Ji Han Liu Zhang

Jinyang, county temple.

After receiving the letter from Huchuquan, the Xiongnu Chanyu, asking for help, Yan Liang first dismissed the Xiongnu envoys. When the Xiongnu envoys left the hall, he cursed loudly: "Huchuquan is incompetent, Qubei is incompetent, and Liu Bao is the most incompetent of all."

Yan Liang cursed the Xiongnu Chanyu, the Left Wise King, and the Right Wise King in one breath. He was still furious. He continued to curse: "He was killed in battle. Is Liu Bao really a talented general?!"

Yan Liang found it unbelievable that Liu Bao was killed in battle by Gan Ning. After all, victory and defeat were common in the military, and it was normal for the Huns to win or lose. However, it was indeed an extremely low probability that Liu Bao, the Left Wise King, would be killed in battle.

Since the beginning of the war, Yan Liang has never achieved the feat of killing a general, nor has he achieved the glorious record of Gan Ning, who broke into the enemy's formation and took Liu Bao's life.

"The Shu army attacked the Huns at night, and the front camp was in chaos. Liu Bao wanted to stabilize the front camp, so he went to the meeting in person. Due to his carelessness, he was killed by Gan Ning. He was able to retain some honor." Guo Yuan was present and defended Liu Bao. After all, Liu Bao died in battle for them, so it was not appropriate to say too many harsh words.

"I understand this matter very well." Yan Liang nodded. Liu Bao was killed on the battlefield and was an incompetent person, but he died on the battlefield after all. He had to give him some compensation, otherwise the Huns would scatter.

This was also the reason why Yan Liang sent away the Hun envoy who came to report the news, and then became angry and yelled.

After thinking it over, Yan Liang said to Gao Gan, the governor of Bingzhou: "Since Liu Bao died in battle, we should provide relief to his family and show this to Huchuquan and Qubei, so that they will know your kindness and work hard."

Gao Gan had no objection. He nodded and said, "As General Yan said, you and I should write to you together to ask for merit for Liu Bao."

After discussing Liu Bao's affairs, Yan Liang sighed and said, "I had originally planned to let the Xiongnu block the Shu army in Zhongyang County for a while to wear down the Shu army's morale. When the Shu army has been stationed in the fortified city for a long time, I will send troops from Jinyang to Zhongyang. This strategy is to wait for the Shu army to tire out, and I think we can defeat the Shu army in one fell swoop."

"What can I do..." Yan Liang said angrily, "The Xiongnu are really useless. No wonder the Southern Xiongnu surrendered to the Han Dynasty. With their fighting power, they are at the bottom of the list among the barbarians. If they stayed north of the Yin Mountains, they would have been eaten alive by the Xianbei and Wuhuan."

Gao Gan was calm and composed like a son of an aristocratic family. He did not show his emotions on his face like Yan Liang did. He said slowly, "Huchuquan and Qubei have been defeated in successive battles and are almost in a state of collapse. Now we have no choice but to send troops. Otherwise, if Huchuquan and Qubei lose Zhongyang County, the Shu army will reach the city of Jinyang."

"We also need to be careful that Huchuquan and Qubei have ulterior motives." Guo Yuan interjected: "The barbarians have never been loyal. If people like Huchuquan and Qubei fail to win the battle against the Shu army, they might collude with the Shu army and do something rebellious."

"We must be prepared." Gao Gan agreed, "The barbarians only care about profit, not loyalty. We don't know if they will defect to the Shu army."

Yan Liang snorted coldly and said, "Do they dare?"

"Even if the Huns and the Shu army join forces, their military strength is inferior to ours. If the Huns dare to have any second thoughts, I will wipe out both the Huns and the Shu army together." Yan Liang made a bold statement.

When the battle situation in Zhongyang County was unfavorable, Yan Liang, who had originally planned to sit on the mountain and watch the fight between the two tigers and let the Huns consume and wear down the fighting spirit of the Shu army, together with Gao Gan, the governor of Bingzhou, led 15,000 troops and began the journey southward.

After only a few days' journey, Gao Gan and Yan Liang arrived at Zhongyang County. They first met with Huochuquan and Qubei, and then went to visit the remains of Liu Bao, the left wise king of the Xiongnu.

Liu Bao, the Left Wise King, was beheaded by the Shu army during a night raid, and his head was taken away as a trophy, leaving only a headless torso.

But a person cannot be buried without a head, and it would be inappropriate to just bury a torso, so Huchuquan and Qubei ordered the carpenter to make a lifelike head for Liu Bao and put it on Liu Bao's empty head.

"Zuo Xian Wang died in battle for us. He died gloriously and great. I have already submitted a document commending his merits to you. You are kind and will surely praise Zuo Xian Wang and honor him after his death." Yan Liang had a sad look on his face as he expressed his gratitude to the remaining body of Liu Bao.

Gao Gan was the governor of Bingzhou and all the Huns were under his rule. In order to win over the Huns, he also pretended to be sad. Compared with Yan Liang, whose acting was superficial, his sadness was more genuine. Tears were seen in the corners of Gao Gan's eyes and his expression was extremely sad.

Looking at the remains of Liu Bao and the carved head, Gao Gan said sadly, "Alas, Zuo Xian Wang, sad, Zuo Xian Wang, the damn Shu army dared not to fight head-on, and attacked the camp at night, they are simply rats among rats."

"Why don't you redeem Zuo Xian King's head from the Shu army, but just decorate it with a wooden carving? That would be too disrespectful to Zuo Xian King." Pointing at the wooden carving of Liu Bao's head, Gao Gan asked Huochuquan and Qubei.

Huochuquan said angrily: "It's not that I haven't sent envoys to the Shu army to redeem the head of Zuo Xian Wang. Up to now, I have sent envoys to the Shu army camp three times, just to buy the head and not let Zuo Xian Wang's body be separated..."

At this point, Huochuquan looked mournful and could not speak. He began to mourn for the Left Wise King Liu Bao. Seeing this, the Right Wise King Qubei supplemented Huochuquan's words: "However, the price offered by the Shu army is too high. We can't afford it. We can only use the wooden carved heads as decorations."

"How much does the Shu army want?" Gao Gan said proudly. As long as Qu Bei gave the Shu army's price, he would take on the responsibility and pay to buy back Liu Bao's head in order to win over the Huns.

Qu Bei sighed and said, "The Shu army asked for three thousand gold coins. We only raise some cattle and sheep every day. How can we afford it?"

The high-ranking official who had intended to take charge of the redemption of Liu Bao's head, after hearing the price offered by the Shu army, his bold words got stuck in his throat and he was unable to utter them for a long time. The reason was that he could not afford so much money.

When Yan Liang heard the price, the corners of his mouth twitched and he yelled, "Three thousand gold coins, the Shu army is really greedy and is not afraid of choking to death."

It was no wonder that Yan Liang reacted so violently. The price offered by the Shu army was simply too high. The head of Liu Bao, the Left Wise King, was just too high. Yan Liang was only willing to pay a few hundred gold coins. He could not afford more and was unwilling to pay no more.

Gao Gan recovered from the shock caused by the price offered by the Shu army. He comforted Huchuquan and Qubei and said, "The Shu army offered such a price because they sincerely don't want us to redeem the head of Zuo Xian Wang. Even so, we must not fall into the Shu army's evil plan. We should cut off the Shu army and fight a big battle in the future. After defeating the Shu army, we can get back the head of Zuo Xian Wang."

"Your Excellency is right." Huochuquan nodded and said, "The Right Wise King and I also have the same idea. If the price offered by the Shu army is not sincere enough, there is no need to bargain with the Shu army." "Since the head of the Left Wise King was lost on the battlefield, we will take it back from the battlefield."

Huochuquan made a bold statement: "If I cannot get back the head of Zuo Xian Wang, there is no need for me to be the Chanyu, and I will have no face to stand between heaven and earth."

"The Great Chanyu has great courage." Gao Gan praised: "With such fighting spirit, there is no need to worry about the Shu army not being defeated. In the future, General Yan and I will go to observe the Shu army's camp first, and then think of a plan to defeat the enemy."

The Art of War says: Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle. On the second day, Gao Gan and Yan Liang, protected by their personal cavalry, approached the Shu army's camp and observed the Shu army's deployment.

But on the left side of the Shu army camp was a camp set up by the Qiang and Hu people in Longyou, and on the right side of the Shu army, there was a flag with the word "Meng" inscribed on it. Gao Gan had asked someone to collect the names of the Shu army officers before, and he knew that this person must be Meng Da, Meng Zijing.

As for the Shu army camp, the flags of the Gan and Zhang families fluttered in the wind, spreading and sweeping in the gentle autumn breeze. Yan Liang half-closed his eyes and whispered, "Gan Ning, Zhang Ren."

According to the report from the scouts, the main and deputy generals of the Shu army that invaded Taiyuan County this time were indeed Gan Ning and Zhang Ren, veteran generals under Liu Zhang. When Yan Liang saw the Shu army's flags, he knew that the scouts' information was correct.

"What a well-defended fortress." Gao Gan looked up and sighed. No matter from which angle one looked at it, the Shu army's camp could be said to be well-defended.

The Shu army's camp was equipped with all kinds of defensive equipment, such as trenches, fences, deer ridges, and chevaux de frise. The arrangements looked very complete and not perfunctory.

Yan Liang nodded: "It is indeed a complete camp and should not be attacked lightly." He gave the intuition that a general should have, that is, the camp of the Shu army should not be attacked lightly.

After observing for a while, Gao Gan and Yan Liang rode away. The Shu army camp had detected their presence and opened the camp gates, as if they were going to send troops to drive them away. To be on the safe side, Gao Gan and Yan Liang led them away. As the two main generals, they would not take risks easily.

Gao Gan and Yan Liang returned to Zhongyang County and discussed with Guo Yuan the strategy of defeating the Shu army, but after discussing for a long time, none of them could come up with a satisfactory result.

There was no other reason. The Shu army's camp was so well-equipped that they didn't have any chance to defend themselves. Unless the Shu army came out of the camp to fight them, they might be able to overwhelm the Shu army with their superior military strength.

However, since Gao Gan and Yan Liang led the army to Zhongyang County for several days, the Shu army only sent out scouts and scouts from a distance, and there was no sign of a large army going out to fight them. It seemed that they wanted to avoid the sharp edge of their army when it first arrived, and then fight them after wasting some time.

The Shu army's camp could not be attacked lightly, and the Shu army was like a coward. Gao Gan and Yan Liang were inevitably trapped in a dilemma. For a while, they had no good plan to defeat the Shu army.

"Why don't we issue a declaration of war to provoke the Shu army into battle?" Guo Yuan proposed a plan, which was a common method used in the army to provoke the enemy.

Yan Liang stretched out his hand and rubbed the short beard on his chin. He nodded and said, "Let's give it a try. Who knows, the Shu army might be provoked and send out troops."

The plan was set. A letter dictated by Yan Liang and written down by the secretary was delivered to the Shu army camp and handed to Gan Ning. It was filled with rude and offensive language.

"Provoking the enemy." This was the thought that came to Gan Ning's mind when he finished reading the first column of text. Although they each served their own masters, he, Gao Gan and Yan Liang were all ministers of the Han Dynasty and had some dignity. Now that Yan Liang was acting so disgracefully, it meant that he had some plans.

"Mr. Wenhe." Gan Ning handed the letter to Jia Xu and chuckled, "Yan Liang is so disrespectful to us and wants to provoke us to fight. I cannot do what he wants, but please write a letter in reply, Mr. Wenhe."

Jia Xu quickly scanned Yan Liang's letter. After a while, he finished reading the letter and said with a smile, "Yan Liang's plan is really a bit superficial. Anyone with a discerning eye can see through it. It is a waste of effort and it is a waste of time for the envoys to travel back and forth."

After saying this, Jia Xu picked up his pen and began to write a reply to Yan Liang. After a while, Jia Xu put down the pen in his hand and blew gently on the silk cloth to speed up the drying of the ink. Soon, he handed the written document to Gan Ning for reading.

Gan Ning spread out the silk cloth with both hands and read it carefully, with a teasing smile on his face. Soon he finished reading the reply letter written by Jia Xu. He nodded heavily and called to the attendant, "Go, hand this letter to the messenger Yan Liang who is waiting at the gate."

The attendant received the order, took the letter handed to him by Gan Ning, put it into a document bag, sealed it, and then left the central army tent to hand the letter to the messenger sent by Yan Liang.

Gan Ning sent his attendant to deliver the letter, and then he said to Jia Xu: "Gao Gan and Yan Liang want to provoke us to fight, and they sent such frivolous words, but they are not as good as your writing style. Who knows, Gao Gan and Yan Liang may be enraged and come to attack our camp."

"Yan Liang is not a mediocre general. He may be angry after receiving the letter, but if Yan Liang comes to attack our army camp, there is only a 20% to 30% chance." Jia Xu said with a smile: "This time, we will only anger Yan Liang a little and make him unhappy."

"If Yan Liang is unhappy, then I am happy too." Gan Ning laughed. It was impossible for him to not be angry about the frivolous letter Yan Liang handed over. He was at an age of vigor and vitality and could not stand any stimulation. However, as the commander, he no longer relied on his bravery, but would consider the overall situation and suppress his anger.

While Gan Ning and Jia Xu were talking and laughing, Yan Liang's messenger rode at full speed and handed Jia Xu's reply letter to Gao Gan's desk. Gao Gan and Yan Liang spread out the letter and read it together.

"I heard that the Bingzhou governor Gao Gan, whose name means he is of high rank and talent, is actually a humble person with no talent... Last year, Hedong was defeated by Ma Mengqi, who was a brave man in Longyou. Gao Gan's talent was far inferior to Mengqi's, which is a clear proof of his humbleness. It also shows that there are many people in the world who have great names but no real ability."

'I also heard that Yan Liang, the general of Hebei, is named Yan Liang, but he is actually ugly. That is why I have not had the chance to meet him in the past few days since I came here, fearing that he would laugh at his appearance.'

"Ah, how dare you, a coward, insult me." When Yan Liang saw the word "ugly", his hair stood on end with rage, and he shouted angrily, "If I don't kill Gan Ning, I will be unworthy of being a human being."

Gao Gan looked unhappy. He had always considered himself a man of great talent and fame, and he was always arrogant. But when he saw the humiliating words in the letter, a fire suddenly ignited in his heart. (End of this chapter)