Three Kingdoms

"Hehehe..." Ma Yue, who was standing on the observation deck of Tongguan City, looked at the Cao army camp in Niutouyuan across the way with his telescope, and couldn't help but laugh out loud, "This thief Cao really thinks I am so stupid?" 』

 The key to a telescope is not crystal, glass, or polishing technology.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, ancient craftsmen already had quite superb polishing techniques. Whether they were polishing crystals or polishing bronze mirrors, they could achieve a very smooth finish. However, this does not mean that with these techniques, Make a telescope.

 The focus is still on the issue of focus and optical axis. Convex lenses and concave lenses seem to be very common items in the industrial system of later generations and are sold everywhere. However, nowadays, it is extremely difficult to obtain a standard convex lens or concave lens. Therefore, although Huang's workshop has made several telescopes, this hand-made process cannot be mass-produced at all, and the output is extremely unstable. Sometimes one or two can be produced a year, and sometimes many in a row are scraps. , they don’t match together anyway.

The telescope in Ma Yue's hand is one of the fairly good finished products.

Although there are still big problems compared with later generations of monocular telescopes, and the image is blurred due to the impure texture of crystal and glass, it is undoubtedly a huge improvement compared to just seeing with eyesight.

Ma Yue looked at it and laughed, "Old thief Cao Jun, what a generous act..."

 Speaking, Ma Yue handed the monocular to Zhu Ling.

Zhu Ling took it and squinted one eye. Perhaps because he was worried that he would crush the copper tube too hard, he did not dare to put all his fingers on the monocular telescope. He just held it with his thumb, index and middle fingers and brought it close to his eyes. look.

 In the midst of blurring and blurring, it took a while to adjust, and the vision became more or less clear.

 The soldiers of Cao's army within sight were very happy. They seemed to be eating, drinking and playing all the time, coming and going. The aroma of wine and meat seemed to float to Tongguan...

 In the New Year, isn’t it normal to eat a little and drink a little?

 What is abnormal is this place.

 This is Tongguan, a battlefield.

 So the relaxed and happy scene that Cao Jun presented on the surface was somewhat abrupt.

The battle at Tongguan was far from the time when Cao Jun could feast and celebrate. Now he acted like he had won a great victory, turning a blind eye to the corpses piled up in Tongguan and the trenches.

"It must be to lure us into a sneak attack..." Zhu Ling looked at it, not focusing on those Cao Jun soldiers eating and drinking, but looking further away, "There is no noise in Cao Jun's rear camp, but there is Dust...this Cao army must be ambushed behind..."

　　　『The thief Cao underestimated Yu too much! Ma Yue smiled and said, "How can I succeed in this mere strategy of luring troops?" 』

 Zhu Ling stood aside, silent, and did not speak immediately.

 It is a strategy to lure troops, there is no doubt about this.

Cao Jun was definitely not as relaxed as he appeared on the surface, so there must be something wrong with showing off in front of the Tongguan garrison to celebrate the New Year and eat and drink. But as Ma Yue said, it was simply to lure the Tongguan garrison to attack. ?

If the Tongguan defenders did not attack, wouldn't it be in vain?

Could Cao Jun really make such a plan that is obvious at a glance?

 Zhu Ling expressed doubts, but he couldn't say anything to Ma Yue. After all, Ma Yue was the guard of Tongguan.

"It's better to report this matter to Pang Lingjun for a decision..." Zhu Ling returned the telescope to Ma Yue, hesitated and said, "In case Cao Jun has other plans..."

Ma Yue glanced sideways at Zhu Ling, then went to the telescope and stared at Cao Jun's camp. After a while, he said, "That's fine." 』

 …

 …

Tongguan is very close to Chang'an, and the horse arrived in a blink of an eye, and the letter was delivered to Pang Tong.

Pang Tong looked at it and then handed the letter to Fei Zhen.

After Feizhen read it, he gave it to Xun You.

 The three of them were silent for a while.

Pang Tong and Xun You are more like cabinet members. When there is any problem, the two of them will discuss some strategies. Feizhen doesn't express any opinions most of the time. With his current age and experience, it is difficult for him to make any amazing decisions, but the nominal decision is still made by him.

Feizhen rolled her eyes, then walked aside personally, poured a cup of hot tea for Pang Tong and Xun You, and then brought it to their desks, as if they were their students.

Pang Tong bowed, while Xun You stood up and thanked him.

Pang Tong held the tea and said with a smile: "Master, don't blame me, I'm too fat...I'm not rude..."

Feizhen also held the tea and said, "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. After drinking the tea I brought, you just have to work harder." 』

Pang Tong laughed, and Xun You laughed too.

 It's just that Xun You's smile is just like his etiquette. There is nothing wrong with it, but it is not harmonious enough.

Pang Tong’s eyes moved slightly and he gestured to Feizhen.

Feizhen understood and said to Xun You: "Xun Lingjun, is this Cao army's New Year's banquet for the soldiers to lure our army to attack?" 』

Xun You nodded and said, "Young Master is very worried." 』

 ‘So what’s so special about it? Feizhen asked.

 Fei Zhen now has a higher level understanding of Cao Cao's campaign.

 Not a battle, but a battle, not a tactic, but a strategy.

 This is an inevitable choice for those in high positions.

Every day in the court hall of the Huqi Mansion, Feizhen would listen to Pang Tong and Xun You's discussions and handling of various civil and military issues.

After Feizhen returned, she had to record these proposals and then add her own thoughts. At the beginning, most of Feizhen's answers were problematic, but as time went by, Feizhen Zhen thought about these solutions to the problem and began to take shape.

Of course, there is still a big gap between Feizhen and the sophisticated strategies of Pang Tong, Xun You and others, but this gap is already shortening. Just as Feizhen saw this change in Cao Jun, she also first thought of Cao Jun's attempt to lure him. Just like a soldier, I don’t think that Cao Jun is full of food...

 War and death will naturally promote human beings’ self-maturity.

When a child has parents, he will always call his parents when he encounters a problem. But when he realizes that his parents are not around, he can only cry and grit his teeth to solve the problem, no matter how old the child is. Still five years old, it doesn't matter whether the problem is tidying up crops or tidying up clothes.

Xun You pondered for a while, nodded and said: "Actually, Cao Jun... this strategy is indeed quite clever... Young Master, most of Cao Jun's soldiers are from Shandong. The New Year is here, and homesickness is inevitable. This round of labor, cattle and wine, can be easily relieved." home sick…"

"So..." Feizhen rolled her eyes, "Should we send someone to sing some Shandong songs?" 』

 Xun You was stunned for a moment.

Pang Tong laughed heartily on the sidelines.

Xun You couldn't help but laugh and said: "Young Master's plan... is unique... but people from Chu are not the only ones in Shandong..."

Being surrounded on all sides is a very good strategy, and it is also a well-known psychological tactic, but it cannot be used in every situation.

Although Xiang Yu and Cao Cao are both Shandong Allied Forces in name, on the one hand, Cao Cao's army has not yet reached the point where Xiang Yu was at the end of his rope, and on the other hand, the composition of the upper and lower ranks of Cao Cao's army is not consistent with Xiang Yu's at that time.

Xiang Yu's core force at that time was the children of the old Chu, and the other old nobles of the six Shandong kingdoms also commanded their own soldiers. So in fact, Xiang Yu's only troops that could be said to be unique were the soldiers directly under the Jiangdong children, and the rest were all in an alliance, so he was besieged on all sides. Remarkable.

Cao Cao built a solid core of middle- and upper-level generals with the Cao family and the Xiahou family. In addition, Cao Cao's core force consisted of soldiers from Qiao County and Qingzhou soldiers. So should he sing Qiao County songs or recite Qingzhou folk songs?

After Xun You explained a little, Feizhen understood and said quickly: "Ah, I thought wrong...Thank you for your advice..."

Feizhen was very smooth when admitting her mistakes and was not shy at all.

Xun You responded humbly, saying that you don't need to be polite, sir.

 Etiquette is the lubricant of interpersonal relationships.

Pang Tong said from the side: "This is Cao's demonstration." 』

　　　『 Demonstration? ” Feizhen frowned.

Pang Tong nodded and touched his thick chin. I don't know if it's because the flesh on his chin is too thick, but Pang Tong doesn't have a lot of beard on his chin. There are only a few sparse beards, which can't be compared with Xun You's beautiful beard. But Pang Tong obviously didn't care about this either. There was a sharpness in his eyes, and he said slowly: "The family in Shandong is very rich..."

　　　　Does Shandong have a strong family background? But..." Feizhen felt confused again, "But didn't Uncle Shiyuan say before that Shandong's economy has... Oh, by the way, the Cao family is the Cao family, and Shandong is Shandong, each is different..."

Pang Tong nodded, "Young master, these words hit the point." 』

Feizhen also learned to hold his chin, but there was nothing on his chin, so he seemed unable to come up with any good ideas.

Pang Tong said that Cao Cao was demonstrating. This seems difficult to understand. How can he still demonstrate when he has been beaten like this?

 What kind of power do you show?

 However, as Pang Tong said, it was a demonstration.

 War is a big gamble, and lives and resources are bets on both sides of the gambling table.

Even though Cao Cao obviously made no progress, he still held a large-scale public banquet. In addition to luring the enemy on the surface, and secretly gathering and calming the morale of the army, there was also a second layer of meaning, which was a demonstration.

It's like Cao Cao patting the gambling table and sneering to say that I have a lot of money, people and things, so I can afford to lose!

 Where is the Qiusi here?

 Just one Tongguan, or in other words, just one Guanzhong, if you lose, you will be doomed.

Shandong’s advantage is that it has a large population, so Shandong has a large financial and food base.

The economy of Cao Cao's political group is not good, but it does not mean that all the gentry children in Shandong are so poor that they can't even afford to wear trousers. In history, Cao Cao issued prohibition orders several times in order to reserve more grain. However, the Shandong gentry children were obviously not happy. They had so much grain that they had no place to use it. If it was not used to make wine, would it be possible to sell it to Cao Cao at a low price?

 Coupled with the habit of eating Mao Liang during the Yin period...

And it’s really just that Yin eats Mao grain, which is still good. Some dynasties can even eat lunch grain, Shen grain, Hai grain, and they can eat it until the next round...

Even if you can't hold it anymore, change the year and issue new banknotes or something. If ten coins are not enough, you can issue them as one hundred coins. If that doesn't work, you can also issue them as two hundred coins or five hundred coins. You can also issue them as five hundred coins. Eat some...

 Until the entire credit system collapses.

 But has the Han credit system in Shandong collapsed now?

It collapsed but not completely, and even Pang Tong couldn't tell when it would completely collapse. It couldn't be precise to a certain day, so Cao Cao could still hold on and drink poisonous wine to his heart's content.

Feizhen said hesitantly: "How about...we also hold a banquet on Tongguan?" 』

Pang Tong nodded, then shook his head, "Although it is effective, it is still a way to deal with it... But is there a better way?" You know, this Cao Jun's act of laboring has a third level of meaning..."

the third floor?

Feizhen looked at Pang Tong, who was laughing, and then at Xun You, who was smiling and saying nothing, and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Pang Tong sat aside, squinting and smiling. People who are familiar with him will know that Pang Tong is probably thinking of some crooked idea, but this time, no one can really think of this crooked idea...

 …

 …

"Boss..." In the darkness, a young voice sounded behind Zhu Ling, "Why don't you bring a big yellow crossbow this time?" That thing is so easy to use...it shoots far and hard..."

Following Zhu Ling, several crouching figures also raised their ears. After all, the last time Zhu Ling led them to disturb Cao Hong with the big yellow crossbow still made them excited when he mentioned it.

Zhu Ling did not look back, nor did he scold the soldiers behind him for talking too much. Instead, he said in a very low voice: "That thing is too big and inconvenient to carry...and there are so many things we can use. No one said it was necessary." The big yellow crossbow can attack at night..."

 After speaking, Zhu Ling turned sideways, put his ear to the ground and listened.

In the newspaper of the Jiangwu Hall, there are also articles discussing the art of earth listening, and they also give it a name called "the art of listening". It is said that those old horse thieves in Xiliang can even hear the sound of horse hooves twenty miles away, and can also report a clear value... Of course, if the number exceeds a certain limit, they will not be able to hear clearly, but the approximate number will not be wrong.

 Zhu Ling doesn't have that strong ability, but he can still listen to what's going on around him.

Seeing Zhu Ling lying on the ground and listening quietly, the soldiers around him also closed their mouths and even breathed lightly.

After a while, Zhu Ling slowly raised his head and signaled slightly, "Cao Jun's patrol is coming... There are not many people in that direction... Be prepared..."

Zhu Ling and others had just followed the cut surface of Linzhi Plateau to descend the gap between the soil plateaus, and then climbed up to Niutou Plateau through the folded bamboo ladder with nails.

 The movement is small and relatively hidden.

The iron nails on the branches of bamboo ladders look like long centipedes, so they are also called centipede ladders.

This kind of centipede ladder can be fixed on the rock wall with softer soil by using the iron nails on the ladder itself, such as Niutou Plateau and Linzhi Plateau, which are basically loess structures.

 It’s just that this thing is not a stable structure after all, and its endurance is average. It will inevitably loosen after being used by multiple people or stepped on, and there will be a risk of overall collapse.

There are a lot of weird inventions like this in Huang's workshop in Chang'an.

For example, there are support ladders, rope ladders, etc.

 Every year during the craftsman evaluation, some craftsmen will be rewarded for these inventions, and of course some craftsmen who try to get by will be caught and punished. What's interesting is that most of the guys who tried to fool around at first were doing it for money, but now some are taking risks because they want to get higher official positions...

 Zhu Ling and others were crawling on the ground, and the sound of footsteps in the distance gradually became clearer.

The patrolling soldiers of Cao's army marched forward along the chasm with torches in their hands.

 This is a routine inspection.

Cao Jun's inspection of the Niutouyuan divide will be relatively relaxed than on the other side of the river.

Because in the understanding of most Cao Jun soldiers, no one can climb up this gap. Although there are some stones on the 80- to 90-degree earth wall, they will become loose if stepped on. Unless holes are drilled on it and wooden frames and wooden boards are put on it, otherwise How to climb? So on the contrary, the Tongguandu area will be monitored more closely.

After all, Tongguan Ferry only needs one boat to go down the river. If you don’t pay attention to the return trip, you can land at any suitable place...

　　　　嗖嗖嗖! 』

The bowstring sounded, and the sound of arrows piercing the air sounded particularly sad.

 The three or four soldiers of Cao's army who were at the front were shot to the ground before they had time to react.

The torch fell to the ground, and the light and shadow shrank in an instant.

The night sky with no moon and only stars did not provide enough illumination. Being caught off guard, Cao's soldiers had no time to make any more moves, and they did not even know where the attackers were.

At first, Cao Jun's soldiers thought they were hit by the super long-range crossbows of Linzhiyuan on the opposite side, so their first reaction was to throw their shields to the side of Linzhiyuan, but soon they discovered the direction of their defense. Something went wrong because the arrow was coming from the direction of their butts.

 How is this possible? !

The frightened patrol soldier of Cao Jun lay prone on the ground, squirming, trying to touch the warning gong on the body of Cao Jun who was shot dead in front of him. However, before he could touch it, his buttocks were lifted up due to the irregular squatting posture. I was hit by an arrow shot by an unknown person...

　　ε＝ε＝ε＝(#>Д≦)　

The unlucky soldiers of Cao's army screamed and instinctively rushed forward. However, they stepped on the floating soil on the edge of the chasm, and fell down with a long tail sound. Then with a thud, they fell silent.

Zhu Ling appeared in the darkness, "Who shot that arrow just now?" 』

"Uh...it's me..." A slightly timid voice sounded. It was the young soldier who had just asked why he didn't bring a big yellow crossbow.

 Zhu Ling put away the bow and put it on his back again, "Good shot!" Haha, the barbarians have eagle-shooting skills. Look at you...this is a bald-shooting skill! 』

　　　『Pffff… Shooting a vulture and shooting a penis, it’s almost the same when you think about it…』

　　　『This is a good name, but it makes people feel scared when they hear it…』

"hehe…"

 There was a burst of echoing laughter from the surrounding area.

Zhu Ling looked up at the direction of Cao Jun's camp and waved his hand. He deliberately joked and joked in order to make his soldiers relax. "Okay, let's get down to business... Cao Jun was probably alerted... hurry up and set up... we Give Prime Minister Cao a New Year's gift... What the **** is this thing... You all have to be careful..."