Chapter 157 Yellow Turban? I am your nightmare

Jin Mao made a promise, and the entire army of 100,000 people was excited and shouted "Your Majesty is wise!"
The brave warrior He Qi who made this suggestion also became one of the most prestigious people in the entire army.

Those who gradually became suspicious also settled down and became a real army that fought only for Jinmao.

Of course, the Baiyue Army never wavered even a little from beginning to end.

Ever since Pan Lin's betrayal, the Baiyue Army has been ruthless enough towards traitors. Once any signs are found, the person will be killed as a "non-combat casualty" without any trial, and the cause of death may be bizarre.

Now that Jinmao’s army is elite, the mountain folk are once again almost the same as the Han people.

Although Jinmao has always emphasized the need for integration, integration is not that easy.

Han Chinese may have many small circles depending on the region.

The mountain people have only one circle, and that is the "Faith in the God" headed by Bai Shi!
Jinmao didn't know that the current "Shenxin Religion" has developed to Danyang and Lujiang areas.

This is also the reason why the elite soldiers of Danyang and Kuaiji joined the army enthusiastically. Most of these people were members of the "Shenxin Religion", and there were also a few Han people near Wushang County.

In their view, fighting for the God is an honor.

Salaries and pensions? The God had already given them to their families.

With the God around, the Baiyue people can be on an equal footing with the Han people and can live a happy life like they do now, without having to fight to the death for a bite of food like before.

Therefore, Jinmao is the faith of Baiyue!
...

The third day of the first lunar month in the sixth year of Zhongping.

The vanguard had been on the march for a day, crossing the Yangtze River and arriving at Guangling County by water, while the rearguard had just set out from Qu'a County.

Four thousand transport ships, carrying one million shi of grain and supplies, set out, and the entire fleet stretched for hundreds of miles.

The five thousand navy troops have been completely reduced to escort teams and messengers. They not only have to prevent the blind pirates from blocking the traffic, but also ensure that the fleet reaches its destination in an orderly and smooth manner.

There were still two million shi of grain and grass in Qu'a. Jin Mao specially left behind a battalion commander, Gong Lei, to lead a battalion of elite troops, together with four battalions of 1,000 people, a total of 2,000 elite troops to guard it.

In addition, there are 8,000 new recruits handed over to Gong Lei. Gong Lei's task is not only to garrison, but also to train the new recruits.

Therefore, Gong Lei was affectionately called the "recruit instructor" by the soldiers and was indeed an expert in training soldiers.

Gong Lei is happy with this. He is not the most ambitious person, but he is the most self-aware person in the army.

...

Guangling County is the seat of Guangling County.

Upon learning that the new Xuzhou governor was coming to quell the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Guangling County Magistrate Zhang Chao led his deputies Zang Hong and Yuan Sui to wait at the dock.

Looking at the densely packed ships in the port, Zhang Chao felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.

Zhang Chao still vividly remembered that the previous mayor of Guangling County was blackmailed by Yu Fan. It was impossible for him not to know how powerful Jin Mao was.

This time the battle is so large that Zhang Chao believes that Jinmao can even capture the entire Xuzhou.

the other side.

All the Guangling County soldiers stationed at the port were driven away. Only then did Jin Mao get off the ship and ran into Zhang Chao and others head-on.

"Guangling County Magistrate Zhang Chao pays homage to the Governor."

Jin Mao smiled and walked forward to help Zhang Chao up, saying, "Your brother Zhang Miao is well-known and one of the "Eight Chefs". I think you should be no worse."

Zhang Chao had no way to respond to this, but Zang Hong behind him bowed and said, "The governor has come all the way from Yangzhou, is it just to mock the governor, instead of to quell the rebellion?"

Jin Mao looked at Zhang Chao curiously and asked, "Who is he?"

The old Zang Hong stroked his beard and said, "I am Zang Hong, with my courtesy name Ziyuan, from Sheyang, Guangling, and I am currently the prefect of Guangling."

"Oh." Jin Mao nodded and shook his head, "I haven't heard of it."

"You!" Zang Hong said angrily, "You little brat! You dare to humiliate me by relying on your strong army!"

Jin Mao looked at Zhang Chao and said, "Zhang Taishou, I think such a hot-tempered old man is not fit to be the governor of Guangling County. I will submit a petition to dismiss him from his post."

"This is too much!" Zang Hong became angrier the more he thought about it, and he wished he could challenge Jin Mao on the spot.

At this time, Xi Zhicai, who was behind Jin Mao, stood up and angrily cursed: "You old dog Cang Yan! Is there anything wrong with what my master said?"

"My lord is the governor and has the power to inspect county officials. Now that you see my lord, not only do you not show respect, but you also speak rudely!"

"You are just bullying me because my master is still young!?"

Jin Mao really wants to say, I am twenty years old, not young at all.

Zang Hong really took advantage of his seniority to bully Jin Mao, but when Xi Zhicai scolded him, he immediately behaved obediently.

"The Guangling County Magistrate has met the Governor, please forgive me."

Please forgive me!
Jin Mao asked, "I heard that the Guangling County Magistrate loves his people like his own children. I would like to ask, if someone is wrongly killed one day, will an apology still be useful?"

Zang Hong took off his seal and fled with his face covered.

Zhang Chao quickly chased after him.

In fact, Jinmao knew Zang Hong, a rare good official who loved the people like his own children.

However, Yuan Shao, Wang Lang and others wanted to seize Yangzhou, so Jin Mao had to first take Guangling County as an outpost and keep a close eye on Jiujiang County.

This is the starting point of the military settlement. Once it is destroyed, it will be extremely difficult to rebuild it.

Other counties are easy to deal with, but Jiujiang County is the new starting point of Jinmao in the troubled times and cannot be lost.

This was the result he and Xun You and Xi Zhicai discussed along the way.

Therefore, even if a good official like Zang Hong did not come to cause trouble, Jinmao would find a reason to kick him out.

If Zang Hong were here, no matter how well Jinmao did, it would be in vain as others would take advantage of it with just one word.

the other side.

Zang Hong was caught up by Zhang Chao and refused to be appointed again.

Returning to my hometown before leaving.

Zang Hong came to his senses and warned Zhang Chao: "You must be careful, my lord. I'm afraid this new governor has bad intentions."

Zhang Chao wanted to ask something else, but Zang Hong didn't explain much. It was just his intuition.

Guangling County not only had larger iron mines, but also more furnaces.

A total of twenty!
The next day, the iron official of Guangling County was dismissed because he stepped into the door with his left foot first.

Jinmao was really envious of the iron production, so it simply stopped pretending and went straight to the point of revealing its cards, requisitioning all the workers on the spot.

The blacksmiths in Guangling County were originally unhappy, but after hearing about the welfare benefits, they forgot all their unhappiness.

How can being an official be as delicious as just eating?
By the time Zhang Chao arrived, Jinmao had already completed its defenses, so Zhang Chao had to report before he could come in.

The Chinese military tent.

As soon as Zhang Chao entered the room, he angrily questioned, "May I ask what your intention is, Governor? Are you going to interfere in Guangling County affairs?"

Jin Mao threw down a scroll of bamboo slips and shouted, "If I don't take over, are you going to be completely harmed by the Yellow Turbans?"

"Only two counties in Guangling Prefecture were not affected by the Yellow Turban Rebellion. The other nine counties all sent letters asking for help. But how did you manage to be a prefect?"

"Trapped in Guangling County?!"

Jin Mao yelled louder and louder: "If I hadn't come here, I wouldn't know how incompetent you are!"

"Just wait, I will report your faults to the court. You have no sense of responsibility at all!"

Zhang Chao was yelled at so much that he began to question his life. He was clearly the one who was demanding the blame, so why did it seem like all his faults were his?
"There are few soldiers in the county, so it's hard for me to do anything..."

Zhang Chao wanted to explain, but Jin Mao didn't give him any chance: "You have few soldiers, but which one of them is not elite?"

"Everyone is fully armed. Look at my men. Most of them don't even have a decent weapon!" "But did we say anything?"

No, all 32,000 people were newly recruited. The amount of iron produced in Qu'a County each year was totally insufficient to make weapons, so they all used old equipment.

It’s just that we can’t even get all the iron weapons together.

"I think it's a waste to keep those weapons in your hands. Give them all to me as military supplies."

Zhang Chao decisively refused: "That won't work! This is the foundation of Guangling County's public security, absolutely not!"

"No?" Jin Mao took out the governor's seal and slammed it on Zhang Chao's face: "Look carefully! What is this?"

"Now, in the name of the governor, I order you to obey!"

"If you dare to resist, I will kill you first and ask for your permission later!"

"You..." Zhang Chao was angry but dared not say anything, just like Sun Jian at the beginning.

"Come here!" Jin Mao immediately ordered: "Collect all 2,000 sets of weapons from the Guangling County soldiers!"

Seeing that Zhang Chao had not left yet, Jin Mao sneered: "If Governor Zhang has nothing to do, I can order someone to do the work for you!"

"You act this way, aren't you afraid that I will report you to the court?"

Jin Mao pretended to be scared: "Oh, go write the memorial quickly. I also want to report you for not knowing how to govern the government and making a mess of Guangling County."

Zhang Chao was so angry that he left in anger.

Jin Mao looked around, picked up his beloved little trumpet and shouted, "What are you all standing there for?"

"Work!"

The sixth day of the first lunar month in the sixth year of Zhongping.

Jin Mao only stayed in Guangling County for two days before heading north along the Han River to Huaiyin County.

Guangling County served as a transit station for Xuzhou. Jin Mao left behind a thousand men from the Second Battalion, and the Second Battalion Commander He Qi led four thousand new recruits for further training.

Leaving behind enough food and supplies, Jin Mao led 5,000 naval forces, personal guards and 28,000 new recruits to continue northward.

The twelfth day of the first lunar month, Sheyang County.

After more than a month of basic training, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei gradually adapted to the new commands and were able to advance and retreat together.

This day was also the first time the two of them carried out a mission.

Jin Mao divided his troops in Sheyang County, and Zhou Tai, who had accumulated merit and returned to be the commander of the navy's sword and shield battalion, led a thousand sword and shield men and four thousand new recruits to Yandu County.

Yandu County produces salt and iron and is an important strategic location. If there were no stream connecting Sheyang County and Yandu County, Zhou Tai would not have to run there.

Zhou Tai was not fully reinstated, but was only given an acting position. He needed to completely occupy Yandu County before his achievements would be sufficient to allow him to be reinstated.

In order to make the operation go more smoothly, Jinmao specially sent two powerful men, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, to cooperate and let them broaden their horizons.

Zhou Tai is very studious. Although he is not as capable as Jin Mao in commanding 5,000 men, he knows much more than Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who can only charge forward.

The sword and shield soldiers are the main force selected and can execute orders very well. Zhou Tai doesn't need to worry about so much. The main reason is that the new recruits are more troublesome.

Zhou Tai divided the thousand sword and shield soldiers into two parts, with the vanguard leading the way and the rear army urging the new recruits not to fall behind.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were in the vanguard.

Since there were only two people on horseback in the entire army, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei acted as scouts to investigate the enemy situation.

Day one.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei searched for the Yellow Turbans in two different directions.

Guan Yu memorized the key points in the training manual and returned after running only ten miles.

It was winter and the people were resting their crops.

Along the way, Guan Yu would go into every village he came across to investigate.

Instead of finding the Yellow Turban, all the landlords were very hostile to him as an outsider.

Guan Yu originally came from the north, so how could he not know what the Yellow Turbans were all about?

The Yellow Turbans were rampant in the north of Xuzhou because there were many aristocratic families and the common people could not survive, so they all rebelled.

Xia Pi State and Guangling County are located in the south, with fewer aristocratic families than in the north. Logically, there should be no fewer Yellow Turbans than in the north.

All this can be blamed on Jin Mao. His reputation in Yangzhou had long spread to Xuzhou. The Yellow Turban bandit leaders did not dare to get too close to this god of death, so they all naturally fled to the north.

Even so, Guan Yu knew that the Yellow Turbans still existed, just in a smaller group.

Sure enough, when passing by the fifth landlord's house, Guan Yu encountered a group of about a thousand Yellow Turbans who were attacking the landlord's house.

Guan Yu neither went to rescue nor reported back. He just watched the landlord's fortress being breached, and then he rode his horse forward.

"I am under the command of Jin Shijun, the governor of Xuzhou. Are you willing to surrender?"

The bandit leader was riding a poor horse and was frightened when he heard the name of Jin Mao, but when he saw Guan Yu alone, he became bolder.

"Brothers! He has only one man and one horse. Come with me and kill him!"

After saying this, the bandit leader rushed over with a weapon that looked like a gun but wasn't a gun, and a spear but wasn't a spear, using his not very skilled horsemanship.

Guan Yu put his feet right under the horse's belly and squeezed hard, causing the horse to burst into a gallop.

"Bah!"

When the two horses passed each other, Guan Yu swung his sword and a huge head flew off.

When faced with the Yellow Turbans head-on, Guan Yu did not hesitate. He made a few sword moves and cleared a bloody path ahead.

By the time Guan Yu turned his horse around again, the Yellow Turbans had already fled, leaving only a dozen corpses on the bloody road.

"The governor's army is nearby. If we don't surrender now, when will we surrender?"

As Guan Yu roared again, a small number of Yellow Turbans hesitated, stopped, and stayed where they were, cowering in fear.

Upon seeing this, the rest of the Yellow Turbans also slowly stopped, and only the hundreds of people who ran away completely disappeared.

Guan Yu stroked his beard with satisfaction and said, "You are just ordinary people who can't make a living. Envoy Jin will pardon your death penalty. From now on, be good people!"

The Yellow Turbans knelt on the ground to express their gratitude, but how much sincerity they showed was not important.

Guan Yu had long been influenced by Jin Mao to understand one thing: prisoners are not only labor, but also spoils of war!
Looking at the hundreds of prisoners in front of him, Guan Yu silently calculated his military merits. As long as he could take them back, he would be promoted to lieutenant!
Then, Guan Yu commanded the captives to empty the landlord's warehouse and led the team back.

It's getting dark.

Guan Yu finally brought his men to the camp. Looking back, he found that the number of captives had been reduced from several hundred to a few hundred, which was not a big deal.

Zhang Fei could be heard bragging from afar.

"I tell you, there really are over ten thousand Yellow Turbans!"

"At that time, the scene was overwhelming, and I was brave enough to rush into the crowd alone."

"In the blink of an eye, I will kill everyone."

"Look! These dozen heads were all picked up by me on the road. There were thousands more heads that I didn't have time to pick up, so I just left them there."

"Tomorrow, I will take my brothers to collect the war merits!"

Suddenly, someone laughed and said, "Zhang Yide, can you tell what ten thousand people mean? Don't exaggerate a hundred people into ten thousand people!"

Another person echoed: "That's right! When I followed the lord to attack Liyang County, it was a battle involving tens of thousands of people. The entire ten-li area was filled with people..."

Finally someone spotted Guan Yu and exclaimed, "This is incredible! Guan Yu has defeated the Yellow Turban bandits and captured hundreds of them!"

(End of this chapter)