Apart from Huang Zhong, the only one in Youzhou currently fighting Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun on the frontal battlefield is Gongsun Zan.
However, according to Gongsun Zan's current situation, since he does not receive much support from the local government, it is quite difficult to fight against Zhang Ju and others.
Logically speaking, Gongsun Zan, as a well-known member of a wealthy family in western Liaoning, should be no worse than the Zhang family in Yuyang in terms of reputation, and should receive no less support.
In the final analysis, the Eastern Han Dynasty court did not do enough for Youzhou in recent years, which gave Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun an opportunity to take advantage of.
Of course, the imperial court also had its difficulties.
In fact, the reason why many people want to rebel against Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun boils down to two words - interests.
Or it can be summed up in one sentence - interests are not met.
When did this start?
The farthest we can go back is when Liu Hong sent troops to conquer Xianbei.
Later we can talk about the conquest of Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou.
You can also talk about the various wars against foreigners on the border of Youzhou.
What exactly went wrong?
The problem is that after fighting so many wars, the imperial court owes too much military expenditures to various places in Youzhou - and refuses to honor them!
The imperial court was really out of money.
Since the development of the Han Dynasty, tax loopholes have been riddled with problems due to land annexation.
The rich don't pay taxes, and the poor can't afford it.
Coupled with the successive years of war, especially the three wars against Tan Shihuai, Zhang Jiao, and Beigong Boyu, Liu Hong's family fortune has been emptied.
Of course, Liu Hong was not completely without money. He made a lot of money from selling officials and titles in Xiyuan, so Liu Hong still had a small treasury.
But this small treasury belongs to Liu Hong personally and is used by him to enjoy a luxurious life. How can it be used to pay military expenses?
Military expenses cannot be effectively paid, the soldiers at the bottom cannot get the compensation they deserve for fighting, and the local wealthy families in Youzhou at the top cannot take the opportunity to plunder and expropriate from the middle.
As a mercenary, the Wuhuan people could not shed their blood to the Han court for nothing.
So what will be the final result of not giving money?
You are a male, so go ahead!
This has resulted in the fact that there are more families supporting Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun in Youzhou today.
As a result, the pressure on Gongsun Zan, who was facing the rebels head-on, was relatively high. In addition to dealing with the rebels on the frontal battlefield, Gongsun Zan did not have the energy to deal with other events for the time being.
Therefore, after repeated evaluations, Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun came to the conclusion that there is no problem at all in attacking Wuzhong County at this time!
100% capture of all Xunyu's mineral resources.
Once the Wuzhu Iron Mine is lost, the imperial court's final layout in Youzhou will be completely finished.
Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun knew a little bit about Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's arrival in Youzhou, but in their eyes, it was not a big deal.
Although these two people are now well-known and are actually general-level figures, it is said that they did not lead many troops when they returned this time. Most of the elites stayed in Jizhou for repairs.
Although Guan Yu had trained an elite army in the Liaodong vassal state, the elite soldiers had also stayed in Jizhou for a while after accompanying Liu Jian in the Central Plains. Now in the Liaodong vassal state, the number of elite soldiers left for Guan Yu to command was no more than
two thousand.
In this way, Guan and Zhang were regarded as polished commanders in the eyes of Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun.
Commander, what is there to be afraid of?
But Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun still underestimated the prestige that Guan Yu's Youzhou had accumulated over the years.
This cannot be entirely blamed on Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun. After all, the sophisticated layout Guan Yu has made in Youzhou over the years is beyond what ordinary people can imagine.
…
After Guan Yu arrived in Youzhou, he immediately sent people to transfer his remaining 2,000 troops from the Liaodong vassal state. In addition, he also sent his confidants to various counties to summon the leaders of the big bandits and bandits that he had conquered over the years in Youzhou counties to go to western Liaoning.
Luronce met him.
Lulongsai is located at the border of Qianxi County and Kuancheng County. It is a pass in the eastern section of the Yanshan Mountains, later named Xifengkou.
For thousands of years, Lulong Sei has been a military fortress and a battleground for military strategists.
Lulongsai is a mountain walled city built on the mountain. It has three walls forming a "sun"-shaped defense system.
The outer main city wall is five feet high, three feet wide and one hundred feet long. It is made of stones stacked from the inside to the outside. In the center there is a tower one or two feet high.
At both ends of the main city wall, auxiliary walls were built according to the mountains, and each of the city walls also has a floor. They stand on Meishan and Yunshan mountains.
Starting from the auxiliary walls on both sides and extending further up the mountain, the Han Dynasty built a city wall of about two hundred miles to prevent the Hu tribe from invading.
The Sima who is now responsible for guarding Lulong Village is named Fan Li. He used to be Qu Junhou of the Youzhou Governor's Department. He later made many military exploits and was promoted by Guan Yu. Finally, he was regarded as a good man and was responsible for guarding Lulong Village.
This is an important road connecting the northern and southern tribes.
If it were someone else who wanted to summon the bandit leaders in Lulongsai, Fan Li would have given him a leg discount.
But if it was Guan Yu, not to mention meeting a group of thieves here, even if Guan Yu wanted to discuss the matter of gathering a crowd to rebel here, Fan Li would immediately switch sides and join him.
In addition to Fan Li, bandits from all over Youzhou also admired Guan Yu very much.
Regardless of his character, loyalty, ability, or military methods.
Guan Yu was a man who was proud of his superiors but not his subordinates. Even for those bandits who gathered to resist, as long as they were sincerely convinced, Guan Yu would treat them equally.
People like Guan Yu, in the eyes of those with lower status than him, are models for the world.
Take the bandits in the counties of Youzhou as an example. As long as they have had contact with Guan Yu, there is no one who does not admire him.
Looking at Zhou Cang's admiration and loyalty to Guan Yu, it can be seen that it is average.
This time, Guan Yu found twenty-four bandit leaders in Youzhou who had friendship with him. They were all well-known thieves in various parts of Youzhou. They also had many thieves under their command, and their combat effectiveness was not low. In the past, they were all
They are people who can compete with the soldiers of the county.
Guan Yu didn't even say hello to those with smaller power and combat power.
According to Guan Yu's estimate, if he invited these leaders to meet with him based on his reputation, it was estimated that seventeen or eight of the twenty-four people would come.
But this time, Guan Yu underestimated his ability.
This time he summoned twenty-four people, and all twenty-four arrived.
Guan Yu himself never thought that he would have such great appeal.
Looking at the twenty-four bandit leaders below, Zhang Fei felt infinite admiration for Guan Yu in his heart.
Although Zhang Fei has been somewhat conscious of competing with Guan Yu over the years, he never felt that he could really compete with Guan Yu.
Of course, he knew it in his heart, but Zhang Fei never admitted it verbally.
But this time, after seeing Guan Yu's appeal in the Youzhou underworld, Zhang Fei was convinced.
If it were Zhang Fei who stayed in Youzhou for a few years, he would definitely not have the ability and popularity.
"Fourth brother..."
Zhang Fei whispered into the ear of Guan Yu, who was sitting in the middle: "I'm really convinced by you this time!"
Guan Yu didn't seem to understand what Zhang Fei was talking about at first.
But then he came to his senses.
Guan Yu is a very arrogant person, but in front of his brothers, he is relatively restrained in this regard.
Guan Yu replied with a smile: "It's just a coincidence. Don't make fun of me."
After saying that, Guan Yu stood up.
Once he was not talking to Zhang Fei, but facing others, Guan Yu's demeanor was completely different.
He held his head high and held his chest high, stroking his long beard with one hand, and waved his other hand gracefully, saying to everyone: "You guys have come a long way to work hard, please sit down."
Although it was just a simple sentence, it was heard by the twenty-four thieves as if it were an imperial edict.
The twenty-four people each saluted Guan Yu and then sat on both sides.
After everyone sat down, Guan Yu stood up and looked around at everyone present.
"I have known each other for many years. Over the years, we have not interacted with each other much, but our contact has never been interrupted. Although Guan's identity is opposite to yours, we have always cherished each other. Today, I can be called Lulong by Guan
Those who are blocked, in someone's heart, are all heroes of one party, and they are all heroes of the moment."
"I invite you all to come here today because these two traitors, Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun, are causing trouble in Youzhou, causing unprovoked wars and poisoning the common people in the territory."
"Guan is not talented. He is a captain of a country. He never dares to forget his country's kindness. He came back this time just to recruit troops and horses to fight to the death with the two thieves."
"The soldiers under the two thieves are all temporarily recruited disciples. Although they are a ragtag group, they are so large that it is difficult to deal with them."
"Therefore, Yu thought of all of your friends. Although you are just a man in the grass, Guan Yu knows in his heart that you are all heroes and heroes. In the past, the grass was turned into a bandit, not voluntarily, but actually forced by the situation."
"Today's unrest in Youzhou is the time to defeat the rebels, stabilize the country, and serve the country."
"Guan Yu would like to invite you all to join a certain party in the crusade against Zhang Ni. After the success is achieved, you can all be rewarded according to your merits and no longer be thieves. What do you think?"
After saying these words, there was no movement in the hall for a while, and you could hear a needle drop.
No wonder, these people might not be able to accept Guan Yu's sudden announcement of such a big thing. After all, their own lives are at stake.
When Guan Yu saw the crowd, he said nothing and did not get angry.
He said very freely: "Guan has called you here just for discussion. He is not forcing you to fight against the bandits with Guan. Although Guan is not a saint and a gentleman, he still claims to be a man. He will definitely not
Do what you would do if you persecuted others.”
"If you don't want to cooperate with Guan to fight against the thieves, it doesn't matter. The door here is open for you. Just leave. Guan will never force you... If you don't want to stay, just ask!"
"
As he finished speaking, a thief leader named Wang Huan stood up.
"The Duke is the most loyal person that Wang has ever seen in his life. When the Duke led his troops to kill Wang, he surrounded us and more than a thousand people at Fulongdu. Wang threatened to challenge the stallion to a duel. If he could block the Duke's ten moves
, the duke let my men go, and the last eight moves were captured by the duke. Not only did the duke not kill me, he also called me a noble man and let us go. This kindness and virtue will never be forgotten by Wang...
Recruit us, I don’t care about others, the king is willing to run for the public, even if he dies, he will not regret it!"
When the words fell, another bandit leader named Li Sheng stood up and said: "When the Duke led his troops to kill me, I expressed my willingness to join him and never disturb the people again. The Duke said, "If you don't disturb the people, you can come to me if you encounter difficulties."
"...Later, when I ran out of food and fodder in the village, I sent someone to ask for it. He gave me five hundred stones of food and fodder within three days to relieve my urgent need. How can I not repay such kindness?"
Another man named Xiong Zhao said: "Back then, I used my own strength to become an enemy of the Duke. I captured him three times without killing him. Later, I felt deeply ashamed and surrendered to the Duke. If I hadn't had the grace of Lord Yun to free my life, what would have happened?
Can I have what I have today? I am willing to entrust this life to Yun Changgong."
Everyone said something to each other and expressed their gratitude to Guan Yu for his kindness.
Each of them spoke sincerely, and the gestures of their hands and feet were very moving, which proved that what they said was true.
It seems that Guan Yu's status in their hearts is indeed supreme.
Not long after, all the twenty-four bandit leaders expressed their willingness to submit to Guan Yu and join him in the crusade against Er Zhang.
Zhang Fei grinned when he saw it.
"Oh, the fourth brother is still great, I am not as good as me, I am not as good as me."