The overlapping Taihang Mountains have undulating mountains and dense jungles, and no one has passed through them for a long time. Even if there once was a trail, it often takes a long time to cut through the thorns and thorns to open a way.
In later generations, there were not only countless villages and roads in the Taihang Mountains, but also several prosperous counties. Many towering mountains became tourist attractions. There was no longer any danger, and no ferocious wild animals would suddenly appear.
to attack humans.
But in this age of wild growth, mountains and forests are as dangerous as the ocean. There are no roads, no directions, and no safety. There are only cliffs, mountains and mountains, and trees that block the sky and the sun, as if they are swallowing everything.
Especially at night, when jackals, tigers and leopards run rampant, even if you light a bonfire, you may not be able to guarantee safety. If there were not Montenegrin Army guides who live in the mountains and forests to lead the way, and Guan Hai's military force is not weak, Zhang Yan may not need to
The lair has already entered the tiger's belly halfway.
In fact, it is not far from Lin Li to Zhang Yan's hometown, because according to the towns Zhang Yan once attacked, it can be seen that the place he is entrenched is in the Taihang Mountains northwest of Handan City and directly west of Xingtai City, from where Guan Hai starts to
The old nest where Zhang Yan is located is only 200 kilometers away, but it took half a month. It can be seen that the mountain road is rugged and the road is difficult to travel.
After walking for half a month until mid-June, Guan Hai came out of the mountains. He had already met Zhang Yan's troops in the Lufeng Mountains north of Linlu Mountain, and Zhang Yan also knew that he was on an envoy
He, therefore, has been waiting for him in his lair.
After Guan Hai came out of the mountain, he saw that this area was mostly a hilly basin. There was a small river passing through the valley. A large number of fields were cultivated on both sides of the river bank. Houses were built on the hillside, densely packed along both sides of the river.
They are all compact wooden houses, and many people at the foot of the mountain are working in the fields.
Although there is a severe drought in June, it is still cool in the Five Elements Mountains and rivers are flowing. As long as the water source does not dry up, it will be like a paradise.
In fact, this is the case. In later generations, this place was directly north of the Qinwang Lake Scenic Area. There were countless hills and valleys, as well as Dongchuankou Reservoir and Zhuzhuang Reservoir. Of course there were no reservoirs at this time, but this was the upper reaches of the Qili River, and the Qili River was
The name at this time is 氵蒒(si) water, which originates from deep in the Taihang Mountains. It passes through a large number of valleys and irrigates countless fields.
If a farming civilization wants to develop and grow, the most important thing is to have suitable reclamation areas. In ancient times when science and technology was underdeveloped, plains like Jizhou and Yuzhou were the chosen places. Zhang Yan was able to gather a population of more than 300,000 and had the largest number of troops under his command.
It reached 100,000 at that time because he found this unique area in the Taihang Mountains.
Guan Hai came down from the winding hills and was taken to a cliff in the east. There was a vast flat land behind the cliff, where a large number of camps and schools were built. The hills were covered with dense forests, and the cliff was surrounded by wooden fences.
Circled, there is only a road paved with bluestones at the foot of the mountain to go up.
Climbing up the steps along the road and reaching the top of the valley, we officially entered Zhang Yan's military camp. There were soldiers guarding and patrolling near the entrance of the camp. Guan Hai did not show any sign of intimidation when he came over. He just let them in, and Zhang Yan
They are already waiting near the entrance of the village with the big and small bosses.
Zhang Yan was about forty years old. His surname was Chu. During the Yellow Turban period, he and his brother Zhang Niujiao revolted together. After the Yellow Turban failed, they fled into the mountains. When they attacked the town at the foot of the mountain, Zhang Niujiao was hit by an arrow and died. Before his death, he handed over his troops to
Chu Yan, Chu Yan therefore changed his surname to Zhang.
Guan Hai walked over, and Zhang Yan came over with his leaders Sun Qing, Wang Dang, Du Chang, Zhang Fang and others. He raised his hands and said loudly: "Guan Qu is handsome!"
Is he handsome?
Guan Hai frowned, shook his head and said: "General Zhang, you are now the court's general, and I am the court's most powerful general. They are both important officials of the court, how can you still be called the Yellow Turban Army? Could it be Zhang?
Does the general still think about General Tian Gong?"
Zhang Yan looked slightly embarrassed, waved her hands and said: "Of course I know that the Yellow Turban Army has become a thing of the past, but I have always admired General Guan's bravery during the Yellow Turbans, so I miss him in my heart. General, please come with me."
After saying that, Zhang Yan led him to the hall of the main camp at the front gate of the camp.
A group of people entered. Guan Hai and his lieutenants sat under Zhang Yan's right hand, while the others, Qing Qing, Wang Dang, Du Chang, Zhang Fang and others sat opposite them.
Zhang Yangao sat in the main seat.
After everyone was seated, Guan Hai did not follow him in circles, but went straight to the point: "General Zhang, I am not lying to you. In my early years, I was loyal to General Tiangong and followed him in the south and north. However, after General Tiangong was defeated,
, I was abandoned by my clan and captured by General Guan. Fortunately, the Qingzhou Army was benevolent and righteous and did not execute me and saved my life."
"The kindness of rebuilding is unforgettable, so now I only follow General Guan's lead and serve the Luoyang court as my master. When we revolted, it was to resist the tyranny of the court. But now, General Tiangong, General Digong, and General Renggong have all passed away.
It is extremely difficult to raise the yellow turban flag of righteousness. Moreover, the world of Han Dynasty has already changed, so what is the point of thinking about overthrowing the imperial court?"
Of course, Guan Hai couldn't express these words in his mind. In addition to Guan Hai, Chen Mu also sent a lobbyist on this trip. This person was the deputy general Guan Hai brought. He thought that Guan Hai should be given the opportunity first.
Hai probed Zhang Yan's tone to see if he was really willing to surrender to the court and obey the emperor of Luoyang, so he taught Guan Hai how to speak.
After hearing this, Zhang Yan sighed with emotion and said: "Yes, I think back then, when we followed General Tiangong, many years passed. Even several emperors died. The world of the Han Dynasty has long since changed. There are people everywhere who are dissatisfied with Wang Hua.
If the princes want to overthrow the imperial court, when will it be our turn?"
Guan Haijiu said again: "Today's Emperor Bo'an Gong is a well-known sage in the country. He has always been famous for his benevolence and righteousness. He is the emperor and is popular among the people. We are all untouchables. We were originally rebellious and rebellious.
The imperial court has forgiven me for my crime, which is already a sign of mercy. As the saying goes, repaying evil with evil is a kind of mercy. Since the imperial court has forgiven us of our sins, we must not repay evil with evil."
A summary of the content of the words from Guan Hai's entrance to the present. In fact, Zhang Jiao's Yellow Turban Uprising has failed, and the court has changed the emperor and has been exempted from harsh rule. They should not continue to rebel. What's more, they themselves are still guilty.
, if the court shows mercy outside the law, one should be grateful and grateful, and should not repay kindness with enmity.
Zhang Yan understood what he meant. Under normal circumstances, she should have immediately promised to be loyal to the court. However, for some reason, her face was very hesitant. The moment of hesitation made the lobbyist next to Guan Hai see the clue, so she suddenly said:
"Is there something that General Zhang has to hide?"
"Forehead......"
Zhang Yan was momentarily stunned by the question and choked for a while before looking to her left and talking to him again, asking the lobbyist: "Who is this?"
"I am Xu Shuo, who is Guanglu Cheng. The imperial court has sent me to the army to supervise the provisions, weapons, and armor. This time the general is here, and I will accompany him."
Xu Shuo responded with a smile.
In his early years, Xu Shuo was a member of a small clan in Qingzhou. Because he had read a book, he was recruited into Guan Yu's army as chief registrant. Later, when Guan Yu was crusading against the Yellow Turbans, the bandits of the Qingzhou clan, he contributed a lot and persuaded many Yellow Turbans to surrender, and he made great contributions.
As a result, he rose through the ranks and became a subordinate officer under Guang Luxun.
As mentioned before, Guang Luxun was actually in charge of the weapons and equipment for the army when it went on an expedition, so Zhao Lin, Liu Guan and Zhang Chen’s first friend, was an officer under Guang Luxun and was sent to the Northern Army to manage these equipment. Chen Mu made friends with
Zhao Lin just wanted to equip her army with the best weapons and equipment.
Xu Shuo has always been in Guan Yu's army and has made a lot of contributions, so the imperial court appointed him as Guanglu Cheng. The advantage of this is that Guan Yu can cover all the weapons, equipment, and food matters in the army, which can be regarded as the imperial court's support for Guan Yu.
A manifestation of trust.
Zhang Yan said: "It turns out it's Guang Lucheng. It's not that I have anything to hide. Yuan Shao has used troops against me all the time, causing me heavy losses. I have a blood feud with him. It's just that Yuan Shao is powerful and keeps a close eye on me, so he may not be able to do anything."
"
Xu Shuo said: "I know what the general is worried about. Are you afraid that the outcome of this war will be that Yuan Shao wins?"
Zhang Yan's face became even more embarrassed.
Historically, he dared to send 100,000 troops to help Gongsun Zan because Yuan Shao was not strong at that time, and Yuan Shao and Lu Bu had attacked him, causing him heavy casualties, so he had to take revenge.
But after Yuan Shao eliminated Gongsun Zan, established a firm foothold in Jizhou, and developed his strength, Zhang Yan was no longer someone he could offend.
Therefore, during this period of time, Zhang Yan could only shrink back and did not dare to go out to provoke Yuan Shao again.
This situation lasted until Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao in the Battle of Guandu and Yuan Shao died of illness. Only then did he determine who the overlord of the Central Plains was, and then decisively defected to Cao Cao.
A series of actions clearly proved that Zhang Yan was indeed a faggot.
But he had no choice. After all, he was hiding with Yuan Shao with hundreds of thousands of people. Even if he didn't think about himself, he had to think about the hundreds of thousands of people who followed him. Once Yuan Shao won, what would happen to Zhang Yan and his people?
For the people, it would be a devastating disaster.
Taihang Mountain is not a real paradise. With Jizhou's military strength, it would be easy to crush his stronghold. It's just that Yuan Shao couldn't treat him as his main enemy, so he didn't take heavy action.
If he completely defected to the court before the winner was decided, and by the time Yuan Shao won, there would be no room for recovery. This was something Zhang Yan did not want to see.
Therefore, he must be respectful to the imperial envoys. But if the imperial court asked him to completely defect to the imperial court and send troops to attack Yuan Shao, it would be difficult for him to obey the order.
To put it simply, whoever wins will help him. This is an eternal truth and applies to him at any time.
Seeing that he didn't reply, Xu Shuo knew what he was thinking with his embarrassed expression.
Fortunately, Chen Mu had already anticipated the thoughts of these Black Mountain troops, so Xu Shuo had been given instructions by him before he came, and he had already prepared a countermeasure.
Seeing that Xu Shuo was not panicked at all, he smiled and said: "The imperial court has already understood what the general wants. So general, please rest assured, the imperial court will not force the general to attack Yuan Shao. This time, the Shaofu wants to invite the general.
, and many leaders in Five Elements Mountain, went to Linli to discuss important matters."
Heading to Linliu?
Zhang Yan and several of his subordinates looked at each other without speaking.
Everyone felt uneasy and began to hesitate, running to other people's territory. Can their safety be guaranteed?
Seeing that several people were silent, the impatient Guan Hai shouted: "You are afraid of a bird's egg. The Shaofu did not place the location inside the city, but on the plain outside the city. You can see for more than ten miles at a glance. You can lead your troops there by yourself."
That is, if you feel that we have brought too many people, you can just leave. Are you still afraid that the young master will eat you?"
Zhang Yan was embarrassed by him, but she still didn't dare to offend the imperial envoy, so she said, "I wonder who this young master is?"
Xu Shuo cupped his hands toward the south, smiled slightly and said, "It's the world-famous Chen Zigui!"
Chen Zigui?
"This Chen Zigui has always been rumored to be unparalleled in his loyalty and righteousness. He once denounced Dong Zhuo angrily, and later led troops to rescue the Manchu ministers, which was praised by the world."
"I also heard that Chen Zigui loves the people like a son and is very popular among the people in Qingzhou. His eldest brother Liu Xuande is a benevolent and righteous man. Even the people in Jizhou are grateful to him. I think Chen Zigui is not a renegade person."
"If it were him, with his reputation, he shouldn't dare to harm us."
Several people were talking about it.
A person's name, a tree's shadow.
Chen Mu is so famous and has such a good reputation that people can't help but feel fond of him.
The main reason is that the evil deeds he did were hidden too deeply, the truth was buried in the ground, and there were very few people who knew about it. Only a few people such as Yan Zhong, Tai Shi Ci, and Wang Jun knew about his evil deeds.
Even Xun He and other party members were kept in the dark. Chen Mu's good reputation was basically due to their help in propaganda in Shilin.
Coupled with the endorsement of the world-famous Zheng Xuan, Cai Yong and others, his reputation is now well-known in the Han Dynasty. It is much better than those ordinary celebrities who are only famous in prefectures, counties, and local people know it.
With such a reputation, Zhang Yan and others felt much more at ease. They thought that since Chen Mu had gained fame, he would not betray his trust and suddenly attack them.
What's more, Zhang Yan is still a general conferred by the imperial court, and he is also an official of the imperial court in name. If he is killed for no reason, the imperial court will hold him accountable.
Thinking of this, Zhang Yan became less worried and asked curiously: "Since the invitation is from Chen Zigui, who is famous all over the world, we can't refuse. I just don't know why the young master invites me."
Xu Shuo said: "This matter is of great importance. We have invited many leaders to defeat Yuan Shao. But as I said before, the Shaofu will not force you to send troops, but we also hope that you will help each other and provide assistance when necessary.
The young master is willing to exchange for some conveniences. As for the specific things, the general will know when he arrives."
Zhang Yan and several of his subordinates looked at each other, and finally nodded vigorously and said: "Okay, in this case, I can't be timid. Please rest in the camp today and let me prepare. We will go there tomorrow."
Set off to Linli to meet the Shaofu."
"Okay, then General Lao will be here."
Xu Shuo nodded.
This mission has been successfully completed. As long as Zhang Yan arrives at Linli, the Shaofu will naturally be sure to persuade him to get out of the way so that the imperial army can use the trails in the Wuxing Mountain to raid Jizhou!