hanyang are robbed by the Qiang people, it is not easy for the general to take Jicheng again. ”

Liu Xiu nodded secretly, but he didn't make a decision immediately, but glanced at Fu Xie with a smile: "What does Nan Rong think?" ”

Fu Xie nodded again and again: "What Gongda said is very true. The general should immediately enter Ji County and control the situation. Xie is willing to go to Ji County again to open the way for the general. ”

Liu Xiu smiled slightly: "Now that the situation is urgent, how can I be a car and move forward slowly." In a hurry, I rushed into Ji County, and then gathered the heroes of Hanyang to fight with the Qiang people and rescue Mr. Yan. ”

"The general is going to take the risk himself?" Fu Xie was a little worried, "Although the Qiang people have not yet entered Hanyang on a large scale, Ji County is adjacent to Longxi, and Bian Zhang and the Kingdom are not reckless, they will definitely send people to monitor the situation around Ji County, if they find the traces of the general, I am afraid that ...... "The soldiers are fast, I don't think the Qiang people would have thought that I would come so quickly." Liu Xiu waved his hand and said confidently: "Even if some forwards find me, they won't be able to stop me from entering Ji County." Although my three thousand guards are not as strong as the Xuanwu battalion of Tanshi Huai, the three or five thousand Qiang people still can't stop me. ”

Fu Xie heard him say this, and nodded in agreement with a smile. He just took a look at the guard camp behind Liu Xiu, and was quite impressed by the calmness of the soldiers who were not surprised when Mount Tai collapsed in front of him. Liu Xiu was the one who captured and killed Tan Shihuai in Luoyueyuan, and presumably his personal guard battalion was also very strong. At this moment, we must buy time, the faster we act, the greater the chance of success, what we need is rapid decision-making ability and action motivation, and it is really not appropriate to look ahead and think twice.

Liu Xiu's move made him very satisfied.

With an order, everyone, including Liu Xiu, was ready for battle, advancing at the speed of a rapid march, and Li Yifeng, the captain of the scout battalion, rushed forward with his scouts.

In the afternoon of the next day, Liu Xiu rushed to Shangqi and met Zhao An, a messenger sent by Fan Jin, the Taishou of Hanyang. Zhao An was mentally exhausted, covered in blood, and his arm was injured, so he simply bandaged it with a cloth. The soldiers who followed him also had a lot of blood stains on their bodies, and they were nervous. As soon as Zhao An saw Liu Xiu, he hurriedly saluted: "My lord, the Qiang people have arrived in Wangyuan. ”

"Map!" Liu Xiu shouted, Hao Zhao immediately took out the map from his bag, Liu Xiu quickly found the location of Wangyuan on the map, but he didn't stop, his finger scratched on the map, and asked, "Are there any traces of Qiang people in Qishan and Guling?" ”

Zhao An recalled: "I didn't see it. ”

"Not yet, but it should be soon." A young county guard behind Zhao An suddenly said loudly.

"Bold! The general did not ask, how dare you make a loud noise. Zhao An sank his face, drank him, turned his head and bowed to Liu Xiu again: "People in the countryside, don't know etiquette, please don't blame the general." ”

Liu Xiu blinked, beckoned to the somewhat embarrassed young county guard, called him in front of him, and looked at him for a moment. Seeing that this person's face was immature, there was no beard on his lips, only some faint hair, at most he was fifteen or sixteen years old, but his body was very strong, although he was escorting Zhao An from Jizhou to here, there were also a lot of blood stains on his body, and he was also a little nervous, but his eyes were not flustered. Liu Xiu paid attention to the blood on his body, and saw that although there were a lot of blood stains, it was not his own.

Liu Xiu smiled, this kid should be a newborn calf who is not afraid of heaven and earth, it is a hot-blooded adolescent who wants to make contributions, if he experiences a few more years in the officialdom, he may not be so impulsive. "What do you call it?"

Seeing that Liu Xiu's tone was gentle and there was no sign of life, the nervousness in his heart went a little, he didn't answer Liu Xiu's words, but looked at Liu Xiu, and then turned over and bowed down: "Pang De, the little official of the Hanyang Taishou Mansion, meet General Wei." ”

"Get up and speak." Liu Xiu politely helped him, and when Pang De stood up, he suddenly felt surprised, and looked at Pang De carefully: "Your name is Pang De?" ”

Pound was inexplicable: "The little official is Pound." ”

"Are there any words?"

Pang De suddenly blushed, and said in a low voice: "Dare to tell the general, the little official is clear." ”

Liu Xiu raised his eyebrows, forcibly suppressed the excitement in his heart, and smiled a little more: "Then tell me, why will it happen soon?" ”

Pang De was just excited just now, but when he really stood in front of Liu Xiu at this time, he was a little restrained and silent. Liu Xiu smiled, reached out and pressed on his shoulder, and patted him gently: "Don't be nervous, just say what you want, it's okay if you say something wrong." ”

When Pang De heard this, he mustered up the courage to say: "The Qiang people's forward is mainly cavalry, and the reason why they don't attack Jicheng is because they lack the ability to attack Jicheng. Although Wangyuan is a small city, it is also strong, and the Qiang people should not attack the city. Shangqi is less than fifty miles away from Wangyuan, and the news of General Ming's personal arrival, they will soon know that since they can't stop General Ming in Wangyuan, Qishan and Guling have become the best choice. The little official believed that as long as the forward generals they sent were not so stupid that they could not be saved, he would definitely block the generals in the area of Pishan, and at least some of them would be sent. ”

Liu Xiu thought for a while, felt that Pound De was reasonable, he didn't comment, and then asked: "Then in Lingming's opinion, how should our army deal with it?" ”

Pang De's face turned red again, the Pang family is a small family in the poor family, and he has never read any books, so it stands to reason that he can't take words, but he envies those who read, so he chose a word for himself. Liu Xiu now calls him in front of so many people, which not only looks up to him, but also makes him feel a little embarrassed.

"The little official thought that he should set off immediately and occupy Qishan and Guling in front of the Qiang people." Pang De hesitated for a moment, and then shook his head: "I'm afraid it's too late, the Qiang people may have taken the lead." ”

"So what?"

"That can only lure them down, or ......" He looked at Liu Xiu and hesitated: "Or avoid its sharpness, cross the water, and go straight to Jicheng from the southern foot of Qishan." Although the road is farther and more difficult to walk, there is no need to fight. ”

"Really?" Liu Xiu smiled noncommittally. Seeing this, Shang Tai ordered Ren Ping to see it, and hurriedly said: "General Ming, although Pang De is ignorant, this suggestion is ...... But it works. ”

"I'm not saying his advice is bad." Liu Xiu waved his hand and glanced at Pang De approvingly: "You have such insight at a young age, and you will also be a general who can fight well in the future." It's just that you forgot one thing, I led the troops here, if I encountered thousands of Qiang people in front of them and avoided fighting, would the Qiang people still take me in their eyes, and how should the heroes of Hanyang look at me, can they still kidnap me? Without their support, how can I keep Hanyang safe with only my 3,000 men? ”

"What do you mean?"

"I am a disciple of Duan Gong. What kind of character Duan Gong is, he is a famous general who killed the Qiang people and wolves, although I am not talented, I can't fall into Duan Gong's prestige. Liu Xiu waved his hand lightly: "Take a break and set off immediately." If the Qiang have already seized the mountain and the Guling, then defeat them. ”

Ren Ping was taken aback, but Xun You and Fu Xie nodded understandingly. When Pang De heard this, he was stunned at first, and then hugged his fist in shame: "The general is high, and De is willing to be the general's pawn." ”

"Just fight side by side with Ling Ming to break this thief." Liu Xiu laughed.

Xun You glanced at Pang De, and stroked his beard silently. From Liu Xiu's actions, he could see that this kid surnamed Pang would soon become a colleague.

…… Yunwu, in a small room in the backyard of the Taishou Mansion in Jincheng County, Yan Zhong sat quietly, with a copy of "The Theory of the Hidden Husband" on the desk in front of him, a pot of light wine, and a pottery cup. He looked at the book, nodded and praised from time to time, and seemed to be fascinated.

Bian Zhang stood at the door with his hands behind his back, looking at Yan Zhong quietly, motionless, as if he was a stone carving. He had been standing there for a long time, but Yan Zhong didn't look at him, just looked at his own book.

"Mr. Gongxiao, why do you bother?" Bian Zhang sighed faintly: "No matter how good "The Theory of Hidden Husbands" is, with Mr. Qian's cleverness, he doesn't need to read it so many times." ”

Yan Zhong didn't even raise his eyelids, but the corners of his mouth twitched slightly: "Reading is like a horse, ten lines at a glance, even if you read it a hundred times, what's the use?" He changed his posture to make himself comfortable, raised the book with one hand, picked up the wine glass with the other, took a sip of wine with a "squeak", and nodded and praised: "Wang Jiexin is indeed a great talent, but unfortunately he is a scholar after all. ”

"What about the gentleman's opinion?" Bian Zhang has also read "The Theory of the Hidden Husband", although he doesn't dare to say that he is reciting it backwards, he also knows it well, he admires Wang Fu very much, and at this moment he heard Yan Zhong criticize Wang Fu for being pedantic, and couldn't help but ask.

"Is it possible to avoid it? If you give up Liangzhou, Guanzhong will become a border land, and the Qiang people will covet Guanzhong, and if you give up Guanzhong, the Qiang people will send out of Hangu and go straight to Luoyang. Do you want to give up the entire Han Dynasty and live in the south of the Yangtze River? ”

"But sir, the Qiang people are powerful, and now the Han people in Liangzhou are less than one percent of the Qiang people, the imperial court decrees are in chaos, and the people's livelihood is difficult, where is the manpower and material resources to fight with the Qiang people?"

"Not really." Yan Zhong smiled: "The so-called Liangzhou Sanming, Huangfu Gui and Zhang Huan have read too much, no matter whether those Confucian students accept them or not, they have already regarded themselves as Confucian students, and they have to engage in some kind of benevolence and righteousness." But can it be edified? The Qiang people surrendered and rebelled, rebelled and surrendered, and spent countless military funds before and after, but it was still a mess after all. Duan Jiming is reasonable, knowing that only after killing these Qiang people can they be taught benevolence and righteousness, so he chased and killed thousands of miles in one breath and leveled Dongqiang, which brought more than ten years of stability. ”

"But now it's chaotic again, Duan Cheng is old, can he still come?" Bian Zhang smiled slightly, disapproving.

"The Qiang people are chaotic again, because some people don't know the number of days and think that they are destined to return." Yan Zhong glanced at Bian Zhang at this time, his eyes were full of disdain, "Duan Jiming is old, but his disciple is young. Now there is not one Duan Jiming, but seven or eight Duan Jiming. Can you handle it? ”

The corners of Bian Zhang's eyes twitched, he was silent for a moment, and then forced a smile: "Even if Liu Xiu is Duan Cheng's disciple, he has the ability to be a soldier." But the imperial court said, can the Son of Heaven still be able to get military spending? Without money, what war does he fight? ”

"The court didn't give you any money, didn't you also rebel?" Yan Zhong smiled contemptuously, "Before Duan Jiming, those people spent two or three hundred billion, didn't they fail to quell the chaos?" ”

Bian Zhang was a little irritable inexplicably, he turned around the room, and when he stopped again, his eyes were a little cold: "Mr. Gongxiao, we respect you and are willing to serve you as handsome, don't be stubborn." To tell you the truth, whether you follow or not, we have already released the rumors, and now the whole Liangzhou knows that your Mr. Gongxiao is the leader of this uprising. Even if you die here, no one will know your loyalty, you are already a rebel, you will be the king if you succeed, and you will be the coward if you fail. ”

Yan Zhong's eyes also turned cold, he gently put the book on the desk, crossed his hands in front of his abdomen, and frowned slightly. When Bian Zhang saw it, he immediately became excited, seeing Yan Zhong like this, he should be tempted.

"Bian Zhang, everyone said that you and Wen Yue are the most outstanding talents in Jincheng, and now I think that you and Wen Yue are still a big step behind." Yan Zhong said slowly, but his tone was like a knife, mercilessly cutting through Bian Zhang's defense. "You didn't accept Duan Jiming's invitation and didn't go to Luoyang, probably because you were afraid that you would not be as good as Wenyue and ruin your reputation as a celebrity."

Bian Zhang's face was red and white for a while, and he retorted in a choked voice: "What if Wen Yue went, although he is a cloud guard now, isn't he still being pressed by Liu Xiu?" In the first battle of Northern Xinjiang, his credit was greater than Zhao Yun's, but Liu Xiu suppressed his credit and made Zhao Yun a general in Beizhong. ”

"Call you stupid, you still don't accept it." Yan Zhong shook his head regretfully: "You only see that point, but you can't see the whole picture. Wen Yue himself has no opinions, are you upset? You don't know, Wen Yue and Zhao Yun get along very well, and they wholeheartedly support General Wei, although they are a little wronged now, their future achievements are limitless. ”

"Unlimited?" Bian Zhang sneered: "Could it be that Liu Xiu's achievements will be better than those of Daxian...... Still tall? ”

"Great Sage and Good Teacher Zhang Jiao?" Yan Zhong immediately grasped the meaning revealed in Bian Zhang's words. Bian Zhang's face turned red, but he didn't dare to speak, and turned his head away weakly.

"Hahaha......" Yan Zhong laughed loudly, pointing to Bian Zhang, he shook his head: "You are really stupid to listen to Zhang Jiao's words." Don't you know that Zhang Jiao has just been defeated in the imperial court? How could he be an opponent of General Wei. You, you, you still regard a monk like Zhang Jiao as a true destiny. Alas, the Jincheng Bian family can be regarded as living to the end. ”

Bian Zhang's face distorted involuntarily, and he couldn't control his emotions and shouted: "What's wrong with the great sage and good teacher, although he was dismissed, it was not because he was incompetent. He has the heart to save the Han Dynasty, the Son of Heaven does not dare to support him, he can only succumb to the Yuan family, such a Son of Heaven is not worthy of allegiance at all, the great sage and good teacher are the livelihood of the world, and he wants to save the people from fire and water, this is what the great husband does. Liu Xiu is a minister, how can he be the opponent of a great sage and good teacher. ”

He raised his arms and shouted: "The sky is dead, the yellow sky should stand!" My side family conforms to the will of the people, and it is the opportunity of the lintel of the light, so what is there to be afraid of. You claim to be a wise man, but you don't know the heavens, but you are here to beep, doesn't it make people's teeth cold? ”

"You're crazy." Yan Zhong sneered, "I'll make a bet with you, how about it?" ”

Bian Zhang's eyes were red, "Bet on what?" ”

"Bet you're no match for General Wei."

"Humph!" Bian Zhang's eyes squinted, "What is the note?" ”

"You defeated General Wei, I will dispose of it to you, even if it is to make you a book, I am willing." Yan Zhong looked at Bian Zhang for a long time, raised his palm, and smiled slightly: "If you want to lose, what should you do?" ”

"I'll make you a book, too." Bian Zhang laughed angrily, raised his hand, and slapped Yan Zhong three times.

"Okay, refreshed, then I'll wait to see the results." Yan Zhong sat back down, picked up the book, and didn't look at Bian Zhang again. Bian Zhang glared at him angrily for a moment, then brushed his sleeves away.

(To be continued)