Chapter 38 The So-called Oath

At dusk, Liyang.

The carriage stopped at the pier.

Along the way from Yecheng to here, the carriage horses were changed seven times.

When the carriage stopped, Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan got off and saw that there were only a hundred or so riders, each riding two or three horses.

These people are now hungry, thirsty, tired, and very nervous.

Looking at the five bandits who hijacked the carriage, they did not eat or drink and did not speak a word along the way. Even the mount of the leading bandit was extraordinary, as it actually ran from Yecheng to Liyang in one breath.

The BMW that can travel a thousand miles a day will live forever in legend, and a car that can travel 500 miles a day without a load is considered a legendary car of the time.

The mount of this bandit general, wearing armor and carrying the equally heavily armed bandit general, can run more than 300 miles, which is really terrifying.

Since leaving Ye City, Qian Zhao has been staring at Lu Bu and Lu Bu's mount.

If there were dozens of such purebred horses, it would be enough to change the outcome of a long-lasting battle.

Haven't you seen that when the Black Mountain Army of more than 100,000 soldiers besieged Wei County and were in a stalemate with Yuan's army, Lu Bu led dozens of cavalry to charge back and forth, treating the Black Mountain Army's fences as nothing.

Each time they were able to find a weak point to break through, killing dozens or hundreds of people and then evacuate.

This continued for more than ten days. The morale of the Montenegrin Army was low and their fighting spirit was weakened, so they had no choice but to retreat.

As Qian Zhao was thinking, he saw Ju Hu leading the black bear closer out of the corner of his eye.

Qian Zhao also dismounted, waved his hand to dismiss the panting knight beside him, and asked Black Bear with a stern face: "Mr. Sun, aren't you afraid of death?"

"My life and death are like a feather, how can they compare to the weight of Yuan Jizhou's Mount Tai?"

Black Bear squinted at Ju Hu, who looked unnatural, and continued, "If no one objects, I will go talk to Yuan Jizhou."

Qian Zhao said nothing, so Ju Hu walked with him and approached the carriage.

At this time Liu Ye also got off the boat. He was wearing a sleeveless double-crotch armor and striding forward with a long sword hanging from his waist.

Seeing that the Yuan brothers were all kidnapped here, the adventurous side of Liu Ye's character was aroused and his spirits were very high.

Lu Bu in golden armor rode his horse and held a halberd while wandering around the periphery, while four Taoist soldiers in leather armor held halberds on guard.

Black Bear ignored Er Yuan and asked Liu Ye, "Is everything going well?"

"My Lord, there are 183 people in Huangze who are willing to go. There are 376 men in the fleet, including 187 who are qualified to be armored soldiers. They are all in armor."

Liu Ye turned his head to look at Ju Hu, smiled and said, "When we arrived at Liyang, the Liyang garrison refused to give us a boat. It was only after the envoys from Yecheng urged us repeatedly that we were able to board the ship and receive food, fodder, armor, bows and crossbows and other equipment."

Black Bear also observed the dock and saw that the three transport ships were there, and there were five more transport ships of similar sizes.

In addition, there is a larger three-toothed tower ship, which has three decks including the command room. Judging from the size and layout, it can accommodate a hundred archers.

Similar to a transport ship, this three-toothed tower ship appears old and may be a Qingzhou tower ship built during the reigns of Emperors Huan and Ling.

There were often pirates causing chaos in Qingzhou, and there was a tradition of training naval forces on tower ships. There was also a possibility that these tower ships came from Gongsun Du in Liaodong, and were stranded when Gongsun Du invaded Qingzhou.

Black Bear's eyes fell on the Sanyalou ship, and he asked, "Where is the original navy?"

"Many were unwilling to go with me, and I was afraid of causing chaos, so I agreed to let the navy leave the ship."

Liu Ye observed the changes in Black Bear's demeanor and added, "According to Commander Xuan, there were sailors who were able to operate the Sanya warship."

Three teeth means three masts and three sails.

Eight transport ships and one Sanyalou ship were too spacious for more than 300 people.

The ship can barely move forward by sailing downstream and with the wind, but it lacks the efficiency of sailing against the current and has lost the ability to suddenly accelerate and break through.

Even the ability of close combat and bow and crossbow suppression has been weakened to the extreme.

The only advantage is that the transportation volume is larger, which makes it easier to recruit personnel later.

Seeing that the fleet had no hidden dangers, Black Bear looked at Yuan Shang and said, "I can leave at any time. What does Yuan Jizhou want to use to redeem myself?"

"what do you want?"

Yuan Shang did not look angry. He glanced at Yuan Tan and said, "I can give you everything I can give you. I only ask that my two brothers, my two sisters-in-law, and my wife are safe."

"I don't want any promises or documents. When I let you go, we will become mortal enemies. If possible, I hope you can write a letter to Liu Biao so that I can go to Guanzhong through Jingzhou, or possibly Jiaozhou."

Black Bear pointed at the dismounted knights standing guard in the distance and said, "Give me a hundred good horses, and select ten craftsmen from Liyang City and West City, and you two brothers can leave with your wives."

Yuan Tan said, "You don't want gold or silver?"

"I want gold and silver, and I can take them any time I want."

Black Bear's eyes fell on Yuan Tan's face: "If you feel that the ransom I demand is not worthy of your status, you can give me some more gold and silver utensils to make up the difference."

The price of a hundred good horses is already very expensive. The north-south trade routes are cut off, and the price of horses becomes more expensive the further south you go.

Because of Zhong Yao's management of Guanzhong, Cao Cao was able to obtain more than a thousand horses every year.

In the Jingyang area, the existing cavalry will only become fewer and fewer, and their prices will become more and more expensive.

Since the time of Sun Ce, the Jiangdong Army had 2,000 soldiers equipped with 50 knights.

Yuan Tan said nothing. Seeing this, Black Bear said to Yuan Shang, "Your family is so rich that it is hard to count them all. How about this? Take some armor from the Liyang army and give it to me. The more the better."

Yuan Shang frowned, he knew what the big armor that Black Bear mentioned was, it was the strongest armor from the end of the Han Dynasty to the present.

At the time of the decisive battle of Guandu, Cao Cao had only a hundred or so such armored soldiers under his command.

Great armor, that is, black light armor.

Infantrymen wearing black light armor are super-heavy infantrymen; and only knights wearing black light armor and horse equipment are true heavy cavalry.

Iron Armor can also achieve the same protective performance as Black Light Armor, but it will be heavier.

At the same weight, the protective ability of Black Light Armor exceeds that of Iron Armor.

But for ordinary heavy infantry, there is no essential difference between black light armor and iron armor. The real difference lies in the protection of generals and the formation of heavy knights.

"I can give you twenty." Yuan Shang made the promise and immediately ordered Ju Hu to go to Liyang City to collect the Black Light Armor.

Yuan Tan had no objection and took out his personal seal and gave it to Ju Hu. If there were not enough, he could draw troops from the garrison in Xicheng.

Seeing Er Yuan’s cooperation, Black Bear was a little surprised.

He looked at each other back and forth, and his eyes fell on Yuan Tan, and he said: "I still think the same as before. It is difficult for you two brothers to work together to ruin Cao Cao's plan. If I don't kill you, I will cut off one of your arms."

Yuan Tan frowned, "We brothers were originally friendly, but the factional strife among the others led to internal strife among us. Now Xin Ping and Guo Tu are dead, and only Xin Pi and Xun Chen are left in Yingchuan. They are not as powerful as before, so how can we fight again?"

Yuan Shang also spoke up, "Since the Battle of Guandu and Cangting, Hebei has lacked capable officers and sharp soldiers, and there is really no general who can fight alone. If it weren't for my brother, when Cao Cao invaded, I wouldn't be able to lead the troops to resist the enemy in Liyang, right?"

No matter how incompetent Yuan Tan was, he had been in charge of Qingzhou for six or seven years and once controlled most of Qingzhou.

His ability to personally command operations on the front line is also above average.

Unfortunately, most of Cao's officers and soldiers after Guandu were above the average level of the time.

Black Bear still shook his head: "The general is seriously ill, but Cao Cao was able to control the Central Plains doctor one step ahead. This shows that there is an informant in Yecheng. This person is of a very high status and knows the general's detailed condition."

"It is difficult for a Hebei person to do such a thing. It can only be a Ruying person. Whether it is a Runan person or a Yingchuan person, you two should have some conclusion in your minds."

Black Bear's eyes fell on Yuan Shang's face. "If you must keep Yuan Tan, I only hope that Yuan Tan can be swapped with Gao Gan, so that Yuan Tan can lead the people of Taiyuan and Shangdang to attack Guanzhong. This will cut off Cao Cao's arm. He will lose his source of horses and will be unable to defend himself, let alone attack Hebei."

His eyes fell on Yuan Tan's face again: "Kill Cao Cao's spy, and you go to Guanzhong. This way, you two brothers will each occupy a place with beautiful mountains and rivers, just like Qin and Zhao, who were of the same clan in the past, and there will be hope of unifying the world in the end. Even if you are defeated, you can retreat to the border and avoid the destruction of your clan."

"That's all I have to say. I hope you two will think about this carefully."

Finally, his eyes fell on Yuan Shang's face. "If you don't even have the ambition to establish an independent country like Yuan Tan, how can you allow him to lead troops to resist the enemy in your territory? If you have too few soldiers, they will be useless. If you have too many soldiers, they will be suspicious and disaster will come."

The two Yuans looked at each other in deep thought. Yuan Shang sighed, "I am afraid my brother-in-law will not leave Taiyuan if I have 50,000 soldiers from Bingzhou."

"The general is not going to live long, so we should keep the death a secret and invite Gao Gan to Yecheng. We cannot tolerate his objection. If we want to accomplish a great cause, how can we hesitate?"

As they were talking, five newly added transport ships opened their hatches and began to pull horses into the cabins.

The first three transport ships were built in Jiangdong. Jiangdong's transportation is mainly based on water, so it has no shortage of tall docks.

Jiangdong transport ships can dock directly on the deck, making it convenient to transport supplies.

There is a lack of tall docks in the north, so the transport ships have doors on the side of the ship, which are flush with the living cabin to facilitate loading and unloading.

The five transport ships were loaded with a total of 120 horses, filling the bottom holds.

As the sky darkened, torches were lit all around.

Ju Hu also transported 38 sets of black light armor, and Liu Ye arranged for them to be loaded onto the Sanya warship.

As they were about to part, Yuan Shang said to Yuan Tan: "There are now more than 400,000 men on the register in Hebei Province, and we can expect to achieve hegemony. However, the soldiers are newly recruited and cannot stand the battle. If we can defend the land for three years, which is only three years, Cao Cao will not have to worry about us. If you are sincere in helping me, I will do my best to help you take the Qin territory in Longxi."

Yuan Tan was unable to accept such a fate for a moment, and just asked: "Is my father really seriously ill?"

"It's always good to think of my family's situation as being worse than it actually is."

Yuan Shang smiled bitterly: "My uncle is a traitor who wants to claim the throne. Cao Cao is from my family. If he gains power, our clan will surely be destroyed. Fortunately, I am young and have defended Hebei for several years. It can be seen that the destiny is in the north, and people's hearts will naturally follow. So I should listen to Sun Qian. Brother agrees to eliminate the Yingchuan people, and I will do my best to help brother take Guanzhong as his base."

Yuan Tan hesitated for a long time, then nodded and said, "If I take Guanzhong, I will only keep one son by my side, and the rest will stay in Yecheng."

Yuan Shang smiled and looked at Black Bear: "Gongxun, can you lend me your sword?"

Black Bear was surprised, but he still took off the dagger hanging from his waist and handed it to Yuan Shang with the sheath.

Yuan Shang was expected to swear an oath with blood, but he pulled out his dagger and handed it to Yuan Tan, saying, "Brother, you want to get rid of the Yingchuan people, but you also want to keep the death a secret. I am afraid that the matter will be leaked."

After saying that, he turned his head to look at the carriage on the side, in which were the wives of the three brothers.

Yuan Tan hesitated for a long time, but still stretched out his hand to push away the dagger, lowering his head: "I have been married to her for thirteen years, it is really difficult to kill her."

"Then I'll do it."

Yuan Shang walked towards the carriage with a dagger in hand. Inside the carriage, Yuan Tan's wife Guo covered her mouth with both hands. In the dim light, only a pair of eyes remained bright: "Xianfu?"

"With Hebei destroyed, my sister-in-law will also be in trouble."

Yuan Shang said softly, his voice trembling slightly, "If I die now, I can be buried with a clean record. When my brothers are defeated and killed, I will be humiliated and my body will be incomplete."

As he spoke, he stretched out his left arm to embrace Guo, held the dagger against his heart with his right hand, pushed it inward, aimed, and with a sudden force, the dagger flew in, causing Guo's body to tremble violently.

Yuan Shang suddenly pulled out the dagger again, blood splattered all over his body, and he looked at his wife Liu.

At this time, Yuan Tan also came to the front of the carriage. Liu stretched out her hand to grab the dagger from Yuan Shang's hand, and with a wooden expression, she held it against her heart.

When she tried to use force, she found that Yuan Shang had grabbed her arm and said, "You have killed my sister-in-law, how can I live alone?"

After saying that, she looked at the car door and said, "Brother, please give me a hand."

Yuan Tan stretched out his hand woodenly and placed it on Liu's arm. Liu herself held the dagger upside down and smashed it into her heart, her body trembling.

She collapsed in Zhen Mi's arms, her voice weak and tears streaming down her face, she just called out: "Mother..."

Yuan Shang glanced coldly at the expressionless Zhen Mi and wanted to reach out to pull out the dagger from his wife's heart, but his arms were too weak to even hold the handle.

Seeing that Liu was not dead yet, Zhen Mi wanted to pull out the dagger to end her pain sooner.

But Liu held the dagger tightly in both hands and pressed it against her heart, and Zhen Mi was so frightened and panicked that she could not use any strength.

Seeing that Zhen Mi was determined to commit suicide, Yuan Shang reluctantly climbed out of the ox cart and he and Yuan Tan looked at each other.

The black bear wanted to come closer to take a look, but Yuan Tan stepped forward to stop him: "Please respect yourself, Sun Lang."

At this time, Yuan Shang turned his head to look inside the car. Zhen Mi couldn't pull out the dagger, so she could only take off the silver hairpin and stab it under her throat, causing blood to flow from her lips.

Seeing Zhen Mi lying on Liu's back, Yuan Shang turned around and walked away.

Yuan Tan also took a look and followed Yuan Shang closely.

Upon seeing this, Qian Zhao immediately helped the blood-soaked Yuan Shang onto his horse, and led his men to escort the Yuan brothers back to Liyang City.

He also arranged for people to prepare firewood and burn the carriage.

(End of this chapter)