Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3212 The window is dim and has small words

Hedong.

A group of Cao Jun soldiers were moving forward along the road.

The soldiers of Cao's army did not cover their whereabouts, but just released the scouts twenty or thirty miles away, and they seemed to be moving forward in an orderly manner.

The general's banner in the army is "Liu".

This flag with the surname of the general of the Liu family, combined with the battle flag representing the Han Dynasty, has a strange feeling.

Yi County is already close to Anyi and belongs to the core area of ​​the Yuncheng Basin. If you go beyond Anyi and go further north, you will reach the Linfen Basin, which is the Pingyang area controlled by Fei Qian.

From the perspective of Yi County itself, with its small city and poor terrain, it is not a strategic location in the ordinary sense. However, it has become the focus of competition between the two sides...

Cao Cao's original strategy of luring left and right and mobilizing hussars completely failed.

Fei Qian sat firmly on the Diaoyutai in Pingyang, not caring about the small fish and shrimps jumping around. Naturally, Cao Cao had no choice but to find another way.

Yi County, now under such circumstances, seems to be becoming more and more important.

The area around Yi County is relatively vast.

Although there are mountains all around the Yuncheng Basin, people's sight is narrow after all. The distant mountains are like the background of the horizon, but the land in front of them seems to be magnified, which has become the biggest difficulty for Cao's soldiers.

Most of the snow that fell in the past few days melted, leaving the rest of the place muddy except for the official road.

The late spring weather is not only cold, but also very humid.

The soldiers of Cao's army wore iron armor, held spears, and walked heavily.

At first, the team moved forward slowly in silence.

But as time passed, the silence was broken...

For most of Cao's soldiers, they did not know the surrounding topography or strategic layout. They only knew how to walk and stop, life and death. It's just that there are still some gossips being passed around in the queue, and then they become well-known secrets.

Cao Hong retreated from Puban County, but his army went deep into the country alone. How could it be so easy to withdraw at the drop of a hat?

Sima Yi was as cunning as a fox and almost took advantage of the cavalry's strengths. Anyway, don't even think about melee combat. With kite shooting tactics, take advantage if there are advantages, and wait and see if there are difficulties.

The cavalry's suppression of infantry was very strong, especially when Cao Hong lost most of his supplies, including arrows and crossbows. Of course, even with arrows and crossbows, it is not easy for infantry to defend against cavalry tactics. Most of the time, they can only passively counterattack and cannot take the initiative to attack.

However, if they form a formation for defense, Cao Hong, who has lost his food, grass and baggage, obviously cannot afford to hold off.

Therefore, in the end, many of Cao Hong's soldiers who were withdrawn were wounded. Even if they were not physically injured, they were mentally tortured. After all, not everyone has a big heart and can withstand the meticulous care of the Cavalry. of……

Although it is said that among Cao's army, soldiers are strictly prohibited from discussing these matters, they cannot control the spread of gossip in private, and there are also rumors that just a few days ago, the Cao army's camps around Yi County were attacked by the Hussars. Already...

This is another lot of people who died.

And now, they are heading to Yi County, the place where the battle took place.

No one knows what they will encounter in front of them, and how they will deal with the hussars if they encounter them.

There is only one simple command, "Go".

Is it a common practice in Shandong that the higher-ups know some things, but they will never let the lower-level people also know about them.

At the beginning, Cao Jun's soldiers didn't know where they were going, but after walking for a while, some people more or less guessed the destination, and some emotions suddenly emerged and they began to chatter.

This situation is also normal.

Even well-trained dogs will lose their temper sometimes, let alone these ordinary soldiers of Cao Jun?

No one likes to be lied to.

Although sometimes they are helpless against this kind of deception, it does not mean that they will be emotionless.

What should I do if I feel emotional?

Ordinary soldiers in Cao's army were all stubborn, so they inevitably started to murmur in twos and threes.

Privately, the soldiers of Cao's army really said anything, but most of the time these soldiers of Cao's army just muttered in private. If you really asked them to jump up and rebel, or to disobey military orders, most of them would not do it. dare.

In addition to the emotional instability, there is also physical exhaustion.

I don’t know why, but their schedule is very rushed...

It's like rushing to reincarnate, with no rest at all.

After walking for most of the day, everyone was tired, cold, and exhausted.

The late-spring weather, which turns from warm to cold, is obviously not something that these Shandong soldiers can adapt to at once.

Due to both mental and physical exhaustion, there were only a few whispers of grumbling in the team, but now they became more and more numerous, and in the end, it was just a buzzing sound.

Hearing the complaints from the soldiers of Cao's army, most of the captains and commanders turned a deaf ear to them, and sometimes they would chime in with "uh huh, haha".

These days, isn’t being a soldier just for a living?

As non-commissioned officers at the lowest level of the military academy, they rarely have room for promotion, so these big-name soldiers have even less room to survive for a few years, or die on the battlefield, or go home with a disability and survive for a few years. If you die again, as for what it means to be a general...

hehe.

In the current feudal dynasty of the Han Dynasty, how many generals are really promoted from the bottom of the soldiers?

With no hope of promotion, the soldiers will naturally become old-fashioned.

The leader of this army was Liu Zhu.

A man with the same surname as Liu Bei dared not claim that he was the son of Liu after Prince Jing of Zhongshan.

The reason is that Liu Zhu is not as thick-skinned as Liu Bei, so he is just a general.

The general is the most important person among the generals.

When something goes wrong, the general will go first, and when there is a hole, the general will fill it first. But when discussing merits and rewards, the general will always stand behind the general.

Liu Zhu has served as a general for a long time. He has served as a general of Cao Hong, a general of Cao Ren, a general of Xiahou Dun, and now he is a general of Cao Cao. At his level, he is regarded as a fighting chicken among the generals. To outsiders, he looks very impressive, but he himself knows that he is still a general.

As a subordinate of General Liu Zhu, he is a typical veteran and a hostage guard. With his meritorious deeds as the first to follow Cao Cao, he was transformed from a small soldier to the current captain and now holds the position of military governor.

Cao Cao still valued him, so he sent him as a military governor.

However, veteran oil man, he naturally knows his status. If it is within the scope of Cao Cao's control, naturally Cao Cao's name is very useful. Whether it is a big-headed general or a small-headed colonel, he will give him some points as a governor. In order to save face, he reluctantly obeyed his orders, but once he left Cao Cao's camp, it would be better for him as the governor to attract less suspicion. Along the way, he did not issue military orders, and even spoke little. He just followed the crowd and was as inconspicuous as a pawn at the lowest level.

Seeing that Liu Zhu was just silently riding his horse and walking in the middle formation, he had no intention of resting and setting up camp for most of the day. The soldiers in the front were pretty good, but those in the rear who were responsible for pushing carts and escorting the baggage were not so good. Exhausted, the curses were buzzing. After a while, seeing that no one was paying attention, he opened his voice more and more, pointing fingers and scolding Huai.

One of the hostage's confidants, who joined the army with him, came close to the hostage and asked, "Warlord, would you like to talk to General Liu and just rest on the spot?" 』

The confidant pointed to the baggage behind, "Those guys can't stand it any longer... Although everyone is used to being cows and horses, they can't really be cows and horses... This is using people as cattle... ...I see that General Liu doesn't know how to lead good troops, and I don't know what these guys are thinking... If these gentlemen are allowed to continue, it will be a trivial matter for the army to be unstable. If it happens at night... it is better to persuade Liu How about taking a break, General? No matter what, I still need to eat hot soup and rice and take a breath..."

The lieutenant glared at his confidant, "You also know that I, the governor, have a higher rank, but in fact I am just a captain... Besides, the governor only has eyes, ears, and no mouth!" understand? If you go on this journey honestly, peace will be a blessing. Whatever General Liu said, just do it honestly... You made a damn random idea. If something goes wrong, who will be blamed? Strength is a thief. If you raise it and return it, how can you still kill someone? 』

The confidant smiled bitterly and said: "My old man, even if you are a thief, you still have to have some free time and let the younger ones take care of this thief!" 』

The confidant came closer to the hostage and whispered again, "Young man, I was listening behind you... You also look back and listen. What are they mumbling behind you?" How many days have you been away from camp? If this continues, the morale of the army will really be lost... It is true that the commander-in-chief is General Liu, but the deputy is you, the old lady! If something big happens and General Liu loses his head, can you, the warlord, take care of yourself? When the board falls, will you really be able to withstand it? It would be easier to calm down the grievances in the army earlier... Besides, do you really expect us to fight against the hussars? It’s really only a day or two! 』

After hearing what his confidant said, Hu Zhi was also shocked.

He turned around and looked around, then looked back at the soldiers of Cao's army who were pushing the baggage carts in the rear. Hearing the voices of those who wanted to curse at the top of their lungs, the hostage couldn't help but sigh. After thinking for a moment, the hostage urged his horse forward. Along the way, he heard some dirty mutterings. Some were scolding Liu Zhu, and of course some were directed at his unlucky deputy. of. The guard was very generous and pretended not to hear anything.

The hostage rushed to Liu Zhu's side.

Liu Zhu still looked like he was sullen and hurried on with his head down, not even glancing at the hostage.

The lieutenant coughed cautiously and greeted with a forced smile: "This... General Liu?" 』

Liu Zhu hummed, raised his head and looked sideways at the hostage.

At this point, the guard had no choice but to bite the bullet and say: "General Liu, this... haha, these guys have been traveling for two or three days, and they are really exhausted... We all know that General Liu is full of courage." , take the lead... But everyone really can't hold it anymore, can you... take a short break? Anyi, Yi County, is not on the horizon. One day earlier and one day later is not bad, right? What's more, if we really encounter enemies on the road, it will be difficult for everyone who is exhausted... What does General Liu think? 』

Liu Zhu listened without moving his face. When the hostage finished speaking, he said a few words, "No." 』

The captain scratched his head and pointed with a grimace in the direction of the noisy rear baggage queue, "I don't want to disobey the general's orders... I will follow General Liu wherever he orders. There is no need to say... But Liu General, if the enemy hussars really come, can the general and I fight them? Since General Liu is now leading everyone, he still needs to take care of the morale of the troops. What I said is a bit excessive, but the way to lead troops is to relax. If the trouble goes too far, then... if it really happens... If something happens, it's hard to tell when you return to the master, right? 』

Liu Zhu was silent for a while and sneered: "You still think... you really need us to fight?" Do you really not know, or..."

After Liu Zhu said this, he fell silent, obviously not wanting to continue talking.

The guard stared at Liu Zhu with wide eyes, realizing that he seemed to have overlooked something, and then he felt some cold sweat dripping down his back, and it was smooth and winding, like a small snake crawling across it.

"Liu...General Liu...what do you mean...ahem, what do you mean?" ” the hostess asked in a low voice.

Liu Zhu was silent.

The hostage was a little panicked. He felt that he had touched something that he had never thought of or understood before. He asked Liu Zhu in a panic, "General... what is the significance of this?" Please enlighten me..."

With that said, the hostage wanted to dismount and salute Liu Zhu.

Liu Zhu held the hostage, sighed, and asked in a low voice: "Commander Hu, are you...loyal to the great man?" 』

"This...this, what does this mean?" ” Hu Zhi was stunned, “Of course I...well, of course I am loyal to the big man!” 』

Liu Zhu obviously didn't have any thoughts about the tone of the confrontation, but said with a worried look: "Back then, when the Han Dynasty wanted to fight the Huns, they needed iron, so the people donated all the iron tools at home..."

"Well? ah? ” Hu Zhi was a little confused.

Later generations may think that the iron tools at home are nothing, but under the productivity conditions of the Han Dynasty, the draft horses and iron tools in ordinary people's homes were basically equivalent to very valuable means of production and living, roughly equivalent to the cars in later generations' families. .

In other words, the Han people at that time donated all their "cars" out of "patriotism".

"Further on," Liu Zhu said, "Later, when Guangwu fought against Liangyong, the people also asked for donations... At that time, the people also donated, but there were no horses, and only grain was left... I remember it was about three to five hu of dendrobium... 』

Hu Zhi hummed, seeming to understand something.

Three or five hu of dendrobium grains are basically nothing in the eyes of later generations. But in the Han Dynasty, three to five hu of dendrobium grains could basically feed a family for a month. If it was tighter, it might be enough for two or three months.

In other words, in order to express their patriotic feelings, during the Guangwu period in the early Eastern Han Dynasty, the value of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism was only three to five dendrobiums. When converted into money for later generations, it was probably around a few thousand to ten thousand, which is almost as much as a computer. Just a fruit machine.

Hu Zhi suddenly had some bad premonitions in his heart. He felt that Liu Zhu's words were not finished yet...

Sure enough, Liu Zhu raised his head, looked at the sky, and said slowly: "Now...it is said that in Yuzhou, people have begun to collect donations again...for the sake of the Han Dynasty, loyalty to the emperor and patriotism...the people really couldn't resist, so they just donated." A bowl of corn will do the trick..."

How much is a bowl of corn worth?

Probably like the price of a bottle of water in later generations.

"ah? This...is this true? ” Hu asked.

"hehe. Liu Zhu sneered twice, and then asked the hostage again, "How is it?" Governor Hu, now...are you loyal to the big man? 』

"This..." The hostage was not a fool. He understood the meaning behind Liu Zhu's somewhat incomprehensible questions.

What if "big man" is replaced by "prime minister"?

Hu Zhi was a little shuddering.

How many times can those who supported Cao Cao do so now?

Can the downgraded "loyalty to the emperor and patriotism" still be regarded as "loyalty to the emperor and patriotism"?

For a dynasty that claims to rule the world with "loyalty and filial piety", why do problems arise more and more the more it emphasizes "loyalty and filial piety" after three to four hundred years? Why is the value it contains and the pattern it embodies declining all the way?

The hostage did not dare to think too much, and even felt that Liu Zhu was very strange and scary, "General Liu, you... this..."

Liu Zhu glanced sideways at the hostage, "What is this?" Do you think you are really the warlord? The real "oversight" is behind us... Haha, yes, that is the real "oversight"... Now, do you want to stop? 』

"ah? ! ” The officer was shocked and turned pale. He turned around and looked around, his face turned pale, “This... General Liu, this, this, this...”

Liu Zhu exhaled a puff of white smoke into the sky, and then kicked the horse's belly.

The war horse kicked forward a few steps, putting a little distance between itself and the hostage.

No wonder Liu Zhu was in a bad mood and had a gloomy face all the way...

Now that the commander knew the true situation, his mood suddenly worsened. He stayed by the roadside for a long time, and when his confidants caught up, he asked in a low voice: "Warlord?" How about it? 』

"What? Oh, keep marching without rest..." Hu Zhi replied somewhat dullly.

"How...how can this be done?" Could it be that General Liu didn't even give the governor face? ” The confidant was still complaining about the injustice, “Isn’t he afraid that we will punish him severely when we return? 』

"ha! ” The guard suddenly grinned bitterly and said, “ Join him? Ha, let’s talk about it if we can go back alive..."

The confidant was stunned, and then his expression changed, "Overseer, what are you..."

The commander waved his hand, obviously not wanting to let certain news spread, otherwise the military's morale would really collapse, and no matter how many heads he had, he would not be able to bear this responsibility. Therefore, Hu Zhi changed the topic somewhat dryly, "I want to ask you something..."

The confidant nodded and said, "Overseer, please speak." 』

"Are you...are you loyal to the big man?" ” Hu Zhi looked at the dim sky and asked worriedly.

"ha? 』