Cui Yan revealed his identity to Sun Qing, but Sun Qing did not dare to neglect him. On the one hand, he ordered people to report to Zhang Yan quickly, and on the other hand, he sent Cui Yan to Changshan to meet Zhang Yan.
Cui Yan wandered around the mountains with the Montenegrin soldiers for more than ten days. Along the way, he saw only traffic and densely populated areas in the valley. The people of Montenegro worked at sunrise and rested at sunset. It was like a paradise scene.
In addition, there are soldiers and horses stationed outside each valley, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack. The number of soldiers ranges from hundreds to thousands. It is thought that there are no less than a hundred such valleys in the continuous Taihang Mountains.
Cui Yan secretly admired Zhang Yan in his heart. Zhang Yan had been entrenched in the Taihang Mountains for several years, and the government was unable to conquer it. Zhang Yan in Heishan was indeed famous.
On this day, Cui Yan came to a huge valley with a radius of nearly ten miles. Compared with other valleys before, this place not only occupies a large area, but also has many soldiers and horses. At the entrance of the valley, a gate wall, watchtower, and arrows were built with huge trees.
The tower is fully equipped, with hundreds of heavily armed Montenegrin troops patrolling inside and outside the gate and walls. It is heavily guarded and looks like a military fortress.
It can be said that Zhang Yan's Black Mountain Army has completely separated from the wandering and plundering bandits of Dudu and Bailuo, and has gradually transformed into one that focuses on farming and plundering as a supplement. It has a very cohesive army and is able to rule the roost.
A separatist force on one side.
Cui Yan entered the valley and heard the rumble of horse hooves in the distance. Thousands of cavalry were shouting and honing their riding skills. Nearby, nearly 10,000 infantry were lining up in a neat square formation, holding spears in their hands, practicing their assassination skills.
"Could it be that he wants to give someone a blow?" Cui Yan's heart moved. He already understood it in his heart. With a calm expression on his face, he followed the leader straight into Zhang Yan's army.
When I arrived outside the Chinese army's tent, I saw hundreds of swordsmen and axemen standing outside the tent. These swordsmen and axemen stood on the left and right sides. They were all tall and strong, facing fiercely. Each of them had a big ax in his hand, with an ax blade.
Sharp, gleaming with chills in the winter sunshine.
Seeing Cui Yan approaching, these axemen didn't know who shouted the order. With a swipe sound, the axes intersected. From Cui Yan's position to the Chinese army's tent, a passage composed of axes was immediately formed!
Under the big curtain, a thirty-year-old middle-aged man with a strong appearance and a capable aura, twirling his short beard with his hands, was looking at him with a sneer.
Cui Yan was calm and composed, smiled slightly, and raised his voice: "Is this the way your General Zhang treats guests?" After saying that, he did not lower his head, as if he regarded these axes as nothing, and straightened his back and walked forward.
go!
The intersection height of the big axes is very low, and Cui Yan is about eight feet tall. If he goes straight forward, he will inevitably hit the ax body in front of him. If he is not careful, he will easily be cut by the sharp ax blade. However, Cui Yan suddenly seems to
Before I knew it, I walked forward with a smile on my face!
The two swordsmen and axemen standing in the front row suddenly panicked. The commander asked them to set up a large array of axes and axes in front of the Chinese army's tent. Of course, he wanted to give the giant deer envoy a show of strength, but he did not order them to kill him.
Afraid of being blamed by the commander, the two swordsmen quickly exchanged glances and involuntarily raised their axes to continue!
Someone took the lead, and the people behind naturally followed suit. Cui Yan strode forward, avoiding the ax on his head. After walking for more than 20 steps, the middle-aged short-bearded general under the curtain walked out of the tent with a bad expression.
He snorted coldly and said: "You guys will step down and get twenty military sticks each. Humph! A bunch of useless things!"
More than a hundred strong people retreated, and Cui Yan felt that the front of him was bright. Looking carefully, he saw a man standing under the tent who was about seven feet tall, with a short and stocky build, and a fierce look on his face.
Cui Yan adjusted his appearance, stepped forward and bowed his hands in greeting: "Cui Yan, who is under Zhang Liao's tent, Julu Prefect, has met General Zhang."
A smile flashed across the corner of the tough middle-aged man's mouth, he raised his hand and said in return: "The marshal is in the tent. I am Wang Dang, a pawn in the marshal's tent. Mr. Cui, please follow me in."
This man was rough on the outside but fine on the inside, and he actually deceived himself! Cui Yan didn't have a fit, and followed Wang Dang in with his face as usual. Wang Dang took a peek and saw Cui Yan, tall and tall, with a righteous look on his face. He couldn't help but be secretly surprised.
After entering the tent, Cui Yan saw a man standing with his back behind his back and his hands behind his back. Cui Yan couldn't see his appearance clearly, but he was eight feet tall, with a slender body and an ape-like back. Looking up with his hands behind his back, he faintly exuded an aura of warmth.
majesty.
What made Cui Yan even more suspicious was that where this person was looking was actually a topographic map of the mountains and rivers of Hebei and the two states.
There is no doubt that this person is Zhang Yan. Cui Yan straightened his clothes, bowed and said: "Cui Yan, who is under Zhang Liao, the prefect of Julu, has met General Zhang."
The man had heard the footsteps and turned around slowly. His face looked very ordinary, but his eyes were as bright as cold stars, as if he had infinite energy. His body always maintained a tall and straight posture, like a star.
The vigorous pines and cypresses express their majesty in every move.
He looked at Cui Yan intently and was also surprised (no way, Cui Yan was a standard handsome man in the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao even asked him to pretend to be himself to receive foreign envoys) and said lightly: "Why did your general ask you to come?
?”
Cui Yan, who was neither humble nor arrogant, found a seat next to him and sat down, calmly saying:
"Yan is here to give the general a fortune as ordered by the lord."
Seeing that Cui Yan was doing it without asking, Zhang Yan didn't take it seriously. She sat down and said calmly: "Oh, sir, come and listen to me?"
Cui Yan also had a calm face and said: "My lord has heard for a long time that General Zhang has great talent and great strategy, with a hundred thousand armors and a thousand good generals. He admired him in his heart but refused to see him, so he ordered me to come to visit him. When we meet for the first time, it is not respectful to ask for a small courtesy." He said.
Then he took out a square object wrapped in silk from his arms.
In this era, how could an official not have seen this? Zhang Yan could tell at a glance that it was a seal, and pretended to be confused: "Oh? Could it be that your lord wants to give me the Julu County as a meeting gift?"
Cui Yan's expression did not change, he looked directly at Zhang Yan, and said with a faint smile: "General Zhang's statement is totally wrong. General Zhang has a hundred thousand armor. If he only cares about Julu County, is this his only ambition? That's it.
, my lord may be exaggerating."
"How dare you! How dare you disrespect the commander!" Wang Dang, the young commander, shouted loudly and grasped the sword at his waist.
A sharp light flashed in Zhang Yan's eyes, but it disappeared in an instant. He said with great interest: "Oh? How does your master evaluate XX?"
Cui Yan said: "My lord has said that General Zhang is very brave and courageous. He conquers Taihang and controls the west and east. He plans to merge with Hebei and recruit millions of refugees. The soldiers under his command are brave and his attack should not be taken lightly."
Zhang Yan laughed heartily and said: "Hahaha! Zhang Wenyuan is a young hero, how can Yan deserve such ridiculous praise from him! Mr. Cui, please tell me what kind of gift your master has given you!"
Cui Yan smiled faintly and said: "There is no one else but the eight counties of Bingzhou!" After saying this, he presented the seal and ribbon to Zhang Yan.
"Bingzhou?" Zhang Yan opened the baggage, and sure enough there was a gold seal inside, about four inches wide. It was the official seal of the governor of Bingzhou that Yuan Shao had privately engraved and asked Xin Ping to give to Wenyuan.