Three Kingdoms

Longyou.

"Look! The flag of General Zhengxi!" In Tianshui, Longyou's temporary headquarters, several defenders suddenly pointed to the flag appearing on the horizon in the distance and shouted loudly. .

"That's right! It's the three-color flag of Zhengxi! Quick, report it to the captain!"

Jiang Ji was on duty at the top of the city that day. When he heard the sound, he immediately ran out of the gatehouse, then looked up at the battlements, laughed twice, and said: "Come here! Send a message to the chief history!" Let’s just say that Lu Bu and Lu Feng came first! Hehe, I just received the message two days ago and it arrived today. It seems that Lu Fengxian’s pace is not slow... that’s good! Fight these thieves earlier and let the surrounding people get there earlier. Guys, please calm down!"

Jiang Ji couldn't help but laugh as he said: "Last time Gongming went there, it's my turn this time! Well, I still need to find Chang Shi to confirm, but I can't let him out again!" After that, He immediately turned around and left, calling his guards as he walked, "Go and prepare all of so-and-so's armor and swords! If anything is missing by then, be careful with your skin!"

"Don't worry! We wipe it three times a day, and we're just looking forward to this day! It's indispensable!" Guard Jiang Jiong was also happy and shouted back. Under the Zhengxi rule, the rewards for military attacks were extremely generous. In addition, neither Pang Tong, Jia Xu, nor Li Ru would eat the blood of soldiers. Therefore, these fighting men were really happy to hear the soldiers, and even sent out a trip. You can make money that only ordinary people can make in a year, so how can you keep these people from being tempted?

Jiang Jiong was not a very law-abiding person to begin with. Of course, in a place like Longyou where Hu Feng was more prevalent, being law-abiding almost meant being honest and easy to bully. Since he joined General Zhengxi, Jiang Ji has also become an official from a horse farm manager. However, Jiang Ji is still not satisfied with just working in Tianshui. He also longs for a higher level and a broader world. , and these naturally require the accumulation of military merit on the battlefield, so it is no wonder that Jiang Ji behaved like this.

Some time ago, Xu Huang returned home defeated. Although it could not be said that he was defeated, he was still disgraced. He kept whispering to Jiang Jiuquan that he wanted to avenge Bai Que, but Jiang Jiuquan pretended not to hear him. It's okay to avenge Bai Que, but you don't have to go to Xu Huang, you can go by yourself!

Besides, Xu Huang has already gone out once, so there is no reason to do it again and again! This time I must go by myself!

Although it is said that Marquis Wen Lü Bu and Lü Fengxian were in charge of the army and were responsible for the suppression of horse thieves in the west of Hexi, Jiang Ji did not intend to compete with Lü Bu for power. As long as he fought for a chance to fight, it was not expected to be a big problem.

Fei Qian, the general who conquered the West, also gave Lu Bu no less soldiers. He gave Lu Bu a thousand cavalry and also gave Lu Bu the position of false protector of the Western Regions. It can be said that as long as Lu Bu is willing, he will leave the Longyou area and conquer the Western Regions. On this territory, Lu Bu has the final say. It's just that, at this moment, Lu Bu is not aware of it yet...

The soldiers of Tianshui County on the top of the city watched Jiang Ji quickly run down the city wall, and watched the flag of the expedition to the west gradually approaching in the distance. On the horizon, a group of dark cavalry appeared, wearing helmets and armor. , a murderous aura rushed towards him, and he couldn't help but breathe faster. The battle flags were fluttering, and the red tassels on the helmets and spears were scattered in an orderly manner. Clusters surged and jumped like waves of blood. At a glance, it was clear that these were elite veterans on the battlefield, not those who worked together. Hu Qi was recruited by Minato.

"Tsk tsk... It's so majestic..." Tianshui County soldiers couldn't help but admire, "If only I could be like them..."

"Come on! You didn't even know where to get on your horse, and you still want to be a cavalry person?"

"These should be the elite of General Zhengxi, right? These weapons, oh! Look! The ones in front are still holding horse spears! There are also long halberds! Tsk tsk..."

The appearance of a gun and a spear is almost the same, but the price is more than a hundred times more expensive!

Moreover, horse spears are often very expensive, mainly because the production time of horse spears is too long. Not only is the fine steel material of the horse spear head expensive, but even the long pole of the horse spear is not an ordinary wooden pole, but is made of tangerine wood used for bows. The trunk, which is both hard and tough, is first cut into thin slices and soaked in oil for at least a year. Then it is completely air-dried in a shaded place and then re-glued into a rod with glue paint.

This is the first step of completion. Next, you need to wrap a very thin hemp rope around it and then apply glue. After the hemp rope and glue are dry, apply raw lacquer, wrap it in Gebu, and then dry it in the shade.

After one layer of drying in the shade, wrap it with another layer of cloth and paint it again, repeating this process until you cut it with a knife and the stem makes a metallic sound but does not crack. Only then is it qualified and officially completed.

The spear made in this way is not only soft and elastic, but also relatively light. A long spear of two feet is about the same weight as a spear of seven or eight feet, which is convenient for the cavalry to charge into the formation with one hand. At the same time, the strong elasticity of the pole ensures that the horse can The spear can be bent after stabbing the target to buffer and release the momentum generated by high-speed impact without damaging the wrists and arms of the horse-wielding cavalryman.

However, such high-quality horse warfare weapons are extremely hard to come by. Not to mention how much a spear costs, the production process and time determine that the horse spear is a weapon of the military aristocracy! It is not something that ordinary soldiers can equip. And it's not a real skill that has been honed since childhood. It can't be used by any civilian husband after a few months of training. It's better to just find a cheap spear that can be thrown away after use.

The same is true for the halberd. Although the wooden pole of the halberd is not as complicated as the mashan, but because the center of gravity of the single-sided crescent halberd weapon is not on the central axis, if you want to play well without hurting yourself and your teammates, it is not It can be achieved in a month or two, so the soldiers of Tianshui County are somewhat knowledgeable. When they see these soldiers holding horses, spears and halberds, they naturally understand that these can be regarded as the best among the best, and they are not comparable to ordinary cavalry.

Lu Bu was surrounded by guards and could see Tianshui City from a distance. After these days of repairs, Tianshui City is completely different from the dilapidated appearance it had when it was plundered and attacked by the Qiang people. After all, with the right support of General Zhengxi, he also undertook the transshipment of part of Hanzhong's supplies, so he also benefited a lot. Now the Tianshui city wall has been repaired, and even the nameplates on the city gates have been replaced. The soldiers and armor on the top of the city are also bright, but they are still not as good as the direct soldiers of General Zhengxi, let alone Lu Bu's personal guards.

This time, except for the two hundred personal guards led by Lu Bu, the rest of the thousand cavalry are considered rangers. They are not equipped with heavy armor, but are equipped with bows and arrows, so they can roam and rush into formation.

Lu Bu was also quite satisfied. At least during the time he traveled north and south, he had never commanded such a powerful elite cavalry!

In addition, Lu Bu was originally a top-notch cavalry general. He commanded the entire cavalry team with ease. The journey from Chang'an to Tianshui actually took two days less than the ordinary journey. , the key point is that these cavalry did not feel very tired, almost like ordinary marching...

However, Lu Bu's good mood came to an end when he arrived at Tianshui City. Because Lu Bu saw someone he didn't like very much...

Li Ru ignored Lu Bu's expression, which immediately became as smelly as a cesspool, and said with a slight smile, "Marquis Wen, are you okay?"

Lu Bu: "..."

When he was still under Dong Zhuo, Lu Bu didn't know why, but he felt terrified when he saw Li Ru. Unexpectedly, he met Li Ru again in Tianshui today, and he didn't know what to say for a moment.

However, Li Ru's appearance now seemed to be more than ten years older. Lu Bu couldn't help but feel a little strange, and his face became a little more searching. He said: "Chang Shi, you are... Well, why is Chang Shi so?" Here?"

"I left Chang'an and came to Longyou. The general will not give up if I conquer the west..." Li Ru smiled, just like he did in Luoyang, and did not take Lu Bu's expression as strange at all, and said, "Now I have Knowing that Marquis Wen is coming, we have prepared a lot of things for use...Would Marquis Wen want to take stock of them?"

Lu Bu felt that his throat was a little dry, and after coughing twice, he said: "Chang Shi is joking. Can't you trust Chang Shi? Bo Ping... go and get the military supplies..." Why is Li Ru here? If I knew Li Ru was here, well, maybe I wouldn't take the initiative to ask for this job...

Gao Shun cupped his hands and said, "I obey your order!"

Li Ru smiled and led Lu Bu towards the city. Although Lu Bu didn't look good and didn't seem to want to say anything to him, Li Ru still didn't take it seriously and even introduced the surrounding generals to Lu Bu.

Jiang Ji came up and said: "Is Marquis Wen familiar with the terrain in Hexi? He was born here, he is familiar with the terrain, and his riding skills are not bad! If you don't mind, how about I be Marquis Wen's leader?"

Xu Huang came over with a sullen face and said: "I have been to Hexi many times! I am familiar with the terrain! Captain Bai died in front of me. This revenge must be avenged! I would like to be a vanguard and kill the traitor!"

Lu Bu was stunned for a moment, and then couldn't help turning his head to look at Li Ru.

Li Ru smiled and said: "Marquis Wen has chosen himself... Doesn't Marquis Wen have the seal and ribbon of the Protector of the Western Regions?"

Hearing this, Lu Bu frowned and nodded, as if he understood something. Then he looked at Xu Huang, then at Jiang Ji, then he nodded at Jiang Ji casually and said, "Just you! If something goes wrong, don't blame me." Military law is ruthless!" Ugly words are not pleasant to hear, so they have to be said first.

Jiang Ji accepted the order and raised his eyebrows at Xu Huang...

Xu Huang snorted, then turned his head away, ignoring Jiang Jiong.

Lu Bu didn't pay attention to the little action between Jiang Ji and Xu Huang. He finally realized it at this time. It turned out that Fei Qian had given the seal and ribbon of the Western Region Protector in an understatement. It seemed that it was not just a false name?

Could it be that?

Lu Bu looked at Li Ru and had some vague thoughts in his heart.

"Excuse me, Chang Shi..." Lu Bu took two steps, caught up with Li Ru, and said, "... Chang Shi's intention, no, the intention of conquering the west is to rebuild the Protectorate in the Western Regions?"

Li Ru laughed and nodded slightly. "In the past, Han Wu and all the countries in the Western Regions paid tribute, but after Guangwu, there was no more contact... If we can re-establish the Western Region Protectorate and get tribute from all the countries, what an achievement and how great! Even though a certain person is old and decayed, I hope to see you here, but what does Marquis Wen mean?"

"This...is this really going to rebuild the Protectorate of the Western Regions?" Lu Bu confirmed again, a little unbelievable. After all, this Protectorate of the Western Regions has been abandoned for a hundred or two hundred years, and is almost like an antique. title.

"The great Han Dynasty, for hundreds of years, had countless officials..." Li Ru walked forward slowly, and then said slowly, although his voice was not loud, but it seemed to be filled with a kind of magic, "The Fourth Generation and the Three Dukes are here again." How about it? So what if the family is tired of two thousand stones? There are countless officials in the counties and counties in the world like crucian carp crossing the river... Only the Protector of the Western Regions only has eighteen people! Everyone is recorded in the annals of history!"

Lu Bu couldn't help but puff out his chest.

Li Ru glanced at Lu Bu slightly and continued with a smile: "The Protector of the Western Regions has jurisdiction over the North and South Roads. To the left of Shanshan are the countries of the South Road, and to the west of Cheshi are the countries of the North Road... It used to govern Wulei, but now it has It was abandoned and mostly occupied by horse thieves... If Marquis Wen came here this time to pacify the horse thieves, it would be nothing more than a small achievement. It would not be written down or recorded in the annals of history. At most, it would only be mentioned a little in local chronicles..."

"...If the Protectorate of the Western Regions is reopened," Li Ru turned to look at Lu Bu, "the whole world will definitely hear the name of Marquis Wen! Wouldn't it be better than the thieves in Shandong who are fighting for power and profit with Marquis Wen's trip?" A hundred times, isn’t the difference between upper and lower the difference between cloud and mud?”

Although Lu Bu was a little moved, he still had some doubts. He looked at Li Ru and said, "Chang Shi's words, could it be that he is deceiving someone?"

Li Ru shook his head and said: "Zhengxi's broad-mindedness is unparalleled. In the past, a certain person only knew Chang'an and Luoyang, but he did not know the breadth of the world; in the past, a certain person calculated the gains and losses of power, but did not know what he wanted in his life... If Wen Hou was only two I came here with a salary of thousands of stones, so I might as well stay here without losing half my money... I have been to the Western Regions to see thousands of countries bowing their heads and all nations paying their respects! To see the flag of the Han Dynasty, planted at the end of the world and standing at the corner of the earth. !”

After speaking, Li Ru didn't continue to say anything to Lu Bu and walked straight forward.

Lu Bu stared blankly at Li Ru's back. A trace of fire ignited from his originally cloudy eyes, and then it was as if a layer of mist had been boiled away, or a layer of muddy sand had been pushed aside. I feel that the heaven and earth are clear and bright, and the world is clear.

It turns out that in this world, there is such a way forward!

It turns out that the words said by Fei Qian, the general who conquered the west, were not excuses. They were actually true. They were all true!

Lu Bu raised his head and looked at the clear blue sky. He suddenly felt that all the depression and anger in his heart seemed to have completely disappeared at this moment. He just felt comfortable in his chest and abdomen while breathing, and he couldn't help but laugh up to the sky. , there seems to be some ridicule, some relief in the laughter, and it also seems to be full of joy...