Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 152
The reason why Zhang Xiu decided to vote for Cao was because the benefits given by Cao Cao were too great.

Originally, he thought that Yuan Shao was powerful, and maybe Yuan Shao had a better chance of winning, but Jia Xu kept persuading him, telling him that Cao Cao was more wise and powerful than Yuan Shao, and Cao Cao would win the final victory.

So Zhang Xiu has been vacillating, neither dared to really vote for Cao, nor dared to respond to Yuan Shao's attack on Xudu.

Now that Cao Cao has laid down his capital again, he can even give up the hatred of the eldest son, let the second son marry his daughter, and the eldest daughter marry his son.

Zhang Xiu thought about it, if he helps Cao Cao himself, Cao Cao will be more likely to win, plus his daughter married Cao Cao's son-in-law, if Cao Shuo is in power in the future, how can he have this kind of brother-in-law friendship? It shouldn't be settled after autumn.

At that time, if Cao Cao really won the battle of Guandu with his own help, and the Cao family gained power, as the sons and daughters of the direct descendants, their Zhang family would naturally ride the wind and rise to heaven.

In contrast, when going to Yuan Shao's place, he is at most an ordinary general, who may not have much power and has little interest in the family.

Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, Zhang Xiu believed that it would be better to take refuge in Cao Cao.

What he didn't know was that Cao Shuo was indeed the second son after Cao Ang's death, but he was weak and sick in history, and died of illness within two years after the end of the Battle of Guandu. This third son became emperor.

As for Princess Qinghe, this woman who dared to murder her husband has a very bad temper and is not a good person.

Therefore, the so-called legitimate sons and legitimate daughters are actually false.

Except for Mrs. Bian's Cao Pi, Cao Zhang, Cao Zhi and others, Cao Cao's favorite sons are Cao Ang and Cao Chong. Unfortunately, these two died too early, so Cao Pi picked Wei Wendi's peaches.

If Zhang Xiu really chose to marry, it would be a wrong choice. In the future, Cao Pi will still have to kill his whole family when he takes over.

of course.

Now Zhang Xiu must not know this.

He felt that Cao Cao was very sincere in marrying his sons and daughters. In addition, Jia Xu repeatedly persuaded Cao Cao to be better than Yuan Shao, and he would definitely win the battle of Guandu, so he happily planned to follow the plan and lead the army north to Kunyang.

But the mobilization of soldiers and horses also takes time, so in the next few days, while preparing food and grass, he and Wang Bi made plans on how to marry the two children.

To put it simply, Wang Bi first took Zhang Xiu's daughter to Xudu, and then brought Cao Cao's daughter to Nanyang.

In this way, there is no need to worry about Cao Cao arresting his son as a hostage.

At that time, the status of women was not high. For example, Yuan Shu sent someone to ask Lu Bu to ask for a marriage.

So this kind of thing is very common, as long as the son doesn't go to Xudu.

Don't worry about how to send it there.

Because the entrance to Nanyang at that time was not only Ye County, but there were still many places in the east of the Dabie Mountains that could come directly from Runan.

It's just that those places pass through the mountains, not avenues but small roads, which are not conducive to large-scale marches. It is still no problem for small groups of people to shuttle, and there is no need to pass through Kunyang, Ye County.

So in the early morning of August [-]st, when the whole city was still asleep, Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu sent Wang Bi to the outside of the city, less than a hundred feet away from the pavilion.

At this moment in the pavilion, a young man stretched his waist and got up. He looked around and saw that his friend was not there, so he got up and put on his wooden clogs, took a robe from the hanger next to him, put it on, and called out: "Bo Yan, Bo Yan?"

"Uncle Ji, are you awake?"

There was a sound in the yard, and the man with the word machine went out, and saw Zhang Ying, a friend in the yard, standing on the pavilion and looking out.

"What are you looking at?"

Yiji walked over curiously.

Zhang Ying said: "When I was boiling water before, I saw a lot of people outside the courtyard, so I just checked what was going on. It turned out that General Zhang and Dr. Jia from Rangcheng were seeing off the guests."

"What guest deserves to be seen off by the two of them?"

Yiji climbed up the stairs to the pavilion. Standing on the pavilion and looking into the distance, he saw dozens of cavalry escorting several chariots and horses on Chengdong Road.

Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu were riding on horseback, saying goodbye to one person.

There were no carriages in the carriages of the Han Dynasty, so Yi Ji could vaguely see a woman on one of the carriages, and a young general beside the carriage.

"It seems to be General Zhang's son and daughter."

Zhang Ying said casually.

He came from a prominent local family, and because he was a branch, he only got the position of pavilion chief. Even if Zhang Xiu arrived in Nanyang, there were not so many talents to help him manage it.

Therefore, in addition to the county magistrate, the officials in Rangcheng and the surrounding cities under his control are all local rich people.

Yiji is now in charge of Chaoyang County in the south. Before Liu Biao sent some low-level gentry who were attached to him to Nanyang to serve as low-level management, such as Li Yan, Han Ran, etc., it may not be for the purpose of controlling the grassroots of Nanyang and preventing himself from attacking Nanyang. Weak control.

But Zhang Ying and Yi Ji are good friends. There was nothing going on in the county recently, so Yi Ji came to play with Zhang Ying for a few days. Unexpectedly, when it was just dawn this morning, he saw Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu outside the city who were seeing off a group of strangers. Surprising.

"These people are really strange."

Yi Ji was very puzzled, where Zhang Xiu seemed to be sending his daughter.

Zhang Ying climbed down from the pavilion, and said lazily while climbing: "We don't have to worry about General Zhang's affairs."

"I'm afraid there is something hidden here."

Yiji continued to wait and see.

After a while, Zhang Xiu Jiaxu said goodbye to Wang Bi, and he asked his son Zhang Quan to lead hundreds of cavalry to protect Wang Bi and go east.

Seeing this situation, Yi Ji felt more and more wrong, because he felt that the person who said goodbye to Jia Xu and Zhang Xiu was very familiar, and he seemed to have seen him somewhere.

But he couldn't think of it for a while, so Yi Ji simply put this problem behind him and considered another problem.

General Zhang sent his daughter east?
Where is the east side?
Out of the Dabie Mountains is Runan.

Could it be that Zhang Xiu wants to marry Yuan Shao or Cao Cao?
This is a big deal.

Without even thinking about it, Yi Ji planned to take his horse from the stable in the backyard of the pavilion and go south to Xiangyang to report to Liu Biao after he saw Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu returning to the city.

Zhang Ying was still going to cook the fire, but when he saw that he was about to leave, she asked in surprise, "Uncle Ji, where are you going? Are you going back to Chaoyang so soon?"

Yi Ji shook his head and said: "Zhang Xiu sent her daughter away, and she went to the east. It is very likely that she entered Runan from Wuyin, and she must have married to the north. I don't know if it is with Cao Cao or Yuan Shao. I must immediately Report to Minggong."

"Then I will accompany you."

Zhang Ying said.

Yi Ji thought for a while and said: "No, you are the pavilion chief. If there is no one in the pavilion, you will report to Zhang Xiu. If he finds out that something is wrong, I'll go."

"it is good."

Zhang Ying nodded. This matter is really big. Although I don't know the internal reasons, it is not a problem to have to report it.

At that moment, Yiji rode his horse to the south alone.

Halfway there, when he was about to reach Chaoyang County, he suddenly slapped his forehead.

"I remember."

He exclaimed, "That man is Wang Bi!"

Wang must be from Yanzhou.

In the early years, when Cao Cao was the shepherd of Yanzhou, Wang Bi followed him.

At that time, Yiji was still young, and his family was a big family in Yanzhou. Because of Cao Cao's killing of Bianrang, the Yanzhou family rebelled. At that time, Yiji moved south with his clan to Xiangyang and joined his fellow villager Liu Biao.

Before Cao Cao killed Bian Rang, Yi Ji, who was in his teens, had met Wang Bi at a banquet with his parents, but he didn't remember it in the past seven or eight years.

Now suddenly remembering that that person was Wang Bi, Yi Ji immediately guessed that the person Zhang Xiu married was Cao Cao!
Thinking of this, Yiji looked to the north in horror.

If Zhang Xiu and Cao Cao marry, then Shen Chen and Liu Shijun who are stationed in Kunyang will be in danger.

I must report.

But Duke Ming must also go there.

Newfield!

Yiji immediately made a decision.

Kunyang must report the letter, and Liu Biao must also go.

But he has no skills at his own disposal, so he can't do both.

However, Deng Mao, the county magistrate of Xinye, was Shen Chen's grandfather, and he happened to pass by Xinye when he went south from Rangcheng to Xiangyang, so Yiji immediately planned to tell Deng Mao about it.

Soon he changed his direction. Originally, he planned to go south from Rangcheng and pass Chaoyang, then from Chaoyang to Fancheng, and cross the river back to Xiangyang.

Now it is going east, and Xinye is on the opposite bank of Chaoyang County, only twenty or thirty miles away, very close.

At the same time, Shen Chen was also in Xinye County at this time.

Xinye has now become his territory, with more than 30 people under his rule. In addition to Huyang and Huangmenting, the population under his control is more than [-], which is nearly one-third of the entire Nanyang. He is able to send troops protection.

So after Shen Chen returned to Xinye, he immediately went to find his grandfather Deng Mao, asking him to help transport last year's old grain to Xiangyang, and find a grain merchant to sell some meat products to Kunyang.

The food on the front line was actually enough. After all, Shen Chen had saved up for four or five years, and he didn't fight everywhere like Cao Cao, so he saved a lot of old food.

But meat is scarce now.

The soldiers of Huangmenting were able to march fifty or sixty kilometers every day, which had a lot to do with the fact that they could always eat meat to supplement protein.

At the beginning, the budget was enough, but later Shen Chen collected Gan Ning's military power, now the two armies are united, and they must be treated equally, so there is a shortage of meat products.

So when I came back this time, in addition to talking with Zhang Xiu about dispatching troops, I also planned to supervise the supplies in the rear, as well as newly made weapon blades and armors, which were also to be transported to the front line.

And it was only the second day after Shen Chen returned to Xinye County, when he was discussing matters with his grandfather, a servant came from outside the hall to report: "Master Chaoyang, Mr. Chaoyang, please see me."

"Iji?"

Shen Chen said in surprise, "Let him in."

Liu Biao sent some gentry to the Nanyang grassroots to help manage things, but Shen Chen knew exactly what he was up to.

But these people are indeed very talented, such as Li Yan, Yi Ji, Han Ran, etc. are all outstanding, so Shen Chen has always maintained a friendly relationship with them.

Now suddenly ask to see, maybe there is something important.

Sure enough, after Yiji came in, seeing Shen Chen was there, he was overjoyed and said, "Mr. Shen, it's great that you are here."

"Brother Ji."

Shen Chen stood up and cupped his hands, "What's the matter?"

Yiji hurriedly replied: "I have been meeting friends in Rangcheng for the past few days. I was staying in a friend's pavilion this morning. Outside the city, I saw Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu sending off one person and Zhang Xiu's daughter. Seeing that person looks familiar, I thought for a long time before I remembered that he is Cao Cao's chief secretary, Wang Bi, and I met him once when I was in Yanzhou!"

"What? Wang Bi!"

Shen Chen was shocked.

What benefits did Cao Cao promise Zhang Xiu?
As soon as he left on the front foot, Zhang Xiu sent his daughter to Xu Du to marry Cao Cao on the back foot. He said so much for nothing.

"Exactly."

Yiji said: "Seeing that the situation was different, I immediately went south to report to Liu Shijun, but suddenly remembered that Ruo Zhangxiu had colluded with Cao Cao, fearing that Xiaolang and Liu Yuzhou would be in danger, so I came to Xinye to inform the county lord of the matter. thing."

Deng Mao was also shocked and said: "This picture is really a jackal. People in Xiliang are capricious. If it weren't for Liu Shijun, he would have been destroyed long ago, and he would rebel again."

Shen Chen pondered and said: "This matter is no small matter. Zhang Xiu has more than [-] people on foot, and they are not idle people. Even if we have been prepared for a long time, we may be attacked by two sides. We must destroy their marriage. Uncle Ji, can you do it?" Do you know where the king is going?"

"Going east, I'm afraid they crossed the Dabie Mountains from Wuyin."

Yiji replied.

Shen Chen said: "Uncle, you should immediately send someone to inform Liu Shijun, and ask him to help send troops to the north to surround Rangcheng. Uncle Ji, we two will immediately pursue Wang Bi, and we will definitely kill him."

"what?"

Yiji was taken aback and said, "But they have hundreds of cavalry guards."

Shen Chen said coldly: "Ban Dingyuan once said that if you don't enter the tiger's den, you won't catch a tiger cub. They will never expect us to ambush halfway."

"This"

Yi Ji hesitated for a while, but seeing Shen Chen's arrogance, he was also infected a little bit, nodded immediately and said: "Okay, I will risk my life to accompany Xiao Lang! I will take you there."

"Thank you!"

Shen Chen immediately said to Deng Mao: "Uncle, please send someone immediately to ask the envoy to send troops quickly, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous."

"I see."

Deng Mao immediately arranged for manpower.

But Shen Chen went out of the county government office, summoned many knights, and ordered them to bring all their bows and crossbows, and hunt down Wang Bi with him.

Soon the knights lined up and marched out of Xinye to the north.

At this time, it was actually around 30 o'clock in the morning, and it was only [-] kilometers away from Rangcheng to Xinye. Yiji discovered the situation at about [-] o'clock just after dawn in the morning, and then it took another hour to come to Xinye.

According to the itinerary, Wang Bi's convoy was traveling slowly in a horse-drawn carriage, and at most it reached Anzhong County, so Shen Chen immediately went north and set up an ambush in the east of Anzhong along the turbulent water.

It was a coincidence that the ambush point was actually the place where Shen Chen set up an ambush on the left bank of the Turbulent River east of Anzhong when Cao Cao conquered Nanyang.

The forest was still there, Shen Chen sent someone to ask the villagers nearby, and learned that the convoy hadn't passed by, so he still lay in ambush at the old place, on the mountain where Cao Cao was ambushed.

But I didn't expect that the left could not wait, and the right could not wait.

Shen Chen sent someone to go north to ask in the direction of Nieyang, because there is another bridge in the north, which is the place where Cao Cao sent Yu Jin to detour, but was ambushed by Gan Ning, and he can also go to the east bank of Tuan Shui.

Sure enough, Wang Bi's convoy went north, and villagers who were farming in the fields confirmed that the convoy had just passed by not long ago.

So Shen Chen chased after him again.

From their direction, we can know that they planned to go from Rangcheng to Nieyang, and then cross the Feishui River from the south, pass through Wuyin, pass through the Dabie Mountains from the small road around Zhongyang Mountain, and reach Wufang County in Runan .

This road is considered very safe, the middle area is not under Shen Chen's jurisdiction, and even the Wancheng area is barely in the hands of Zhang Xiu, and there are some troops stationed there.

Zhang Xiu sent his son Zhang Quan to escort him, apparently because he wanted the team to change defenses against Wancheng in his name.

This is not easy to arouse suspicion.

As for why not go out at night, choosing to travel at night is also very simple.

For one thing, the vision at night is not good, and it is too conspicuous if you light a torch.Secondly, they are guarded by hundreds of cavalry. They go out to pass through the pavilion at night, and there is too much movement.

After all, there are very few areas that Zhang Xiu can control now, that is, the counties in the northwest of Rangcheng near Wuguan, and the cities in the east are currently under the jurisdiction of officials sent by Liu Biao.

Although Liu Biao's main force is currently fighting the rebellion in Jingnan, his current strength is much stronger than in history. He still deployed [-] to [-] troops in Xiangyang. Zhang Xiu didn't want to arouse Liu Biao's suspicion and be wiped out by his troops.

At this time, the team had indeed crossed Nieyang and headed towards the south to the hometown. As long as they passed the south to the hometown, went to Wuyin, and entered the Dabie Mountains, they would be able to reach Runan safely.

On the west bank of the Feishui River, in the area of ​​Wolong District, Nanyang City in later generations, it was like a wild jungle in the Han Dynasty. Township.

Wang Bi's convoy arrived here in the afternoon, and it was about [-] kilometers away from Rangcheng, but they rode on horseback, so they didn't know that Shen Chen had arrived by flying horse, and set up an ambush early.

"Master Book."

When we arrived at the left bank of Nanjiu Township, Zhang Quan said to Wang Bi by the Linxia River: "After passing here, we will go to Jiyang. My father said that the big team should not be too ostentatious, so we will part here. We will go north to Wancheng. Just dress up as an ordinary family and go to Wuyin."

Among the hundreds of riders, Zhang Quan's Xiliang soldiers were all regular soldiers, all wearing armor with blades, while Wang Bi's riders mostly wore ordinary clothes.

After crossing the south, you will reach Jiyang, which is no longer Zhang Xiu's territory. The county magistrate and other officials are all Liu Biao's people. If the regular army goes there, it will arouse suspicion.

So the two parties agreed to send it here. Anyway, it is very close to Wuyin after passing Jiyang, and we can reach Zhongyang Mountain before dark.

Wang Bi thanked and said: "Thank you, General, let's leave now."

"Don't let it go!"

Zhang Quan looked at his sister again, and said softly, "Sister, be obedient."

"Ah."

Zhang Quan's sister lowered her head and remained silent.

After all, at the age of fifteen or sixteen, no one would be happy to be married off suddenly like a gift.

It's just that in this era, children can't be their own masters. Parents' order and matchmaker's words, regardless of gender, as long as the parents agree, it is a marriage, and there is absolutely no such thing as free love.

Now the king must set off again.

Dozens of aristocratic families disguised themselves as protecting the young lady when they went out to play, and headed south to their hometowns.

Zhang Quan stood on the road behind and watched, his younger sister was getting married, and he would not be happy as an elder brother, but he had no choice but to watch silently from a distance.

At this moment, there was a sudden outcry in the forest.

"kill!"

In an instant, dozens of men came out from the bushes and shot at the knights in front and behind with bows and crossbows.

Only the carriage in the middle of the team was left to protect Zhang Xiu's daughter.

The crowd was caught off guard, and more than a dozen people were shot to death in an instant, and then the men in the forest abandoned their bows and crossbows and drew their knives and entered the convoy.

It was too late for Cao Jun to gather his troops to fight back, the horses galloped wildly, and the soldiers fought on their own, in a mess.

Shen Chen took the lead and rushed to the front, fixed his eyes on Wang Bi, cut down an enemy cavalry first, then jumped forward to get behind another cavalry, and beheaded him from behind.

Suddenly there was a clanging sound from his body, but he was safe and sound under the protection of the battle armor, and he turned around and slammed.

Wang Bigao shouted: "General Zhang!"

"Shen Chen!"

Zhang Quan opened his eyes wide, and roared angrily, "Kill!"

"kill!"

Xiliang cavalry launched a charge.

The distance between the two sides is actually not far, but only a few hundred meters, and it can be reached in just a few seconds.

At this time, Shen Chen had already cut down the Cao Jun who attacked him, approached Wang Bi, jumped up suddenly, and swung his knife to kill him.

puff!

In Wang Bi's panic-stricken eyes, white light flickered, and a human head fell to the ground.

"Zhang Quan, do you want your sister to die?"

Shen Chen slashed and killed Wang Bi, and had already arrived in front of Zhang Xiu's daughter's car. He grabbed Wang Bi's head, stood on the roof of the car and roared, "Do you dare to try?"

The head that was still dripping blood frightened the girl in the carriage and let out a terrifying scream.

(End of this chapter)