The conversation was divided into two ends, and the timeline went back two months ago, when Guan Yu first returned to Hedong County.

Five thousand Youzhou elite cavalrymen were on the boat and upstream. Guan Yu stood at the bow of the boat with a knife, stroked his beard in the wind, and his eyes narrowed even more by the strong wind on the river. But he did not dare to blink at all, and insisted on searching at the end of his sight, as if he could see through the source of the Yellow River.

I'm afraid this is the timid feeling of those who return home in glory.

At the end of his sight, an island appeared on the river surface. Guan Yu felt a sudden heart, knowing that his hometown was coming soon and he had to dock on the north shore as soon as possible, because the boat could not pass through further.

He is a local, and he fled to a foreign land at the age of twenty, so he is of course familiar with the nearby terrain.

The Yellow River is surging, and it is so fast that no boat can pass through it. This is the famous Dizhu Mountain, and the idiom "Mainzhu" refers to this place.

The reason why Sanmenxia is called "Sanmen" is because since ancient times, there have been three dangerous shoals above Dizhu, namely Shenmen, Renmen and Ghost Gate. When you pass these ten dead and lifeless. After passing the Ghost Gate, the river water was leveled by Dizhu Mountain and then it was slowed down.

Sanmenxia has reached the narrowest place here. The Gushan Mountain on the south bank is high and cannot be docked, and only the north bank has a ferry. However, at the top of the mountain wall on the south bank, you can also see a stone pillar. It is said that it was established by Zhou Gong in the early Western Zhou Dynasty. For 1,200 years, it has been weathered and uninscribed.

But Guan Yu knew allusions that were made - this pillar was 1 zhang and five feet high, and it should have been engraved with the oath of Duke Zhou, Zhao Gong and Lu Shang (Jiang Taigong), which was written about the Zhou Gong's pacification of the Three Supervisors after he pacified the rebellion of the Three Supervisors. He was worried that the Shaanxi Gorge was dangerous and difficult for the world to govern together, so he decided to "divided Shaanxi and govern", and the west was under the jurisdiction of Duke Zhou, and the east was under the jurisdiction of Duke Zhao Gong and Lu Shang.

The place name "Shaanxi/Shaandong" in later generations came from this, but at that time, half of the world west of this pillar was called Shaanxi or Guanxi, and half of the world east of this pillar was called Shaanxi or Guanxi.

According to this, the world is divided into two parts, and the dangers can be seen.

"Look for the shallows on the north bank and let the fleet go back." Guan Yu quickly ordered the cavalry to find a waist-deep shallow and walk down the river to the north bank. Because there were horses, the depth of the water would not be washed away.

If the next time you come is the Danyang soldiers or other infantry troops, you can't be so hasty and fast, and you can only get off the boat at Dongyuan Ferry, which you just passed by thirty miles in advance.

After getting ashore near Dizhu, about forty miles northward is Anyi County, the capital of Hedong County. Since Guan Yu was renamed Hedong Commander, he naturally had to go to Anyi to officially take office.

Before Guan Yu came, he heard that the base of the Baibo army was Pingyang County north of Hedong County. At the same time, it colluded with Xiutu tribes of the Southern Xiongnu, defeating Xihe County, Taiyuan County, Shangdang County and Hanoi County.

According to this roadmap analysis, Hedong County must be ruined now. It is estimated that only the county’s capital, Jieliang, Anyi, Wenxi, and Dukou County Puyang, Dayang and Dongyuan, along the county’s border, are still in the hands of the government army.

The counties on the northeast side of Wangwu Mountain, such as Duan and Wuze, must have fallen into the hands of the Baibo thief, otherwise the Baibo thief would not have crossed the northeast corner of Hedong County to fight Hanoi County further east.

However, it seems that Hanoi County should have been recaptured by the imperial court's troops - the Baibo army broke out at the beginning of this year. In April, they and the pseudo-Shanyu, the Hou of Xutu, from Xubugudu, joined forces to break through Taiyuan County and kill Zhang Yi, the governor of Bingzhou. Then they continued to invade Shangdang and Hanoi to the south.

In May, Emperor Ling received the news that the old governor Zhang Yi was killed, so he promoted Ding Yuan to the new governor of Bingzhou on the front line. However, Dante Yuan was unable to return to Taiyuan to take office, so he could only take office in Hanoi County, the northeast corner of Sili, and his capital was moved to Yewang County, Hanoi.

Ding Yuanneng took office in Hanoi, and it seemed that he had recovered some counties in Hanoi County, but he was unable to continue to conquer north. His theoretical prefecture is still in an occupied area.

(Note: The capital of Hanoi County is Huai County, but at that time, the prefect of Hanoi Liu Xun was still there, so Ding Yuan could not use the same capital as Liu Xun, so he ruled the Ye Wang.

In addition, Liu Xun and the later general of Yuan Shu, Liu Xun, the prefect of Jiujiang. Liu Xun was recalled to the Beijing Army as the chief lieutenant of Huya in the early years of Emperor Xian. Later, he fought with Yuan Shao to challenge Dong, but Yuan Shao found an excuse to kill him. Among the excuses Gongsun Zan found when he beat Yuan Shao, there was a condemnation of Yuan Shao's killing his ally Liu Xun)

Generals under Ding Yuan's commanders, including Zhang Yang, Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, etc. were also seconded to the capital to serve, enriching the eight lieutenants of Xiyuan. Ding Yuan's own military personnel was small and only one chief clerk, Lu Bu, thanks to Lu Bu's civil service, he was not transferred away by General He Jin.

So the current situation is that Guan Yu must defend most of the east and south parts of the river, ensure the Yellow River, and then confront the enemy in the northwest through Wangwu Mountain. Ding Yuan and Lu Bu are on the east side of Guan Yu, and Baibo thieves and Southern Xiongnu rebels are in the northwest of Ding Yuan, Guan and Ding Cheng defend the north bank of the Yellow River with a striking force.

When Guan Yu arrived in Anyi, he received courtesy from the Hedong Prefect Fan Ling. The prefect went out of the city to buy wine to welcome the army.

After all, it was a chaotic time. One-third of Hedong County had the rebels. How could the local chief not use the generals to suppress the rebels? Even if Fan Ling knew that Guan Yu was here to cross a bridge and would not be responsible for completely killing Bai Bo's army, he still needed courtesy.

However, the people of Hedong were already under heavy burdens, and the war caused the place to be destroyed. They could not produce any decent wine and meat to work hard, so they could only take a bite.

"In the years of war, the Lord of the Mansion should not be polite. Guan is also from Hedong, so it is not easy to be merciful to his elders." Guan Yu took the wine bowl and was humble after drinking it.

"It turns out that Guan Duwei is actually a local? That's good. For the generals, they should fight hard to protect the elders of their hometowns." Fan Ling felt very grateful and said while beating,

"I also know that Guan Duwei may not be in office for a long time. We don't ask for anything else. We can also explain to the court if we drive the Baibo thief out of the three counties of Wangwushan. As for Pingyang and Shangdang Baibo, we can't control it."

In fact, Fan Ling is also a typical example of spending money on eunuchs to buy officials, so he couldn't be the prefect of Hedong for long. In history, after Emperor Ling died next year, the period before the eunuchs were executed, he gave him an additional money to be a Jingzhao Yin and jumped out of Hedong, a place where wars were plagued.

It can only be said that the prefects of the counties in Sili County were the hardest hit areas for eunuchs to sell their official positions. Who made it closest to the capital? Some prefects could make excuses to sell twice a year - even if the first person spent money and did not serve for one year, as long as you made a mistake and did have major political achievements, you could still get rid of them according to law. Even if you were dereliction of duty in remote areas and were transferred to the messenger, the term of office might be over.

After hearing Fan Ling's statement, Guan Yu felt a little anxious. His idea of ​​doing something well in his hometown and having a beginning and an end before leaving gradually faded.

When you meet such a prefect, you should just follow the arrangements of your elder brother and Boya and wait until you ask for Zhang Lu's appointment. If you want to recover a few counties, you will be worthy of the court.

Anyway, his hometown Jie Liang was not compromised by the thieves!

Thinking of this, Guan Yu asked Fan Ling for instructions: "Since that's the case, the troops still need to be rectified in the past few days, and we have to wait for the rear army to arrive one after another before we can recover the counties of Wangwushan. How many days can the Lord of the Palace allow me to break up some private matters?"

Fan Ling had no objection at all: "What's the problem? Guan Duwei will do it himself. Can you provide you with some documents to let all counties cooperate?"

Guan Yu thanked him: "There is no need."

Guan Yu just wanted to go back to his hometown to see Jie Liang.

Guan Yu's family had no relatives, otherwise he would not have been so let go of the world. However, there were still a few friends when he was a teenager, so he wanted to take a look.

Jie Liang and Anyi were both along the water, and the two places were only sixty or seventy miles apart, with Yishi County, which was a salt pond in the middle.

Jie Liang is on the west bank of Yuncheng Salt Lake, Anyi is on the east bank, and Yi is on the south bank, so many powerful families in these three counties are private salt dealers. The mountain and Shaanxi are already inland, and it is much more difficult to obtain salt at the beach, so guarding the big salt lake is a huge fortune.

The Han Dynasty has had an official salt and iron camp since Sang Hongyang, but private salt dealers have never been able to eliminate it in all dynasties. When Guan Yu killed a powerful man in his hometown, he fled, and that powerful man was the largest salt owl with Jie Liang's power.

Returning to his hometown to visit is not a war, and Jie Liang is a safer rear than Anyi. Guan Yu did not bring his 5,000 Youzhou cavalry, but only brought dozens of cavalry to follow the elite troops and walked lightly.

He was timid in his hometown, so he didn't want to wait for more than a day, so after drinking from Fanling, he rushed to the road overnight. He walked seventy miles in the middle of the night and arrived at dawn.

Of course, the city gate would not open in the middle of the night, but Guan Yu did not intend to use the seal of the commander to open the door. His family has always been poor and lived in a village in the south of the city, so he was not in a hurry to enter the city.

With his vague memory, Guan Yu touched the village and found that the old houses seven years ago had collapsed. However, the land in the village outside the city was not valuable, so no one occupied the ruins and no one cleaned them up, so they were just left.

Those who want to build a house would probably rather find another open space than tear down the abandoned old house.

"Chang Yun, this place is already abandoned, so why not ask the city gate to find an inn to live in." Zhao Yun beside him kindly reminded.

Because the first batch of 5,000 soldiers and horses brought by Guan Yu were all Youzhou cavalry, the accompanying deputy general was naturally Zhao Yun, the governor of the Right Yamen, who is now the leader of Liu Bei.

"Zilong, I know your kindness, but we have never eaten any suffering in the bitter and cold place in Liaodong. This is my old house. Thank you for your hard work, my brothers have been sleeping in the yard for half a night. They have a felt tent covered with them and pull some thatch to keep warm. It should be fine."

The cavalry then dismantled some broken waste wood, set up a fire in the yard, and then found some thatched that had been decayed for several years to sleep and warm.

...

At dawn the next day, Sun Fu, the largest wealthy family in the village, discovered something abnormal. His old servant went out to the ground to pick vegetables in the morning. When he came back, he found that there were fireworks in the old house where the Guan family had collapsed. He hurriedly notified the young master:

"Shaojun, the old house of Guan’s family in the south of the village has returned!"

Sun Fu was slightly surprised when he heard this: "Which Guan family?"

Servant: "Guan Changsheng's family!"

Sun Fu frowned and suddenly said, "Guan Changsheng, who killed my brother-in-law seven years ago, ran away? Does anyone in his family dare to come back?"

Servant: "What should we do now?"

Sun Fu really wanted to confirm whether Guan Changsheng was the one who came back, but when he thought of the other party's bravery and dangerousness, he was a little afraid, so he instructed the servant: "Since you see the smoke from cooking, why don't you recognize him clearly! Guan Changsheng has a big body and a red face and a long beard, so how easy it is to recognize him! Go and see clearly. If his appearance is correct, hurry up and go to the city to inform his cousin to arrest him!"

The Sun family is a local big family. Sun Fu's cousin Sun Jing is Jieliang County Magistrate. He was in his thirties and has been working for many years. Because of the benefits of the salt lake, outsiders cannot insert needles and water cannot be poured into it. The local powerful people are very powerful and can become officials all year round. The local county magistrate does not envy the outside world, nor does he want to get promoted, but just lie on the salt lake to share the money, so it is quite closed.
Chapter completed!