Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 16: How can you accomplish great things without having any minions?
In order to improve his relationship with Hao Zhao, Zhang Yu invited Hao Zhao to stay in Dalu Mountain for a few days on the grounds that Hao Zhao had been traveling a lot.

Because Hao Zhao stayed in the house, Zhang Yu, in addition to his daily lectures with Wang Hong, deliberately reduced the time he spent studying in Shiting so that he could spare some time to deepen his friendship with Hao Zhao.

On that day, Zhang Maoshan was arranged to accompany Hao Zhao for sightseeing, so Zhang Yu had time to study in the stone pavilion again.

Inside the stone pavilion, Zhang Yu spread out the bamboo slips and read them in a low voice.

In order to better teach Zhang Yu the Art of War, Wang Hong got some examples of the war between the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Western Qiang from somewhere, including diagrams of the Han generals' deployment of troops.

For example, Zhang Yu had a battle formation diagram of Duan Xing in the Battle of Fengyi Mountain. In this battle, Duan Xing deployed a three-layer formation, sandwiched between bows and crossbows, and placed cavalry on both sides, forming a typical combination of infantry and cavalry formation.

Duan Ji first used infantry to resist the attack of the vanguard soldiers, and then took advantage of the chaos in the vanguard soldiers' formation to personally lead the cavalry to attack the flank, thus defeating the vanguard soldiers.

In fact, the tactic of placing infantry in the middle and cavalry on the left and right has gradually become popular since the Eastern Han Dynasty. As the demand for cavalry to break through the battle array increased, the Han cavalry was divided into three types: trap cavalry, formation cavalry, and roving cavalry. As the name suggests, trap cavalry is used to break through the battle array, formation cavalry is used to fight in the ranks, and roving cavalry is used to roam outside.

During the Three Kingdoms and Northern and Southern Dynasties, due to the increasing intensity of war, all forces continued to strengthen their cavalry in order to break the enemy's formation, which then evolved into armored cavalry.

First, Wang Hong let Zhang Yu learn the military tactics from hundreds of years ago, and then let Zhang Yu learn the battle formation diagram to understand the difference. It has to be said that Wang Hong's teaching method is unique.

Among the many battle formation diagrams given by Wang Hong, Duan Xing's battle formation was not only at the forefront of the war era, but the details of the formation and deployment of troops also benefited Zhang Yu a lot.

Quoting Wang Hong's words to evaluate the three people of Liangzhou, the one with the strongest military ability was Duan Jiong, the second was Zhang Huan, and the last was Huangfu Gui.

The person who was the best at governing the border with kindness and power was none other than Zhang Huan, followed by Duan Xing and Huangfu Gui.

Among the three officials with the highest level of ability, Huangfu Gui was the first, followed by Zhang Huan and the last was Duan Xing.

From Wang Hong's evaluation, the three of them were known as the Three Masters of Liangzhou, and each of them had outstanding skills. Therefore, Wang Hong reminded Zhang Yu that as a general, he could learn the military tactics of Duan Jiong, but he should not learn from Duan Jiong and serve the eunuchs.

After studying the battle formation for a long time, Zhang Yu's eyes became tired. Just as he was about to close his eyes to rest, he heard someone coming.

Zhang Yu looked in the direction of the voice and saw Hongniang, the beautiful maid beside Wang Ji, twisting her slender waist and coming towards him carrying a lacquer box.

"Zhang Lang!"

Zhang Yu stood up to greet her and said with a smile, "It's Hongniang!"

Hongniang placed the lacquer box on the stone table and said with a little dissatisfaction, "Why didn't I see Zhang Lang for the past two days? I made several trips in vain!"

"what!"

Zhang Yu pointed at the bamboo slip with the letter and asked, "Has Hongniang never seen this slip?"

Hongniang glanced at the bamboo slips, shook her head and said, "I looked at the pavilion from a distance in the forest, but I didn't see Zhang Lang, so I went back!"

"Yu's crime!"

Zhang Yu understood the cause and effect and said with a smile, "Next time if you are not here, I will hang the bamboo slips in the forest and tie them up with a red string so that Hongniang will not see them."

Zhang Yu had been less frequent in the past few days because he had to entertain Hao Zhao. In order to prevent Wang Ji's maid Hongniang from going in vain, he left bamboo slips on the stone table. Unexpectedly, due to communication problems, Wang Ji's maid had to go several times in vain.

Seeing Zhang Yu's good attitude, Hongniang couldn't complain too much.

Hongniang opened the box and said, "Today's cakes are made of honey bait, and Qianjin specially asked me to send some to Zhang Lang!"

"Has Hongniang ever eaten it?"

“I have never had such a blessing!”

"Then eat some!"

Zhang Yu personally picked out a large piece of honey-baked cake and handed it to Hongniang.

Hongniang glanced at Zhang Yu and took a bite of the honey bait cake. She immediately felt the sweetness in her mouth and couldn't stop eating.

"how?"

"Very good!"

Seeing Zhang Yu staring at her, Hongniang was at a loss and asked, "But is there something on your face?"

"Have!"

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "Hongniang has a red mole on the corner of her mouth."

"Red mole?"

Hongniang touched the corner of her mouth and found that it was cake crumbs stuck on it. She couldn't help blushing.

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "Hongniang may want to put a mole on the corner of her mouth to make her look more beautiful than usual."

As Wang Ji's maid, Hongniang is naturally good-looking. In fact, because she is older than Wang Ji, her figure is unique.

Zhang Yu stopped talking, took out a few bamboo slips from his sleeve and handed them to Hongniang, saying, "Can you give them to Miss Wang for me?"

Hongniang glanced at the bamboo slips and asked, "The princess is in the bamboo pavilion. Why doesn't Zhang Lang deliver the bamboo slips himself or visit her directly?"

Zhang Yu bowed and smiled, "If we keep visiting each other, I'm afraid it will damage my reputation. Thank you for your help, Hongniang!"

"It's just a matter of convenience!"

Hearing this, Hongniang could not help but look at Zhang Yu again, thinking to herself: "Even though Zhang Lang is handsome, he is a good man just because of his well-behaved behavior. Moreover, he does not regard me as a maid, but treats me very kindly. If I can become his husband..."

After thinking for a while, Hongniang accepted the bamboo slips and left with the lacquer box.

After Hongniang left, Zhang Yu read for a while, then went home with Li Song and ate honey-baked cake with Hao Zhao.

The next day, Wang Ji asked Hongniang to deliver cakes. Although he did not reply to the bamboo slips and Zhang Yu, he asked Hongniang to pass on a message. Zhang Yu, on the grounds that there were many mosquitoes in summer, sent Wang Ji some insect repellent herbs. For half a month, Zhang Yu asked Hongniang to deliver bamboo slips or small gifts almost every day, but Wang Ji, due to his status, could only reply to letters occasionally except for asking Hongniang to deliver verbal messages. Although the two did not meet, their relationship was changing. It was just that Hongniang had to work as a middleman, passing messages for Zhang Yu and Wang Ji, and walking back and forth every day.

During this half month, Hao Zhao felt that he had been very grateful to Zhang Yu and Li Song, and since he was disturbing their studies, he rejected Zhang Yu's request to stay and decided to go to Chanhewu.

In the summer, the sun starts to get hot, the sky is clear blue, and a breeze blows by, with a few white clouds floating by.

At the foot of Dalu Mountain, Zhang Yu, Li Song and Zhang Maoshan went down the mountain to see off Hao Zhao who was about to leave.

After walking about a mile and about to cross the wooden bridge, Hao Zhao stopped, bowed and said, "I came here today to thank you for taking care of me. I am very grateful. I'd like to ask you to stay here for me to see you off."

After half a month of getting along with each other, everyone has developed a strong bond and started calling each other brothers.

Zhang Yu took the bag from Zhang Maoshan, handed it to Hao Zhao, and said, "Dalushan is 800 miles away from Chanhepo. The road is long and dangerous, and there are many wolves, tigers and leopards on the way. You need to pay attention to safety."

"I put some food and clothes in the bag for Bolu to change. There are also a few letters in it, which Lao Bodao will deliver to the relatives in the village."

"Remember, when you reach Yanmen, you must go to Mayi to pay a visit to Zhang Wenyuan. He is a kind-hearted man and will definitely help Bodao."

"Thank you for your trouble, Brother Lao!"

Hao Zhao held the bundle in both hands and expressed gratitude.

Then, Zhang Yu handed the reins of the horse to Hao Zhao and said, "The road is long and without a horse to help us, we can't go far!"

Hao Zhao glanced at Li Song and said hesitantly: "This is Brother Bosong's favorite horse. I dare not accept it!"

Li Song snatched the bag from Hao Zhao's hand, tied it directly to the horse's back, and said with a smile: "I am studying in Dalu Mountain now, so I don't need the horse for the time being. Bodao can use it first and return it to me later."

"Thank you, Brother Bosong!"

Hao Zhao knew that he couldn't travel far without a horse, so he stopped making excuses.

Holding the reins, Hao Zhao bowed to Zhang Yu and Li Song and said in a deep voice: "Thanks to you two brothers for your help, I will repay you in the future, even if there are mountains, seas and fire, I will never shirk my responsibility."

"How polite!"

Zhang Yu helped Hao Zhao up, patted his shoulder, and said with a smile: "You and I are brothers, why do you talk and act like this? When Bodao makes money from business, you can invite me to the wine house for a drink!"

"It's natural!"

“Mountains and rivers bring us together!”

"Farewell!"

Hao Zhao led the horse across the bridge, looked back and saw the two men were still watching him, so he turned around and bowed deeply, then jumped on the horse, whipped the horse and drove away.

After walking for a while, Hao Zhao felt a little hungry, so he opened the bag Zhang Yu had sent him, and found that it contained not only food and clothes, but also a lot of money.

He took out a bamboo slip from his clothes and saw a message from Zhang Yu on it, saying: "My brother Bodao, this journey to the border is a thousand miles away and you will not be able to get there without money, so I left some money in the bag for your travel expenses."

Although the words were few, Hao Zhao could feel Zhang Yu's deep friendship from them. His nose suddenly felt sore and his eyes filled with tears.

"despair!"

A tear fell on the bamboo slips. Hao Zhao held them tightly and seemed to make a promise in his heart.

Not to mention Hao Zhao's long journey, Zhang Yu returned with Li Song and Zhang Maoshan along the same route.

On the way back, Li Song was a little puzzled and said, "Although Bodao is a man of courage and righteousness, why is he so well treated by Ji'an?"

Zhang Yu smiled faintly and asked, "Does Bosong know about the Jueying Banquet?"

"Have heard a little bit!"

Li Song pondered for a moment and said, "King Zhuang of Chu did not take the Chu general's crime of bullying his concubine seriously. Three years later, when Chu and Jin fought a great war, the Chu general felt grateful for his kindness and led the troops to defeat the Jin army!"

"Of course!"

Zhang Yu walked with his hands behind his back and said, "So the reason why I treated Bo Dao well is that I not only respect his morality, but also want to win his heart. Looking at the past and present, if you don't have good minions, how can you accomplish great things!"

"Achieve great things?"

Li Song muttered to himself, and he had to admit that Zhang Yu had changed so much since he recovered from his serious illness that it was a little hard for him to imagine.

Isn't the person who can say "win people's hearts, have sharp claws and teeth, and accomplish great things" the image of the ambitious person described in the book?

"What about Ji'an's ambition?" Li Song asked.

Zhang Yuwei pondered for a moment, then said thoughtfully: "If I advance, I will be paid two thousand shi, if I retreat, I will be able to protect my hometown!"

Li Song smiled and said, "From what I've seen from Ji An, I'm afraid this is not the only thing he has done!"

"Ha ha!"

Hanging out with Zhang Yu all day, how could Li Song not know that Zhang Yu’s ambitions go beyond this!
Zhang Yu put his arm around Li Song and Zhang Maoshan's shoulders and said with a smile, "We'll talk about it later!"

If you ask Zhang Yu about his current ambition, he already has an idea in his mind, but it is just a little vague.

Zhang Yu came from later times and understood what would happen in the future: heroes would compete for supremacy, the world would be divided into three parts, and then the three kingdoms would return to the Jin Dynasty.

With his current status, he didn't know if he was qualified to participate in the Eastern Han Dynasty Chicken Dinner. So he planned to try his best to gain some territory in the chaotic times, and then participate in the Chicken Dinner before the situation in the north became clear. What the future path would be like at that time could be judged based on the situation at that time.

After bidding farewell to Hao Zhao, Zhang Yu focused his attention on studying again. In addition to listening to Wang Hong's lectures on military strategy, he also made friends with Sun Zi.

Since Sun Zi was born in poverty, he accepted the olive branch thrown by Zhang Yu!
(End of this chapter)