Chapter 282: Act of righteousness
Jisun could not convince the believers with words that this was just a construction machine and not the wrath of heaven, but he could convince them with actions.
There is no doubt that believers are ignorant, but they are also very clear-minded and know right from wrong, good from bad. After Ji Sun stayed in the city in person and ate and lived with the soldiers to stabilize people's hearts, the Qingzhou Yellow Turban also came out of the initial panic.
They also discovered that the eight so-called stone-throwing machines had loud thunder but light raindrops. The cannons were fired, but in fact no one was killed. As a result, the morale of the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans gradually recovered.
People, that’s actually the case. As long as you don't kill him directly, whatever happens next will be fine. No matter what the day is, go on as usual. This is why, whether it is extreme joy or extreme fear, it is just a period. After this period, the original emotional level will be restored.
Later, in order to find confidence in the Han army, Ji Sun decided to go out of the city to attack the Han army's fortress at night to boost the morale of the army.
October 13th, night.
In order to take down the eight stone-shooting machines outside the city, Jisun personally led a hundred people to lower the city out of the city. These hundred people all came from Shanliao near Mount Tai. They walked across mountains and rivers as if they were walking on flat ground, not to mention the three trenches on the opposite side.
They stepped on the wooden planks, climbed over the trench silently, and directly touched the Han army's barrier.
At this time, the Han army's fortress was brightly lit, and the Han army was laughing and calling for friends.
The battle during the day made the Han army very relieved. In addition to the three trenches originally constructed, the Han army did not think that the Yellow Turban Army in the city could attack them at night, so they relaxed their guard, lit fires in the barriers, and chatted about the army. Interesting facts.
Some of the unbridled ones even smuggled out drinks they had stolen from nearby, and then drank a lot of wine. They wanted the pre-war arrogance. This is the style of veterans. Some new recruits could only look at the seniors boasting with envy, while they could only oil their armor silently.
Many people have never touched weapons or armor, and they always think that these things will not break. In fact, these things are very short-lived. For example, armor rusts easily. Armor must be buried in sand and polished and oiled regularly for maintenance.
But even so, the armor is still prone to rust. Because after strenuous activities while wearing armor, sweat stains will remain on the armor and will corrode the armor. Therefore, after the army is renovated, these armored soldiers will continue to maintain their armor. Of course, some wealthy people can just leave these jobs to their disciples.
The same goes for bows, bowstrings, and arrows. These things must be kept dry first, and then the string must be put down when not in use. It cannot be left open for a long time, which will damage the toughness of the bow string.
This is the daily life of a samurai. From the moment they pick up their armor, they are taught to maintain your armor as if it were your own life, because they can really save your life at a critical moment.
The Han troops in the outer camp were having fun and maintaining their weapons, while the Chinese army's tent in the inner camp was holding an emergency military meeting.
Several tallow candles brightly lit the tent, and senior military officials kept arriving in a hurry. They whispered to each other, obviously not knowing why Lu Zhi suddenly summoned them.
Everyone took their seats, and Lu Zhi, who was at the head, had been as motionless as a sculpture. After everyone had settled down, Lu Zhi coughed, and then the military deputy Zhongfu next to him spoke first.
Zhongfu is not young, and he should have gone to bed at this time. However, since the war has been going on, he has not had a good night's sleep. What's even more frightening is that when he closes his eyes, his mind is filled with the memories of his son who died in the war. The appearance is heart-wrenching. Therefore, at this moment, his eyes were blood red, and he slowly told the people present a military report.
It turned out that when the Han army withdrew its troops and returned to camp today, an urgent message came from the rear of Handan. The memorial said that Wang Fen, the prime minister of Zhao State, led his people to rebel in Xiang State.
This Wang Fen was a famous scholar in Yanzhou. He had previously sent troops to assist Hu Muban in the expedition against Zhang Chong. He had been living in Kyoto as an official until recently, and was recently brought back to Zhao by Liu Hongqi to replace the former Zhao State Minister Xiang Xu as the new Zhao State Prime Minister.
Zhao Guoxiang Xiangxu was not deprived by the court. He could not bear the pressure of the war and gave up his seal and ribbon alone and returned to his hometown in Hanoi by bicycle. Although Xiang Xu was not a qualified local official, for the Han court at this time, regardless of his ability or incompetence, he was already a good official if he could guard the territory. But Xiang Xu couldn't meet such a low requirement, so he became a fugitive on the grounds that his mother was old and sick and she had to go back to support her.
After that, Wang Fen was dumped by Liu Hong and became the hot minister of Zhao State. Because Handan had become the garrison of the Han army in Hebei, Wang Fen, as the local governor, was unwilling to stay in Handan for a while, so he moved the government to Xiangguo.
Xiangguo was founded by Zhao Shi. It was also called Xindu at that time and was also the other capital of Zhao State. Generally speaking, if Handan falls, Zhao will go to the north to continue fighting in Xiang, which has been an important city of Zhao since ancient times.
After Wang Fen moved the county government to Xiang State, he recruited refugees and trained national soldiers on the platform of Xin Palace in the old Zhao State, and did a very good job.
But Wang Fen's mistake was that she made a mistake while drunk. A few days ago, at a banquet, he chatted with the county lieutenant who was in the middle school at that time about the current political affairs.
At that time, Wang Fen blurted out:
"Nowadays, eunuchs are rampant. Why can't we fight against these people? It's not because there are people behind them. So I think, if we want to solve the eunuchs, we must first solve the people behind them. The Marquis of Hefei and I, hehehe, can't Say, don’t say.”
When Wang Fen woke up the next day, she remembered what she had said last night and immediately asked someone to call Zhao Guowei, but Zhao Guowei disappeared immediately.
After worrying about alone for a few days, Wang Fen gritted his teeth and decided to raise the flag in Xiangguo. In the name of "Qingjun side, Fenghefei", he sent a message to the northern counties of Zhaoguo and directly threatened the Han army in Hebei. The most important granary, Juqiao Granary.
After the defenders in Handan learned the news, they sent a letter to Lu Zhi, who was on the front line, asking him to make a decision.
Lu Zhi was dizzy and confused at the time. He had already thought about how to break the city, but there was such a big omission in the rear. What worries him even more is that Wang Fen and the Marquis of Hefei are upper-class figures in the Han Dynasty. If they rise up at this critical moment in the name of the Qing monarch, it will inevitably cause a huge blow to the politics of the Han Dynasty.
And not only that, after the grain supply in Aocang ran out, the reserves in Juqiaocang had become the most important supply for the Han army in Hebei. Therefore, not only from political and military considerations, Lu Zhi could not leave Wang Fen alone.
But at this time, the siege of the city was at a critical point, and Lu Zhi needed to take charge of the overall situation here, so he could only let Dong Zhuo lead his troops to criticize the rebellion.
After hearing this, Dong Zhuo took the order directly without hesitation. But he had a condition, that is, he currently only has 4,000 troops in his headquarters, and it is really difficult to quell the rebellion in the northern part of Zhao State, so he asked Lu Zhi to allocate 5,000 northern troops to him.
Lu Zhi thought for a while and agreed.
At this time, the Han army camp suddenly became agitated, and the senior Han army officials who were still discussing the details hurriedly came out of their tents to watch. I saw the flames of the front village soaring into the sky, especially the eight towering stone machines, which were like large torches attracting countless moths to dance in the night.
The guards who came in a hurry reported to the generals that a team of Yellow Turbans had used kerosene to burn down the eight stone machines during the night. However, the soldiers in the front camp said that the rebel army they had defeated would organize firefighting. .
It was okay if he didn't say this, but Lu Zhi's face turned even more ugly when he said it.
His student Gongsun Zan next to him snorted coldly and cursed at the guard:
"Let people run away and say they ran away, but they were defeated? And this is burned like this. It's useless to put out fires. Let the brothers retreat and rest. We will attack the city tomorrow. We will do this tonight and go to the battlefield tomorrow. Death? ”
The guard was also an honest man, and he was quite surprised after hearing this. He glanced at Lu Zhi, saw him nodding, and then hurried to the front camp to deliver the order.
After half a day, the hustle and bustle of the front camp ended, leaving only the crackling sound of the eight giant "torches".
Looking at all this, Lu Zhi murmured:
"What an eventful time it has been."
……
The next day, Dong Zhuo left with two armies and nine thousand soldiers and horses.
Lu Zhi did allocate 5,000 people to Dong Zhuo, but there were only 1,000 people belonging to the fifth school of the Northern Army, and the rest were soldiers from counties and counties in Hanoi and Zhao.
It's not Lu Zhi, but the core weapons and equipment he has are the five schools with about 10,000 people. If they are all given to Dong Zhuo, what will he do?
In fact, this kind of mentality of treating the soldiers as one's own is common to all soldiers. Because the logic is very simple, the better the soldiers are, the easier it is to perform meritorious service, and the easier it is for the general to be promoted. This is even more true for those who have become warlords. The soldiers in their hands are their existence itself.
The distance from Lieren to Xiangguo is about one hundred and twenty miles. After Dong Zhuo brought a supply, he first led his army north to Quliang and spent the night there. Then we crossed Ming River and Wat River, and then camped on the south bank of the water.
At this time, after crossing the water, we will reach Xiangguo. Dong Zhuo did not choose to cross the river immediately, fearing that he would be hit halfway across the river. On the contrary, after he stationed himself on the south bank of the water, in the name of General Bei Zhonglang, he mobilized 1,000 Julu soldiers, 500 Pingxiang soldiers, and 500 Ren County soldiers from the east of Xiang State to join him. He also specifically requested that they recruit 4,000 people from the territory and bring corresponding provisions.
Generally speaking, Dong Zhuo didn't think there was a big problem with this counterinsurgency. Because Xiangguo was the deputy capital of Zhao State at that time, even though the city was built very solidly, there were loopholes in the overall defense.
Among the series of acropolis surrounding Xiangguo, such as Zhongqiu, Neiqiu, Bairen, Lincheng, etc., they are all concentrated in the north of Xiangguo. However, between the south of Xiang Kingdom and Handan, there are only two fortresses, Tantai and Surenting. Why is this?
It turns out that the purpose of establishing Xiang State during the Zhao State was to serve as a stronghold against Zhongshan State. Zhongshan State was a country established by the Rong people in northern Hebei during the Spring and Autumn Period. Later, when the Zhao people expanded into the Hebei area, their main enemy was the Zhongshan Kingdom in the north.
There is a place that needs special mention here, and that is in the middle of Hebei Province. There is a huge lake, Dalu Ze, next to Julu. The so-called continent means vast sea, which shows how huge this lake was in the eyes of people at that time.
Because of the existence of Dalu Ze, Hebei was directly divided into two areas: northern and central areas. The narrow area between Taihang Mountain and Daluze is the most convenient road for Zhongshan State to invade Zhao State. Therefore, the Zhao people also established several military fortresses on this line, and Xiang State was established behind these military fortresses to facilitate the command of the front line against Zhongshan State.
Hundreds of years later, the ancient Zhongshan Kingdom has long since ceased to exist and has become the current two commanderies of Changshan Kingdom and Zhongshan Kingdom. However, the geographical advantages of our predecessors still affect the present.
This is the charm of history, everything has a reason and everything is connected.
After setting up camp, Dong Zhuo tentatively asked people to cross the water, but found that none of the rebels were guarding the river, so Dong Zhuo felt relieved, knowing that Wang Fen was an idiot.
So, after leading his army and merging troops from Julu, Pingxiang, and Renxian counties, Dong Zhuo moved his army and waded across the water.
On October 18, Dong Zhuo built fortifications outside Xiangguo City in preparation for attacking the rebels.
According to Lu Zhi's order, Dong Zhuo built three beacons outside Xiangguo City.
Lu Zhi meant that if the outer city of Xiang was captured, one beacon would be lit, if the inner city was captured, two beacons would be lit, and if Wang Fen was captured, three beacons would be lit.
In the counties between Xiangguo and Liren's camp, as long as they saw the beacon fire, they would light the corresponding number, and the beacon fire must be delivered to Lu Zhi in time. Obviously, for Lu Zhi, it is crucial to accurately grasp the situation on the Xiangguo battlefield.
It has to be said that Xiangguo, as an important town in Hebei, has a very well-defended city. But unfortunately, the rebel coach is Wang Fen, who also doesn't know how to fight. Therefore, in just one day, Dong Zhuo filled in the ravines outside Xiang's outer city one after another and opened up a road to attack the city.
Of course, this is also thanks to the bravery of the people in Julu and other places. Under the swords of Dong Zhuo's soldiers, they braved arrows to fill the ravines, but their lives were like a piece of grass. In order to suppress the rebel archers on the top of the city, Dong Zhuo built three earthen hills according to the law, as the people in the city did. Then Lu Zhibo's Hanoi soldiers were driven to the earthen hills by Dong Zhuo, and they used bows and arrows to shoot at the city.
Just when everything was going well, an accident happened.
On October 19, there was a sudden heavy rain under Xiangguo City. The heavy rain fell, turning the hastily built mountains of earth into ashes. At that time, the three hundred Hanoi archers who were camping on the mountain were directly submerged by the mountain, and no one was spared.
As soon as this incident came out, the soldiers in Hanoi were in an uproar. They all sat in the ramparts and said that they would not go to the battlefield again no matter what.
Unable to do so, Dong Zhuo reported all the conditions under Xiangguo City to Lu Zhi.
After Lu Zhi got the book, the military deputy Zhong Fu offered Lu Zhi a plan, saying that he could write a memorial to remove Dong Zhuo and send it to the country, and then ask Lu Zhi to keep it and send it to Dong Zhuo. This would not only put pressure on Dong Zhuo, but also stimulate him to work hard in Xiang State.
From this, we can also see that Zhong Fu is indeed dedicated to serving the public good. You must know that Dong Zhuo is now the most powerful general in the Han Dynasty. It is really not a joke to make this person jealous.
Especially for warriors like Dong Zhuo from the border areas of Xizhou, there is no sect that does not have dead soldiers. Dong Zhuo didn't even need to use his own people. There wouldn't be too many desperate poor people like Liangzhou. It wouldn't be surprising if Zhong Fu had an accident later.
Therefore, Lu Zhi also advised Zhongfu why he should use this dangerous strategy.
Dan Zhongfu generously said:
"If you can benefit the country, why would you dare to think about it with your own body?"
In the end, Lu Zhi sent the impeachment form written by Zhong Fu to Dong Zhuo.
Dong Zhuo was so angry that he cut off the corners of the table and cursed:
"What an old dog. I thought we were all from Kansai. We still respect him so much, but who would have thought that he would harm my old director like this."
Dong Zhuo was going crazy, and his son-in-law Niu Fu said dullly:
"Sir, that surname is from Kyoto, not from Kansai. We in Kansai don't have such two-and-a-half-year-olds."
Niu Fu didn't see that when he said these words, generals like Fan Chou, Li Que, Wang Fang, Li Meng and other generals silently stepped aside, just wanting to distance themselves from Niu Fu.
Sure enough, as soon as Niu Fu finished speaking, a corner of the case came towards Niu Fu.
Then I heard Dong Zhuo roar:
"Okay, since you are so heroic, you can lead the team in person for me and don't embarrass us Kansai people."
Niu Fu, who knew he had said something wrong, did not dare to express his anger. He clasped his fists in a hurry and led two hundred soldiers to ascend first.
Not to mention that Niu Fu was really brave. If others climbed up first, they would let his soldiers climb up first, but he really took the lead, risking the stone himself, biting the ring-headed sword and killed on the top of the city.
With this fierce general as an example, the morale of the two hundred elite Liangzhou soldiers soared. They followed Niu Fu closely and stood on the city wall.
Wang Fen, who was originally watching the formation at the top of the city, was still happily watching the howling Han soldiers below the city, but suddenly he saw a disheveled barbarian leading a group of armored soldiers to attack the top of the city.
Wang Fen didn't think much at all and immediately went to the city to avoid it.
In fact, Ren Niufu is an out-and-out Han Chinese, and the reason why he wears his hair loose is because of the Liangzhou custom. There are only 500,000 Han people in Liangzhou, and there are more than one million Qiang people living here. Therefore, the Han people in Liangzhou are inevitably contaminated by Hu Feng. This is one of the reasons why they are not tolerated by the scholars in the Central Plains.
Wang Fen subconsciously avoided the villain, not wanting to see blood dripping on the city wall.
But who knew that there was a young general named Zhang Xiu among the armored soldiers in Niu Fu's army. He was quite quick-witted. When he saw the civil servants under the canopy over there retreating, he shouted loudly:
"The traitor Wang Fen was killed by the formation."
The sound was like a loud bell, which shocked all the Xiangguo soldiers on the city to look north. Sure enough, they saw the canopy representing the Prime Minister of Zhao hurriedly descending from the top of the city.
As a result, the soldiers were in an uproar and no longer wanted to fight. The outer city of Xiangguo was lost.
Dong Zhuo outside the city did not expect that his son-in-law actually captured the outer city of Xiangguo. He originally wanted to light a beacon, but then he thought, why do I, old Dong, have to obey Lu Zhi's orders? This northerner is not a good person either.
So Dong Zhuo led his army into the city and surrounded the inner city of Xiangguo.
At this time, Wang Fen on the inner city desperately shouted to Dong Zhuo below the city:
"General Dong, you are tired after coming all the way. I have Zhao's specialties here, and I specially give them to General Dong to try."
Then I saw nearly a hundred beautiful palace concubines being let down from the inner city. Obviously, this was a specialty of the State of Zhao.
Dong Zhuo originally wanted to scold Wang Fen, but when he saw the hundred people, Mei Ji's eyes straightened. Not only Dong Zhuo, but also all the generals under his command were stunned. Not because of Dong Zhuo's majesty, they came to snatch it in the morning.
They are naturally lustful people, and they have been in the military for a long time. Although there are also caring soldiers and civilian girls, how can they be compared with these beauties?
Indeed, these beauties are not simple, they are the concubines of King Zhao Huai.
The lineage of King Zhao is the lineage of Liu Liang, the uncle of Emperor Guangwu at that time. Although he was named uncle, he actually raised the two Guangwu brothers personally, almost like their father. Therefore, when the king of Zhao and his family were entrusted with enfeoffment, they had all the sacred land of Zhao.
These beauties were from the Zhao Palace in Xiangguo. Wang Fen was desperate and tried to use these beauties to find a way out.
So on top of the city, when he saw the reaction of the Liangzhou generals, he was ecstatic and shouted:
"I have a memorial here. You can give it to General Beizhonglang for me. He will understand me."
Dong Zhuo listened, pondered for a moment, and asked a scribe next to him:
"Send it or not?"
"It is better to do less than to do more."
"Okay."
Therefore, Dong Zhuo solemnly responded to the city:
"Wang Fen, you are no longer an official of the Han family. The moment you raised the flag of rebellion, you were a thief. As a general of the Han family, I can't even kill you in time, so how can I send you a message? Why don't you leave the city and surrender with your arms bare? Maybe your letter can still be delivered to General Beizhonglang.”
Dong Zhuo's unkindness made Wang Fen lose his mind and he cursed:
"What a Qiang barbarian and mediocre dog, with no faith."
Wang Fen, who felt that his death was imminent, no longer cared about his dignity, pointed in the direction of Kyoto and cursed:
"The country is ignorant and immoral, and the harem is debauched. Villains block the road, and there is no way for loyalty. Pigs and dogs like you can criticize a famous person like me. If I were born in Guangwu, I would definitely be able to leave a name in history, build monuments, and cloud towers. How could he be humiliated at the hands of the Qiang barbarians?”
Before he finished, he clicked on the following Liangzhou generals:
"You guys who are so disgusting, you want to taint the beauty below? Let me tell you the truth, these are the people of the Zhao Palace. If you taint them now, you have committed a huge taboo, and you will die later. I will go down there first. , let’s see how you die.”
After saying that, Wang Fen looked at a servant beside him, sighed, and then jumped down from the top of the city.
But because of the wrong posture, Wang Fen was not dead for a while.
The Liangzhou general who was already scolded in the city was about to chop Wang Fen to death with a knife. Who knew that Dong Zhuo said calmly:
"Why are you so anxious? Doesn't he want to see how we die? Hodor?"
The man named A Duo is another general of Dong Zhuo, Guo Si.
When Dong Zhuo called him, he immediately went out to listen to the order.
"You will let me go for a while. When the blood dries up, I will dig out his eyes and put them in a box. I will take them with me later. And this Wang Fen looks like he has a lot of meat, and there is a lot of good oil." Gao, put a wick in his navel at night, then bring his wife and daughter, and we can have a good time around his "human lantern". Didn't he say we Qiang barbarians, let him see the Qiang barbarians. How it’s done.”
When Guo Bang heard this, he smiled ferociously:
"Lord, don't worry, I promise to keep this light on."
Then the general from Liangzhou burst into laughter. With Dong Zhuo's consent, he went up and hugged a beautiful girl on his horse. This was the source of happiness in the evening.
Over there in the inner city of Xiang, as Wang Fen jumped, the morale of the entire army was gone, and they were scrambling around trying to escape for their lives. Dong Zhuobing who entered the city immediately went to search for Wang Fen's family members, including his wife, daughters, concubines, and maids. They were imprisoned in shacks, but Wang Fen had a child who was not captured, and no one knew how he escaped.
But Dong Zhuo didn't take it seriously and led ten beauties directly to an open space.
His soldiers surrounded him with curtains and made a crude curtain, and then Dong Zhuo vented his anger in this scene in broad daylight. The graceful and wild figure combines in the curtain, making a sound of overwhelming.
If the coach does this, he will follow suit, and the entire Xiang Kingdom fell into mourning.
At the same time, Lu Zhi, who was far away, did not know that Dong Zhuo had captured Xiangguo. Neither his left nor his right could wait for the beacon fire in Xiangguo, and they were worried that the Han army in Xiangguo would not be strong enough. So he sent a message to Yecheng of Wei Commandery, ordering Wei Commandery to send three thousand troops north to support Dong Zhuo, and they must defend the Han army's important food routes.
It was precisely because these 3,000 soldiers from Yecheng went north that triggered a series of changes that followed, and the subsequent battlefield in Hebei became even more complicated and confusing.
(End of chapter)