Great Han Empire

Chapter 167

Li Hong continued: "It may be difficult for Zhang Shuai to let go of the hatred between us for a while, so I want to ask Zhang Shuai, why did Zhang Shuai join the Taiping Dao? Why did he join the Yellow Turban Army? Why did he attack the city and seize the village? Why did he burn the government? Why did he slaughter the powerful? ? Why did you encircle and annihilate the Han army?"

Zhang Yan looked at him coldly, and said, "There is no way out."

"So Zhang Shuai has found a way out now?"

Zhang Yan shook his head, and he said bitterly: "Without you, without Huangfusong, without Zhu Jun, without Guo Dian, without Feng Yi, maybe we have found a way to survive."

Li Hong immediately asked: "Maybe, or definitely?"

Zhang Yan didn't make a sound.

Li Hong asked again: "Maybe, or definitely?"

Looking into Li Hong's aggressive eyes, Zhang Yan said without showing any sign of weakness: "Maybe, maybe, but that's always hope."

"So, now, Zhang Shuai has hope to find a way out?"

Zhang Yan was silent.

Li Hong asked again: "Where is Zhang Shuai's hope?"

Zhang Yan was speechless for a while, and closed her eyes in pain.

Yang Feng stepped in at the right time, and said softly: "Can the two of you let go of your hands?"

Li Hong and Zhang Yan looked at each other the same way, and let go of each other's hands.

Yang Feng looked at Li Hong, smiled wryly, and said, "What is the purpose of your lord meeting us this time?"

Li Hong smiled lightly and said, "I've already said it, to survive, to live."

"Why, someone in the court wants to deal with your lord?" Yang Feng immediately reacted, and smiled gloatingly, "Why do you keep such a fatuous Liu dynasty?"

"It turns out that my lord has no way to survive..." Zhang Yan said calmly, "If a hero like your lord has no place in the Han Kingdom, then what justice is there in this world?"

Li Hong laughed lightly, pointed at the two of them and said, "It's not so serious now, you don't have to be happy for the time being. The three of us are about the same age and background. Because of a coincidence, I got in the middle of it by mistake." General Lang, but what about the two? The two are rebels, rebellious officials and thieves, so there is a big difference between me having no way out and the two having no way out."

"Oh?" Yang Feng asked in surprise, "I would like to hear more about it."

"I don't have a way to survive. I can find another way, but Brother Feiyan and Brother Xi probably don't have a way out."

Zhang Yan and Yang Feng looked at each other thoughtfully.

Zhang Yan said slowly: "My lord is now approaching the city with more than ten thousand elite soldiers, who can take Changshan at any time. You want to see me at this time, isn't it just to tell me that there is no way out? Please tell me what your lord wants to do."

"Let me tell you a way to survive." Li Hong said with a smile, "Are you two interested?"

"Sir, please speak."

"If you continue to do this, there is no way out. The reason for your failure is not because a few of us led the army to suppress it, but because your strength is far inferior to the powerful power of the current imperial court. Although you can obtain Partial victory, but it is impossible to persist for a long time. Facts have proved this point."

Li Hong glanced at them, and continued: "You are hiding on the Taihang Mountains, after all, you are just bandits, and your food and clothing will be a problem. In the long run, you will gradually lose the support of the people. Once you lose the support of the people, you will fail completely. Now you can’t get out, and you don’t want to go back, what should you do?”

"Preserve your strength, Xu Tu will do it again." Zhang Yan said calmly: "Is there any better way than this, sir?"

Yang Feng sneered and said, "Didn't your lord come to persuade you to surrender today?"

Li Hong shook his hand.

"Of course not. Do you know the policies adopted by the Han Dynasty today towards the Karasuma and Huns?"

The eyes of Zhang Yan and Yang Feng suddenly lit up.

Li Hong saw that the two were silent, and continued: "The Karawan people and the Huns have been greatly reduced due to different reasons. They have written letters to proclaim their subjects and asked to enter and live in them. In their residential areas, as long as they do not rebel or plunder The people in the surrounding states and counties do not violate the laws of the Han Dynasty, and they can do whatever they want. The Han Kingdom not only does not collect their taxes, but also actively gives them property to improve their lives, lest they will cause harm to one side."

Li Hong glanced at them, and said slowly: "Do you want me to continue talking?"

Zhang Yan glanced at him and asked, "What's the difference between this and surrender?"

"There is a difference. You can live on, and live on your own terms. It's just that there is no future. What the future holds, none of us knows? As long as there is hope now, what do you think?"

"But the problem is that we don't have enough strength now." Yang Feng said bitterly, "We have been beaten by you to only tens of thousands of horses, and our strength is far from reaching the point of threatening the court."
"Yes, that's the purpose of my coming to you." Li Hong continued, "The most urgent thing for you now is to retain the existing troops in your hands. This is the last bit of capital you have to persevere."

"What should we do in the future?" Li Hong said, "In the future, brother Qi can occupy the area around Shexian County in Heishan, and brother Feiyan can occupy the area around Shangai in Taihang Mountain. The two lead the army and unite with other nearby leaders. One south and one north, echo each other and dominate. It’s too good. But please remember, you can’t go down the mountain. The lessons from your two failures are very profound, and you simply don’t have the strength to destroy the world.”

"You can attack Jizhou to the east, and Bingzhou to the west. If the enemy attacks the west, you can attack the east. If the enemy attacks the east, you can attack the west. If the enemy attacks from east to west, you can go directly south to attack Hanoi and threaten Luoyang. As a result, the officers and soldiers can't find your main force at all, so they can only look at Taihang Mountain and say nothing."

"You take advantage of this opportunity to strengthen yourself, accumulate money, hoard food, and train elite soldiers. Once you become stronger, the court will have no way to deal with you. At that time, you will not die, but if you want to live for a long time, you still can't. So Once you reach the stage of stalemate, you must find the right opportunity to contact the imperial court."

"This possibility is too small. How could the imperial court contact us?" Yang Feng shook his head and said with a smile, "Does your lord think it's possible?"

"Of course it's possible. If you can't get rid of you, the court can only appease you. The cost of appeasement is the least, and both parties can benefit. But there are many ways to appease you. If you want to strive for the most beneficial one, you must have great power."

"What is the difference between us doing this and occupying the mountain as king?" Zhang Yan asked, "Do we still have a chance to save the common people in the world?"

Li Hong glanced at him silently, thought for a while, and suddenly asked, "Do you believe you can do it?"

Zhang Yan nodded, "I don't know if I can do it, but I believe that one day someone will do it, so we have been working hard. Your idea can indeed save us temporarily, but it is not our ultimate goal after all. .”

"Hope." Li Hong said softly, "Hope. If you survive, there is hope."
Zhang Yan's expression moved, and he suddenly understood the key point.He bent down, bowed to Li Hong, and said with a wry smile: "You are the one who defeated us, and you are the one who helped us. What exactly do you want to do? Do you just want to go back to Changshan Kingdom?"

"Is it so hard to get a Changshan country? My lord has ulterior motives, what do you want to do? Are you trying to use us to rebel?" Yang Feng asked coldly.

Li Hong thought for a long time, but he didn't know how to answer.

rebel?He didn't even think about it.Why do you rebel?Just rely on strength?Millions of Yellow Turbans were defeated by the imperial court, who else would dare to rebel?

Want to go back to Changshan Country?He didn't think so either.Zhang Yan had nowhere to go. After weighing the pros and cons, he would evacuate Changshan sooner or later.

Then why do you still do this?Revenge on bureaucrats in the court?Sympathize with the Yellow Turban Army?

What am I going to do when I return to the Han Kingdom and my homeland?
Li Hong stood where he was, looking up at the sky, looking dazed and dazed.Seeing that he was suddenly in a daze, as if lost in thought, Zhang Yan ignored them and quickly winked at Yang Feng.

"My lord, if there is nothing else, Feiyan and I will bid farewell." Yang Feng whispered.

Li Hong woke up suddenly, and immediately said: "Brother Feiyan, can you withdraw from Changshan before the end of the month?"

"I'll take the troops up the mountain immediately." Zhang Yan said, "After three days, you will be able to settle in Zhending City. After ten days, except for Shangai, the other counties will be yours."

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Li Hong hurried back to the camp with Shehu and ten Xianbeiyi.Zhao Yunwen Chou rushed to meet him.

Wen Chou asked in surprise, "My lord went out to investigate the enemy's situation, why did he only take Xiaohu with him and not us?"

Li Hongda laughed and said, "It's not to kill the enemy, what are you doing with me? Both of you happen to be here, draw up some documents for me immediately."

"My lord, please give me instructions." Zhao Yun said respectfully.

As Li Hong strode towards the big tent, he said to Zhao Yun and Wen Chou, "Immediately write to the emperor, saying that we have regained Changshan and are planning to move westward."

Zhao Yun and Wen Chou were dumbfounded.

Zhao Yun said in surprise: "My lord, we haven't fought the Yellow Turban Army yet, how come we have recovered Changshan? Are we going to lie about the military situation?"

Li Hong waved his hands impatiently, and said loudly, "I'll explain when I have time. You two should write as I say immediately, and hurry up."

(End of this chapter)