Bend Over [ 折腰 ] - Chapter 87

[Chapter 86]

Huai River converges to the northwest corner of Xiaodi, and there is a ten-mile dike called Anle, which was built several decades ago.

Although the Han Dynasty was in decline at that time, the imperial power still existed. Whenever the Huai River flooded, it was relying on this dike to protect the seventy-two villages in eight counties downstream, including Xiaodi. In order to commemorate the prefect, the local people named the dike with the name of the guardian “Anle”.

The Anleyan has been washed by the Huai River for decades. Now, although it has gradually aged and fallen into disrepair, if the Huai River swells, there will be occasional small leaks, but generally it can still withstand.

It is relying on this dike to ensure the safety of the nearby people.

But today, this dike called Anle is no longer Anle.

Beginning yesterday, Xue Tai, the prefect of Xuzhou, pretended to continue besieging the city to confuse Yang Xin, but secretly sent two generals under his command, Cao Xu and Zhang Biao, to quietly detour here with a thousand soldiers and horses, expelling a large number of civilians to dig along the back slope. dike.

These villagers are all local people and were forcibly driven out. He knew that if the dams were destroyed, the ocean would be poured into the soup, the Huai River would be poured back, and the farmland downstream would all be wiped out. What is even more frightening is that once the required one-mile-long battle is dug up, the Huai River will immediately pour in. How can these two-legged civilians escape the torrential flood? Therefore, since yesterday, the people have been begging continuously. However, Cao Xu and Zhang Biao were willing to listen, and those who refused to listen and argued for it were all killed with one sword and thrown into Huai Shui. The rest of the villagers swallowed their anger and dared not resist, and were forced to use pickaxes to dig dams. Although the weather is cold and freezing, today, the originally intact dike has been dug along the back slope of a long ditch that stretches for a mile. Huai water may spew in from these weak spots at any time, and the situation is precarious. .

Near the dike, many villagers who came to hear the news gradually gathered. They all burst into tears and knelt down and pleaded. Cao Xu and Zhang Biao turned a deaf ear. While ordering the soldiers to beat the villagers away, they whipped the villagers who did not dare to dig any further and stopped their picks one after another.

Under An Ledi, scolding and shouting were mixed together, and the scene gradually became chaotic.

Xue Tai gave Cao Xu and Zhang Biao a death order. In any case, he had to dig up the breach before it got dark today, and take advantage of the night to climb to the high ground. Seeing that the sun was slowly sloping westward, these villagers actually started to riot, and more and more people gathered nearby. Cao Xu was restless in his heart, and when he saw a grey-haired old man nearby, he was sluggish. He stepped up and kicked the old man to the ground.

Zhang Biao saw that the people nearby stopped one after another, and looked over with frightened eyes, thinking that killing chickens to warn monkeys would be the most effective. Pulling out his saber, he stabbed the old man on the ground amid the exclamations of the crowd.

The arm was about to fall, but was suddenly clamped from behind.

“The general is really majestic, so cruel to an unarmed old man?”

Lei Yan said.

Zhang Biao did not recognize Lei Yan. When I turned around, I saw this man blocking me. Although I was wearing a regular uniform, I could see at a glance that I was from the army, and my arm strength was not small. If he was clamped like this, the knife would not be able to pierce. Said: “Who are you? How dare you interfere in the affairs of my lord?”

Lei Yan sneered: “I invited you to the head, and I will tell you who I am!”

Zhang Biao was furious and struggled to break free from the clamped arms. Swinging the knife and fighting Lei Yan in one place, the soldiers nearby rushed to help, but the two of them were fighting close to each other, and the others couldn’t get in, and they only cheered for Zhang Biao.

After a few rounds, Zhang Biao shouted, and one arm was chopped off.

Zhang Biao fell to the ground, holding his broken arm and screaming in pain. Cao Xu, who came to hear the news, was shocked and hurriedly called the nearby soldiers to surround him.

Lei Yan was not afraid at all, and spread out a piece of Huang Chengcheng’s Wei family talisman in the palm of his hand, shouting: “I am Lei Yan under the tent of Yanhou of the Wei clan of Youzhou! My lord, the prince, led troops to pass here today, and I heard that Xue Tai has no way. In order to fight for a small place, they disregarded the safety of thousands of elders in seventy-two villages in eight counties downstream of the Huai River, and attempted to break the embankment to divert water to carry out inversion! How can we just sit back and ignore it? Villagers should not be afraid! My lord!”

Everyone was shocked and turned their heads to look. I saw a man standing on the top of a hill not far away. The man pressed the sword in one hand, his face solemn. More than ten guards with swords stood neatly behind him. At that time, there was a strong wind, and the corner of his clothes was attacked head-on, and the man’s appearance became more and more majestic.

The Wei family of Youzhou not only resisted the Huns for generations, but in this generation, the Marquis of Yan and Wei Shao successively swallowed Jizhou, merged the state, unified the north, and showed off their power.

Half a year ago, Xue Tai formed an alliance with Chen Xiang to attack Yanzhou. Not wanting to be involved in bad things by Wei Shao, not only broke the covenant, but even the old nest Xuzhou was almost taken away by Yang Xin. The feud between the two has long since settled. It’s just that there was no head-to-head confrontation between the north and the south.

In the past few days, Cao Xu also heard the news that not long ago, Wei Shao’s army won the battle of Shangdang. Unexpectedly, at this moment, why did he actually appear here in person. The reputation of the other party is well known at home and abroad, and Lei Yan said that he would bring troops here. Cao Xu was terrified, and secretly thought that he had only a thousand people. If he really fought, he might not be an opponent at all. It’s better to retreat first, go back and give the lord the news that Wei Shao is quietly leading his troops south.

Cao Xu thought about it, and slowly backed away. When he was a few feet away, he suddenly turned around, got on the horse’s back, and galloped away in the direction of Xiao.

Wei Shao’s expression was condensed and indifferent. He raised his arms to pass a large bow handed by his attendants, drew the bow and arrow, aimed at the back of the horse that was gradually receding, and suddenly let go of the bowstring. Holding a bow and arrow, chasing the wind and electricity, deeply nailed Cao Xu’s heart.

Cao Xu fell off his horse and fell to his death. “I’m Wei Shao

from Youzhou! I’m leading the army here today! Xue Tai has no way, everyone will kill him! You and other soldiers, take off the sword, and you won’t die!”

Word by word came out.

None of the soldiers in Xue Tai’s army did not know the name of Wei Shao in the north. I was shocked to see him suddenly appear here, majestic and overwhelming, and no one dared to step forward. In just a short time, Zhang Biao and Cao Xu were injured and killed. The leader was first lost, and the hearts of the sergeant were swayed later. In addition, many of these sergeants were arrested and forced to join the army at the beginning. Not all of them were vicious people. The soldiers turned around and fled in succession. On the dam, in a blink of an eye, only the people and the people were left. The crowd gathered more and more, and they didn’t know who was in the lead. There were countless people crying bitterly.

Wei Shao got off the stone platform and asked the people to step up and bury the excavated earth for reinforcement. to avoid danger.

Everyone was reminded that under the guidance of the mud maker, they went into battle together. At this moment, a few civilians rushed over, with fear on their faces, saying that water suddenly poured out on the back slope ahead, and the current was quite large, and they thought it was caused by being dug too deep.

Residents on both sides of the Huai River know that once water flows from the back slope, it means that there is a hole in the water on the shore. If the cavity cannot be found and filled in time, the cavity will become larger and larger under hydraulic power, and it is very likely to collapse and burst, which is extremely dangerous.

The people all changed their color and ran away. Seeing the top of the back slope, turbid yellow mud water continued to pour out, and it quickly converged like a stream. Everyone was anxious, and they climbed up the dam to look for a breach. It was just the soup of the river noodle soup. How could they find the undercurrent surging under the water surface?

Among Wei Shao’s entourage, there was a man from Chu in the southern country named Chen Shao, who was proficient in water. Seeing this, he immediately stood up and said, “Junhou, you can tie a rope to the waist at the end, and then you will go into the water to investigate.

” If there is a hole below, the suction is huge. If you let people go down like this, even if you are tied to a rope, if you are sucked into the dark hole by the current, it is extremely dangerous.

When Wei Shao hesitated, an old voice suddenly said behind him: “The old man has a way! You don’t have to let people go into danger!”

Wei Shao turned around and saw an old man in sackcloth dressed as a traveller who was speaking. Carrying a medicine bag on his shoulders, with a childlike face and fluttering white beard, he strode towards Wei Shao. When he came to him, he saw Wei Shao looking at him, but nodded slightly. Drop a heavy object, then sink into the water along the slope of the dam, stick to the slope, and move slowly.

Everyone did as they did, and when they moved slowly, they suddenly felt a bit of a struggle, and the water flow from the water outlet on the back slope also became smaller. Qi Qi cheered, knowing that the loophole was found.

Once the loopholes were found, the mud and water craftsmen had already brought people to fill them. When the loopholes were filled, the water gushing on the back slope gradually disappeared, and the rest of the people continued to go back to bury the earth. Before being forced to dig the ground, everyone was helpless. At this moment, they are scrambling for the first, lest they be one step behind.

…

the danger is removed. Wei Shao turned his head to look in the direction of Jiuli Mountain, and when he hesitated, he saw the old man in linen striding towards him.

The strong wind swept the old man’s white beard, fluttering, with a bit of immortal style.

“The old man is polite, I have seen the prince.” The

old man stopped in front of Wei Shao and said.

Wei Shao saw that this old man was not ordinary, and he had the attitude of an expert outside the world, so he didn’t dare to care for him. Then he bowed to the old man and said, “I don’t know where the old man came from and where he is going. I only depended on the

old man , and I admired it very much.” Guang, smiled and said: “The old man is a little bit through Qihuang, thinking about the suffering of people in the world, so he travels around the world, it can be considered to help the world. A few days ago, I was watching the stars at night, and I saw the four images and three walls lined up in the sky. The Emperor Ziwei is in the middle, Taiwei, The sky is guarded by the city, and the stars are splendid. The old man thought it was a vision, so he came here to search. He happened to hear that there was something different in Anle Diyan, so he found it, and unexpectedly met the prince here. I saw it with my own eyes. There is also benevolence in the heart. All the people in the world have hope from now on.”

When the two of them spoke, some people slowly approached and listened carefully. Hearing the old man’s words, he seemed to understand, but when he heard “Emperor Ziwei”, he seemed to understand, and they all looked at Wei Shao with reverence on their faces, whispering to each other.

Wei Shao’s people are really violent by nature, and there is no compassion in their nature, and even a canthus must be reported. Otherwise, when he was young, he would not have the title of Little Overlord.

Qin lost his deer, and the world chased him away.

Wei Shao is no exception. Since he is in office, he has always had such great ambitions.

Hegemony, and even conquering the world by force, this is his long-cherished ambition.

But over the years, he has also been constantly reminded by Mrs. Xu and advised by Gongsun Yang. As he grew older, he ran around and saw that many people’s livelihood was difficult. He was in a high position and suffered from the people, just like an acquired responsibility. In general, it gradually became more of a concern.

The reason for the temporary change of route today is that, firstly, it is meant to be kind to Yang Xin, and secondly, it is indeed touched by the miserable state of the villagers encountered on the road.

Unexpectedly here, but met such an old man.

He naturally understood the meaning of the old man’s words. Can not help but slightly startled.

After the old man finished speaking, he bowed his head to him, turned around, and strode away like when he came.

Wei Shao looked at his back and couldn’t help but ask, “I dare to ask the old man, my honorable name, can I see you again?”

“This old man has been a disciple for one or three months, and now he is under the command of the prince. If he is destined to do so, he will When I see you again, I hope you will live up to what the old man sees today, and if he will benefit the people in the future, the world will be very fortunate!” The old man did not look back, his voice wafted in the wind, his linen sleeves fluttered, and his figure soon disappeared. In a wilderness on the banks of the Huai River.

[End of This Chapter]