Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 233 227. Uprising
"Brothers and sisters, the Han people in Shu are oppressing us more and more. It just so happens that the Emperor of Wei has promised me that as long as we can delay the Shu army and help them attack Sichuan, our land in Nanzhong will no longer be bound in the future, and we can do whatever we want!"

In order to send troops, Meng Huo naturally had to give a speech to arouse the emotions of his subordinates, but the southern barbarians were indifferent to this.

"No, although the king said so, I think the Han people seem to be quite nice to us."

"Yes, since Liu Bei came, the taxes have been much lower than those of Liu Zhang, and the policies have been much more open. We can now trade in the counties of Yongchang."

The barbarians below were relatively clear-headed. It was sheer nonsense to say that Liu Bei's successor Han treated them harshly in the South. Compared with the period of Liu Zhang when the two sides frequently went to war, the period of Liu Bei was a rare period of stability.

Now Meng Huo suddenly said that he wanted to attack central Sichuan. Most of the barbarians were not too willing to do so. No one wanted to be dragged into war when their lives were peaceful.

The Nanman were not a nomadic people like the Xiongnu. When the weather was bad and they had no food to survive the winter, the nomadic people would go south to plunder the valleys. But the Nanman were located in the tropics, and even if they did not have good farming skills, the seeds they scattered on the ground would be enough for people to eat, not to mention the wild fruits and game in the mountains, and the fish in the lakes and rivers, which were inexhaustible.

To put it bluntly, the Southern Barbarians were not short of food, and they went to war with the Han people for no reason, so naturally there were many voices of opposition.

Seeing that everyone was not in high spirits, Meng Huo rolled his eyes and all the bad thoughts in his mind came up.

"Ahem, as we all know, Liu Bei was a benevolent monarch, so he was always good to us. But Liu Bei died, and his son Liu Chan took the throne. This kid is only in his teens, what can he know? He wanted to be extravagant and show off his power when he took office as the new emperor. He asked Nanzhong and Jiaozhou to provide 300 black dogs, and their chests had to be black, as well as three buckets of mite brains and 3,000 three-meter-long chopped wood.

The black dog is for his own dog fighting, the wood is for building his palace, and the three fighting mites are for me to make Nanzhong and Jiaozhou show their submission. I heard that Jiaozhou can't stand such demands, and the Cham people have been rising up. Today is the day for us to start a rebellion."

Meng Huo himself was secretly amazed at his own intelligence, and he was able to make up this lie. Needless to say, the black dog was actually matched with the rumors about Liu Chan. Chopped wood is widely used as a building material. And the mite brain is useless except for making things difficult for people, but if it can be collected, doesn't it mean that it is really loyal?

In addition, there seemed to be constant civil unrest in Jiaozhou instigated by Cao Wei. When he said this, it became a manifestation of Ji Han's brutal and heavy taxation, and everyone really believed it.

"Kouhua..."

After hearing what Meng Huo said, the whispers below immediately turned into a roar of voices, and everyone began to curse the court for being so harsh, and the new emperor was really not a son of man. Although a few people were more skeptical of these words, Meng Huo was the chief after all, and his words were still convincing, so most people were willing to believe him.

"Since the Han people treat us so harshly, we cannot wait to die. We should follow the king and commit suicide!"

The people Meng Huo had arranged in advance waved their arms and shouted, which immediately led many barbarians to shout along. In an instant, Meng Huo became the people's favorite.

"Brothers and sisters, there is no need to be pessimistic about our future. We have the Emperor of Cao Wei as our external aid, and nearby, there are also wealthy families in Yizhou County who are willing to respond to us. We only need to go north to let these Han people know that we in the South are not easy to bully!"

Meng Huo saw that the people were willing to help, so he gave them a reassurance in time. Hearing that they still had many allies, the barbarians were even more motivated. At Meng Huo's order, the 72 caves immediately began to gather strong men and were ready to march north at any time.

Naturally, the changes in Nanzhong could not be concealed from the territory of Yizhou. During the few days when Meng Huo was preparing for war, Yongchang County, which was closest to Nanzhong, noticed the unusual movements in Nanzhong.

"Lord Wang, have you heard of the unusual movements in the south recently?" A forty-year-old middle-aged man hurried into the Yongchang government office and asked another middle-aged man of the same age.

"Lord Lu, I have heard about it a long time ago. I have ordered all counties to prepare and hold the city firmly. At the same time, I have sent fast horses to Yizhou and Yuexi counties to request support."

The official surnamed Wang had a worried look on his face. The last governor of Yongchang County had just finished his term and resigned to return to Chengdu, and the new governor had not yet arrived. Now Yongchang County was actually run by a group of officials. At this critical juncture, the South Central Plains had gathered young and strong men and looked like they were ready to go north to plunder at any time. It was really a case of internal and external troubles.

"This matter should also be reported to Chengdu. The affairs of the Southern Barbarians concern the policy of the Han Dynasty. I am afraid it is not something you and I can decide. It still needs to be decided by His Majesty and the Prime Minister."

Lord Lu thought about it and felt that it would be safer to send someone to notify Chengdu.

"Okay, in that case, I will immediately order the postman to report to Chengdu as soon as possible."

Lord Wang nodded and went to make the arrangements without further ado.

However, Yueshi and Yizhou, which they had placed great hopes on, were probably also unable to take care of themselves at this time. Gao Ding, the leader of the Yueshi Yi, was a man who could not hide his thoughts. After receiving the contact from Yong Kai, he immediately summoned his troops and forgot about the "wait for the result of Meng Huo" in Yong Kai's letter, and directly announced his response to Meng Huo's rebellion.

Gao Ding suddenly launched an attack and headed straight for Yuexi County. Yuexi County was completely unprepared and was breached by Gao Ding's subordinate Li Qiucheng. Yuexi County Magistrate Jiao Huang was also captured and killed by Li Qiucheng.

After Gao Ding conquered Yuexi County, he immediately appointed himself as the governor of Yuexi and announced his surrender to the State of Wei. For a while, no one in the south could stop him.

At this time, Yong Kai was also forced by Gao Ding's move to launch the rebellion. Originally, Yong Kai wanted to wait and see for a while, and then launch the rebellion after Meng Huo reached Yongchang. However, Meng Huo had just started his rebellion, and Gao Ding's progress was faster than Meng Huo's. So he had no choice but to follow Gao Ding in launching the rebellion.

Yong Kai did not dare to delay any longer and directly summoned his private soldiers in the city. He surrounded the prefectural government at night before the news of his collusion with Gao Ding and others came.

The prefect of Yizhou County, Zheng ang, was still kept in the dark at this moment. He could never have imagined that Yong Kai, a member of a prominent family in Yizhou County, would suddenly launch an attack. By the time his servants came to inform him that Yong Kai was rebelling, Yong Kai's private soldiers had already begun to besiege the prefect's mansion where he was.

"Yong Kai! The Han Dynasty has treated you well, and your ancestor was also a general under Emperor Gaozu. Why do you want to do such a disloyal thing today?"

Zhengang didn't have time to change his clothes. He came outside wearing only a coat and shouted at Yong Kai who was outside.

"Hey, is Gaozu still here? Now there are two emperors in the world, so it's time for me to take the position of governor, right?"

Yong Kai grinned grimly a few times and did not respond, but ordered his men to attack more fiercely.

(End of this chapter)