Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 168 You lowly scholar, I will kill you sooner or later.

After capturing Juping County, Zhu Miao convened a military conference in the county seat.

"Bao Pingyuan".

Zhu Miao turned slightly to the side, her gaze falling on Bao Xin, and called out softly, her tone carrying a hint of familiarity.

Bao Xin quickly stood up to respond, but then a gentle smile appeared on his lips as he raised his right hand and gently gestured for him to sit down and talk.

"We are old friends, so there's no need for formalities. I just admire Bao Pingyuan's bravery and wisdom in giving the army the first advantage. I wonder if he would be willing to go through the trouble of conquering Dongpingyang as well, thus blocking the troops from the southern counties of Taishan County for our army?"

Seemingly worried that Bao Xin might misunderstand, Zhu Miao leaned back on the armrest, still wearing a faint smile on his face, and then added, "The troops of Qiaodong County and Liu Shanyang are also under your command. Are you confident?"

Bao Xin paused for a moment, his right hand unconsciously stroking his chin, his eyes revealing a thoughtful expression.

From General Wei's words, Bao Xin roughly understood two layers of meaning.

Firstly, General Wei hoped to lead his troops alone to fight Zhang Ju and claim the greatest military credit.

Secondly, in order to get him to cooperate, General Wei gave him the merit of Dongpingyang, which was within his own hands, and even the merit of recovering the southern counties of Taishan Commandery. This shows that he was kind and generous, unlike He Jin.

Zhu Miao ordered him to command 5,000 troops to march directly to Dongpingyang, blocking the troops from the southern counties of Taishan Commandery. From a strategic point of view, this was indeed a proper move. It would also prevent Zhang Ju from fleeing south and avoid the main force's attempt to march directly to Fenggao and annihilate Zhang Ju in one fell swoop.

As for the difficulty of conquering Dongpingyang, Bao Xin did not take it to heart.

Dongpingyang is Bao Xin's hometown, and this battle is nothing more than a reenactment of the Battle of Juping County.

Therefore, Bao Xin had no reason to refuse and immediately clasped his hands in a fist and said, "This humble general will obey General Wei's orders."

As for Qiao Mao and Liu Hong standing to the side, they naturally had no objections. Qiao Mao knew his own limitations in fighting; he was better at governing the people than leading troops.

Liu Hong, needless to say, was a descendant of Liu Xing, the Prince of Lu, and a legitimate member of the Han imperial family. However, his strength lay more in numerology than in governing the region.

As a master of mathematics who was later hailed as the "Sage of Calculation," Liu Hong was even able to predict the time of a lunar eclipse and invented the "positive and negative number abacus," making him arguably the father of abacus calculation. He was worried about making mistakes while leading troops this time, and he was naturally happy to have a colleague like Bao Xin, who was good at leading troops and willing to share the credit, as the leader.

Thus, the agreement among the three parties was successfully reached regarding Bao Xin's control of five thousand men.

Then, Zhu Miao's 13,000 men, led by Huang Zhong, Yan Liang, 2,000 archers and 3,000 soldiers, crossed the Wen River and headed straight for Bo County, while Zhu Miao led Ju Shou, Zhang He, Wen Chou and Wei Zi with 8,000 troops to take Liangfu County.

The distance from Juping to Bo County and Liangfu is only about eighty li, and it takes two days to reach each.

Zhang Ju also knew that Bo County and Liangfu were the last two barriers surrounding Fenggao County, and they absolutely could not be lost, otherwise Fenggao would become an isolated city, and he would surely perish there sooner or later.

But he really couldn't understand how the imperial court could have enough money to send troops to deal with him when the court had just quelled the Yellow Turban Rebellion and Liangzhou and Bingzhou had mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops to suppress the rebellion.
So Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun mustered two thousand soldiers from the prefecture and state, and gathered twenty thousand able-bodied men, intending to go to Bo County to provide relief. However, they had only gone thirty li from Fenggao when a scout hurriedly reported that Bo County and Liangfu had been captured one after another.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ju's expression changed drastically, and he nearly dropped his whip. He had no choice but to order a retreat to Fenggao. However, before Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun could catch their breath, they heard that the bandits Zang Ba and Chang Xi of Mount Tai, under the pretext of welcoming the imperial court to suppress the rebels, had attacked and killed Magistrate Ying and led 4,000 troops straight to Fenggao. Meanwhile, Bao Xin had led his army to persuade Dongpingyang to surrender.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ju swayed and nearly fell off his horse. The imperial army had seemingly surrounded Fenggao from all sides like a giant net.

When Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun hurriedly led their troops back to the walls of Fenggao, they were exhausted. Before they could even knock on the gate, a hail of arrows rained down from the city walls.

A man dressed in Confucian robes on the city wall drew his bow and shot an arrow at Zhang Ju. Although the arrow missed, he shouted in a fierce voice: "Traitor! You murder loyal officials and prey on the people! How can we associate with you? We lie in wait day and night, only to avenge Lord Zhuge!"

Upon seeing the figure on the city wall, Zhang Ju was instantly enraged. He pointed his whip at the city wall and shouted, "Hu Wushupi, you lowly scholar, how dare you betray me!"

The man who shot an arrow at him from the city wall was Hu Wugao, courtesy name Shupi, the head of the Fenggao Hu Wu family, and the elder brother of Hu Wuban, who was executed by the Crown Prince for the crime of disrespect.

It was because Hu Wuban was executed by the Crown Prince for the crime of disrespect that the Hu family also suffered from political persecution, and Hu Wugao was also dismissed from his post and sent home under a pretext.

Therefore, after Zhang Ju rebelled, he sought out Hu Wugao, and Hu Wugao and Zhang Ju got along well. Hu Wugao used the influence of the Hu family in Fenggao and Taishan counties to recruit many young men for Zhang Ju, and was thus taken as a confidant by Zhang Ju, who ordered him to stay and guard Fenggao County.

But to his surprise, Hu Wugao dared to betray him!
"My family has served the Han dynasty for generations and is well-versed in the principles of the Spring and Autumn Annals. How could I possibly collude with you traitors!"

Hu Wugao smiled coldly and once again drew his bow and shot an arrow at Zhang Ju. The arrow was blocked by Zhang Ju's personal guards holding iron shields, but Hu Wugao did not care at all whether the arrow hit or not.

If he could hit the target, that would be excellent and would be a great achievement in killing the enemy. However, Hu Wugao was aware of his own archery skills, and it would be almost impossible for him to hit the target with the protection of his personal guards.

He shot an arrow at Zhang Ju simply to show his stance.

My family, the Hu family, are loyal and virtuous members of the Han Dynasty. We would never associate with traitors. Our previous allegiance to the traitors was merely a covert act to await our opportunity!
Now is the time for us, the loyal and righteous people of the Han Dynasty, to rise up in righteousness!

Zhang Ju was trembling with anger, yet there was nothing he could do.

He personally deployed the defenses of Fenggao City, reinforcing the city walls and setting up a large number of rolling logs and stones. He was determined that it could not be breached in a day. If he encountered the imperial army during the siege, he would truly die without a burial place.

"You lowly scholar, I will kill you sooner or later!"

Zhang Ju glared fiercely at the city wall, turned his horse around, and led his troops away slowly.

Hu Wugao, however, paid no attention to Zhang Ju's scolding and only longed for the Crown Prince to change his opinion of the Hu family.

What Zuo Zhuan could do for His Highness the Crown Prince, Gongyang Zhuan can do too!

I can discuss scriptures and such, and I can serve Your Highness!

(End of this chapter)