The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

Cross the river from the Hengqiao outside the Suren Pavilion, travel ten miles, and then cross another river—this river is also one of the four rivers in the territory of Zhao, and after a few miles, it is Xiangguo County.レm♠思♥Road♣客レ

The five counties of Zhao State can be roughly divided into three parts.

One is Handan and Yiyang. These two counties are in the southeast of the border. There are no mountains or rivers between them. They are not far apart, only twenty or thirty miles apart. One is Zhongqiu and Bairen. These two counties are in the northeast of the border. There is no mountain or river between them, and they are not far from each other, only twenty or thirty li. The remaining piece is Xiang country. Xiang State is located between Yiyang and Zhongqiu counties, a hundred or ten li from Yiyang in the south, and fifty or sixty li from Zhongqiu in the north. The four rivers of Zhaojing are all in this area, and three rivers are between Xiang State and Yiyang. A river runs between Xiang and Zhongqiu.

For example, the five counties of Zhao State can be compared to a pole.

Handan and Yiyang, Zhongqiu and Bairen are at the two ends of the pole, and Xiangguo County is almost in the middle of the pole.

Among the five counties, Xun Zhen paid the most attention to the state of Xiang.

If we use another analogy, and compare Zhao State to a person, then Xiangguo County is the waist.

In the event of a war and the state of Xiang falls, it would be equivalent to cutting off a person. Once the waist is cut off, Handan and Yi Yang as leaders will not be able to echo with Zhongqiu and Bai people as legs and feet, and will inevitably fall into a passive position in the overall strategic situation.

As mentioned above, Xunzhen's trip to the county has three purposes: the main purpose is to prepare for the defense, the secondary purpose is to choose a target to take the initiative to attack, and another purpose is attached, that is, to find talented people and select and recruit them.

Shoujing did not say, Xunxian did not say, the target he planned to attack was initially set in Xiangguo County—this was also the opinion of Xi Zhicai and Xun You.

The previous attack on Zuo Xu was a coincidence. Zuo Xu sent someone to assassinate him before he took the opportunity to ambush him. Strictly speaking, it could not be regarded as an active attack.

The attack to be launched in Xiangguo County is the first active attack since his inauguration, and he attaches great importance to it.

Therefore, although the county seat was in sight, he also wanted to see the Yangzhou Maocai and Xiangguo Ling Yao Sheng earlier, but he was still unable to enter the county. I went to the hilly area in the west to inspect it, until I had seen all the landforms and people outside the county, and had a general understanding. In the evening, I came to the county with Handan Rong and others.

Entering the county, Handan Rong is currently leading the way, leading everyone to the county temple.

He and Yao Sheng are old acquaintances. He has visited Yao Sheng many times in the past two years. The halberds and officials guarding the gate of the county temple recognized him. He and Xun Zhen were asked to wait in the school and separate one from the others. Report to the county temple.

The autumn rain fell all night and day, and it did not turn smaller.

Because of the rain, the weather is cloudy, and today's twilight is darker than normal.

Xun Zhen stood at the entrance of the school with her hands behind her back, watching the streets in the middle of the county.

It was raining in autumn, and it was twilight again, and there were few people on the street. Xun Zhen pointed to a few people who passed by the gate of the county temple, and asked the guard guard: "Who are they?"

The few people who walked past were different from ordinary people. They were lined up in columns with neat steps, all with swords, like patrolling.

The official replied: "The west side of our county is full of hills and mountains. There are many thieves in the mountains, and they often invade the county. rì night patrol in the county."

"I see!" Xun Zhen paused and said, "The west side of Guixian County is indeed full of mountains. I was waiting to see the west side of the county on the way here. I saw the mountains and peaks stretched endlessly. I heard that the largest of these mountains is the Xishan?"

"Yes, Xishan stretches for hundreds of miles to the west, and goes directly to Taihang. Most of the thieves who intruded on our territory are hiding in this mountain."

Xishan is connected to Taihang in the west and extends to the west twenty or thirty li of Xiangguo County in the east. There are also mountains in the west of Handan and Yiyang, but they are nothing compared to the west of Xiangguo County. At least the two counties of Handan and Yiyang will not be twenty or thirty miles out of the city, but they are mountainous areas.

Xun Zhen nodded and said in her heart, "Before the winter, we must fight in Xiangguo County, but the mountainous areas in the west of Xiangguo County are far deeper and more complicated than those in the west of Handan and Yiyang. I have fought in mountain warfare, and if I fight hard, the casualties will not be small."

When he went to Handan to take office, he passed by Xishan, and today he went to take a closer look.

He turned his head to look inside the gate of the county temple and thought, "Handan Rong said that Yao Shengji is very intelligent and talented. He has been here for two years, and he doesn't know how much he knows about the thieves in the mountains and the situation of the mountains?"

He just wanted to see Yao Sheng, the "Yangzhou Maocai", but at this time, he hoped that Yao Sheng could help him.

The official who just went to the county temple to report it turned back, and behind him, a man in his thirties who was more than seven feet long stepped out with an umbrella.

This man was not wearing an official uniform, wearing a silk dress with black embroidery, a high crown on his head, leather shoes on his feet, a treasure belt in his waist, a sword on the left and a sword on the right.

He held an umbrella with his right hand and pressed the hilt of the sword with his left. His thumb was exposed in front of Xun Zhen and the others, and he wore a ring inlaid with emeralds. Under the deep twilight rain, the emeralds on the ring were watery and sparkling.

Xun Zhen is a know-it-all. He could tell at a glance that although the man's clothes and accessories were not luxurious, they were all very valuable. He thought to himself, "This must be Yao Sheng."

Handan Rong previously introduced that Yao Sheng's family is the crown family of Wu County, and most of the crown family are rich, and only rich families can afford to wear such exquisite clothing.

Handan Rong stood beside Xun Zhen and whispered to Xun Zhen, "This person is Yao Sheng." He stepped aside and went out of the school to meet him.

The gate of the county temple is more than ten steps away from the school. Yao Sheng strode over and laughed: "Gongzai, you are a rare visitor! It's been more than three months since the last time we parted! What do you think today? Are you up looking for me? Are you coming in the rain?"

"Because I haven't seen you for more than three months, I miss Brother Xian, my food is tasteless, and I can't sleep at night, so I came here in the rain."

"Haha, you master, you didn't say the truth, did you come because you missed me? I'm afraid there is something else!"

Yao Sheng meets Handan Rong.

Handan Rong did not bring rain gear. Yao Sheng tilted his umbrella to cover him from the rain. The two came to the front of the school hand in hand.

Yao Sheng looked at Xun Zhen, asked Handan Rong, and said, "This gentleman has an elegant appearance, a valiant inner connotation, and an extraordinary bearing, but I don't know who is the son of the right family name?"

Xun Zhen smiled and saluted ~www.wuxiaspot.com~ and said, "In Xia Ying yīn Xun Zhen, I met Yao Ling."

"Ying yīn... ah, I don't know if the lieutenant arrived, but Sheng couldn't meet him far away, so I'm rude."

Yao Sheng's reaction was quick, and he immediately thought of who Xun Zhen was. He quickly put away his smile, handed the umbrella to Handan Rong, and was about to put on his clothes and bow down.

Xun Zhen took a step forward, grabbed him, smiled and said, "I'm in Weifuxing County this time, I don't know that outsiders know..." Pointing to the ground, "The ground is wet and wet, Yao Ling doesn't need to bow."

Yao Sheng got up as ordered, glanced inside the school, and quickly swept over Xun You, Xuankang, and Dian Wei, and said, "The school is small and I have wronged you." He said to Xun Zhen, "Please enter the county. Temple."

He just called Xun Zhen "Lieutenant" just now, and after hearing Xun Zhen say, "This time it's Weifuxing County, no outsiders know about it", he immediately changed his name to Xun Zhen as "Jun".

Xun Zhen said in her heart, "The word 'intelligent' is well deserved." She smiled, "Please."

Yao Sheng led the way, and everyone entered the county temple.