Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 205: Alone and helpless
After Zhang Yu's persuasion, Zhu Jun temporarily believed Zhang Yu's position. However, Zhu Jun believed it, but he still did not ask for soldiers and food.

In view of Zhu Jun's desperate request, Zhang Yu could not refuse, so he gave him five hundred good horses, ten thousand shi of food, and sent all the more than a thousand captured soldiers and horses to Zhu Jun.

Seeing Zhang Yu so generous in providing military supplies, Zhu Jun returned with joy!

When Zhu Jun returned to Zhongmu, he continued to recruit soldiers. Thanks to Tao Qian's support and Zhu Jun's reputation spread throughout the country, Taishan, Peiguo, Beihai, Jiujiang and other counties sent troops to support him.

Seeing that his troops were increasing in number, Zhu Jun adopted the suggestions of Yuan Shu and Tao Qian, named himself General of Chariots and Cavalry, and issued a manifesto to attack Dong Zhuo.

Zhu and Yuan have two chariots and cavalry, and there are three governors of Yuzhou. The storm of fighting against Dong Zhuo is about to begin, and the world will be in chaos!
When Zhu Jun raised an army to attack Dong Zhuo, Gongsun Zan showed his prowess. He defeated the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou at Banshui, and then took advantage of the victory to enter Qingzhou, conquered the two counties of Pingyuan and Jinan, and then entered the Jibei State in Yanzhou. His troops once approached the East County of Yanzhou.

Gongsun Zan was at the height of his power, his reputation known throughout Hebei, and he thought he could bring peace to the world, so he appointed Yan Gang as the governor of Jizhou, Tian Kai as the governor of Qingzhou, and Shan Jing as the governor of Yanzhou. He also appointed governors of various counties and prefectures, and contacted Tao Qian of Xuzhou, seemingly intending to swallow up Hebei.

Yuan Shao, on the other hand, secretly made efforts to repel the Black Mountain bandits and found time to recommend Dong Zhao as the governor of Julu to control Julu County. He also sent Zhu Ling, the general of Ganling County, to attack Ganling State, where most of its cities had surrendered to Gongsun Zan.

In just three or four months, Yuan Shao took control of Julu and Ganling, which bordered Gongsun Zan. He used Liu Dai to go south to rescue the State of Chen and sent Cao Cao's troops into Dongjun to guard the safety of Weijun's flank.

When the princes in the Central Plains were gradually divided into camps, Henei County controlled by Zhang Yu, thanks to the busy work of Guo Tu, Xin Pi and others, managed to produce a population census of the eleven counties west of Xiuwu before December.

Excluding the seven uncontrolled counties east of Xiuwu, the population of the eleven counties has dropped to one-third of its original level due to looting by the coalition forces and the impact of the war, that is, from 160,000 households to more than 40,000 households, with only 43,500 households left, and a population of between 200,000 and 300,000.

After just over a year of war, the population has dropped so much that it is clearly not within the normal range!
However, this data was within Zhang Yu's expectations. He had only been in Henei for a few months, and his control over Henei was not very deep. Therefore, the population of Henei people that he could control would inevitably be less than normal. With the long-term governance of Henei County, the number of registered residents in Henei would slowly increase.

Yewang County, County Hall.

Zhang Yu flipped through the household registration report and said, "Although there are only more than 40,000 households in Henei, there are many people hiding in the mountains. If Henei can be governed well, the displaced people will surely return home one after another."

"Ji also has the same idea!"

Du Ji bowed and said, "When I was visiting Xiuwu, I heard from the officials of Xiuwu County that Yang Jun, a local resident, knew that the war would affect the area, so he led his clan and fellow villagers to the mountains between Jing and Mi counties to avoid the war. There were more than a hundred families traveling with him."

"According to investigations by Ji, there are many scholars who have fled to the mountains of Jing and Mi counties to avoid the war, and there are thousands of common people. Ji intends to send people to recruit refugees and grant them land to cultivate. If he can recruit talented scholars, he will recommend them to you."

The mountains of Jing and Mi counties mentioned by Du Ji were not in Henei County, but in Henan Yin, probably the Songshan mountain range in later generations.

Seeing that Du Ji had his own plans, Zhang Yu felt that he didn't need to worry about Henei anymore, and said with a smile: "Bo Hou has the talent to govern the county. If Yu returns to the north now, he won't have to worry about the south. This is probably what Emperor Guangwu felt when he entrusted Kou Xun to govern Henei."

As he spoke, Zhang Yu held up the seal of the governor of Henei and said, "Now that Bo Hou has obtained this seal, even though he will be the county magistrate in the future, he will actually be the governor!"

Du Ji glanced at Zhang Yang and said modestly, "Mr. Zhang is good at accepting suggestions and has a broad mind. You can be the county governor now."

Zhang Yu shook his head and said, "Zhang Jun is in charge of the army, and you are in charge of government affairs and military supplies. Such an important task needs to be accepted by Marquis Bo."

Having discussed this beforehand, Zhang Yang took the initiative to say, "When I was in Shangdang, I often had the assistance of Bo Hou, and I know Bo Hou's talents and strategies. Now that Henei is a place that needs to be developed, only Bo Hou can be competent."

In fact, according to the previous plan, Zhang Yu intended to let Zhang Yang serve as the governor of Henei. But after he stayed in Henei County for many days, Zhang Yu saw that Du Ji's governance, planning, and strategy were all remarkable, and he was far more suitable than Zhang Yang. So after some consideration, Zhang Yu let Du Ji replace the governor as the county magistrate.

As for how Zhang Yu appeased Zhang Yang?

In fact, it was not difficult. After all, what he was doing now was, at the very least, Zhang's own business. As a family member, Zhang Yang could still tolerate it in order to make things better for Zhang.

Of course, Zhang Yu compensated Zhang Yang with official titles by appointing him as General of the Central Army of Jianye, Marquis of Gaoyang, and commanding the troops of Henei County.

Seeing Zhang Yang's words, Du Ji stepped forward, took the seal of the governor of Henei, held the seal and bowed, saying gratefully: "Ji will live up to your expectations and will greatly develop Henei to help you support the country."

Du Ji was extremely excited to receive the seal of the governor of Henei. In addition to being excited, Du Ji felt that Zhang Yu valued him. Looking at the counties in Bingzhou, except for Guo Yu's special situation, Shangdang and Yanmen counties were all ruled by Zhang Yu's in-laws.

He originally thought that the prefecture governorship would be given to Zhang Yang as the assistant, just like in Shangdang. Unexpectedly, Zhang Yu actually let him act as the prefect governor, leaving Zhang Yang in charge of the troops. This change was beyond Du Ji's imagination.

When Du Ji received the seal, he suddenly felt that a man should die for his friend. He had traveled thousands of miles, carrying his mother on his back, to serve Zhang Yu. It was indeed the right thing to do!

"I hope to hear good news from the Lord!"

Zhang Yu helped Du Ji stand up and said to Zhang Yang: "Henei is surrounded by enemies, it is difficult to defend but easy to capture. So you should be cautious when leading the people of Henei. You can listen to Bo Hou's advice!"

"Remember, governing soldiers requires both kindness and authority. Without authority, people will not be intimidated!"

"I'll keep this in mind!" Zhang Yang stood up and said.

Zhang Yu was not worried about Zhang Yang in terms of marching and fighting. After all, Zhang Yang was not a man of great ambitions but of limited talent. He was a conservative man who knew how to choose. However, Zhang Yang had a big problem in commanding his soldiers. He was reluctant to punish his soldiers. He was the opposite of Zhang Fei, who loved to whip his soldiers. On the third day of December, after properly arranging the affairs in Henei, Zhang Yu led his troops back to Shangdang and returned to Jinyang.

On December 10, when Zhang Yu led his troops to Tunliu, the newly appointed Shangdang prefect Wang Chen personally went to Tunliu to wait for Zhang Yu.

However, because he was worried about disturbing the people if they entered the city, Zhang Yu led his 4,000 soldiers and set up camp outside the city.

Inside the big tent, Zhang Yu was sitting on a chair in armor, chatting about everything with Wang Chen, who was dressed in the clothes of a prefect.

"I haven't seen you for a few years. I didn't expect that Ji'an had millions of people under his command and was well-known in Hebei. Dong Zhuo was a domineering man. When he talked about Ji'an, he showed his worry."

Wang Chen said with emotion: "Ten years ago, when Ji'an first entered Luoyang City, he was trembling with fear in order to seek a position of filial piety and integrity. When he visited Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, he was cautious in his words and deeds. Now, Ji'an and the Yuan family are of the same generation!"

"Ha ha!"

Zhang Yu did not shy away from talking about the past, and said with a smile: "Although I was a humble person when I was in Luoyang, I had a lot of fun traveling around Luoyang with my brother."

As he spoke, Zhang Yu's tone turned melancholy, and he said: "Now I have a heavy responsibility. Although I command millions of people, I am walking on thin ice. I am deeply worried that I will suffer the same defeat as Han Fu."

Wang Chen smiled and said, "The Book of Documents says: 'In times of peace, be prepared for danger'. If you are prepared, you will be prepared for danger ...

"Brother, what you said makes a lot of sense!" Zhang Yu said with a smile.

Wang Chen pondered for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, "Ji'an is the king, and I am his subordinate. Now in front of everyone, I hope you can call me by my given name, and I will call you Ji'an. And you have millions of people under you, and you command officers and officials. To make it clear who is superior and who is inferior, you should call yourself I."

"You call yourself lonely?"

Zhang Yu frowned and said, "It's good to call myself the sovereign, but I'm afraid there will be rumors."

"No!"

Wang Chen said: "Ji'an is the king, and all the officials under him are represented by Ji'an. Now that the status has been determined, why can't the superior and inferior be clearly defined? Moreover, as a county marquis, he should be called "Gu" as his title."

After taking Taiyuan, Zhang Yu was given the authority to command all the counties in Bingzhou, and Guo Tu advised Zhang Yu to call himself "Gu". However, considering that he was just starting out, it was inconvenient to be too high-profile, and he was even worried that people would say he had ulterior motives, so he never called himself "Gu".

Unexpectedly, the person who persuaded him to call himself orphan again was actually his brother-in-law Wang Chen.

"What doubts do you have, my lord?" Wang Chen asked.

"I am afraid that if I call myself the sovereign, people will suspect that I have ulterior motives!" Zhang Yu said.

Wang Chen laughed and said, "Many governors and the three dukes call themselves 'I'. Your Excellency is in control of Bingzhou, and it is a time to clearly distinguish between the superior and the inferior. How can you doubt yourself because of nonsense?"

"good!"

Seeing Wang Chen's words, Zhang Yu accepted it calmly.

The Eastern Han Dynasty still retained the legacy of the Spring and Autumn Period, the typical example of which was the dual monarchy, where one person had to be loyal to both the leader and the emperor. As Wang Chen said, the Three Dukes could call themselves so, the governors of the states could call themselves so, and even the more daring prefects could call themselves so.

Thinking of Wang Chen coming from Chang'an, Zhang Yu asked, "Zhengxiang, what is the situation in Guanzhong now?"

Wang Chen shook his head and said, "Since the tax supply from Guandong and Bashu has been cut off, the court can only rely on the taxes from Guanzhong and Hedong to survive. In order to raise money to pay the army, Dong Zhuo minted small coins and squeezed the people's capital, causing prices in Guanzhong to soar."

"In addition, Dong Zhuo built Mei County, stored money and grain, and settled there. It is often said that if one wants to emulate Qin's rule over the world, one must first conquer Bashu and then Guandong. Therefore, Dong Zhuo ordered General Zhao Qian to lead his troops to the south, although his troops were blocked by Zhang Lu. However, Zhao Qian persuaded Jia Long to raise an army. Now, because the roads are blocked, it is unknown whether Jia Long will succeed or fail."

Zhang Yu sneered and said, "The world will be weak if there is no struggle, and if it is weak, it will perish. Dong Zhuo has no long-term ambitions, so how can he emulate Qin's strategy to destroy the six kingdoms?"

"What you said is similar to what my uncle said!"

Wang Chen said: "My uncle thinks that Dong Zhuo has no courage and is full of greed, so we can make a move on him now. My uncle has contacted loyal men such as Lu Bu and Shisun Rui in Chang'an City, hoping to eliminate Dong Zhuo and revive the country."

"When I left Chang'an, my uncle asked me to give a message to Ji'an, saying that after he eliminated Dong Zhuo, he hoped that Ji'an would come to the court to assist in the government, to help revive the Han Dynasty, and to support the country!"

"What does Zhengxiang think?" Zhang Yu asked.

"Although my uncle has great ambitions, looking at the situation in the world, it is difficult to support the Han Dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)