Three Kingdoms

Near Pingyang, although the climate is still icy and snowy, several military strongholds have begun to be built. The nearest one is the military stronghold adjacent to Huang's workshop area. A large group of soldiers, farmers and slaves are busy taking advantage of the slack period. I'm rushing to meet the construction deadline.

In this era, there is no such thing as piling to strengthen the foundation. Generally speaking, the ground is leveled and compacted, then a strip of stone is added as the foundation, the earth is built to surround the wall, and finally green bricks are laid and glued together, and the Junzhaiwu Fortress is completed. A class of peripheral construction.

It turns out that as a defense system in the Pingyang area, in addition to relying on the original small town of Pingyang, there is basically only a training camp in the mountainous area northwest of the city, and the rest is basically gone.

As an ordinary town, this kind of defense system is basically enough. But for an increasingly developing economic city with an increasingly large population and a gradually gathering population, the only second-ring city wall still cannot cover all the areas that need to be protected. Moreover, the strategy of defending according to the city still caused too much damage to the economic facilities outside the city. Therefore, considering several aspects, Fei Qian finally decided to expand Pingyang's defense system to cover the surrounding areas.

If it were an ordinary county, as a county governor, if he wanted to carry out such a large-scale project, he would definitely have to communicate with the local nobles and then gather various materials and manpower before starting construction. But this is in Bingbei. It is on Fei Qian's entrusted territory. Fei Qian's will is everything here. In addition, the merchants traveling to and from Pingyang also hope that Pingyang will always be prosperous and stable. Therefore, there is almost no objection to the construction of these military forts. Opinion.

The only ones who have some opinions are the Confucian disciples who preach all day long about the need to recuperate and recuperate, to encourage farming and mulberry cultivation, and to return gifts to the people.

The refugees from Jizhou and Youzhou accelerated the overall construction speed. If they were left alone, they would be a group of rabble-rousers who would cause trouble in the place. However, as long as soldiers were added to restrain them, these refugees would soon be united and sell their strength. Not only did he get his daily rations in order, he even felt grateful to Zheng Xifei Qian.

Not arresting young men, not plundering women and children, but giving them some work and food to eat is already a great kindness to these refugees. In addition, the soldiers of the organization also said that in the future, some acres of land may be allocated according to the number of people. Farming is simply what they dream of, how can they not be overjoyed?

A group of soldiers passed through such a busy construction site. The first cavalryman held a flag high and wrote a big letter with the word "LV". It was Wei Xu sent by Lu Bu who had arrived.

Except for two or three cavalry from the Western Expedition Army who were leading the front with banners, most of the rest were Bingzhou veterans who followed Lu Bu south. At this moment, in this windy and snowy weather, they seemed to be used to this. Cold, instead of shrinking his neck, he looked around with interest. For people like Wei Xu, the strength of the army and horses of General Zhengxi is really a behemoth in this corner of Bingzhou. Such military strongholds were built as soon as they were built. Just look at the patrolling soldiers. After putting on the armor and equipment, he lowered his head to look at what he was wearing and holding, and then looked at Wei Xu's face. The original excitement of seeing the prosperous Jingxiang seemed to be gradually fading away.

In addition to the sound of soldiers marching slowly on the snow, apart from the sound of rustling, there were gradually fewer people talking in the queue, including the commander Wei Xu, who always had a gloomy face.

In the past, Wei Xu was always very careless. When we were marching together, he would always be indifferent. He and his soldiers would curse God loudly on horseback, curse the weather, curse the enemy, and even curse the superior officer. He is also a commander who has no airs at all. Although he seems a bit rough, he is more accepted by ordinary soldiers. After all, he feels closer to him.

During the march in the past, we would have cursed, laughed, and even booed along with Wei Xu, no matter how difficult the road was. However, after setting off from Linfen today, the closer we got to Pingyang, the uglier Wei Xu's face became. His face was as sullen as if he had been frozen by the wind and frost.

The ordinary soldiers did not try to figure out Wei Xu's thoughts. When most of them saw the red outer wall of Pingyang, they couldn't care less about Wei Xu's emotions and couldn't help but let out a cheer!

It's freezing cold, what could be better than getting to the field, warming yourself up by the fire, drinking a bowl of hot soup, then getting into bed and sleeping in the dark, like a god!

Wei Xu couldn't help but raise his head. Even though he was slightly unhappy, after seeing Pingyang City with his own eyes, he still couldn't help but take a deep breath and then spit it out!

Envoys often do not represent themselves personally, but represent the forces behind them. If Wei Xu came to see Zhengxi alone, he would not dare to have any extravagant expectations that Zhengxi would send someone to greet him. But at the moment, he represents Lu Bu. Isn't this tantamount to losing the face of Marquis Wen?

The city in front of him was not majestic, but the word "prosperity" seemed to pop out of his heart and hit him on the forehead, making Wei Xu feel a little dazed. The unhappiness in his heart that no one had come to greet him, Unconsciously, it also shrunk.

"General Wei! Zaozhang has been waiting outside the city to welcome you!" Although Wei Xu was just a partial general with a low-profile reputation, no one cared about it. At least it sounded nice to be called a general, right?

Wei Xu was startled, and looked in the direction pointed by the leader of the Zhengxi Cavalry. An official dressed as a scribe, wearing a black cloak, was standing outside the city gate with some people. He saw the man Wei Xu threw at him. He looked at him, smiled slightly, cupped his hands, and slowly led the person forward to greet him.

Wei Xu pondered for a moment, suppressed a murmur in his throat, lowered his head, dismounted from his horse, and walked towards Zao Zhi. The rest of Lu Bu's soldiers who followed Wei Xu also dismounted from their horses and lined up on the side of the road.

"Your Majesty is busy with affairs and is unable to greet you in person. Please come here. I hope the General will forgive you." Zaozhi walked up to Wei Xu, raised his hands to see the ceremony, and said with a smile, "The General has come from afar, Your Majesty." The Marquis is very happy and has arranged a place to stay in the city for the general to rest and relax. If there is anything you need, just ask."

Reaching out to avoid hitting the smiling man, Wei Xu quickly returned the gesture and said, "Don't you dare, thank you Zao for doing it."

The two of them gave in to each other, and then walked side by side into the city.

Wei Xu's soldiers also followed Wei Xu and walked into the city together. As soon as they passed the city gate, they couldn't help but make chirping sounds, such as "wow", "look at this", "over there" and other words. He kept jumping out, causing Wei Xu's cheeks to twitch.

Unlike most counties, the city of Pingyang was restored and rebuilt under the planning of Fei Qian. In addition, there are health management regulations that other counties and counties do not have. Therefore, Pingyang City, which has many plans from later generations, looks particularly neat. , even compared to Kyoto, it is much stronger.

Think about it, even in Kyoto, where I was preached to the heavens by later generations, there were still mules and horses gathered together, dirt roads were yellow and sandy, beggars and garbage were mixed together, not to mention that feces and urine were everywhere in the corners and alleys. What good taste could it have?

But in Pingyang, it seems so clean and tidy, even for ordinary people coming and going. This is due to the fact that people in Binh Duong have the habit of bathing.

After experiencing a baptism of plague, the temporary lime water bathing pool dug out in the suburbs was not only not filled in, but was instead filled with stone slabs and repaired into a large, serious pool. In this era, plague is an extremely terrifying thing. Ordinary people in Pingyang suddenly feel that such a pool mixed with lime water can reduce the threat of plague. Can it also prevent other diseases?

Taking a bath in this special water can cure diseases. When this rumor spread, Fei Qian was a little bit dumbfounded. However, from a certain perspective, improving personal hygiene can indeed reduce bacterial hotbeds and reduce the possibility of illness. Therefore, Fei Qian had to ask Zhang Yun to prepare a new formula for adding lime to the pool to reduce the amount of limestone. , adding charcoal fine powder, etc. Otherwise, before the plague breaks out, a large area of ​​skin may have been corroded by the disease...

Wei Xu stepped on the stone slabs under his feet a little harder, and then looked around. Such gray-white stone slabs extended from his feet to the distance, which was obviously the case in all streets. There are newly built wooden and brick lofts on both sides of the street. They are basically all kinds of shops. Most of them are two or three floors, and there are a few four or five floors. Each house has long and various shops. The sign came out and swayed in mid-air.

People walking on the street also had calm and happy expressions. When they saw the soldiers marching, they did not hide away and continued to go about their business openly.

Wei Xu knew that this was rare. This shows that here in Zhengxi, soldiers are soldiers, unlike other places where soldiers also work part-time in other professions...

From time to time, shopkeepers in shops, scribes passing by, and even some elderly farmers stopped and bowed their hands in greeting after seeing Zaozhi, which made Wei Xu feel a little proud. It feels like the young murmurings about seeing Zao Zhi have long been forgotten.

"General Zhengxi..." Wei Xu sighed softly, "It's really amazing..." The slight unhappiness he had felt before seemed to have been worn away for some reason at this moment. Zhengxi is indeed strong and has the right to be proud.

Unconsciously, Zao Zhi stopped in front of a small courtyard and said with a smile: "General Wei, here we are. This is General Wei's temporary residence for rest. But if you need it, just ask General Wei." , I still have official duties to attend to, so I will take my leave first, hoping that General Wei will show his respect."

After Zao Zhi finished speaking, he called the steward here again, explained some matters face to face, and then left.

Wei Xu knew that it was impossible to meet him on the same day if he came here, and it was not an urgent military matter. Of course, it would depend on the schedule of General Fei Qian of the Expedition to the West, so he had no objection. After seeing off Zao Zhi, he asked the steward to take care of him. He began to send soldiers into the hospital for placement. Although Wei Xu has a lot of soldiers, the big ones don't ask for single rooms with big beds or anything like that. Having a hot and hot Datongbu can make these soldiers feel so comfortable that they will cry like butterflies.

Wei Xudao did not take a rest immediately. Instead, after taking off his armor, he put on casual clothes and took two guards with him. He walked around the yard, checked it, and had a certain idea before returning. In front of the courtyard, before entering the house, I heard footsteps coming from outside the courtyard. Then the steward of the small courtyard came over, raised his hands and said, "General Wei, guests from the east courtyard of the post house are here to visit."

"East courtyard of the post house?" Wei Xu raised his eyebrows and said, "Who is it?"

"It is said that it is Minister Yang..." said the steward of the small courtyard.

"Yang?!" Wei Xu's eyes bulged, "But Hongnong Yang? What is he doing here?" There is no more Yang family in the world than Hongnong Yang, so when Wei Xu heard that the surname was Yang, he thought of Hongnong. Yang's.

The steward of the small courtyard said with some embarrassment: "This... villain is just a small steward. This... villain is unknown... If it is not convenient for the general to see him, the villain will go back..." The steward was just an ordinary petty official. He had no idea what was going on between Heluo and Luo, let alone the conflict between Lu Bu and Yang Biao. Seeing that Wei Xu was not feeling well, he subconsciously began to shirk things.

"Hmph!" Wei Xu strode forward, "I'm going to have a meeting for a while! Look how majestic the Hongnong Yang family is!"

In front of the hospital, Yang Xiu stood with his hands in his sleeves, with a slight smile on his face. He really didn't know who Lu Bu was coming. He just heard that another group of envoys had arrived, so he took the initiative to take a look and pay a visit. After all, Yang His name is pretty good, so I'm sure he can have some connections, right?

Yang Biao was in a worrying situation, and in addition, Shaanjin and Shaanxian were captured by Zhengxi. It was like a thorn stuck in Hongnong's back, which was painful and difficult to deal with.

If we fight, we will definitely be unable to win for the time being, so we can only seek peace.

Yang Xiu came in person, which was to express his sincerity, but he didn't expect that only two or three days later, many messengers came one after another...

The envoy of Pingdong General Cao Cao!

The envoy of General Yuan Shao!

Didn't we all agree to come here to celebrate the New Year?

Yang Xiu could only try to remain calm and try his best to find out the purpose of these people's coming and whether they had anything to do with the Yang family...

Before Yang Xiu could find out anything, he heard that a new group of envoys had arrived, so he came to say hello and see what was going on. As a result, a military man with a beard and a round waist rushed out, wearing wrinkled clothes. A battle robe with a strong, sour smell came to his eyes. He opened his bearded mouth, and saliva spurted out from between the yellow and black teeth: "Younger of the Yang family, you are here. What's this?"

Wei Xu stared at the fair young man in front of him with some disdain, looking at the way he was incense-smeared and powdered, looking at his thin skin and tender flesh, looking at his thin arms and legs, and thought to himself that this is it With such a big body, I can hit ten of them, so I yelled unceremoniously.

No matter how well-educated Yang Xiu was, he was a little embarrassed at this moment. He slowly stopped smiling and stared at the rude soldier in front of him. He regretted not waiting to find out more about it before coming over, but it was useless to think about it now. He just said: " Who are you?"

"This is the ever-victorious general Wei Zhichang under the command of Marquis Wen!" Wei Xu shouted while glaring at Yang Xiu, spittle flying everywhere. Wei Xu swallowed the word "bias" when referring to his official title. Anyway, in front of outsiders, at least in front of the Yang family, he couldn't lose the momentum of Marquis Wen!

"Marquis Wen?!" Yang Xiu couldn't help but be stunned.

Suddenly, an indescribable atmosphere spread between the two people...