Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 271 Head Collector

The sun sets, it's noon.

The encounter came suddenly and ended just as quickly. Starting from the midday encounter, it took only over an hour for the 4,000-strong cavalry to defeat Zou Dan's army of more than 10,000 infantry and cavalry, and the main general was killed by Zhao Yun.

Thousands of cavalry swept across the hills, and tens of thousands of infantry were slaughtered and driven away like cattle and sheep. All that could be seen was devastation.

Zhang Yu held the whip and looked at the battlefield, his face full of calmness. A large group of people rode behind him, holding high the "Zhang" banner. The bright sunlight sprinkled on the crowd, the armor shone brightly, and the atmosphere of killing in the crowd made people feel a sense of fear.

"Your Majesty!"

Zhang Yu looked back and saw Gao Shun riding a horse forward, while Xun You, Jia Xu and others were riding camels.

Although camels shake from side to side, their humps can be cushioned and their hoofs are large, making it easy for them to travel on rugged roads. Therefore, during long journeys, taking the physical conditions of the scholars into consideration, Xun You and Jia Xu gradually learned to ride camels.

"You are late!"

Zhang Yu pointed at the mountains and fields with his whip and said, "Zixun may need to clean up the battlefield."

"Ha ha!"

Gao Shun rode forward and laughed, "If you can defeat the enemy again and again, and I can clean up the battlefield every time, I will be happy with it!"

"Someone, go forward and clean up the battlefield!"

When Gao Shun ordered his soldiers to clean up the mess on the battlefield, Xun You slid off the camel and asked, "May I ask, sir, how is the battle going now?"

Zhang Yu laughed and said, "Zou Dan was killed by Zilong, and the soldiers and horses were driven by the cavalry. This is a great victory!"

As he spoke, Zhang Yu did not forget his old words and ordered, "Kill cattle and horses to reward the victorious troops. If anyone brings wine, bring it to reward the meritorious soldiers."

"As ordered!"

"Now that you have defeated Zou Dan, there are not many soldiers in Yuyang and Guangyang counties, so you may as well send the surrendered soldiers to Ji County to help General Zhongkang break the city."

Seeing the cavalry chasing Zou Dan's infantry, Jia Xu suggested, "Let Shan Jing guard Juyong Pass. I think he is unaware of the changes in southern Yan. So why don't you drive a large number of surrendered soldiers into the pass to shake Shan Jing's determination to hold on. Then you can send Shan Jing's friends to persuade him to surrender, and maybe he can take Juyong Pass!"

"it is good!"

Zhang Yu praised and said, "Sun Tzu said, 'The best military operation is to attack the enemy's plans, the next best is to attack their alliances, the next best is to attack their troops, and the worst is to attack their cities. Attacking cities is the last resort.' Now that we have forced Shan Jing to surrender, why do we need to attack the pass by force?"

"Let's follow Wenhe's words!"

On the second day of April in the first year of Xingping, Zhang Yu led his troops to defeat Zou Dan at Niu Mountain, beheading more than 3,000 people and capturing more than 4,000 people.

The next day, Zhang Yu led his troops into Changping County, and the county magistrate Zu Wei surrendered.

On April 4, Zhang Yu drove a large number of surrendered soldiers to Juyong Pass and Ji County, and Xu Chu took advantage of the situation to surrender to Ji County.

Shan Jing, who was defending Juyong, saw the surrendered soldiers coming to join him and asked what had happened. He learned that Zou Dan had been beheaded and Zhang Yu led his troops to southern Yan, and he was shocked.

On the fifth day, Zhang Yu, through Tian Chou's recommendation, learned that the military commander Zu Wei had close contacts with Shan Jing, so he sent Zu Wei to Juyong Pass to meet Shan Jing.

Zu Wei, courtesy name Yuanxiong, was a descendant of the Zu family in Qiu County, Zhuo County. He was selected as a filial and honest official at a young age. He was open-minded and unconcerned about trivial matters. He was good friends with Shan Jing. Few people in later generations know his name, but many people know the name of his grandson Zu Ti.

The reason why the Zu family of Fanyang was able to have officials of two thousand stones for generations and was an old surname in Beizhou was that Zu Wei made his fortune in the late Han Dynasty, and his son Zu Wu took refuge with the Sima family, and thus the Zu family prospered.

Although the Zu family was a big family in Zhuo County, it was not very prominent. Since Zhang Yu wanted him to persuade Shan Jing to surrender, Zu Wei did not dare to refuse and was even happy to be appreciated by the warlord Zhang Yu.

Inside Juyong Pass, Shan Jing paced back and forth in the hall, his expression full of anxiety.

"General, Zu Wei is outside the hall!"

Hearing this, Shan Jing suppressed his facial expression, looked calm and said, "Let Zu Yuanxiong enter the hall!"

"promise!"

After a while, Zu Wei, who looked very heroic, entered the hall. He bowed to Shan Jing and said, "My friend Yuan Xiong greets General Shan."

Shan Jing sat on the chair and said angrily: "You surrendered the city to Zhang Yu, and now you want to persuade me to surrender?"

Zu Wei sighed and said, "Lord Zhang entered Yan from Gubeikou, and now he has killed Zou Dan and surrendered Guangyang and Yuyang counties. What can I do if I don't surrender now?"

"On the contrary, the general knew that Zhang Yu had defeated Zou Dan and saw his troops approaching the military capital, but he did not send troops to help me. I don't know how to explain it. I saw that there were no reinforcements from outside, and the people in the city were in a state of panic, so I did not surrender."

Zu Wei's retort made Shan Jing move his lips and said helplessly: "It's not that I don't want to save Yuan Xiong, but I don't know how many troops Zhang Yu has, and I'm afraid that he will defeat me if I send troops. Besides, Liu He is leading his troops to station outside the pass. If I lose, Juyong will be difficult to defend!" Shan Jing asked in return: "I don't know what the situation is like in southern Yan? Will General Gongsun come back to help?"

Zu Wei said: "Lord Zhang led 20,000 infantry and cavalry from Gubeikou to enter southern Yan, accompanied by Xianyu Fu and Tian Chou. The Xianyu family is a large family in Yuyang, and many people responded to the call. Now Zou Dan was defeated and died, and Yuyang has rebelled."

"But in Ji County, the old officials left by Lord Liu were still there. When they saw Zou Dan's army defeated and Zhang Junhou's army arrived, they surrendered the city. When I entered the city, I heard that Tian Chou had written letters to the clan members of Youbeiping and other major clans in Youbeiping. I guess the clans of Youbeiping knew that Zhang Junhou's army had arrived, so they would kill the county governor Zhu Jin and surrender."

Shan Jing looked slightly frustrated and said, "How come the situation has changed so drastically in just a few days?"

Zu Wei took the opportunity to say, "The situation has changed drastically now. It is because Gongsun Zan is unpopular. Lord Liu governed Youzhou, quelled the Hu invasion, opened up trade between the Han and the Hu, and worked hard on farming, allowing the people to live and work in peace. Gongsun Zan was originally a general under Lord Liu, and he defeated Yuan Shao many times, so it is not mentioned. However, killing Lord Liu is a crime against his superiors."

"He is in charge of the counties of Youzhou, but he does not know how to appease the people. He has dismissed the old people employed by Liu Gong and humiliated the sons of the noble families. From this, it can be seen that Gongsun Zan is not popular with the people, nor can he convince the officials. Moreover, the court has issued an edict to punish him. I would like to ask the general, can he win the hearts of the people?"

After hearing Zu Wei's words, Shan Jing let out a long breath. How could he not know what Zu Wei said? To put it bluntly, Gongsun Zan stood on the opposite side of everyone morally, otherwise there would not be a situation that was slightly unfavorable to Gongsun Zan, and the counties in Youzhou would not have turned against him one after another.

"Gongsun Zan has tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, and he controls the three counties of Zhuo, Hejian and Bohai, with a population of one million. He may be able to drive Zhang Yu out of Yanshan." Shan Jing said in a muffled voice.

"How could Ji Wei forget Yuan Benchu of Jizhou?" Zu Wei said.

"Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao have been fighting each other for many years. If he sees Gongsun Zan in trouble, he will inevitably add insult to injury. Don't forget that Yuan Shao has been thinking about Bohai County for a long time!"

After a pause, Zu Wei pointed out the current situation and said, "Even if we don't talk about Yuan Shao, there is Liu He in the north of Juyong and Zhang Yu in the south. The army's food can only last for half a month. With enemies from both sides, how can Ji Wei defend the pass?"

Shan Jing frowned slightly and said, "If I can hold out for half a month, Gongsun Zan will surely lead his troops back to support me, and I will have nothing to worry about!"

"Lord Zhang sent his subordinates Li Song and Qi Zhou to enter Zhuo County from Puyin Pass. If Gongsun Zan leads his troops north, how will Zhuo County be defended? Where will Gongsun Zan get his food and grass supplies?"

Zu Wei said in a deep voice: "If Gongsun Zan wants to go north, he must first settle the rear before he dares to lead his troops north to rescue. By then, it may be more than half a month, but it will take several months."

"Yuan Xiong is persuading me to surrender!" Shan Jing sighed.

"Ji Wei is a general of the Han Dynasty, not a general of the Gongsun clan. Now the imperial court has issued an edict to punish Gongsun Zan, how can Ji Wei ignore the imperial court's laws?" Zu Wei said: "Besides, if Ji Wei leads his troops to surrender now, not only will he not be punished, he may even be rewarded by the imperial court."

Shan Jing was already tempted, but thinking of the favor he had received from following Gongsun Zan, he was still a little hesitant!
Seeing this, Zu Wei took out a letter from his arms and said, "Your wife misses Ji Wei, so she asked me to deliver a letter to her."

Shan Jing reached out to take the letter from his wife, opened it and read it for a while. When he saw the words in the letter, he was moved.

After closing the letter, Shan Jing let out a long breath and said, "I can surrender now, but I am afraid that Liu He will bear grudge against me in the future if I follow Gongsun Zan to attack and kill Lord Liu. What can I do?"

Zu Wei was overjoyed to see Shan Jing was convinced by his wife's letter. He had a lot of interactions with Shan Jing and knew that Shan Jing and his wife were very affectionate, so before he left, he went to Ji County and asked Shan Jing's wife to write a letter, which really came in handy today.

"It's easy!"

Zu Wei hurriedly said, "If Ji Wei is worried that Liu He will bear a grudge against him, he can surrender to Lord Zhang. Lord Zhang is open-minded and respectful to the wise and humble. You surrendered to Lord Zhang for the merit of surrendering the pass, and Lord Zhang will surely use you in the future. Besides, Ji Wei still has troops in his hands, so how could Lord Zhang not be interested in using him?"

"good!"

Shan Jing made up his mind and said, "In this case, Lao Yuanxiong will run for me!"

"promise!"

With Zu Wei's efforts, Zhang Yu agreed to Shan Jing's conditions for surrender, and appointed Shan Jing as General Yangwei, and promised to allow Shan Jing to station troops in Youzhou in the future.

On April 7, Shan Jing opened the southern gate and surrendered to Zhang Yu by offering Juyong Pass. Zhang Yu tried to appease Shan Jing and then sent Gao Shun to take over Juyong Pass. As Zu Wei had made great contributions in persuading Shan Jing to surrender, Zhang Yu appointed him as the assistant of the General of Chariots and Cavalry to assist in military affairs.

On the eighth day, after being notified by Gao Shun, Liu He led his army through Juyong Pass.

Zhang Yu, surrounded by the crowd, looked at the mighty army coming out of Jundu Pass, smiled and said to his attendants: "When I came to Yan from Gubeikou, I knew that there was no danger in Yanshan. Now we have broken through Juyongguan in just a few days. Gongsun Bogui will be unable to sleep!"

"I wonder if he will feel fear when he sees Li Jue's head again?"

"Sir, I heard that after Gongsun Zan received Li Jue's head, he hid it in his private vault and threatened to take your head as a companion!" Zu Wei said.

"Ha ha!"

Zhang Yu was not angry but delighted, and said, "Let Gongsun Zan keep his head and Li Jue's head for now. When I capture and kill Gongsun Zan, I will send their heads to Yuan Shao!"

Zhang Yu had no intention of becoming a head collector, but since Gongsun Zan had this intention, Zhang Yu could only do it reluctantly. He could even avenge Gongsun Zan in the future. After all, in history, Gongsun Zan's head was given to Cao Cao by Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shao could have a chance to see Gongsun Zan's head in the future.

Seeing Zhang Yu talking and laughing, treating the heads of the princes as toys, Jia Xu felt that he had made the right choice by joining the army.

He boasted that he had the talent of Zhang Liang, but he hated that he had never met a wise leader. He had joined Zhang Yu before because of the situation, but now seeing Zhang Yu talking and laughing with heroic spirit, he was gradually convinced!
(End of this chapter)