People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 77 Meet him!
When the army is large enough, the baggage alone is enough to slow down the army.

However, this battle was not an expedition, and the surrounding counties were probably still busy with spring plowing, so Xu Chen was not worried about the safety of the baggage team.

So after the army set out, it was immediately divided into two parts. Five thousand soldiers marched quickly first, and another two thousand soldiers were sent to the rear to escort the baggage train.

And his first target on this trip is Pinggu, which is located in the center of the three counties!
The movement of the Yuyang army naturally could not be hidden from the eyes of the surrounding counties. Pinggu had already learned the news when the army was only halfway there, and this also shocked the people in charge of Pinggu.

The person in charge of Pinggu now is not the county magistrate, because the county magistrate of Pinggu was killed as early as the beginning of the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

The Yellow Turban Rebellion was so fierce that the death of the county magistrate was actually nothing. Even local officials like Youzhou Governor Guo Xun and Guangyang Prefect Liu Wei died at the hands of the Yellow Turbans because they were unable to react in time.

The damage that the Yellow Turbans inflicted on the Han Dynasty was, to a large extent, paralyzing its bureaucratic system. When the brain was unable to command the limbs, the limbs had to start working on their own. From then on, the Han Dynasty completely lost control of the local areas.

This was the case in several counties of Yuyang, Pinggu and Guangping. The county magistrates in both places were killed by the Yellow Turbans, so the local aristocratic families began to stand up and take control of the situation. Eventually, the local Yellow Turbans were quelled. And the one who emerged from this chaos was the Zhang family of Yuyang.

As a big family in Yuyang, Zhang has branches in Pinggu and Guangping. The leading figures of the clan today are Zhang Chun from Pinggu and Zhang Ju from Guangping.

Both of them had served as prefects in other places and were now away from home. When the Yellow Turbans rose up, they stepped into the spotlight again and filled the power vacuum when the county magistrate's position was vacant and the government could not perform its functions.

However, there is still the prefect Wang Ze above Yuyang County, so the two of them can develop in their respective counties.

It was not until March or April that a Yellow Turban group suddenly appeared out of nowhere and seized Yuyang County. The prefect Wang Ze was also captured. This immediately made Zhang Chun very cautious.

They could naturally see that after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Han region was almost autonomous, and whoever could integrate the local forces at this time would become a local hero.

Even if the Han Dynasty recovers and reappoints local officials in the future, the time window before that can still allow them to gain enough benefits.

Moreover, it was heard that there was another rebellion in Liang Province. Everyone could see that the Han Dynasty was in a predicament of fire everywhere. The majesty of the empire suffered a huge blow, and the local tyrants with ambitions might not have much fear of the court left.

It just so happened that Zhang Chun and Zhang Ju were not the kind of people who would sit still. Seeing that Yuyang had no master, they decided to tie up all the powerful people from various counties on their boats in the name of fighting bandits. However, this did not go very smoothly.

Although the local powerful have always followed the lead of the aristocratic families, they have not completely sold themselves out.

In order for the noble families to order the powerful around, they had to make some promises of benefits. It was during this tug of war that three months passed in the blink of an eye.

The Yellow Turbans behaved differently in Zhuo County and Yuyang County, and the local nobles reacted differently as well.

When they were in Zhuo County, the Yellow Turbans were seen by the powerful people in Zhuo County as ferocious and cruel, and they could kill them at any time. Their terrifying fighting power made them terrified, so they had no choice but to unite and fight against them.

However, in the eyes of the powerful people in Yuyang, the Yellow Turbans were relatively well-behaved and they occupied a county and then did nothing.

There is no sense of urgency in the crisis. As long as it doesn't affect them, no one is willing to clean up other people's doorsteps. It will naturally be more difficult for Zhang Chun and Zhang Ju to contact local forces.

After finally integrating the forces of various counties, Zhang Chun and Zhang Ju will send troops to fight the bandits after the spring ploughing. By then, everyone can share the benefits of Yuyang, and the Zhang family can also combine the strength of the county to strengthen themselves. They can then observe how the general situation changes and think about what to do next.

However, unexpectedly, when the spring plowing was about to end, the Yellow Turban bandits actually came to our door on their own initiative!

Upon hearing the news, Zhang Chun immediately summoned representatives of the local tyrants to gather. The Pinggu government could not act, and the local army formed by itself was all unorganized local volunteer troops and militia. Zhang Chun was the commander, and the other representatives of the tyrants were the generals under his command.

In the Zhang family hall, Zhang Chun sat at the top seat, while the other generals sat on both sides. As soon as everyone arrived, Zhang Chun immediately started talking about business.

"As you all know, the Yellow Turbans of Yuyang are approaching our county with an army of nearly 10,000. I have sent messengers to Guangping and Lu counties to ask for help. We just need to wait for the reinforcements, and Pinggu needs to be able to hold on."

Zhang Chun said this and looked at everyone quietly, and all the generals looked unhappy.

This naturally means that each family has to contribute money and manpower to resist the Yellow Turbans. There is nothing wrong with this. After all, it was the Yellow Turbans who took the initiative to fight, so there is naturally no such thing as not contributing.

It's just that this time is a bit too uncomfortable.

Most people in the county are busy with spring ploughing. Although it is about to end, it is also the time when people are most tired. At this time, they have to organize people's manpower for defense and fight, and requisition food and grass from them. Not only will they complain a lot, but their fighting capacity is also probably worrying.

But no matter how uncomfortable it was, they had to accept it.

"General Zhang, rest assured. We will do our best. We don't seek to quell the Yellow Turbans in one fell swoop, but to defend the city!"

"There is no time to lose. I will go back and organize the people to allocate food and grass!"

"Although the Yellow Turbans are a motley crowd, they were able to capture Yuyang and capture Wang Ze. We should not underestimate them. We should take this battle seriously."

Several people bowed to express their attitude, which made Zhang Chun very satisfied. However, he could not feel at ease just with these words.

Although they had organized the warlords of various counties to fight against the bandits in order to unite their forces and dominate one side, they might have been worried about the Yellow Turbans. After all, when the Yellow Turbans first came, they took over Yuyang in one day, which was quite terrifying. This time, the Yellow Turbans had more people than before, so Zhang Chun was under tremendous pressure.

"The enemy has tens of thousands of soldiers. If we want to hold on to Pinggu County, we must do our best and not allow for even the slightest bit of selfishness. You all should understand this clearly."

Everyone stood up and prepared to go back to prepare for battle. As they were about to leave, Zhang Chun gave them another instruction.

When they looked back, they saw Zhang Chun bowing with a serious expression.

This made everyone feel even more stressed, as if a storm was about to come.

According to the news leaked from Yuyang, if this city was breached, all the nobles in the city would be killed by the thief Xu. Everyone looked at each other with awe in their hearts.

It seems that each family will really have to empty their savings to fight this war. It seems okay when the Yellow Turbans don't take any action, but if they really come, it will be a bit scary.

After everyone left, Zhang Chun also wanted to prepare for war, but at this time someone asked to see him.

After getting Zhang Chun's permission, a scholar of twenty years old came in.

"I heard that the Yellow Turban bandits are coming to attack us. The situation is critical. I may have a plan to help you fight the enemy."

(End of this chapter)