Ji Han Liu Zhang

Since the Chuping period, many forces in Guanzhong have been fighting back and forth, and the composition is complicated. Among them are generals from Liangzhou, such as Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou, Zhang Ji, etc., and local generals in Guanzhong, such as Li Kan, Haoyou, Cheng Yin, Liang Xing, etc. In addition, there are Han Sui and Ma Teng who were eyeing the Three Auxiliary Prefectures from Liangzhou, as well as Qiang and Hu rebels, refugees and thieves, who have also participated in the chaos in Guanzhong.

Among them, some people want to establish their own regime, exercise their power and make trouble in a certain place; some people are like bandits, occupying counties and plundering people, and not thinking about tomorrow after living today. These situations vary in size.

Many forces and ideas were stirring up trouble in the Sanfu area, so that the entire Guanzhong area was in chaos.

But despite the turbulent situation and ups and downs in Guanzhong, the Jingzhao Wei family, as the local tyrant, relied on its deep roots and solid foundation in Guanzhong and did not suffer any major damage, and has lived safely and steadily to this day.

That is why Wei Kang, who came from the Jingzhao Wei family, was very clear about the situation in Guanzhong. He also knew a little about the character, moral character, troop deployment, and food distribution of Li Jue and Guo Si. At this moment, he reported everything to Liu Zhang.

"My lord." Wei Kang is a young talent with a loud voice and his own style.

He said in a loud voice: "In terms of the strengths and weaknesses of the two thieves, Li Jue and Guo Si, Li Jue is the better one. Li Jue has always been cunning and has schemes up his sleeves, which is quite unpredictable. Guo Si is a simple-minded person, brave but not smart enough to handle things alone... So when Li Jue and Guo Si joined forces, many matters were determined by Li Jue, and Guo Si just obeyed."

"In the past, Guo Si might have resisted and shown his independence, but now facing the army of Ming Gong, Guo Si knows that if he fails, he will end up as a prisoner. So Kang Wen heard that all major matters in Chang'an City will be decided by Li Jue."

The military officer Zheng Du asked, "What about the generals in Guanzhong, Li Kan, Yaoyou, Cheng Yin, Liang Xing, and the Qiang and Hu tribesmen who came from Liangzhou to help Li Jue and Guo Si, such as Shaohe and Dangjian? They all have their own troops and are not under the same command. Are they also led by Li Jue?"

Zheng Du was very skeptical as to whether Li Jue, as the nominal leader of the coalition forces, could control the generals in Guanzhong and the leaders of the Qiang and Hu tribes and make them work together as one.

Zheng Du was very pessimistic about this. With so many teams and different people's hearts, and without a solid relationship between the ruler and his subjects, it might be wishful thinking to want to achieve unity.

Wei Kang smiled and said, "The generals in Guanzhong and the leaders of the Qiang and Hu tribes were used to being self-reliant and always acted on their own. Naturally, they are not happy to be commanded by others and act according to their orders. But now they are facing your army, and the situation is urgent."

"So these people had to be patient for a while. As long as they didn't think Li Jue's orders were too excessive, they would basically obey his orders."

"What a bunch of stubborn thieves." Peng Ying sighed, "My Lord has issued an order to execute Li Jue and Guo Si, and leave the rest of the surrenderers alone. The affairs here have nothing to do with the generals in Guanzhong and the leaders of the Qiang and Hu tribes. Why should these people join forces with Li Jue and Guo Si... Why not turn around and surrender with courtesy? Isn't it wonderful that Guanzhong will be at peace!"

Peng Ying was doubtful about the ideas of the Guanzhong generals and Qiang and Hu leaders who were wholeheartedly helping Li Jue and Guo Si. It was obvious that Liu Zhang only wanted to fight Li Jue and Guo Si who killed his brother, and the matter had little to do with the Guanzhong generals and Qiang and Hu leaders. It was really puzzling that these people insisted on tying themselves to Li Jue and Guo Si.

Wei Kang was moved when he heard this. He pondered for a moment and then said, "Speaking of the thoughts of the generals in Guanzhong, Li Kan, Xuanyou, Cheng Yin, Liang Xing and others, I do have some insights."

"Mr. Wei, just say what you want to say." The chief clerk Xun You encouraged. He had a good first impression of Wei Kang. After hearing Wei Kang's conversation, he believed that he was a young talent. Although Wei Kang's eyes and eyebrows were still a little immature, he thought that he only needed some training, and then Wei Kang would be able to shoulder the heavy responsibility of an official.

Hearing Xun You's encouragement and Liu Zhang's nod, Wei Kang plucked up his courage and said, "Since the Chuping and Xingping periods, the government has been weakened and power has shifted downward. Local county officials mostly do not follow the will of the court and do whatever they want, just like the princes of the Spring and Autumn Period."

After making a general conclusion, Wei Kang continued, "So the generals in Guanzhong, Li Kan, Xuanyou, Cheng Yin, Liang Xing and others, have been accustomed to acting arbitrarily and have tasted the sweetness of it over the past few years...Now that you have brought the people here, although you have clearly stated that you will only kill the two thieves Li Jue and Guo Si and not ask about others, most of the generals in Guanzhong are unwilling to surrender to you, give up the power to dominate a region and hold power, and come under your command to obey your orders."

"That is why the generals in Guanzhong are so stubborn and stubborn. When faced with the righteous army of your Excellency, they are still cooperating with Li Jue and Guo Si to fight a desperate battle, trying to repel your Excellency and continue to bully and rule in Guanzhong."

Liu Zhang nodded and said, "That's right."

Liu Zhang agreed with Wei Kang's explanation very much. For a warlord, the most important things are his subordinates and the land and population he controls. Here, the land he controls can provide population and subordinates, which is the most important.

Seizing a warlord's land is more serious than taking his life.

The generals in Guanzhong, Li Kan, Hao Yi, Cheng Yin, Liang Xing and others, were just as Wei Kang said, unwilling to surrender to Liu Zhang, give up the land they ruled, and the power to rule a region and exercise power at will.

Therefore, all the generals in Guanzhong would, of course, fight Liu Zhang to the end no matter what, and try their best to turn their bicycles into motorcycles.

There is clear evidence in the history of the Three Kingdoms that after Cao Cao swallowed up the land of Jingxiang, he sailed thousands of miles upstream and threatened to hunt with Sun Quan in Wu, intending to make Sun Quan sensible and surrender. However, Lu Su strengthened Sun Quan's determination to fight with just a few words.

"Now Su can welcome Cao, but the general cannot. Why do you say that? If Su welcomes Cao, Cao should return Su to his hometown and give him a good reputation. He still has the status of a lower-level official, rides a calf-drawn cart, follows the officials, associates with scholars, and has accumulated official positions, so he has not lost his position in the state. If the general welcomes Cao, where do you want to go?"

Whether the generals and officials below surrender or not has little impact on themselves, but for the warlord leader to surrender means giving up the land under his command and the population under his control. Without the power of the tiger as in the past, he will be treated like a dog by others. Any warlord who has tasted the joy of ruling a certain area is generally unwilling to do so.

"It's just that Li Jue, Guo Si, the generals in Guanzhong, and the leaders of the Qiang and Hu tribes are ultimately a motley crowd gathered together because of a temporary crisis." Wei Kang emphasized his analysis.

"If there is a chance of victory in the war with you, they may unite around Li Jue and Guo Si to fight against you. But if the war fails and Li Jue and Guo Si are in danger, they will be united in appearance but not in spirit. Who knows, some of them may send envoys to surrender in private."

After hearing Wei Kang's words, Zheng Du and Peng Ying seemed to want to say something, but they held back in the end. After all, Wei Kang was a recent recruit, and there were some things that were not convenient to tell Wei Kang.

However, Liu Zhang, who was at the top, had no taboos. He took out a letter and handed it to Wu Ban, who was serving beside him, and asked Wu Ban to pass it to Wei Kang without saying anything.

Wei Kang took the letter from Wu Ban without knowing the truth, and spread it out in his hands to read it. He looked a little surprised. First, Zhang Ji, a senior general in Liangzhou, actually sent an envoy to surrender privately, and second, Liu Zhang, the leader, revealed such a private matter to him. Not daring to let Liu Zhang wait too long, Wei Kang hurriedly read Zhang Ji's letter, then folded it and put it in the letter bag, and handed it back to Wu Ban who was waiting for him to finish reading.

Wei Kang was deeply moved by Liu Zhang's frankness. He first bowed his hands to congratulate Liu Zhang: "Congratulations, sir. Among the generals in Liangzhou, from Li Jue and Guo Si onwards, Zhang Ji can be said to be the best. With such great generals surrendering, there is no need to worry about Li Jue and Guo Si not being defeated and Guanzhong not being stable."

After congratulating him, Wei Kang said with a hint of worry: "But we still need to be cautious about this matter. Most of the generals in Liangzhou are cunning. If they pretend to surrender, it may be disadvantageous to the army."

"Mr. Wei, you should be at ease about this. Your Excellency has already made up your mind. Listen to what he says, watch what he does, and proceed with caution." Peng Ying replied.

After saying this, Peng Ying glanced at Liu Zhang. He was going to give Liu Zhang some advice later that a king should be shrewd and should not be so frank in front of someone who has recently surrendered. It would not be good for Wei Kang to know that Zhang Ji had surrendered.

"Your Excellency is so wise, but I have said too much." Wei Kang said modestly upon hearing this. However, despite his words, he believed that his previous reminder was correct. He has now made Liu Zhang the monarch, and as a subordinate official, he should give advice to fill in the gaps and prevent his Excellency from falling into danger.

"There is no need to say more or less. Just say what needs to be said. This way, Zhang can make fewer mistakes." Liu Zhang said soothingly.

Wei Kang continued to explain the situation he had with the bandits: "Now, all the counties near and far have heard that you are coming, and they are all eager to support you, expel the officials appointed by Li Jue and Guo Si, and raise your banner."

"At present, only three cities are still being defended by Li Jue and Guo Si, and they have not wavered."

"One of the three cities is Chang'an. Li Jue, Guo Si and other generals from Guanzhong, Li Kan, Xuanyou, Cheng Yin, Liang Xing and others are stationed in Chang'an. They do not interfere with each other and each guards one side of the city wall. Outside Chang'an, Zhang Ji and the Qiang and Hu people from Liangzhou station their troops. The two cities are in a pincer attack..."

"As for the military strength, Li Jue and Guo Si had more than 10,000 men under their command. The generals in Guanzhong, Li Kan, Xuanyou, Cheng Yin, Liang Xing and others each had several thousand soldiers. Zhang Ji had about 3,000 soldiers outside the city. The troops of Qiang Hu Shao He and Dang Jian had a total of about 5,000 soldiers... Excluding Zhang Ji's troops, there were about 20,000 to 30,000 bandits in Chang'an."

At this point, Wei Kang smiled slightly and said: "If Zhang Ji's surrender is true, then there is no need to worry about Zhang Ji's soldiers. You only need to focus on Li Jue and Guo Si."

"The second of the three cities is Chiyang. Li Jue was granted the title of Marquis of Chiyang, General of Chariots and Cavalry, and Commander of the Sili Army and Acting General. Therefore, Chiyang became Li Jue's lair. Most of Li Jue's gold, silver, jade, baggage and food were in Chiyang... The defenders were Li Jue's son Li Shi, and Li Jue's brother's sons Li Xun and Li Li. These three garrisoned Chiyang with a force of about 3,000 people."

"The third of the three cities is Huangbai City. Huangbai City was once a place where the imperial court stored grain to supply the army that was conquering the Qiang and Hu tribes in Liangzhou. There were many cellars of grain and grass, so it was a key place for the bandits... Guo Si's cousin Guo Pu and his general Wu Xi were stationed in Huangbai City. Their number of soldiers was the same as that in Chiyang, about 3,000 people."

Wei Kang spoke leisurely, describing in detail the territories currently controlled by Li Jue and Guo Si, the number of soldiers, and the important grain storage locations.

"A local tyrant is a local tyrant. The Wei family is truly the land lord of Guanzhong." After hearing what Wei Kang said, Liu Zhang sighed in his heart. Only the Wei family, a family of high rank in the three auxiliary provinces, could spy on the thieves so clearly and thoroughly.

Liu Zhang had previously sent scouts to investigate the activities of Li Jue and Guo Si, but the information they obtained was not as detailed as that obtained by Wei Kang.

The gods came down to earth to ask the land, and with the Wei family as the land, the side of Li Jue and Guo Si was like eggs peeled off their shells, exposed naked in front of Liu Zhang.

……

Unexpectedly smoothly, after completing Zhang Ji's instructions to surrender to Liu Zhang, Hu Che'er set out on the road back to Chang'an.

He looked very happy. He had completed the task assigned by Zhang Ji successfully. He would definitely receive a lot of reward when he returned, not to mention the reward of fifty gold from Liu Zhang.

He gained a lot from completing this mission.

However, excessive joy often leads to sorrow. Hu Che'er, who was originally taking a cautious path back to Zhang Ji's camp outside Chang'an City, unfortunately ran into a cavalry team when he turned a corner.

"How could it be Li Jue?" Hu Che'er saw the cavalry in front of him and was panicked for a moment. Then he calmed down and thought about how to deal with it.

It was not a good time to retreat now. Hu Che'er started to think. He saw Li Jue, and Li Jue also saw him. If he turned his horse and left now, he would inevitably appear guilty. Moreover, his horse was not as fast as the one under Li Jue, which had pure white hair from head to tail and was known as the Night Lion. If he fled now, he would definitely be caught up by Li Jue and his men.

Hu Che'er's eyes rolled, and instead of retreating, he advanced, with a smiling face, and stopped a few steps away from Li Jue's cavalry. He bowed and greeted Li Jue, saying, "General Li is indeed a good general. He actually came to personally investigate the situation of the Shu invaders."

"How can I feel at ease if I don't come out and take a look myself?" Li Jue nodded in response to Hu Che'er's flattery, and then asked, "Why, are you out here today to spy on the thieves?"

"The Shu invaders are getting closer and closer, and my general is very worried, so he asked me to go and see what the Shu army is doing. I didn't expect to meet the general here." Hu Che'er was respectful and answered every question.

Li Jue smiled and said, "When you return to the camp, give my regards to General Zhang."

Li Jue didn't care why Hu Che'er, who was just a captain, appeared here, or his respectful and slightly flattering attitude. He just thought that as Hu Che'er said, Hu Che'er was out on patrol under the orders of Zhang Ji.

After a few more polite words, Li Jue waved his hand and told Hu Che'er to do as he pleased, and left. (End of this chapter)