I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 419: Scholars, their hearts are really dirty

It has to be said that there is a reason why successive dynasties liked to use shield-wielding barbarians. These people lived in the mountains, forests and swamps, and their living habits determined that they were born good at fighting and were qualified soldiers.

In particular, his ferocity in combat was very consistent with Gan Ning.

Speaking of which, the last time Zhao Jin came to Ba County to quell a rebellion, he was suppressing the Bandun Man. Now that he has entered Yizhou again, he has to fight side by side with the Bandun Man soldiers.

Before Zhao Jin led his army to arrive, the new imperial edict had already arrived in Ba County.

Xun You, who had already prepared, received the imperial edict and did not delay any longer. He had already arrived at Chongguo County, and together with Gan Ning, he led the county soldiers, mainly Bantun barbarians, and went straight into Guanghan County, preparing to pass through here to enter Qianwei County.

At this time, the provincial and county soldiers led by Huan Dian and Zhong Fu were still staying in Guanghan County, preparing food and fodder and preparing the army, and there was no sign of them heading to Qianwei.

Xun You learned the news from Yan Yan, so he led his troops to join forces with him.

At this time, the rebels' troops had already headed straight for Zizhong and Wuyang counties. If these two counties were captured by the rebels, half of Jianwei would fall into the hands of the enemy, and the southern part of Jianwei and several counties further south that had not yet fallen would actually be out of control due to poor road conditions, just like the four counties of Hexi.

Did Huan Dian want to send troops to quell the rebellion? Of course he did, otherwise he wouldn't have run back and forth to form a large army.

But he discussed with Zhong Fu that he needed to make full preparations before leading the army to Qianwei to quell the rebellion. After all, Ren Qi was defeated before, and if he failed again in this rebellion, it was likely that the places that would be damaged would not only be Qianwei and other places that were harassed by the rebels.

Afterwards, the emperor appointed Zhao Jin, the commander of the Western Garden, as the General of the Central Army to come to Yizhou to preside over the suppression of the rebellion, and the content of the imperial edict that Xun You was appointed as his deputy had been transmitted here in the form of an official document.

Huan Dian and Zhong Fu preferred to wait conservatively until Zhao Jin arrived.

This was the scene Xun You saw when he arrived at the place where the army was stationed to suppress the rebellion.

No one even mentioned setting out immediately to quell the rebellion.

Xun You understood their conservative approach, but understanding does not mean agreement.

Huan Dian and others were not surprised by Xun You's arrival. They thought that Xun You was just a deputy, and before Zhao Jin arrived, they should still have the final say here.

Unlike Zhong Fu, who had met Xun You once last year when he was inspecting the counties and kingdoms under his jurisdiction, this was the first time that Huan Dian met Xun You.

He had quite complicated feelings towards Xun You.

Huan Dian was not completely unaware of Xun You's organization of the barbarians to open up wasteland and cultivate land in Ba County at the beginning of this year. Xun You had promoted something that he had not promoted for several years only half a year after taking office, which was enough to show his ability. But from another perspective, didn't this make him look incompetent?
It's just that they all come from aristocratic families, and the Huan family is still the top family before the Yuan family and the Yang family. Huan Dian is not so narrow-minded as to hate Xun You for this. It's just that it's impossible for him to be enthusiastic about Xun You.

As soon as Xun You arrived at the place where the army was assembled, he requested them to lead the troops to set off immediately. It would not be considered as not fighting against the rebels. As long as the army moved towards Jianwei County, it would be a great deterrent to the rebels.

Seeing that they were hesitating to move forward, Xun You almost cursed them, saying that they were not worthy of being consulted!

The day after Xun You joined forces with them, a debate about whether to send troops broke out in Huan Dian's military tent.

As a native of Ba County, Zhao Wei had long been dissatisfied with Xun You's actions in Ba County. He also had some thoughts on his superior Huan Dian's complicated feelings towards Xun You. Facing Xun You's request, he questioned Xun You bluntly, "After all, Xun Taishou is only a deputy commander, not a commander-in-chief. Now that the commander-in-chief is not here and there are no military orders, you should naturally obey the orders of General Anxi! If you rashly send troops, like Ren Qi, who is greedy for merit and reckless, and fail, who will be responsible? How can you explain to the families of the soldiers who died innocently during this period?"

In fact, many local factions like Zhao Wei hoped that Ma Qin and Gao Sheng would make a bigger fuss, so that the new tax system could not be implemented. Anyway, the rebels had not attacked their manors and fields.

But this kind of thinking can only be regarded as a tacit understanding between each other, and it is not enough to be explained to outsiders.

Of course, the officials whose homes were in the areas attacked by the rebels all supported sending troops immediately. Otherwise, were they supposed to hope that the rebels would not harm their property or relatives?
It’s not so easy to control a mob of soldiers.

It is just a coincidence that these officials who support sending troops are either not qualified to appear in the military tent, or even if they are there, their voices are not loud.

Xun You said: "Although Governor Ren was defeated, he certainly made mistakes, but I also respect him for being loyal to the king and for daring to fight the rebels instead of standing still in front of the rebels!"

"No, how can we imitate what the prefect Ren did?" Jia Long retorted.

……

For a moment, inside the military tent, Xun You was outnumbered alone, but was not at a disadvantage at all.

While they were arguing, a gatekeeper suddenly came to report that an envoy from General Zhao Jin had arrived.

Upon hearing this, Huan Dian and Zhong Fu did not dare to neglect and immediately stopped the dispute in the tent.

Especially Huan Dian, as the General of Anxi, he could have been in charge of Yizhou's military affairs, but the emperor still sent Zhao Jin to quell the rebellion. If Xun You's entry into Yizhou was just the emperor's secret expression of dissatisfaction, then Zhao Jin's arrival was the emperor's blatant questioning.

Huan Dian was not afraid of the emperor questioning his virtues because he was very confident about it. However, if he lost his post due to incompetence and damaged the reputation of the Huan family, it would be more painful than killing him.

But since the emperor had issued an edict, he had no choice but to obey.

Inside the military tent, everyone was quietly waiting for the arrival of Zhao Jin's envoy.

Soon, the messenger claimed to be Yan Liang from Dongjun, and was the temporary military commander under the command of General Zhao Jin.

After verifying the documents and identity credentials, Huan Dian invited Yan Liang to take a seat, just behind Xun You.

Yan Liang did not rush to sit down, but directly explained his purpose: "I am here on the orders of the General of the Central Army, and I have an official report! Because the road to Shu is difficult, the General of the Central Army specially ordered me to travel light to pass on the orders of the General of the Central Army! Before the General of the Central Army leads his army to arrive, the military orders of Xun Taishou of Ba County will be the main ones!"

After saying this, General Yan Liang ordered it to be taken out and handed over to Huan Dian for inspection.

As soon as these words were spoken, the military tent fell silent.

Especially Zhao Wei, Jia Long and others who had just been arguing with Xun You about whether to send troops looked at each other in bewilderment.

Thinking of their previous rebuttal to Xun You's remarks, one of which was Zhao Jin's military order... I regret it, in short, I regret it very much...

In addition to regret, they couldn't help but wonder, why did Zhao Jin dare to trust Xun You so much? Why did he entrust all the power to Xun You? He was obviously the main general who suppressed the rebellion! If Xun You failed in the battle, Zhao Jin would definitely be blamed.

But no one would answer them.

Huan Dian, who was sitting in the main seat, looked at the military order in his hand in shock. The military order and Yan Liang's identity could not be faked.

He looked up at the people in the tent - Yan Liang stood in the tent with his head held high, showing no fear, some subordinates lowered their heads to avoid his gaze, Zhao Wei looked back at him as if to express support, and Zhong Fu shook his head slightly at him. Finally, he glanced at Xun You, whose face was calm and neither sad nor happy.

Huan Dian slowly stood up, and after standing straight, he said to Xun You: "Since there is a military order, Gongda, you should take the second seat and give orders. Don't refuse!"

After saying this, he walked away without any reluctance.

His ability has already been questioned, and if his moral character is questioned as well, he will really have no face to live as a human being.

Nowadays, being more decisive can at least be considered as having the demeanor of an elder.

Xun You did not try to refuse at this time.

He stood up and bowed to Huan Dian who gave up his seat. Instead of making Huan Dian feel awkward, he took a few steps to sit in the main seat. Zhong Fu gave up his second seat and sat in Xun You's seat.

Xun You didn't care about these. The first thing he said after he sat on the main seat was: "Since Sima Yan came here under the order of General Zhao, and General Zhao hasn't arrived yet, Sima Yan will represent General Zhao and Your Majesty!"

"The soldiers in the camp are under different orders, including both Han and barbarian soldiers. When I came here yesterday, I saw several cases of violating military orders. Now, Sima Yan should be appointed as the military commander to correct the military law! Do you have any objections?"

Huan Dian and Zhong Fu both kept silent. Xun You's actions were backed by the emperor's edict and Zhao Jin's military orders, and they were determined not to disobey, at least on the surface.

Since the two chief officers had done so, even if others were dissatisfied, seeing that the chief general and the deputy commander were obviously of one mind in suppressing the rebellion, and Xun You had given a legitimate reason, what else could they say?
I can only obey orders.

No one can bear the reputation of undermining military law.

Yan Liang did not give anyone time to react. When he heard Xun You's appointment, he immediately bowed and said, "I will obey your orders!"

"Please take a seat!"

Only then did Yan Liang take his seat.

Afterwards, Xun You took control of the main military power with the help of Yan Yan, Gan Ning and Yan Liang. Although it was his first time to command the army in battle, he arranged it in an orderly manner.

Only Gan Ning, who had been watching from the sidelines, felt resentful when he saw this scene - the Lord of the Mansion looked like a modest gentleman, but he was able to scheme without blushing or feeling nervous.

He knew the inside story very clearly.

Yan Liang actually came with the imperial envoy who delivered the imperial edict.

Xun You could have let Yan Liang show up at the beginning, but he had to make such a scene. Although Gan Ning understood that Xun You wanted to use this opportunity to try to see the positions of different officials, he still couldn't help but sigh - "These people who have been studying since childhood have such dirty hearts!"

People like him who started studying halfway are certainly not included.

The next day, the army began to march towards Qianwei County.

Huan Dian and Zhong Fu have not been idle these days. Now there are more than 20,000 troops gathered here, and there is enough food and fodder to supply the army.

Now is the convenient time for Xun You to take action.

He divided the army into two parts.

Gan Ning led a vanguard of 5,000 soldiers, mainly Bantun barbarians, to set out first, clearing the way through the mountains and building bridges across the rivers. Considering the weak combat effectiveness of the county soldiers, the combat effectiveness of this army, which was mostly Qiang people, was definitely superior among the troops suppressing the rebellion.

Xun You, together with Huan Dian, Yan Liang, Yan Yan and others, commanded the central army, while the governor Zhong Fu and the prefect of Guanghan stayed in Guanghan as backup.

As a former Jinfan bandit, Gan Ning was not only active in Ba County. He also had some understanding of the terrain of Jianwei County, which was even better than Yan Yan.

During the days Xun You spent with Gan Ning, including watching Gan Ning train the Bantun Barbarians, Gan Ning's abilities were recognized by him during this process, which is why Gan Ning was appointed as the vanguard.

Gan Ning never expected that he had just resigned from the position of Shu County Magistrate, and now, less than two months later, he has started leading troops into battle.

Although these 5,000 county soldiers are not as good as the elite Han army, they are of similar magnitude. Gan Ning is very satisfied with his current situation.

In other words, the appointment of officials with a salary of more than 600 dan required the emperor's approval, otherwise Gan Ning, with so many soldiers, would at least have to be a Sima of a certain department.

In this way, before the arrival of the main general Zhao Jin, the army to suppress the rebellion had already marched towards Qianwei County.

Jianwei County, Zizhong County.

The siege continues.

The rebels drove the local people who had been brought along along the way, and drove them towards the city wall without mercy.

Before yesterday, many parts of the moat outside Zizhong County had been filled up. Today, the people who were once forced to carry soil to fill the moat had to build ant walls again...

Random arrows flew out from the city wall and shot into the crowd, making people stop and dare not move forward, but the blood-stained swords and guns behind them did not give them a chance to stop.

They have no choice.

But the people in the city had no choice.

In order to capture Zizhong County, Ma Qin and Gao Sheng joined forces. Because of the terrain, they attached more importance to Zizhong than to Wuyang County, the seat of Qianwei County.

But precisely because it is located on a major transportation route, Zizhong County has a large population and is a large county, which is completely different from Nan'an County, which has a small population and lacks defenses, and the city walls are also higher.

County Magistrate Li Sheng had heard about the rebels long ago and also knew that the prefect had been defeated, so he made defensive preparations early on.

The rebels had committed atrocities repeatedly in Nan'an County, and Li Sheng was very keen to promote the rebels' reputation inside and outside the county, which was naturally exaggerated, but there were also Nan'an residents who escaped from Nan'an County who came forward to tell their own stories. The rebels' use of the people to coerce them further confirmed their evil deeds in Nan'an.

Facts have proved that Li Sheng's decision was very wise and successfully aroused the hatred of the enemy among the people of Zizhou.

The three Shus had been separated for many years. Just as the rebels from Shu County did not care about the lives of the people of Qianwei County, the people of Zizhou would not regard the people of Shu County as their fellow countrymen.

County Magistrate Li Sheng stood on the city wall, ordering the temporarily recruited soldiers to draw their bows and shoot arrows, but his heart was bleeding.

There were many people under his rule living under the city.

Outside the city, Ma Qin and Gao Sheng were observing the battle situation and were not satisfied with the progress of the war.

Ma Qin was about to say something when someone came with a secret letter.

He took the secret letter and handed it to Gao Sheng, saying, "The army of Guanghan County has already rushed here. According to the time, they should have entered Qianwei by now."

"It's too late to capture this city, but the frightened people in the city will not dare to leave the city again. We will go to fight the enemy first. Once we defeat this so-called Xun You, it will be as easy as taking candy from a sack for General Zizhong!"

Ma Qin made a bold statement.

Gao Sheng also gained more confidence because of his successive victories. In his mind, Zizhong County's stubborn resistance could only stop him for a while.

He suggested: "You can tell the people below that after defeating the reinforcements from Zizhong County, they will be allowed to plunder for three days after the city is captured!"

"Very good!"

Immediately, the two men sounded the call to withdraw their troops and prepared for a face-to-face battle with the coalition forces from the prefectures and counties to suppress the rebellion.

(End of this chapter)