Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 94: The Clouds
The name of the camp mentioned by Zhong Yao was something Zhang Yu had missed while he was busy recruiting soldiers. Although Zhang Yu was under the command of the Lieutenant General of the Guards against the Xiongnu, the camp could not be called the Guards against the Xiongnu Camp.

After careful consideration, Zhang Yu decided to listen to Zhong Yao's advice and name the camp "Yunzhong Yicong". He asked Zhong Yao to write the camp name in neat official script and asked a woman who was good at embroidery to make a flag.

Zhang Liao was ordered to recruit people in the counties south of Yanmen, while Li Song and Shi Yi went to the scattered Xiongnu tribes in Dingxiang County to recruit soldiers.

In order to get winter clothes, Zhang Yu went to Yin Pavilion to visit Wang Ze again. Perhaps because Zhang Yu had come so many times, Wang Ze really didn't want to entertain him, so he got a batch of winter clothes from somewhere and handed them all to Zhang Yu.

With winter clothes in hand, Zhang Yu dared to head north to Pingcheng with peace of mind.

Pingcheng, as a border town of Yanmen County, is close to the south of the desert and the Xianbei Hu people. It is where General Zuo Nan’s troops are stationed. Because there is no Yinshan Mountain to protect it, the climate is much worse than that of Canhekou. Without winter clothes to keep warm, Zhang Yu’s troops would have suffered a lot of natural casualties without having to fight with the Xianbei.

In mid-to-late September, Li Song and Shi Yi passed through the Xiongnu tribe in Dingxiang County and obtained more than 200 soldiers. Zhang Liao ran to many cities and finally recruited the remaining 100 people.

After a month of recruitment, Zhang Yu had obtained a total of 786 soldiers, including more than 700 combat soldiers and about 80 officials, which was basically the full quota.

Although the number of soldiers and horses was full and they were treated as cavalrymen by their superiors, due to the hasty establishment of the camp, not all the 800 men had horses. There were only about 400 men who had horses and more than 300 men who had no horses.

According to this situation, Zhang Yu discussed with everyone and decided to give priority to those who had horses as soldiers in the army, and those who did not have horses were trained to fight on foot and ranked second. After several days of rectification, Zhang Yu sorted out the personnel issues in the army.

In addition to the three cavalry generals, Zhang Yu personally selected seven people as cavalry commanders. Two of them were Han and Hu youths that Zhang Yu had trained. His cousin Zhang Feng was brave and had read some classics. Zhang Yu selected him as cavalry commander for the sake of promotion.

Another person was Qiu Dunqiwu, who was young but quite brave and good at riding and shooting, so Zhang Yu boldly promoted him to be the cavalry commander. The other five cavalry commanders were all Han people, such as Su Lie and Wang Gu, who were either from Yanmen County or had fled from the Shuofang counties.

When the soldiers were about to set off, Zhong Yao found Zhang Yu and expressed his intention to say goodbye and return home.

Inside the big tent, Zhong Yao hesitated for a few seconds and said, "Jian'an, I received a letter from home urging me to go back home. I am afraid I need to go back home, so I can't go north to Pingcheng with Ji'an now."

"what happened?"

Zhang Yu poured a cup of warm water for Zhong Yao and asked with concern, "Is there something urgent happening at home?"

Zhong Yao shook his head and said, "There is nothing urgent at home. It's just that I have been away for a long time and my family misses me. And my family is worried that if I stay for a long time, it will be cold in winter and the mountains will be blocked by heavy snow, making it inconvenient for me to return home."

Zhang Yu nodded and said with emotion: "Yuan Chang has been following me north since March and has been in Bingzhou for half a year. Moreover, Yuan Chang's home is in Yingchuan, thousands of miles away from Yanmen. If he travels along the way, it may take a month to return home. If he goes south now, he may be able to reach Hebei before the heavy snow blocks the mountains."

After a pause, Zhang Yu asked with concern, "I wonder when Brother Yuan Chang plans to return home, and whether he needs me to send soldiers to escort him?"

"There's no need for soldiers to escort me. I can go south with Ji'an's family's caravan." Zhong Yao said.

Zhang Yu pondered for a moment and said, "In this case, I will inform my clansmen that Brother Yuanchang can wait in Jinyang for a while. When the caravan passes through Jinyang, you can go south with the caravan."

"good!"

Zhong Yao bowed and smiled, "Thank you for your help, Ji An!"

"Don't dare!"

Zhang Yu looked ashamed and said, "Why did Yuan Chang say that? If it weren't for you helping me with the wedding and helping me sort out the officials, how could I be so relaxed!"

To be honest, Zhang Yu would have been very exhausted without Zhong Yao's assistance during this period, especially with the selection of dozens of clerks and the corresponding affairs that the clerks were responsible for. Such matters were subtle and complicated, and it would have been difficult to get them done so quickly without the help of specialized administrative personnel.

"I wonder when Ji'an is going to go north to Pingcheng?" Zhong Yao asked.

Zhang Yu thought for a moment and said, "It's about 300 miles from Mayi to Pingcheng. The road is flat, so we can reach there in three or four days. I plan to set off in three days, get to know the border as soon as possible, and then find an opportunity to act."

Zhong Yao frowned slightly and asked, "The troops have only trained a few times, and now they are heading north. Isn't it too hasty?"

“No rush!”

Zhang Yu stood up from his chair, put his hands on his belt, and said confidently: "The frontier men are better than those in the inner counties. They are good at riding and fighting. Instead of training in Mayi, it would be better to go to Pingcheng. Let's use the desert as a training ground, go hunting a few times, and the soldiers and officers will be ready!"

The best way to train cavalry is not to train basic skills all year round, but to learn from the Hu people and go out hunting on the grassland. Only in this way can they improve their riding and shooting, and their coordination with each other can be improved.

Zhang Yu's observations over the past few days showed that the quality of the soldiers he recruited was beyond doubt. They needed more training and more practical training to make them elite soldiers. "It makes sense to use hunting instead of soldiers!"

Zhong Yao stood up and bowed, saying with a smile: "Yao is famous for his loyalty to the army in Yingchuan!"

"Thank you for waiting!"

Zhang Yu did not try to stop Zhong Yao from leaving. After all, he was not in a good position to recruit Zhong Yao. If he could establish a friendship with Zhong Yao, when the time came, he might be able to recruit Zhong Yao like he did Zhang Liao.

After parting with Zhong Yao, Zhang Yu led his troops from Mayi as he had planned, and headed northeast along the waterway to Pingcheng (now Datong City).

The administrative regions of the Bingzhou counties were almost established according to basins. The largest Datong Basin was Yanmen County, the Taiyuan Basin was Taiyuan County, and the Shangdang Plateau was Shangdang County.

The Hu people wanted to invade Bingzhou and penetrate deep into Taiyuan County. The first two counties they wanted to attack were Yanmen and Dingxiang. Compared with Dingxiang County, which had numerous hills and complex valleys, Yanmen County was actually easier to break through.

Pingcheng, the later Datong, lacked a natural and steep barrier on its north side, and was often the only way for the Hu people to invade Bingzhou. It was also an outpost for the Han people to attack the Hu people.

Because there were no steep terrain to block the Datong Basin, there was a commander to protect the Wuhuan a few hundred miles away from Pingcheng. He was stationed in Macheng, Dai County (now Zhangjiakou), and responded to Yanmen County in the east.

If we put aside the military perspective, because the Datong Basin is flat and vast and the roads are easy to travel, the Hu people prefer to obtain Han resources from here and learn the Han people's advanced culture.

After three days of marching, Zhang Yu's troops finally reached Pingcheng. The situation in Pingcheng seemed similar to that of the weakened Eastern Han Dynasty. Due to the long-term looting by the Xianbei, Pingcheng was already sparsely populated, and Zhang Yu saw many abandoned fields along the way.

The Xiongnu and Wuhuan tribes, which were supposed to roam around the edge of the Great Wall, had already appeared around Pingcheng. Apparently, due to the pressure from the Xianbei moving south, the Xiongnu and Wuhuan tribes had to migrate further south in order to survive.

Many people in later generations believed that the cold weather at the end of the Han Dynasty led to the migration of the Hu people. In Zhang Yu's eyes, it was the weakness of the Eastern Han Dynasty that made it unable to control the Xianbei. The Xiongnu and Wuhuan, two Hu peoples who originally lived in the border counties, invaded the Han territory to the south to avoid the Xianbei's looting.

"How did Pingcheng become like this?"

Looking at the large amount of abandoned farmland outside the city, Hao Zhao was surprised and said, "There are not many Han people, but there are many Hu people. I am afraid that in a few years, Pingcheng will be occupied by Hu people."

As an official in Yanmen County, Zhang Liao was aware of Pingcheng's decline and said, "There is a Wuhuan tribe in the north of Yan, with no less than several thousand people. Since the Xianbei came south to plunder, the Wuhuan have moved inland. Many Wuhuan secretly follow the Xianbei, and when the Xianbei plunder, they come south together to plunder the people, making it difficult for people to distinguish them."

In the borderland where the strong prey on the weak, the weak will only wield their swords against the weaker ones. The Wuhuan were originally the dogs of the Xiongnu. After being defeated by the Western Han Dynasty, they became the dogs of the Western Han Dynasty. When the Northern Xiongnu became strong, the Wuhuan were used by them. When the Eastern Han Dynasty developed, they were used by the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The Eastern Han Dynasty was weak and unable to control the border, while the Xianbei rose in the desert. It was normal for the Wuhuan to flirt with the strong in order to submit to them. As for taking the opportunity to rob the Han people, it was very consistent with the behavior of the Wuhuan.

Li Song looked a little serious and said, "Now that our army has arrived at Pingcheng, the enemy we are facing is not only Qianman, but also Wuhuan."

"The strongest enemy today is Qian Man, and Wuhuan nominally submits to our dynasty." Meng Ningzhi whispered, "It is better to seek peace with Wuhuan so that both sides can live in peace and focus on dealing with Qian Man's troops."

"How can it be so simple?"

Zhang Liao shook his head and said, "Our army is stationed here, responding to Budugen, and is the enemy of Qianman. The Wuhuan may secretly obey Qianman, and now that they see our army here, they may take action."

Shi Yi, who had always been silent, said: "The Xiongnu people respect bloodlines, and their customs and names are passed down. The Wuhuan people have always been cunning and respect the strong. If we seek peace now, they will definitely look down on us."

Zhang Yu narrowed his eyes and said, "The Wuhuan are aγwar (Rurou). They bully the weak and fear the strong, and are afraid of power but not virtue. I am now in Pingcheng to protect the border. If the Wuhuan do anything illegal, they will stand up for the Han people."

Zhang Liao looked at him with admiration. He had lived in Yanmen for a long time and had heard of many incidents of Hu people causing chaos, but due to various reasons, they were eventually left unresolved. Zhang Liao admired Zhang Yu for having such a feeling. He really made the right choice to give up his position as a county official and join his brother's army.

Li Song thought for a long time and said, "In the Yanmen area, there are many Wuhuan and few Xiongnu. Now that we want to deter the Wuhuan and establish meritorious services abroad, we need to get closer to General Zuo Nan's troops."

“Not only that, although there are evildoers among the Wuhuan, there are still people who are pro-Han, and many of them are close to Budugen. Brother, you still need to distinguish between good and evil, and use the method of killing the chicken to scare the monkey, or the strategy of deterring the Wuhuan.” Zhang Liao said.

Zhang Yu nodded slightly and said, "What Wenyuan said makes sense. Pingcheng is adjacent to the Wuhuan, Xianbei, and Xiongnu tribes. There are many Hu people and the people's sentiments are complicated. It may be a good idea to establish authority and maintain order on the border."

After a pause, Zhang Yu said, "But the most important thing now is to meet with the head of Pingcheng and the leader of Zuonan, and contact Budugen."

ps: The fifth update is late!
(End of this chapter)