Xihe County is a large county located at the junction of Bingzhou and Yongzhou. It is located in the southwest of Xihe County and close to the border of Yongzhou. There is a small city called Shilou. Although it is a small town, because it is close to the border, Shilou City
The city defense is also quite large-scale. Cao Wei has a garrison of 3,000 people in this city, which is equal to the garrison of Xihe County, which shows that Cao Wei attaches great importance to this city.
As for the Western Qin, it seemed that they knew that Shilou City was difficult to fight, so in the past few years, except for the sneak attack by Zhao Yun when the Guandong princes alliance was fighting against the Western Qin, they had never attacked this small city again.
In the past ten years or so, the people of Shilou have been living and working in peace and contentment. In addition, as it is the intersection between the two countries, there are also many merchants coming and going, and it has gradually become a prosperous city.
The general guarding this city is Xiahou Mao, the son of Cao Wei general Xiahou Dun. When Xiahou Dun died in the battle in Shangjun, Cao Cao took even greater care of the heirs left by Xiahou Dun. His eldest son Xiahou Chong was named the governor of Yanmen, and this son is
This Xiahou Mao, but Xiahou Mao's ability is far inferior to that of his elder brother Xiahou Chong. Therefore, even if Cao Cao favored him, he could not raise his official position too high, so he demoted Xiahou Mao to
Bingzhou. The governor of Bingzhou is Xiahou Heng, the eldest son of Xiahou Yuan, who is also the cousin of Xiahou Dun. The generals Xiahou Ba and Xiahou Cheng of Bingzhou are also cousins of Xiahou Dun. If Cao Cao wants to come, they will definitely look at Xiahou Dun.
In order to save his face, he took more care of Xia Houmao.
However, Cao Cao did not calculate that although Xiahou Mao was not very capable, he was very arrogant and did not have a good relationship with his own brothers, let alone Xiahouhui and other cousins. When he first arrived in Bingzhou, Xiahou
Mao offended these brothers many times, and was finally driven to this stone building by Xia Houheng.
However, Xia Houmao still didn't learn his lesson. In his opinion, Xia Houheng and others were jealous of his talents and that's why they made things difficult for him. So after he arrived at Shilou, he made his own decisions and changed Shilou's talents.
The defenders were all replaced, and they insisted on making some achievements to show to Xia Houheng and others.
The biggest impact of Xia Houmao's actions was naturally on the defenders of Shilou City! According to the new military law formulated by Xia Houmao, the defenders had to take turns on duty for twelve hours. This was a hard time for the defenders.
The soldiers in the army did not get enough rest every day and had to rush to work. The sun was high in the sky, but the soldiers guarding the city gate were all dozing off with their spears in their hands.
"Drive! Drive! Give way! Please give way!" A shout rang out, which made the defenders subconsciously open their eyes, raised their heads and looked towards the city gate.
A convoy came outside the city gate. There were about three or four carriages. The carriages were piled high, but they were tightly wrapped in coarse cloth. I don’t know what was inside. But it was noon now, so I couldn’t go in or out.
There were too many people at the city gate, and the convoy was blocked at the city gate by the people. It was unable to enter the city for a while, so the men driving the car started to complain.
"What's going on? Who are you? Stop! Stop! Stop!" One of the several garrison soldiers at the gate of the city was an officer. He was having a good dream just now, and then he dreamed that he married the man on the street next door.
My beautiful lady was about to have her wedding, but she was woken up so abruptly. Naturally, she felt very unhappy. She stopped in front of the carriage and shouted loudly.
After being stopped by the officer, the convoy that had finally squeezed out from the people coming in and out could only stop. The driver of the first carriage was a stout man in his forties or fifties, wearing a tattered short coat.
, wearing a certain broken straw hat on his head, he looked like a coolie. Seeing the officer blocking the front, the man quickly shouted at the top of his voice: "Sir! We are a caravan and we are going to Taiyuan! This time
I was passing by here to rest for the night! Please be kind, sir! Make way for me!"
Hearing the man's words, mixed with some foreign accents, he sounded a bit like someone from outside the customs. However, the officer did not doubt it. There were more merchants from outside the customs in Shilou City every day, so they were not surprised. However,
However, the officer did not just let him go. Instead, he shouted with a straight face: "What nonsense! If I tell you to stop, just stop! Someone is here! Search!"
"Here!" After the officer made such a fuss, the other garrison soldiers naturally couldn't sleep. They came up with long guns and surrounded the convoy. The people nearby saw it and hid aside.
.The people do not fight with the officials. This is the rule for the common people to survive.
Surrounded by these soldiers, the people in the convoy panicked and got off the carriage one after another. There were actually more than 20 people, all of them big and thick men. The driver who spoke before also jumped out of the carriage in a hurry and said to
The officers and a group of soldiers worshiped: "Everyone! Military lords! Hands up! Hands up! This little man's car is full of valuable food. You can't open it! If you open it, it will be easily broken when exposed to the sun.
The little people are still counting on this batch of goods to support their families! Please, military masters, please leave a way for the little people to survive!"
"What nonsense are you talking about! Why are you still standing there? Search for me!" The officer didn't care about the other party's life and death. He pushed the driver away and with a wave of his hand, he ordered his soldiers to come up.
Search the car before!
"Sir! Please!" The driver fell to the ground after being pushed by the officer. The men behind the driver quickly helped him up, and several of them even flashed their faces.
Feeling a trace of anger, he was about to rush forward, but was stopped by the driver. The driver winked at the men, then knelt down in front of the officer, cried, and said
: "What are you doing there stupidly? Kneel down! Please plead with the military men!"
The driver seemed to be a young man. When he shouted, the more than 20 men only hesitated for a moment, and then immediately knelt down and begged for mercy in unison. The officer was just a small member of the defenders.
As a military attache, he usually only had to grovel to others. How could he receive such good treatment? For a moment, the military attache was in a state of elation, and the previous unhappiness disappeared with it.
However, the officer was not so easy to fool. He still kept a straight face and shouted to the driver: "Do you really think that all the food in the car is food? Humph! No! I have been ordered by the Lord to guard the city gate and must find out what happened in the past.
People! You must search! Do it!"
"Here!" Immediately, a soldier who was closest to the carriage reached out and grabbed the coarse cloth covering the goods. The man next to him, with quick eyes and quick hands, immediately grabbed the soldier's hand and stopped the soldier's movements.
He stopped. When the officer saw it, he immediately shouted angrily: "How brave! Do you want to rebel?"
"Ouch!" The driver hurriedly stepped forward and said to the officer: "Sir, please calm down! Sir, please calm down! He is a boy raised in a villain's family, and he is born with a weak brain! He just thinks about the goods.
I definitely didn’t mean to offend the military master! Please don’t be offended!” As he said that, the driver slowly approached the officer, flicked his left hand on the officer’s sleeve very carefully, and handed the sling of money to him very lightly.
Got into the officer's cuff.
In fact, the officer had no intention of embarrassing this convoy, it was just to extort some money from the other party. Now that the other party took the bait, the officer weighed his wrists, but his face was stern and he said nothing. But the driver saw it.
, and immediately understood what the officer meant, and said to the officer with a smile on his face: "I really admire you for working so hard to keep our people safe!" After that, he reached out and flicked another sling of money.
Sent into the officer's other cuff.
The officer weighed his sleeves again, and then showed a satisfied smile, nodded, and glared at the driver, but since the other party was so good, he had no reason to embarrass the other party again, and immediately hummed: "I think you are too
Honest businessmen! The world is tough. You should do your business well and don't cause trouble! Come to the city quickly! Don't block the city gate again! Otherwise, be careful, I will arrest you and put you in jail for a few days.
sky!"
"Yes, yes!" Seeing the other party letting him go, the driver quickly nodded and bowed, and gestured to the men behind him. The men immediately sat back on their carriages, and drove the carriage together with the driver.
Then we headed into the city. As soon as the convoy left, the originally tightly blocked city gate immediately became empty, and the people watching the excitement resumed their previous itinerary and were busy with their own livelihoods.
.
"Sir! How many benefits did you get just now?" After maintaining order for a while, the soldiers immediately gathered around and looked at the officer's cuffs with a smile. Everyone saw the scene just now, everyone
They are clear in their hearts, and since the officers have benefited from it, they will naturally not eat alone, and they will also have a little bit of oil and water!
"Don't worry! I can't do without you!" The officer glared at his subordinates, but he had already made a plan in his heart. He would just take out a bunch of money to divide it up later, and he would use the rest of the money to hack it.
! Although the money is nothing in the eyes of those big shots, in the eyes of people like them who work as errands, it is enough to feed the whole family for a year! This is not a small amount, and when I think about it, I get it for nothing.
There were so many benefits that the officer almost smiled crookedly!
Just as the officers and their subordinates were dividing the bribe money equally, the convoy that had just entered the city had already entered the city quickly. It was twisting and turning in the streets and alleys of the city, and soon it was...
Arriving at an alley, after stopping the carriage, the man who had just stopped the defenders immediately jumped out of the carriage and looked back and forth towards the alley for a moment. To make sure there was no one in the alley, the man
Then he came to the driver, clasped his fists and shouted: "General! There is no one on either side!"