Three Kingdoms

Xu County.

The lobby of Sikong Mansion.

Xun Yu was still working at his desk.

It was already late at night, and it would be dawn soon, but Xun Yu was still busy dealing with various affairs.

As the New Year approaches, Xu County is gradually getting into a New Year atmosphere, but this atmosphere is sometimes accompanied by a bit of desolation.

Ever since the news of Yuan Shao's march south reached Xu County, many people were watching. Some of them had retreated to their Wubao early, waiting for the final result. They even prepared congratulatory gifts and gifts to Cao Cao. Anyway, you only need to prepare one gift for Yuan Shao. At worst, you can just change the title of the gift list.

The rest of the ordinary people could not abandon the city casually and could only stay in the city from time to time. The atmosphere of the New Year and the prelude to the upcoming military disaster were closely linked together, making people unable to help but feel this all the time. He was suffering so much, feeling the tremor and anxiety in his heart.

Cao Cao went to the front line and had to have someone at the rear, so Xun Yu and others were left in Sikong Mansion to handle internal affairs and logistics affairs.

There was a slight glow on the horizon, turning from gray to orange, like molten iron.

The servant tiptoed in, replaced the brazier that had lost some of its temperature, blew out a few candles, and then brought some hot soup and served it to Xun Yu and others' desks with skillful and meticulous movements.

Xun Yu raised his sore and swollen neck, moved it a bit, made a grating sound, and then asked, "What time is it?"

"It's already the second quarter of Yinshi to report back to Lord Xun..." a steward replied softly.

Xun Yu picked up the hot soup, took a sip, then took a long breath, glanced at the steward, and asked, "How are the arrangements inside and outside the government office?"

"Reporting to Lord Xun, everything has been arranged..." The steward replied respectfully as usual.

It's very interesting, but also very contradictory. In Xun Yu's heart, he hopes that all the materials for New Year decorations can be transported to the front line. After all, the front line where Cao Cao is located has a shortage of all materials. It would be better to have more support for the front line. Okay, but the problem is that the New Year is here after all. If everything is arranged, it is inevitable that some people will start to whisper something...

Therefore, those responsible for transporting supplies to the front line were very busy, and those responsible for putting up lanterns and colorful decorations to create a New Year atmosphere were also very busy. Xun Yu's work on these two lines was also summarized here, including politics, military, people's livelihood, etc. There were some espionage and personnel arrangements, so I was highly nervous almost every day and stayed up all night, which became the norm during this period.

It was the New Year on one side and war on the other. These two atmospheres were strangely intertwined, influencing and pulling away from each other, forming a strange scene in Xu County that left people extremely speechless.

Xun Yu has to take care of his teammates, and he also has to guard against the pig teammates on his side. Of course, if Xun Yu knew the definition of the word pig teammates, he would definitely agree. After all, in Xun Yu's heart, these pig teammates are really Not helpful at all...

Perhaps starting from the day when Yuan Shao officially went south, many inexplicable things happened in the entire Cao Cao political system. It was originally an integrated organization, but suddenly it felt like it had its own ideas, causing Cao Cao Xun Yu to Every time the others took a step forward, it seemed as if they were in a swamp, being pulled by various resistances, making them extremely uncomfortable.

There are rumors from all sides, and some rumors are spread from time to time among the people. Some of them are naturally spread by some spies of Yuan Shao, and some are caused by pig teammates who are dissatisfied with Cao Cao...

This situation almost reached its extreme at that point in time when Dong Cheng was walking, as if he was generally walking alone, and then in the blink of an eye, his thighs had ideas of thighs, his forearms had ideas of forearms, and then his belly had ideas of belly. As the heads, Cao Cao, Xun Yu and others must constantly adjust the wishes of each part, appease the changes, and then work hard to move forward with these parts, resisting external and internal pressures.

Fortunately, after the huge twists and turns in the court subsided, the situation became more or less stable.

Emperor Liu Xie of the Han Dynasty didn't know whether he had some enlightenment or was a little beaten down by the blow. Anyway, he had been in the imperial city for a period of time and did not go to court for two or three consecutive court meetings.

When the Dong Cheng case broke out, Xun Yu and others met urgently and discussed the matter. They confirmed to each other that the Dong Cheng case could not be expanded and the impact must be eliminated in a short period of time. It was necessary to stop only by focusing on some primary issues. After all, the current confrontation with Yuan Shao was That's the last thing that matters. If civil strife breaks out, wouldn't it just give Yuan Shao an advantage?

But for other court officials, there is no problem in keeping silent on the surface and not talking about Dong Cheng's affairs, but whether they will get together behind the scenes and talk about right and wrong is beyond the control of Xun Yu Manchong and others. After all, In the eyes of many, no matter what happens, Dong Cheng still has the status of the Han Emperor's head of state...

Of course, there is Dong Guiren...

There is also news about Yuan Shao, which is also disturbing.

Starting from December 21st, Qingzhou Yuan Tan led his soldiers and horses and began to move down Qingzhou, invading Yanzhou and heading towards Xuzhou. On the way, they burned, killed, looted and ate places...

Although there were not many prosperous places in the areas where Yuan Tan attacked, not many villages were destroyed, and the distances were still quite far, but for these people in Yuzhou, it was no less than the human tragedy of that year, and once again Advent and stage.

The sound of roosters crowing in the distance was heard. Xun Yu stood up, moved his stiff hands and feet, put on his big cloak, and looked at several servants outside the hall who were cleaning the cloister courtyard. He felt the slightest chill and couldn't help but hug him tightly. Great cloak.

At this moment, the sound of an alarm suddenly came from the outer courtyard wall, and then there were noises and screams. Xun Yu was stunned for a moment, and then said angrily: "What's the trouble!?"

Immediately, guards rushed to the hall and reported: "There are traitors making trouble in the porridge shed outside the city! The eldest son is on the spot and has ordered martial law to arrest him!"

When Xun Yu heard this, his expression suddenly changed and he shouted: "Come here! Quickly order Xiahou to lead his troops out of the city! Guard the eldest son!"

In the disaster relief porridge shed, porridge is put out twice a day, one in the morning and one in the evening. Judging from the time, it happens to be the time when porridge is put out in the morning. As the person in charge of disaster relief, Cao Ang, of course, needs to go to the site to check and supervise from time to time, so Xun Yu Almost immediately, he realized that the commotion this time was probably aimed at Cao Ang!

By the time Xun Yu and his men arrived at the scene, the entire Xu County was under martial law, and soldiers went to patrol the streets to arrest the rebellious gangsters. Because of the sudden incident, there were small-scale chaos and conflicts on the long street from time to time, and the bluestones were stained with blood. , even on the wooden boards of the closed store doors on both sides of the street, there were many bloody marks.

Xia Houchong came in a hurry, with some blood on his body. At first Xun Yu thought that Xia Houchong was injured, but after listening to Xia Houchong's words, Xun Yu would rather Xia Houchong was injured...

"...The thieves mingled among the refugees. When they saw the eldest son arriving, they started making noises and causing chaos... The eldest son, the eldest son was unprepared and was hit by an arrow in his shoulder..." Xia Houchong's face was as gloomy as ice as he gritted his teeth. Said, "These thieves must be instigated by someone! Someone has ordered that they be tortured and interrogated! We must find these treasonous thieves!"

Xun Yu staggered a little. He didn't know whether it was because the rising sun was a bit dazzling or because he was dizzy and unsteady. He couldn't help but put his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes. After three or four breaths, he put down his hand and slowly raised his head.

Xia Houchong couldn't help but be stunned.

Under the early sun, Xun Yu's eyes were filled with blood...

…………………………………………

The cold wind in the mountains is biting, and it seems that no matter how many clothes you wear, you can't protect yourself. You will only feel that the cold seems to be creeping in from every gap, easily taking away the only heat on your body.

In the vast mountains, the forest and trees all looked huge, making the group of people look extremely small, like ants climbing on top of steamed cakes.

The further you go towards Dazuo, the less roads there are. Walking in the mountains and forests, you not only need to identify the direction, but also need to cut through thorns and thorns all the way to open up a road. It is indeed extremely difficult.

The southwest is vast, and people who can survive in this remote and remote area are often very ferocious. After all, they have to fight against the heaven and the earth, and it will take any less courage. Therefore, whether they are Zuo people, Zhi people, or other barbarians, they are not easy to talk to. …

Well, of course, even if they speak, they may not be able to understand each other.

Therefore, among this group of people, not only do they need to carry some mountain camping equipment, they also need to carry some coarse salt. After all, in a place like this, sometimes salt is more useful than money.

Before General Zhengxi determined who would be in charge of mining the Dazeo iron ore, these large households in Sichuan and Sichuan could no longer hold themselves back, so they united and dispatched a team of people to Dazeo. Anyway, no matter who it is in the end, they need to open up a path. The earlier they investigate, the earlier they can get benefits.

The war in the Central Plains is spreading, and many people in Sichuan and Shu have heard about it. The world is about to change drastically, so the significance of an additional iron mine goes without saying.

The leader of this team is Li Hui's nephew Li Qiu, and Li Qiu's goal is not to find the iron mine near Dazuo at once, but to first find Yuan Yue, who had fled into the mountains and forests. Waiting for the tribe.

After Yuan Yue's previous battle in Langzhong, he knew that there was no benefit in following Liu Zhang, so he took his tribe all the way into the mountains. Because the incident between Liu Zhang and Liu Bei later broke out, no one cared about where these people were hiding. In that mountain top.

If General Zhengxi hadn't said that Da Ze had discovered iron ore this time, Li Hui wouldn't have thought about re-establishing any contact with Yuan Yue and other people. For Li Hui and other wealthy Sichuan and Shu people, Yuan Yue was like this The character is like a dog. It seemed to be lost before. It was not a big deal. Now he suddenly remembered that the dog was still useful, so he sent Li Qiu to search for it, trying to seize some mining opportunities... …

Therefore, Li Qiu and others did not even care about the New Year, so they led people into the mountains. Although I had heard that some scammers were purchasing supplies nearby, it was not easy for Li Qiu to find traces of these scammers. After all, the man felt a little frightened. He might as well have huddled in that cave. In addition, there were many caves in the southwest. There were no specific clues, so he could only explore in the most likely direction. .

After all, people always rely on water sources, so if you search along the water sources, you can always find some traces, but the mountains are densely forested and it is difficult to travel.

Li Qiu squinted his eyes and kept moving forward along the stream. Suddenly he saw something unusual on the other side of the stream. He couldn't help but stop the guide, pointed to that area and said, "Look! There seems to be a path over there!"

In fact, most of the roads in the mountains and forests were originally animal paths. After all, animals are smarter than people and know that those roads are safer to walk and have no ravines and falling rocks. Later, people gradually walked more and robbed the animals. Walking along the road, on the one hand, is trampled, on the other hand, it is also consciously cleared, so there are intervals for plant growth to form a road.

The guide also rushed over and looked across the stream, "There seems to be a cave here..."

This is a section of the Southwest Mountains. Because of the limestone, there are many caves hidden in the mountains. Even the indigenous people who are familiar with this place don't know exactly how many caves there are, how big the caves are, and which caves lead to where.

Li Qiu's heart suddenly jumped and he said, "Is this road newly opened?"

The guide hesitated for a moment and said: "I don't know...after all, there are not many people visiting this place..."

Li Qiu pondered for a moment, then made a decision and said: "Let's go! Find a place where we can pass by, let's go check it out!" No matter if it is a newly opened road or not, there is nothing wrong with checking it out.

The water was shallow in winter, and the stream was not big to begin with, so Li Qiu led a few people to quickly cross over to the other side, and then carefully inspected the mountain path.

This road is only about three or four feet wide. The grass on both sides of the road has some signs of lodging, which is obviously caused by being trampled on. Therefore, it is certain that there are people moving here, and it is frequent.

"Could it be... the road to get water? Well, it should be..." The guide stood up, frowned, and looked at the surrounding hills while saying, "If you want to get water... then it must be around, But there are so many dense forests and grass here that you can’t see it at all... How can you find it..."

The sun was shining down from the white clouds in the sky, and the mountains and fields were desolate. Only the occasional rustling of the wind could be heard, and the occasional cry of animals could be heard, making it even more desolate.

Li Qiu rolled his eyes and said with a smile: "No, we don't have to go up the mountain to find it! We camp behind the forest on the other side, and then send people to keep an eye on it. As long as these people come to get water again!"

Miaoshuwu