It's a long journey, and the journey takes more than one day.
Cao Zhi and Ren Hongchang have been in love with each other since they got married. They pressed the bridle and walked slowly along the way. The scenery they saw was so intoxicating.
The trip resumed, and on this day, Cao Zhi and his party arrived at Liyang (now Hexian County, Anhui Province), the seat of Yangzhou. Once they arrived at Liyang, Yangzhou governor Chen Wen warmly received them. Chen Wen and Cao Hongsu were friendly and often met each other.
Correspondence. Cao Hong, who was passing through Yangzhou this time, did ask Cao Zhi to bring a letter to Chen Wen.
Chen Wenyin recently heard that the Cao brothers had recruited rebels to fight against the Dong gangsters, and they had defeated the Black Mountain gangsters some time ago. He was very admired. Besides, Cao Taigong (Cao Song) was the senior "Pavilion Elder" and should be respected. He took advantage of Cao Zhi's family
I had the opportunity to pass by Yangzhou and try to make friends with the landlords in order to make good friends.
We stayed in Chen Mansion for one night and were preparing to say goodbye to Chen Wen on the second day. Chen Wen grabbed them and insisted that we finish his father's birthday wine before leaving. It turned out that Chen Wen's father's birthday would be in three days.
.
It was hard to deny the host's hospitality, and Cao Song was really tired from the long journey these past few days. The environment in Liyang was elegant and the people were outstanding, so the group spent a few days in the Chen Mansion to relax and recuperate.
Chen Wen was quite arrogant and took Cao Zhifei to have a drink at lunch and talk about the glorious deeds of fighting against the Black Mountain Bandits.
Cao Zhi actually didn't want to mention it, but after a few glasses of wine, he started to talk a lot. From getting the news, to how to set up ambushes, traps, traps, how to engage in close combat with the Black Mountain thieves, and how to take advantage of the situation and kill the Huang.
Sincerely, the story of the brutal fight to the end was frothing at the mouth, hearty and joyful. Cao Zhi had to admire himself for his talent in this area. It would be a pity not to tell stories.
Chen Wen was frightened and intoxicated when he heard it. When Cao Zhi reached the climax, he even burst into laughter and shouted with joy.
As Cao Zhi talked, he became more aware. Since Chen Wen is the governor of Yangzhou, he is the boss of Zhou Xin, the prefect of Danyang (Danyang is a county, subordinate to Yangzhou). Is there any connection between them? This place is about 20 kilometers away from Danyang.
Not far away.
In the following conversation, Cao Zhi deliberately told Chen Wen the ins and outs of the Black Mountain bandit's invasion of Cao's house, and intentionally or unintentionally brought out Zhou Xin.
When Chen Wen heard "Danyang, Zhou Xin", his brows suddenly furrowed, his beard was twirled, and he was silent.
Cao Zhi deliberately stirred up trouble and wanted to see Chen Wen's reaction. At present, the suspicion of Zhou Xin is just at the suspicion stage. There is no direct evidence that it was Zhou Xin and Sha Li who invaded the Cao Mansion by the Black Mountain bandits.
Caused by dog collusion.
I don't know much about Chen Wen. Although he and Cao Hong have an old relationship, no one can be trusted these days, so it's better to be more cautious.
Chen Wen pondered for a while, looked up at Cao Zhi, who seemed to be smiling but not smiling, sighed softly, and said sternly to Cao Zhi: "To be honest, Brother Cao, regarding the rumors that Zhou Xin colluded with bandits to make ill-gotten gains, I am no longer
It's the first time I've heard about it, but I have no credentials and can't do anything to him. In the past few years, this old boy (referring to Zhou Xin) has indeed been recruiting troops behind my back. He has added a lot of people, but they are not on the roster.
Yes, hum..."
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the state had strict regulations on the ratio of soldiers and guards in each state, county, and county. Except for the Sili District, the ratio of each state was 6,000 soldiers, the number of counties could not exceed 3,000, and the number of counties was about 300. In addition, the appointment and dismissal of generals, and the deployment of troops were all subject to orders.
Emperor. But since Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty issued an edict that states, counties, and counties could recruit their own township regiments in order to deal with the Yellow Turban Uprising, the garrison situation of states and counties has become difficult to control.
Judging from Chen Wen's rhetoric, the military strength ratio of Zhou Xin's county in Danyang must have exceeded the upper limit of 3,000.
"Oh! As a high official of a state (province), Chen Shijun turned a blind eye."
"Hahaha... If Brother Cao's current state, county, and county were not like this and could control it, the world would be peaceful today."
"Actually, your brother also mentioned this matter in his letter this time." Chen Wen raised his head, drank the remaining wine in the glass, and continued: "This Zhou Xin is getting bigger and bigger, and I can't just sit idly by and ignore it."
"Come".
An attendant came out in response, and Chen Wen said in a deep voice: "Call, Zhou Cang!"
----------------------------------It was snowing heavily in the sky. Cao Zhi took Xu Chu and two
The four Tiger Guards who had been to Danyang last time entered Danyang City and had lunch in a small hotel at noon.
Originally, when Mi Heng heard that he was going to visit Danyang, he also clamored to come, but Cao Zhi refused. The reason was that he farted randomly when he had nothing to do, and he was afraid that when he was happy or nervous, he would fart all over the world and reveal his whereabouts.
Mi Heng was indignant for a long time, but there was nothing he could do.
Xu Chuke seized the opportunity. He was usually Mi Heng's opponent when he was always talking nonsense. This time he finally followed Cao Zhi's words and launched a personal attack on Mi Heng.
After leaving the shop, they saw the word "Cao" written in charcoal at the foot of a city wall. The arrow next to the word pointed to the west. Along the way, they followed the marks left by Chen Wen's men, and Chen Wenxing sent people to Danyang.
, take care of everything first.
Following the mark, they came to a silk and satin shop called "Xiangji", and Cao Zhi walked in alone.
The store clerk had been guarding the door all morning, but no customer came. Finally, an imposing young customer walked in. Thinking that business was coming, he hurriedly bowed and greeted him, "Sir, you are here. What do you want? We have it in our store."
The fine silk and satin just arrived, take a look!"
"Do you have any chemical fiber ones?" A word that the shop assistant had never heard came out of the young customer's mouth.
When the shopkeeper heard this, he hurriedly ran out from the counter and said: "Oh! What a coincidence you are here. Yes, I have just arrived, and the backyard has not been opened yet! Please invite me to the back room." After speaking, he personally opened a door on the left side of the store.
He opened the door curtain and let the young patron into the back room.
As soon as he heard the code, he knew that it was designed by Cao Zhi, and it was "chemical fiber"! The shopkeeper was already old and had trouble remembering things, so it took him a whole morning to remember this word.
When Chen Wen ordered people to go to Danyang to check on Zhou Xin, Cao Zhi immediately called him slow. After thinking about it, he said that he would go with him. Cao Zhi did not intend to leave it all to others. What others saw and heard may not be reliable. Cao Zhi
Zhi Yi is not a fledgling boy. He just met Chen Wen for the first time, but he still has a lot of perspective. Besides, this matter is related to their Cao family after all. He has always wanted to see who this Zhou Xin is, so he has to fall in love with their Cao family.
, if you don’t understand it, it’s like it’s stuck in your throat.
Chen Wen thought it was right, told him to be careful, and agreed. This Chen Wen is not a fuel-efficient lamp. It seems that there are hidden stakes in Danyang today.
Cao Zhi entered the inner hall and saw Zhou Cang sitting in the hall. When he saw Cao Zhi, he immediately stood up, cupped his hands and saluted: "Mr. Cao."
"Don't be so jealous, Mr. Cao, don't you call me old? Brothers should be worthy of each other!" As soon as Cao Zhi finished speaking, Zhou Cang also laughed.
Zhou Cang was originally a subordinate of the Yellow Turban leader Ren Digong General Zhang Bao and a native of Danyang. After the failure of the Yellow Turban Uprising, he lived in the rivers and lakes and screamed at Woniu Mountain. When Chen Wen was wiping out the remnants of the Yellow Turban thieves in his jurisdiction, he met Zhou Cang and captured him alive. Chen Wen saw that he was loyal by nature and kept his promises. Afterwards, he persuaded him to surrender and accepted him as a subordinate. In these years, Zhou Cangchang lived around Chen Wen, followed Chen Wen through life and death, and gained Chen Wen's trust.
People with this kind of martial arts background are all about being honest and sincere, and they are not used to being polite. If Zhou Cang hadn't been in an official family this time, he wouldn't have been so hypocritical.
"How is the Prefect's Mansion?" Cao Zhi asked.
"I haven't done much in the past few days." Zhou Cang replied easily.
"Where is Zhou Xin?" Cao Zhi asked.
"I'm in the house, I don't go out much recently." Zhou Cang said.
"Well! Are you ready?" Cao Zhi asked, holding the water bowl and taking a sip of hot water.
"It's all prepared. I'll prepare as many men and horses as you want." Zhou Cang said carefully.
"No need, just the few I brought are enough. It's not a war." Cao Zhi patted Zhou Cang on the shoulder and said with a smile.
"But... Lord Chen has an order for me to serve Zhou Quan. If we break into the prefect's mansion this night, we must be careless..." Zhou Cang said in great horror.
"Hahaha... I'm not going to kill people or set fires, I'm just going to take a look." Cao Zhi said with a smile.
"But, but..." Zhou Cang was a little anxious.
There could be no further words, so Cao Zhi quickly responded, "Oh! Let's do this! You prepare four fast horses and wait in the North Alley of the Prefect's Mansion on the fourth watch to meet me." As he spoke, Cao Zhi did not wait for Zhou Cang's reaction, but came out. The room goes away.
At night, the north wind was blowing hard and the snow was falling so hard that I couldn't even keep my eyes open. On watch, the night watchman didn't know where the cat was and was secretly drinking wine.
In a private house not far from the Danyang Prefect's Mansion, four black figures were sitting quietly, motionless and silent. For some reason, they thought they were four corpses.
Just after the third watch, one of the four people shouted "Let's go" and the four of them acted in unison. They each carried their bags, opened the back window and jumped out. The four of them, all wearing white cloaks, quickly disappeared into the falling snow.