Zhang Ping, courtesy name Jingzhi, is about thirty years old. He is a man of ordinary appearance, average build, and taciturn.
Like Zhu Yun, he is Liu Yan's confidant, but Zhang Ping is not as eloquent as Zhu Yun. Most of the time, he acts as a shadow around Liu Yan, but Liu Yan trusts Zhang Ping very much.
Zhang Ping stepped in to salute and said: "I obey!"
Liu Yan continued: "The second thing is, tomorrow we set off for Yizhou. Our mission is to wipe out the barbarians who fled to Hanzhong."
Hanzhong County is located in the northeast of Yizhou, bordering Jingzhou in the east and the capital Chang'an in the north. It can be said that the geographical location of Hanzhong County is extremely important. It is the main logistics hub for the capital army to enter Yizhou. All logistics supplies are basically stored in Hanzhong County.
Everyone looked at each other with solemn expressions on their faces. They didn't know that the barbarian army had actually reached Hanzhong. If they fought further north, wouldn't they have to rush out of Yizhou and go straight to Chang'an?
It seems that Lian Dan's troops' operations in Yizhou were not going very well. How could they allow the barbarian army to invade Hanzhong?
Seeing everyone's expressions, Liu Yan knew what everyone was thinking, and he said: "The barbarians who fled to Hanzhong are just a small group of remnants of the barbarian army. They were defeated by the capital army and fled to Hanzhong in a panic. They are not something to be afraid of. "
After hearing this, everyone involuntarily breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that their mission was to enter Hanzhong and beat the drowned dog with a stick. This battle still needs to be fought!
Liu Yanzhen said: "Okay, that's all. Let's go back and get ready. By the way, we can get acquainted with our brothers. We will set off early tomorrow morning!"
At home, Liu Yan is the eldest brother, and the eldest brother is the father. Outside, Liu Yan has many friends, and he is also the core. Now that he has become the military commander of the rebel army, he can issue orders with ease.
According to the regular establishment, Liu Yan, as a military commander, could command 500 people, but the rebel army was not a regular army. Peng Yong assigned Liu Yan a full 1,000 people, and he had ten village commanders and two troops. ten people.
After the disbandment, everyone swarmed to Zhang Ping for equipment and food. Liu Xiu did not go out, but walked up to Liu Yan and said, "Brother, I recommend two friends to you."
As he spoke, he turned around and waved to Li Tong and Li Yi.
Li Tong and Li Yi quickly stepped forward, saluted Liu Yan together, and said, "I, Li Tong (Li Yi), have met Brother Liu."
Liu Yan looked them both over, waved his hands and said, "Since you are Axiu's friend, you don't need to be polite. In the military, you don't use the title 'Brother Liu'."
The implication is that when you should call someone "adult", call him "adult" and don't try to get close to him.
Li Tong and Li Yi turned red and looked embarrassed. Li Tong then changed his words and said, "Master Liu."
Liu Yan hummed and said to Liu Xiu: "Axiu, I still need to go out for a patrol." As he spoke, he walked out.
Now he has a thousand people under his command, and there are many things that need to be handled by him, but he has no time to delay here.
Liu Xiu chased after him and reminded in a low voice: "Brother, Li Tong's father is Li Shou of Wan County."
You must know that Li Shou is the richest man in Nanyang County. Making friends with Li Tong is equivalent to making friends with Li Shou. If you want to make a difference in the future, establishing a good relationship with Li Shou now will be of great help.
Liu Yan had naturally heard of Li Shou's name. After hearing Liu Xiu's words, Liu Yan turned around and glanced at Li Tong and said disapprovingly: "It turns out he is a kid from a rich family. He is really full!"
In his opinion, with the financial status of the Li family, there was really no need for Li Tong and Li Yi to join the rebellion.
Liu Yan's words were not loud, but they were loud enough for Li Tong and Li Yi to hear clearly. The expressions on their faces became more and more embarrassed, and Li Yi even showed an angry look.
Liu Xiu wanted to say something more, but Liu Yan had already walked out of the tent without looking back. Liu Xiu sighed helplessly and walked back to Li Tong. Li Yi approached and said: "Brother made a mistake just now. I will tell you on behalf of eldest brother." You two apologize."
When Li Yi was about to speak, Li Tong said first, "Uncle Wen, you don't have to be polite. Brother Liu... Master Liu is telling the truth. In the eyes of many people, my cousin and I came to join the rebel army just because we were full."
Liu Xiu changed the subject, shook his head and said, "Let's go out and see if there is any equipment left."
After leaving the camp, Liu Xiu found Zhang Ping, who actually left a set of armor and weapons for Liu Xiu and Long Yuan.
The armor and weapons Liu Yan is bringing are good. They are exactly the same as those of the regular army. The helmet is an iron helmet, the armor is blade armor, and the weapon is a long sword.
But it can be seen that none of the equipment is new. Whether it is armor or weapons, they are very old and rusty.
Anyway, anything is better than nothing. After Liu Xiu and Long Yuan received the armor and weapons, they looked at Li Tong and Li Yi who were standing aside and had not received anything, and asked: "Brother Ping, do you still have the armor and weapons?" ?”
Zhang Ping shook his head. Zhu Yun continued from the side: "Bosheng will bring a total of twenty sets of armor and weapons. It is not easy to leave one set each for you and Uncle Zhong."
"There are no more weapons?" Liu Xiu asked reluctantly.
Zhang Ping silently took out two daggers from the bottom of a bamboo basket and handed them to Liu Xiu. The latter took them and looked at them. Although they were daggers, they were still sharp. He turned around and handed the two daggers to Liu Xiu. Li Tong and Li Yi said: "It's a self-defense thing after all. You two can make do with it first."
Liu Xiu and Long Yuan were equipped with armor and long swords. They were fully equipped, but when it was his turn, they only had a pitiful short sword. Li Yi was dissatisfied and took the short sword handed by Liu Xiu angrily. Jian, said nothing.
Li Tong is younger than Li Yi, but he is more sensible than Li Yiming.
Among the rebels, there was no decent equipment, so it was good to be given a short sword. Looking at the soldiers around, most of them didn't even have swords, and they still held axes and hoes in their hands.
Zhu Ping took a large bag of dry food, patted Liu Xiu on the shoulder, and said, "Come on, Axiu, I will take you to see the tent where you will stay at night." Zhu Ping led Liu Xiu to a tent.
This tent is in the shape of a long strip, with a walkway in the middle and pavilions on both sides. Looking at it, there are at least twenty shops.
Zhu Ping looked around and said: "The conditions of our camp are pretty good. There are only 20 people living there. The other camps all have 30 to 40 people!"
As he spoke, he walked to a floor bunk inside and said with a smile: "This is mine, Axiu, you can sleep next to me!"
Liu Xiu nodded and said "Hello". Zhu Ping did not stay in the camp for too long. After settling Liu Xiu and others, he explained a few words and hurried out.
The four of them sat down on their respective bunks. Liu Xiu took out the dry food and gave each of Long Yuan, Li Tong and Li Yi a piece.
Liu Xiu and Long Yuan picked up the dry food and ate it. Li Tong and Li Yi looked at the dark, hard dry food in their hands and had no appetite.
Liu Xiu said: "Being outside is not as good as being at home. Now that you are out, you have to be prepared to endure hardships."
Li Tong felt this and secretly thought it made sense. He nodded, opened his mouth, and took a big bite of the dry food.
The dry food was not tasty. It was sour and astringent when held in his mouth. However, Li Tong gritted his teeth, chewed twice, swallowed it, and then took another big bite.
Seeing him eating the dry food one bite after another, Li Yi couldn't stop being pretentious.
He took a test bite and almost spit out the mouthful of dry food. He swallowed it wholeheartedly, then stuffed the dry food in his hand into the leather bag tied to his side and said, "I'm not hungry yet, I'll eat it later." .”
Naturally, Liu Xiu would not force him, and there was no need to force him. When he was really hungry, even if he saw the bark of a tree, he would want to go up and take a bite.
There was nothing to say that day. In the morning of the next day, the rebel army led by Liu Yan set up camp and moved westward, heading straight for Yizhou.
Their rebel army can be regarded as the vanguard of the Xiangyang Rebel Army.
The Xiangyang Rebel Army has a total of more than 10,000 people. The main force cannot march blindly in a swarm. There must be a vanguard army to explore the road ahead. There is no more suitable candidate to be the vanguard than Liu Yan.
After a whole day's march, Liu Yan's troops finally entered Hanzhong County in Yizhou.
Hanzhong County is a large county with twelve counties including Nanzheng, Xunyang and Anyang.
As soon as Liu Yan's troops entered Hanzhong, they received a letter from the magistrate of Jing County, saying that traces of barbarian troops were found in Qianqian River and Baishan area.
After reading the letter, Liu Yan asked the officer who delivered the letter: "How many barbarians were found in Qianqian River and Baishan area?"
The officer said sternly: "There are quite a few barbarians, probably fifty or more."
The total number of barbarian troops who entered Hanzhong County was not that many, only about a few hundred at most. Moreover, they were not gathered together, but divided into many groups. A barbarian army with more than fifty people was considered to be large in number.
When Liu Yan first heard the officer say that there were many barbarian soldiers, Liu Yan's heart rose for a moment, but when he later heard that there were only fifty soldiers, his heart immediately dropped.
There are only more than fifty barbarian soldiers, which is not enough to fill the teeth of a thousand of them!
Liu Yan asked: "Do you know the specific location of the barbarian soldiers?"
The yamen servant took out a piece of sheepskin from his arms, with a simple map of the Qianqian River and Baishan area drawn on it. The yamen servant took the map, pointed to a place and said: "The people who came to report the news are the barbarians found here!"
Liu Yan took a closer look and saw that the government officer was pointing to Baishan. Baishan is located along the Qianqian River. From the map, it is a large area.
After reading it, Liu Yan nodded and asked, "Can you help me find a local guide?"
The yamen servant said seriously: "We adults have already thought of it." As he spoke, he turned around and waved to the back.
A man dressed as a hunter came over. The yamen officer introduced: "His name is Feng Da. He is a hunter in the Baishan area. He is very familiar with the terrain there. He was the first to discover barbarians in Baishan!"
Liu Yan looked at the hunter named Feng Da and asked, "Have you seen the barbarian soldiers with your own eyes?"