Battle Royale of the Sinners

June 30th, 182 A.D.

Zhou Cang and his men returned to Julu along with the caravans of ores.

Tong went out to welcome them himself which made the men shocked as they wondered how their lord had come back before them. Zhou Cang was immune to Tong's miracles already and he had been noticed beforehand, thus he was indifferent. The fight Tong had against Lu Bu which Zhou Cang witnessed was even more dazzling than this trivial feat.

The ores were transported to the outskirt district outside of the city wall in preparation to build a steel factory.

Because Tong was not well-versed at the manufacturing process, he summoned all 100 elite blacksmiths in the city to the site to consult with them about the steel making.

After six hours of the continuous brainstorming, Tong gave the blacksmith a challenge. He drafted a blueprint of the medieval western knight armor set to each blacksmith and said.

"I want all of you to make me a full set of this new armor suit. I'll provide you the ores and the materials. But you'll have to make this by using the new steel that we talked about today! I will give you 3 months to complete the task. Any blacksmith that creates the most practical and strongest armor out of this blueprint will be given 1,000 gold as a reward and a noble status! The person will also be promoted as the director of the steel newly constructed factory with 50 taels of gold as a monthly wage!"

The blacksmiths got fired up by the incitement. They rushed back to retrieve the coal and iron ores right away. The new element of steel already interested them enough, the new armor designs in the blueprint made their blood boiled.

The words about the competition spread as soon as the blacksmiths got to their dwellings. More rookies and intermediate blacksmiths were aroused by the competition rewards, they gathered in front of the government hall and requested to participate in the challenge as well.

However, Tong refused. If they wish to participate, they had to help the elite blacksmiths that Tong and the officials recognized.

This move was to prevent the leak of the information and the designs of the new armor. In addition, it improved the quality of the competition as they had to become the subordinates of the elites, or else they would not be able to touch the new steel. If everyone could join the competition, Tong would have wasted valuable resources on the 3rd-rate blacksmiths who did not have enough experiences.

More than half of the young blacksmiths were dissatisfied by the biased verdict of Tong while the matured ones nodded in understanding.

The mob dispersed as the understanding people left the place to join with the elites. With a bit over 500 dissatisfied blacksmiths remaining, they did not dare to cause a ruckus in front of the ruthless son of the governor. In the end, they also left.

…

July 4th.

Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, and their escorted troops arrived at Julu. Ding Yuan and Tong went out to welcome them.

"We're sorry for the late arrival, Lord!"

"It's fine. I learned a lot just by staying here for a few weeks. I don't mind. How's Fengxian?"

"He's moody as usual, my Lord."

"Hmm. Leave him alone then. His wife has just given birth to his daughter. He is too sensitive at the moment."

As soon as they arrived, they reported that they escorted Zhang Ji and his men here which surprised Tong. He did not expect them to come together.

The escorted prisoners were released and were guided to a military camp outside the walls. Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu were summoned inside the city as Tong had a lot of things to question them. Although Dong Bai had told him that Zhang Ji and his family were sent here as ambassadors, Tong still wanted to ask the person himself.

"Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu, am I right?"

"Yes, sir. Do you know who we are?"

Tong glanced at his radar map with a wry smile. It showed Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu's name on it.

...

In the historical record, Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu were part of Dong Zhuo's subordinates. After Dong Zhuo died by the hands Lu Bu, Wang Yun wanted to execute all remnants of Dong Zhuo. Zhang Ji cooperated with Guo Si and Li Jue, they killed Wang Yun and retook Chang An. After that event, Zhang Ji was appointed to guard Hongnong District with his nephew, Zhang Xiu.

In 196, Hongnong District ran low on supplies. Zhang Ji decided to attack Liu Biao at the northern zone of Jing Province in order to plunder some provision, but he was killed by a stray arrow in the midst of the battle.

After Zhang Ji's death, Zhang Xiu made peace with Liu Biao and took over Wan District. He had a feud with Cao Cao in the following year in the battle at Wan Castle where he killed Cao Cao's son and his bodyguard, Dian Wei. Zhang Xiu surrendered to Cao Cao later in the year 200.

In their lifetime, they did not have many achievements, but they were known to be elite cavalry commanders.

...

"Somewhat. Your fiancé told me about you."

"What!? Zou Shi is here!?"

"Yeah, she was abducted here with Dong Bai. We managed to rescue them. She's under my protection at the moment."

Dong Bai had told Tong about Zou Shi and introduced her to him. Currently, she moved from Sima Manor to the guest house within Zhang Manor.

Zou Shi always hung out with Dong Bai and Hua Shi as they did not have many female friends to talk to. As the two perverted sadistic ladies tended to make dirty conversations, Zou Shi always fainted in shame and embarrassment.

Zhang Ji bowed to Tong in frantic. He was delighted that his fiancé was found and she was safe all along.

"Thank you! Thank you very much!"

"No need. It's my duty. Say, what is Dong Zhuo trying to do? What did he order you and what did you try to do in Jinyang?"

Zhang Ji revealed everything to Tong about Li Ru's secret orders, the agenda about the redhare horses and Lu Bu, the secret agent that Li Ru entrusted with the task, and their purpose of moving here. He did not care about Dong Zhuo and his army anymore as his entire family was already here.

"So Dong Zhuo wants to form a distance alliance with me."

"Yes, sir. I believe he is planning to revolt against the Han Court. But I only have outdated information. I don't know what happened after I left Hongnong City."

"It's fine. For now, let's get you a new place to call home. We'll also have to clear a few lands for your subordinates and their families too."

Hearing that Tong would welcome them into the city, Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu knelt down as they cupped their fists.

"Thank you for taking us in! We swear that we'll serve you with our life!"

As Tong was not used to getting bowed by older men, he scratched his head in awkwardness. In addition, he did not expect this sudden windfall. He tried so hard to get a good historical general, but he always either failed or the general was not ready to be used. Yet, these two showed up out of nowhere and swore allegiance to him.

Tong allocated them a portion of the residential areas to be Zhang Ji's new home. He also dispatched a messenger to tell Zou Shi that her family had arrived.

Twenty minutes later, Zou Shi ran and embraced Zhang Ji in happiness. They finally reunited again after a few days of separation.

…

The next day.

In the morning assembly, Tong introduced Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu to everyone as the two would be new generals of the Julu Army. They were assigned to Bo Cai's unit along with the 5,000 Qiang horse archers (without warhorses) to train the new recruits and strengthen Julu Cavalry units.

The matter about the alliance between Dong Zhuo and Julu City was also announced. Tong agreed to form an alliance with this tyrant in name, but he would not take any of Dong Zhuo's order.

Then, Tong announced the third agenda which shocked everyone, including Sima Fang and Lu Zhi.

"Ding Yuan of Jinyang City will be joining us officially as of today!"

The announcement made Lu Zhi and Sima Fang stood up in disbelief. Ding Yuan was known to be a loyalist to the Han Court. Why would he join forces with the potential rebel?

Zhang Liao and Gao Shun, who was invited to attend the meeting today, were also astonished. This meant that Tong would become their new boss by default. After a minute of thought processing, Gao Shun held back his laughter as he thought about the reaction of Lu Bu if he heard about these new changes.

Ding Yuan observed the reaction faces of the officials and burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Please take care of me. From now on, I'll be part of your 'Rebellion'."

Ding Yuan stressed when he said the word "Rebellion" as Tong had confessed to him already.

…

************************

Clan Members

1. Zhang Tong – Clan Leader

2. Li Feihong

3. Zhang Jiao

4. Hua Shi

5. Dong Bai

6. Zhang Bao

7. Zhang Liang

8. Ding Yuan

************************

After Tong and Li Feihong accepted the clan quest, Tong asked Hua Shi and Dong Bai to help him recruit his two uncles into the clan. Meanwhile, Li Feihong went to see Ding Yuan to persuade him.

At first, Ding Yuan dismissed the invitation in anger. But after Li Feihong made him recalled the feats at Jinyang government hall by Tong, Ding Yuan reluctantly agreed.

In exchange for his loyalty, Ding Yuan demanded that he would get at least 100 years of lifespans, provision supplies from Julu, and he could retain the title of Jinyang Governor, which Tong agreed.

With Ding Yuan joining, the clan had acquired two district capital cities and three major counties.

…

"I didn't expect you to join hands with Zhang Tong. What swayed you, Jianyang?"

Lu Zhi and Ding Yuan were having a private talk after the meeting. As a fellow Han loyalist, Lu Zhi still could not believe in Ding Yuan's decision.

"Well, your disciple is not half bad. I like him and his styles. That's all."

As Ding Yuan smiled, he sipped the whiskey in his cup and enjoyed the scenery, which caused Lu Zhi's frown to deepen.

"You should also forget about the Han Dynasty. A new age is about to arrive." Ding Yuan continued in an attempt to drag Lu Zhi into this wagon too.

"Why do you think that way?"

"You haven't experienced it, so you don't know."

Ding Yuan flickered his fingers and the clan system menu screen showed up in front of him. In the screen, Zhang Jiao, Zhang Liang, and Zhang Bao were having a happy chat. However, Lu Zhi could not see the screen. He could only notice that Ding Yuan gazed into empty space like he was in a daze.

"I wish you could see what I'm seeing too." Ding Yuan muttered.