[How do professionals fight amateurs?]
The generals in the hall fell into thought, silently pondering the meaning of "professional" and "amateur."
"If we speak of personal bravery, Lü Bu may not firmly hold first place. But if we speak of the troops under his command, the Bingzhou Cavalry..." Guan Yu shook his head, recalling some rather unpleasant memories.
In the third year of Jian'an, Lü Bu openly allied with Yuan Shu, who had declared himself emperor, betraying the court. Liu Bei, then serving as Governor of Xuzhou, seized Lü Bu's gold. Enraged, Lü Bu sent Gao Shun, who dealt Liu Bei a crushing defeat. Cao Cao dispatched Xiahou Dun to reinforce him, and even after joining forces, they were still heavily defeated.
It was not until later that year, when Cao Cao personally led his army and allied with Liu Bei, that they surrounded Lü Bu at Xiapi. After three months of siege, they only succeeded in capturing and killing this fierce tiger due to betrayal from within Lü Bu's ranks.
The expressions of those under Liu Bei darkened. Gao Shun had defeated Liu Bei's forces twice in succession, and Lü Bu himself had barely needed to act. The difference in troop quality had simply been too great.
[Lightscreen]
[Zhao Yun, who is commonly ranked second, appears even more like a war god in official history than Lü Bu. At Changban Slope, he charged in and out seven times. At the Han River, he did the same. Moving through Cao Cao's army as casually as going to the latrine, he treated them as if they were nothing.]
Jian Yong burst into laughter. "That comparison deserves a full cup!"
The other generals could not help but laugh as well.
Zhang Fei scratched his cheek and said, "If the Cao army is the latrine, then the Ah Dou that Yunmei rescued from within..."
Liu Bei's smile froze at once.
[Lightscreen]
[Zhao Yun came from the ranks of Youzhou, so the troops he led were most likely the Youzhou Rapid Cavalry, another elite force. Do not ask why it was not the Baima Yichong. Everyone knows that while the realm prospers, our imperial uncle alone is poor. Where would he find the money to buy white horses? If he really assembled such a unit, it would probably have to be called the Multicolored Horse Yichong.]
Liu Bei broke down internally. Was his poverty truly so famous?
Zhao Yun spoke frankly, "General Gongsun Zan favored white horses and was called the White Horse General by the tribes. He later selected three thousand elite troops, all mounted on white horses, and named them the Baima Yichong. I, of course, did not have such a unit."
Three thousand elite cavalry all riding white horses. Liu Bei felt genuine envy.
[Lightscreen]
[But it is true that everyone loves white horses. Chengdu once had a place called Zilong Pond, covering ten mu. A stele stood by the bank with the inscription 'Place where Marquis Shunping washed his horse,' so it was also known as Zilong Horse-Washing Pool. This site was filled in seventy years ago and renamed Heping Street. When I visited, I casually took a few photos, and they were nothing more than ordinary street scenes. I even chatted with an elderly man who told me the legend of Zilong Pond.]
Everyone in the hall stared greedily at the two objects known as photographs. Even Zhuge Liang momentarily forgot to copy them down.
The streets were wide and level. The passersby all had full, well-fed faces and relaxed expressions. Small buildings stood in neat rows along the roadside, and in the distance, towering structures could faintly be seen. The outer walls of these buildings bore various decorations and written signs.
Zhuge Liang carefully read them out, "Noodle shop... Mahjong club... Fresh produce market... Heping Street bus stop... Zhang Fei beef?"
Zhang Fei: ???
"I, Old Zhang, slaughtered pigs in Zhuo Commandery. Could it be that even this was altered in the Romance?"
Jian Yong said bluntly, "I truly wish I could be born in later generations. →"
Mi Zhu did not speak so directly, but his envy was unmistakable. From the street alone, one could feel the prosperity of commerce, unlike the present where scholar, farmer, artisan, and merchant were rigidly ranked.
[Lightscreen]
[It is said that when the Mongol army invaded Chengdu, they committed countless atrocities. One night, a great fog descended upon the city. At that moment, a white horse galloped out from Zilong Pond, carrying a general clad in silver armor who raised his arm and shouted, 'Mobilize troops to restore the Han, protect our land, slay the enemy and destroy the invaders, follow me!'
The White Horse General charged into the Mongol camp as if it were empty. The people, believing Zhao Yun had manifested, rose up and followed him into battle, driving the Mongol army out of Chengdu.
Afterward, the people built a temple for Zhao Yun beside the Horse-Washing Pool, and incense offerings continued without end.]
Because the light screen had spoken of Chengdu many times, everyone present had already formed an attachment to it. Hearing the call to restore the Han, Liu Bei felt a deep sense of sympathy.
He frowned and asked Zhuge Liang, "This Mongol army, what kind of force is it?"
Zhuge Liang spread his hands. Even after searching through all the knowledge he had read, he could find no answer, and could only speculate, "Judging from the name, they are most likely a foreign tribe."
"Our descendants truly suffer greatly," Zhang Fei said with feeling. "First the chaos of the Five Barbarians, now this Mongol force. Could there be more foreign tribes in the future? Emperor Wu was perhaps not ruthless enough."
Zhao Yun's expression grew complicated. As a general, he could see clearly that this was most likely a rebel leader invoking his name to call for the restoration of the Han. Yet even after so many years, the people of Bashu still placed such trust in him. He only regretted that he lacked the ability to truly manifest, or he would surely answer their call.
[Lightscreen]
[Dian Wei ranks after Zhao Yun and is known for his brute strength. There is even a joke online that says, 'Lü Bu is unmatched in mounted combat, Dian Wei is unmatched in foot combat, so if Lü Bu rides Dian Wei, would that not make him invincible under heaven?']
"Hahahahaha!"
Zhang Fei and Jian Yong burst into laughter together.
Even Guan Yu, Zhuge Liang, and Sun Qian could not help but smile. The creativity of later generations was truly outrageous.
Yet when they imagined the scene in their minds, they could not help laughing again.
[Lightscreen]
[Historical records of Dian Wei are sparse, so there is little to discuss. It is reasonable to suspect that those who created the ranking did so for the sake of rhyme. After all, placing Zhang Fei in third would not work, and whether Guan Yu or Ma Chao took that position, the rhyme would fail. Though this reasoning sounds absurd, without rhyme it would not spread as easily.]
Since Guan Yu was right beside him, Zhang Fei could only mutter softly, "Why can't I be third..."
[Lightscreen]
[As for Guan Yu, there is no need to elaborate. Too many legends remain. The Romance even assigned him five hundred blade guards as personal troops. His might needs no proof.]
Zhang Fei noticed that his second brother was stroking his beard more frequently.
[As for Ma Chao, this brings us back to today's topic, the Hanzhong Campaign.]
"So the later generation still remembers that this is about the Hanzhong Campaign!" Huang Zhong said with dissatisfaction. He had been waiting a long time for Xiahou Yuan.
[Lightscreen]
[From this ranking, one can see that Ma Chao is actually lacking. Lü Bu relied on the Bingzhou Cavalry to dominate, Zhao Yun had the Youzhou Rapid Cavalry to rampage freely, yet Ma Chao, holding the Liangzhou Steeds, lived like a hunted stray.
These are the Liangzhou Steeds!
At the end of the Western Jin, when the Xiongnu leader Liu Yuan attacked Luoyang twice, the Liangzhou general Beigong Chun rushed to aid from a thousand li away both times and repelled him, winning with fewer troops each time. The Zizhi Tongjian records that Beigong Chun gathered over a hundred brave men and charged into the enemy formation, defeating a force of tens of thousands.
The rebel army numbered around twenty thousand. Over a hundred men charging tens of thousands could be called a reborn war god.
Because of this, a song spread in Luoyang:
'Liangzhou Steeds, gallop across the realm. Liangzhou falcons, the invaders fall. Falcons in flight, terror that kills.'
A thousand-li march, immediate combat, victory against greater numbers, a hundred men breaking a camp.
This is what Liangzhou Steeds are.]
Jian Yong, well versed in music, immediately tried to sing the Liangzhou Steeds ballad, imagining the later general as a fierce falcon soaring through the skies, striking down enemies like thunder.
Liu Bei, being of the imperial clan, sharply caught onto something else.
"Xiongnu? Liu Yuan? Xiongnu Liu Yuan?"