The young man's name was Deng Zhi, and his courtesy name was Bo Miao.

He was the brother of the same clan whom Deng Ji had first mentioned to Cao Peng. He was also the helper Deng Ji invited before taking up his post in Haixi in the second year of Jian'an.

However, Deng Zhi had been hesitant and delayed his departure until May this year, when Cao Cao was about to conquer Rangcheng.

Why did Deng Zhi hesitate?

Quite simply, because he didn't know what Deng Ji could achieve.

In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, people could not be invited to help simply by relying on the friendship of fellow villagers. Of course, the inviter had to consider the talent and virtue of the invitee, and the invitee also had to consider the level of the inviter. Deng Zhi and Deng Ji were also considered family friends.

, although they didn’t keep in touch much later, they were no strangers to each other. Deng Zhi didn’t know whether Deng Ji could stand firm! In his opinion, it would be difficult for someone who couldn’t even stand firm to achieve a career. Therefore, after getting

After Deng Ji's invitation, Deng Zhi was not in a hurry to agree.

As Deng Ji established his position in Haixi, it was like passing an exam.

After receiving Deng Ji's second letter, Deng Zhi finally made up his mind to give up the idea of ​​joining Pang Xi in Brazil and came to Haixi instead.

However, when Deng Zhi came to Haixi, his identity seemed a bit embarrassing.

After all, he didn't participate in it at the beginning, so it was impossible for him to suddenly become Haixi's second-in-command.

Moreover, when Deng Zhi came to Haixi, he also heard that the real second-in-command in Haixi County was not Puyang Kai, the current seat of Haixi County, nor the county captain Zhou Cang. The most intimidating person in Haixi County was the one who had already gone to Guangling County.

Cao Peng accompanied Xun Yan as an envoy to Jiangdong. In this regard, Cao Peng was in Haixi, and even Deng Ji could not compare with him. Those common people may not know the mysteries of this, but Puyang Kai, Dai Qian,

Even everyone, including the leaders of the Nine Great Banks, knew that the prosperity of Haixi today originated from Cao Peng.

Deng Zhi couldn't help but have a strong curiosity about Cao Peng.

He arrived in Haixi in April, and Deng Zhi has been secretly observing the affairs in Haixi since then.

From the Beiji market guild to the Duigouji farmland, the more Deng Zhi looked at it, the more frightened he became...

After Cao Peng returned to Guangling and took up the post of Hailing Wei, Deng Zhi was keenly aware that Cao Peng took over Hailing Wei with thunderous force in Hailing. It seemed that it was not as simple as it seemed on the surface. Generally speaking, with a palm

County land should be concentrated on development, increasing population, and reclaiming land... But after Cao Peng took office, instead of taking these measures, he blindly strengthened military training. As for internal affairs, he did not invest too much energy, but only started from Haixi

In the hands of the nine leaders of the county, resources were allocated to supplement it.

This is not in line with Cao Peng's style.

"Presumably, Youxue had already realized that there would be a battle with Lu Bu when he went to Hailing?"

Deng Zhi pulled Deng Ji to sit down and got a cup of hot water for Deng Ji.

Deng Ji was startled and nodded, "At that time, Ah Fu wrote to me and asked me to train in secret. But because I was busy with the autumn harvest at that time, I ignored it. Now that I think about it, Ah Fu should have been aware of it at that time...Old

God, how could I ignore this?"

Deng Ji slapped his forehead, showing regret.

Deng Zhi said: "When Youxue was in Haixi, he did not engage in military force. Instead, he regulated the market, measured the land, and checked the population... From this point of view, he attaches great importance to government affairs. But when he went to Hailing County, he

After that, what he did was a militaristic move. I had always been a little confused about what caused Youxue to change Ruosi. Now it seems... he did it as a precautionary measure. So, brother, there is no need to be nervous, even if I don't want to

No matter what we do, Youxue will never sit back and watch Haixi suffer."

For some reason, although Deng Zhi didn't say a word about how to defeat the enemy, Deng Ji's mind suddenly calmed down.

That’s right, there is Ah Fu in Hailing!

"Bo Miao, do you have any ideas?"

Deng Zhi glanced at the map in the middle of the study and said softly: "Song Xian is a reckless man, so there is nothing to worry about.

I just ask my eldest brother, have you ever thought about how Xia Piguihu would react if you defeated Song Xian? Would he sit back and watch Song Xian's defeat?"

Deng Ji heard this and took a deep breath.

He really hadn't thought of this.

"I have a plan that will wipe out Song Xian's six thousand soldiers without any effort.

But the problem is that after Song Xian is gone, Lu Bu will continue to attack. At that time, Haixi will still inevitably suffer from war, and your hard work over the past year will be in vain. I believe that not only you

, even Youxue doesn’t want to see this kind of situation.”

"Then what do you mean..."

"Song Xian must be fought; Haixi must be defended."

"How to fight? How to defend?"

Deng Ji was confused.

He is a person who cultivates the name of punishment. Although his knowledge and other aspects have been greatly improved in the past year, military affairs are not his strong point.

So much so that after Deng Zhi said these words, Deng Ji couldn't react at all.

Deng Zhi took a sip of water and pulled Deng Ji to the map. "It's easy to fight, but it's very difficult to defend. So what I mean is..."

As he spoke, he drew a circle on the map and then patted it hard.

"We'll keep it here."

Deng Ji saw clearly the place names on the map and was immediately stunned.

He pondered for a long time, suddenly raised his head, looked at Deng Zhi and said: "Do you mean that we take the initiative to attack Quyang County?"

"Exactly."

"But……"

"Once this battle starts, there will be changes within ten days at most."

Deng Ji stared blankly at the map. After a while, he gritted his teeth and nodded vigorously, "I understand... Bo Miao, let's go back to the county office immediately to discuss this matter."

Deng Zhi smiled slightly and said, "In this case, eldest brother goes first."

He has been waiting for this day for half a year.

It is not easy to catch up after losing the opportunity.

Deng Zhi knew in his heart that only by successfully defeating Song Xian and allowing Haixi to survive this crisis could he gain a firm foothold under Deng Ji.

From the beginning, Deng Zhi noticed the biggest flaw in Haixi County: there were no strategists.

Regardless of Puyang Kai or Dai Qian, they had the ability to assist the government, but they had no talent for planning. This kind of environment was exactly where Deng Zhi excelled.

Historically, Deng Zhi was a late bloomer. He eventually reached the position of general of chariots and cavalry, and he fell into the category of strategist.

The arrival of Deng Zhi just made up for the last shortcoming of Haixi County.

"Master!"

Seeing Deng Zhi and Deng Ji coming out, Deng Xian quickly stepped forward to greet them.

Deng Zhi said: "Mr. Deng, I will go to the government office with my eldest brother. You just need to stay home and stay safe."

"Here!"

Deng Xian is an old servant who has followed Deng Zhi and his son for two generations. He has watched Deng Zhi grow up since childhood. From this sentence, he can hear the meaning. Deng Zhi is determined to stay in Haixi! Deng Xian said,

He naturally hoped that Deng Zhi would stay. In any case, Deng Ji and Deng Zhi had the same ancestry and were cousins. In a war, it is human nature for brothers to fight together as father and son.

The old man looked at Deng Zhi and then at Deng Ji.

Then he smiled slightly with Hu Ban, which also made Hu Ban feel relieved.

The night is getting dark and the temperature is very cold.

The autumn rain fell in strands in the latter half of the night, adding another chill to the cold night.

Deng Zhi took a deep breath and urged his horse to follow Deng Ji. However, a strange idea came to his mind immediately...

Looking at all the arrangements Cao Youxue made before he left, how could we not understand Haixi’s shortcomings?

Puyang Kai and Dai Qian were mainly responsible for internal affairs and farming affairs; Zhou Cang was rarely in the city, and together with Pan Zhang, they were responsible for inspecting illegal salt. Although they had the title of county captain, they did not have the responsibilities of county captain. Haixi The county's military was still in the hands of Deng Ji, and Deng Ji had no military talent... In other words, when Cao Peng left Haixi, he deliberately left a vacancy for strategists. Could it be that he was waiting for him to come over?

Thinking of this, Deng Zhi's previous joy was suddenly extinguished.

Instead, there was shock and horror.

If this is true, then Cao Peng is a person who knows me...

On August 28th of the third year of Jian'an, Lu Bu ordered an expedition to Haixi.

Song Xian was riding on his horse, watching the mighty army marching along the official road, with a proud smile on his face. In his eyes, the expedition to Haixi this time was simply easy. By then, he would seize millions of dendrobium grains and grass in Haixi. After that, Lu Buding valued him even more.

besides……

That little thief Cao Peng killed Song Xian's war horse on Xiapi Chang Street last year.

Because of this matter, Song Xian could hardly raise his head in the past year. Even his best friends, Wei Xu and Hou Cheng, would make fun of him when they saw him. Although the little thief is not in Haixi now, but that Haixi Ling was Cao Peng's brother-in-law. When the time came to see Deng Ji's head, he would feel a sigh of relief. Thinking of this, Song Xian suddenly became impatient and ordered his troops to speed up.

It can be said that it is a smooth journey from Xiangxiang to Quyang.

Song Xian ordered his nephew Song Guang, the former commander of Xuyi, to be the vanguard and lead a thousand troops to open the way.

He led an army of five thousand and then followed up. Two days after setting off, he arrived in Quyang, rested for a day in Quyang, replenished his baggage, and then headed for Haixi.

It takes about one day to travel from Quyang to Haixi.
To be continued...