Great Han Empire

Chapter 314 The rain is coming
February 187 AD.

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Zhang Yan stood by the Jinshui River, watching the flow of people on the pontoon bridge, silent.

After Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun had an incident in Youzhou, one became emperor and the other became king, and they also established the country name of Dayan, which was unexpected by Zhang Yan.After Zhang Ju became the emperor of the Great Yan Kingdom, he issued several imperial edicts to Zhang Yan, and made him a general of the Great Yan Kingdom.Zhang Yan was very angry and did not accept or reply.He felt that Shuai Anding Zhang Chun had changed. He was no longer Shuai Anding of the Yellow Turban Army, but an ambitious King Anding.

Zhang Chun is one of the eight disciples of the great virtuous teacher Zhang Jiao. He hid himself as an official in the court a long time ago and informed the Yellow Turban Army. The upper echelons of the Yellow Turban Army have always been mysterious and have a detached status.Last year, when Zhang Chun returned to Youzhou from Luoyang, he met Zhang Yan once in Taihang Mountain.At that time, Zhang Chun had decided to raise troops in Youzhou to revive the great cause of Taiping. He hoped to get the help of Zhang Yan and other Yellow Turban leaders in Taihang Mountain.Of course Zhang Yan agreed.However, Zhang Yan had no idea what Zhang Chun was going to do.

At the end of last year, Master Xiangkai of Dazhitang and Jizhou governor Wang Fen planned to take advantage of the time when the emperor returned to his hometown to worship his ancestors, to kidnap the emperor and rebuild the Han Dynasty.He sent someone to look for Zhang Yan, hoping to join hands with the Yellow Turban Army to make a big move together.Zhang Yan felt that Xiangkai's strategy was feasible, and that Xiangkai and his Dazhitang had always been closely related to Taipingdao, and it was imperative to form an alliance and help each other.But Zhang Yan was worried that Xiangkai's plan would destroy Zhang Chun's preparations for an uprising in Youzhou, so he specially sent someone to tell Zhang Chun.

Soon, Zhang Ju, a great Confucian in Yuyang, rushed to Taihang Mountain with Zhang Chun's letter.Zhang Ju explained Zhang Chun's plan to raise troops in detail to Zhang Yan.When he talked about the matter of Jizhou, Xiangkai also approached Zhang Chun, and Zhang Chun also agreed to help him with all his strength, but Zhang Chun had Zhang Chun's ideas.Zhang Chun believed that after Xiangkai hijacked the emperor, and then established the Liu family as the new emperor, he was looking for a dead end, and the fate of defeat was inevitable in the future.Zhang Yan didn't think much about it at the time, but raised objections to Zhang Chun's use of the power of the Karasuma people to raise troops.Zhang Ju didn't seem to want to explain further, but said that the uprising in Youzhou was different from the uprising in Jizhou, and that it was necessary to unite with foreign tribes, otherwise it would be easy to be attacked by foreign tribes, and fell into the double attack of the government army and foreign tribes.

Xiang Kai and Wang Fen's strategy fell short because of the appearance of the leopard.Wang Fen vented and committed suicide.Xiangkai and Dazhitang's disciples were hunted down by the government and had nowhere to hide, so they fled to Taihang Mountain.Zhang Yan originally thought that this incident would force Zhang Chun to postpone the start of the incident, but unexpectedly, Zhang Chun sent someone to send a secret letter afterwards.Zhang Chun told him that everything was ready, and that the incident would start when the army and Xianbei were inextricably killed in Xijiang.

Zhang Yan hesitated.The Xianbei invaded the Han Dynasty on a very large scale. Once the Han army could not resist, Guanzhong and Guanxi would fall, and the people would suffer. This completely violated the teachings of Taipingdao.Taking advantage of the time when the Han army was fighting the Xianbei invasion, it was obviously helping the Xianbei invasion. Many leaders of the Yellow Turban Army refused to go down the mountain at that time.According to Zhang Yan and some leaders of the Yellow Turban Army, Zhang Chun could wait until the Han army defeated the Xianbei people before revolting. At that time, the Han army was already exhausted and its strength was greatly damaged. .

After the Xianbei invaded, Zhang Chun began to urge Zhang Yan to lead the army down the mountain. Zhang Chun's reason was far-fetched. He believed that the leopard Li Hong would definitely defeat the Xianbei people. As long as Li Hong calmed down, the Yellow Turban Army would suffer.At this time, Xiangkai spoke. He observed the sky and divination, all of which showed that there was no war in Guanzhong. He told Zhang Yan that the leopard Li Hong would definitely win this battle, and it would be better to go down the mountain and occupy Taiyuan as soon as possible.Thinking of the bravery of the leopard Li Hong, the leaders of the Yellow Turban Army were still shaken.

According to the prior agreement, Zhang Yan led an army of 30 troops down the Taihang Mountains to attack Taiyuan County.Because Zhang Yi, the governor of Bingzhou, took the county soldiers from all counties to Yanmenguan to stop the Xianbei people, so there were almost no guards in the counties and counties, and he easily captured the sixteen cities of Taiyuan County.Just when he captured the last city, Jinyang City, he received two messages.

The first news was the one he wanted to hear, the leopard Li Hong had defeated the Xianbei people.The soldiers of the Yellow Turban Army cheered when they heard that the Xianbei people had fled in defeat, but after being happy, everyone became very uneasy.After the Leopard's victory, he must be sent by the emperor to Bingzhou to suppress the rebellion.After the leopard comes, what will happen to everyone's fate?

The second news is that the Yellow Turban Army in Youzhou has won many battles and is advancing towards Jizhou.After Zhang Yan received the news, he was not happy at all, but very angry. He felt like an idiot being cheated by Zhang Chun.Zhang Chun and Zhang Ju have been concealing the establishment of the country from him.Whose Great Yan Kingdom is the Great Yan Kingdom?Who is the emperor of the Great Yan Kingdom?If the Great Yan State is the Great Yan State of the Yellow Turban Army, then why should Zhang Ju be the emperor?Who gave him the qualifications to be emperor?Who are those horns, bull horns, hundreds of thousands, millions of Yellow Turban soldiers fighting for?For whom did they pay their blood and their lives?
The leaders of the Yellow Turban Army were outraged.

===

Grandson dismounted from the horse and came over.

"Master..."

Zhang Yan still looks like Fu Wenwei, but she has lost a lot of weight, and her eyes are more calm and capable than before.He waved at Sun Qin and said with a smile, "Respect, how are the people in the city evacuated?"

Sun Qin smiled wryly, "Everyone is unwilling to leave." He pointed to the fields by the river and sighed, "There are many fields here, which can provide us with food and clothing. When we return to the mountains, we will have nothing, not even hope."

A trace of helplessness flashed across Zhang Yan's face.

"Commander, after we retreat to Shangai, shall we continue to stay on the mountain, or go directly to Changshan?"

Zhang Yan bowed her head and remained silent.

Sun Qin looked at Zhang Yan, and suddenly shouted excitedly: "Marshal, you won't take us to Changshan, right? What are we going to Jizhou for? Kowtow to those two bastards and shout long live?"

"Marshal, we have worked so hard on the battlefield for several years and killed countless brothers, why should we give everything to them? What did they do for the Yellow Turban Army? Where were they when the master died Where were they when the commander-in-chief died? Where were they when Huangfusong killed our [-] brothers in Xiaquyangkeng?"

"Respectfully, we can't give up the great cause of the Yellow Turban Army because of these things." Zhang Yan looked at the clear Jinyang River and said weakly, "They are also the Yellow Turban Army."

"They are not the Yellow Turban Army." Sun Qin tried his best to restrain the anger in his heart, and whispered, "They are the army of Dayan Kingdom, and have nothing to do with us."

"Respect..."

"Marshal, don't talk about it." Sun Qin raised his hand to interrupt Zhang Yan, and said firmly, "If you still follow Zhang Chun's arrangement and go to Jizhou to work hard for his big Yan country, then you go, I will Heizi and Heizi will not go, we will stay in the Taihang Mountains."

Zhang Yan sighed.He really couldn't understand why An Dingshuai would do this.If he thought about being an emperor but he was not the emperor, and if he was doing it for the great cause of the Yellow Turban Army, it would not help the unity of the Yellow Turban Army at all. Are the divisions splitting faster?What on earth does An Dingshuai want to do?
"Commander, all the young commanders don't want to leave Jinyang now." Qin Qin said, "I came here just to talk to you about this matter. If the commander decides not to go to Jizhou, then we don't need to withdraw to Taihang Mountain."

"I decided..." Zhang Yan smiled painfully, "I decided...what can I decide?"

"The commander-in-chief can decide whether we stay in Jinyang and fight the leopards again." Sun Qin looked up at the blue sky, and the sky of northern Xinjiang could not help but flash before his eyes.When I was standing on the shore of the Juma River, I looked up at the sky almost every day.The sky there is bluer than here, and the blue is intoxicating; the leopards at that time were also smaller than now, and the small ones can almost eat him, but now?
===

Zhang Yan walked slowly on the embankment, kicking the wild flowers on the bank lightly from time to time, feeling empty in her heart.He was at a loss, he didn't know what he was going to do.

Back to the Taihang Mountains?Occupying the mountain is the king, and falling grass is the bandit. After all, the problem of survival of the millions of refugees on the mountain cannot be solved.

To Jizhou?Zhang Chun's unreasonable actions angered the leader of the Yellow Turban Army, and no one was willing to fight for him.Although I am the commander of the Yellow Turban Army, my qualifications and reputation are not enough to make the Yellow Turban ministries obey.

Stay in Jinyang?The leopard's army has crossed Luliang Mountain and is gathering at the Fen River. They will soon arrive at Jinyang City.I don't have the confidence to defeat him. He defeated all the 12 Xianbei iron cavalry, not to mention his hundreds of thousands of hungry Yellow Turbans.

Li Hong's confident smiling face, long loose hair, and fierce murderous aura suddenly flashed through Zhang Yan's mind, and Zhang Yan shivered involuntarily.

Suddenly, he remembered what Li Hong said that day.That day, Li Hong asked him and Yang Feng to meet on an unknown hill outside Zhending City. At that time, Li Hong gave him a suggestion to continue to survive.For more than a year, I have been struggling to survive according to the suggestion Li Hong said.Without Li Hong's words, I would not see hope, nor would I know what the future holds for me and the Yellow Turban Army.No matter what the purpose of Li Hong's meeting with him was, what he said gave him confidence, the confidence to survive, and from this point alone, he felt that he still had to thank Li Hong.

Back then, Li Hong may have rushed to the Xiliang battlefield in order to quell the rebellion, so he made an appointment to meet him, and said a lot of things that should not be said by a person of his status, but those words seemed to prove that Li Hong and Huangfusong, and Guo Dian is not the same kind of person. Back then, Li Hong didn't seem to have the firm idea of ​​killing the Yellow Turban Army. What about today?Is the leopard who has already shaken the world today the same person as Li Hong who was on the hill that day?
If today's leopards still have the same thoughts about the Yellow Turban Army and hope that the Yellow Turban Army can continue to survive, then...

Zhang Yan didn't dare to think about it anymore, the strong sense of suffocation in his heart made him almost out of breath.

"Marshal..." Sun Qin, who had been following behind, saw Zhang Yan's thin body shaking twice, as if he was about to fall, and shouted hastily.

Facing the fresh river wind, Zhang Yan took two long breaths, and suddenly felt that her confidence had doubled, and she no longer had any fear.

"Okay, I'll listen to you, let's fight the leopard again."

======================
Li Hong's army arrived at Zishi City in Taiyuan County from the southern foot of Luliang Mountain.

The imperial edict was sent to Daying at the same time.Hearing that Liu Zheng, the prefect of Youbeiping County, was killed in battle, the former Lu Longsai soldiers were very sad.Li Hong, Yushi and others are all Liu Zheng's subordinates. Since Liu Zheng sent them out of Lulong Sai, everyone has never seen him again.Li Hong, Yushi, Zheng Xin, Tian Zhong, Yan Wuwei and others set up a spiritual tent in the camp to pay homage to the old master.Soldiers from the original Lulongsai came to worship and express their condolences.

In the big tent, Li Hong sat on the ground with a pale face.He didn't close his eyes last night, tossing and turning sleeplessly.When he left Lulongsai, the scene of Liu Zheng straightening his messy hair always appeared in his mind, which made him feel unbearably sad.Liu Zheng has always cared for him very much. Even when he arrived in Xiliang, Liu Zheng did not forget to send letters from thousands of miles away to greet Taiwei Zhang Wen, hoping that he would take care of Li Hong.Li Hong was grateful for his kindness, and always thought that one day when he returned to Lulongsai, he would definitely repay him, but he didn't expect that a farewell to Lulongsai would be a forever farewell.When Liu Zheng needed him the most, he couldn't rush to his side to repay him. Li Hong was very sad and blamed himself, but what made Li Hong most sad was that the person who killed him was Zhang Chun.

Thinking of the days when he and Zhang Chun got together in Lunu City, Li Hong couldn't let go.What is the relationship between myself and Zhang Chun?Both teacher and friend?Zhang Chun was old and treated him like a son and taught him many things.His sympathy for the Yellow Turban Army originated from what Zhang Chun said to him by the Shengshui River.Without Zhang Chun's earnest instruction, he might have killed more innocent people, and he might have killed as many people as Huangfusong.

"My lord, do you want to take a break?" Xiao Lan who was standing aside asked softly.

Li Hong shook his head, and said to everyone in the account: "Xiao Lan just read the letter from Lord Huangfu of Shangshutai, do you have a clear understanding of the current situation?"

"It's clear, it's clear, but His Majesty asked us to surround Zhang Yan's Yellow Turban Army around Jinyang, isn't it a bit..." Qu Yi pointed to Jinyang City on the map, hesitating to speak.

Li Hong glanced at him and said, "What's wrong? It's difficult?"

"My lord, after seeing the map of Bingzhou, does your Majesty think that Bingzhou is flat?" Qu Yi sarcastically said, "Taiyuan County has a complicated terrain and there are mountains everywhere. His Majesty ordered us to surround the Yellow Turban Army in such a place. How can we surround it?" ? Wings to fly?"

Someone in the tent covered their mouths and snickered.

"My lord, I think the imperial court has ulterior motives." Yan Rou said, "At present, Jizhou's military strength is empty, and it can't stop the Youzhou rebels at all. If Jizhou is lost, many ministers in the court will be unable to escape the guilt, so they thought of such a shirk Guilty trick."

"With 7 of us beating Zhang Yan, Zhang Yan will definitely not be able to stop him. Even if he can hold out for a while in Jinyang, he will still run away in the end. Whether he runs back to Taihang Mountain or Changshan, only Jizhou is guilty. It belongs to us. How can there be such a reason in the world, we won the battle in Bingzhou, but we have to bear the responsibility of losing Jizhou." Yan Rou cursed bitterly, "There is no good thing in the imperial court."

Li Hong thought for a while and said: "At present, the Yellow Turban Army is waiting in full force in the area of ​​Jinyang. It is indeed nonsense to talk about encircling the rebel army at this time. Master Huangfusong said very implicitly. He only said that the Yellow Turban Army should stay in Bingzhou and not It didn't say the siege, nor how long it would take, so we don't care about His Majesty's imperial decree, as long as we understand what Lord Huangfu means."

He looked at the generals, and then said: "There are still many ways to keep the Yellow Turban Army in Bingzhou. Starting tomorrow, we will only walk fifty miles a day, so don't rush to Jinyang."

Qu Yi smiled and said, "My lord, if you crawl like this, the Yellow Turbans would have already run away."

Li Hong said blankly: "Go back and rest. Shouyan and Zichan stay."

Then he pointed to Zuo Yan and Li Wei and asked: "Junyi, Zhongyuan, have you figured out a way?"

Zuo Yan looked distressed, and was about to speak when Li Hong interrupted him, "Don't go to sleep, discuss it immediately, and report back to me tomorrow morning."

===

After everyone walked out of the big tent, Li Hong called Xiao Lan to a stop.

"Order to get some food and wine for Jun Yi and Zhong Yuan, don't be hungry at night."

Xiao Lan hurriedly thanked her and left in a hurry.

"Shouyan, what's wrong with the soldiers recently?"

"Your Excellency also feels it." Zheng Xin said with a serious expression, "The current infantry soldiers are almost all Yellow Turban soldiers. They heard that they were going to fight Zhang Yan, and they were very disturbed, especially the group of soldiers who just came from Jizhou. , There were a lot of complaints, morale was poor, some team leaders and village chiefs were also depressed and listless, and even a few army commanders complained privately enough, and even talked nonsense in front of the soldiers."

Li Hong was silent for a while, then sighed: "Since Zuo Yan and Wei Zheng heard that they were going to Bingzhou to fight Zhang Yan, they seldom talked. Even the superior officials can't control their feelings, let alone the subordinate officials and soldiers. Forget it, just know. Anyway, I I don't plan to start a war with Zhang Yan either, so don't worry about the lack of morale of the soldiers."

Chen Ming looked at Li Hong gratefully, and whispered, "Your Excellency, you want me to go to Jinyang?"

"Yes." Li Hong said, "The last time I met Zhang Yan, it was through you and Yang Feng that we set up a bridge, so this time it's you who made the trip."

"No matter what, you must see Zhang Yan as soon as possible. You tell him that what I told him last time can be done this time."

After Li Hong finished speaking, he walked back and forth in the tent for two steps, thought for a long time, and said, "I want to see him once before arriving in Jinyang."

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(End of this chapter)