Chapter 9 third quarter

As soon as Cao Jun passed Yunmeng, he fell ill. At first, it was an ordinary cold: sneezing, coughing, runny nose; because of the urgent schedule, the army did not dare to delay, and endured to move forward; After more than one day, the symptoms became more and more serious. Diarrhea, vomiting, and convulsions followed one after another, which made Cao Cao have a headache.He was inherently suspicious, and at this moment he could no longer trust the Jingzhou military doctor, and strictly ordered the doctor who followed him from the north to come up with countermeasures.But those people were not only unable to cure this disease, they had never seen it much, until when the army marched to Chibi, people began to die in the army.

At first, the lower-level officials were afraid that the higher-ups would blame them, so they concealed the crime and did not report it, so they threw the corpses into the water; but after a while, the corpses floated up, all of them were swollen and horrible; the soldiers salvaged the corpses, dug a hole and buried them.Three days later, those soldiers responsible for salvaging and burying all got the same disease.Later, people even envied the group of people who died first, because it seemed that their death was not too painful.In late October, the disease was rampant like a madman. Many bodies were rotting alive, from the inside to the outside, from the bones to the skin.Generals no longer dare to visit wounded and sick camps, and military doctors dare not go in; everyone who is reasonably healthy lives in fear and silence, lest they swallow death with one mouthful and rot from the intestines and stomach. rise.

There were so many dead people that they couldn't afford to bury them. Because they were afraid that they would float up again when they were thrown into the water, they packed a lot of corpses in sacks, added a few big stones, and sank them into the river!Panic struck the entire Cao army, so that when the corpse was buried, several sick people who were still alive were often put into bags, one to prevent him from infecting others, and the other to pay homage to Jiangshen.However, the disease did not stop.Sometimes the disease will slow down, as if it will pass after another exposure, but before Cao Cao can breathe a sigh of relief, the more rapid spread will come again!

How can we fight like this? Cao Cao couldn't sleep at night, sitting in the cold moonlight and thinking of Guo Jia: that was his wisest adviser, but it was a pity that he died young.If Guo Jia was here, he would definitely be able to come up with a way to rescue him. He is... so smart.Cao Cao thought sadly.Cao Cao also knew about the Jiangdong plague before. It is usually only prevalent in midsummer. Now that winter is approaching, how could there be such a fierce epidemic? ! The Yangtze River is like a slender white chain, shining brightly. Halfway across Bailian, Jiangdong's ships were anchored steadily.

Since Zhou Yu came to Chibi, he had only fought a few sporadic battles with Cao Cao, using no more than 20 to 30 warships, and only 1000 to 2000 soldiers.Often after shooting randomly for a while, Jiangdong's army was ordered to approach Cao's army, killing thirty to fifty heads, cutting off their ears and hanging them around their waists, and then walked away.When Cao Cao reacted and ordered the army to stand in battle, the Jiangdong side was quiet again, as if the battle just now was just an ignorant dream.Zhou Yu walked out of the cabin, looked at the blood-stained ears hanging on the side of the boat, smiled lightly, turned around and walked back.He entered the main ship, leaning on the sandalwood table, pinching a shiny black rhinoceros horn cup in his hand, filling it with the finest Siamese wine brought from the East China Sea.

"Kong Ming, let's play a song!" Zhou Yu said to Zhuge Liang who was sitting on the side, staring at the bright red light in the cup, "I heard that "Liang Fu Yin" that you are good at is the joy of mourning." "No, "Liang Fu Yin" is not suitable." Zhuge Liang said, and sat down after turning to the piano table.Since he met Zhou Yu half a month ago, he has been observing him, wanting to know his real appearance hidden behind his handsome robe and smile.Zhuge Liang really wanted to know what was going on in the mind of a hero like Zhou Yu who was walking towards the most glorious scene in his life.

Zhou Yu smiled lightly, and glanced at him: "Then play a suitable song." "Okay." Zhuge Liang swiped his finger! "Today is a good banquet, and the joy is hard to describe. The zither is playing vigorously, and the new voice is wonderful..." He sang an unusually brisk tune, with a fluttering warmth, "flying sleeves, exciting the dust under the feet. The beauty Yan Ruyu, Yanzhao is so beautiful..." "Haha!" Zhou Yu pointed at Zhuge Liang and laughed, "It turns out that Kong Ming can also be happy with Zheng Wei." Zhuge Liang pressed his fingers, stopped the sound of the piano, and said with a smile: "Everyone has the love of beauty."

"The battle is imminent, and Kong Ming's performance of this piece is extravagant." Zhou Yu said suddenly. It looks like Zhou Yu is accusing Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang still had a nonchalant look on his face, he stirred the feathers and asked, "Didn't the war start a long time ago?" "The purpose of the past is to test." Zhou Yu drank half a glass of wine, and the burning between his lips and tongue made him frown, "It's not a war." "What about Yunmeng?" Zhuge Liang smiled. Zhou Yu was putting the second sip of wine to his lips, when he suddenly stopped, looked at the person in front of him with surprised and smiling eyes, and after a while, he said, "How much does Kong Ming know?"

"It's just a guess." Zhuge Liang said, "I only know that when Cao Jun passed through Yunmeng, he encountered a heavy fog and couldn't tell the direction for three days; after the fog cleared, some minor diseases spread; slowly, the minor diseases became serious diseases. , the disease has become a plague. Where is the season for the epidemic in winter? Besides, if it is a general epidemic, the Jingzhou Army can't possibly be helpless against it... Zuo Dudu," Zhuge Liang called Zhou Yu's most official official title, "Liang wants to know , how did you manage this."

"Water." Zhou Yu said. Fog is originally water.Most of the fog in Yunmeng is formed by the local water source being exposed to strong light and rising upward.If the "worm" was thrown into Yunmeng Water Pond early in the morning, within ten days, it would become a dangerous place.Cao Jun stayed in the fog for three days. Whether he walked in the fog for a long time or drank the spring water with "worms", the seeds of disease would be implanted in the body.These alone are not fatal.The real killing move is in Chibi.Chibi water is not poisonous, but once it seeps into the body of the lurking "worm", it will cause the "worm" to multiply at a speed of ten times or a hundred times.When people are on the river, who cares whether the water they drink is boiled? "Looking all over the east of the river, only the water of the Red Cliff can do this amazing feat..." Zhou Yu laughed softly, "So I did not hesitate to sacrifice a dozen ships, and fought and retreated, and brought Cao's army here. Kong Ming," Zhou Yu will cherish, Looking out of the window with admiring eyes, looking at the high rocks, the steep rock walls, and the gray ground in the distance, he said slowly, "The Red Cliff belongs to me."

Chibi belonged to Zhou Yu. Belongs to him alone, until the ages. Zhuge Liang looked at Zhou Yu's side, startled.The cool setting sun leaked from the window panes, covering Zhou Yu's slightly pale face. He is a general who gallops in all directions, but at this moment he looks like a lonely singer, wearing a coat embroidered with flying squirrels and dragons. Lightly scattered on the back; Zhou Yu bent one hand, put it on his knee, held the wine glass, held the window with the other hand, bent his middle finger, and tapped on the edge of the window lightly, as if humming a song from afar, humming and laughing, People can't understand. "Kong Ming, you are just a young man, that's why you thought I was happy and played a song "The Good Banquet" to make fun of me." Zhou Yu said, "I am not a person who takes pleasure in killing, but there are certain things I must do. If I have a single thought of benevolence, I will fail my deceased friend, and fail... General Sun." The General Sun he was referring to was not Sun Quan, but the once prominent little overlord Sun Ce!Zhuge Liang sighed.Sun Ce has been dead for eight years. If he is still alive... he must be a man like the sun, and he will not let Zhou Yu use such cruel methods. "In this world, there is nothing that is not cruel." Zhou Yu continued, "Mothers throw their children in the grass so that they will not starve to death; fathers give their daughters to others to eat, and then exchange them for another girl. Come to feed your hunger; on the thousands of miles of plains, there are only bones! Coyotes crawl on the ground with their bellies on the ground, and falcons flying in the air waiting to eat carrion... Which one is not cruel? Those villains and scum! Knowing that he has always boasted of his appearance, he deliberately destroyed his face! Isn't this... cruel?!" Zhou Yu coughed violently, as if he was about to cough up blood. "Eight hundred thousand? Haha... It's a pity that Cao Jun doesn't have that many! Kong Ming, if I can kill eight hundred thousand lives in one fell swoop," Zhou Yu stared at Zhuge Liang with a secret smile in his eyes, "According to the teaching of the Buddha, I, Jiangdong Zhou Gongjin, is he about to fall into the deepest, deepest... darkness? Haha! Going up the mountain of swords and down into the sea of ​​fire... is also very interesting! Haha..." Zhuge Liang felt sad. The strings were wrapped around his fingers, and the strings were ringing, and it was he who was trembling slightly. The setting sun was even thicker, and Zhou Yu's finger holding the cup turned a wine-red color, as if it had been stained with blood. Zhuge Liang thought: Maybe one day, if I raise my finger to the setting sun, it will turn red like this. "Little young man..." Zhou Yu laughed at Zhuge Liang, supported Zhuge Liang with his hands, stood up from the table, poured a glass of wine, handed it to him and said, "Here." "I'm not good at wine." Zhuge Liang stopped drinking. "Insect killer." Zhou Yu laughed, "Siamese wine, take the shochu and burn it twice, put in the strange fragrance, burn and smoke each wine jar with more than ten catties of sandalwood, then put the wine in, seal it with wax, Bury it in the ground after snow for three years, dig it out when there is no burnt meat at all, add more spices, and you can drink it. If Cao Jun had this kind of wine," Zhou Yu chuckled, "so many people would not die." "The same will die." "Oh?" "Not many people can afford to drink it." Zhuge Liang poured the wine back into the jar and asked, "Mr. Zuo, how long do you want to indulge in the poisonous insects? The spread of the plague is bound to affect the people of Jiangdong." "That's one of the reasons why I kept Kong Ming by my side instead of escorting you back to Xuande Gong." Zhou Yu laughed. "The governor wants to...?" "I'm worried that I will become addicted." Zhou Yu smiled sadly, "Insects are poison, desires are also poison, hobbies and habits are poison. Those who drink too much Siamese wine can't live without it; those who are used to playing "Liang Fuyin" I can’t get rid of the sad feelings. The battle of Chibi, the defeat of Cao Cao, three points of the world, the world’s miraculous achievements... It’s really touching, haha! Zhuge Liang,” Zhou Yu said, “I’m worried that I will be fascinated by desire Dizzy, addicted to feeling the power of insect poison, forgetting... When should I stop! So I need someone to remind me, a person who is calm enough and smart enough, you—Zhuge Kongming.” Zhuge Liang stood upright solemnly, and saluted: "I accept the order. It's just..." he asked, "At that time, how will the governor eliminate the insect poison?" "Burn it." Zhou Yu waved his hand. Zhuge Liang's eyes lit up! Burn... that's the word: burn! "I also want to know another reason why the governor kept me." Zhuge Liang said again. Zhou Yu laughed and said, "Why do you ask so many questions, kid?" Zhou Yu said again: "I want your eyes to record the original Chibi." The Siamese wine was very strong, and ordinary drinkers would get drunk in less than three cups; Zhou Yu drank eight cups in one go, and he quickly collapsed in the cabin, and the aroma of the wine permeated the cabin. "Mr. Xuande thinks that 30,000 people are not enough? Please, Mr. Xuande, watch the battle. Yu leads 30,000 elite soldiers and can defeat Cao Cao's army of a million!" Zhou Yu's high-spirited words rang in Zhuge Liang's ears; that day, Liu Bei came to visit , fearing that there are few people in Jiangdong, and he cannot defend against the enemy, Zhou Yu answered him like this.Zhou Lang back then was so different from him at this moment!Zhuge Liang took a blanket and threw it on Zhou Yu's body, and sat down with his knees hugged as before. He didn't look at Zhou Yu again, but turned his gaze into the vast twilight.Chibi, in Zhou Yu's smile and drunk, has written the ending; Zhou Yu said: Chibi belongs to me.So... Zhuge Liang thought, where is mine?Jingzhou?Yizhou?Or... farther away, so far away... that I can't see it. What Zhuge Liang could see was November 9th in the thirteenth year of Jian'an. It was night, and the southeast wind was blowing. Zhou Yu sent an old general named Huang Gai to pretend to surrender to Cao Cao; Cao Cao was dazed by the plague, and when he heard someone coming to surrender, he cheered up and accepted him; Under the banner of surrender, the outside was surrounded by green cloth, and the inside was filled with oil-soaked dry firewood and dry grass. A small boat that was easy to attack was tied to the back of the boat, and they galloped towards Cao Cao's water village.When they were less than five feet away from the water stronghold, ten large ships ignited at the same time and rushed straight into Cao's army!That night, the wind was very strong and the fire was very strong. Cao Cao's fleet was connected by iron cables, one of them was ablaze, and the fire quickly spread to the second. In less than half an hour, the entire water village was engulfed in flames. Above the surface of the water, the flames soared into the sky. The red-hot dragon soars up, baring its teeth and claws, invincible; no one feels that this winter is cold anymore, the cold is completely swallowed up by the flames in an instant, and the fire dragon breathes out again, and the whole river is as red as day!The river rolled and howled, like a life ignited by fire, crying out in pain; when the water surged, Cao Jun's soldiers who could not fight in water began to cry loudly. , hands, feet, heads, one by one on the deck, you fight for each other, those who can water will plunge down, but are beaten to death by the waves; those who cannot water will roll around on the boat, trying to extinguish Fire, but always rolled into a more serious flame, burning and deforming the face!Ah... ah... The screams spread far away, all the way to the towering Dianjiang platform, where Zhou Yu's sky-blue robe was making a "crackling" sound. This is Chibi. Zhou Lang Chibi. By the next day, Chibi will be worthy of its name, and it will be burnt red. "Captain!" The generals asked for orders to fight. "Don't worry." Zhou Yu held the saber in his hand and smiled slightly. He turned his face to Zhuge Liang who was on the next level. Zhuge Liang was staring intently at the fierce fire in the direction of Cao Jun! "Is it beautiful?" Zhou Yu asked intentionally. Zhuge Liangliang nodded: "It burns beautifully. You must think about killing people and saving them, so that you can calm down. In this way... the insects will disappear, right?" "Oh." Zhou Yu said. "Did Xuande pursue Cao Jun by land?" Zhou Yu asked Zhuge Liang. "yes." "Then Yu is in charge of the waterway." Zhou Yu laughed loudly, and said to the generals, "We Jiangdong men, on the Yangtze River, are all tide-wielders with one as ten!" "Haha..." All of them laughed for a moment. Gan Ning, Han Dang, Zhou Tai, Lu Meng... the generals held strong bows, and after taking orders, the commanding platform was still majestic and majestic!The bluestone slab descended straight down from a high place, and on the white jade steps stood a handsome general, wearing a gluttonous chain armor, a black jade and purple gold crown on his head, a pair of knee-length cowhide boots on his feet, and an eight-treasure emerald belt on his waist. Holding the token in his left hand and the long sword in his right, he glanced at the sky with his star-like eyes, and the stars in the sky were about to fall in shame.Tonight, Zhou Lang engraved his thirty-four-year-old demeanor into Chibi forever! Zhuge Liang is a gazer. A bystander full of emotion, envy, and sigh. "Kong Ming..." Zhou Yu suddenly called softly. "Captain Zuo?" "When will Kong Ming return to Fankou?" Zhou Yu asked.Fankou is Liu Bei's camp. "Leave immediately." Zhuge Liang replied. Zhou Yu smiled: "Can't Kong Ming stay and assist my lord?" This invitation, Zhou Yu has always wanted to say, but has not said it, it seems that once he said it, he was separated from Zhuge Liang.But if you don't say it now, you won't have another chance.Zhou Yu didn't look at Zhuge Liang when he was speaking. He had never been rejected by anyone, and being rejected while staring at him was not a pleasant thing. Zhuge Liang smiled. "What's more, your brother Ziyu is also in Jiangdong." Zhou Yu added. Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "No." "Oh……" "Master Wu can use bright talents, but he can't make full use of them." He explained. Zhou Yu waved his hand, he didn't need an explanation, he just wanted an answer.Zhou Yu felt lazy tiredness pervading his body, flowing into his limbs and bones, making him want to lean on the handsome platform and have a good sleep.In the distance, the flames are still bright, like large tracts of tumi flowers blooming.It's not time to rest yet, wow, I have to put this body on the side of a ship, mount a horse, brandish this body with a famous sword, and point out the three armies!Zhou Yu squeezed the hilt of his sword tightly and walked down the high platform step by step, Zhuge Liang followed behind him. "Liang will leave here." Zhuge Liang held the feather fan and said with a salute. Zhou Yu nodded reservedly. "The governor should be careful, and you should not drink too much." Zhuge Liang said again. Zhou Yu smiled deeply: "Mind your own business." His smile made Zhuge Liang think of Sun Ce in a trance. Although he had never met Sun Ce, Zhuge Liang felt that Zhou Yu's smile was just like a bully!Alas, the friendship that grows in the flames of war cannot be described or imitated by others.Zhuge Liang turned to leave, and unconsciously quickened his pace. Behind him, Zhou Yu suddenly shouted: "Zhuge Liang!" Zhuge Liang stopped. "I'll show you Chibi, what will you show me?" Zhou Yu asked with a big smile. Zhuge Liang turned his head, smiled faintly and said, "Three parts of the world." Three points in the world.How I wish I could save this life and see the day when the world is divided into three parts.Zhuge Liang's back disappeared into the night, Zhou Yu swayed and supported the stone pier beside him.This person is about to become an unprecedented star, Zhou Yu thought.The flames burned all the way to the sky, and also burned into Zhou Yu's heart. Suddenly, his throat felt sweet, and he spat out a mouthful of blood!Can you live to the third of the world?Zhou Yu thought desolately, he wanted to see more heroes in the world, and he suspected that God would no longer care for him. When God shifted his loving eyes to another person, he—Jiangdong Zhoulang—would bear the vengeance of killing .Insect poison.How many people died here?For the first time in his life, Zhou Yu felt panic. He took a deep breath and murmured, "Bofu...Bofu." Chibi. Burned overnight. In the early morning of the next day, Zhuge Liang was already sitting in the camp at Fankou, together with Liu Bei, counting the spoils taken back by the troops led by Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and Liu Qi.Although Liu Bei didn't sleep all night, he was in good spirits. He hadn't seen Zhuge Liang for a long time, and he had a lot of things to say in his heart. When he opened his mouth, he kept saying, "It's hard work, hard work!" "It's not hard work." Zhuge Liang smiled, "The hard work is still to come." "Is it... Jingzhou?" Zhuge Liang put down the feather fan, walked to the back of the case, pulled down a huge topographic map, pointed to the four place names circled in Danzhu on the map, and said: "Here, here...here and here, you have to be here. Only by winning it within three months can we truly gain a foothold in Jingzhou." Liu Bei took a closer look, and they were: Lingling, Guiyang, Changsha and Wuling. "Didn't my lord always want to give Liang an official position?" Zhuge Liang laughed jokingly, "After all these things are successful, Liang will be qualified to ask for an official position from the lord." "Oh?" Liu Bei got even more excited, "Has Kong Ming decided on his official name?" Zhuge Liang smiled slightly and said: "Then, general Zhonglang, the military advisor."