The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

That night, Bo Cai was defeated.

First, the main force of the Yellow Turbans outside the east city wall, followed by the Yellow Turban battalions outside the west, south, and north walls. Crowded and fled all over the mountains and plains.

Xun Zhen led his troops to pursue and attacked until dawn before turning back to the city.

On the way back to the city, the corpses of the Yellow Turban soldiers were everywhere, piled up like mountains and bloodied in rivers. Especially in the outskirts of the city, the moat was dyed red, because too many corpses fell into the river, and the water did not flow, and there were more than a thousand corpses scattered inside and outside the river.

After a night of non-stop chasing and killing, even the Iron Man would be exhausted, not to mention Xun Zhen?

Since the Yellow Turbans surrounded the city, for six days and nights in a row, he hadn't made it to the top of the city. While directing the deployment and defense of the county guards, he also led the guests to raid the city several times, and his stamina had already been exhausted.

However, at this moment, although his body is very tired, his spirit is very excited.

He stationed his horse by the moat, and made way for his followers to go back to the city first.

When he left the city, a total of 1,500 people followed him. At this time, he triumphed. Although the casualties have not been counted, it is roughly estimated that the number of casualties should not be too many. The Yellow Turbans have no fighting strength at all. They can still rely on many people when attacking the city. There is no battle in the field. Moreover, they were defeated and fled last night. Except for a very few particularly brave ones, there is almost no defense against the pursuit. What threat does the army pose.

After being suffocated for six days and six nights, chasing and killing all night, all the "qier" of the defenders came along.

The officers and guests who crossed the river and returned to the city were all delighted.

The sun rises in the east, casting down thousands of golden rays. Bathed in the morning sun, they laughed loudly. Someone untied his armor and exposed his upper body to face the cold morning wind. Someone took out a ring-head knife, pointed at the blood on it, and boasted to his companions to show off his military exploits.

But when they passed in front of Xun Zhen, they all closed their mouths without exception, and invariably cast a respectful look.

Guarding the city for six days and six nights, everything Xun Zhen did was seen by them.

During these six difficult days, Xun Zhen was the one who hadn't stepped down to the city head. During these six difficult days, Xun Zhen was the one who led the crowd out of the city twice to go to danger and raid the enemy. During these six difficult days, it was Xun Zhen who turned the tide and led them to victory.

It can be said that without Xunzhen, Yangzhai City would have been captured long ago, and where would there be today's great victory?

I don't know who is the leader, and the thousands of athletes who are divided into several teams are crossing the river, raising their weapons high, cheering and shouting: "Kill the enemy and break the thief Cao Rong, Yingyin milk tiger Xun Zhenzhi! Kill the enemy and break the thief. Soldier Cao Rafter, Ying Yin milk tiger Xun Zhenzhi!"

Xu Zhong, Jiang Qin, Liu Deng and others stood at Xun Zhen's left and right. Hearing the cheers, they proudly puffed up their chests.

Xun Zhen has five flavors.

Riding on his horse, he greeted the cheers from the officers and guests. He smiled and looked at the distance.

Not far from the place where he was stationed, next to the moat, there were four or five corpses lying on the muddy ground. They were soldiers of the Yellow Turban Army. Looking into the distance along these corpses, there are more corpses of the Yellow Turban soldiers. He turned his head and looked inside the moat, where there were more corpses in Hanoi. To be precise, not more, but denser, so dense that there is almost no place for a foothold.

Good soldiers are not trained, but honed on the battlefield.

After a night of chasing and killing, each of these county officers and guests who left the city had several lives, or even dozens of lives in their hands. The more people you kill, the more courage you will have, and the less reverence you have for life. The governors and guests who crossed the pontoon bridge seemed to turn a blind eye to the densely packed dead bodies of the enemy troops on Hanoi. Xun Zhen saw with her own eyes that more than one person trampled over the corpses on horseback.

The Han and Han Dynasties were not far from ancient times, and they inherited the Qin system and paid the most attention to military merit. According to convention, those without military merit could not be appointed lords, and in the pre-Han period, those who were not lords could not be prime ministers. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty once promoted a cold man as prime minister. Because he had no military exploits and was not a "marquis", this man was even afraid. It can be seen that the Han people attach great importance to military merit. In the promotion of officials in the Han Dynasty, seniority was one aspect, and the most important thing was military merit.

In this battle, tens of thousands of "thieves' troops" were destroyed. When the imperial court imposes rewards and punishments in the future, the prefect of the county, as the prefect of a county, may be charged with the crime of sitting in a row, and it is difficult to avoid "stimulating the people's revolt" or "" The responsibility of oversight, but for ordinary county officers, the credit of the thief cannot escape no matter what, even if they cannot be "promoted" because of this, it is completely possible to get some rewards and upgrade a few ranks.

Not to mention the money, only the title.

Although the title of this dynasty is becoming less and less valuable, it can still be of some use. According to Xiaoli, when neighbors, friends, and relatives feast at a banquet, the seats are not only based on seniority and age, but also the position of honor and inferiority is determined according to the level of titles; At times, you can sell the title for some money, and if you accidentally violate the laws of the country, you can also use the title to offset the crime.

Therefore, for various reasons, the victorious county soldiers and soldiers were all elated.

"It's really a winner and a loser."

Witnessing the scene in front of me, one side is the victorious and joyful county soldier, and the other side is the yellow turban with corpses everywhere. Unconsciously sent out such emotion.

Great mountains and rivers, attracting countless heroes to bow down. Together with the Yellow Turbans, the world will change color from now on. Heroes and heroes are about to make their debut, fighting for their bravery and wisdom. Where will the world go from here? Before he came, he knew the direction of history, and finally the three families returned to Jin; but now that he has come and emerged in the first battle with the Yellow Turbans, will history change because of this?

County soldiers and guests flocked across the moat.

Xun Zhen drove the horse with the whip, and in the dust, blood, corpses, and the morning sunlight, surrounded by Xu Zhong, Jiang Qin, Liu Deng, and Gao Su, they returned to Yangzhai City.

…

Prefect Wen, Fei Chang, Xi Zhicai, Zhong Yao, Wang Lan, Guo Tu, Du You, Xun You and others greeted him in the city.

"Xun Rong has worked hard! Last night, in one night, tens of thousands of thieves were defeated, and in one fell swoop I was relieved of the six-day siege of Yangzhai, and it shook Yingchuan, and I really am the 'Tiger of Yingyin'."

Xun Zhen jumped off the horse, and even though he was wearing armor, he did not show the salute during the march, but bowed down in front of Prefect Wen, and said humbly: "Last night, the thief, the **** of Mingfu, who was sitting in the city, To make the people peaceful and the soldiers to have no worries, the second is to rely on Zhonggong Cao, Guo Jili, Zhicai and Gongda for their advice, and the third is to rely on the soldiers to use their lives, brave and fearless, and their virtuousness is only a pawn, how dare you take this credit!"

"I remember the first few times when the ruler of the government ascended the city, because Xun Rong was dressed in clothes and armor, he couldn't kneel and worship, but with the military salute, today the bandits won a great victory and led his troops to victory. Why did he kneel and worship instead?"

Xun Zhen didn't need to raise her head, she just listened to the voice and knew who the person who was speaking was Guo Tu.

He crouched on the ground and said respectfully: "The prefect, the county general, mounts the horse to control the army, and dismounts to control the people. Before the thief had not been broken, Zhen would be seen with the military salutation;

Wen Taishou is stubborn and a good person to take power. Because of Guo Tu, Fei Chang and other slanderers, he does not like Xun Zhen very much. It is a last resort. Xun Zhen knew this very well, so even though he broke the yellow turban and won a big victory, when facing him, not only did he not take credit and pride, but his attitude was even more humble.

"Before the thieves have not been broken, so I see them with the military salute; now the thieves have been broken, so I will bow down to worship" Yunyun, the meaning is very clear, he is saying to Prefect Wen: "My military power was given by you, and now it has been broken. Thief, if you want to take back your military power, please take it back."

When Prefect Wen heard his words, a slight smile appeared on his thin face. He took two steps forward and lifted him up with his own hands, saying, "I can't say 'the thieves have been broken' now. After all, there are tens of thousands of thieves. Although the siege of Yangzhai has been resolved today, I am afraid that these thieves will only be defeated for a while, and maybe they will regroup. Xun Qing, please hurry up, let's go back to the prefect's mansion and discuss what to do next."

When Xun Zhen heard this, a stone fell to the ground in her heart.

To be honest, he was afraid that Prefect Wen would "cross the river and demolish the bridge". As soon as the siege of Yangzhai was resolved, he immediately dismissed Cao Rong from his position as a soldier. Now there is a sentence "I am afraid that this thief will only be defeated for a while", it seems that At least until the "thief soldiers" in the county are completely wiped out, Prefect Wen will not relieve his military power and remove him from his post.

He is not greedy for the official position. He is an official of the Baishi District in the Cao Rong District. With such a rank in the county court, what is there to be greedy for? The main reason is that this position is too critical. It is equivalent to the county Sima of the border county. It is a military position and can hold military power. In normal times, it's nothing, but in times of war, it is very important. As long as he is still in this position, he has the power to command the soldiers of the whole county. -Although this "command" is under the command of the prefect.

Taking advantage of Prefect Wen's help, he stood up, took a step back, bowed and said, "Mingfu is wise and insightful. In the past few days fighting against thieves, the thief general Bocai of Zhenguan is quite resourceful, although he can't be regarded as knowledgeable. Military, but it is not comparable to ordinary bandits. Most bandit soldiers are followers of Yaodao, and their cohesion is far better than ordinary bandits. Today, the power of Lai Mingfu, princes, and soldiers has temporarily relieved the siege of Yangzhai. But Naihe was wrong because of Zhen's crime, so he failed to capture Po Cai, and he escaped at night.

Zhong Yao interrupted and said, "Last night the bandit army was defeated, tens of thousands of bandits fled, and Pocai mixed in. Zhenzhi had few soldiers and horses, so it's not a fault that he was told to flee for a while, but failed to catch him."

Prefect Wen was stubborn and stubborn, but he was not a faint-hearted person. He nodded and said, "Kong Cao Rong said very much. It's not your fault that you failed to catch Bo Cai."

He looked up and looked left and right.

They were standing not far from the city gate, and there were quite a few people surrounded by them, and many county soldiers and civilian husbands went out of the city in teams. These county officers and civilian husbands had not followed Xun Zhen out of the city to make a surprise attack before. The whole scene was a mess.

"This place is not a place to talk for a long time, let's go, let's go back to the house to discuss."

…

The group came to the prefect's mansion and entered the hall to discuss matters.

The first discussion is "the aftermath".

During the six days of **** battle, the Yellow Turbans suffered heavy losses, but the defenders also suffered many casualties. Zhong Yao's civilian husband also suffered quite a few casualties. These all require pensions. The healing that should be healed, the burial that should be buried, and the money that should be burned to the burner. Before the war, the prefect's mansion had promised a reward, a thief soldier's head, some money, and now he has won a big victory, and these rewards should be distributed.

For such various matters, the Cao Cao in the county court are responsible for their own responsibility, and they respectively designate the responsible persons, who will handle it separately.

Second, let’s discuss the next step.

When discussing the "aftermath", there was no disagreement among the people, and they could do what they should do.

Some people say that we should take advantage of the great victory last night, we should send elites out of the city, take advantage of the victory to pursue and attack, and take the initiative to find thieves and fight again.

Some people hold an objection, believing that defending the city for six days, the casualties of the county soldiers are not small, and the soldiers are tired, which is not conducive to fighting again. On the other hand, looking at the Yellow Turbans, although they suffered a great defeat, there are still tens of thousands of troops. , If you go out of the city alone, once you fall into the siege of thieves, I am afraid that not only will your previous achievements be lost, but even Yang Zhai will be in danger again. Instead, it is better to defend the city and wait for reinforcements from the imperial court.

Those who hold the former theory include Fei Chang, Du You and others, and those who hold the latter theory include Zhong Yao, Wang Lan and others.

Xun Zhen, Xun You, Xi Zhicai and Guo Tu did not comment.

Prefect Wen asked, "Xun Rong, the monarchs in the hall either said that they should pursue the victory while they were victorious, or that they should guard the city and wait for the soldiers of heaven. What do you think?"

Xun You had no official status and was Xun Zhen's junior, so he didn't have a seat in the hall. He knelt down behind Xun Zhen, looked over his head, and said to Xun Zhen in a low voice, "Zhenzhi, be careful!"

It may be strange to have to change someone else. What does Xun You mean by saying "be careful"?

Xun Zhen knew what he meant.

The reason is very simple. Prefect Wen is the prefect of a county. The people in the county are in chaos. He must be held responsible. Xun Zhen had repeatedly reminded him before that he should be careful about the way of peace, but he ignored it and was investigated by the court after the incident. He was certainly convicted not lightly, and maybe he would be sent to the capital and sent to prison by the imperial court. Therefore, in order to clear or alleviate his guilt, Prefect Wen definitely wanted to "take guilt and make merit", that is to say, it is very likely that he agreed with the opinions of Fei Chang, Du You and others, and supported "pursuing while winning".

Xun Zhen said in his heart, "If Gongda supports the pursuit of victory, he won't remind me to 'be careful'. In this way, he supports Gucheng's self-defense."

Now is it time to "pursue while winning" or "defend the city"? Xun Zhen also supported the latter.

The number of pawns in the county is small. If they divide their troops into the city, some will leave the city, and some will be left to defend the city. It is too dangerous, and they may be defeated by each.

Prefect Wen noticed Xun You's whisper, and asked, "What is Gongda talking about?" After a pause, he said, "Today's discussion does not discriminate between high and low, although Gongda is white, I have also heard of Gongda's wisdom for a long time. , what is your opinion, but it doesn't matter."

Xun Zhen nodded slightly and motioned Xun You to get up and answer.

Xun You stood up, lowered his sleeves, put his hands in front of his abdomen, and replied respectfully, "All the lords in the hall are heroes of our county, and you are from the rough countryside. If you say it, please don’t blame Mingfu, please don’t laugh at you.”

Xun You was young and lost his parents, and was raised by his grandfather and uncle. Originally, he was staying at a relative's house, but his grandfather was fine. His uncle Xun Qu was a prodigal drinker. When he was seven or eight years old, Xun Qu once got drunk and accidentally injured his ear. More sensitive, timid on the outside and brave on the inside. Facing Prefect Wen, his "respectful" attitude was even more "respectful" than Xun Zhen's.

Prefect Wen Fuxu said, "Please speak."

"In You's humble opinion, the most urgent thing at the moment is not to discuss whether our army should 'out of the city to pursue', but to send out a wide range of sentries, on the one hand to find out the movement of the thieves' defeated army, and on the other hand to inquire about the safety of the counties in the county. Our Yangzhai was surrounded by thieves for six days and six nights. What is the current situation of the seventeen counties in the whole county? How many counties have been captured by the thieves? How many counties have been preserved? We have no idea about this. : 'Know yourself and the enemy, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles'. Now that we neither know yourself nor the enemy, how can we be 'never lost in a hundred battles'?

Prefect Wen pondered for a moment and asked Xun Zhen, "What does Xun Rafter think?"

"The officials thought that Xun You's words were reasonable."

"What do you think?"

Guo Tu, who had not said a word for a long time, replied: "Using troops is important and valuable," the gentleman said: "If you are not prepared, you cannot divide." At present, the situation of the enemy and us is unknown. If you attack rashly, there may be unforeseen worries. What Xun You said is true, and the officials take it for granted." Having said that, he raised his eyes to look at Prefect Wen, and continued, "...and, dispatched When the sentry goes out of the city, in addition to inquiring about the whereabouts of the thieves and the safety of the counties, you can also go west to Luoyang. Last night, our army defeated the thieves, which was a great victory. This matter should be reported to the court as soon as possible. Let's see if the court's reinforcements have been dispatched."

Guo Tu was sitting diagonally across from Xun Zhen, Xun Zhen glanced at him and thought, no wonder he kept silent just now, it turned out that he also supported Gucheng Zishou.

Guo Tu is a smart person, Xun You and Xun Zhen can guess the mind of the Prefect Wen, and he must be able to, since he guessed that Prefect Wen intends to "perceive the crime and make up for the fault", and wants to "take advantage of the victory", of course he refused to sing the opposite. Therefore, he just kept his mouth shut until Xun You expressed his opinion, and then he echoed.

Among the people in the hall, there are people who don't understand military affairs, but none of them are stupid. Xun You, Xun Zhen, and Guo Tu made speeches one after another, explaining clearly why they couldn't "go out of the city to pursue and attack" now.

Prefect Wen closed his eyes for a while, then opened his eyes to look at the courtyard outside the hall.

At this time, it was almost noon, and the sun was bright, basking on the trees in the courtyard, and the young leaves were shiny and shiny. He picked up the tea bowl, put it to his mouth and wanted to drink, then stopped, and finally said unwillingly: "Since all the lords hold this opinion, just follow Gongda's words. UU Reading www.uukanshu.com"

Xun Zhen, Xun You, and Guo Tu guessed right. But Xun You and Guo Tu made a lot of sense. In the situation where the enemy and the enemy are unknown, it is very likely that they will suffer a defeat when they leave the city. Once he loses, he will turn a "big victory" into a "big defeat". At that time, I am afraid that he will not be able to go to Tingwei's prison, but will lose his head.

He put down the teacup and said to the master bookkeeper Wang Lan: "Wang Qing, you will write the good news to the court."

Wang Lan agreed.

"Xun Rong, you can take my commander's order and go to the camp to select brave and capable cavalry soldiers, and go out of the city to inquire about the news. .

Xun Zhen knew what he meant and knew that he was afraid of losing the good news, so he respectfully agreed.

Wang Lan's literary talent was good, so she could write the good news in a short time, and after showing it to Prefect Wen for reading, she handed it over to Xun Zhen.

Xun Zhen invited the general order of the tiger talisman, left the hall, and went to the camp in person. The prefect of Daiwen passed the order and ordered the camps to select the elite soldiers who were good at cavalry and archery. situation, and the west to Luoyang.

He specially instructed the county guards in the direction of Yingyin, so that they must find out whether Yingyin had fallen.

Earlier, when the city was besieged, he was worried about the safety of his family and wanted to send guests out of the city to Yingyin to inquire, but the Yellow Turbans were too strict to go out.

…

After arranging these things, he returned to the prefect's mansion to pay the order.

The council has not yet finished, the aftermath and enemy inspection have been discussed, and now the discussion is to "strengthen the city's defense".

What should we do if the Yellow Turbans attacked the city again and besieged the city again.

During the discussion, a small official rushed into the courtyard, knelt down under the hall, and said loudly, "Report to Mingfu, a military horse has come from outside the city."