Three Kingdoms

Taixing eight years.

Chun Guliang came, walked closer step by step, and then kicked him in the face.

The snot and tears fell together with a gurgling sound.

If you look over the lofty mountains, mountains and rivers, past the mountains and forests, county towns, winding roads and dilapidated villages, you will see a huge Lu clan flag standing listlessly in front of you. Under the flag, there seemed to be a huge gray-blue military camp.

This is Lu Bu's army under the walls of Yanqi Yuanqu City.

Yanqi and Yuanqu are actually different transliterations of the same word, so it is also called Wuyi and Agni. Near Yanqi, there is a Daze. It is this Daze that allows people here to make this comparison. Good living and living conditions.

In spring, it is also difficult to advance here in the Western Region.

Even if Lu Bu has unparalleled martial arts, he can't change the weather, and anger can't make it stop snowing or raining.

Soldiers patrolled, and cars and horses came and went, bringing up water and mud.

The battle flag drooped wetly.

In such weather, most of the soldiers stayed in their tents, waiting for the rain to stop.

Yanqi was beaten silly before and has never recovered. In addition, he is close to Xihai City, so he has always been very humble. No matter what Lu Bu wants, he will give it to him. It even makes people feel that if Lu Bu wants When King Yanqi's wife and daughter sleep, King Yanqi will also have them washed and brought to Lu Bu's bedside.

Don’t think there will be any beauties in Yanqi. In fact, in this era, most of the so-called beauties are actually not very good and do not conform to the aesthetics of later generations...

It's the normal kind of aesthetic.

Because most of the women in these feudal dynasties were either too fat or too thin.

Those who are too thin are ordinary women. Because of long hours of work and insufficient nutritional intake, they are basically black and small. This is basically a common problem in the feudal dynasty. This is also one of the reasons why the literati in the feudal dynasty all like teenage lolita. Because once they are over twenty years old, women in the feudal dynasty without adequate nutrition and daily maintenance will decline very quickly. It is not a dream to have all kinds of wrinkles every day.

In addition, those who are too fat are noble women. Later generations will generally think of them as pigs, but in the concept of the feudal dynasty, they were "round and round". Some gentry women were born for marriage, so they had to be "good-looking". They ate more and exercised less, which resulted in the accumulation of a lot of subcutaneous fat, which can produce oil when pinched...

Therefore, if there is a time-traveling party that really wants to open a harem in the feudal dynasty, in fact, it will often face a tragic end. If you want to have a Long Aotian type, you must be surrounded by some peerless beauties that conform to the aesthetics of later generations. , and then licked him to death, basically even dreaming was impossible.

On the contrary, if the traveling party performs well, it is possible that they will be favored by the local nobles and natives, and then forcibly capture them as their son-in-law, and let their proud and fat daughter lie down...

It is said that the rich water does not flow to outsiders' fields.

What?

Not willing?

These days, who would care about someone’s thoughts or wishes?

Just like King Yanqi, no one cares whether he wants it or not.

In Yanqi City, he may be a king, but in front of Lu Bu, he is not even as good as a dog. At least the dog can freely enter and exit Lu Bu's tent, but he is not even qualified to enter the tent.

Near noon, there was the sound of water outside the tent, and then Wei Xu opened the curtain and walked in, shaking his raincoat and poncho like a dog, "This damn weather will never end!" 』

In the middle of the tent, Lu Bu put his hands on the table and looked at the map in front of him.

"Lord!" "Wei Xu still had some rainwater on his body, and he said carelessly, "The driver sent someone to deliver something again, and also sent a letter... I followed the lord's instructions. The things were kept, and I cut the messenger... The letter is here..."

Wei Xu took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Lu Bu.

Lu Bu opened the letter, read it casually, and then threw it on the table, "Another perfunctory deception!" snort! 』

Wei Xu said happily, "I think this driver is really ignorant!" We might as well just do it! 』

Lu Bu's original intention was to let the chariot division send troops and march together as vassal soldiers, but it was obvious that the chariot division would rather apologize and send things over and over again, but was unwilling to send troops.

Gao Shun coughed twice and said, "The direction is different." 』

"ah? What? ” Wei Xu didn’t hear clearly.

The earth is round, but the Western Region is not round. There was no way for Lu Bu to fight from one place to another without making any detours along the way. The driver is to the north and east of Yanqi. Although people were sent to Jiaohe City where the driver was before, and the front part of the driver did lower his head, the driver still has the rear...

The king in the front of the chariot surrendered, but it did not mean that the king in the rear of the chariot was also willing to surrender.

"If it's not the same, we have to fight!" Wei Xu waved his arms, "The rear of the chariot division thinks that it is close to Wusun, so it can get Wusun's support. It has never taken us seriously. Now we have an army of 200,000. If we let it go like this It's easy for them to get away with it, and it will be even more difficult to deal with it in the future! 』

Gao Shun fell silent.

What Wei Xu said is also true.

Although two hundred thousand is a claim, when it comes to the number of people traveling, it is almost the same number. After all, the people transporting grain and grass back and forth add up to a huge number of people. The actual number of troops in the field actually consisted of less than 10,000 Lu Bu's core soldiers and about 10,000 vassal soldiers.

With such a large army, the food consumed every day is staggering.

Yanqi is a node.

To the north is Cheshi Wusun, to the south is Shanshan Shule, and to the west is Qiuci. In the middle is a huge uninhabited basin. All countries depend on the rivers produced by the melting of ice and snow on the north and south mountains. Survive.

Even though Lu Bu was full of courage, he still had to drink water. He could cross the no-man's land in the Western Region. He could only walk along the river route. Either take the north line or take the south line. The north side is relatively better than the south side, because there are mountains on the north side that block part of the wind and snow, while the south side has a relatively harsh environment.

"Where are the Shanshan people?" Lu Bu asked in a deep voice, "Isn't anyone here yet?" 』

Shanshan had also been beaten by Lu Bu before.

"Here we come..." Wei Xuba smacked his lips, "The one who came over was the little prince from Shanshan. He didn't bring many people with him. He was crying and asking us to help him beat his uncle..."

Lu Bu didn't know what to say for a moment.

The country of the Western Regions is like this. No one knows what the relationship is. It is even more confusing than the relationship between the princes during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Although Lu Bu was not too clear about what happened inside Shanshan, it was obvious that there had been a lot of conflict between the powerful factions and those in power in Shanshan.

"How come you only know this now?" Lu Bu frowned.

Wei Xu concealed it and said, "This happened not long ago...I will definitely collect this information next time..."

Gao Shun glanced at Wei Xu but said nothing. Obviously, this was Wei Xu's dereliction of duty. If you say it's big, it's not big. If you say it's small, it's not small. After all, Shanshan is not like Shule. In fact, it is not too far from the West Sea.

If we had known about it earlier and dealt with it in advance, whether it was the little prince who supported Shanshan or the little prince and his uncle who was a powerful faction of Shanshan, it would actually be fine. It just depends on how the proceeds are disposed of. But at this moment, we are stuck at this juncture. Up, it's a bit difficult to handle.

The army is all heading north, and the chariot division must be unstoppable. But if we hit the rear of the chariot division, we can at most attack some Guisun, er, Wusun's territory along the way, and then basically return to the army, like before Lu Bu He said that he would attack Chigu again, or even advance into Dawan, but basically don't even think about it.

Back and forth, even if we speed up, it will take at least half a year, maybe a year, and by that time, even if the food and grass can support it, the soldiers may not be able to maintain their high fighting spirit...

Going south can certainly solve the problem of Shanshan on the way, but going south will make the road more difficult to pass, and the suitable climate will be shorter. In addition, the cities on the southern line are sparse, and there will be less supplies. , it is impossible to say that they have to be transported thousands of miles from Xihai City. After all, there are 20,000 to 30,000 people, plus the cattle and horses, it will cost several hundred dan to eat casually for a day.

Lu Bu's original plan was to capture the soldiers of the countries along the way and treat them as vassals to clear the way. In addition, these countries could contribute money and food to supplement consumption, but now they are stuck here in Yanqi, and the Cheshi people are unwilling to come. The Shanshan people came, but it was of no use.

In fact, the best strategy is to divide your forces.

After all, the problem in Shanshan is not big. Maybe we only need to send Wei Xu and some people to conquer the cities of one or two powerful factions to solve the problem. Or we can simply be more ruthless and let the powerful factions pay a certain amount of benefits. The little prince finished his work for the real power faction.

The Cheshi Kingdom on the northern front would undoubtedly have to be attacked with a large number of soldiers, so it would only be possible for Gao Shun to lead some soldiers to conquer it. As long as Gao Shun captures one or two important nodes in the rear of the Chai Division, the rear of the Chai Division will inevitably surrender, and he may even bring Wusun Guo with him to admit his mistake.

But in this way, Lu Bu's power was dispersed. At most, he could only do what he did last time, and he was unable to continue after reaching Chigu. It’s even possible that you can’t get it…

Chigu was originally the base camp of the Kushan people, but was later massacred by Lu Bu. Therefore, the surrounding area can be said to be basically similar to a desert area. It is almost impossible to obtain supplies. Only after crossing the Chigu area and further to the west can there be cities, and those cities They basically favored Kushan, and they had to conquer a mountain pass before they could continue to the west. Therefore, whether it was a lack of troops or insufficient supplies, Lu Bu could only stop.

Lu Bu looked at the map. He had been looking at it for two days, but he still had no good ideas.

At this moment, he looked forward to having a decent counselor by his side, and even missed the fear of being dominated by Li Ru. Although Li Ru's pressure back then really made him uncomfortable, at least he didn't need to use his brain, and it wasn't his turn to do it.

"Lord, we have been stationed in Yanqi for many days now, and our daily expenses are huge. Not only are the soldiers fed, but the mules and horses also need green materials to be transported, and supplies along the way are completely unprepared. Gao Shun said slowly, "My lord, this is the western expedition, why not just return to the army..."

Lu Bu patted his head on the Western Expedition, which itself was extremely hasty. In addition, not long after the expedition, they encountered winter snow and had to stop and camp, and then came the spring rain, which made it even more chaotic. However, all the countries in the Western Regions only need to wait for work in their own cities. All the facilities for the forts and walls are readily available, so there is no need to prepare anything special. In this comparison, Lu Bujun actually doesn't have much advantage.

Lu Bu pondered, his face not very pretty.

Gao Shun was still talking, "Everything is not ready for this battle. The land in the Western Region is too vast and it is difficult to clear it out at once." Many countries in the Western Regions have nomadic customs, and they gather and disperse irregularly. As soon as the lord comes, they scatter in all directions. Even though the lord's soldiers are sharp, it is like cutting off the water with a knife. The knife passes through the water without leaving a trace. Even if he catches one part, It's just like a wounded finger, no serious harm. When the Lord's troops pass by, they will regroup..."

"It is better to follow the plan step by step, first recruit talented people from neighboring countries, thin out their soldiers, and then gradually educate them. In the hope that within a few years, the results will naturally be visible..."

Gao Shun still had some words that were not convenient for him to say.

The finances of the Western Regions already have a big problem. The key is that Lu Bu still brings so many vassal troops. The further west we go, the longer the supply lines become and the heavier the burden becomes. At the same time, some of these vassal armies are good and bad, some are new and some are experienced, and they are different in themselves. However, due to the lack of management when paying food and wages, there are some big-pot meals that cannot form effective grade differences. So much so that at present, many of these vassal armies are doing nothing but doing their job...

The vassal army strategy was originally a highly effective military system implemented by Li Ru in Xiliang. This was originally no problem. Because it is impossible to completely rely on the Han people to control or even suppress such a large area as the Western Regions, local people, that is, people from the Western Regions, must participate to assist the Han people in management.

This is not a problem at all, but the problem is that after Li Ru's death, this originally effective military system, or the Western Region management system, became corrupt due to official corruption, lack of management, solidification of models, rigid forms, etc. factors, from an effective ruling model to a current drag.

In any era and any system, if it is in the competition stage, its activity will be very high. Once it enters the monopoly stage, it will almost be linked to corruption. This is the case in the Western Regions at the moment. The Han civilian officials only want to make money. On the one hand, the generals and soldiers despise this kind of behavior, and on the other hand, they are so greedy that since the expedition, these soldiers are almost like locusts passing through the border. Take what you have and eat when there is food!

So much so that the daily consumption is almost several times the normal amount!

The Yanqi area used to be relatively close to the Han people, but now it is full of complaints!

Those who had some wealth, including the royal family members of Yanqi, were almost all in bad luck. Even ordinary people were wailing incessantly. The army was stationed, and the food and clothing expenses almost exhausted everything in the area!

For Lu Bu's soldiers, these were windfalls and plundered food. They were not included in the original expenses. Although they did not increase the quantity transported from the rear, their appetites were developed in the process. , will not be reduced easily, so if we continue to the west, how many countries and cities can withstand such a huge consumption? Or are you willing to make offerings?

And after this incident, it is hard to say how many people in Yanqi are still friendly to the Han people.

All of this worried Gao Shun.

only……

"Someone thinks it's inappropriate!" ” Wei Xu said loudly, “Now that my lord is marching in a big way, if he returns in vain, wouldn’t he become a joke to the countries in the Western Regions? How can we control the Western Region at that time, and how can we frighten Guishang An'i and other people with dissident intentions? When there are sneaky people on all sides, and beacons are going off in the north and south, what will we do? ! It's better to take advantage of the moment to conquer the Western Region in one fell swoop and completely conquer it! 』

Wei Xu's eyes widened and he stared at Gao Shun angrily, "General Gao, what do you mean by repeatedly persuading the lord to return to the army?" Is it possible that you really don’t want your lord to make great achievements, pacify the Western Regions, and achieve immortal feats? ! What is your intention? ! 』

Of course, if it can really be decided in one fell swoop and completely conquered, that would be great, but no matter how good the slogan is, what about the actual problem? It's like the Zhuan family said that if they have no money, they can rent out their house or drive Didi to earn some pocket money, and then they are confused and ask, "Is there anyone who doesn't even have a house or a car?"

No way?

No way? !

You, Gao Shun, want to shake your master's determination and change the course of the army. What are your intentions?

My lord, for the long-term peace and stability of the Western Regions, for everyone's immortal achievements, and for the great reputation of the Han Dynasty, you have come here with such hardship. Now you are good, do you want to withdraw?

What do you mean?

Wei Xu's eyes were wide, but he was very small-minded. What he said seemed to be sincere and sincere, but he didn't have any suggestions on what to do. In other words, in fact, Wei Xu didn't have any ideas, but he could pour chicken soup for Lu Bu, and he could still say "no" very calmly, so what he said was naturally recognized by Lu Bu, and he could still have it very calmly. a place.

"We must march!" Lu Bu slapped his hand on the table, "This matter does not need to be discussed further!" Bo Ping, I called you here to deal with the driver's matter, not to hinder my advance! 』

Compared with the chaotic Shanshan in the south, the uncooperative and perfunctory attitude of the driver's rear gave Lu Bu an even bigger headache. If the rear of the chariot division can just send some things and is unwilling to send soldiers to follow, then how can Lu Bu guarantee that after he leaves Yanqi and continues westward, the people in the rear of the chariot division will not take the opportunity to make a sneak attack?

Therefore, the problem of the driver must be solved first before we can continue to set off, and the best candidate is certainly not Wei Xu.

Gao Shun was silent for a moment, "My lord, the spring rain is continuous and gunpowder is useless. Even if we attack the chariot division, if they stand firm, it will be difficult to attack..."

Lu Bu waved his hand and said, "I don't want to listen to this. Just ask, how many people do you need?" Is it enough to have one thousand soldiers and one thousand vassals? If it's not enough, add a thousand vassals. A total of three thousand people. Is that enough? I don’t care how you fight, but come to me with the head of the king behind the wheel! 』

Gao Shun lowered his head and said, "My subordinates take orders." 』