Stars twinkled in the dark night sky. I don’t know if the moon was shy or for some other reason. Anyway, it didn’t come out at all and there was no trace of it. The sky in Xiliang was originally clear and bright all year round, so tonight, the sky is full of stars.
, whether bright or dark, yellow or blue, they are all so gorgeous that anyone in future generations will be fascinated, intoxicated, and envious when they see them.
When the sun is not around, the moon shines brightly.
When the moon doesn't come out, the stars can rule the roost.
But now in the land of Xiliang, there is neither the sun nor the moon, but there are many stars. Han Sui is the biggest one, and some of them are gradually evolving into the moon...
Originally, during Dong Zhuo's time, Xiliang was generally considered a tripartite kingdom, with Dong Zhuo being the largest, and then Han Sui and Ma Teng. However, Han Sui or Ma Teng alone could not compete with Dong Zhuo, so they could only unite, and
Now that Dong Zhuo is dead and Ma Teng is dead, Han Sui's family is naturally left alone.
Of course, there are other little stars on the ground in Xiliang, and now, these little stars are all gathered together, gathered outside Wuwei City.
Han Sui and Ma Chao united and summoned all the warlords in Xiliang.
Xiliang people, after staying with the Qiang people for a long time, their habits are basically the same. As long as they have wine and meat, they can celebrate around the bonfire all night long.
There are countless stars in the sky and countless bonfires underground. Anyway, it has entered midsummer. Although it is a bit cold at night in the wild, it is nothing to such a thick-skinned Xiliang man, not to mention that there is wine and meat. Although the wine is not
It's just light wine, and the meat is just some beef and sheep bones, but for these ordinary soldiers, it's pretty good.
The banquet started this evening and lasted until late at night.
Except for Han Sui and Ma Chao, the other nine Xiliang warlords came, and they seemed to be in harmony. They all smiled and called themselves brothers when they met, and they looked like brothers working together to make a profit. But everyone knew that in fact, behind the scenes, they were all from different sides.
Have their own ideas...
Duan Xuan came to Zhang Heng, holding the wine bowl, and his steps were a little shaky. The two of them drank the wine while shouting, and then danced around the bonfire for a while. What kind of dancing postures are there? You can imagine
Two big men with a height of eight feet, broad shoulders and round waists, and full beards are almost the same when they jump into the Swan Lake.
Perhaps due to the drunkenness, Duan Yan jumped around and almost stumbled to the ground. The guard who was following him quickly came to help him, but Duan Yan pushed him away, and he staggered and shouted: "I'm not drunk.
!You need to help me with that one! Get out!”
Zhang Heng seemed to have drunk too much. He stepped forward and hugged Duan Xuan, laughing loudly and saying: "Yes, I'm not drunk, I'm not drunk... drink more, drink more..."
The two people walked shoulder to shoulder and staggered out for a while. Suddenly, they lost their balance and fell to the grass with a thud. The guards of the two people stepped forward quickly, crossing their hands and raising their feet.
After dragging and resisting, the two men, waving their arms and shouting that they were not drunk, were finally pushed into their respective tents.
After entering the tent, Duan Xuan roared a few more times, then stopped shouting, pushed away the guard, staggered to the bench in the tent and sat down, closed his eyes, and took the hot pot from the guard.
The steaming towel was placed on his face and he was rubbing it fiercely.
When the heat from the towel completely dissipated, Duan Xuan breathed out a long breath of alcohol. Although the skin on his face was not sure whether it was due to the alcohol or the hot towel, it was a little dark and red, but his whole body was red.
There is still obviously no trace of drunkenness.
Duan Yan threw the cloth towel to the guard and said in a deep voice: "Go and get some hot soup, and some lamb legs... I just drank too much and didn't even eat a few mouthfuls of meat..."
Wuwei is Duan Xuan's territory and the gathering place of the Duan surname. Unfortunately, not all Xiliang warlords who come here obey Duan Xuan's orders. Only Zhang Heng and Liang are good friends with Duan Xuan.
Make two people happy.
Although Duan Xuan was under Dong Zhuo's command before, he actually did not have much direct subordinate relationship with Dong Zhuo. In fact, he was almost like a vassal among the Qiang people. A small tribe relied on a large tribe, assumed certain responsibilities, and enjoyed certain protection.
After Dong Zhuo's death, Duan Yan turned around and surrendered to Wang Yun without even thinking about it. However, he knew that Wang Yun would not believe him. He just wanted to control the troops at his disposal, and he also noticed that the situation in Chang'an seemed to be getting worse and worse.
The worse it was, so soon after, he managed to escape Chang'an and returned to Wuwei.
Speaking of which, the surname Duan is still from Gaomen. It was derived from the Duan Huizong, the protector of the Western Regions during the Han Yuan Dynasty. After about two hundred years of migration and development, he has now become an important person in Xiliang.
Had it not been for the second year of Guanghe, because the crimes of the powerful eunuch Wang Fu were exposed, and Duan Jiong of the Wuwei Duan family was implicated and imprisoned, and later died of drinking poison in prison, the development of the Duan family would have been better. After all, at that time, Sanming, Liangzhou
, Huangfu Gui died, Zhang Huan only served as Chief Secretary of Agriculture, while Duan Jiong served as Taiwei twice...
Duan Xuan is Duan Xuan's clan brother. Although Duan Xuan is much older than Duan Xuan, there is really no direct and inevitable connection between age and seniority in a big family.
At that time, Duan Xuan also followed Dong Zhuo because he felt that Dong Zhuo had a chance to take over the court. However, he did not expect that Dong Zhuo would disappear within a short time of taking control of the court. This also made Duan Xuan very depressed. After all, he had invested in it.
A lot of people, money and food were lost, but it was wasted like this, without any return.
"Brother Duan!" Zhang Heng entered the tent and bowed his hands in greeting. He no longer looked like he was drunk and shaky just now.
Duan Xuan was not surprised. He pointed to the seat next to him and said: "Come on, brother Xian, sit down. Let's wait for Brother Liang... Let's have some hot soup first. There's also lamb leg. Do you want some?"
share?"
"Hit! These bastards are lining up to propose a toast. They can't do it without drinking! Their stomachs are full of wine and they are swaying when they walk..." Zhang Heng was not polite. After sitting down, he grabbed a leg of lamb and started to chew on it.
Duan Xuan laughed and grabbed a leg of lamb to chew on.
Before the two of them had finished eating, the guard outside the big tent reported in a low voice: "Master Liang is here." In Xiliang, people with high positions are also called adults.
"Invitation!" Duan Yan put down the leg of lamb and said to Liang Xing who walked into the tent, "How about it, Brother Liang Xian, you haven't had much to drink. Do you want some sobering hot soup?"
Liang Xing took the hot cloth handed over by the guard Duan Xuan on the side, wiped his face vigorously, and said in a low voice: "Well, let's have a bowl..."
"Where are those guys? Are you still drinking?" Zhang Heng threw the gnawed lamb leg bones aside, grabbed another one, and said while gnawing.
Liang Xing drank the sour soup in one gulp, then sat down, nodded and said, "Those people are still drinking, but when I came over, I didn't see Cheng and Hou..."
Cheng is Cheng Yin, and Hou is Hou Xuan. They all have over a thousand cavalry under their command, and the other seven or eight eight in total have three to four thousand men each. They are all local warlords of medium and small sizes.
There are also four separate Xiliang warlords, namely Li Kan, Yang Qiu, Ma Wan and Cheng Yi.
The composition of the nine warlords is very complex. Some are from Xiliang, some are from Hedong, some are biased towards the Han family, some are biased towards the Ma family, and some are neutral...
Cheng Yin, Candidate, and Li Kan are all from Hedong, and are relatively close to each other, but these three people are relatively neutral. Ma Wan is also from Hedong, but Ma Wan may be from Hedong because of his surname.
The reason is that it is relatively close to the Ma family.
The others are all from Xiliang. Among them, Yang Qiu and Yan Xing have a good relationship, so they are more inclined to Han Sui. Cheng Yi is a loner and not very gregarious. Duan Xuan, Zhang Heng, and Liang Xing are
They were attached to Dong Zhuo before, but later became independent after Dong Zhuo's defeat. Relatively speaking, these three people were brothers in need, so they stayed together to keep each other warm.
"Ha..." Duan Xuan made a sound that was unclear whether it was ridicule or emotion, then waved his hands and said, "Ignore them... The Ma family boy said that we all want to enter Guanzhong together. On this trip, the two wise brothers
Any ideas?"
With his mouth full of meat, Zhang Heng said: "The sea oil is spread first, and each of them has four pieces of short bear wine..."
Duan Xuan seemed to understand what Zhang Heng was talking about, and couldn't help laughing and shaking his head: "Brother Zhang Xian, you need to use your brain a little bit, can you help me come up with some ideas?"
Liang Xing said from the side: "I think... this matter is not only about whether we have any ideas, we also need to pay attention to whether they have any ideas..."
Zhang Heng swallowed the meat in his mouth and said: "Damn it, these bastards are all full of dirty things. If they are not happy, there is no good thing! If you ask me, just follow Brother Duan!
That kid from the Ma family doesn't have all his hair yet, he just orders this and that, who do you think he is? There's no point in following that old fox when Han Wen asks him out. He eats meat every time, we can only drink some soup, he
Damn it! Brother Duan is better!"
Duan Xuan waved his hands and showed a little modesty, but he did not express any disagreement with Zhang Heng's comments about Han Sui and Ma Chao.
"But General Zhengxi took Hanzhong..." Liang Xing was silent for a moment, and said slowly, "... he must take Longyou again, otherwise what would he do if he takes Hanzhong? At that time, go all the way north from Xiabian, and walk all the way
Tianshui marched westward, echoing from the left and right, and related to Hanzhong as backup... It is also right to strike first to gain strength, otherwise when the army is gathered in the west, it will be difficult for us to cope..."
Zhang Heng said carelessly: "What are you afraid of? Xiliang is our world! How many people were there in the expedition to the west? How many people were there in the imperial court back then? Weren't we still beaten to pieces?"
Liang Xing shook his head and said: "...This, it's really different... Sometimes there are too many people, and it may not be possible to do good things... Although there were many soldiers and horses sent by the court back then, we only needed to fight the Central Forbidden Army.
However, it is not necessary to engage them all. If you win a small part, the rest will naturally retreat... And Zhengxi..."
Duan Xuan nodded and said: "Although there are not many soldiers in Zhengxi, this guy fought all the way from Bingbei, Baibo, Heishan, Huns and Xianbei. Which one is a softie? Which one is easy to fight? But Zhengxi
But they all fucking won! Not only that, this Zhengxi is getting stronger and stronger as it fights. Now it has annexed Guanzhong and Hanzhong, and the next step will be either Sichuan and Shu or Longyou! So, this Zhengxi should not be underestimated.
You must be on guard against it!”
Zhang Heng was stunned for a moment, and then said: "So, we can only listen to the old fox from the Ma family boy and Han Wenyue? Send troops to attack Guanzhong together?"
Duan Xuan laughed twice and said, "Brother Zhang Xian, what you said is both right and wrong."
In fact, Duan Xuan really wanted to take up the banner himself, but it was just that in order to become a Taiwei, Duan Xuan had to sacrifice a lot of material and manpower, but he didn't get much back. He followed Dong Zhuo some time ago, but he couldn't get through it again.
It's not that much, money and so on. It's okay to talk about it. If you have a chance to work for a few jobs, you can get back some of it, but the manpower consumed cannot be replenished in a short time.
In addition, the Duan family made their fortune by suppressing these barbarians in the west. From the Western Regions to Xiliang, many barbarians died at the hands of the Duan family, and some were directly wiped out. Under such circumstances, if Duan Yan is allowed to follow
Han Sui, like Ma Chao, is so close to the Qiang people. Even if Duan Xuan is willing, the Qiang people may not be happy...
Therefore, in terms of reputation, Duan Xuan is relatively better, but in terms of manpower strength, he is not as good as Han Sui and Ma Chao.
Zhang Heng was confused and said doubtfully: "What is right and wrong at the same time?"
Duan Xuan laughed and did not answer the question directly, but said: "I heard that Han Wenyue sent that old fox Yan Yanming back to Jincheng..."
Han Sui also had a son, but his son was thin and didn't like fighting. He only liked studying, so basically he didn't go into battle at all and stayed in Jincheng. On the contrary, he was Han Sui's son-in-law, Yan Xingpo, who had some military skills.
Therefore, Han Sui also valued him quite a lot.
"This old fox..." Liang Xing said, "...it's better to let Yan Yanming sit behind... to guard against us..."
Duan Xuan clapped his hands and said, "Brother Liang Xian is still smart! Then think about it again, why is this old fox guarding us?"
Zhang Heng said: "Brother Duan, just say it straight. This twist makes my brain hurt..."
Duan Xuan laughed a few times, then stretched out three fingers and said slowly: "Jincheng is Han Wenyue's home base. With Yan Yanming in charge, Jincheng will not be in chaos and can also be used as a backup. This is one of the reasons;
Second, as the two wise brothers said, letting Yan Yanming come back first is also to prevent us from doing anything; and the third one..."
Duan Xuan looked at Zhang Heng, then at Liang Xing, and then said: "... We haven't even advanced half a step into the pass, and Zhengxi's people haven't met anyone. Han Wenyue, the old fox, withdrew first.
Yan Yanming, what does this mean? It means that this old fox intends to let us fight to the death with Zhengxi's people first, and he will take advantage later... It also means that Han Wen has made an appointment with this old fox and does not want to use his full strength at this time! Humph!
"
Liang Xing said: "So, Brother Duan, what do you mean..."
"Haha, don't you think there are so many people in such a desolate place..." Duan Yan's eyes flashed, "It's really too noisy? This time, it should be cleaner after all..."