Three Kingdoms

Fei Qian had a headache because he didn't understand what the two words on this piece of silk meant...

It's not that the word is difficult to decipher, but that I don't know what it means specifically.

Was there cryptography in the Han Dynasty?

have.

But the coverage is very small, and the methods are simple and crude.

Passwords are a big subject. When you learn passwords to a certain extent, you can encrypt information, making the transmission of information controllable. Only specific people can see specific content, while others can't. Is confused.

In modern society, passwords are everywhere. Without passwords, from individuals to countries, all property, privacy, business secrets, confidential documents, military intelligence, etc., may be illegally used, with disastrous consequences.

As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Jiang Ziya used wooden sticks to convey military information. Jiang Ziya made wooden sticks of different lengths, and the different lengths represented different meanings and were used to convey military secrets. For example, the longest one, one foot, represents a great victory, the nine-inch one represents breaking the formation or capturing the enemy general, and the shorter it is, the worse it is, and the shortest three-inch one represents the loss of territory to the fallen general.

This encryption technology does not use a single word, and only requires both parties transmitting the information to understand the meaning. Even if it is intercepted, the secret will not be leaked. The disadvantage is that the information transmitted is limited, and if the transmitter makes a mistake on the way, it will also lead to serious consequences. . For example, the messenger accidentally fell and the wooden stick broke. Then King Zhou took it out and took a look, and he had a myocardial infarction on the spot...

In order to solve this problem, Jiang Ziya later invented the "Yin Shu" encryption technology, which was also the earliest cryptographic text technology. To put it simply, the intelligence text is cut into three parts and sent by three people through different paths. The recipient can obtain the complete information by putting the three parts together. Although this increases the amount of information transmitted, if one piece of intelligence is intercepted, it may be leaked.

And that's it. From the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period, there was basically no development in cryptography technology. But for the sake of simplicity and use, things like tiger charms appeared. The prototype of the Tiger Talisman was first made of jade. Because jade has natural texture, it is basically impossible to have imitations. However, if it is accidentally lost or stolen, the consequences will be serious.

The development of cryptography did not begin to take shape until the Song Dynasty. It reached a new height in the Ming Dynasty, and then in the Qing Dynasty... uh, forget it...

It's not like Fei Qiandao has never thought about using passwords, but the problem is that not only do you have to understand the password yourself, but you also need to teach the people who go to the other party's territory to investigate. And in the process of using a password, it is impossible to change it at will. If these If a person can't think about it for a while, or if something happens, wouldn't the other party naturally know about it?

So Fei Qian didn't have any cryptographic thoughts on these people, but when he saw the message passed on, he couldn't help but regretted it. Who can understand these two words?

"Wind", "head".

Strictly speaking, it should be the words "wind" and "head".

"So should the worm have one side? Or should the bean have another side?" Fei Qian wondered, scratching his head a little, "Who does the worm represent? Or is it three sides of the siege? Dou means food and grass? Is Lao Cao preparing food and grass?"

Fei subconsciously glanced at Xun Chen.

Xun Chen sensed Fei Qian's gaze, put down the pen in his hand, and asked, "My lord, what can I do?"

"This..." Fei Qian tapped the table a few times and asked Xun Chen, "Youruo, I don't know if there is any news about the Xun family?"

Xun Chen was not stupid. He knew what it meant as soon as he heard it. He raised his hands and said: "My lord, Chen has not seen anyone in the clan for two years and three months, and has not written to Yingchuan..."

After all, Fei Qian and Cao Cao had some relationship before, but now they are becoming more and more antagonistic, so Xun Chen will naturally not do anything that risks losing his head.

Of course, the same goes for Yingchuan.

This is not only true for ordinary letters home, but also requires more and more caution when doing things. Just like when Zhuge Jin from Soochow came to Liu Bei's Sichuan, the two Zhuge brothers seemed to have a tacit understanding. All words and deeds must be done in public, and they would not meet at all in private, and they would not do anything extra. action.

"Oh..." Fei Qian nodded, motioned for Huang Xu to show the silk cloth to Xun Chen, and said, "After Dezu returned to Heluo, there was no more news from Yingchuan... Recently I sent someone to inquire, I don’t know what it means to have such a word..."

Xun Chen received it in his hand and frowned slightly.

"Yellow silk with black characters..." Xun Chen whispered, "Absolutely ink? Did Cao Sikong break the rules? Hey... is there something going on in the court? The wind is like a bug inside, and his head is on the side of the page. Is it because of the emperor's sudden change in the palace?"

Fei Qian: "(⊙o⊙)?"

Is there such an operation?

What does this mean?

Or should we wait?

Although I am a little unsure about what is going on, one thing is certain, that is, Cao Cao is indeed not sending troops now...

Why don't we wait until the person who inquired about the news comes back from Yanzhou, and then check it and verify it, so that we can know what it means?

But in this case, what is the significance of using homing pigeons to speed up message delivery? ! Such a waste of time, labor and management might as well wait for people to crawl all the way over!

So what is the current situation of Cao Cao and Cao Sikong?

It's actually very simple, not as complicated as Fei Qian and Xun Chen imagined. Of course, some of Fei Qian and Xun Chen's guesses were correct, but the reason why Cao Cao didn't send troops was just because of one...

Cao Cao's head was broken.

Even the medical system of later generations is unable to fully understand the disease of headache, because many diseases can cause headaches, and headaches often occur with no pattern. In the future, you can generally ask the patient whether it is severe and whether the pain lasts long or short, and then describe as much as possible what the form of pain is, such as swelling or dull pain, tearing pain, or electric shock. Pain, or acupuncture, etc., but the Han Dynasty...

Although Cao Cao is considered a wealthy family, with many Cao brothers and Xiahou brothers, it is actually not much different from Fei Qian. It is a situation where tens of millions of lives are tied to one. Once this storm breaks out, the entire Cao family organization suddenly becomes unstable. As for an immediate shutdown, that's about the same.

Even so, Cao Cao was forced to handle political affairs, otherwise many things would be left undecided. Of course, although some of Cao Hong and Xia Houyuan's partial troops had already gone to Qingzhou, the main force of Cao's army was still unable to move...

……(?_?)……

Although Cao Cao was delayed by the headwind, the fight between Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang did not stop because of this.

The south gate and east gate of Ye City that were attacked are now in a state of exhaustion. The originally neat and uniform battlements are now in many pieces. Broken green bricks mixed with flesh and blood are piled together with corpses at the bottom of the city. Due to the infusion of blood, the cut-off moat outside Yecheng was completely red and black. The area near the city wall was also thick with blood and mud, covered with minced meat. Once you stepped on it, you would be ankle-deep and muddy.

Near the city gate, a passage was forcibly stepped on. In this passage, which was more than ten feet wide, blood and water were mixed with the remains of bones and flesh. After being repeatedly stepped on, it had turned into thick and dirty mud. It still glows faintly in the moonlight. I don't know if it is because it contains the souls of innocent people who died violently, or because of the phosphorus fire in the bones.

The continuous siege caused heavy casualties on both sides. Of course, Yuan Tan's side suffered more casualties.

In the southeast far away from Yecheng, in Yuan Tan's camp, most of the soldiers were exhausted. After retreating from the front line, they ate ravenously and fell asleep. The snoring sounded everywhere like thunder, and even The occasional passing parade cannot wake these people up.

Yuan Tan's men were once a group of mostly veterans under Yuan Shao. They were also some of the first men Yuan Shao recruited when he was in Bohai. After Yuan Shao annexed Jizhou, many of them participated in the war with Gongsun Zan. Fortunately, Survived, and now...

Comparatively speaking, although the casualties in Ye City are not small, they are naturally much better than Yuan Tan. However, the problem is that Ye City is a quite large city with a large population, so the daily consumption is not It's a small amount, and the resources in the city are limited. Now that the four gates are closed, it's okay for a day or two, but over time, it will be troublesome.

In the air on the walls of Yecheng, there is not only a strong smell of blood, but also mixed with the smell of burnt meat, and a strong smell accumulated from feces and urine everywhere. The three smells mixed together make people feel... Just smelling it will make you vomit...

Yuan Shang no longer dared to stay near the city gate. He huddled in the government office and urged Guo Tu and others to win as soon as possible and end the battle as soon as possible almost every day.

"Brother Zhengnan?" When it was time to make the appointment, Feng Ji saw the judge hesitate a little and did not immediately issue the order, so he couldn't help but ask with some doubts.

Shen Pei came back to his senses and glanced at Feng Ji slightly.

Guo Tu was still doing his old job, but this time he was accompanied not by Yuan Shao, but by Yuan Shang, while Feng Ji was in the middle and balancing the message. He seemed to be doing the same job as before, reviewing himself, taking on the role The Shou of Yecheng is naturally responsible for the safety of Yecheng. It seems that he is doing the same thing as before, but no matter who it is, he actually knows that it is completely different now from when Yuan Shao was alive...

"Raise the fire!" The judge did not hesitate for long and quickly issued the order in a deep voice.

Wen Chou, who had already lined up in the city, looked at the bonfire lit on the city gate tower, and felt as if something was burning in his chest, hot and anxious.

Until now, Wen Chou has not adapted to the fact that Yuan Shao is dead. Even when fighting, he will often look for Yuan Shao's voice and shadow in the central position...

Wen Chou, like Yan Liang, both started from humble beginnings. Because of his personal bravery, he was appreciated by Yuan Shao and gradually reached his current status. Therefore, for Wen Chou, Yuan Shao was not only a commander, but also a benefactor. But now the benefactor Although they have passed away, the benefactor's children have begun to kill each other, which makes Wen Chou a little at a loss what to do.

Wen Chou held the long knife in his hand, feeling the coldness transmitted by the weapon. He took a deep breath, then exhaled and said: "Open the city gate! Get out of the battle!"

Amidst the roar, the city gate to the north of Ye City opened. Immediately, Wen Chou led his men and horses and rushed out of Ye City. Then he made a slight circle, reorganized his formation, and immediately rushed toward Yuan Tan's camp outside the city. And go.

As the distance got closer, the scene in front of me became clearer and clearer. Under the firelight, the Yuan family's flag was rolling and floating above the camp. The words in the middle of the flag that should have been red now seemed to have solidified. His blood turned purple and black. Under the light of the torch, countless noisy voices sounded, seeming a little panicked and nervous.

If it were before, Wen Chou would have been even more excited because of such a situation happening to the enemy, but now he didn't know why he couldn't be happy. He just shouted in the sky, followed the order, pushed forward, and launched a fierce offensive...

The soldiers in Yecheng threw their held-up torches into Yuan Tan's camp, while at the same time they were killing and destroying Yuan Tan's soldiers between the fences.

Yuan Tan didn't expect that Yuan Shang, who had been hiding in the city and seemed to have no power to fight back, or that Shen Pei actually had such power to fight back, may have realized it, but he didn't take it to heart, or it was because of his strong emotions Blinded by reason, all in all, Yuan Tan's soldiers were very exhausted after the continuous siege battles. When they encountered Wen Chou's surprise attack, they had little resistance. They were quickly attacked by Wen Chou's men in the camp. Several holes were opened in the wall, and then people swarmed in and started slashing and killing.

"Whoever kills the enemy's general will be rewarded with ten thousand gold and be made a marquis!"

A sharp voice sounded, and Wen Chou turned his head slightly to look, but it was Su You, a general who had been following Yuan Shang.

I don't know why, when Wen Chou heard this voice, the irritability in his heart started to beat even more, as if he had trouble breathing and was stuck in his chest and abdomen, making him feel uncomfortable up and down.

Su You quickly discovered Yuan Tan's location in the camp. He shouted and led more than ten personal guards to kill Yuan Tan while shouting.

Wen Chou slowed down and frowned.

Warm blood and minced meat sprayed on Wen Chou's shirt and armor, quickly becoming sticky and cold in the late autumn night wind.

Yuan Tan's guards hurriedly resisted, which made Su You more and more excited. His sharp voice was like a crow in the cold night, croaking non-stop.

Su You waved his sword and stared at Yuan Tan closely, as if Yuan Tan was a treasure that was glowing all over his body. He roared with excitement, spitting foam far away: "Kill him! Reward 10,000 gold! 10,000 gold reward!" Jin...uh..."

A stray arrow flew from nowhere and struck the back of Su You's head. Su You didn't even have time to scream, but he threw forward and fell to the ground dead. .

The guards following Su You were frightened and confused. Yuan Tan immediately seized the opportunity and counterattacked, killing all of Su You's men...

Yuan Tan saw Wen Chou in the distance in the blood and firelight, who seemed to be throwing something in his hand on the ground. Their eyes met in the air for a moment, and then Wen Chou shouted and led his men in another direction. And go.

Yuan Tan slightly arched his hands in the direction of Wen Chou, then turned his head, "Send the order! We...we...withdraw, withdraw!" The last word "withdraw" was shouted out, and Yuan Tan was screaming without knowing it. Dumb and dumb, tears fell down his face...