Chapter Thirty-Nine: Lacking Horses

  The fifth year of Jian'an, September 11th, outside the West City Suspension Bridge Gate of Nandun County.

  The 50,000 elite soldiers of the Yuan army were well-fed and well-equipped, with enough food and water, their armor shining brightly, holding spears and swords in unison, facing the strong wind, majestically preparing to march towards Ru Nan.

  A group of officials in the county town stood in two rows outside the city gate, silently bowing their heads to see off Yuan's army. Each and every one of them had a solemn expression, with a hint of reluctance on their faces, but in reality they couldn't wait to beat drums, wave colorful flags, and loudly bid farewell.

  Those damned soldiers have finally left!

  It's no wonder that these county officials are two-faced, hating the Yuan army to the point of gnashing their teeth. Since the 5,000-strong garrison has been stationed in Nandun County, they first "killed" Deng Chang, the county magistrate, and established their authority. Then, every day, they would eat and drink at the expense of the locals, and even gave away the rice that was supposed to be presented to the high-ranking officials in the prefecture to the bandits on Jiuli Mountain! What about providing relief grain to the disaster-stricken people?

  What's even more infuriating is that they just left, and the 5,000 people who were about to leave were all scrambling to pack up their things, one by one, and even took away the food that was meant for others. It's really a case of "the more shameless you are, the better off you'll be".

  Especially that little general who led the way, how can there be such a shameless person in this world.

  Of course, the unknowing officials of Nandong County have already put this account entirely on Liu Bei's head in Ru'nan.

  Just as the five thousand disaster stars were about to set off, a black horse slowly emerged from the team, and a young general wearing silver armor looked at the county officials with a serious expression. The handsome face was filled with reluctance.

  "Gentlemen of Nandong County, I'm afraid I've troubled you for too many days. I feel deeply ashamed... Your food in Nandong County is delicious, and the Emperor will remember your merits!" Yuan Shang bowed to the county officials with a serious face, his expression very sincere.

  The officials of Nandu County were also hypocritical, with red eyes and reluctant faces: "General, you don't have to be so polite. Liu Xuanzi is the Son of Heaven above and a commoner below, and it's our good fortune to serve as soldiers for his imperial uncle!"

  Yuan Shang nodded heavily: "Good, well said, you are indeed the good ministers of the Son of Heaven, and the good sons of my great Han! I...I am reluctant to part with you!"

  The officials and officers of the county government also had a face full of inexplicable sorrow, and even several people squeezed out a few tears.

  "We also can't bear to part with the general! Can't bear to part with the benevolent and righteous teacher of the imperial uncle!"

  " Gentlemen!" Yuan Shang could no longer contain his emotions:

  "All officials were in tears: 'General!'"

  "Since we're all so reluctant to part with each other, why don't I just stay a few more days?"

  All officials: “Long live the Emperor!”

  After a long silence.

  "General, Liu Xuanzi can't leave you! You'd better go back quickly! Don't drag on!"

  "Whatever, whatever! The most important thing is to rescue the Emperor!"

  "General, you must distinguish between what is important and what is not."

  "Yes, we can't let that old scoundrel Cao Cao continue his arrogance! General, hurry up and go to rescue the emperor!"

  "General, don't forget the entrustment of the imperial edict, it's time to go, hurry up! If we set off late, it will be disadvantageous for our army."

  Yuan Shang nodded upon hearing the words, and turned his head to sigh emotionally at Zhang Jue and Gao Lan: "Do you see? A small county of a hundred li has produced so many loyal ministers who think for the Son of Heaven. Each and every one of them has the rescue of the Emperor on their lips and in their hearts. We are truly inferior, very much so! You should strive to improve yourselves."

  Zhang Jie's face twitched upon hearing this, and he lowered his head, with a rather strange expression that seemed to be struggling not to laugh.

  Gao Lan wiped the sweat from his forehead and dryly said: "Young master, stop it, second brother is a bit embarrassed to see people now."

  Under the gaze of numerous officials who were gnashing their teeth and full of resentment, Yuan's army slowly set off towards Ru'nan.

  On the road, Yuan Shang came up and chatted with Zhang Jue for no reason.

  "General Zhang, what kind of person is this Liu Bei?" For this legendary figure known for his kindness and benevolence, loving the people like a son, Yuan Shang had unknowingly developed a strong interest.

  He stroked his beard, thought for a moment with a serious expression, and then seriously summarized six words: "Gentle, decisive, kind, introverted, cunning, ruthless."

  "Oh?" Yuan Shang's interest was piqued, and he said: "There are actually people like this in the world? These six words seem to completely represent six kinds of people, don't they?"

  Zhang Jue smiled and said, "That's right. Most people can only have one of these six personalities, but Liu Bei is able to combine them all perfectly. He is truly a hero of the ages. In some ways, even Master Cao cannot compare to him. However, Third Lord, you can rest assured that although Liu Bei is currently in Runan, strategically speaking, he needs to unite with our army to resist Cao Cao together. Moreover, since Master Cao has shown him kindness in the past, he will not harbor any ill intentions towards us and will instead treat us warmly. The only thing I am unsure of is whether he will send troops to help us."

  Yuan Shang nodded and said, "To be honest, if Liu Bei can launch a northern expedition at this critical moment and head straight to Xuchang, it will surely shock the Central Plains. At that time, Cao's army will have no time to bother us, and we can take advantage of the situation to find a way back to Hebei, and our embarrassing situation as wandering outsiders will be resolved."

  Zhang Jue heard this and bowed his head for a long time, saying: "Considering Liu Bei's character, this is probably very difficult..."

  "No, he definitely will!" Yuan Shang vowed, thumping his chest and shining with bright eyes.

  "Why is Young Master so certain?" Zhang Jie saw Yuan Shang's confident expression and couldn't help but feel curious.

  Yuan Shang heard this and smiled, because I knew it all along.

  After the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao and Liu Bei indeed launched a large-scale war in the direction of Ru'nan. The defeated side was naturally Liu Bei, who was forced to abandon the city and flee secretly to Jingzhou, where he lay low for seven years. It was also from then on that he carried out the brilliant and glorious second half of his life against the nine counties of Jing and Xiang.

  Of course, these words cannot be said to Zhang Jing by Yuan Shang.

  "Because you, General Zhang, also said it earlier, Liu Bei is not an ordinary person. Since he's not an ordinary person, he must have extraordinary insight and awareness. The key reason why Liu Bei was able to develop smoothly in Ru'nan until now is that Cao Cao has been concentrating his efforts on us, the Yuan family. Now that our army has retreated north, General Zhang, if you were Cao Cao, would you still let Liu Bei stir up trouble in your own backyard?"

  "Of course not!"

  "If you can't, then Cao Cao, the old villain, will be even more unlikely to do so. Therefore, if Liu Bei wants to survive, the only way out is to take advantage of the fact that Cao's army has not returned from the north and launch a swift attack on Xuchang. Whether he succeeds or not is secondary, but at least he won't sit back and wait for death, waiting for Cao Cao to bring his troops to destroy him."

  Zhang Jiong heard this and was suddenly enlightened, cupping his hands in praise: "Young master's insight is profound, I am not worthy."

  Looking up at the sky, it was already noon. Yuan Shang changed the subject and said: "General Zhang, how many miles have we traveled?"

  Zhang Jia heard this and estimated that from the time they left Nandun County, it was probably over 50 miles.

  Yuan Shang's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he said discontentedly: "What kind of situation is this! We set out at the fourth watch, now it's noon, but we've only traveled fifty miles. This is an excursion! How can you not have any sense of urgency!"

  Zhang Jue let out a long sigh and said, "General, there's no way around it. Before we headed to Nandu County, our army had been fleeing from Xiahou Yuan's pursuit day and night, and the men were barely holding on. How could the horses be any better? By the time we arrived at Nandu County, over 200 of our warhorses had died from exhaustion due to the long-distance running. Now these soldiers without horses are all marching on foot, which is why...

  "What?" Yuan Shang's expression changed instantly as he furrowed his brow, saying: "Our five thousand soldiers are all elite cavalrymen, how can they be without horses?"

  Zhang Jiao sighed and said: "This is also understandable, but Nandu County has almost no war horses, the horse can not be replenished, for the time being can only be so..."

  "No! The horses are not replenished, what if we are caught up by Xiahou Yuan's troops or encounter other Cao armies? Are we going to fight or run? To return safely to Hebei, the prerequisite is that we must have horses as our foundation! Otherwise, it would be too disadvantageous! Immediately dispatch scouts to explore the surrounding counties and see where we can replenish our warhorses. First, let's arm our own generals!"

  Zhang Jue was delighted when he heard this and immediately dispatched his scouts to quickly investigate in all directions, to see if there were any nearby counties that could provide horses.

  It is often said that without coincidence, there would be no story. In a book like this one, which involves time travel, coincidences are even more rampant.

  Before long, a scout on horseback galloped back, his face filled with smiles. From afar, he shouted loudly: "Young master! Third young master! Good news! The best of good news!"

  Yuan Shang heard this and raised an eyebrow, saying: "What's so happy about? You're grinning from ear to ear like a fool!"

  That scout rushed to the front, saluted Yuan Shang with a bow and said: "Third Master, what a wonderful thing! On the small road ten miles south of here, there is a group of merchants who are hurrying hundreds of war horses southward. Those war horses are all high-quality fine steeds at first glance!"

  Yuan Shang heard this and his eyes lit up instantly. "Several hundred heads?" he asked, "How many hundreds of heads? Speak clearly!"

  He thought for a moment and said, "At least three hundred or more!"

  "More than three hundred fine horses?" Yuan Shang's eyes suddenly gleamed with a green light.

  But after a while, Yuan Shang's expression changed, and he shook his head: "No way, absolutely not! We can't touch those horses."

  Zhang Jie asked in surprise on the side: "Young master, why is this?"

  "We are still the righteous masters, we rob officials but not civilians. Since it's a merchant group, they must be local folks. We can go and seize the official grains and supplies of the county, but we cannot take even a needle from the civilians! This example absolutely cannot be set!"

  Zhang Jing heard this and his face turned serious, he cupped his hands and said: "Young master's righteousness is high, I will obey!"

  But then the scout hesitated and cautiously said to Yuan Shang, "Third Master, please forgive me for speaking boldly. I observe that the horse-driving merchant group, although dressed as merchants, have robust physiques and ferocious faces, not like ordinary civilians. Especially the leader, a burly man with a full beard and scars on his face, exuding an aura of murder and slaughter, giving off a bandit-like air, clearly not good people..."

  Yuan Shang's spirit was lifted upon hearing this, and he said: "What do you mean?"

  "I suspect that those merchants are just bandits in disguise, and the war horses must be stolen goods as well. Of course, I don't dare to be certain, and it's up to you, young master, to make a judgment."

  Yuan Shang's face suddenly burst into a smile, and he patted the scout's shoulder from across the horse, laughing: "You're not bad, you can share your master's worries, you have a good eye for things! It's a pity to be just a scout, when we get back to Hebei, I'll promote you to be a company commander!"

  Ji Xian heard this and was overjoyed, saying: "You're going to make me a Colonel? General, you're not teasing me, are you?"

  Of course it's a lie, you actually believed it, and indeed it was the fate of being a rejected candidate.

  "General Zhang, pass the order to the entire army, immediately rush to the front ten miles of the merchant team's route and lay in ambush. If they are indeed not good citizens, I will eliminate the evil for the people today! Take back the horses for the people! Let out this breath of bad air for the hundred surnames!"

  Zhang Jiong: “...........”