When Zhang Chong heard that it was the local Puyang Yellow Turbans who had defected, he immediately went out of his tent to greet them.
He was having a headache and didn't know the situation of the Han soldiers, so he was overjoyed when local snakes came. When he left the camp, he saw a small team of two thousand people, and a mixed group of hedgehogs gathered outside the camp, and shouted at Zhang Chong. The defenders of the battalion were cursing, and it was obvious that something unpleasant had just happened.
The person guarding the southern wall of the camp was Yu Jin. He and his subordinates also looked at the so-called comrades outside the camp with vigilance, not daring to relax. Seeing Zhang Chong coming, Yu Jin hurriedly explained the situation to him:
"Qugui, the people outside here claim to be the Taiping Road of Puyang, but I think they look like bandits, so we must keep an eye on them."
Zhang Chong nodded, knowing that Yu Jin was right to be cautious. It was already night, and Zhang Chong could not rush into the wall. He could not confirm the identity of the other party without telling them now. Even if they were really comrades, they could not be allowed in. There is no room for luck in war.
But obviously, Yu Jin's caution made Puyang Taiping Road outside the camp very angry. In fact, if you think about it from their perspective, they must be very angry. They got the news that the Taishan Army had arrived in Puyang, and they came all the way exhausted. Then what? When they arrived, They didn't even let them in and even questioned their identity. Who would be offended by this?
Zhang rushed to the wall and listened to the commotion below. Some said that the Taishan Army looked down on people and would not serve these Taishan gangsters; some said that they came for no other reason than to fight with the Taishan Army against the Han soldiers and avenge their dead comrades.
Zhang Chong listened for a while, and then looked at the windows above the heads of the people below, already judging in his mind that most of these people were from the local Taiping Road.
If these people are an incoming camp disguised as Han soldiers, they must be selected elite soldiers. However, the following group of people only have a few dozen people with windows, so they are unlikely to be Han soldiers.
Thinking of this, Zhang Chong ordered the ban wall to be opened, and they all came out of the stronghold to meet these Puyang comrades.
Yu Jin wanted to persuade him, but he knew that Zhang Chong always had numerous military orders, so he had no choice but to obey them. After opening the wall, Yu Jin finally felt uneasy and asked Chang Xi to lead the soldiers in front. He and Zhang Nan surrounded Zhang Chong on the left and right. , and then came out of the wall.
When Puyang Taiping Road saw that the camp suddenly opened, they thought they were going to attack them, so they all retreated. However, when they saw these Taishan troops coming out, they just surrounded one person and did not attack, so they knew it was a big shot.
Then three of the leaders came out and paid homage to Zhang Chong:
"May I ask if he is a disciple of General Ren Gong, the most righteous hero in the world, Marshal Fangqu of Mount Tai, and the great general who swept across Heji?"
Zhang Chong, who was surrounded, sighed at the courtesy of these Puyang comrades and gave him so many names. At the same time, he strode forward, helped the three of them up, and said warmly:
"I feel ashamed. I am just not talented. I don't know who all the Puyang comrades are heroes."
The person in front of me, who was the oldest in the grade, had a loyal face, and although he had long arms and legs, he seemed to have no courage at all. He spoke first:
"General Chongtian, I am the leader of the followers of Puyang. My name is Changjiao. I am also the commander-in-chief elected by our brothers in Puyang. The original Qu Kui was killed by the dog slaves of the Tian family in Puyang, and we are the only ones left."
As he spoke, perhaps thinking of his comrades who died, Wang Chang burst into tears as he spoke, which made the two people next to him a bit embarrassed.
Zhang Chong and others stroked Wang Chang's back and comforted him. He was feeling better. He looked at Zhang Chong gratefully and introduced to the two people beside him:
"These two are both heroes on the river, one is Luo Gang, Luo Dakui, and the other is Pan Zhang and Pan Dakui. They are both friends of our Puyang Taiping Road. If it weren't for their help, our Puyang Taiping Road would really be wiped out. .”
After Zhang Chong heard this, he stared at the man named Pan Zhang. He was eight feet tall, wearing a worn-out two-level armor, and a red sweat scarf hanging around his neck. He looked like a rough man.
Unexpectedly, he met the twelve tiger ministers of Jiang Biao here. This Pan Zhang was from Shandong? Zhang Chong originally thought that the twelve tiger ministers of Jiang Biao were all from Jiangdong. Then he thought that this man's original plane was the one who captured and killed Guan Yu. , and now that Guan Yu is in the tent, and Pan Zhang has also come over, he can't help but sigh at the trick of fate.
Then Zhang Chong looked at the man named Luo Gang aside and couldn't help but nod. He was a brave man.
Finally, Zhang Chong apologized to Puyang and said:
"You have come a long way, experienced hardships and hunger all the way, and then were blocked outside the camp by my subordinates. You have wronged everyone. Don't blame my subordinates. He has always been cautious. I apologize for him and all my colleagues here."
With that said, he bowed to all the Yanzhou Taiping Taoists.
This frightened the man named Wang Chang. He knew the prestigious name in the sect. It could be said that he was their flag against the Han, a hero who acted for heaven and made decisions for poor people like them. A hero. However, he, Wang Chang, was just a low-level believer in Puyang before. He could not bear Zhang Chong's worship, so he hurriedly grabbed Zhang Chong.
Of course, this is what the commander Wang came to pull, and the man named Luo Gang and Pan Zhang beside him were very angry at first, but seeing that this famous man was still polite, they didn't leave in a hurry.
What's the point of bowing now? Aren't the two of them worthy of this big bow? So, both of them stood still and bowed to each other.
After Zhang Chong expressed his apology, he asked Yu Jin to go back to the wall and open a tent area in the southwest corner for these Puyang comrades to stay overnight.
Then Zhang Chong took Wang Chang's arm and led him inside.
Zhang Chong originally saw the behavior of Na Luo Gang and Pan Zhang, and knew that they were not from Taiping Road, so he thought, if these two people have any ideas, in this large place, their lives are all in his hands. Zhang Chong had a thought.
But fortunately, Luo Gang and Pan Zhang were also lucky. They were just dissatisfied and had no other ideas. In this way, Zhang Chong led Puyang Taiping Road and the water bandits into the tent area opened by Yu Jin, and then sent clear water , millet balls and bacon, directly pulled into the distance between the two sides.
Zhang Chong even stayed in the tent of Wang Chang and the others that night. On the one hand, he wanted to win people's hearts, but on the other hand, he wanted to know the current situation in Puyang, so the four of them held candles and talked at night.
Let’s talk about Luo Gang and Pan Zhang first. They were originally part of a group of water pirates on the river.
At this time, the Yellow River had not yet become turbid due to the sedimentation of the upper reaches, so it was still called a big river.
The area where this group of water bandits is entrenched is the waterway between Puyang and Baima. This area is also the most prosperous section where Henan and Hebei meet. There is an endless stream of business travelers traveling to and from the river every day.
This group of water pirates have been living on the water for generations. When they were free, they ferried across the river with others. When they were busy, they transformed themselves into plundering the river. Later, three heroes emerged from this generation, one was named Big Sheep Head, and the other was named Luo Gang.
The other one is Pan Zhang. The three of them started selling flags to passing boats. Each flag costs three thousand. If you take the flag, you will not be robbed in this section of the river. In other words, this group of water pirates has successfully transformed.
They were robbed and charged tolls instead.
In April this year, the Taiping Dao uprising broke out across the country, and they also raised troops to respond. This was not because they agreed with the cause of Taiping Dao, but because there was only one way.
It turns out that the river channel occupied by this group of water pirates is an important area, so both Hanting and Taipingdao want to win over them. Originally, Dayangtou and others wanted to join the Hanting. After all, who doesn't want to recruit An as an official? But Dongjun
The prefect Cao Shao felt that this group of people was capricious and difficult to truly trust, so he planned to wipe out Taiping Dao in his county and then turn around to deal with these water bandits.
Under this situation, the water bandits in Puyang had no choice but to seek refuge with the Taiping Taoists, so they also raised troops to cut off the river and supported each other with the Taiping Taoists in Puyang.
But something went wrong later. As soon as Dayangtou came into contact with the Taiping Dao in Puyang, he found that these Taoist thieves were all gangsters, and their tribe was not very strong. It was expected that the Taiping Dao was not a successful person. So when he returned,
He stopped talking about cooperation with Taiping Dao and just used it as a bargaining chip to actively contact Puyang.
Dayangtou's real name was Yang Du, and he wanted to recruit people ashore, but Cao Shao looked down on him and refused to give him a chance. But then his opportunity came. Zhong Shao of the Northern Army obeyed the military orders of Lu Zhi, the general of the Northern Army.
, led a thousand Northern troops to cross the river and go south. They were using their troops and wanted to recruit this group of water bandits. Yang Du seized the opportunity and surrendered to Zhong Shao, leading a thousand people to become Han soldiers.
But Yang Du wanted to go ashore, but the other two thieves Kui Luo Gang and Pan Zhang did not. After they came into contact with Taiping Road, they actively moved closer to the latter, and finally parted ways with Yang Du.
In fact, Luo Gang and Yang Du were at odds with each other. The river bandit was originally passed down from the Luo family, but later Yang Du got really good and came up with a strategy of collecting tolls, which greatly increased his prestige within the group, and he wanted to
It wasn't that Luo Gang invited Pan Zhang, a foreign aid, to fight against Yang Du. This Puyang water bandit had already been named Yang. Pan Zhang was a ranger from Fagan in Dongjun. He had exchanged lives with Luo Gang when he was young, so Nai brother summoned him.
He joined the gang.
There was also this contradiction. Yang Du led a thousand soldiers to join the Northern Army, while Luo Gang and Pan Zhang led a thousand soldiers to move to the outside of Puyang. Instead of competing with the Han soldiers, they wanted to join forces with the Taiping Road in Puyang first.
But who would have thought that Puyang Taiping Dao would be taken down in May. To say that this Taiping Dao is really not a rebellious group. Although it has an organization and slogans, it does things too loosely. These Taiping Dao always feel that they have placed spies everywhere after 20 years of development.
, but little did he know that his own country had already been infiltrated by all the major clans.
For the children of wealthy families, they are united by blood relatives and are more resistant to the impact of religious beliefs than ordinary small farmers. Their identification with their ancestors is much higher than that of the so-called Huang Tian. Therefore, the interests of the family are much higher than the interests of the so-called Taiping Dao.
Therefore, when the big families in Puyang ordered their children to ambush Puyang Taiping Road, these people did not hesitate much and attacked and killed the leaders of Puyang Taiping Road. The rest had no choice but to flee to the countryside to survive.
Later, Wang Chang gathered a few comrades and reluctantly raised a thousand troops to protect themselves. If he hadn't encountered Luo Gang, Pan Zhang and other troops who also went south, Wang Chang and others would probably have become the victims of the Han soldiers.
of meritorious service.
However, the three of them could barely protect themselves together, let alone raise an army to avenge their comrades. But at this time, they heard that General Chongtian, the first righteous hero, had raised troops to join the river and had already reached Puyang.
Now they were saved, and the vengeance of their comrades could be avenged.