Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 188 Meeting in Pingcheng, Three Questions to Yanmen

The matter of Xihe County was not difficult to resolve. Cui Jun had less than a hundred soldiers under his command, and they almost depended on Taiyuan for survival. If Zhang Yu had not valued Cui Jun's ability and had no time to care about Xihe County, he would have sent people to resolve Xihe County as soon as he took Taiyuan.

However, the situation in Yanmen County was very different from that in Xihe County. Yanmen County was a large county in Bingzhou, facing the border to the north. There were many people from the Wuhuan, Xiongnu, and Xianbei tribes in the county. If they could recruit the Hu people, it would not be difficult to send out 10,000 infantry and cavalry.

In order to resolve the situation in Yanmen County and regulate the Hu tribe in the border areas, Zhang Yu decided to go north from Jinyang to Mayi, intending to meet with Guo Wei first; then go to Pingcheng in the northern border to summon the leaders of the Hu tribe.

"I don't know the Hu language. It would be better for me to go north with my husband via Alahai. Besides, my sister is the daughter of the Chanyu and has a noble status among the Hu people." Wang Ji hesitated.

Li Suyi smiled and said, "Even the Xiongnu Chanyu has to wait for my husband's orders. How can the princess' status be more noble than my sister's?"

"I'd rather not go. My husband has just taken over Jinyang. I really can't rest assured if there are no relatives to take care of him. And Mu Mo is still young and can't leave me alone!"

Wang Ji thought for a while and said, "Let Su Yi and A La Hai accompany my husband to the north!"

"That's fine!"

Seeing that Wang Ji was unwilling to go with him, Zhang Yu was unwilling to force him and said, "In this case, Madam, please pay more attention to the affairs of the prefecture."

"promise!"

Taking advantage of the gap before setting off north, Zhang Yu invited his close confidants to his house.

"I will go to Mayi to meet Guo Yanmen. If everything goes well, I will invite all the nobles of Hu to Pingcheng to hold a meeting." Zhang Yu said, "After I leave Jinyang, military affairs will be supervised by Ziheng, and civil affairs will be handled by Yuanchang. If there are any difficult matters, you can go to my house and ask my wife."

"The affairs of Bingzhou are mainly to recruit refugees and reclaim wasteland. If there are bandits causing chaos in the county, they will be sent to Zhongkang, Gongming and Bo'an to fight. If there are outstanding people coming to Jinyang, you should entertain them well."

"There is something that I'm afraid I need your attention!" Zhong Yao said.

"What's the matter?"

Zhong Yao bowed and said, "The number of refugees in Shangdang has increased rapidly. The people are now working hard to cultivate the land, but human power is always inferior to livestock. Please go to the border north and buy cattle and horses from the Hu people so that you can give them to the people."

"If the cattle are given to the people, how can they repay them?" Zhang Yu asked.

Zhong Yao said: "It can be granted to the people at market price, and if the people do not have enough money, they can be allowed to pay more taxes every year to repay it."

Zhang Yu nodded and said, "I will take care of the matter of the oxen. Is there anything else you need to report?"

Zhong Yao stroked his beard and thought for a moment, then said, "May I ask when you can return?"

Zhang Yu pondered for a moment and said, "At the fastest, it will take one or two months, and at the slowest, it will take two or three months. If things go well, not only will Yanmen County be able to submit, but also the Hu tribes in the two northern border counties will be able to submit. By then, the border will be peaceful, the Hu cavalry will be useful, and the threat from the north will be temporarily eliminated!"

As a frontier prefecture, Bingzhou not only had Han people in its jurisdiction, but also tens of thousands of Hu people of various ethnic groups. The Han people had a mature governance system, and by controlling the county officials, they could rule the Han people.

However, it was difficult to deal with the Hu people. Because the Eastern Han Dynasty was weak, the Hu people in the border counties respected their leaders and nobles, and were greedy for money and aggressive. If the Hu people were not controlled and allowed to cause chaos in the state all year round, it would affect the stability of Bingzhou.

If we can reach an agreement with Guo Yu on this trip to Mayi, we might as well go north and summon the leader of the Hu people at Pingcheng to rebuild order between the Han and the Hu people. If we want to go further, it would be best if we can be driven by him.

Zhang Yu's ambition was not limited to ruling the Han territory, but he also wanted to control the various Hu tribes south of the desert. A real man should strive for supremacy and build a prosperous China, not shrink back and protect himself like the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Seeing Zhang Yu's ambition, Guo Tu asked, "If Yuan Shao sends an envoy to Jinyang to discuss the matter of taking Jizhou with you, how should we respond?"

Zhang Yu thought for a moment and said, "Report the news to me and I will make arrangements."

"promise!"

When Yuan Shao seized Jizhou, he would rush back to help even though he was far away in Pingcheng!
He had no connection with Han Fu, so he did not dare to hope to annex Jizhou. However, Jizhou had a large population, and Yuan Shao asked him to send troops to help. If he did not rescue people from the situation, wouldn't he be wasting Yuan Shao's kindness? Not to mention that Yuan Shao promised to cede Henei to him after the matter was accomplished.

After sorting out the important military and political affairs, time flew to February 1st.

On the day of departure for Mayi, Zhang Yu, in addition to bringing his family, also led three generals, Ke Bi, Hao Zhao, and Hu Yanle, and 1,500 infantry and cavalry north.

There are two roads from Jinyang to Mayi. One goes north through Langmeng, via Yanmen Mountain to Mayi; the other goes north along the Fen River, from Loufan to Mayi.

In order to join up with Li Song's troops, they headed north along the Fen River to reach Erzhuchuan first. The journey was six or seven hundred miles, and although Li Suyi, Alahai and other wives and concubines were by his side, the women were good at riding, so they were not slow, and it took them ten days to reach Erzhuchuan (now Shenchi County).

When Zhang Yu arrived at Erzhuchuan, Li Song had already led a thousand cavalrymen to wait at Erzhuchuan.

Erzhuchuan is a fertile place outside the mountainous area of Bingzhou. Historically, the name of the Erzhu clan originated from Erzhuchuan. Their tribe lived here for hundreds of years, and from here they moved to the Central Plains, eventually changing the history of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

"Jian!"

"Bersong!"

After many years, Zhang Yu finally met Li Song. He walked up to him quickly and gave him a warm hug.

"Liu Bosong has been working hard to look after the Hu people in the northern border!" Zhang Yu said as he asked his men to bring a chair.

Li Song looked at Zhang Yu, who was gradually showing his authority, and said with a smile: "Ji'an has conquered the east and the west, and his reputation is famous all over the world. Even though Song lives in the border, he has heard of Ji'an's reputation. This time he will go north to Yanmen to subdue Guo Yu and intimidate the border Hu. By then, all the Han and Hu generals in Bingzhou will be under Ji'an's control, and Ji'an's prestige will be further enhanced." Zhang Yu put his hands on his knees and said: "Now we don't know Guo Yu's attitude, and Yanmen has not yet submitted its household registration to Jinyang, so we can't be too happy too early. Moreover, even if Yanmen surrenders, Bingzhou will still be worried about the Xiongnu and the invasion of the Xianbei."

Li Song pointed at the cavalry he brought with him and said with a smile: "Since I attacked and killed Hu Qi, Guo Yu has led his troops to attack continuously, but they were all repelled by me and Shi Yi. With Guo Yu's military strategy, if he can understand the situation and submit to Ji'an, it would be good. If he doesn't understand the situation, I am willing to attack and kill Guo Yu for Ji'an."

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "Guo Yu and my Zhang family have a close relationship. We should try our best not to use force if we can."

"Sir, Guo Wei sent someone to report that he will be able to arrive in Mayi tomorrow." The attendant stepped forward to report.

"How many riders does he have?" Zhang Yu asked.

"About eight hundred!"

"good!"

After the attendants left, Li Song winked at Zhang Yu and jokingly said, "Song should not be addressed by his given name, but rather as Lord!"

Hearing this, Zhang Yu laughed a few times and said, "Bosong and I have a special relationship. You don't need to care about the title. Bosong can do whatever he wants."

Although Zhang Yu said so, Li Song did not dare to take it seriously and changed the subject, saying, "Sir, when will we set out for Mayi?"

"Let's take a short rest and then head towards Mayi in the afternoon," said Zhang Yu.

After a pause, Zhang Yu patted Li Song on the shoulder and said with a smile: "Most of my subordinates call me Lord, and we have a deep friendship. In the future, when there is no one around, you can call me Ji'an."

"Okay!" Li Song said with a smile.

Li Song and Zhang Yu grew up together, and their relationship is unmatched by any of his subordinates, not to mention that they are related by marriage. Today, he specifically asked Li Song to call him by his given name in private, which can be considered a special treatment.

The distance between Erzhuchuan and Mayi was more than a hundred miles, so Zhang Yu simply traveled day and night and set up camp in Mayi late that night.

On February 13, Guo Wei led his cavalry to Mayi as scheduled, and Zhang Yu invited his men to hunt together.

In early spring, the ice and snow melted, the green became thicker, the riders chased the prey, the prey fled, and the sound of horses' hooves could be heard.

At noon, the sun shone warmly on everyone. In order to avoid the strong north wind, the attendants set up open-air felt tents around them, while Zhang Yu, Li Song and Guo Wei talked around the fire.

"I haven't seen Mr. Guo for many years. You seem to be more energetic!" Zhang Yu poured a bottle of warm wine for Guo Yu and said with a smile.

Guo Yu took the wine bottle and said modestly: "The court was in turmoil, and Zhang Jun helped the country, conquered the bandits and defeated the invaders, and was feared by the people of Hebei. Yu is far inferior to you!"

Zhang Yu put down the wine pot and said, "Dong Zhuo deposed and enthroned the emperor, Yuan Shao raised an army to fight against Dong, the world was in turmoil, and war broke out everywhere. I wonder what Mr. Guo is planning?"

Guo Yu hesitated for a long time and said, "Yanmen is far away from the border, and the Hu people in the county are unruly. Yu has received the order of the emperor. Although I cannot help the world now, I should defend the land and protect the border to repay the emperor's kindness. May I ask what is Mr. Zhang's plan?"

Zhang Yu took a sip of warm wine and said, "Bingzhou is in a state of decline and has been severely invaded by the Hu people. Yu's wish now is to support the Han Dynasty if we advance, and to protect the territory and the people if we retreat. Therefore, Li Jun stopped me from fighting the enemy, so I had no choice but to take Taiyuan first, then surrender Dingxiang, and resume the discussion on Xihe."

"Now all the counties in Bingzhou are at peace, except for Yanmen County, where the situation is still unclear. So I went north this time to ask Mr. Guo about the situation in Yanmen County."

Guo Yu's expression became serious, and he asked, "What does Mr. Zhang want to ask?"

Zhang Yu said sternly, "Do you want to join forces with Yu to revive Han? What are the household registration and taxes in Yanmen now? How many soldiers and horses do you have under your command?"

Although Zhang Yu and others called Dong Zhuo a traitor, the official position awarded by Dong Zhuo was regarded by everyone as the etiquette of ruling the local area. Now Zhang Yu has the power to command all the counties in Bingzhou, and Guo Yu is only the governor of Yanmen, which is weaker than Zhang Yu in official position and needs to obey his orders.

Seeing Zhang Yu asking him three questions, Guo Yu was flustered for a moment, then immediately answered: "Since you are determined to revive the Han Dynasty, how dare I not join hands with you. The Yan family's household registration is in disarray, wait for Yu to sort it out, and then order the accountant to send it to Jinyang. As for the number of soldiers, horses, money and food, Yu will also send it to Jinyang."

"good!"

Seeing Guo Yu's cooperation, Zhang Yu smiled and said, "Now that Guo Jun can help Yu to revive Han with Yanmen Pass, the emperor of Yu, the Grand Marshal and the Minister of Education would like to thank Guo Jun for not forgetting Han's kindness."

"I dare not forget my duty as a minister!"

Seeing that Zhang Yu had no intention of taking his position as governor, Guo Yu felt relieved and said, "If Zhang Yu has any military affairs, please send someone to inform him and I will lead the troops to help him."

"good!"

Zhang Yu held Guo Yu's hand and said with a smile, "Mr. Guo has been very kind to me in promoting me, and I will never forget it. Your eldest son, Bo Ji, is intelligent, good at archery and horse riding, and knows military strategy. He is a great man in Taiyuan. Li Taiyuan intends to recommend him as a filial and honest official. What do you think?"

Guo Yu hesitated for a moment, then realized that this was Zhang Yu's gesture of goodwill to him, and said gratefully, "Thank you for recommending my son!"

"please!"

Guo Yu raised his glass to toast Zhang Yu and Li Song.

"please!"

(End of this chapter)