But I heard Xun You saying worriedly:
"Wang Wendu's ambition is not the same as that of Zhonghuang Taiyi, so he may change later."
Zhang Chong burst out laughing. He was happy that it was the first time he heard the words "Zhonghuang Taiyi" from Xun You's mouth.
Guan Yu had said this to Xun You before when Xun You joined Guan Yu's shogunate and participated in the Taishan Army's first northern expedition.
That is to hope that Xun You can live up to the Taishan Army.
But Zhang Chong never doubted this. He knew that Xun You was a typical scholar-bureaucrat, who was deprived of the emperor's salary and worried about being loyal to him.
But Zhang Chong knew that people like Xun You would not really agree with their Taishan Army's philosophy from the bottom of their hearts. In other words, Xun You joined the Taishan Army because of Zhang Chong. He believed that Zhang Chong was the person who could bring new order to the world.
There are not many people like Xun You, and most of the civil servants from the gentry family in the Taishan Army think so. They no longer expect an ideal order, but just want order.
Because no matter how bad order is, it is better than no order.
But now, Zhang Chong heard another meaning from Xun You's words. That's when he began to agree with and even convert to Zhang Chong's philosophy.
In fact, this is also the state of most people.
They always believe because they see it. When Zhang Chong used his own ideas to plan the development blueprint of Hebei, they and others saw with their own eyes what a huge force it was when the endless enthusiasm in Guizhou was inspired.
In fact, this is also a very simple truth.
That is why one is poor, why one lives without dignity.
And if only a small number of people in this world live like humans, and the living conditions of the vast majority of people are no different from animals, then this world will be so boring.
Therefore, when society can give these people a chance, give fairness to the majority of society, and allow more people to enjoy basic material life, then more people's hearts can be reunited.
Because no matter how numb they are to life, in the end these people are still human beings, and they have a desire to be human in their hearts.
And when Xun You and others lived and participated in this society where everyone worked, what he saw was endless enthusiasm and expectations for the future. Compared with the stagnant society of the past, this kind of vitality was So comfortable.
As a result, Xun You and the others began to reflect deep in their hearts:
"If a society allows more people to live well, even if it sacrifices the extravagance and extravagance of a few people, it is still just."
Therefore, Zhang Chong was gratified that at this time, the Taishan Army had begun to be more widely recognized, not only by the former head of Guizhou, but also by some children of enlightened families.
They all understand that the Taishan Army is really doing justice for heaven.
What is the way of heaven? That is, when everything begins to distort to the extreme, the sky will send down disasters to destroy. But on the ruins of destruction new life will emerge.
This means neither breaking nor establishing, breaking and establishing.
The Taishan Army upholds the will of heaven and comes to the world to wield weapons and cleanse the world of corruption. After the Taishan Army sweeps across the world, a new world full of infinite vitality will appear amidst the destruction.
This is the concept of people like Xun You. They have really begun to realize the mission of the Taishan Army.
In this way, Zhang Chong was greatly relieved.
So Zhang Chong said to Xun You:
"Gongda, there are always very few true like-minded people in this world. To be a little extreme, it can be said that there are none at all. Because in the end, people are all different, and no matter how close people are, they will have their own Views. Therefore, pursuing absolute unity is a waste of time. So I prefer to connect people with each other. We are regarded as peers. On this journey, we walked together. Then on the next journey, we walked together with different people. Therefore, what Wang Wendu does in the future is indeed important, but this does not hinder his present. Wants to come with us, and we need him, that's enough."
Xun You was silent, digesting the meaning of Zhang Chong's words.
He was thinking about Zhang Chong's metaphor of peers. The more he thought about it, the more alert he became.
This statement can be applied to Wang Yi, and of course it can also be applied to other people in the Taishan Army.
Since they are peers, who is the leader? There is no doubt that this is the king. When Zhang rushes ahead, will someone in the team fall behind, will someone part ways, will someone run ahead of the king and try to be the leader?
At this time, Xun You seemed to have seen the future and didn't dare to think about it anymore.
……
What happened next was simple. When Wang Yi learned that Zhang Chong wanted to see him, the man immediately realized that his opportunity had come.
So in the subsequent meeting, Wang Yi told Zhang Chong everything he knew.
Therefore, Zhang Chong, with Wang Yi leading the way, left Yanmen Pass on October 15th. He first defeated Dai County behind Yanmen Pass, and then divided his troops to attack Fanzhi and Fanzhi in the north.
Fanzhi is located in the northeasternmost part of Yiding Basin, between Hengshan Mountain and Taihang Mountain. It has always been an important passage between Bingzhou and Jizhou.
From Dai County behind Yanmen Pass, walk northeast along the basin passage to Fanzhi, and then pass through Fanzhi to reach the Wutai Mountain area.
From here to Lingqiu, there is a natural barrier called Pingxing Pass. This pass is located at a chokepoint in northeastern Shanxi, with steep and steep peaks on both sides. In front of the pass, there is only a narrow channel extending from southwest to northeast.
Previously, it was precisely because of the existence of this pass that Zhang Chong gave up his plan to enter Feihuxing from Yi County in Jizhou and then enter the Yiding Plain in Bingzhou.
He knows very well how famous Pingxingguan is.
Now, once Zhang Chong takes Yanmen Pass and Dai County behind it, he will immediately divide his troops to attack Fanzhi. After taking Fanzhi, he can directly attack Pingxing Pass from the rear, and then completely open the passage to Lingqiu.
By then, Yu Jin's front army, which had already set off from Feihukou and entered Laiyuan, could flank Zhang Chong and capture Lingqiu.
At that time, the 20,000 middle-aged troops led by Yu Jinsuo can join Zhang Chong.
This not only means that Zhang Chong will have an abundant force of 50,000 troops in Bingzhou by then, but also means that the battlefields of Hebei and Bingzhou will be completely connected.
By then, the manpower and material resources from the Hebei region can continuously flow into the Yiding Plain along the Feihukou Channel.
At this point, we can also see Zhang Chong's method of using troops. That is, he is very good at grasping the key nodes in the battle situation, and then opening up this node to fully utilize his own advantages.
Finally, with the overwhelming momentum of the majestic Mount Tai, he went south in one fell swoop.
The Huns and Taiyuan's majestic power are all in vain under such a huge force.
It was precisely because of the importance of this task that Zhang Chong appointed Le Jin as a general and ordered him to lead a thousand cavalry troops to raid Fanzhi.
……
There is a wealthy family in Fanzhi, the Guo family.
His family is a branch of the Guo family in Taiyuan. In fact, it is the branch of the Guo family that stayed in Fanzhi to handle the Hengshan industry.
The current head of the Guo family in Fanzhi was named Guo Xun.
After the Taishan Army broke through Yanmen Pass, they anticipated the danger of Fanzhi. When other tribesmen urged him to gather all the people in Hengshan, he unexpectedly led his entire tribe to retreat to Hengshan. The tribesmen did not understand, and felt that Guo Xun's move was giving away the tombs of his ancestors and the fields developed through the generations. But Guo Xun explained:
"At this time, Taishan's army had just broken through Yanmen Pass, and the elite troops and generals were gathered there. But their troops were deeply entrenched, and their supply routes were far away, so they could only use plunder as a means of capital, and the advantage was to fight quickly. But I first avoided their sharp edges and waited for their food. At the end of the day, I will leave Hengshan and attack Taiyuan from the north and south. It is better to avoid than to fight."
All the clan members suddenly felt that Guo Xun was scheming.
But they didn't know that Guo Xun had something he didn't say. All this depends on whether Taiyuan can withstand it. If the Taishan Army easily captures Taiyuan in the end, it will have no chance of counterattack in Hengshan. It is better to be in the mountains.
Taking it one step at a time, Cheng Nai responded immediately, but in the end it was inconvenient to tell the clan members.
Therefore, the whole Guo family retreated into Hengshan with the dream of counterattacking in the future.
As for the Guo family, they were from the Fanzhi crown clan and they fled without fighting, causing more local tycoons to follow suit. As a result, Fanzhi could no longer stop the attack against Le Jin.
On October 17, Lejin's light troops went to Fanzhi. On the 18th, the unguarded Pingxing Pass was captured. On the 19th, we passed through Lingqiu via the mountain road.
At this time, Yu Jin, who had received the news, also entered Lingqiu from the Laiyuan Basin with 20,000 central guards. The winding mountain road was full of officers, packmen, mules and horses from the Central Guard Army, with no end in sight.
With Le Jin attracting the attention of the Lingqiu Han army to the west, the 20,000-strong guard army easily passed through the Taihang Mountain Road and entered Lingqiu.
When the last 20,000 guardsmen appeared under Lingqiu City, Lingqiu Chief Zhang Zhi presented the city and surrendered.
When the city of Lingqiu was broken, 20,000 central defenders poured into the Yiding Basin like a tide. They joined the 30,000 main southern expedition force left there in Yuanping.
For a time, 50,000 Taishan troops appeared in the Yiding Basin and were unstoppable.
……
In fact, when the Taishan Army marched out from the west of Jizhou to the Yanbei Pingcheng area, Ding Yuan, the governor of Bingzhou, had already sent a letter to Kyoto on horseback.
On the one hand, he was reporting that the current situation was critical, and on the other hand, he asked Grand Master Dong Zhuo to return his Bingzhou Army.
There is a story here.
In the second Battle of Weihan, Liu Hong simply could not withstand the fierce attack of the Kwantung Army. So he finally mobilized the border troops from Bingzhou and the corps from the Western Regions, Hexi, and Liangzhou to rush to Chang'an.
It was against this background that Ding Yuan, the then governor of Jiuyuan, led 6,000 Bingzhou border troops south to the King of Qin. At first, they met Dong Zhuo in Hedong.
It was also at that time that Dong Zhuo fell in love with this iron army fighting in the grassland.
At the beginning, Dong Zhuo also tried to cut off the connection between Ding Yuan and Chang'an in order to control this army. But when Wang Yun rushed to Chang'an and reported Ding Yuan's situation to Liu Hong, Liu Hong directly ordered his visitors to ride into Ding Yuan's camp.
After seeing Liu Hong's touching handwriting, Ding Yuan became so loyal to his emperor that he cried three times in the direction of Chang'an in the southwest, and then led his entire army across the river to the south to participate in the Battle of Weihan.
He also defeated Yuan Shao's army in Heyang in this battle, making the reputation of the Bingzhou Army spread throughout the two capitals for the first time.
After that, Liu Hong used this legion in the Battle of Weihan.
It was also here that a large number of fierce generals emerged from the Bingzhou Army.
Such as Lu Bu, Wei Xu, Wei Yue, Cheng Lian, Hou Cheng, Song Xian, Gao Shun, Zhang Liao, Hao Meng, Cao Xing, Liu He, Qin Yi, Pang Shu, Hou Xie.
Later, the Qiang rebellion broke out in Liangzhou, and the Liangzhou regiment was transferred back to the western front by Liu Hong. At that time, the Bingzhou Army was the only one left on the Weihan front line. It can be said that this army relied on the power of one army to withstand the Kwantung Army at its peak.
Until Liu Hong's death, internal fighting broke out in Chang'an between the Guanxi nobles and the eunuchs, and Dong Zhuo finally took advantage.
After the court gave Dong Zhuo the power to control all the troops in Kansai, Dong Zhuo immediately declared Ding Yuan to be the governor of Bingzhou.
At that time, Ding Yuan thought things simply. I feel that the governor of Bingzhou is the lord of a state and a well-deserved prince.
So Ding Yuan took office, even though he knew that the price was that his Bingzhou Army would have to stay on the Weihan front. Ding Yuan still agreed.
Because he doesn't think there is anything irreplaceable about people like Lu Bu. Are warriors like this not the best in Bingzhou?
It's not surprising that he thought of Lu Bu like this, because Lu Bu had been the chief clerk before, which was a civil service. A civilian can perform military exploits on the battlefield. Is it difficult to find such a person?
Finally, after arriving in Bingzhou, he realized that it was really difficult.
Lu Bu and the other generals who merged with the state are irreplaceable.
Ding Yuan ignored one thing, that is, this generation of Bingzhou Legion may be the last afterglow of the Han Dynasty.
The total population of Bingzhou is roughly less than one million, not even as large as the population of Runan County. In terms of the population structure of the Han Dynasty, among these one million people, more than 400,000 were women. Then among the remaining 600,000 people, about 100,000 are old men over forty years old, about 200,000 are children, and the final number are about 300,000 adults.
Bingzhou's military output almost relies on central transportation, so the support ratio of Ding soldiers is very high, to the extent that two Ding soldiers can support one soldier.
Therefore, in theory, a hundred thousand troops can be sent to Bingzhou.
But don't forget that almost half of the 300,000 adults belong to Taiyuan's powerful people, and these people are outside the Han Dynasty's recruitment system.
In other words, the actual number of troops that can be mobilized by Bingzhou is about 50,000.
The scale of these 50,000 soldiers before was actually quite large. But it happened that during the Northern Expedition in the sixth year of Xiping, all 20,000 Bingzhou frontier troops died outside the Great Wall.
Although this happened twenty years ago, the blow to Bingzhou's armaments was fatal.
It can be said that the Northern Expedition in the sixth year of Xiping killed a generation in Bingzhou. Now people like Lu Bu and Zhang Liao grew up in these twenty years, and their total number is only 50,000.
The 8,000 Bingzhou Army Corps led by Ding Yuan were the elite among the 50,000 people, and the elite were not like wheat, which grows again after every harvest.
Every warrior is made of food, meat, sweat and blood.
So when Ding Yuan returned to Bingzhou, he discovered that he recruited and formed the Bingzhou Army. No matter how equipped it was, it was only a second-rate army.
At this time, he thought of Lu Bu and others, so he specifically asked for Lu Bu in his appeal to Dong Zhuo.
It's a pity that he really doesn't understand people like Dong Zhuo.
In fact, when Ding Yuan left, Dong Zhuo mobilized the elite soldiers of the Bingzhou Army on the grounds of forming the Huya Camp.
Dong Zhuo had obviously been coveting the Bingzhou Legion for a long time. When recruiting, his visitors had a special list.
Such as Lu Bu, Zhang Yang, Zhang Liao and others.
Then after these people left, Dong Zhuo understood that a large number of airborne troops from Liangzhou and Hedong would join the Bingzhou Army. Just by simply pumping and stuffing, Dong Zhuo completed the digestion of the Bingzhou Army.
At this time, you, Ding Yuan, still want to return to the Bingzhou Army? Who do you think you are, Ding Yuan? Our old Dong’s biological father?
But the problem Ding Yuan mentioned does exist. Taishan's army has already reached Bingzhou's doorstep. Why don't you help me?
So Lao Dong did such a thing.