The Yanzhi Corridor is a valley between the Yanzhi Mountains and the Qilian Mountains that approach each other. It is about twenty (Han) miles long. It is the first choice way for Wuwei to enter Zhangye County. If you do not take this road to enter Zhangye County, then
It needs to be detoured hundreds of miles from the northern foot of Longshou Mountain, and the road conditions along the way are not good and it is difficult to find water sources.
After Cang Ci heard that Jiang Weixi was attacking Wuwei County, he sent his troops to block the road and defend it.
There are about two thousand soldiers, all of whom he recruited from the back of the county to work in the fields or from small tribesmen. They are hardworking farmers but few perform martial arts, so their combat power is naturally not strong.
But this was the only force he could muster.
The previous county soldiers had long since followed Jia Xunan's orders and never returned.
However, these farmers and soldiers are willing to serve and die.
The fact that their family has managed to survive in the cold and barren Hexi region to this day is all due to Cang's kind and benevolent policies.
Cang Ci, who had not yet known that Jincheng County had changed hands, based on this, thought that if he defended the road and blocked the road, the Han army would not be able to break through for half a month.
Yes, half a month is enough.
Huang Hua, who has returned to Jiuquan County, sent a letter a few days ago.
He claimed that he had invited Ke Wu and his entire family to move here, and was now recruiting troops to accumulate grain. In half a month, he would send troops to guard the Yanzhi Corridor with Cang Ci.
Cang Ci had no good impression of Huang Hua, who was selfish and had raised troops to rebel. But now that the two counties of Zhangye, Jiuquan and Zhangye have suffered losses and both have prospered, there is no need to worry about Huang Hua harboring evil intentions.
Naturally, Cang Ci would feel more at ease if Zhang Jiu from Dunhuang came to help.
But that's just a delusion.
After hearing that Jia Xu was defeated and killed, Cang Ci also wrote a letter and went to Dunhuang, earnestly asking Zhang to supervise the troops to come and help. However, Zhang refused, which made Cang Ci become angry and angrily accused him of being unfaithful and unjust.
In other words, to this day, Cang Ci also knows in his heart that the Dunhuang Zhang family no longer regards themselves as Wei Chen!
This also made Cang Ci firm up his belief - among the many people in Hexi who are eating the emperor's salary, how can there be no minister who will die!
Therefore, he sternly rejected Zheng Pu's invitation to talk.
Even if he persuaded him with the lives of common people in counties and counties, he would not change his mind. He felt that the Han army was playing tricks on them, but only five days later he was despairing in the face of the facts.
He saw more than ten thousand Han troops arrayed in the valley.
Moreover, the array was strict, with spears like a forest, shields and oars like a wall, and more than ten thousand people gathered in silence. At a glance, it was clear that they were elites who had practiced martial arts for a long time and had experienced many wars.
A ragtag group of people recruited into the army.
He also heard the frightened sounds of his soldiers in the field.
The opponent just formed a formation, but there was a faint aura of killing coming from behind. No matter the number of people or the morale, they were definitely not comparable to the soldiers in the field.
Perhaps, it only took the Han army two or three days to break through his camp and capture all 2,000 of his soldiers.
What made Cang Ci most dismayed was the realization: If Jincheng County had not been captured, how could the Han army that had just taken Wuwei County have more than 10,000 soldiers attack?
No wonder, Scar Pu dared to write a letter to persuade me.
Cang Ci sighed loudly and looked around at the panicked farmers below him, caught in the middle of a battle between heaven and man.
He wanted to fight to the death, but he wanted to live up to his reputation.
However, he couldn't bear it and didn't want to let his subordinates die in vain.
Because he knew in his heart that these farmers came here armed with swords and swords, not to be loyal to the Wei State, but to repay his kindness!
"Prefect, the envoy from Shu has returned."
Just as Cang Ci was hesitating, the county meritorious officer beside him suddenly spoke up.
Following the line of sight of the meritorious officer, he saw a man coming out of the Han army's formation and watching him hurrying towards him. He was still the messenger who had come to deliver letters the previous two times, but this time he was only here to deliver a message.
say:
"I have been ordered to come and invite the Governor of Cang to come out for a brief explanation. My guards have prepared some drinks and say that I don't want to see your soldiers die in vain. If the Governor is still determined to fight to the death, my guards will follow the wishes of the Governor. Two quarters of an hour later, the Governor will attack.
.”
After saying this, he turned around and went back without waiting for Cang Ci's reply.
With such a vaguely threatening attitude, the retinues guarding Cang Ci all turned red.
The meritorious officer even expressed his gratitude, "The Shu army is rampant and Scar Pu is rude! Please also ask the eunuch to order the emissary to be shot dead to strengthen our army's momentum and show our army's determination to fight to the death!"
But Cang Ci waved his hand, his interest waning, "That's all, don't do anything unnecessary."
Also, killing an envoy is of no use.
Therefore, he frowned and pondered for a moment, then stood up and strode forward, and also asked the meritorious officers to engage in Taoism, "You are so good at supervising the officers and soldiers, and don't let them cause trouble. I will go and return."
Hearing this, Gong Cao was stunned.
After a while, he realized what he was doing, stepped forward, grabbed Cang Ci's sleeve, and said quickly, "Prefect, don't go! If Scar Pu has evil intentions and uses his troops to rob the prefect, we and our soldiers will lose control!"
"
"Haha~~"
Unexpectedly, Cang Ci, who was originally looking sad, smiled instead and gently pulled out his sleeves, "I do hope that Scar Pu will kill me, but judging from his past behavior, he is not an unwise person."
The meritorious officer was once again astonished, silently looking at Cang Ci's back, and it took a while before his face showed a look of astonishment.
Just now, in his desperation, he became obsessed with it.
No matter what, Zheng Pu would not rob Cang Ci and force the Wei army to abandon their weapons and lie on the ground.
Because once Cang Ci was kidnapped, he would definitely commit suicide to show his determination, and all the soldiers who came to repay Cang Ci's kindness would turn into mourning soldiers and fight to the death with the Han army until every soldier was killed.
Moreover, there is now a huge disparity in military strength between the two sides, and the Han army has a sure chance of victory.
Scar Pu will definitely not resort to such tactics, which will only increase his reputation and make the war more difficult.
However, the prefect left alone because he didn't want to fight or to kill the troops?
Suddenly, such a thought came to the mind of the meritorious officer. Immediately, he shook his head violently to dismiss the thought in his mind, and concentrated on walking in the ranks to calm the emotions of the soldiers.
At this time, Cang Ci had already approached the Han army's formation.
Zheng Pu came out to greet him with a gurgling smile. Seeing that Cang Ci was thin and frail, with no accessories and no embroidery on his clothes, which were old and mostly patched with needlework, he couldn't help but sigh, "I have heard for a long time that the ruler of the mansion is simple, simple and strict, and Chang Ji is a lonely man, and his salary is high."
With two thousand dan, the family has no wealth, and his wife and children are starving. But now that we have seen him, he can be said to have lived up to his reputation!"
"Guardians should not talk about irrelevant matters."
Cang Ci returned the gift with his hand raised, and said in a calm tone, "You invited me to come, so I'm here. I wonder what you have planned to make the innocent people die in vain?"
"This is not a place for conversation. I have already set up a table and will sit inside."
Zheng Pu didn't care about Cang Ci's lack of appreciation, but still smiled and extended his hand to invite him in.
After the two sat down, seeing that Cang Ci still looked cold and unintentional to talk, Zheng Pu said bluntly, "If you don't put up unnecessary resistance, after our army enters Zhangye County, our administration will follow the old things of the prefect, such as cultivating the fields to support orphans and widows.
The sons of poor and weak people, etc., are only held responsible for serving in the imperial family and do not disturb the livelihood of the common people. Moreover, I, a big man, appeases the counties and counties. I have no thought of family status. I must believe in rewards and punishments. Those who have made a small contribution will be promoted, and those who have no virtue will be promoted.
He must be punished; the towns must respect the three elders, set up elementary schools, and ask people to be self-reliant and behave in an awe-inspiring manner."
At this point, Zheng Pu paused and then asked rhetorically, "Your Majesty has been in Hexi for many years. He must have heard about the virtues of our great Han Dynasty's rejuvenation of Longyou Hou, and he also knows that our great Han Dynasty Prime Minister's law enforcement is good. Why should there be any worries?"
Suddenly, Cang Ci was silent.
The reason is that as early as when the Han army first entered Longyou, the generals in Wei Liangzhou led their officials to preach harshly to the people in Bashu, confiscated property for military use, and severely enforced the law in Shu, in an attempt to inspire the soldiers to fight. But as time went by,
Many detailed reports came back one after another, and the Wei officials no longer made any slanderous remarks about the people's livelihood of the Han Dynasty.
Because in comparison, the Wei government was more harsh than the Han government
In other words, after the Battle of Xiangfan and the Battle of Yiling, the Han Dynasty used its already declining national power and the resources of only one state to continuously use troops, but the people had no complaints and all the soldiers died, which is enough to prove the uniqueness of Prime Minister Zhuge Liang's governance.
place.
Facts speak louder than words.
Some things cannot be slandered, and even the hostile Wei State cannot find anything to criticize.
Naturally, with Cang Ci's personality, he would not bother to argue with Zheng Pu by confusing right and wrong.
So after he was silent for a moment, he sighed sadly, "Well, I have no idea how your army will bring peace to the people. I just want to die and live in peace with my name."
Pray for death?
Zheng Pu's eyebrows slightly raised, and his anger suddenly appeared, "If the ruler of the house dies, and the soldiers who follow the ruler, I will lose my family and be punished as a slave!"
