The new Zhonglang General Zhang Wen set out from Kyoto on August 15th and arrived at Yangzhai on the 20th. He was accompanied by a 2,000-strong Jie army, which was much stronger than the Yanzhou Mu Huang Wan who took office that day.
Zhang Wen was one of the ministers in the court who was relatively close to the eunuchs. This time, Zhang Rang and others could no longer bear the idea that all military power was in the hands of party members or honest people, so they recommended Zhang Wen to Liu Hong against all odds.
temperature.
Zhang Wen came from the Zhang family, a wealthy family in Nanyang. When he became an official, he followed the path of Cao Cao's grandfather, Cao Teng. The relationship between the two families was irreversible. Therefore, as soon as Zhang Wen was stationed in Yangzhai, he called Cao Cao to his shogunate and asked him about the strength of his army.
Cao Cao now has no soldiers in his hands. If he hadn't known that Shibo Zhang Wen had become the new commander, he would have gone back to his hometown in Pei State to recruit troops. These days, he has understood clearly that if there are no soldiers in his hands, what can he say?
They are all false.
But now that Zhang Wen came, he asked him about his countermeasures, which rekindled Cao Cao's confidence. He said to Zhang Wen:
"Shibo, the situation that can be seen now is that the Yellow Turbans in Yuzhou have been divided into two groups. One group is going south, and the other group is going north with the Taishan thieves. The thieves going south are not a cause for concern. There will be a right middle man who will fight for peace. But if they go north,
It's dangerous if they go north, because most of their targets heading north are Aocang."
"Ao Cang?"
"Yes, Aocang is a transit warehouse for grain storage, and the amount of millet stored in it is countless. Once it is occupied by thieves, the situation in the entire world will be repeated."
Zhang Wen thought about the seriousness of what Cao Cao said, and he really had to guard against it, so he asked:
"Then I wonder if my nephew has any plans?"
Unexpectedly, Cao Cao, who had been so arrogant just now, shook his head after hearing this. He told Zhang Wen that there was nothing he could do:
"Since the battle of Yingyang, at least in Yuzhou, the Han army and the Yellow Turban Moth bandits have changed their offensive and defensive positions. The Han army currently staying in Yangdi is about ten thousand people, but the general morale of the army is low, and it is difficult to fight against such an army.
A soldier of hundreds of battles.”
Zhang Wen always knew that Cao Cao was a bit resourceful, and knew that when he said this, he was not saying that there was no way, but that he had a way, but it was difficult to express it.
He didn't beat around the bush with Cao Cao and just said:
"My dear nephew, you don't have to go around. Just tell me what to do."
Cao Cao stopped pretending and said frankly:
"We can mobilize Yuzhou's powerful forces to conduct team training, just like what Governor Wang did in Runan."
In this way, Zhang Wen, following Cao Cao's suggestion, finally decentralized the power of the general in order to make up for the lack of troops in the Han army, allowing the powerful men from all over Yuzhou to train Ding Yong and form regiments.
With Cao Cao's knowledge, he naturally knew that this trick was to drink poison to quench his thirst. What was his purpose in using this trick?
But no matter what the purpose is, the world is going to be in chaos.
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After obtaining supplies from Changshe, the problem of grain, grain and military resources for the Yellow Turbans in Taiyu was temporarily solved. After leaving more than 20,000 old battalions, the three armies later had a total of 20,000 soldiers and 10,000 old battalions, rushing all the way towards Xinzheng, where Lieutenant Sili was stationed.
There is a ranger in Xinzheng named Zhou Gui. He was greatly benefactored by the local Taiping Dao in the past. However, when the Taiping Dao uprising occurred in April, he was leading a group of villains to help people collect debts. When he came back, he found out about his benefactor.
The entire clan was slaughtered by Xinzheng's order Liu Heng.
Zhou Gui wanted to take revenge, but knew that he was weak and weak, so he could only endure and lurk.
On this day, he learned that General Chongtian from the Taishan side had captured Changshe and was about to lead his troops north to Xinzheng. Zhou Gui knew that his opportunity for revenge had come.
He gathered two hundred evil gangs in Wubi, and then privately contacted Zheng Xiang, a Shanliao bandit in Xingshan, hoping to invite him to join him in attacking Xinzheng and echoing the Taishan army heading north.
Although Zheng Xiang is a bandit, he is quite ambitious. With his status, he has no special circumstances and has been a bandit all his life. So when Zhou Gui contacted him, he agreed without much thought.
So the two of them worshiped at Zichan Temple on Xingshan Mountain and held important events together.
Xinzheng used to be the capital of the Zheng Kingdom in the Spring and Autumn Period, and Korea was also here during the Warring States Period. Therefore, it has always been a gathering of people, including Zheng Xiang and Zhou Gui. They also admired the stories of their predecessors and vowed to make an oath in front of Zichan's mausoleum to advance and retreat together.
After the two men joined forces, their number was 400.
On the one hand, Zhou Gui found someone to go south to contact the Taishan Army heading north, and on the other hand, he used his connections in the city to continuously send his troops into Xinzheng City.
Originally, Zhou Gui wanted to write a letter to General Zhang Chong, but he was illiterate, and he was worried about asking a scholar to write such an important matter. In his simple understanding, he could not be trusted.
.So he had no choice but to find a sharp-tongued confidant and go south.
Zhou Gui was lucky after all. Not long after his confidant went south, he was captured by the sentinel of Taishan Army forward Yu Jin.
When he learned that there was a group of people in the city of Xinzheng who wanted to rebel, Zhang Da, the general of the ban order, selected a thousand good soldiers from the army and followed them to the north quickly to get in touch with the rebels in the city.
As for whether this group of people are Han soldiers pretending to be Han soldiers? Of course it is possible, but Yu Jin believes that Zhang Da can judge based on his ability.
After Zhang Da led a thousand people to the north, he met Zhou Gui and Zheng Xiang who were still outside the city at Xingshan. After Zhang Da understood the reason for the two people's rebellion, he felt that they were still credible.
So, on August 20th, the Taishan Army Zhang Da's troops led thousands of troops to directly attack Xinzheng City. Xinzheng was the capital of two dynasties, and the city was much stronger than ordinary county towns. Moreover, there was also Mishui River as the city river, so under normal circumstances
Without ten thousand troops, it would be impossible to capture Xinzheng.
However, with the help of Zhou Gui and Zheng Xiang in the city, Zhang Da only commanded a thousand men and rushed into the open Xinzheng City. There were less than 500 county soldiers in the city, how could they withstand Zhang Da's thousands of people?
When they saw that the city could no longer be defended, they fled in all directions.
At that time, when the city was destroyed, Liu Heng, the commander of Xinzheng, was sitting in the hall to listen to the county officials talking about this year's autumn harvest. Suddenly, he saw Zhou Gui, a ranger in the city, rushing into the county office covered in blood. He was shocked and yelled:
"What a brave dog, daring to rush into the county office. Come on..."
Before long, Zhou Gui had already chopped down the county officials present, rushed to the front of the hall, and stabbed Xinzheng Ling Liu Heng to death. Not only that, the murderous Zhou Gui also entered the back corridor and killed Liu Heng's wives and concubines.
and killed.
After Zhang Da entered the city, he attacked the warehouses and arsenals, so he was one step behind Zhou Gui. When he saw that Zhou Gui had killed Xinzheng Ling and also killed his whole family, he wanted to reprimand him.
But Zhou Gui suddenly said:
"If we don't take the lives of his family, then wouldn't the Taiping Taoist disciples who died at his hands die in vain?"
Zhang Da choked and couldn't say the next words.
In the end, he only told Zhou Gui:
"You haven't joined the Taishan Army yet, and you don't know the laws in the army, so it doesn't matter. But if you still want to join the Taishan Army in the future, you must know the difference between private vendetta and public trial killing. It is also revenge. If you kill privately
Yes, I must get in eventually."
Who knew Zhou Gui was overjoyed:
"Dare you disobey me?"
It turned out that he had already heard from Zhang Da's tone that the Taishan Army wanted to recruit him, so how could he not be happy? As for whether to kill privately or not, he was not a person who killed indiscriminately. He only did it because he had a blood feud with this Xinzheng Ling.
That's all.
Zhang Da then began to cordon off the entire city, but an accident happened.
When Zhang Da hung the corpse of Xinzheng Ling in public, more and more people gathered around him regardless of their weapons. They were so excited that many people even cried after seeing Liu Heng's body.
More and more people were pushing and shoving the Taishan soldiers. The leader of the army secretly thought that there must be something they didn't know about, so he immediately reported the situation here to Zhang Da.
Zhang Da did not dare to neglect.
As an old brother in the army and a member of the Zhang clan in Dashangli, he knew that one of the advantages of the Taishan Army was the people's support. He knew that what Commander Qu valued most was the people's support. If something happened here, not to mention his ability to destroy the city, he would even have to ask for help.
be punished.
He ordered the military officials to first ask the people below to restrain themselves and never conflict with the people. It would be best to find a few people who can talk to them and ask what the reason is.
On Zhang Da's side, he immediately sent people to the county officials who were still alive to ask what was going on.
An old official with a goatee's beard, seeing the opportunity coming, immediately said:
"Returning to the general, the crowd is excited because of the general's rebellious behavior. Xinzheng is the ancient capital of Zheng and Han, and the people have been good since ancient times. The powerful people in Guizhou and Guizhou live in peace and each perform their duties. But now, when the general attacks the city, he destroys his home first, regardless of the people's problems.
Don't ask about the likes and dislikes of the four people, but kill their leaders first. We have not seen their wisdom, and we don't know how to settle down in Xinzheng?"
Zhang Da's face darkened and he asked stiffly:
"Oh, what do you think we should do?"
The old official lowered his head to persuade, so he did not see Zhang Da's face. However, the colleagues behind him saw that the thief's face was covered with dark clouds, and they couldn't help but tremble.
The old official continued to worship:
"My surname is An, Xiao Min'an..."
The old official couldn't say the following words anymore. It turned out that Zhang Da directly pulled out the knife and stabbed him in the chest. The blood stained the old official's clothes. He looked at Zhang Da in disbelief, tilted his head, and hit the old official.
On the ground.
The blood formed a pool and was about to stain the boots of the county officials behind them, but they did not dare to move because the thief in front of them was looking at them eagerly.
Zhang Da was seen wiping the Huanshou knife with a sweat towel while cursing:
"You're an old man, you're a fool to argue with me for talking nonsense? Are you trying to confuse me with your words? This world has never been ruined because it didn't treat the big names well. On the contrary, it's just that it's been too good to you guys.
How miserable are those poor people? As long as there are good girls in the countryside, they have been snatched away by you, causing the yin and yang of the countryside to be at odds. And in the world, there are more taxes and subjects, and they are increasing year by year, but which one falls to you?
At the head of these powerful people? That's all. But they are greedy and collude with you, the corrupt officials. For every share of tax, the poor pay three cents. How greedy and fond of money are you powerful and powerful people?
The same is true for your court. Every time you ask for corvee, you don’t ask about the farming season. If a noble family wants to build a garden, they force us to do it. Don’t you know that everyone needs to eat? Don’t you know that millet is grown from the ground with sweat?
Did you come out? You people, even if you have been away from the fields for too long, you have forgotten that if people don’t eat, it will really kill them. It will not only kill us, but also your lives."
This is not over yet, Zhang Da continues to say that what he heard in the military academy and what he saw in the battle will be told today. He will not only kill these people, but also kill their hearts:
"I joined the army with General Chongtian and fought all over the world. I saw how many poor people died. Come, let me tell you. If I were not beaten to death by you cruel officials, I would be randomly arrested by you and thrown into a prison temple and given to someone.
These people died for their crimes. Either they were killed by thieves, or they were whipped to death because they could not pay taxes. They either died of starvation because of lack of food, or they were killed by this epidemic. Tell me, what is the world like in this world?
Are you going to give the poor a way to live?"
Zhang Da kept talking about death with such murderous intent that the county officials shook themselves into chaff, fearing that Zhang Da would stab them to death with a knife.
But just when everyone was frightened, a young official in the outermost circle stood aside from his colleagues. He bowed to Zhang Da and said loudly:
"General, please temporarily suspend your thunderous anger. That old official just now is very talkative. If he thinks he has some eloquence, he will play with the general. Is it not a pity to die?"
Zhang Daqian looked at this person and said sarcastically:
"Aren't you just showing off? What are you doing now? Why don't you back down?"
Unexpectedly, after being reprimanded by Zhang Da, this person did not panic, but said loudly:
"General, the most important thing now is to solve the problem of public anger outside. And I can help General."
Zhang Da narrowed his eyes, lowered his sword, and said coldly:
"Oh, then come out and talk about it."
Obviously, if this person continues to talk confusing nonsense like the person just now, then this knife will strike again.
Of course this man knew it, but he still said calmly:
"General, the people are angry not because they are angry at the general, but because they are unfair to the Xinzheng Order."
"Oh, what should I say?"
"Returning to the general, although Duke Liu of Xinzheng was brutal in politics, especially when he suppressed the Yellow Turban Rebellion in the county in April, he killed 400 people, but he really loved the people. Let me just talk about one thing. In April last year
There was a severe drought in Xinzheng, and Liu Gong publicly put grain in the warehouse, but who knew that the grain in the warehouse had been stolen and sold by the warehouse official Shuoshu in collusion with the big households in the city. At that time, Liu Gong personally took people to various households to beg for grain, and not only punished those involved
He killed him, and even recovered 200,000 stones of grain and grain for disaster relief. So, in other words, Liu Gong had a life-saving grace for all the people in the city. But now the general not only killed Liu Gong, but also hanged Liu Gong's body.
This is the reason for people’s anger.”
Suddenly the young county official froze and saw the thief put his hand around his neck, and then heard the other person ask:
"Is this true?"
"Everything is true."
"Then did Mr. Liu ever take advantage of others?"
"It's not clear, but I never thought about it."
"Then Mr. Liu has done such a big thing. How can he still hold this position now?"
"Liu Gong is a descendant of the King of Hejian, and there are people above him."
"snort."
Then Zhang Da took off the ring-shou sword and ordered the guards around him:
"Go and put Xinzheng Ling's body down, and then find a good coffin to put it in."
The guard was obviously a man of ideas. He hesitated and asked:
"General, it doesn't matter if Xinzheng Ling is a good official. He just killed 400 of our comrades and hung their corpses in public. Moreover, if we do this now, the newly attached Zhou Gui will definitely be dissatisfied. So why bother?
Does this make both parties unhappy?"
Zhang Da glared and cursed:
"Then what do you think we should do about the people outside?"
The guard shook his head, not knowing what to do.
"That's alright, just go ahead if I ask you to do it. Our Taishan Army has clear grievances. If Xinzheng ordered to kill my comrade, he will naturally die. But his actions to save the people are also true, so naturally he cannot abuse his corpse. As for you
Talk to Zhou Gui and I will explain it. Besides, if we can put it down, we can still hang it up. If it doesn’t work after a while, we will hang this person up as well."
As he spoke, Zhang Da pointed his halberd at the young county official.