Gan Ning, Shen Mi, and Lou Fa led the eight hundred strong men in their headquarters and were responsible for intercepting and killing five people from He Yi, He Man, Huang Shao, Liu Pi, and Gongdu.
The five people came out from the north city gate, accompanied by more than a hundred personal guards who could ride horses.
In the Han Dynasty, there was only one pavilion every ten miles, and there were many local gatherings around the pavilion.
The sunset is twenty miles northeast of Wancheng, and twenty miles further north is Xi'e County.
Going from Wancheng to Sunset Ju, the post road would pass by two pavilions along the way. When they came to the first pavilion, they saw someone waiting for them on the roadside from a distance.
The group of people mostly wore brocade robes and had bird feathers on their heads. They were extremely strong and powerful. They numbered two to three hundred people and blocked the entire road.
Seeing this, He Yi and others immediately stopped. They quickly realized that this was someone sent by Zhang Xiu.
Before they dared to go to Wancheng, firstly, they were forced by Cao Cao and had to find a way out. Secondly, they thought that Zhang Xiu was not strong and would not dare to offend them, so they dared to enter the city generously.
More importantly, they thought that since there were so many Yellow Turban leaders coming, if they took action directly in the city, it would inevitably cause resistance from the entire Nanyang Yellow Turbans and their tribesmen. When hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turbans broke through Wancheng, Zhang Xiu would be dead.
However, they did not think too carefully. Zhang Xiu could not kill them in the city. The main reason was not that he was afraid of killing them and causing the Yellow Turbans to backlash, but that he was afraid that Liu Biao would be suspicious of him and that he would annex the Yellow Turbans and strengthen himself.
Therefore, the task of handling the follow-up matters should not be left to Zhang Xiu, but to Liu Biao's men. At this time, Zhang Xiu could only watch from the city, and it was impossible to go out of the city to trouble them.
"what to do?"
Several people looked at each other. It seemed that Zhang Xiu was not a good person. I am afraid that he had already planned to annex them.
"Walk."
He Yi pointed to the northwest road without hesitation and said: "Go over there, disperse and escape. As long as one person escapes and goes back to report the news, we will use all the troops to break Wancheng."
"rush!"
The other few people were also unambiguous and immediately reined in their horses and ran away.
But soon they despaired.
A large group of cavalry also slowly appeared at the end of the northwest road, not just in the northwest, but also in the direction they came from in the south.
To the east is the Meishui River. The waves are rolling, and if you jump in, you will definitely be drowned.
The surrounding wilderness was mostly farmland, and the horses couldn't run very far if their hooves got stuck. With no other way out, they had no choice but to fight to the death.
Unfortunately, the battle ended quickly.
When Gan Ning chopped off He Man Huang Shao's head with two swords, He Yi, Liu Pigong and others surrendered.
They didn't react until He Yi, Liu Pi, Gong Du and others were escorted by Gan Ning back to the Wenpin army headquarters.
The one who recruited them was not Zhang Xiu at all, but Liu Biao!
But it's too late to regret it now.
What happened next was much smoother. With the orders of He Yi, Liu Pi, Gongdu, and the head of He Man, Huang Shao, more than 100,000 Yellow Turbans in Runan, Yingchuan, were forced to surrender.
As for the other Nanyang Yellow Turbans, most of them were tricked by Zhang Xiu into coming down the mountain, and what awaited them was to be disarmed and captured by Liu Biao's army.
From then on, the Nanyang Yellow Turbans and even the larger Yellow Turban forces in Runan, Yingchuan, were all annexed by Liu Biao.
Liu Biao got all the people he could, and in accordance with the previous system of farming, he dispersed and relocated to various counties, resettled the land on the spot, and conducted centralized management, which was controlled by Wenpin and Zhang Yun's troops.
According to subsequent statistics, the number of Yellow Turbans obtained this time was about 60,000 to 70,000, and the total population reached more than 300,000, including about 50,000 to 60,000 capable soldiers.
After weeding out the old and weak soldiers, about 10,000 elite soldiers were obtained, all of whom were added to the ranks of Wenpin and Zhang Yun.
The rest of the population is scattered and settled in family units.
However, Liu Biao did not treat Zhang Xiu badly. He took away 70% of it, which was almost more than 200,000 people, and placed them in his own territory. Even Nanjun allocated a lot.
The remaining more than 100,000 old, weak, women and children were resettled in Xinye County, Huyang County and Chaoyang County.
Because these three places were the rear areas of Zhang Xiu's territory, according to his agreement with Liu Biao, he commanded more than ten cities around Wancheng and could appoint county magistrates on his own and be responsible for his own profits and losses. Liu Biao would not need to transport grain and grass in the future.
The surrounding counties and towns around Xiangyang are mostly used for farming. From last year's farming to now, the victims of Guanzhong have been able to have enough food and clothing, and Xiangyang has also harvested millions of stones of grain and grass, making a lot of money.
For a time, the price of food in Jingzhou dropped a lot, and now more than 200,000 people from Nanyang Huangjin were given their baggage, cattle, farm tools, and grain and grass.
Liu Biao sent Deng Hong to take full responsibility for settling all these people in his territory. In this way, together with the victims from Guanzhong, Henan and other places, starting from the year before last, that is, 194 AD, in just two years now, the entire Jingzhou population has increased.
There are more than 100,000 households, with a population of about 600,000 to 700,000.
By April, Deng Hong was extremely busy. With the help of Shen Chen and some relatives from Huangmenting, he finally completed all the tasks, disrupted the surrender of the Yellow Turban Army, distributed land and resources, and used power for personal gain.
Less bad things.
For example, Wenpin and Zhang Yun needed to recruit more soldiers. Of course, their target was the young and strong among the Yellow Turbans. Just like Cao Cao selected the elite 50,000 to 60,000 people among the millions of Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou to form the Qingzhou Army, they also had to choose the best.
But during the selection process, Deng Hong needed to first conduct an inventory and compile the household registration. There was room for manipulation, and all the most elite people were assigned to Gan Ning's command.
As a result, Gan Ning not only killed two bandit leaders in this battle and achieved great success, but his troops were also replenished, with two thousand more soldiers under his command.
After the matter was settled, Deng Hong returned to Xiangyang to return his orders to Liu Biao.
When Liu Biao learned that Deng Hong had returned, he specially held a separate banquet for only Kuai Liang and Zhuge Xuan. It was not held outside in the middle hall, but in a relatively small backyard pavilion.
This can be considered half a family dinner.
The Kuai family and the Cai family were related by marriage, and Liu Biao married Mrs. Cai. Deng Hong's wife was Mrs. Cai's niece. Zhuge Xuan married his two nieces, one to the Pang family and the other to the Kuai family. He himself was very close to Deng Hong.
Well, the relationship is very close.
Several people were sitting in the pavilion. April in the lunar calendar is equivalent to May in the Gregorian calendar in later generations. Since the beginning of summer, the climate in Jingzhou has been relatively cool. The greenery in the rows of courtyards is towering, and frogs are croaking in the ponds.
After the servants poured wine for everyone, Liu Biao smiled and raised his glass and said: "These days, all the officials in Jingzhou, big and small, have written to congratulate me. These are all the contributions of young Shuo."
Deng Hong said modestly: "This is all because Ming Gong was strategizing at the rear and was victorious. Hong just did something trivial and not worth boasting about."
"Young masters should never be humble."
Liu Biao laughed and said: "In this battle, without spending a single soldier, we surrendered more than 200,000 Nanyang Yellow Turbans, obtained a large amount of food, grass and baggage, and added more than 10,000 troops. This is a great achievement."
"Yes." Zhuge Xuan also smiled and said: "The Yellow Turbans plundering around Nanyang has always been a troublesome thing. Because there are so many of them, it was difficult to recruit or annihilate them in the past. Unexpectedly, this time, Zhang was persuaded by Youshuo. It would not be a bad idea to embroider them and cut them off from their roots."
Deng Hong said quickly: "If it hadn't been for Ming Gong's permission, it wouldn't have been possible this time. What's more, this method was also the one I came up with when I learned that Ming Gong wiped out the Jingzhou clan thieves. It was all Ming Gong and Mr. Zirou's idea. Hong couldn't do it. It’s just a matter of imitating others.”
In fact, he can't be said to have any political acumen, but Deng Hong only remembered two sentences said by Shen Chen. After marrying Cai, he was already in an invincible position. If he makes meritorious deeds in the future, he must give all the credit to On Liu Biao.
The former is to make the leader regard him as one of his own, and the latter is to make the leader look good. In this way, no matter what merit he makes, Liu Biao will feel that his relatives are one of his own, and he will not be suspicious.
The old Liu family still has a tradition in this regard. For example, Cai Mao and Kuai Yue both hold power in Jingzhou. They can even intervene in Liu Biao's establishment of heirs and change them at will, such as Zhao Gaolisi.
What if it were Cao Cao?
Later, Cao Pi and Cao Zhi had a fight, and Jia Xu carefully used Yuan Shao's example to persuade Cao Cao not to abolish the elder and establish the younger. As a result, how many of Cao Zhi's followers did Cao Cao kill?
In contrast, the old Liu family is still very tolerant towards their cronies, and even if they intervene in the issue of heirs, they will not be too harsh.
Liu Xian is very comfortable now. Once Deng Hong puts all the credit on him, as if he is the leader behind the scenes, the world will think that he is very smart, thus ignoring Deng Hong's role and reputation. Naturally it will be higher.
Secondly, Deng Hong is now a relative.
Talking about it, Deng Hong still has to call him uncle. After becoming one of his family members, no matter how you look at him, you will be pleased with him.
Thinking of this, Liu Biao also said: "Youshuo, no matter what, you have contributed a lot to this matter. This year, Jingzhou has expanded a lot in terms of food and population. The treasury is full and the soldiers and horses are strong. You have a share in it." Credit, whatever you want, just ask."
Deng Hong immediately said: "The Hong clan migrated from Xuzhou. There were many casualties along the way. The whole clan's future is unknown. It is all thanks to Ming Gong's shelter that it can survive. This is all to repay Ming Gong's kindness. How can we expect any reward?"
Liu Biao laughed and said: "How can I convince the public if I don't reward you for my merits? Does Youshuo want me to bear the infamy?"
"Don't dare."
Deng Hong said hurriedly.
Then he lowered his head and thought for a moment, and then said: "Hong actually doesn't care about the size of his official position, but he hopes that Jingzhou will be safe. Now that the world is in chaos, Jingzhou needs brave men to defend the Han Dynasty for Duke Ming, so Hong wants to recommend someone to Duke Ming. .”
"oh?"
Liu Biao asked curiously: "Who do you want to recommend?"
"Back to Duke Ming, I passed by Fancheng a year ago and met Sima Ganning, who was guarding the city gate at that time. Because of our similar interests, we became friends."
Deng Hong said: "I found that this man is not only from a wealthy family in Bajun, he is good at reading and calligraphy, and is very knowledgeable. He is also brave and good at fighting, and he is the best in the three armies. He is a rare talent. The reason why he was able to easily defeat the Yellow Turbans this time was because he rode alone and killed them. He killed the leader of the Yellow Turbans, He Man Huang Shao, and forced He Yi and Liu Pi to surrender, which shows his bravery. Hong did not want to let such talents be buried, so he boldly recommended them to Duke Ming."
"Gan Ning?"
Liu Biao thought for a while and then asked Kuai Liang tentatively: "Is it the Gan Ning who betrayed Liu Zhang a few years ago?"
Kuai Liang replied: "Yes."
"That's it."
Liu Biao thought for a moment, nodded and said, "He contributed a lot to this battle?"
"Making great contributions is the most important thing."
Deng Hong replied.
"He was a military commander under Zhang Yun in Fancheng before?"
"Yes."
"Then let's be promoted to captain."
Liu Biao said: "Huyang guard Deng Ji suffered a disastrous defeat, so he was removed and replaced by Gan Ning."
"Thank you Ming Gong."
Deng Hong was overjoyed.
Although Huangmen Pavilion belongs to Xinye, this is because it is located north of Shahe River.
To the south of Shahe is Huyang Jingyang Pavilion, so it is actually closer to Huyang.
It takes more than fifty miles from Huangmenting to Xinye County, but it only takes more than forty miles to Huyang County.
Therefore, it is definitely a good thing for Huangmenting that Gan Ning is stationed in Huyang.
And more importantly, he fulfilled his promise to Gan Ning and helped him improve across classes.
The generals under Liu Biao are divided into three grades.
The first group is Cai Hao, Zhang Yun, and Huang Zu. They are all generals with high positions and command tens of thousands of troops.
The second group is Han Xi, Wenpin, Lu Jie, Liu Pan, etc. Although their power is not as powerful as Cai Hao, Zhang Yun and Huang Zu, they can still be regarded as senior generals.
The third level includes Zhang Hu, Chen Sheng, Su Fei, Deng Long, Zhang Shuo, Deng Ji, Huang Zhong, Liu Wei, Wang Jie, etc., who belong to the middle-level generals.
In the past, Gan Ning, Huo Du and others could only be regarded as middle and lower-level officers.
Now that he is directly promoted to captain, he is considered a middle-level general. Although he is still under the jurisdiction of senior generals, he already has a certain degree of freedom.
For example, the original Deng Ji was the guard general of Huyang, and now Huang Zhong is the guard general of You County, who can guard a county alone.
Therefore, to a certain extent, Gan Ning has got rid of the embarrassment of being controlled by Zhang Yun and had nowhere to vent his strength, and can now be the little bully in Huyang.
After recommending Gan Ning to Liu Biao, Deng Hong told Liu Biao that he wanted to go to Wancheng again to persuade Zhang Xiu not to disturb the officials sent by Jingzhou, the city around Wancheng.
Liu Biao didn't understand its meaning.
Deng Hong told him.
This was done to facilitate Liu Biao's indirect understanding of Zhang Xiu's situation through these officials, and also for the sake of people's livelihood.
After all, Zhang Xiu was born in the military and had few capable officials. If he changed officials at will and sent his generals who did not know how to govern as county magistrates, it would cause big problems for the county.
Therefore, although these cities were all assigned to Zhang Xiu, it is best not to move them if possible. This is a good thing for both Liu Biao and Zhang Xiu.
After listening to Deng Hong's analysis, Liu Biao also believed that this was a win-win situation, so he nodded in agreement with Deng Hong's idea.
Soon the banquet ended amidst cheers and laughter.
In order to make up for Deng Hong, Liu Biao not only agreed to several of his ideas and conditions, but also rewarded him with a lot of gold, silver, silk and other property.
After the banquet was over, Deng Hong and Zhuge Xuan said goodbye and left. Liu Biao left Kuai Liang behind to discuss something.
"Zirou, what do you think about this matter?"
After waiting for Deng Hong and others to leave and watching their backs disappear into the corridor, Liu Biao asked Kuai Liang.
Kuai Liang pondered for a long time and said softly: "Deng Youshuo is quite selfish."
"Did you see it too?" Liu Biao said with a smile.
"Um."
Kuai Liang nodded: "I heard that a few days ago, Zhang Xiu promoted Wang Yi, the magistrate of Xinye County, to the county magistrate of Nanyang County, and replaced Deng Mao as the county magistrate."
"Selfishness is all, but I, Jingzhou, still occupy the majority of his position. How many points can Huangmenting score?"
Liu Biao raised his glass, squinted his eyes and said: "As long as he is working for me, if he has selfish motives, then he has selfish motives. Who can be without selfish motives? You think so."
Kuai Liang looked at him and both of them laughed.