Chapter 279 Unexpected, but reasonable

Jia Long chose to obey and agreed to open the city and surrender three days later.

To prevent Jia Long from cheating, Zhou Yu ordered Gan Ning to lead his troops to take over the city defense, while the army floated on the Yangtze River, ready to launch an attack at any time.

The tenth day of April.

Everything is going very smoothly.

Ren Qi, the governor of Jianwei County, cursed Jia Long but could not stop the situation from developing.

Gan Ning thought he had accomplished another great feat and was secretly sighing at his good luck when Ren Qi suddenly went crazy, refused to surrender, and even ran towards him.

Ren Qi was just an old man, so there was no threat at all. However, Gan Ning sensed the attack and instinctively raised his sword and slashed.

Blood and organs rolled out.

The eight thousand volunteers who were about to accept surrender suddenly rebelled.

"Jun Chao was murdered!"

"The Yangzhou army killed Jun Chao!"

"Fight them!"

The riot was quickly suppressed; the unarmed volunteers were no match for the well-trained Yangzhou army.

But the impact of this incident goes far beyond that.

Zhou Yu and others simply underestimated Ren Qi's status in the hearts of the people of Jianwei County, which led to continuous riots.

The Yangzhou army seemed to be stuck in the quagmire of war, unable to move forward even a single step.

April fifteen.

After suppressing the fifth riot, Zhou Yu finally couldn't bear it anymore and summoned Jia Long.

"Tell me the fucking truth!"

"What are you hiding?"

Zhou Yu was very angry. Although the riot in Jianwei County did not cause much casualties to the Yangzhou army, this never-ending riot had to be dealt with.

Among the nine counties of Yizhou, Zhou Yu had just occupied the largest Ba County, but was about to fail in Qianwei County. This was something Zhou Yu could not accept.

If Liu Yan is given a chance to catch his breath, he will become a serious threat in the future and will cause unimaginable trouble to the lord.

By then, Zhou Yu would have no way to defend himself and would definitely be evaluated as incompetent.

Jia Long also felt aggrieved. The people of Jianwei County’s demand was very simple, that is, they wanted Gan Ning’s life in exchange for his. But did he dare to say this?

Jia Long has not yet officially joined the Yangzhou Army, but according to gossip, he is likely to be promoted to Qujun Hou due to his merits, which is one level lower than Gan Ning.

Although he was well prepared, it was only when he really faced it that Jia Long realized the loss in his heart.

"Ren Qi is quite prestigious in the county and is loved by the people. It is difficult for him to accept this for the time being, so..."

Zhou Yu interrupted rudely: "I don't want to hear this!"

"I just want to know which companies are behind this. All you need to do is give me a list!"

Zhou Yu said with murderous intent: "Otherwise, you will die with them!"

If someone said that there were no powerful nobles behind the scenes, Zhou Yu would never believe it. The Yangzhou army knew what the people were like better than anyone else.

They are just a group of poor people trying to earn a living and survive. How can they have so many sentiments?

Even if the first time was excusable, it would be impossible for riots to happen again and again afterwards.

How can people who can’t even get enough food have the energy to rebel?

It’s not like the Yangzhou Army hasn’t distributed relief food!
Jia Long's soft spot was hit all of a sudden, but Zhou Yu was still so sharp, he was going to force Jia Long to death.

In the end, Jia Long chose to stand on the side of Jianwei County and remained silent.

"it is good!"

"very good!"

Zhou Yu shouted, "Someone come!"

"Tie me up!"

Zhou Yu slowly walked up to Jia Long and said with a dangerous look on his face, "I hope you are not involved in this, otherwise when I find out the truth, I will wipe out your entire clan!"

Soon, a bloody storm swept through Jianwei County. In just ten days, Zhou Yu wiped out more than thirty powerful families.

The Jianwei County was pacified and there was no more rebellion. With the help of relief food, the real people had long become the most loyal supporters of the Yangzhou Army, and any slight movement would be heard by Zhou Yu.

but!

When the news reached the northern part of Yizhou, Hanzhong County, Guanghan County, Shu County, and Wudu County were in a state of panic. The powerful and wealthy families were all worried that they would be the next.

Liu Yan took the opportunity to attack and sent people to contact all parties, and his strength was rapidly recovering.

However, nothing happened in the three southern counties, Yuexi County, Zangke County, and Yizhou County (Yunnan).

Maybe it has something to do with the residents here. People in the Central Plains call it the land of southern barbarians, and most of the residents are Shanyue and barbarians.

At the end of the investigation, Jia Long was only charged with concealing the truth, and Zhou Yu did not exterminate his entire clan.

But for Jia Long, it would be better to kill him. Now the whole Yizhou thinks that it was Jia Long who betrayed everyone.

Otherwise, how could Zhou Yu find the culprit so accurately without killing anyone by mistake?

The remaining powerful people in Jianwei County became very obedient and gave Zhou Yu whatever he asked for.

Jia Long had no choice but to close the door to visitors and live in seclusion in the mountains.

the other side.

Zhou Yu wanted to continue advancing northward, but received an order from Jin Mao to establish military farms.

It is now the end of April. If we don't sow the seeds, the 1.3 million people in the two counties will have to be fed in the next two years.

This is an unimaginable expense.

The rice seeds are naturally the local Yizhou variety, which harvests once a year.

Gan Ning was not punished for this incident. Instead, he was promoted to the position of Communications Captain.

However, Gan Ning expressed doubts about this.

Can a lieutenant who delivers letters really be called a lieutenant?
Moreover, he has too few people under his command. Not only is there no elite soldier, but the number of soldiers is decreasing instead of increasing.

When he was Sima, Gan Ning had a thousand men under his command, including nearly nine hundred elite soldiers.

Now, except for his own brothers, the other 500-plus people are all newly recruited.

These people are of all kinds, and the only thing they have in common is that they are excellent water players and have first-class skills in controlling small boats, allowing them to safely travel through the dangerous waters of the Yangtze River.

Therefore, Gan Ning reserved his opinion on the promotion.

Jin Mao had no choice but to go back. Even if he wanted to go back, he would have to cross mountains and rivers and take small roads, which would take a long time to get out of Yizhou and return to Jingzhou.

As a result, the entire Yangtze River Basin finally became peaceful.

However, beneath the calm surface, there are undercurrents and new conflicts may break out at any time.

Everything is the calm before the storm.

...

Jizhou.

Yuan Shao had begun plotting to seize Jizhou since last year, but Ye County was located at a high altitude and well-stocked with soldiers, making it difficult to take it by force, and Jizhou Governor Han Fu refused to come out of the city.

Even if Yuan Shao had the help of Cao Cao, Zhang Yang and the Southern Xiongnu, and had the powerful generals Yan Liang and Wen Chou, and many counselors, it was useless.

It's like a tiger gnawing on a turtle, it doesn't know where to start.

Qu Yi, a general under Han Fu, was from Xiliang.

Yuan Shao adopted Xu You's strategy of sowing discord and causing Qu Yi to rebel against Han Fu. He also lured Gongsun Ce to attack in the name of sharing Jizhou.

Han Fu was attacked from all sides. He first fought with Gongsun Zan, and was later betrayed by Qu Yi. Yuan Shao took advantage of the situation and occupied Yecheng.

Yuan Shao also sent Han Fu to persuade Xin Ping, Guo Tu and others to abdicate the position of Governor of Jizhou.

Han Fu was timid by nature and soon fell into the trap and handed over the seal of Jizhou Mu.

When Chief Clerk Geng Wu, Deputy Imperial Guardian Min Chun, and Governor Li Li heard about this, they immediately came to advise against it.

But Han Fu refused to listen and was determined to abdicate.

Zhao Fu and Cheng Huan, who led tens of thousands of strong crossbows and stationed their troops in Henei County, heard about this and returned to Jizhou quickly without any negotiation with Yuan Shu.

But no matter who tried to persuade him, Han Fu refused to listen and was determined to give up Jizhou.

Seeing that they could not persuade him, everyone rushed to flee from Han Fu, fearing that they would be implicated. Only Geng Wu and Min Chun resisted Yuan Shao with force. In the end, the two were killed by Yuan Shao.

Han Fu was given the empty title of General Fenwei, but he had no soldiers or subordinates.

Yuan Shao appointed Ju Su as General Fenwu to supervise the generals, Tian Feng as Deputy Governor, Shen Pei as Governor, and Xu You and Guo Tu as counselors.

He also appointed Yuan Shu as the governor of Yanzhou, and assisted Cao Cao, Zhang Yang, Yu Luofu of the Southern Xiongnu and others to help Yuan Shu gain a firm foothold.

It happened that more than 100,000 Yellow Turbans including Heishan, Yu Du, Bai Rao, and Sui Gu were looting Yanzhou East County.

Yuan Shu was afraid of fighting.

Yuan Shao had no choice but to appoint Cao Cao as the chief general and temporarily take charge of all affairs in Dongjun.

Cao Cao was very powerful and easily defeated the offensive of the Yellow Turban rebels and defended Dongjun.

Yuan Shu was too embarrassed to continue staying with him, so he borrowed a thousand elite soldiers from Yuan Shao. While Jin Mao and Dong Zhuo were fighting fiercely, he secretly ran back to his hometown in Runan County to develop.

Yuan Shao was more than happy to do so. No matter whether Yuan Shu was just pretending or was really afraid of death, Yuan Shao did not want to cross the Yellow River to develop.

Since Yuan Shu had this idea, Yuan Shao, as his elder brother, would agree to any request.

Even if it is done for outsiders to see, it is necessary.

Before leaving, Yuan Shao also specifically asked Yuan Shu: "Be sure to keep a low profile. When you become stronger, we will discuss the matter of conquering Jin."

Yuan Shu half-jokingly said: "It's a deal, the land north of the Yellow River belongs to you, and the land south of the Yellow River belongs to me!"

To the north of the Yellow River are the four provinces of Ji, You, Liang and Bing. To the south of the Yellow River and north of the Yangtze River are the five provinces of Yu, Yan, Qing, Xu and Sili.

Of course, Sili occupied by Dong Zhuo is generally not included.

We can also see Yuan Shu's ambition.

Yuan Shao was not afraid that Yuan Shu had ambitions, but he was afraid that he really had no ambitions, which would be really bad.

"A word is settled!"

Yuan Shao smiled and said, "I'll be waiting for your good news!"

Yuan Shu joked, "Then I have to rely on my brother."

The two looked at each other and laughed.

As for Cao Cao, Zhang Yang, Yu Luofu and others who were listening, the two brothers treated them as air and did not even glance at them.

After sending Yuan Shu away, Yuan Shao immediately encountered a headache.

Gongsun Zan demands Jizhou!
Of course Yuan Shao would not give it to him. How could he spit out the fat that he had already eaten?

Gongsun Zan was extremely angry. They had agreed to divide Jizhou equally, but now he turned against them.

Then hit!
Gongsun Zan led 20,000 infantry and cavalry to first capture Bohai County, and then prepared to occupy Hejian and Anping counties.

However, unexpectedly, 300,000 Yellow Turbans from Qingzhou marched northward, intending to cross Jizhou and join up with the Black Mountain Army.

Yuan Shao avoided the battle, and Gongsun Zan was just getting angry when the Yellow Turbans from Qingzhou rushed up to him and asked for a beating.

What else is there to say?

beat!
South of Dongguan County, Gongsun Zan defeated the enemy and beheaded more than 30,000 people.

The Yellow Turban bandits abandoned their baggage and ran across the river.

Gongsun Zan continued his pursuit and attacked the Yellow Turban bandits when they were halfway across the river.

The Yellow Turban rebels were defeated again, with tens of thousands of casualties and the river water dyed red with blood.

Gongsun Zan captured more than 70,000 prisoners, and countless chariots, armor and property.

His reputation was greatly enhanced.

Taking this opportunity, Gongsun Zan submitted a memorial to the court enumerating Yuan Shao's crimes and continued to attack Yuan Shao.

Most of the cities in Jizhou betrayed Yuan Shao and followed Gongsun Zan.

Yuan Shao was afraid, so he gave the seal of the Governor of Bohai to Gongsun Fan, the cousin of Gongsun Zan, hoping to turn hostility into friendship.

However, Gongsun Fan rebelled when he arrived in Bohai County and led the Bohai soldiers to help Gongsun Zan fight Yuan Shao.

Gongsun Zan thought he had a sure victory, so he signed the appointment letter himself, appointing his general Yan Gang as the governor of Jizhou, Tian Kai as the governor of Qingzhou, and Shan Jing as the governor of Yanzhou.

He also changed all the heads of counties and prefectures.

From then on, Gongsun Zan's reputation spread throughout Hebei, and Zhao Yun, a native of Changshan, led county officials and troops to the north to join Gongsun Zan.

Yuan Shao was forced into a desperate situation and personally led a large army to fight against Gongsun Zan. The two armies fought a fierce battle twenty miles south of Jie Bridge (now east of Wei County, Hebei).

Gongsun Zan arranged his 30,000 soldiers into a square formation and deployed 10,000 cavalry on the left and right.

Yuan Shao ordered his general Qu Yi to lead 800 elite soldiers armed with halberds and 1,000 strong crossbows as the vanguard.

Gongsun Zan underestimated Qu Yi's small number of soldiers and directly sent his cavalry to attack.

Qu Yi ordered his soldiers to lie under their shields and wait for the enemy to approach, then fired their powerful crossbows to disrupt the cavalry formation, and then ordered eight hundred halberd soldiers to reap the enemy's defeat.

Gongsun Zan's cavalry was defeated and fled.

At Yuan Shao's command, the entire army attacked.

Cao Cao, Zhang Yang and Yu Fuluo each led their troops to pursue and kill them. Yan Liang and Wen Chou were not to be outdone. They killed Gongsun Zan's general Yan Gang in battle and cut off more than 3,000 heads.

Yuan Shao's army took advantage of the situation and pursued them to Jie Bridge.

Fight again.

Once again, they defeated them and captured Gongsun Zan's camp.

Gongsun Zan was defeated and had to lead his troops back.

In October of that year, Gongsun Zan organized his army to attack Yuan Shao again. The two armies fought a fierce battle at Longcou (now northeast of Dezhou, Shandong), and Gongsun's army was defeated by Shao again.

Gongsun Zan suffered a series of defeats, his strength was greatly weakened, and he retreated to Youzhou (now southwest of Beijing), unable to launch another attack.

This time it was Yuan Shao's turn to become famous, and the fence-sitters in Jizhou all bowed down to him.

But the story doesn't end here.

As winter approached, Yu Luofu of the Southern Xiongnu was unable to obtain the supplies he urgently needed for the winter from Yuan Shao, so he decided to rebel by holding Zhang Yang hostage.

It is unfair to say that Yuan Shao was wronged. If he were given another year, he would definitely be able to support more than 10,000 Southern Xiongnu.

But after a year of fighting, how could Jizhou have any surplus food to feed the Southern Xiongnu through the winter?

It's good to be self-sufficient.

In addition, Yuan Shao and his men lived an extravagant and unrestrained life, and the money and grain tribute paid by the various ethnic groups in Jizhou was only enough for them to squander.

As for the Southern Xiongnu, if you want to stay, then stay. If you don’t want to stay, then get out!

Even though there were more than 10,000 Southern Xiongnu, Yuan Shao did not take them seriously.

If it weren't for the early stages of the business, when more strength would mean a greater chance of success, Yuan Shao would not have bothered to use it.

The Southern Xiongnu are not comparable to the Northern Xiongnu. After being kept in captivity by the Han Dynasty for hundreds of years, these nomadic peoples have long evolved to be no different from the Han people.

However, the Southern Xiongnu have always been mainly engaged in animal husbandry and do not know how to farm.

Therefore, wintering is a big problem.

Yu Luofu requested many times but received no response, so he knew what Yuan Shao meant.

He decisively took Zhang Yang hostage and ran away.

Although it was called hostage-taking, Zhang Yang actually did not want to stay under Yuan Shao's command any longer. It was simply too uncomfortable.

But where to go next becomes a big problem.

The south is not bad. The overlord Jinmao will soon occupy four states, and then he will be the largest lord in the world.

It is not an exaggeration to call him a overlord.

Unfortunately, it’s too far.

Moreover, the Southern Xiongnu would not flee to the south of the Yangtze River because they would not be able to adapt to the climate and soil there.

"How about going to Sili?"

Zhang Yang suggested: "My good brother Lu Bu has been granted the title of Marquis of Wen. I believe he will definitely give us a place to live!"

Yu Luofu hesitated and said, "But I heard that Master Dong has joined forces with Ma Teng and Han Sui from Xiliang and is about to take back power."

"Can your brother really defeat Master Dong?"

That’s Dong Zhuo!
Even if he was defeated by Jin Mao, he is still a stronger boss than Yuan Shao!
(End of this chapter)