Chapter 358 Neither is a fuel-efficient lamp (2/2)
Qixian County, Qin Dynasty.
This is later known as Bin County, Shaanxi Province.
Relying on the Jing River and backed by Guishen Mountain, the territory is shaped like a human character, dividing the county into two plateaus and one river...
"You want me to go to Qixian County?"
Cao Pi suddenly stood up with a look of astonishment on his face.
Perhaps a hundred years ago, Qixian County was a prosperous place. But for Guanzhong, which had just experienced turmoil and had just stabilized, Qixian County was an extremely dangerous place. Not only was it poor, but it was also facing the Xiongnu, which was extremely dangerous.
To the west, there is the danger of Ma Teng and Han Sui, and the Qiang and Di tigers are watching.
There are dangers from the Xianbei Xiongnu to the north, and war may break out at any time.
Not to mention that although Guanzhong is gradually becoming more stable, bandits are rampant. Although Li Jue and Guo Si were killed, the defeated troops under their command hid in the mountains and forests and gathered people as thieves, which became an extremely unstable factor in Guanzhong. Cao Pi never imagined that
, why did Cao Cao send him to Qixian? What can he do there? It was like exile.
Cao Pi in history can be regarded as a man of great talent and great strategy.
But now, after all, he is only seventeen years old, and he is still young and vigorous...
He had just ascended to the position of General of the Five senses, but he was exiled to a remote place unexpectedly.
Cao Pi gritted his teeth and asked, "Wang Tu, can you really hear this?"
"Hui Shizi, I heard this is absolutely true."
"What's going on!"
Cao Pi was so angry that he overturned the desk and wandered around the room.
On the mat beside him, a young man looked calm and relaxed, as if he was unaware of the old man's presence.
He suddenly opened his eyes and asked: "Wang Tu, do you know what books my lord has read recently?"
"Well...it is indeed impossible to know this humble position.
But in recent days, I often hear my lord talking about something: It is noon on the day of hoeing, and the sweat is dripping on the soil. Who knows that every grain of food on the plate is hard work. It is said that this poem was written by Cao Sanpian, who was the fifth son to enter school.
At that time, I specially gave it to the Fifth Young Master."
"It's Cao Youxue again!"
Cao Pi couldn't help but curse secretly.
He knew that Cao Cao doted on Cao Chong and Mrs. Huan ordered Cao Chong to apprentice with Cao Peng, which was extremely dangerous for him and his mother.
But that damn Ziwen didn't know what was going on and actually went to practice martial arts with Cao Peng.
That's all. Your mother asked you to win over Cao Peng. Instead of winning over you, you praised Cao Youxue all day long, which made your mother highly appreciate Cao Youxue. Now it's even better, even I will be exiled to a remote place.
land.
Cao Pi suppressed his anger and waved his hand for Wang Tu to retreat.
He turned to look at the young man, "Zhongda, what do you think?"
But the young man laughed and clapped softly: "Cao You learned this trick, it's really wonderful..."
"oh?"
"Do you still remember the last lesson Cao You learned before the Fifth Young Master entered school?"
"Remember!"
Cao Chong's last lesson was that it was impossible to hide the past. Both Cao Cao and Cao Pi quickly learned the contents.
"Why not eat minced meat?"
Sima Yi revealed his eyes like a falcon and sneered: "Cao You learns how to chain steps step by step, it's very clever... Before, I thought he was teaching the Fifth Young Master just to hope that the Fifth Young Master would understand the people's sentiments. I didn't expect his ultimate goal, but it was for
To prevent the crown prince from ascending to the throne."
"how do I say this?"
Sima Yi said: "Many people have persuaded my lord to marry him, so my lord must have made a decision.
Over the years, the prince has worked hard and has gained the respect of the lord... coupled with this humble position that added fuel to the flames, the lord has made up his mind. Cao Youxue must have noticed the clues, so he learned this lesson. He is the teacher of the fifth prince, and he should be the fifth prince.
Considering that, coupled with the relationship between Mrs. Huan and Mrs. Huan... it also makes him inevitably inclined towards the Fifth Young Master.
The fifth son is very loved by his lord, but he does have a very serious problem, that is, his age and seniority.
Cao Youxue first said "Why not eat minced meat" to establish the impression in the lord's mind that the fifth prince understands the suffering, and then used this poem to imply that the prince did not understand the people's sentiments and the sufferings of the people, which made the lord make this decision.
In my opinion, this is not necessarily a bad thing."
After hearing this, Cao Pi quickly stepped forward and sat down, "Please give me some advice from Zhongda."
"The biggest shortcoming of the Fifth Young Master is his age.
The biggest problem for the crown prince is his qualifications. Before that, the crown prince had been serving in the military and did not know much about the place, let alone understand the people's sentiments... It is true that Qixian County is poor, but if the crown prince can make a career in Qixian County
, is more convincing. The prince, can you remember how the brothers Deng Ji and Cao Peng rose up? Didn't they just build Haixi into the important place of Huaihe and Huaihe Rivers today? Qixian's foundation is a hundred times stronger than Haixi, why don't the prince sink down and build a stronghold in Qixian?
The county shows off its skills?”
If Cao Peng heard this, he would definitely cry out for injustice.
He wrote the song "Hoeing" as a gift to Cao Chong. To be honest, it was just to show off.
After Cao Chong entered the school, he specially asked Deng Ai to come and ask: "Do you have any other teachings, sir?"
Cao Peng casually gave this song "Hoeing" to Cao Chong. To put it bluntly, he just hoped that Cao Chong would not be like that rice bug who doesn't distinguish between grains.
In no mood……
After hearing this, Cao Pi couldn't help but nod his head.
In the history books, Chen Shou's evaluation of Cao Pi was: not broad-minded enough.
It is recorded in history: If we are open-minded, impartial and sincere, have a strong will to maintain the truth, and conquer a broad virtuous heart, how far will the wise masters of ancient times be?
Cao Pi readily agreed with Sima Yi's words.
It's just that I feel a little uncomfortable in my heart after all. When I think of this guy going against me, I can't help but feel the intention to kill.
"Your Majesty, let me tell you, Your Majesty should express your gratitude to Cao Youxue."
"thank?"
"If it hadn't been for Cao Youxue, I'm afraid that the prince would not have had this opportunity to prove himself... In fact, the governance of Qixian County is not difficult, there are only three points, the Xiliang Qiang and Di, the barbarians, and the local bandits. As long as they are solved
If these three issues are combined with the method of farming, the rise of Qixian County will not be far away... The prosperity of Qixian County may not necessarily be lost to Haixi."
Cao Pi thought for a while, bowed and said, "Please Zhongda help me."
"This is a humble duty."
Sima Yi also quickly stood up and returned the salute, with a warm look in his eyes.
Youxue, I will prove to my husband that I will never lose to you...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++
Poor Cao Peng, he didn't know at this time that he had offended Cao Pi unknowingly.
He was packing his bags and getting ready to go on a mission to Mobei. Since he was traveling secretly on his mission to Mobei, he did not make any publicity.
Cao Ji made a hundred iron meteors and a set of armor for him.
The Tiger Roaring Sword was recast and repaired, making it sharper than before... At the same time, Cao Ji also ordered Guo Yong to make a giant disc ax in Xingyang, weighing fifty-two kilograms, and presented it to Han De. This time Cao Peng went to Mobei,
There are only ten places available.
Xia Houlan and Hao Zhao were unable to accompany him because they had already taken up the posts of city gate commanders.
Kan Ze will soon leave for Haixi to succeed him; Shi Tao is studying the annals of Liangzhou and preparing to go to Longxi to assist Wang Meng and his son.
The only ones left were Han De and Wang Shuang.
Originally, Cao Peng wanted Pang Tong to stay and help Cao Ji.
But Pang Tong said that he hoped to accompany him to Mobei and appreciate the scenery on the fortress. So, after thinking about it, Cao Peng decided to ask Deng Ji to come forward and write to Deng Zhi. Deng Zhi is much more honest now! He originally wanted to assist the Deng family in its rise.
, but was helplessly suppressed by Cao Peng. Bu Zhi was also a man of means. After taking office, he quickly emptied Deng's power in Haixi. Deng Zhi was the county magistrate in Yilu, which was awkward at first, but
Gradually it settled down.
Cao Peng decided to appoint Deng Zhi as the city gate chief to serve as Cao Ji's assistant.
In this way, with Deng Zhi in literature and Xiahou Lan and Hao Zhao in military affairs, Cao Ji could easily secure his position as the city gate captain.
You know, the network of relationships that Cao Peng has worked so hard over the years is not that simple.
There are celebrities like Kong Rong in Qingliu, and big figures like Cao Hong and Cao Ren in real power. Since Cao Ji was born in Jinwu Yamen, he can be regarded as Jia Xu's subordinate. Now, his subordinates have to take charge of their own affairs, and Jia Xu is not too stingy...
Jia Xing was recommended to Cao Ji by Jia Xu.
Cao Peng readily accepted Jia Xu's move.
He could feel the kindness released by Jia Xu. Jia Xing was not a famous figure in Xudu. Although Jia Xu had two sons, the person who truly inherited Jia Xu's mantle should be Jia Xing.
He was very low-key and silent, so many people ignored his existence. But Cao Peng knew that this guy was also a sinister person.
Since Jia Xu recommended Jia Xing to come, how could Cao Peng refuse?
Therefore, Jia Xing became the captain of the city gate school, with a rank of six hundred stones and a salary of six hundred stones.
If Deng Zhi is smart, he will assist Cao Ji honestly. If not, Cao Peng has countless ways to make his life worse than death.
After solving his father's problem, Cao Peng focused all his energy on his mission to Mobei.
In addition to reading a lot of information about Mobei, he also had to prepare for the worst. Huang Chengyan also knew that Cao Peng's trip might be dangerous, so he gave Cao Peng the 'Onager' he had painstakingly developed.
…
Only when Cao Peng saw this 'Onag' did he figure out what it was.
In fact, it is a smaller version of the crossbow, or it is more appropriate to call it a hand crossbow...
Dionysus was the first to use a mechanical torsion spring to invent the crossbow, which used the torsion generated by two bundles of tensioned horse hair, leather ropes or Soochow tendons as power to drive the crossbow arm to drive the bow string and eject projectiles or arrows.
The ballista was originally created by the Greeks and had a strong bracket.
However, it was the Romans, what the Han Dynasty people called the Qin Empire, that really pushed the crossbow to its peak.
By combining the principles of the ballista with the heavy trebuchet called an onager at the time, the Romans pushed the practical value of the torsion spring to its peak. Around the second century BC, Dionysius of Alexandria designed a new type of ballista.
The spare arrows were stored in a V-shaped quiver, and through the reciprocating motion of a set of pentagonal gears and chain mechanisms, the automation of the ballista's preparation, filling, and firing was realized. Its deconstruction was a masterpiece at the time.
In later generations, many people believed that Leonardo da Vinci was the inventor of the chain.
But in fact, as early as the second century BC, the ancient Romans realized the reciprocating movement of the chain...
Huang Chengyan got a ballista by chance, and then began to study its mysteries and mysteries.
He even disassembled the entire crossbow into pieces and designed a repeating crossbow based on the principles.
Cao Peng even felt that the so-called Zhuge Repeating Crossbow was improved on the basis of this continuous crossbow. Huang Chengyan improved the crossbow and made it into a small hand crossbow. The crossbow arrows were specially made and were about one foot long.
, which is about twenty centimeters... The quiver can hold eight crossbow arrows at a time and can be worn on the arm.
However, the range of the hand crossbow is very small and is far less powerful than the ballista.
It only has a shooting range of about thirty steps, but the advantage is that it is unexpected and can produce miraculous effects.
This time, because Cao Peng was on an envoy to Mobei, Huang Chengyan took out all the old soldiers. Cao Peng was also extremely curious about this kind of hand crossbow. After experimenting with it, he quickly came to the conclusion that it had a range of thirty steps.
The effective range is twenty steps, but the effect is best within fifteen steps.
Then, Cao Ji prepared twenty boxes of steel crossbows for Cao Peng, with a total of one hundred and sixty crossbow arrows.
The iron meteors and crossbow arrows alone were heavy enough and even required a separate horse to carry them. Fortunately, the Cao family had no shortage of pack horses, so there was no need to worry. Ten days passed in silence like this.
On the day of the mission's departure, Cao Peng put his armor bag on his horse, and then took out the Fangtian Painted Halberd from the Shenbing Pavilion.
After three years, Cao Peng could already use the painting pole and halberd with ease.
After all the items were prepared, Cao Peng took King Han De Shuang Pang Tong and six Feijian warriors and said goodbye under the eyes of his family members.
Inside the Jianyang Gate, Tian Yu led his troops and waited quietly.
After Cao Peng and others arrived, he didn't say anything. He just nodded to Cao Peng, and Cao Peng and his party quickly integrated into the convoy. At least from the outside, there was no problem. They were just ordinary attachés.
…
Outside Shili Pavilion, the mission was ready to go.
Zhou Liang, the servant of the middle palace, was about forty years old. He was fair and plump and quite wealthy.
He led more than 300 men and dozens of chariots. Tian Yuze led 600 troops, including servitors and slaves, a total of 1,200 people.
After Tian Yu and Zhou Liang met, they smiled and exchanged greetings.
Later, Cao Cao led hundreds of civil and military officials to see him off on behalf of the Han Emperor.
This mission to Mobei was on the one hand to thank the Southern Xiongnu Chanyu Huchuquan for his kindness in helping the Han Emperor return eastward, and on the other hand, it was also intended to test the Hu people. As for what kind of test? Maybe only Zhou Liang and Tian
Yu knows.
Of course, Cao Peng also knew this very well.
At noon, the mission officially set off.
Along the official road, more than a thousand people and hundreds of chariots and horses marched northward.
Cao Peng was dressed in a very long attire, with an ordinary war horse on his hip. Zhao Yebai was too eye-catching. Many people in Xudu City recognized Zhao Yebai's origins. Therefore, he did not dare to be too showy and silent.
As the team marches...
That night, the motorcade arrived at Changshe.
Tian Yu and Zhou Liang discussed it and camped at Changshe.
Cao Peng led Pang Tong and others to set up camp, and then prepared to get some fodder to feed the horses. In the past, there were dedicated people to do these things, and Cao Peng didn't need to worry about it. But now, he is just a small soldier, and he has to do it himself.
I don’t want to see a group of people walking towards me when I go out.
He is dressed as a member of the Imperial Guard, and he looks very tall...
The moment the two groups of people passed each other, Cao Peng happened to meet one of them. Both of them looked shocked at the same time, and the person opposite immediately lowered his head and left in a hurry.
Liu Guang?
Cao Peng was a little unsure.
He couldn't help but frown as he watched the retreating figures of the Imperial Guards.
If it is really Liu Guang, I am afraid that the purpose of the Han Emperor sending an envoy to Mobei this time is not simple...
