Chapter 3140 When the current manager meets reality
As the news from Youbei spread, Yecheng was inevitably affected.
Under the gloomy sky, the sharp north wind whistled across the earth. Because of the news from Youbei, the people who entered the city to purchase and escape from disasters in the south formed two distinct lines.
Above the official road, there were crowds of people and carriages, and cries and scolding came from time to time.
Everyone thinks that their affairs are the most urgent, while others are all bastards who join in the fun.
There have been rumors before that Cao's army could not capture Tongguan for a long time, and most of them were going to be defeated. Now there are news that Youbei was attacked by the Hu people everywhere, causing panic, as if the Hu people would come to Yecheng immediately.
In fact, the Hu people were still far from Yecheng, but not everyone was so rational. The looting of food once again opened a climax.
The businessman in the market had a bitter face on the surface, but was filled with joy.
Originally, whether it was food or vegetables, it was relatively scarce in winter. Even if the vendors on the market had no war, they would raise prices due to rain, drought, wind, snow, cold, hot, etc., and then lowered them appropriately during the customers' swearing bargaining, saying that they could not even afford to wear shorts, so they could only do business with their big and small heads.
Now it's even better. He blatantly turned up the price and made it seem like he would be intercepted by the Hu people halfway tomorrow, and then no one had to buy it.
The price of raw materials has increased, and the price of steamed buns that are easy to carry is doubled and doubled.
Now in the dark alleys in Yecheng, if you are not careful, you may be robbed of property. The new model of guilt in possession of a treasure is to hold a steamed bun in your arms and be seen.
It's white and big, who doesn't like it...
These chaotic information gradually filled every corner of Cao Mansion in Yecheng.
Although Cao Pi didn't care about what the people muttered, he would hear it more or less when he encountered it.
In the people and officials, most of them gradually become nervous, which is not a good sign.
After Chen Qun and Cui Yan left, Cao Pi used the meal tastelessly, then returned to the main hall and sat down, looking at the Tuyu on the table, and was silent for a long time.
When everyone looks at the map, they will always imagine themselves as condescending gods, and then patrol the cities and creatures, army and people on the map with a pity. But in fact, most of the time, the data on the map is cold and outdated, and covered with a layer of fog that will never dissipate.
Cao Pi knew that his "two-handed grasp" was actually nonsense, but the problem was that he could only do this. Is material matter? Is spiritual matter? Is Jizhou important? Is Yuzhou important? Can Cao Pi do it by discarding any one? So he could only show his willfulness like a fool, and then be ridiculed and ridiculed by Cui Yan and Chen Qun.
Although these two foxes have no indication of anything on the surface...
The longer he stayed in Yecheng, the more Cao Pi realized that his claws were too short. Many times he didn't know what the situation was, nor did he know what the Cao army and Fei army were like now, and even the local state was unclear.
He could only be careful, cautious, and then listen and observe, and sometimes he had to pretend to be stupid.
However, overall, even his father Cao Cao did not specifically explain that after Cao Chun was defeated in Youbei and the Hu people plundered south, Cao Pi could understand that the battle situation was not as smooth as he originally thought.
Most of the information he could find around him and could be sent to him was inaccurate and sometimes conflicted with each other, but one thing he was sure of was that his father was facing difficulties now.
At least there is a loophole in Youbei now, Cao Chun can't stop Zhao Yun, and the Hu people are plundering people and property along Youzhou.
As for Xiahou Yuan...
Cao Pi felt a little cold in his body.
I don’t know how long it took, but the sky became dim.
Cao Pi did not let his servant approach, so no one lit the lights. Cao Pi sat in the shadows with a faint gaze.
A little light came from a distance, and Mrs. Bian stood outside the hall and looked, then took the lantern from the servant beside her and waved her hand.
The servant stepped back with his butt sticking out.
Mrs. Bian walked in slowly, and did not look at Cao Pi who was busy getting up to pay her respects. Instead, she went to light the candles in the hall and asked, "Why are you so worried? Is it a matter of Youbei?"
Cao Pi was silent for a moment, "My mother... Cui Jigui has something to say... General Miaocai may be trapped in Hedong..."
Mrs. Bian lit the candle's hand and shook it, then paused for a moment, still lit the candle calmly, turned around and sat down, "Is there any war report?"
Cao Pi shook his head, "But... General Miaocai crossed the pass and rushed straight to Hedong... Hedong is still stable... His father attacked Tongguan on the fifth day of the day... His uncle Xiao marched into Wuguan Road on the eighth day of the day... and now Youbei is lost...
"Youbei has not been lost." Mrs. Bian corrected, "It was just that the barrier was broken."
"Yes." Cao Pi nodded and repeated, "It was just that the barrier was broken."
When talking about the word "gust", Cao Pi obviously gritted his teeth, and there seemed to be some hissing sound in his tone.
Mrs. Bian glanced at Cao Pi, "I missed back then, you were both sons and uncles..."
Cao Pi was stunned, and after a moment, he seemed to be defending himself: "He... Zi and Uncle... were defeated in the battle..."
"How can a military strategist be a perfect victory in a hundred battles?" Mrs. Bian said slowly, "Your father has been defeated. Can you be ashamed of defeat?"
『This…』 Cao Pi lowered his head, 『My mother taught her a lesson…』
Mrs. Bian smoothed the wrinkles on her sleeves, "After saying that, what did Cui Jigui say..."
Cao Pi reiterated what Cui Yan said before.
Mrs. Bian listened quietly.
After the retelling was finished, Cao Pi had a gloomy face and whispered in the shadow: "Cui Jigui's heart is punishable!"
Mrs. Bian was silent for a while. She did not talk about Xiahou Yuan's safety in vain, but talked about what she had experienced personally. "Do you know that your father was also rumored to die on the way..."
When Cao Cao was confronting Dong Zhuo before, Yuan Erzi went to Cao Cao's hometown to spread rumors, saying that Cao Cao was dead, and he was so terrified that he was scared that a group of people screamed and felt uneasy.
At that time, Lao Cao was not very capable, and his subordinates were just three or two cats. Many officials who were dependent on Cao Cao at that time believed the rumors and felt that the situation was hopeless. After all, it was known that Yuan Da and Yuan Er were still there, and the Yuan family was at least the descendants of the third duke, and Cao Cao was just a descendant of the eunuch, so the level was different.
So many people wanted to abandon Cao and leave, just like a second senior brother, who wanted to dismantle their luggage and return to Gaolaozhuang. At that time, Mrs. Bian stood up and scolded this behavior to reunite people's hearts.
"At that time, I was about everyone..." Mrs. Bian said slowly, "It's time for disaster to come, why should we die together?"
Mrs. Bian turned to look at Cao Pi, "Do you... understand?"
Cao Pi excitedly said: "I understand!"
Mrs. Bian looked at Cao Pi quietly, and saw that Cao Pi became suspicious from the moment she was excited, and then hesitated again and said: "Don't the mother's intention be united and loyal to each other?"
Mrs. Bian smiled, "I said that, but I was actually scared to death... because I knew that if the Cao family really collapsed, those vassal officials would not be seriously injured... The real disaster was you and me... So, do you really understand?"
"I..." Cao Pi wanted to nod, but he paused halfway through his words and fell into deep thoughts.
Mrs. Bian stood up and said, "Think about it carefully. If you can't even understand this, you can't sit in the position of prince for a long time."
After saying that, Mrs. Bian left.
Only Cao Pi was left behind, still in the hall.
The person did not move, but the shadow kept shaking...
...
...
Guanzhong, Wuguan.
From Guanzhong to Wuguan, you must first pass through Bashui, Lantian, arrive at Yiguan, then climb over the hill, arrive at Shang County, and enter the Danshui area before you can reach Wuguan.
Generally speaking, Wuguan in a broad sense refers to a mountain road from Yuguan to Wuguan, between Bashui and Danshui, including Shangluo and other counties in Shangxian County.
The reason why the Shiguan is not famous is that it can be circulated by the Shiguan. Because as long as you leave Shiguan, there is the fertile soil of Guanzhong behind it. Wuguan can actually be circulated by it, but if you go around, you still have to return to the line of Danshui Bashui. Without water sources, even a million troops will be numb, so it is equivalent to being unable to avoid it.
In a camp west of Wuguan, a group of civilians were queuing up to collect meals, and curiously looked at the defenders on the top of Wuguan City. These civilians were recruited from Lantian and Shang County to help transport stones, bricks, wood, weapons and equipment, and repair the city wall defense. Most of these civilians would return to Lantian one after another after the spring. Now they were just taking advantage of the frozen soil that had not yet been fully cultivated and came out to make some spare money.
Liao Hua and Huang Zhong looked over the east and west on the city of Wuguan.
The east side of Wuguan is very steep, especially Suspension Bridge Ridge.
Suspension Bridge Ridge, as the name suggests, is the narrowest part of the mountain road, just like a suspension bridge, and only bicycles are allowed to pass through. The other mountain roads are also circling, which is rugged and difficult to travel.
But after passing Wuguan and crossing Shangxian, it became much flatter westward.
『Although the Wuguan Mountain Road is steep and difficult to walk on,...』 Huang Zhong pointed to the north, "At the time in Wancheng, I heard that there is a path to collect herbs on the northern foot of this pass...』
Liao Hua nodded, "Shangnan Road... Not only that, there is also Baiyang Road in the south. If you walk on Zhulin Mountain, you can also pass through Manchuan... But there is Tiexu Ridge on Manchuan Mountain Road and the danger of Yuhou Cliff..."
Over the years, Liao Hua has been deeply engaged in Wuguan and knows the surrounding mountain roads of Wuguan. Passes have never been a once-for-all. With the changes of surface plants and the changes of mountains, rivers, the surrounding environment of passes will also change. It was originally an inaccessible dense forest, but perhaps it became a bare soil plateau after dozens or hundreds of years.
In the subsequent feudal dynasties, Wuguan also became a very complicated defense system, and the mountain roads that were successively developed were the various passes built along with them, Zhulin Pass, Manchuan Pass, Tiexu Pass, etc., like spears and shields.
However, no matter how many passes or a huge army, the focus is still on those who use weapons...
Pang Shanmin took Huang Wan to Guanzhong, but Jiang Gan stayed in Shang County because of injuries to his legs and feet.
In the past few days, Liao Hua and Huang Zhong have been investigating spies in Shang County. With the cooperation of Youwen Si, they have arrested many hidden spies of Cao Jun.
These spies were tied up at the city of Wuguan to show their public.
Some were dead, while the others were dying.
The soldiers guarding the city who had been passing by turned a blind eye to these spies in Cao's army who were treated inhumanely and had a miserable condition.
No one would have the Virgin to express the humanity of the Virgin. After all, this word was originally produced to fight against divine power, just like a knife slashing at the superiors who were granted the monarchy, not really for "people", or like some simple-minded words that were born for ordinary people.
Huang Zhong's eyes took back from the dying spies of Cao's army and whispered: "Person Liao, there is another thing... Although that Jiang Ziyi is a famous scholar in Jiujiang... but his behavior is so strange, I'm afraid...Person Liao should pay more attention."
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Jiang Gan's image is undoubtedly a vulgar person and an ugly figure. However, although Jiang Gan has not seen many historical materials in history, the Three Kingdoms gave Jiang Gan a relatively high evaluation, saying that he "has a good appearance and is known for his talent and is unique in Jiang and Huai."
If you have the word "beauty", you naturally cannot be called a vulgar attitude. Moreover, as a famous scholar, you are generally a literati series who can't play tricks, but you have the courage to go into the camp alone to meet Zhou Yu, which has already possessed the courage that many ordinary people do not have. Just to set off on Zhou Yu, Jiang Gan could only be written as a stupid vulgar clown who was defeated twice but was unaware of it.
Therefore, before Jiang Gan really did anything, Huang Zhong was just instinctively suspicious and had no conclusive evidence.
After Liao Hua nodded, the two of them focused their main energy on Cao Ren's current threat.
In the distance of Danshui, the black smoke on the whistle tower is clearly visible, which is even more depressing under the gray sky.
Cao Ren's front-line scouts had appeared one after another before Wuguan.
Liao Hua sent people to intercept them, but the surrounding mountains were undulating and the mountain roads were hovering. Even if they saw the scouts of Cao's army, most of them had no time to do anything. They could only drive them away and could not be eliminated. However, the scouts of Wuguan often had advantages in number and distance, so once the scouts of Cao's army discovered that Wuguan counterattacks, most of them left on their own and did not mean to fight with the scouts of Wuguan.
However, as the number of Cao's army increased, the control range of Wuguan was also narrowing.
Given the methods that Fei Qian had shown before, Cao Ren seemed very cautious in the march. He would only move forward if he was sure that there was no danger. Although this speed was slow, he walked very steadily and did not leave any flaws for Liao Hua, nor would he try to lure Liao Hua into a sneak attack.
It has to be said that when the army is in a state of justice, surprise soldiers often have little room to display.
Outside the four ridges east of Wuguan, Cao Ren set up a very solid camp, mixed with the surrounding mountains and rivers, with wide front and narrow sides. The two wings protected the mountain line, and the center was entrenched on the side of Danshui. Although it would be more difficult to dig soil and log in winter, Cao's army had a lot of manpower, so there were not many problems.
『There are many soldiers from Jingxiang in Cao's army." Huang Zhong said with some emotion, "I think Liu Jingsheng was also...ah... Now they are all married to Cao's family..."
After Liu Biao died, there were gradually more and more people from Jingxiang who defected to Cao's family.
After all, it is better to be in charge of county officials now.
What's more, Cao Cao was still nominally the prime minister of the Han Dynasty.
In addition to the Cai family, Wenpin finally accepted Cao Cao's appointment and received Cao's salary.
Under such circumstances, with the local gentry carrying salt, some ordinary people in Jingxiang who were unknown and had little knowledge and mind gradually became the source of soldiers of the Cao army.
Are these people guilty?
If you stand from the standpoint of Guanzhong, you will naturally be guilty.
Liao Hua glanced at Huang Zhong and understood Huang Zhong's meaning. Liao Hua thought for a while, but he finally said bluntly: "General Han Sheng... This Cao Zixiao must have sent Jing Xiang soldiers as the front drive..."
Huang Zhong sighed again, nodded, and fell silent.
Huang Zhong grew up in Jingxiang, and he naturally had feelings for Jingxiang, but now it is obvious that a large number of Jingxiang people will die in front of the Wuguan formation in the future, but he is powerless to do anything about the upcoming tragedy.
Huang Zhong has extraordinary force, but he does not like to kill. Before, as a hunter, he never killed for the sake of killing, or challenged beasts for some reputation. Therefore, in history, Huang Zhong has always been unknown in Jingxiang, unlike some places where they often pull oxtails, or fight tigers and leopards alone.
Later, as a soldier, Huang Zhong was not hesitant after he ruled the troops. He would not show any power in his daily life. Many people only knew that Huang Zhong's archery skills were extraordinary, but few people knew that Huang Zhong's sword skills were also powerful.
Oh, except Xiahou Yuan...
But now, Huang Zhong had to stand on the other side of the people of Jingxiang and raise his sword to the upcoming fellow villager.
In film and television and games, it seems that when the generals are unparalleled, they never hesitate or have no emotions. Cutting human heads is like cutting grass, and they often clamor for blood to flow into a river or something that is hungry and thirsty, but in fact, they are still humans.
War tear, crushing human nature little by little, and eventually annihilated, and will not leave much time for people to adapt.
The two talked, and then in the howling cold wind, they saw more wolf smoke rising in the mountains. Cao's army began to dispatch large troops to fight for the Siling area east of Wuguan...
Chapter completed!