The Mythical Version of the Three Kingdoms: The Evil God Arrives

Chapter 337 Zhang Yan: Brother from Qingzhou, please show me the way!

Why did the Yellow Turban Army follow Zhang Jue in the uprising? Hearing Yang Ji ask this question, Xu Shu could not help but remain silent.

The reason why Zhang Jue was able to get so many people to follow him and risk their lives to rebel against the Han court was because they would die faster if they didn't rebel.

Ordinary civilians do not have the awareness of rebuilding the world. All they have is the will to survive today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

The rest are not within their consideration.

So, what is the root cause of the people’s inability to survive today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow? Who caused it? How did it happen?
In addition to the Han court's emperor, court officials and local clerks who were doing their job, there were also many local families who had the closest ties with the people.

"Indeed, given the prominent reputation of the Yuan family, which has had three generations of officials for four generations, it is natural for those people to not recognize Yuan Shao's rule and refuse his recruitment." Xu Shu sighed.

"Zhang Yan was able to become the leader of more than twenty Yellow Turban armies in the Taihang Mountains, and unified the Taihang Black Mountain Yellow Turbans into one entity.

The reputation of Yuan Shao, the legitimate son of the Yuan family, who had been a noble for four generations, also contributed greatly to this." Yang Ji didn't know whether he should feel happy for Yuan Shao's misfortune or sad for the Yellow Turban Army.

“The leader of the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans does not want to accept Yuan Benchu’s offer of amnesty, but what about the ordinary Black Mountain Yellow Turbans?
All they want is to stay alive. Faced with the offer of amnesty from Yuan Benchu, can Zhang Yan and the other Yellow Turban leaders restrain them?" Xu Shu asked Yang Ji.

If Yuan Shao wanted to recruit millions of Black Mountain and Yellow Turbans to supplement the population and troops under his rule, he would have to offer his own recruitment treatment to attract the Black Mountain and Yellow Turbans.

The leader of the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans was a tough guy who didn't want to be recruited by Yuan Shao. But what about the ordinary members of the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans? All they wanted was to stay alive.

"I don't know, and I am not qualified to judge their choice. If they choose Yuan Shao, all I can do is to make Yuan Shao seriously fulfill the promise he made." Yang Ji said calmly.

Although Yang Ji did not want the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans to be successfully recruited by Yuan Shao, the people and military forces under Yuan Shao's rule would increase greatly.

However, Yang Ji had no right to interfere with the choice of the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans. If he met them on the battlefield in the future, they would be nothing more than enemies, so he would just draw his sword.

"If we were allowed to include Lord Xuande on the list, it would be a good idea to give the Black Mountain and Yellow Turbans one more option, right?" Xu Shu asked. Since the Black Mountain and Yellow Turbans might be recruited by Yuan Shao, why couldn't it be Liu Bei?
At least Liu Bei's benevolence is recognized by the people of the world, and has also been certified by the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou. As Yellow Turbans under the leadership of Zhang Jue, the recognition and stamp of the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou should also be recognized by the Yellow Turbans of Heishan, right?
Xu Shu was sure that if Liu Bei extended an olive branch to the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans in the Taihang Mountains, there was a 90% chance that the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans would choose Liu Bei.

Because Liu Bei really ensured that the people had food to eat, clothes to wear, houses to live in, and schools to go to.

Although all these are still in progress, Liu Bei is earnestly pushing forward all these things that no one has ever taken seriously before.

But Yuan Shao was different. In the hearts of these people who were about to starve to death, the reputation of his Yuan family, which had three generations of officials, was no match for Liu Bei, who gave them food to eat and guaranteed them food to eat tomorrow.

In troubled times, those who can provide people with enough food are the most respectable.

Someone with a distinguished family background? Someone who commands a huge army? Someone who is adept at maneuvering among the princes? Someone who is extremely intelligent and always succeeds?
None of them can compare to a benevolent ruler who allows his people to eat and drink their fill and then discuss world affairs, human affairs, trivial matters, future events, and past events in the fields and in front of and behind their houses.

After hearing Xu Shu's question, Yang Ji laughed and said, "Yuanzhi, how do you know that Lord Xuande is not on the list of candidates for the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans?"

Maybe the Black Mountain and Yellow Turbans didn't include Yuan Shao in their list in the first place.

After all, Yuan Shao’s actions after the battle of Jie Bridge left an indelible impression in the hearts of the people of Jizhou.

If Yuan Shao had been more obedient after the Battle of Jie Bridge, perhaps the people of Jizhou would have forgotten what happened before as time passed.

After all, the people at the bottom of society think about daily necessities all day long, so they don't have time to remember what you have done.

What they care about is whether you can give them a better life in the future, or whether cutting one or two taxes would be good too.

Unfortunately, Yuan Shao did not have time to calm the thorns in the hearts of the people in Jizhou, but instead once again awakened the resentment of the people of Jizhou towards Yuan Shao.

An army of 300,000, plus auxiliary troops and new recruits that are still expanding, requires a huge amount of food and fodder.

Even though Jizhou is one of the largest grain producers, it is still not able to easily supply food and fodder to an army of more than 400,000.

What's more, the army's food and logistics supply never ends after the grain is collected, it still has to be delivered to the battlefield.

Moreover, logistical supplies include not just food and fodder, but also other military supplies, which also require the conscription of a large number of civilians to be sent to the front line.

Because of Yuan Shao's series of actions to expand the military and prepare for war in Jizhou, the people of Jizhou have begun to complain.

Although the situation is still under control, it is hard to say what actions the people in Jizhou will take once the war breaks out.

"Maybe Lord Xuande is the only one on the list, and this possibility is very high." Yang Ji said seriously.

"Yes, the only prince who can openly take over the Yellow Turban Army is probably Lord Xuande." Xu Shu sighed. Even with Liu Bei leading the way, there are still few princes in the world who can accept the existence of the Yellow Turban Army.

"Then, should we send someone to contact Zhang Yan and find out what they are thinking?" Xu Shu calmed down and asked Yang Ji.

"Zhang Yan has become the chief of Black Mountain, what else do you think they could think?" Yang Ji sneered. The two previous Yellow Turban chiefs sacrificed their lives for justice, so why could Zhang Yan choose to become the chief of Black Mountain Yellow Turban?

"Uh..." Xu Shu was stunned for a moment, then nodded slowly and said, "After those two, the position of Yellow Turban leader has a special meaning."

"...I just don't know if this is the ending Zhang Yan wanted or if she was forced to do so." Yang Ji sighed, sacrificing his life for justice.

"Those who are loyal are mostly butchers, and those who are most unfaithful are mostly scholars. What Zichuan said is really..." Xu Shu didn't know what to say.

"Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore." Yang Ji waved his hand, "Go find someone to contact Zhang Yan and tell them not to rely on their large numbers to take the initiative to deal with the troops sent by Yuan Shao. They are not something they can deal with."

"Have you discovered something?" Xu Shu frowned again.

"Logically speaking, it should be Yuan Benchu ​​who feels the pinch, as the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans can organize an army of four to five hundred thousand." Xu Shu was a little skeptical of Yang Ji's statement.

"The troops sent by Yuan Shao are the Xiandeng death squad, and the terrain of the Taihang Mountains is not suitable for large-scale combat. Do you think a small group of Black Mountain Yellow Turbans can defeat the Xiandeng?" Yang Ji shook his head and said. If the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans can deploy their battle array, with the advantage of numbers, the Xiandeng will have to be very careful no matter how strong they are.

What? You mean the cloud arrows from the vanguard are a wash? Even if the cloud formed spontaneously by a hundred or two hundred thousand troops cannot completely offset the cloud arrows from the vanguard, it can at least significantly reduce their power.

As long as there is no large-scale rain of arrows to disrupt and cut off the Yellow Turbans' formation, the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans will not be afraid of the first to die.

After going through life and death battles, the Yellow Turbans who have survived to the present day have already honed their dodging skills to a certain level. The arrows and crossbows whose power has been greatly reduced may not necessarily cause any harm to them.

After all, they don’t have much else but a lot of people.

What's more, Zhang Yan's ability to command troops was not bad. Although he could not command a large army, he was still able to command part of the Yellow Turban Army to trap Xiandeng.

"The first batch of death soldiers? Isn't that guy Ju Yi guarding against the White Horse Volunteers in the area between the Bohai River and the Yellow River?" Xu Shu asked hurriedly. He had not received any information about the first batch of death soldiers moving their camp.

"Yuan Shao has more than one vanguard unit capable of fighting. Transferring the vanguard unit here can help us deal with the Black Mountain and Yellow Turbans more quickly.

What Yuan Shao lacks most now is time. "Yang Ji shook his head and said that the two sides now only need a fuse to ignite the war in the north.

Yuan Shao knew very well that they were not the first choice of the Black Mountain and Yellow Turbans, and were not even on the list of choices. Liu Bei was the first choice.

Therefore, Yuan Shao and his men made two preparations. On the one hand, they planned to lure the lower-level Yellow Turbans with various treatments, so as to shake the leader of the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans.

On the other hand, they would send out the vanguard. If the negotiations failed, they would directly send away the most determined leaders and stubborn elements in resistance so that they could also receive more than one million Black Mountain Yellow Turbans.

Oh, no, it should be the new subjects under his rule. Those who surrendered to Yuan Shao were no longer Yellow Turbans, but ordinary civilians.

"In that case, I will send someone to contact Zhang Yan to exchange information." Xu Shu no longer worried about other things, but planned to send someone to contact Zhang Yan and then set up a counter-ambush.

"Oh, by the way, when you send people over, let Li Tiao go with them." Yang Ji mentioned Li Tiao to Xu Shu and asked him to take Li Tiao with him to find Zhang Yan, the third Yellow Turban leader, maybe he could play a role.

"Li Tiao? Okay." Xu Shu thought about it and agreed with Yang Ji's suggestion. After all, with a Yellow Turban leader testifying beside him, the trust between the two sides would be higher.

As for Guan Hai, although he was also a military general under Yang Ji, he was not in Licheng at this time, but was stationed in Wancheng with Yu Jin.

Looking at Xu Shu's departing back, Yang Ji sighed softly and murmured, "Zhang Yan? I hope you don't do anything stupid, otherwise I can't protect you."

……

"Boss, is it really a good idea to reject their offer of amnesty like this?" Li Damu asked Zhang Yan as he watched Yuan Shao and the others leaving.

"What's wrong with that? You know Yuan Shao's identity. He will never accept the existence of us generals like Liu Xuande did." Yu Du spat and said.

As for those high-ranking aristocratic families, Yu Du has never hesitated to speculate about them with the greatest malice.

In the eyes of Du, Guo Daxian, Zuo Xiao and other generals, Yuan Shao said that he could accept their existence and even let them serve as middle and low-level officers in Yuan Shao's army.

However, they did not believe Yuan Shao's promise. The promise made by the aristocratic families was not made to them, the common people, but to those who were also from aristocratic families.

"We didn't agree to their offer of amnesty, so they will probably attack us next." Bai Rao said from the side.

"Let's fight! After we unite, we can mobilize almost 500,000 troops. I don't believe they will transfer troops from the front line." Guo Daxian said viciously.

"You should know that we are no match for Yuan Shao's army, even if we can mobilize 500,000 troops after joining together." Zhang Yan looked at Guo Daxian and said.

"The terrain of Taihang Mountains not only limits Yuan Shao's cavalry, but also limits the scale of our troops." Zhang Yan said. He was very clear about his strengths and weaknesses.

"If there isn't enough cloud energy to suppress him, Yan Liang won't be someone we can deal with." Bai Rao added.

“Then what should we do? We can’t really let our brothers…” Principal Zuo didn’t finish his words, but the Qu Shuai present understood what Principal Zuo wanted to say.

"It would be great if we could contact Liu Xuande's people." Zhang Yan sighed.

As early as when Liu Bei recovered the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou and allowed them to live a normal life, Zhang Yan had high hopes for Liu Bei.

However, Yuan Shao's obstruction prevented Zhang Yan from leading his Black Mountain and Yellow Turbans to Qingzhou. Otherwise, Zhang Yan would have already gone to Qingzhou and laid down his arms to become an ordinary civilian.

"Qingzhou, Liu Xuande." Bai Rao, Guo Daxian and others also sighed. If possible, they also wanted to serve the people under Liu Bei's rule.

In their opinion, people like Yuan Shao were simply incompatible with them and were not the same kind of people at all.

But Liu Bei was different. Although he was a relative of the Han royal family, he grew up from a mat weaver and shoe seller to the local lord he was today.

Naturally, these Yellow Turban leaders felt that if Liu Bei was like this, he would definitely understand why they wanted to follow General Tian Gong.

"Okay, let's talk about how to contact the garrison commander in Licheng." Bai Rao clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention.

"Unless Licheng sends people over, there is no way for us to get past the encirclement set up by Yuan Shao's army." Zhang Yan said helplessly.

Although Liu Bei did not take the initiative to contact them, Zhang Yan wanted to take the initiative to contact Liu Bei.

They also want to return to the lives of ordinary civilians...

"Even if we can't break through Yan Liang's encirclement, we have to try. I don't want to become a commoner under Yuan Shao's rule. I might die one day." Yu Du sighed.

(End of this chapter)