Gloomy clouds moved heavily and slowly across the sky. The northwest wind was unstoppable, driving straight in, mixed with a menacing whistling sound.

Zhang Yan and others, who had just crossed the Yangtze River, suddenly felt a burst of cold, only separated by a river, and the temperature difference between Jiangnan and Jiangbei was so large.

Now it is October weather, Zhang Yan raised his head and looked at the gray sky, but saw that the lead-gray clouds were very low, according to the meteorological knowledge he knew, this kind of weather, it should be about to snow.

When the whole army went out to fight, it was still late autumn, and now the cold wind is blowing, and the soldiers are a little shivering. Fortunately, Jiang Duling was alert enough, and he led a group of officials to wait by the river early, handing cold clothes to Zhang Yan and others.

Chen Deng, Zhou Tai, and Jiang Qin were left in Niuzhu by Zhang Yan to assist Liu Xiang in defending the Yangtze River, and in order to express his gratitude, Liu Xiang appointed Chen Deng as the Taishou of Jinling County, Zhou Tai as the Shicheng Commander, Jiang Qin as the Danyang Commander, and he himself and Xue Li were stationed in Moling, and gave Chen Deng all the command of the army.

As Chen Deng said in his previous letter to Zhang Yan, although Liu Xuan had the talent to govern the locality, he did not have the ability to command the army and the general, and he did not have any political acumen. Otherwise, Liu Miao would not have done such a stupid thing. Giving Chen Deng all the command of his army is tantamount to giving himself a void and becoming a bare-bones commander.

Or, Liu Miao trusted Zhang Yan too much and didn't think about his future at all.

In Zhang Yan's view, Liu Miao is stupid. However, Liu Xuan's approach made Zhang Yan dispel his plan to replace Liu Xuan in the future, although the entire Jiangdong is still in a state of division. But Mr. Chen already had de facto control. Zu Lang and Jiao have all looked forward to Chen Deng's horse. Huiji Taishou Wang Lang also had a good relationship with Chen Deng, in addition, Chen Deng also took the initiative to write to Yuzhang Taishou Huaxin to contact each other.

What Chen Deng did was nothing more than laying the foundation for seizing the entire Jiangdong in the future.

Chen Deng stayed in Jiangdong, and the position of Guangling Taishou was vacant, and after Zhang Yan thought about it, he asked Lu Dai to be Guangling Taishou. Led the army to garrison Guangling City.

Zhang Yan led Tai Shici, Zhang Hong and others to quickly return to Pengcheng.

When the group reached Dongyang County, heavy snow began to fall from the sky, and in order to be able to rush back to Pengcheng as soon as possible, Zhang Yan ordered the army to speed up.

When they arrived in Xutai County, Zhang Yan and others took a boat and arrived in Pengcheng three days later.

Now that it has entered the cold winter season, the snow is falling one after another, and it has been raining for several days, and the whole land is covered with a layer of silver.

Winters are cold. But in Zhang Yan's mansion, it is as warm as spring.

Truckload after cart of black coal. It was continuously transported from the mine to Pengcheng, and Zhang Yan used the coal to keep warm in the house. In addition, Zhang Yan also distributed coal to his subordinates, so that they could also enjoy these treatments.

Xuzhou is rich in coal resources, Zhang Yan borrowed his prophetic advantage, since last year, he has begun to mine coal, using this coal, to transport it to various smelters, let them forge weapons, battle armor, and constantly supplement the needs of the army.

Lu Bu was killed in battle, Cao Cao was repulsed, Yuan Shao was busy dealing with Gongsun Zhan, Yuan Shu was immovable, the entire area south of the Yellow River, north of the Yangtze River and east of the Tiger Pass, there was a rare trace of calm, Zhang Yan just took advantage of this time to concentrate on development, on the one hand, he strictly ordered soldiers to be trained in various places, on the other hand, he wantonly exploited mineral resources, built excellent armor and sharp weapons, and prepared to replace equipment for the whole army next year.

In addition, Zhang Yan also specially found a group of craftsmen, specially opened up a place, built a house, named it "Tiangongfang", began to develop new weapons, and used existing resources and jishu to see if there was a breakthrough.

On this day, Zhang Yan was in the Heavenly Workshop and said to a group of skilled craftsmen: "Now our military is only an ordinary crossbow, which can only shoot one crossbow arrow at a time, and the range is shorter and the rate of fire is slower. The gods once dreamed to me that there is another kind of crossbow in this world, called a repeater, which can fire ten crossbow arrows in a row, and you are all skilled craftsmen in this area, I wonder if you can make this kind of crossbow? ”

One of the craftsmen opened his mouth wide in surprise and asked, "Ten crossbow arrows fired in a row?" Is there really such a crossbow in the world? ”

"What the gods told me in a dream, I don't think it should be fake. During this time, in addition to developing repeaters, you can also improve existing crossbows to make them have a longer range and a faster rate of fire......"

Without waiting for Zhang Yan to finish speaking, Chen Qun didn't know when he came to Zhang Yan's side, and whispered in his ear: "Lord Qiqi, the angel has arrived." ”

Angels, messengers of the Son of Heaven.

As soon as Zhang Yan heard this, he hurriedly asked, "Where is the angel now?" ”

"Wait in the hall."

Zhang Yan briefly instructed the craftsmen, and then went out of the Tiangong Workshop with Chen Qun, leaving a group of craftsmen with sad faces and hard brains.

In the past, most of the information was transmitted by postmen, and this was the first time that the Son of Heaven sent a messenger to arrive, so Zhang Yan was particularly surprised.

Back in the house, Zhang Yan saw a middle-aged man in his thirties sitting in the hall, this person was burly, with a long beard and chest, a Chinese face, eight-character eyebrows, and a strong suit, which looked a little mighty. In addition to this, behind the angel stood two attendants.

As soon as Zhang Yan stepped into the hall, he arched his hand and said: "The angel is coming from afar, and the Xiaguan Mansion is not welcome, please bear with the angel!" ”

When the angel saw Zhang Yan coming, he hurriedly stood up, looked at Zhang Yan, and said: "General Zhang is famous, I have already heard of it in the court, and when I saw it today, it was really extraordinary. I really didn't expect General Zhang to be so young! ”

"The angels have won the prize. Don't know what angels are called? ”

"My surname is Dong, my name is Cheng, and I serve as a waiter in the court. This time, on the order of Bixia, he brought the holy decree of General Zhang, as well as some gifts from Bixia. ”

It turned out to be Dong Cheng. Historically, wasn't he the father-in-law of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty?

Zhang Yan arched his hand with a smile on his face and said: "It turned out to be Dong Shizhong, who was disrespectful and disrespectful. ”

Dong Cheng was not verbose, and said straight to the point: "Since General Zhang is here, then I won't delay things......

As he spoke, Dong Cheng took out the holy decree and said loudly: "The holy decree has arrived!" Xuzhou Mu, General Anton, and Liuhou Zhang Yan received the order! ”

Zhang Yan immediately knelt on the ground on both knees, kowtowed, and said, "Kneel down to listen to the holy decree!" ”

Chen Qun, who was behind Zhang Yan, also knelt on the ground together, pricked up his ears, and listened carefully.

"Fengtian carrier, the emperor's edict said......" Dong Cheng opened the holy decree and began to read it aloud.

Zhang Yan and Chen Qun listened carefully, and the Son of Heaven enshrined Zhang Yan as the general of Zhendong in the holy decree, and increased his food by 3,000 households, so that Zhang Yan could receive the state pastor of Xuzhou, Qingzhou, and Yanzhou together. In addition, Zhang Yan was also rewarded with a brocade robe.

After Dong Cheng finished reading it, Zhang Yanlang said: "Thank you Bixia Longen, Wechen must do his best to protect the country and the people, and live up to Bixia's expectations for Wechen!" ”

At this time, Dong Cheng opened the baggage he was carrying, took out a luxurious brocade robe, handed it directly to Zhang Yan's hand, and said to Zhang Yan meaningfully: "General Zhang, the holy decree is written by Bixia himself, and the brocade robe is also worn by Bixia, please General Zhang must cherish it, and don't let down Bixia's great expectations for General Zhang!" ”

Zhang Yan raised her head and saw a trace of strangeness flashing in Dong Cheng's eyes, which was fleeting, and she didn't know what her intentions were.

After receiving the holy decree, Zhang Yan arranged for someone to treat Dong Cheng warmly, but Dong Cheng refused, only drank some coarse tea, and left Pengcheng.

Zhang Yan painstakingly persuaded Dong Cheng to stay in Pengcheng temporarily for a day, but Dong Cheng never accepted it, and rode a horse, braved the wind and snow, and was about to leave.

In desperation, Zhang Yan had no choice but to personally send Dong Cheng out of Pengcheng and sent him ten miles in a row.

Before parting, Dong Cheng held Zhang Yan's hand tightly, his eyes were full of expectation, and said to Zhang Yan: "General Zhang, Bixia's edict and the brocade robe you have been rewarded, please keep it properly......"

When Zhang Yan heard this, he suddenly became a little suspicious, this Dong Cheng held his hand very strongly, and he didn't dare to show too much emotion in his eyes, and he repeatedly mentioned the edict and the brocade robe, what was it for?

He looked at the two entourages behind Dong Cheng again, their eyes had been staring at Dong Cheng tightly, and their left hand was firmly grasping the long sword tied to their waists, looking nervous, as if they were worried.

At this moment, Dong Cheng suddenly stretched out a finger and quickly wrote four words on the back of Zhang Yan's hand, his brows were tightly locked, and his eyes were even more urgent.

Zhang Yan frowned, his doubts were even greater, and he clearly felt that Dong Cheng wrote the words "there are things in the robe" on the back of his hand.

Zhang Yan roughly guessed something, nodded at Dong Cheng, and said softly: "Dong Shizhong, you can rest assured, I will definitely take good care of the things given by the Son of Heaven!" ”

When he said this, Zhang Yan also shook Dong Cheng's hand vigorously, and quickly wrote the word "understand" on the back of Dong Cheng's hand.

Dong Cheng understood, and then he stretched his brows and let go of Zhang Yan's hand.

"Master Dong, it's not too early, let's hurry up and get on the road!" The entourage who had been behind Dong Cheng shouted impatiently.

Dong Chengdao: "What are you panicking about? Don't you see that I'm saying goodbye to General Zhang? I don't understand the rules at all! ”

After reprimanding the entourage who spoke, Dong Cheng bowed his hand to Zhang Yan and said, "General Zhang, we will have a meeting later, so we will leave!" ”

"Dong Shizhong walks slowly! I won't be far away! Zhang Yan also bowed his hand.

Dong Cheng turned the horse's head, gave a shout to the two entourage, and then slapped the horse away.

Zhang Yan watched Dong Cheng leave, gradually disappeared on the horizon, and immediately turned his horse's head and rushed towards Pengcheng.

Returning to the load, Zhang Yan immediately picked up the brocade robe rewarded by the Son of Heaven and groped carefully, and in one corner of the brocade robe, he felt a little bulge.

Without saying a word, he immediately drew his saber and directly picked up the brocade robe, and a secret letter was displayed in front of him. (To be continued......)