The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 175 Li Yi is a kind-hearted man, why would he hold the Hongmen Banquet?

Xuzhou, Xiapi.

Today, Li Yi received two guests from the south.

They were none other than the leaders of the Shanyue tribe who were defeated by Taishi Ci, Xu Sheng and Yuan Yin not long ago.

Zulang, Feizhan.

These two people were quite influential in Danyang, considering that the Shanyue people lived together with the Han people.

Therefore, Li Yi did not make things too difficult for the two. Instead, he met them in person and used a combination of kindness and severity, hoping to win the hearts of the people of Danyang.

Li Yi ordered people to prepare a banquet to entertain the two men.

Zu Lang and Fei Zhan both knew Li Yi's status in Liu Ying, so they were honored and humbled to receive such courtesy from him.

"The Shanyue are descendants of the Yue people of the Qin Dynasty. For hundreds of years, they have lived together with the Han people without interfering with each other."

"But many Shanyue people refused to pay taxes or perform corvée labor, and instead hid themselves away."

"They gathered in the mountains and forests, defended the mountains and became bandits, and opposed the government."

“This really adds a lot of difficulty to our work.”

Li Yi said to the two of them solemnly.

Zu Lang and Fei Zhan both showed shame on their faces.

Although Li Yi did not name anyone directly, the Shanyue people who hid in the mountains and did not pay taxes that he was referring to were not the two of them?

"The Shanyue people in the Lingyang area have surrendered to the government."

"However, Danyang has many mountains, and there are still many mountain bandits who are stubborn and still oppose us."

Li Yi didn't want to invest too many resources in Danyang.

Because the Jiangnan area was developed late, instead of investing resources in Jiangnan now, it is better to keep them for the development of Xuzhou.

But the Shanyue problem in Danyang had to be solved.

After much thought, I think the best strategy is to attack the city first and conquer the heart first.

Using barbarians to control barbarians has the lowest cost.

"Today, I invited the two commanders to Xuzhou to discuss how to solve the Shanyue issue in Danyang."

Li Yi stood up and strode up to the two of them.

"To be honest with you two, General Liu has entrusted me with the affairs of the South."

"Danyang is a place with dangerous mountains and many resolute and strong people who like to do noble things. It is a place where elite soldiers are produced."

"If we go to war with Hebei in the future, the people of Danyang will surely help Xuzhou."

"Yi sincerely wants to live in harmony with the Shanyue people, but there are always a few individuals who are unwilling to cooperate with Li's work."

"……hehe."

Having said that, the corners of Li Yi's lips curled up slightly and he smiled to himself.

"Li is not a bad person. He has already given orders to Danyang."

"All Shanyue people who are willing to come down from the mountains will be registered as citizens."

"The court will also give them land to cultivate."

"We also rent oxen, grain seeds, and even farming tools."

"I know that there are few Shanyue people who farm, so I am willing to send someone to guide them."

"Doesn't this demonstrate Li's sincerity?"

To put it bluntly, the Shanyue people are just a bunch of street urchins.

If we want to eradicate the Shanyue problem, the most fundamental method is to assimilate them into Chinese culture and eliminate their bad habits.

Only by fully accepting Han culture and adopting Han people's living habits can the Shanyue problem that has existed for hundreds of years be solved.

These Shanyue people had lived together with the Han people for four hundred years and had actually been almost assimilated into the Han culture.

Almost everyone can speak fluent Chinese.

There are still some differences in living habits.

Moreover, the farming techniques of the Shanyue people were far behind those of the Han people.

This is absolutely not possible.

China has been an agricultural civilization since ancient times. Only by promoting the development of agriculture can we enhance the country's comprehensive strength.

Shanyue has a large number of young and strong people, who provide sufficient labor force.

However, they are all hidden households and refuse to cooperate with the government, which is really a headache.

"Both of you are powerful families in Danyang, and you are quite popular among the local people."

"So I personally think that if I leave this matter to you two, you should be able to handle it for me."

Li Yi formally put forward his request to Zu Lang and Fei Zhan.

The tone is still unquestionable.

I am not discussing this with you two, I am asking you two to do it.

The reason why I rely on Zu Lang and Fei Zhan.

It still depends on local conditions.

Danyang was too backward, and the government had been lacking for many years.

As a result, both the Han and Shanyue people in the area no longer recognized the government, but only recognized their own powerful leaders.

Then this will be easy to handle.

If I turn your powerful leaders into government officials, isn't that the same as recognizing me as the government?
Zu Lang and Fei Zhan looked at each other, and then said in unison:
"It is our honor to be able to serve the Marquis of Tan."

"It's just that the Shanyue problem has been around for a long time. There are now hundreds of commanders in Danyang alone."

"It may not be easy to recruit them one by one."

Li Yi nodded, his expression as usual, and said calmly:
"It is precisely because it is not easy that I summoned you two here."

"If it were easy, why would you two come here to see me?"

The words have been made very clear.
If it weren't for the fact that you two were still of some use, your heads would have been chopped off in Langling Mountain.

The two looked at each other, unable to answer.

Li Yi continued, "I know this matter will infringe upon the interests of the local tyrants, and many of the commanders are unwilling to compromise."

"But I am willing to compensate them. As long as they are willing to submit to the government and make the Shanyue people under their command as citizens, they will be exempted from corvée for two years and tax exemption for one year."

"As for seeds, fields, and oxen that you have lent out, you do not have to pay interest."

"What do you think of this condition?"

Zu Lang and Fei Zhan hesitated for a moment. They knew that this was the biggest concession Li Yi had ever made.

With such favorable conditions, their work will indeed be much smoother.

But the road ahead is long and full of difficulties and dangers.

"……correct."

Li Yi seemed to remember something and waved to the servant beside him.

The servant turned around, took out something and handed it to Li Yi.

"This is a curved plow, which is very useful for paddy field farming in the south."

"I have been using it in Xuzhou for several years and the harvest is very good."

"Since you two want to teach the Shanyue people to cultivate the land, this thing may be useful."

As soon as he finished speaking, the curved plow had already been delivered to Zu Lang and Fei Zhan.

This……

The two men looked at each other and gently stroked the curved plow with their hands.

While marveling at the exquisiteness of this thing, I couldn't help but admire Li Yi's courage and wisdom in doing things.

"When you two return, tell those commanders."

"As long as they are willing to cooperate with the government in registering all the people, all the tools, including the curved plow, will be loaned out free of charge."

"After the harvest next year, the government will only take part of the grain and fodder, and the commanders of the tribes can keep the rest for themselves."

Zu Lang and Fei Zhan both clasped their hands and responded in unison:
"I will follow the orders of Marquis Tan!"

As soon as he finished speaking, another servant hurried over.

However, this servant was also accompanied by a general, who was none other than Zhang Yang, the former governor of Henei.

Zhang Yang nodded to Li Yi and said:
"Tan Hou, people are coming."

Ok……

Li Yi nodded, signaling everyone to go and greet the guests quickly.

Zu Lang and Fei Zhan were stunned again, thinking to themselves, wasn't today's banquet specially prepared for the two of them?

"May I ask who else the Marquis of Tan invited?"

Zu Lang couldn't help but ask back.

"...Haha, you two don't have to be scared."

Li Yi waved to the two of them, signaling them to stay calm.

"I am setting up a banquet today and inviting two tables of guests to eat."

"Then who are the guests at the other table...?"

"Sui Gu, leader of the Black Mountain Army."

hiss……

When they heard the name Sui Gu, they couldn't help but gasp.

They are both gangsters, one in the north and the other in the south, and they have made a name for themselves in their respective places.

However, these Shanyue bandits are still no match for the Black Mountain bandits.

That’s right, not to mention that the productivity of the South cannot catch up with that of the North, even the bandits in the South are far inferior to those in the North.

This gang of Black Mountain bandits are from the Yellow Turbans, and are the purest of all the lineages.

The most that Zu Lang and his gang of Shanyue bandits could do was to fight guerrilla warfare in the mountains.

And these Black Mountain bandits are the ones who truly dare to challenge the warlords head-on.

And it is an active attack, capturing cities and territories.

As early as the second year of Chuping, the Black Mountain bandits claimed to have gathered more than 100,000 people to attack Weijun in Jizhou and Dongjun in Yanzhou.

Although they were eventually defeated by Cao Cao, they still occupied the Taihang Mountains west of Jizhou.

He was one of Yuan Shao's biggest concerns.

Before Lu Bu surrendered to Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao used Lu Bu as a general to fight against the Black Mountain bandits.

However, the Black Mountain bandits are powerful and have been entrenched for a long time, and they cannot be eliminated overnight.

Logically speaking, it is a thorn buried in Jizhou.

The Black Mountain Army should be a force that Henan should win over no matter what.

But the Montenegrin Army is ultimately a bandit, and their political stance is too unstable.

Unlike their predecessor, the Yellow Turban Army, the Yellow Turban Army was determined to destroy the Eastern Han Dynasty.

But the Montenegrin Army does not have the courage to "establish the country with the will of heaven", they just want to live a good life for themselves.

This also makes them typical fence-sitters.

He is a fence-sitter in the true sense of the word.

Basically, they flirted with all the princes they came into contact with, including the Han court.

The key is that they have not changed their evil nature. Even if they surrender to you, they will still plunder your territory.

Because it is too annoying,

Even if the war between Yuan and Cao was about to begin, both parties could unanimously decide to destroy it first before starting the fight.

Of course,
The Montenegrin army is too powerful and has many intertwined networks.

Therefore, some Black Mountain Army leaders were suppressed by Yuan Shao and Cao Cao respectively.

Some of them led their troops to surrender to the two, while others were defeated and their whereabouts are unknown.

In short, he gradually died out after years of attacks from Yuan and Cao.

It is not something that can be achieved overnight.

At the same time, the Montenegrin Army is said to have more than one million troops, and this number is actually not exaggerated.

Because the Black Mountain Army inherited the population of the Yellow Turban Army.

After the Yellow Turban Rebellion was suppressed, there were still many people willing to become bandits.

So they brought their families to Montenegro and got together to cause trouble.

This is mainly the fault of Emperor Ling of Han.

He thought that since he had put down the Yellow Turban Rebellion, shouldn't he be able to enjoy himself?

So taxes were increased and the imperial palace was rebuilt.

As a result, officials at all levels saw this as a good opportunity to make money in accordance with the emperor's orders.

They exploit people at every level, and their harsh rule is more ferocious than a tiger.

The remnants of the Yellow Turbans had no way to retreat; the imperial court would not give them a chance to survive, so they could only join the Black Mountain Army.

Although the leaders of the Montenegrin Army were not well educated and did not understand the people's livelihood and governing the country.

But by staying here, the people can at least survive.

This is how they gathered more and more, until there were millions of them.

Let’s not talk about anything else, just the sparsely populated era at the end of the Han Dynasty.

Just the people under the Black Mountain Commander are a huge fortune.

Therefore, Li Yi went to great lengths to invite Zhang Yang from Chen.

Then ask him to come forward and act as a middleman to help introduce him to the leaders of various units of the Black Mountain Army.

Since there were too many generals, Zhang Yang only invited a few of them.

But they are all well-known figures in Montenegro.

Soon, the servants invited the visitors from Montenegro into the hall.

Li Yi came out to meet him in person.

"…Li Yi of Xuzhou, I am rude and impolite for not welcoming the distant guest."

All the Black Mountain leaders also returned the greetings to Li Yi one by one.

Zhang Yang was the matchmaker, so he took the initiative to introduce the two sides.

The people who came included Heishan leader Sui Gu, Bai Rao, Li Damu, Zhang Baiqi and others.

Since most of these channel leaders came from the lower classes of society, their names often came from their personal behavior or physical appearance.

For example, Li Damu was named Damu because he had big eyes.

Zhang Baiqi was called Baiqi because he rode a white horse.

In short, the main focus is simplicity and unpretentiousness.

Li Yi greeted everyone one by one.

Another person was found in the crowd. He had a strong body and bright eyes.

But Zhang Yang did not introduce him, but asked:
"Sima Zhang, who is standing behind you?"

Zhang Yang turned around to look, but he didn't recognize the man either.

When he went out of the city to meet them just now, I thought he was just a little follower of the generals.

Unexpectedly, it would attract Li Yi's attention.

Before Zhang Yang could ask, the man mentioned stepped out and saluted Li Yi:
"Zhang Yan of Black Mountain greets Marquis Li Tan!"

Zhang Yan!

Hearing this name, everyone present was shocked.

Even Zu Lang and Fei Zhan, two southern Shanyue chieftains, could not help but tremble.

They didn't know any of these leaders.

But they had heard of Zhang Yan's name. There were millions of Black Mountain bandits, and his commanders numbered more than a hundred.

Each of them had 20,000 to 30,000 men under their command, or as few as 6,000 to 7,000.

But with so many Montenegrin troops, there must be a commander-in-chief.

And this commander was none other than Zhang Yan!

Zhang Yan, whose original name was Chu Yan, was also known as Chu Feiyan.

Because of her agility like a swallow, people in the martial arts world nicknamed her Flying Swallow.

Zhang Yan is a very capable person, and can be said to be several levels higher than other Heishan commanders.

He was even lucky.

A person who is capable and blessed with luck is destined to be extraordinary in troubled times.

Just talking about his beginnings, he was a bad boy since he was young.

Taking advantage of the start of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he followed other bad boys to plunder among the mountains and rivers, and soon formed a team of 10,000 people.

This frightened King Liu Hao of Changshan so much that he abandoned his country and fled.

But Zhang Yan's legendary life had just begun.

At that time, there was an even more powerful bandit in Changshan, known as Zhang Niujiao.

As a result, Zhang Yan, who was called Chu Yan at the time, was very sensible and directly surrendered to Zhang Niujiao.

Two thieves become one.

Who would have thought that the two of them were holding the scripts of Song Jiang and Chao Gai.

Just one year after the two men merged, Zhang Niu Jiao was shot dead by an arrow while attacking the county town.

Before his death, he entrusted his troops to Zhang Yan.

Zhang Yan also officially changed his surname from "Chu" to "Zhang".

The purpose is to better control Zhang Niujiao's army.

We will publicize to the outside world that our village will always be named "Zhang".

Because he and Zhang Niujiao had no blood relationship, no matter how close their friendship was, it would only last less than a year.

Changing his surname would make it seem like he and Zhang Niujiao were a family.

This makes it easier for the small leaders who follow Zhang Niujiao to accept him.

From this incident, we can see that in addition to being lucky, Zhang Yan is also capable and resourceful.

When luck favors you, you have to seize the opportunity.

If you are given opportunities and you don't make use of them, you can't blame others.

And how did Zhang Yan become the leader of the million-strong Black Mountain Army?
This brings us to Sui Gu, Bai Rao and others who came to Xuzhou with Zhang Yan.

At that time, they were also extremely powerful leaders of Montenegro.

He gathered more than 100,000 people to attack Weijun and Dongjun.

We all know the final result: they were defeated by Cao Cao.

During this period, Zhang Yan watched the show in Changshan the whole time and did not go on stage at all.

After offending Cao Cao, Yu Du and others knew that this guy was not easy to deal with.

Then go and pick on someone who’s easy to pick on!
So their next choice was Yuan Shao.

Yu Du also united more than ten bandits to attack Yuan Shao.

And Yuan Shao is even more of a heavyweight.

I thought to myself, you dare to touch the earth under the taboo.

So Yuan Shao personally led his troops and attacked Yu Du's lair directly, fighting fiercely with Yu Du's army for five days.

The killing was so intense that the sky was dark, the sun and moon lost their radiance, and ghosts wept and gods mourned.

Finally, Yu Du and Hu Shou, the governor of Jizhou appointed by the imperial court, were killed.

It was a rare opportunity for Yuan Shao to launch Yuan Shen Mobilization, so he wanted to kill all these bandits.

He besieged Heishan and beheaded Zuo Xi Zhangba and others.

He also defeated Liu Shi, Qing Niu Jiao, Huang Long, Zuo Xiao, Guo Daxian, Yu Digen and others in succession.

They charged into the fortress and massacred the bandits.

More than tens of thousands of heads were beheaded and the bandits fled in all directions.

Blood and wailing echoed throughout the valley.

Heishan was almost deserted by Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao once again proved his worth as the God Yuan.

And the goddess of luck once again favored Zhang Yan.

As he was watching the whole show, his headquarters was not harmed.

So the remaining Black Mountain remnants who were killed all ran to Zhang Yan.

In other words, Yuan Shao's successive victories enabled Zhang Yan to integrate the Black Mountain Army without bloodshed.

The Black Mountain Army, which was originally a loose group and each acted independently, now has only one king left.

That's Zhang Yan.

So when the people in Xuzhou heard that Zhang Yan, the leader of the million-strong Black Mountain Army, came to Xia Pi in person.

Everyone was shocked.

No one could have imagined that Zhang Yan had such courage to invade Xia Pi.

Although Li Yi announced to the public that he was inviting the leaders of the various Black Mountain tribes to be guests and attend a banquet in Xuzhou.

But didn’t Zhang Yan dare to bet that this was not the Hongmen Banquet set up by Li Yi?
He is not the real Feiyan, and once he arrives in Xuzhou, he will have no control over what happens.

In fact,
What Li Yi set up was indeed the Hongmen Banquet.

His original intention in making this statement was to win over this group of Black Mountain troops and make them a thorn in his opposition to Yuan Shikai.

However, considering the Black Mountain Army's unchangeable nature, Li Yi had to take some precautions.

If there really is such a thing, it is not impossible to kill one or two leaders to serve as a warning to others.

But Zhang Yan's arrival obviously disrupted Li Yi's original plan.

Even Li Yi did not expect that Zhang Yan would come or dare to come to Xuzhou.

"…So it's General Zhang. I've heard of your great name for a long time. Please take a seat!"

Since it was Zhang Yan, Li Yi could not neglect him and personally went forward to invite him to sit in the seat of honor.

He also deliberately called Zhang Yan "General" instead of using the title "Qu Shuai" which was unique to the Black Mountain bandits.

As mentioned before, the attitude of the Montenegrin Army towards all the princes is ambiguous.

This naturally includes the Han court.

Considering Zhang Yan's great power, he was appointed as the General of the Central Army to Suppress the Rebellion as early as the reign of Emperor Ling.

Of course, in addition to Zhang Yan, the court also appointed other Heishanqu generals as officials.

This is obviously an attempt to provoke infighting within the Montenegrin Army.

But the Montenegrin generals were not interested in the size of the official positions and did not fight.

However, Li Yi's calling him like this was obviously sending a positive signal.

In other words, we are all serving the Han court.

We don't treat you as a black mountain bandit.

Zhang Yan was middle-aged and shrewd enough to understand what Li Yi meant and sent him friendly signals.

"Thank you, Lord Tan!"

"A strong guest should not overpower the host. Zhang Yan is a guest and dare not walk in front of the host."

"Please go first, Lord Tan."

The two of them exchanged some courtesies before sitting down.

Zhang Yang was only old acquaintances with Sui Gu and his gang, and had no relationship with Zhang Yan.

But he had also heard of Zhang Yan's reputation, so he asked:

"Zhang Qu... General Zhang came in person, why didn't he tell me when I left the city just now?"

"I apologize for my negligence, I hope General Zhang will forgive me."

Zhang Yan smiled and said:

"Too many people covet Yan's head. I came to Xuzhou alone today. I dare not claim it before I meet Marquis Tan."

This reason is acceptable.

After all, Zhang Yan's status is almost equivalent to that of a local lord.

And he also possesses a huge fortune, which is the one million Montenegrin people under his command.

Due to Zhang Yan’s arrival, the “good dishes” prepared today were naturally prepared for him alone.

Zhang Yan is the undisputed protagonist today.

The chef kept serving good wine and delicious food.

Li Damu, Sui Gu and others were not polite and started to eat with big mouthfuls.

Everyone's mouth was full of oil, and fish sashimi and barbecued meat kept disappearing into the greedy mouths of these ruffians.

As the host of the banquet, Li Yi maintained his usual calm demeanor.

He was not moved by the sumptuous food in front of him.

The crane cloak he was wearing was not stained with any oil or grease at all.

Zhang Yan kept his eyes on Li Yi the whole time, sizing him up carefully, and then marveled inwardly.

Like Li Yi, he was not in a hurry to eat or drink.

Both of them have their own thoughts and plans.

It's just that no one took the initiative to speak and start talking.

After leaving Zhang Yan alone for a while, Li Yi concluded that this man was different from ordinary bandits.

He has a calm and composed demeanor and is someone who can work together and accomplish great things.

So he raised his wine cup with a smile, and said to the Black Mountain Commander headed by Zhang Yan:
"To be honest, my master, General Liu, originally entrusted me with the military and political affairs of the South."

"You all came from the north, and should have been received by others."

"But you are all among the best heroes in the world and you should not be ignored."

"Li will receive you first. After the banquet, Li will introduce you to General Liu one by one."

"General Liu is kind and generous, and will definitely not let you go back empty-handed."

"After the banquet, please don't be in a hurry to leave. We in Xuzhou will never treat guests from afar unfairly."

"I will order people to prepare some refined salt, maltose, silk cloth, linen, and coins to send to you."

After hearing this, all the generals applauded.

"...Okay, okay. I've heard of Li Tanhou's reputation for being a good person."

"I didn't want to be so generous, but it was worth the trip."

"……Hahaha."

A burst of laughter rang out from the hall.

There is good wine and good meat to enjoy, and you will get money after the meal.

Where in the world can you find such a wonderful thing?

I have long heard that Xuzhou is a prosperous place, especially Xia Pi, which is "the city that the world desires."

When I saw it today, I found it to be quite good indeed.

At first, after receiving the invitation from Xuzhou, everyone was reluctant to come.

The reason is also very simple,
Who is Li Yi?

The strategist of Henan is full of tricks and plays tricks on people like a child.

What these reckless men fear most are those who try to think.

All the Black Mountain commanders felt that Li Yi's invitation was like a weasel paying a New Year's greeting to a chicken, and that he had no good intentions.

If I go there, I might be put under house arrest in Xuzhou.

So no one wanted to go.

The result was something no one expected.

Their king, Zhang Yan, the leader of the Black Mountain Army.

He actually went against all odds, made a decisive decision, and insisted on going to Xuzhou for the banquet and meeting Li Yi.

Everyone was quite surprised by Zhang Yan's decision, but since Zhang Yan had made up his mind, everyone could only support him.

After arriving in Xuzhou with a nervous mood.

Until this moment, everyone finally put their minds at ease.

Li Yi is indeed a kind person and would not make things difficult for them. They have wronged him.

"I have heard that there is no reward without merit. We have no contact with General Liu and Xuzhou in Heishan."

"You have given us a lot of money and food for no reason, and Yan feels ashamed to accept it."

While everyone was secretly delighted with Xuzhou's gift, only Zhang Yan looked embarrassed and was unwilling to accept it.

The Black Mountain commanders were stunned and thought to themselves, "What are you thinking about, King?"
We are thieves to begin with, and now someone is giving us money and food for free, aren't you happy?

You've become stupid because of being an official, right?

"……Do not."

"General Zhang has made great contributions to the country in fighting against the enemy. My master is a descendant of the imperial family and the Left General of the Han Dynasty."

"I am grateful for the general's hard work and great achievements in fighting in Jizhou over the years, so I will reward him."

"I hope General Zhang won't refuse."

Li Yi persuaded.

He deliberately emphasized that Zhang Yan had made great contributions to the country, which puzzled everyone at first.

But when Li Yi mentioned the battle in Jizhou, everyone suddenly realized.

Oh ~
It turns out that the thief Li Yi was referring to was Yuan Shao.

You know, Zhang Yan and Yuan Shao did have conflicts.

As mentioned before, after Yuan Shen was activated, he destroyed the entire Black Mountain.

At that time, all the remaining Black Mountain troops fled to Zhang Yan's side.

When Yuan Shao saw this, he thought to himself, I fought for so long, and only a little swallow like you got to pick peaches?

How can that work.

He then sent troops to Changshan State to attack Zhang Yan.

Zhang Yan has been favored by the goddess of luck many times and has gathered a large number of troops without bloodshed. Now is the time to show his strength.

Yuan Shao appointed Lu Bu as his general, which caused heavy casualties and a huge blow to the morale of Zhang Yan's army.

But even so, in the end he only ended up in a draw with Zhang Yan.

This was because Zhang Yan gained the support of the Xiongnu and Wuhuan peoples, and fought with Yuan Shao, resulting in both sides suffering heavy losses, and then they stopped fighting and rested.

Some people may say that Zhang Yan relies on foreign aid rather than his own strength.

But, the fact that Zhang Yan was able to attract foreign aid is a sign of strength in itself, isn’t it?

In short, after this battle, Zhang Yan and Yuan Shao became enemies.

You must know that Zhang Yan was the General of the Central Army appointed by the imperial court to suppress rebellions, and theoretically he fought on behalf of the imperial court.

On the contrary, Yuan Shao was labeled a traitor by the court controlled by Li Jue and Guo Si at the time, and his title of "Mr. of Jizhou" was not recognized.

So in the war between Zhang Yan and Yuan Shao,
Zhang Yan was the legitimate ruler, while Yuan Shao was labeled as a thief.

Li Yi said this, obviously wanting to continue to recognize Zhang Yan's legitimacy.

And they planned to label Yuan Shao, who had already firmly established his position in the north, as a traitor again!
……

(End of this chapter)