Shu Chen

Chapter 250
On the banks of the big river in summer and June, the city is covered with slight clouds, and the grass is full of colors.

The sound of drums and horns that hadn't sounded for a long time on the gate tower of Yuyin City, competed in an instant, conveying the news that there was an army coming to the generals in the city fortress.

Although the army of about [-] people came from the direction of Zuli River, and the flags flying in the army were embroidered with the word "Han", but the soldiers on duty did not relax their vigilance because of this.

As the gate of Hexi, the Shuyin Fortress is too important to the big man.

There is no room for neglect.

Zhang Bao, the chief garrison general, had set very strict military regulations: no matter the enemy or us, as long as there are soldiers and horses approaching the city for five miles without sounding drums to warn, those on duty will be punished!
Those who go down the city wall or open the city gate without his permission, others don't need to report, they can be punished immediately!

And afterwards, the family members were held accountable for the crime of collaborating with the enemy or rebellion.

Such strict orders, not to mention soldiers, even Liu Yin and Yan Yu, who took turns sitting at the head of the city, did not dare to slack off.

It is precisely because of this that Zheng Pu and Zhuge Qiao, who had traveled hundreds of miles to escort the supplies and supplies under the scorching sun, were shut out under the city wall.Even Liu Yin, who was on duty at the top of the city today, had already greeted the two of them loudly, but still closed the city gate tightly because Zhang Bao hadn't arrived.

"Hey, I don't think Wen Rong, who used to be careless about details, is so rigorous after serving as a general!"

Zhuge Qiao, who was already drenched in sweat, wiped his sweaty forehead and sighed with emotion, then turned his head and said to Zheng Pu in a low voice, "When we, the Han Dynasty, recaptured Liangzhou today, it was all thanks to the soldiers who did not unload for several years. Jia's merit is a lot of hard work! I have never been in charge of the army, so I don't know whether the combination of rewards and punishments is applicable to the army; but seeing that the military law stipulated by Wen Rong has punishments but no rewards, I am afraid that the soldiers will not be able to bear it. I don't know what Zheng Jun thinks ?”

Uh.
Is it because he is worried that brother Wenrong treats the soldiers too harshly, which will cause my uncle to make the same mistakes?
After hearing this, Zheng Pu couldn't help but understand.

However, Zhuge Qiao's worries were not unreasonable.

Anyone who is familiar with Zhang Bao knows that although he is not as unsympathetic to soldiers as his father, he still clearly distinguishes scholar-bureaucrats from Li Shu in his bones.

He was born of Zhang Fei's married wife, and he has been displaced by his father's generation since he was a child. He is very touched by the reason why the late emperor was not attached to the family in the early stage of his business; he was also humiliated by Liu Ba as a "soldier" Being called "Old Ge" by Peng Yi and other things, so he is very concerned about his status and class.

Although the extra military regulations formulated today are very sensible for the current situation, without rewards, they are not strict.

After all, for the soldiers, it is their duty to guard the fortress, but the lord has added a lot of extra military regulations to the military discipline that is so delicate that even "loud noise" and "nonsense of Yin and Yang" must be cut off, and it will change. Depressed.In this state for a long time, the emotions of the soldiers are like a depressed volcano. Once there is an unexpected situation, it may cause bad consequences.

"Ge Jun's meaning, I know."

Slightly nodding his head, Zheng Pu said with a smile, "After entering the fortress, I'll find a chance to talk to Brother Wen Rong."

No, Zhuge Qiao shook his head quickly when he heard the words, and said haha, "Ha, Mr. Zheng will go on his own if he wants to talk about family affairs with Wen Rong. The army appeases the soldiers, lest they wait for a long time and cause riots."

After saying that, before Zheng Pu could speak, he turned and left.

It also made Zheng Pu smile.

Zhuge Qiao is difficult to make achievements in military strategy, but he is especially thorough in human relationships.

Obviously they are very familiar with Zhang Bao, but they still want to avoid suspicion.

Perhaps this is the reason why the prime minister asked him to come to Shuyinsai as his deputy to handle Hexi affairs.

For example, to avoid me, who is very rigid, from getting too stiff with those arrogant people.

Thinking of this, Zheng Pu's heart suddenly trembled.

Only then did he really come to his senses, Zhuge Qiao followed Zhang Bao's words and subtly persuaded himself.

Because regarding the situation in Hexi, the prime minister only took half of what he planned.

As early as when he was planning to leave Jincheng County, the prime minister turned You Chu, who had previously served as the prefect of Shu County, into Dahonghe, and led the Wuji Colonel of the Western Regions. All the powerful wrote letters.

persuade to surrender.

The prime minister didn't want to waste too much time and energy on the Hexi Corridor.

It's not that he doesn't pay much attention to Hexi, but that the continuous war for several years has caused too much damage to the people's livelihood of the big man.

Jiang Wan, Ma Di, and others in Shu had privately written letters to inform the prime minister that the power of the people in Shu was on the verge of being unsustainable.Even if it takes only one year for the army to recover the entire Liangzhou, the land of Shu can no longer support the material and manpower for post-war reconstruction.

This is still the result of all efforts - in order to prepare troops for Wei Yan, the Prime Minister has already promised rewards to those Bashu wealthy families in advance, in exchange for a lot of supplies.

Under such circumstances, the proposal presented by Zheng Pu is naturally an option.

The heritage of a state will eventually have its time.

If the war is pushed further, the big man will fall into militarism and lose the hearts of the people.

Of course, if those powerful people in the Hexi Corridor are unwilling to accept the surrender of the big man, then the prime minister will not miss the opportunity to fight against Wei and cannot use his troops, and will adopt Zheng Pu's plan to make Hexi full of bloody storms.

What Zhuge Qiao said, "There is a degree of relaxation, and grace and power go hand in hand", is to persuade the principal Zheng Pu not to be too harsh on Hexi's arrogance.

War is the continuation of power, and the means to make power last is to compromise the balance of the current situation.

When there is no absolute strength to break through and then stand up, it is better to stick to a bottom line first, step by step, and leave it to the successors to slowly improve.

Zheng Pu, who had realized something, looked at Zhuge Qiao's thin back, put his hand on his beard, and began to rethink how to deal with those Hexi Haolai.

It's just that the scorching sun makes it impossible to calm down and think.

For some unknown reason, a quarter of an hour passed, and the city gate was still tightly closed.

One is the son-in-law of the emperor, and the other is the son of the prime minister. It is impossible to harbor evil intentions towards the big man, but they were turned away.

This embarrassed Liu Yin who was standing on the top of the wall, but the pawns sent to invite General Zhang Bao still did not return.In desperation, he had no choice but to ask the soldiers to hang clear water with hanging baskets to relieve the heat for the soldiers of Zheng Pu's troops.

Although it is difficult to explain how unreasonable it is for the army of Paoze to be exposed to the scorching sun, it is better than nothing.

Another quarter of an hour passed.

Under the fortress, Zhuge Qiao had already circled back from the rear army, glanced at the majestic city wall, and then looked back at the army's Chinese character banners hanging on the flagpoles because of the lack of wind, suddenly felt that today's sun is particularly poisonous.

"Zheng Jun, isn't Fuyin Fortress very small?"

After hesitating for a moment, he couldn't help asking.

The fortress of Yuyin is indeed not big, and it can be traversed within a quarter of an hour without a horse.

That's why Zheng Pu was speechless for a moment.

After a while, he raised his eyebrows, "Well, it's very small. Maybe it's because Brother Wen Rong is not in the city?"

(End of this chapter)