Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 166
The small building was crumbling under the impact of the evening wind, but it still stood upright in the end.

In contrast, a certain part of Yuan Xi's body was more dangerous than Xiaolou, but he persisted, just like Yuan Xi's wings were not broken.

When the two hug each other in the cold night and feel each other's body temperature, there are still different sad and happy things happening on the earth under the night sky.

Just like Yijing hundreds of miles away, hundreds of watchtowers surround the tallest one in the middle like stars and moons.

On the tall building, Gongsun Zan was still sitting in front of the window. He looked towards the direction of Yecheng in Jizhou, thinking that the army had already started to mobilize there, coming from all directions to attack Yijing, right?

Most of his subordinates, including Tian Kai, suggested that he abandon the capital and return to Youzhou to pacify the rebellious Yan Rou, Xian Yufu and others, in order to make a comeback.

But Gongsun Zan refused, and people kept betraying him, so that he couldn't tell whether the people around him were friends or enemies.

Now he is like a scarred bear, if he returns to Youzhou, he will definitely be torn to pieces by the hungry wolves who covet him.

Tired, let's destroy together.

But before he died, he wanted to bite off a piece of meat from Yuan Shao.

Behind him, Hou knelt silently aside, hugging the young son who had already fallen asleep, with a hint of exhaustion and helplessness on his brows.

She always wanted Gongsun Zan to send the child out, but Gongsun Zan was determined to let the whole family live with Yi Jing, and he didn't listen to her at all.

Beside her was a wheel, to which a long rope hung down through a hole in the floor to the bottom of the watchtower, with a barrel attached to the end of the rope.

There was a noise downstairs, as if something had been put into the barrel, and the rope shook a few times.

Hou quickly put the child down, shook the wheel, and the rope carried the barrel up.

She struggled to take out a tube of bamboo slips from the barrel, got up and handed it to Gongsun Zan.

Gongsun Zan opened the bamboo slips and found that they were written by Tian Kai.

It said that the current situation in Youzhou was not good. Soldiers loyal to Gongsun Zan in Yuyang and other counties were attacked by Xian Yufu Yanrou and others.

Tian Kai suggested that instead of sitting still and waiting for death, it is better to find another way, so he put forward two suggestions.

One is to send someone to contact Zhang Yan of the Black Mountain Army and ask him for help, so that Zhang Yan can send troops in the Taihang Mountains to attack Zhuo County and Changshan County, threaten Yuan Shao's hinterland, and thus relieve the siege of Yijing.

The second is Tian Kai leading Baima Yicong to leave from Yijing, harassing Yuan Shao's army along the way, and waiting for an opportunity to attack Jizhou's grain road, and at the same time cooperate with the Black Mountain Army.

This second strategy seemed feasible, but Gongsun Zan didn't want to adopt it.

Among other things, Tian Yu took people out of the city a few days ago, and never returned, and there has been no news since then.

When Tian Yu left, he said that he was going to attack and kill an important person in the Yuan family, and wanted to take away Baiqi Baima to cooperate, but Gongsun Zan did not agree.

At that time, it was difficult for him to trust others. Who knew what Tian Yu thought, what if he ran away with someone like Zhao Yun?
In the end, Tian Yu's face showed displeasure, and he left the city with only two personal guards. Since then, there has been no news. Gongsun Zan thought that he really surrendered to the enemy, right?
Now that Tian Yu has disappeared, although Tian Kai can still be trusted, but he and Tian Yu are of the same clan, if he defected with all the white horse righteousness, how can Yi Jing defend?
As for the first strategy, will Zhang Yan really come to rescue him?
Gongsun Zan threw the bamboo slips aside, looked at the night sky in silence, and Hou Shi behind him dared not speak. The two spent the long and difficult night with their own thoughts.

Taihang Mountain spans more than [-] miles from north to south, and in the dense forest and mountains, is where the Black Mountain Army is located. At its peak, it was said to have a population of one million.

Changshan Zhending, at the turn of Hebei, is close to the eastern foot of Taihang Mountain. This was originally the headquarters of the Black Mountain Army.

After several battles with Yuan Shaojun, Zhending City was almost destroyed long ago. Now that Zhang Yan retreated into the Taihang Mountains, Zhending Abandoned City became the place where the generals of the Black Mountain Army camped.

I saw that this piece of land was full of thatched huts and holes, and most of the people lived in them. Surrounded by thatched huts, there was a huge wooden camp, in which soldiers of the Black Mountain Army were stationed.

At this time, in the camp, there were screams from time to time, and the people in the thatched hut looked anxiously through the cracks in the door.

Inside the camp, there were a few naked men hanging from the upper body, and several soldiers were whipping their leather whips violently. Bloodstains followed the whips, and lines of different thicknesses burst out on the twisted and struggling human body.

Beside them was a group of old and young women and children, who knelt on the ground and begged for mercy as they watched several people being beaten.

Several generals stood beside them, the leader in the middle was Bai Rao, the general of the Black Mountain Army.

He once joined forces with Yu Du and Sui Gu to attack Wei County, and was defeated by Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. He returned to Montenegro and became a general under Zhang Yan.

Seeing that the men were all beaten to death, he yelled coldly: "I will give you a chance to tell who is the main envoy, and I will spare his life!"

The men who were hanged were all his soldiers who followed him to Beixin City to plunder. Unexpectedly, they were defeated by the opponent. The two generals they sent were all killed, and thousands of soldiers were captured.

Bai Rao was worrying about how to explain to Zhang Yan, but he didn't expect that after a month, the captured soldiers of the Black Mountain Army were released one after another.

He was very happy. Does this mean that Beixincheng dare not offend the Black Mountain Army?

But gradually, he realized that something was wrong.

Those who came back privately rumored how good Beixincheng is. Not only did they not suffer abuse there, but they could also have a full meal!

You know, since Yuan Shao drove the Black Mountain Army into the Taihang Mountains with tens of 10 soldiers, except for a few generals, they have had their days without rest.

And not only that, the people who came back also claimed that the current prefect of Zhuojun, the second son of the Yuan family, is a real person who fulfilled the prophecy of Taipingdao to save the world!
This greatly touched the roots of the Montenegro Army, and Bai Rao had a few soldiers who were the most enthusiastic and wanted to leave secretly with their families, and tortured them.

One of the hanged men spit blood from his mouth and hissed: "We were not instructed by anyone!"

"I waited to be captured in Beixincheng, and came back from a month of hard labor. During this period, no one abused us, and I still had enough to eat. It's much better than here!"

"We're just telling the truth!"

Bai Rao sneered and said, "I think you won't cry when you see the coffin!"

He still wanted to speak, but an alchemist in a Taoist robe walked out from behind, and said to the man who was hanged: "You evil people, you actually betrayed Huang Tian's will!"

"That's all. Why do you say that Yuan Shao's son, Yuan Xi, is real Huang Tian?"

"You were deceived by the other party!"

The man snorted and turned his head away.

The other person who was hanging showed a sneer on his face: "Is it the Yuan family son, or the Zhonglang general (Zhang Yan)?"

"We have been with the Black Mountain Army for more than ten years, and we have not had enough food. We did a month of hard labor there, and we ate enough food for a month!"

"Zhong Lang is going to be real Huang Tian, ​​why doesn't he let us have enough food?"

The alchemist was still talking, but Bai Rao snatched the spear from the guard beside him, and cursed: "Go to hell!"

He clenched the spear tightly, took a step forward, threw the spear in his hand, and the tip of the spear pierced the man's chest in an instant.

Blood flowed down the spear, and the man shook his body a few times before picking it up.

Among the group of women and children, there was a woman who was his wife, and she fainted on the ground crying.

The other hanged people shouted loudly: "Bai Rao, you are still a member of Huang Tian when you wantonly killed your brothers from the same religion!"

The alchemist heard this, and shouted: "You people have betrayed Huang Tian and turned into monsters! You still haven't repented yet!"

Someone sneered and said: "The evildoer gave us food, what about the leader of the church? How are you doing to us?"

Bai Rao didn't expect that the soldiers who had obeyed his advice before would turn out like this, and suddenly he became angry and shouted: "Kill them all!"

Hearing this, his subordinates hesitated for a moment, drew their knives and hacked several people to death.

Now several family members cried out one after another, Bai Rao was furious, and shouted: "Women are divided separately, and everyone else is killed, so as to make an example to others!"

The soldiers rushed forward, lifted the child and threw it to death on the ground, chopped down the old man, and carried away the crying woman on his shoulders.

Inside the hut, people watched all this happen in silence.

Bai Rao originally thought that this would suppress the matter of returning soldiers, but as the days passed, he gradually discovered that people kept leaving Zhending at night and fleeing towards Beixincheng.

He asked the generals to stop some people, and was surprised to find that among the escaped people were not only the soldiers who had been released by Beixincheng before, but also a large number of unrelated civilians!
He killed a group of people and hung their heads on the gate of the camp. The number of escaped people decreased a lot that day, but then it started again.

The alchemist found him and sighed, "General, it's impossible to go on like this."

"What made them escape was not only the fact that Beixincheng had enough to eat, but also the rumors of the real Huang Tian."

"If this momentum can't be suppressed, I'm afraid the hearts of the people here will be scattered. How can I explain to General Zhonglang?"

Bai Rao frowned: "How do you do it in your opinion?"

The alchemist thought for a while, then shook his head and said, "It's very difficult to suppress the Yuan family with just the general."

"I heard that Beixincheng is mobilizing troops to attack Yijing. At that time, the Yuan family will definitely lead troops to attack Yijing. The interior is empty, and its marching route is close to Zhending, so there is an opportunity to take advantage of it."

"Why don't you ask General Zhang Yan for help, and send a few generals to attack Beixin City, and wait for the opportunity to intercept and kill the Yuan family son?"

Bai Rao listened, hesitantly said: "This strategy seems to be feasible, but I think General Zhong Lang doesn't want to provoke Yuan Shi at present."

The alchemist laughed and said, "No one knows what General Zhang thinks. If General Bai doesn't mention it, how can he know what General Zhonglang thinks?"

"Furthermore, the rumors about the Yuan family's real person are fundamental to shake the Black Mountain Army. It is an extremely urgent matter. The general can just send someone to talk about it."

Bai Rao heard this, and slapped his thigh hard, "That's right, if this continues, I will run away and no one will be left!"

"That Yuan family son must be killed!"

Yuan Xi didn't know what really happened, so he sat in front of Tian Yu and said, "Brother Guorang really won't go with me?"

Tian Yu said expressionlessly: "My lord, don't think about it, I won't take refuge in you."

Yuan Xi had a headache. After Tian Yu was arrested, he was extremely stubborn. He tried all kinds of methods, including persuasion, temptation, and labor reform methods such as going to the fields to farm, but Tian Yu was as unmoved as a mountain.

(End of this chapter)