A big man with a curly beard rode up to the front of the battle formation and asked, "Who called me? Are you..."
I saluted on my horse and said, "Brother Pei, can you please spare me a word?" Then I turned my horse's head and shouted at Zhou Cang, "Lead the team to retreat three hundred steps."
Seeing that they had all retreated, I immediately turned around and whispered to Pei Yuanshao, "Have General Di Gong and General Ren Gong met with disaster?"
"Ah, you are the Taoist priest... Yes, I just received news that General Di Gong has died in Guangzong. We have lost 80,000 people in battle or committed suicide by drowning. General Ren Gong has also been surrounded in Quyang. I'm afraid it's too late to rescue him, so I want to attack Changsha, hoping that they will send troops to help Quyang."
"Brother Pei, have you forgotten what General Tiangong said? They are still struggling in Jizhou for the hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban warriors heading south. If you only have 5,000 people, neither Huangfu Song nor Zhu Jun will come. Jingzhou also has nearly 100,000 soldiers now. Why are they coming? I asked you to take Changsha, but you left traces in front of the government troops. Now, what's the point of taking Changsha? You, General Tiangong, really sacrificed in vain."
Pei Yuanshao suddenly felt at a loss, "Then what should I do?"
"I knew something was wrong when I heard you coming." I turned around and pointed at Suqi Baijing, "I didn't expect it to be true."
I was surprised to find that I had no feeling of deceiving anyone at all. My words were so natural, as if I was Zhang Jue making arrangements for his last wishes.
"The only solution now is for us to fight right now. We must fight, and then you pretend to be defeated and retreat, otherwise I will be implicated. Also, is your current place safe? Can you still provide food and grass? I have someone bring some food and grass, but not too much to avoid suspicion. I will ask them to leave the food and grass behind, and then you can come to this place to get it later. If it is not enough, I will think of another way. Find a trustworthy brother to come to Changsha to find me. I am the current governor of Changsha, so it is easier to find me."
"Brother, I, Pei Yuanshao, am deeply grateful for your generosity. To be honest, we are almost unable to hold on in the mountains. We don't even have winter clothes. It's also very windy in the mountains. Some brothers have already frozen to death. Can you help me?"
I thought about it for a moment, and a bold idea came to my mind: "Let's fight first. After you retreat, I will start recruiting soldiers in the city in the name of defending the city from the Yellow Turbans. You can send some soldiers to join the army every day, and I will ask the governor of Jingzhou in Xiangyang for winter clothes."
"We are the government troops? Is that okay?"
"Don't worry, I guarantee your safety with my life. Otherwise, how can I raise the winter clothes? This is the only way. When spring comes next year, if you want to do something again, I won't care about you anymore. Just leave me a way to survive. I will have done my best for General Tiangong."
"Okay, look at the knife!"
"Hey, you're typing too fast."
We still pretended to fight a few times, and Pei Yuanshao said to me when we passed by: "I think it will be difficult not to retreat." Indeed, Brother Pei is also a strong man, but his big knife was almost knocked out of his hand after I smashed it so hard. Then, when we met again, he said, "Brother, can you save face for me? I have thousands of brothers behind me."
The next time we met, it was my turn: "The next time you cut me, cut my left rib."
… …
We fought for eighty rounds, and I thought it was enough, so I said, "We have to finish the fight, guys are almost frozen..."
"Got it." I hadn't finished how to fight him yet, what did he know, but the two horses staggered again. There was no choice but to pull back and fight him again. When the two horses staggered again: "Pei..." Before I could say anything, I heard him shout, "Good boy, you are good, I will fight you next time." The horse continued to run, no longer turning its head, but before running a hundred steps, he ran back, and when the two horses staggered again, he said to me: "Sorry, I ran in the wrong direction."
I don't know how I managed not to fall to the ground laughing. After watching the Yellow Turban Army retreat, I rode back to the front of the battle formation and told everyone to go back. I also told Zhou Cang to throw away all the dry food he had brought for the pursuit and hurry back to the city.
After returning to the city, I went to Master Huang Zhong's house first to return the weapon. This man, whom I still don't know how to call, came out with a very strange laugh.
"Finished? You are truly a god-like general. You won without losing a single life or killing a single enemy. If all wars were like this, I would definitely fall in love with fighting."
"Master, you seem to be making fun of me... Did you go?"
"Yes, at first I was a little worried. I followed you because I was afraid you might get into trouble. In case you get into trouble, I could help you out. But it seems that everything is under your control. I am very interested. It seems that you two know each other well."
“Master…” I was a little nervous.
"It's okay. You did a great job. If the battle had started today, Changsha would have been lost and countless people would have died. You stopped this from happening. How should I reward you?"
"Master, I am the governor of Changsha. Isn't this my duty?" I immediately became serious, but my face felt hot. However, the master didn't seem to ask any more questions.
"Master, now that I have finished using this weapon, shall I return it to you?"
"How does it feel? I noticed that you chose a hammer yesterday. You might like the feeling of swinging it and smashing it, right? I guess you feel better using this." I nodded. Indeed, I used my right hand today and it still felt very convenient. It seems that I am more suitable for this weapon.
"This thing is called a wolf-tooth stick. It's not a weapon from our Central Plains. I took it from the invading alien leader when I was an officer in Youzhou. It's made of pure silver. When I got it, it was still shiny. Now it's been so long, it's turned black, and there's no use for me to keep it. It's yours." As he said this, he seemed to begin to recall his youth again.
However, I was greatly aroused by the fact that this thing was made of pure silver. I rubbed it vigorously with my clothes, and indeed I saw a few strands of silver light in the darkness.
"Master, it's too precious. I don't want it." I suddenly felt like a child again, and was at a loss for what to do with this sudden reward.
"Take it, use it to fight, otherwise, it will lose its value of existence. Use the blood of real enemies to make it shine like silver again. Now, go back and recuperate. You have been using your right hand, but I know you are left-handed." He waved his hand and no longer listened to my excuses.
I soon felt relieved, and just as I had taken it out of the city, I hung it on my belt hook and rode back home.
"Do you think there will be no problem, five thousand people?" I told my sister everything. Although my sister laughed so hard that her waist bent when Pei Yuanshao withdrew his troops, she still expressed her concern about Pei Yuanshao's five thousand people entering the city. However, after I analyzed the matter to her, especially what I did among the Yellow Turbans, I also told her. Only then did my sister dispel her doubts. But my sister still pulled my beard and scolded me again. I immediately said that if there was anything in the future, I would tell her as soon as possible and no longer hide it for so long. In order to distract her attention from my beard, I told her about the new weapon I got. Especially the pure silver, my sister was also interested. As soon as she loosened my beard, my sister wanted to take this guy off the horse. In the end, I put it on the ground. My sister still had some strength. She actually picked up the weapon, and then she put it down. "It's so heavy. How can we get so much silver by relying on salaries?" She shook her head and left. Suddenly turned around and added, "Don't let Zhou Yu know."
I immediately went to Xiangyang to ask Teacher Wei for winter clothing, because Changsha was hit by heavy snow and urgently needed winter clothing. I thought Teacher Wei would definitely give it to them, but God knows if he knew what I didn't want him to know, but if I let him know, I think he would understand me.
Within a few days, Changsha had an additional 5,000 young and strong soldiers, 5,000 battle-hardened Yellow Turban Army warriors. Now, seeing my sister handling affairs calmly, I felt uneasy. However, I decided to continue to let Pei Yuanshao take charge and make him the garrison commander of Changsha. He and Zhou Cang, the city garrison, get along very well. Zhou Cang even thought they seemed to have met somewhere before. I think Zhou Cang must have been hit on the head. Zhou Yu didn't leave the city, so she didn't know, otherwise this big mouth wouldn't know what to say. Pei Yuanshao often comes to my house. Zhou Yu thinks he seems to have taken a fancy to my sister. So do I. Some people are too, and it's hard to attract people. This led her to complain about me again, but I'm not afraid this time. But her words still make me worried. Brother Pei is indeed a straightforward hero, but he seems to be getting old, so my sister is at a disadvantage.
Brother Pei is the happy fruit of our family. He comes to my house for dinner every day. He and Zhou Cang become the targets of attack by the other three of us. When the three of us are together, I am definitely the unlucky one. We also suggested that Brother Pei change his name because his original name is too ostentatious. He agreed. He was going to change his name to Pei Shaoyuan. After seeing our faces, he changed it to Shaoyuan Pei. Can't I use the word Pei? He agreed. He decided to call himself Shaoyuan Pei. We all fell. Can't I use three words? He will be called Peiyuan, or Pei Shao. I really think Brother Pei and Zhou Cang are really the same. Finally, I couldn't bear it anymore. I called him Pei Gang? He left happily. Sister said to me, I originally thought that he and Zhou Cang were the same, but now he thinks that the three of us are the same. I asked why, sister, he forgot that he hadn't eaten yet and left. Zhou Yu asked me why I named him Gang. I, our family has Cang, Yu (Yu), and we are still missing Gang (Gang). Now this family is basically complete. She immediately tried to refute me by using my intelligence, but I was relieved because I knew she couldn't figure it out.
I didn't expect that the reason I wrote to my teacher would become reality. The snow had been falling for several days and there was no sign of stopping. I mobilized thousands of soldiers in Changsha to clear the snow. In many places, the snow was thicker than my knees and almost buried half of my body. However, my left arm strain is almost healed. I think I have to go to my master to practice properly in a few days. I haven't moved much these days, and I always feel itchy.
Due to the heavy snow, the roads were not passable, and the large amount of winter clothes and other supplies had not been delivered. However, it was not that cold in the city, so Pei Gang was not in a hurry to get winter clothes. What he did every day was to come to my house for dinner. On this day, the official report was delivered again. After reading it, I immediately handed it to Pei Yuanshao, because at this time he was Pei Yuanshao, not Pei Gang.
Quyang was captured when its food supply ran out, Zhang Bao died in battle, and hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban soldiers were massacred.
Five days ago, it was November 20th of the first year of Zhongping. That day would be recorded in history books because the "Yellow Turban Rebellion" was quelled on that day.