Chapter 860

Cai Yan woke up in a daze. The physical discomfort made her spirit. Thinking of the novel and comfortable experience accompanied by pain last night, she couldn't help but blush again.

Without a maid to serve, she dressed herself sluggishly. Living in Liaodong for many years, she of course knew that there were no real maids or servants under General Wang Da's rule.

Previously, she lived with Old Cai, and the people in the family were all hired by Old Cai with money. When it was time for spring plowing and autumn harvest, they had to be sent back. It was just that Old Cai's salary was high, otherwise he couldn't support it.

The General's Mansion was the same. Everyone here was recruited from nearby, and the General's Mansion paid wages. Even the maids and servants brought by the women of the powerful clans who married into the family were all returned to their freedom, and they would get married when they reached the age. Of course, they still had to do things in the General's Mansion, which was considered the mother's family, and they took care of them quite intimately.

She didn't have a maid specifically to serve her. The little maid yesterday was recruited by the General's Mansion, specifically to help her do some chores, sweep the yard, wash clothes, etc. Eating and burning fire were not needed. The General's Mansion had its own small kitchen canteen. If you wanted to eat anything, just say it. Although you couldn't have big fish and meat, the conditions were quite good. And for burning fire and keeping warm, the General's Mansion had ground dragons, centralized heating, and it could be as warm as spring in winter.

Now under General Wang Da's rule, one can say that the folk customs are simple, everything is in good order, and it radiates vitality.

Dressed, Cai Yan frowned her beautiful eyebrows and walked out slowly.

The warm sun hanging high in the spring made people unable to open their eyes, and they didn't want to open them. The warm sun, which was not cruel, shone on the body, warm and comfortable. The spring breeze at noon, which was not biting, gave people spiritual coolness. The natural atmosphere of the wilderness carried by the spring breeze made people intoxicated. It was exactly the time when the wind and sun were sunny and people's intentions were good, and the spring breeze was ten miles of tenderness.

Such natural joy, how can people not linger.

Intoxicated for a while, she put her plain hand on her eyebrows to adapt to the light outside. She saw Cai Li sitting on the stone bench in the yard, kicking her legs back and forth, blinking her big eyes at her.

"Sister, how do you feel?"

Cai Li's big eyes were full of exploration and curiosity.

"You will know later. Hurry up and find me some food, go, go." Cai Yan blushed and asked her sister to find food for her, but she sat on the stone bench, supported her chin with her hand, and looked at the green mountains in the distance with a blurred look...

As for Bingzhou, Wang Yan was actually not very anxious. Because only he knew that the chaotic situation hadn't come yet.

No matter what the situation in Bingzhou was now, there would definitely be changes later, because Dong Zhuo wouldn't live past this year. It was just early spring now. No matter who it was, it would take some time to mobilize troops to Bingzhou. And during this time, Dong Zhuo would be gone.

After all, it was early March now. Dong Zhuo would be gone in April or May. All parties were arranging troops, thinking about strategies, and before they arrived, or before the war started after they arrived, Dong Zhuo was killed by Lu Bu.

At that time, the program was that Li Jue, Guo Si, etc., under Jia Xu's instigation, turned from fleeing in panic to gathering Dong Zhuo's remnants, beating away Lu Bu, occupying Luoyang, holding Liu Xie, living the hidden life of a powerful minister, and even wanting to kill Liu Xie.

At that time, the situation in Bingzhou would definitely be different. The current layout had no influence on the situation in Bingzhou later.

Guo Jia was not discouraged after being hit by the General. The defenders of Pingcheng didn't hold out through the winter and surrendered. Without these ten thousand enemy troops, Yanmen was within easy reach.

After the army cleared Yanmen, Guo Jia took office and became the well-deserved Administrator of Yanmen. While coordinating various matters, transporting various tools, seeds, and grain from Youzhou, and preparing for the spring plowing plan, he didn't forget to fight.

He didn't want to be a civil official, didn't want to have a headache all day long with various data and various messy things. He liked the feeling of planning strategies.

So after arranging the defense and scattering the scouts, he sent Zhao Yun to lead the Shenwu Guards to attack Yanmen Pass. Of course, it was not a strong attack, but to see if there was a possibility of taking it by trickery.

Yanmen Pass was undoubtedly a key dangerous pass. Li Mu guarded the pass here to defend against the Xiongnu outside the pass. Meng Tian led three hundred thousand troops to go out of the pass here to drive away the Xiongnu. The First Emperor also built the Great Wall. This place was an important node. Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, and Li Guang all attacked the Xiongnu from here. The famous Zhaojun going out of the fortress, the fortress she went out of was this one.

This place was a mountain valley. The Great Wall was built around the mountain trend. It was truly easy to defend and difficult to attack. Only a very small number of troops could block a multiple of the large army.

Zhao Yun led the team and stopped his horse in front of the pass. Seeing the steep mountain trend on both sides, seeing the majestic pass in front, seeing the shadows on the city wall, seeing that this pass was difficult to break by force and difficult to break in a hurry.

He let the soldiers under his command shout for surrender, and watching the random arrows coming down from the wall, Zhao Yun was not angry.

He knew very well that the failure to surrender was because of the confidence that came from relying on the dangerous pass. There were only over a thousand defenders. If it were a field battle on the plain, these people wouldn't even be able to hold their weapons steadily. Hiding in the city like a turtle, on the contrary, added a bit of courage.

Unable to break the pass, he was not in a hurry. He scattered the scouts to find a route over the mountain. After finding nothing, he left two thousand five hundred troops to block here, and he led the army to withdraw. He also sent the situation clearly to Guo Jia first.

Guo Jia read Zhao Yun's letter. This was something he could think of with his feet. However, everything is afraid of "what if," so he let Zhao Yun lead the army to see. If there was a chance, it would be better; if there was no chance, it didn't matter.

In fact, if it were another boss, he wouldn't need his advice, and he would order Zhao Yun to attack Yanmen Pass strongly. Although Yanmen was a dangerous pass, it wasn't impossible to take it. It was nothing more than a matter of how many soldiers' lives were sacrificed. But his boss was Wang Yan, and the most common sentence was: preserve effective strength, don't attack the city if unnecessary.

No way, the city defense battles in ancient times were too tragic. Every city taken was filled with the corpses of soldiers in the moat.

Still the same sentence, Wang Yan's troops were not in a hurry. He didn't have enough grain to support the expenses of the common people and the army, and he didn't have enough officials to govern the land he took. How big your butt is, wear how big pants; this sentence is the truth.

So just like Zhao Yun surrounding Pingcheng before, that was the correct way of city defense battle. Guard the four gates, cut off the supply route, make the enemy collapse on their own, and nothing would be delayed. This is the right path.

After thinking carefully, Guo Jia believed that it was better to control Yanmen Pass in his own hands early. So he picked up his pen and wrote a letter that could be considered a memorial, and handed it to the communication soldier to send to the General's Mansion in Jizhou.

Ten days later, Wang Yan saw Guo Jia's letter.

The meaning of the letter was very simple. He stated the importance of Yanmen Pass and gave a suggestion, which was to draw a part of the troops, go out from Zijing Pass, cross the mountains there, block Yanmen Pass from the south, first cut off the supply of Yanmen Pass, and second block the enemy's reinforcements. In this way, he could go south to Yanmen Pass in at most two or three months and grasp the initiative to the Central Plains.

Wang Yan of course had thought of this strategy long ago, but it was just waiting to be executed. After all, Yanmen Pass was there, and it couldn't run away. The reason why there was no action last winter was because the mountain roads were not easy to walk in winter. Although there were cotton clothes to keep warm, it was still cold, and there was no need to suffer that crime.

Another reason was that they crossed the mountains and ridges to block Yanmen Pass in the south, but they also belonged to an isolated army, and the logistics were pulled too long, and the supplies couldn't keep up.

If Yuan Shao had the guts and was ruthless, he could also make a heroic move of crossing Mount Taixing, which could cut off the rear of the isolated army. Wouldn't the people he sent over be wrapped in dumplings?

However, Yuan Shao had already begun to have plans but no decision. He definitely didn't have the guts to do this kind of thing. The main reason was still the weather. It was really impossible to cross the mountains and attack from afar in winter.

But the time was just right now. After tossing around for such a circle, the spring plowing was half done, and Dong Zhuo was about to be killed by his good son. The situation was changing drastically, and it was just the right time.

Thinking of this, General Wang Da ordered: "One thousand troops from each of the Guangwu, Xuanwu, and Weiwei Guards, three thousand militia recruited from Youzhou, led by Taishi Ci, go through Zijing Pass, cross the mountains to surround Yanmen Pass. The Guangwu Guard will be concurrently led by Huang Zhong for the time being. In addition, mobilize eight thousand militia from Youzhou to act as a grain transport team, transport grain and grass, and roughly repair the road along the way, without disturbing the common people."

"Yes, General." The personal guards below immediately ran out to pass the order.

For moving troops, one minute early is good.

Wang Yan shook his head with amusement, but didn't say anything. After all, he also recruited militia at the same time. These militia were in all parts of Youzhou, and it would take some time to gather them. In this case, that minute early was of no use.

Of course, Taishi Ci had to set off first. By the time he led people to the place, the grain transport team hadn't even walked half the way.

Choosing Taishi Ci also had a reason. Zhou Cang was steady but his combat effectiveness was relatively poor. Huang Zhong was fierce and could fight but was an old general and had children. Huang Zhong was the least suitable for leading troops on a long expedition; he was most suitable for hard battles at short distances. Taishi Ci had no problems. Relatively speaking, he was younger and had stronger combat effectiveness. He, Zhao Yun, and Liao Hua were all fierce generals suitable for being sent out to fight.

He also wrote a reply to Guo Jia, explaining his arrangements, and urged Guo Jia to do the work of Yanmen steadily, letting the waiting communication soldier send it back, and then continued to do his own things.

In fact, he had nothing to do. Although all kinds of messy things in his rule had to come to him, the system had been established, the foundation had been laid, and everything was developing in an orderly manner.

He only needed to grasp the general direction, grasp the ideological construction of the civil and military officials under his rule, and handle various internal contradictions. The rest didn't need him to do anything.

To this day, he didn't do anything, and the population under his rule would increase exponentially. Young people with knowledge and ideals, who had been shallowly brainwashed at the same time, would increase. Craftsmen's inventions would increase, various cultures collided by ideas would increase, the combat effectiveness of the army would increase, and even the grain production, under the continuous improvement and cultivation of agricultural doctors, would be stronger year by year.

With these, this world should be his. He didn't even need to use too much brain. When there were more capable people under his command, he would handle those feudal lords. Fighting for the world is just that simple.

He wandered around, riding a horse with his three-year-old eldest son, taking advantage of the late spring, enjoying the good scenery of late spring. His deep gaze looked to the south, where the direction of Chang'an was.

General Wang Da laughed: "Old Dong, are you okay?"

Dong Zhuo was of course very good, although some small episodes had occurred in the past few months. For example, his good son Lu Bu was thinking about his newly taken favorite concubine, and even tried to force her in the Phoenix Pavilion, which made him very unhappy. If it weren't for Lu Bu's unparalleled combat power and usefulness, he would have killed him long ago.

The good son-in-law Li Ru was also the same. He gave him an idea to send Diaochan to Lu Bu. He also told a bullshit story, saying that in the past, Duke Zhuang of Chu had a banquet to cut off the tassels, did not investigate the Jiang Xiong who teased the favorite concubine, and was later trapped by the Qin army and got his life-saving help. He used this to persuade him to send Diaochan out.

He was of course moved. To tell the truth, it was just a woman. After playing for half a year, although he hadn't had enough, it was no big deal. He didn't lack women. But after talking to Diaochan, in a few words, he felt it was inappropriate. He was the Prime Minister of the Great Han, and he had done the big thing of deposing the emperor, and he was only one step away from ascending the throne as emperor. Lu Bu, a brave and reckless man, actually tried to touch his forbidden object, which was really hateful.

However, there were indeed many places to rely on Lu Bu. After a few days, he figured it out himself.

Except for this matter, everything else was good and very smooth. Beauty in his arms, singing and dancing every night. The little emperor was sensible, and the court officials were more obedient. Especially recently, Wang Yun actually said that the officials had unified their opinions and wanted to offer him the throne, which was really great.

Dong Zhuo was so happy that he was going crazy. To tell the truth, he hadn't even thought that he, Old Dong, could have this day of being an emperor.

So after a "fasting and bathing" of external statements, and seven days of cleaning with big fish and meat, he wore a black crown suit, rode a huge carriage with eight white horses, led three thousand troops, and rushed from Mei Wu to Chang'an, rushing to his imperial throne.

Two hundred and fifty miles, eighty miles a day, walked for three days, and stayed outside Chang'an City for one night. On the fourth day, the city gate of Chang'an opened wide, and the civil and military officials came to welcome him. After being fooled by Wang Yun, he only brought five hundred soldiers into the city.

Arriving in the city, seeing the high platform for enthronement, Dong Zhuo broke away from the protection of his subordinates and climbed the platform step by step.

Just as he reached the top, before he could continue to be happy, the situation changed suddenly. The Wang Yun and others who were laughing and holding him were all full of murderous intent, calling him a Dong thief, saying he was rebellious.

Dong Zhuo shouted in a panic: "Where is my son Fengxian?"

He called several times, but saw a tall, fierce man wearing protective armor and holding a painted halberd flash out on the high platform: "Old thief, I have nothing to do with you. Today, the imperial edict is in hand, and I am ordered to punish the thief. Old thief, how dare you take my concubine, take your life."

After the words fell, with a loud shout, he saw him cut horizontally with his halberd. In an instant, Dong Zhuo's head jumped high, and with a slap, it rolled down the stairs. The headless corpse sprayed blood for a while and fell softly to the ground.

The court officials looked at each other, all laughing out loud, very happy.

Lu Bu stood with his halberd, looking at Dong Zhuo's headless corpse, also laughing out loud, his spirit flying.

Reminiscing about the year, he knelt under the tent, "I have been drifting for half a life, only hating not meeting a wise master. If you don't abandon me, I am willing to worship you as a foster father," at that time, how aggrieved he was. Yes, he thinks it's aggrieved now.

He is a great man, how can he recognize a thief as a father?

It should be like a while ago, when he said in a secret meeting with Wang Yun, "A great man is born between heaven and earth, how can he be depressed and live under others for a long time," that is the real great man.

Thinking of this, Lu Bu laughed even more wantonly. His ambition was expressed today, and he had infinite pride in his heart. Happy, happy...