Zhang Yan personally led the army to the south, Jingzhou heard the wind and surrendered, and even Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who were in Jingnan, were defeated by Zhang Yan, regained Jingnan, and completely owned the entire Jingzhou.

Now, Zhang Yan has led a large army from Jingnan to Xiazhi County in Jiangxia, and Xunyang, where Zhang Liao, Gan Ning, Lu Meng, Li Dian and others are stationed, is only separated by a Yangtze River.

In terms of Zhang Yan's existing strength and strength, he has already surpassed Sun Quan several times, and Ma Bujun has also arrived one after another within a month, and the mobilized strategists and famous generals have also arrived one after another.

However, Zhang Yan did not act for a long time, and kept his troops still, and stationed hundreds of thousands of troops in Xiazhi, Xunyang, and Jinling, but there was no sign of attack.

This point also made Zhou Yu, who was stationed in Chaisang, very confused, he was always ready to drive his naval army to meet Zhang Yan, but the other party had no intention of attacking. However, Zhou Yu didn't dare to slack off, for fear that Zhang Yan deliberately pretended to show Zhou Yu, the purpose of which was to make Zhou Yu relax his vigilance, and then take the opportunity to be unprepared and catch Zhou Yu off guard.

Zhou Yu had few soldiers and did not dare to take risks, so he had to send out a large number of scouts almost every day to find out the enemy's every move. But after a month, Zhang Yan's army just stood still, and even the training was reduced a lot.

Zhou Yu felt that Zhang Yan was paralyzing himself, so he didn't dare to take it lightly, so he kept the army on high alert and always paid attention to the enemy situation on the other side of the river.

Zhang Yan lives in the county seat of Xiazhi County. Due to the particularity of Zhang Yan's identity. The perimeter of the county government was extremely well guarded. Three steps and one post, five steps and one post, can be described as impermeable.

At this moment, in the hall of the county government, Zhang Yan was sitting there reading the official documents sent from Pengcheng, he was the regent, and he was also the prime minister and the general, what decisions the members of the cabinet wanted to make. It must be reported to him for approval first.

Zhang Yan knew his importance, and when he personally led the army to the south, the ministers advised him not to go, and to send people directly.

However, Zhang Yan believed that this southern expedition was to pacify Jiangnan, and it must be commanded by him personally, otherwise, he would not be able to rest assured.

So, at the time of coming out. As in the past, Zhang Yan divided the political affairs of the country into three, six, nine and so on. Then it will be handed over to the various power agencies to deal with themselves, and if it involves major matters, it will be reported to the cabinet, and the cabinet has a certain power to deal with government affairs, but once it encounters a serious incident, it must be played by Zhang Yan.

Zhang Yan held the official document and hurriedly browsed it, but he felt more satisfied psychologically. Only one of these official documents was for him to review and await his decision, while the others were brief summaries of the affairs of the past few days, which had been prepared by the various ministries.

The official document that needs to be reviewed by him is not a big deal, it will be the birthday of the emperor Liu Feng in another month, and the Empress Dowager Gongsun has never given Liu Feng a birthday, and wants to feast the ministers on Liu Feng's birthday and celebrate Liu Feng's birthday together.

The members of the cabinet did not dare to make a hasty decision on such a matter, so they still sent someone to directly hand over Gongsun Taishou's request to Zhang Yan, and Zhang Yan made the decision.

After reading it, Zhang Yan felt that this was a reasonable request, and directly put pen to paper to make an approval, and then sent it to the cabinet, asking the cabinet members to start arranging Liu Feng's birthday, and specially instructed that it must be done grandly.

When Liu Feng ascended the throne, because it was an eventful time, Liu Feng was just a baby, so the enthronement ceremony was just a show, and now that Liu Feng has grown up, it is time for him to be lively.

Perhaps, this is Liu Feng's last birthday in Pengcheng, and this time next year, he may have to celebrate his birthday in Luoyang Xindu.

Then, Zhang Yan flipped through the official documents sent one after another, and judging from the reports on these official documents, it seemed that he did not cause any turmoil after he left Pengcheng. On the contrary, many officials are still slackening, looking forward to Zhang Yan's triumphant return and making new contributions.

Zhang Yan had just finished reviewing the official documents, and saw a brocade guard come in from outside the hall, and as soon as he entered the hall, he immediately clasped his fists and said: "Your Highness Qiyu, Zhenxi General Ma Chao, Anxi General Pang De, and the Western Regions Metropolitan Protector Pang Tong, ask to see you outside!" ”

"Oh? Finally waited for them, let them in! As soon as Zhang Yan heard that Ma Chao, Pang De, and Pang Tong had arrived, he said very happily.

Among the generals convened by Zhang Yan, Ma Chao, Pang De, and Pang Tong in the northwest and Jia Xu, Zhang He, and Zhuge Liang in the northeast were the farthest away. Originally, Zhang Yan thought that he would have to wait a few more days, but he didn't expect them to arrive today.

After a while, Ma Chao, Pang De, and Pang Tong walked in from outside the hall one after another, and then clasped their fists together and bowed to Zhang Yan: "See His Royal Highness King Yan!" ”

Zhang Yan hurriedly said: "It's all exempt, you have come from afar, and you have worked hard enough for you to trek through mountains and rivers along the way, so sit down quickly." ”

"Your Highness Thank you for taking a seat!" Ma Chao, Pang De, and Pang Tong said in unison.

After Ma Chao, Pang De, and Pang Tong sat down one after another, they saw Zhang Yan and asked curiously: "Shiyuan, you are the protector of the Western Regions, stationed in Dawan, it stands to reason that your distance is farther than that of General Ma and General Pang, why did you arrive with them?" ”

Pang Tong said with a smile: "His Royal Highness King Yan, this is not thanks to the good horses produced in Dawan, this time I came to see King Yan, and I brought back twenty high-quality Dawan horses for His Royal Highness King Yan, which is a gift from Ayubu, Marquis of Anguo in the Western Regions, to His Royal Highness." ”

As soon as Zhang Yan heard this, he immediately came to his senses and immediately asked, "Where are those horses now?" ”

"Just sent to the stables, the groom should be feeding them fodder now." Pang Tong replied.

"Let's go to the stables!" Zhang Yan's heart was full of joy, and he immediately got up and said to Pang Tong.

King Yan wanted to see the horses, and Ma Chao, Pang De, and Pang Tong naturally wanted to follow, and a group of four people came to the stable together. Not yet close. I heard the neighing in the stables. One after another, so lively.

When I walked into the stable, I saw that the good guy, the place where the white dragon was originally empty and only kept the sweaty and bloody horse of the white dragon suddenly became a little crowded, and the twenty horses were in a strong posture and strong physique. The horses with four muscular hooves were lined up, and although the trough was filled with fine hay, the horses only sniffed with their noses, and did not open their mouths to eat the hay, but neighed vigorously as if in protest.

When the groom in charge of managing the stables saw Zhang Yan and others coming, he immediately bowed his head and walked over, and bowed to Zhang Yan respectfully and tremblingly: "Participate in ...... See His Royal Highness King Yan! ”

"What's the matter with these horses, why don't they eat forage?" Zhang Yan pointed to the chirping horses and questioned the groom. "Is it because the forage you gave is not good? This king sues you, these horses. But they are all precious Dawan horses, which have been transported here from the Western Regions for thousands of miles, if you dare to snub them, this king will let you go around without food! ”

The groom was so frightened that he knelt directly on the ground, and hurriedly kowtowed to Zhang Yan and said: "His Royal Highness King Yan, the small ones feed them the best forage here, and they definitely don't dare to feed them indiscriminately, as for why they don't eat it, the small ones are not very clear!" ”

"Your Highness, this is also a grievance for the grooms, these horses are all from the Western Regions, when they are in the Western Regions, they have a special pasture, and they eat those fresh grasses every day, no matter how good these forages are, they will definitely not meet their appetites." Ma Chao suddenly interjected.

Ma Chao is also a horse lover, and has lived in Liangzhou for a long time, Dawan horses are famous all over the world, he doesn't know, in his early years, he once wanted to buy a Dawan horse in the Western Regions, but because of its expensive price, he finally had to give up.

Originally, he and Pang De came together, when he arrived in Jiangxia, the horse team led by Pang Tong caught up from behind, when Ma Chao saw the war horses driven by Pang Tong and others for the first time, he fell in love with these horses at a glance, and when he learned that these were Dawan horses, he was so happy that he couldn't wait to ride it immediately, no matter how much money he spent, he had to buy these horses.

It's a pity that when Ma Chao learned that these horses were given to His Royal Highness King Yan by the Marquis of An in the Western Regions, he was a little disappointed, after all, these horses were tribute, and Zhang Yan, the king of Yan, loved horses so much, he would definitely not sell these horses to him. Therefore, along the way, Ma Chao's mood was extremely depressed. After thinking about it, Ma Chao finally decided to wait for Zhang Yan to buy a horse from Zhang Yan with a lot of money to fulfill his childhood dream.

After listening to Ma Chao's words, Zhang Yan frowned and said slowly: "This place is located in the south of the Yangtze River, the water area is very wide, and there is no grassland at all, where can I find delicious aquatic plants to feed these horses!" ”

Suddenly, Zhang Yan remembered something, turned his head to look at Pang Tong, and asked, "Shiyuan, what are these horses eating on the way here?" ”

Pang Tong said: "At first, we ate the delicious aquatic grass brought from the grasslands of the Western Regions, and after these things were eaten, we would first inquire about where there was pasture nearby, and then take these horses to feed, let them eat enough, and then go on the road." Later, the more I came to Jingzhou, the more I couldn't see the grassland, so I simply turned back to the place where I had eaten, and then cut some aquatic weeds, and carried them along the way, so I insisted on getting here. ”

Zhang Yan let out an "oh", fell into deep thought, looked at the twenty horses that refused to eat grass, and was also very worried.

Ma Chao had been standing behind Zhang Yan, and when he saw that Zhang Yan was at a loss, he immediately stepped forward and said softly: "Your Highness, I have a way to let these horses obediently eat forage, and from now on, they will no longer rely on delicious aquatic plants." ”

"Oh? What's the solution? Zhang Yan hurriedly asked.

Ma Chao instead sold Guan Zi and said, "Your Highness, this method of mine will definitely succeed." However, the subordinates have something to ask for, and I hope that His Highness can grant permission! ”

"Can't you see, General Ma still has conditions?" Zhang Yan smiled, "What's the matter, you talk about it first." ”

"Ma has liked war horses since he was a child, and he is very fascinated by Dawan horses, and he wants to have one early. It's a pity that I haven't been able to get what I wanted. If my subordinates can solve the problem of feeding these horses this time, I would like to ask Your Highness to sell me one of these twenty war horses! Ma Chao said very sincerely.

After Zhang Yan heard this, he laughed out loud and said, "General Ma, since you like this Dawan horse so much, this king will give you one, what else do you want to buy?" ”

"Really?" Ma Chao's eyes lit up, but he asked cautiously with some questions.

"This king is full of words, and if he says it, it is like water spilled out, and it must not be recovered, and here General Pang and Pang Duhu can testify for you, how dare this king joke?" Zhang Yan said.

Ma Chao's heart was full of joy, and the expression on his face also became the same, there is a way that people are in good spirits when they are happy, this sentence is not false at all, but seeing that Ma Chao was already smiling, he knelt directly in front of Zhang Yan and kowtowed: "Thank you, Your Highness, for the reward!" ”

"General Ma, hurry up, I didn't say that I will give you Dawan Horse now, I mean that you must first solve the problem in front of this king, and only when the problem is solved, this king will give you Dawan Horse." Zhang Yan said.

Ma Chao stood up, rolled up his sleeves, revealed his thick arms, and said to Zhang Yan with his fists: "His Royal Highness King Yan, please borrow the white dragon from His Highness's seat!" (To be continued......)