Double penetration: This Three Kingdoms has dragon energy

Chapter 114 Among all the martial artists in the world, who can resist the temptation to become the next Huo Biaoqi?

Luoyang City.

The crumbling walls, the trapped beasts, the rotten wood, and the threshold groaned in despair under Zhang Liao's boots. As Zhang Liao stepped over the broken tiles, the tip of his boot crushed half a tile.

Three hundred guards huddled deep within this abandoned mansion, as twilight slowly flowed along the collapsed eaves, turning the spiderwebs swaying between the beams and pillars a dark red.

"General, Squad Leader Li's wound is bleeding again."

The captain of the guard gripped the blood-soaked strip of cloth tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.

In the woodshed in the northwest corner, the sergeant with the broken leg was biting his belt, suppressing sobs escaping his throat, his festering wound turning an eerie bluish-purple in the twilight.

The earthenware urns piled up in the corner were already empty; the last half-pot of well water, mixed with mud and sand, was given to the wounded soldiers with high fevers.

Someone used a rusty dagger to cut away the rotting flesh, and the sound of the blade scraping against the bone startled the crows roosting on the beams.

Zhang Liao took off his cloak and covered the unconscious boy with it. When he touched the boy's burning forehead, his fingertips trembled slightly.

The child had only been in the army for three months, but now he had developed a high fever due to an infection.

The night wind, carrying the sounds of battle cries from outside Luoyang, blew through the windowpanes, making the weeds sprouting from the cracks in the wall tremble.

Zhang Liao gripped the tiger tally at his waist, the cold bronze light piercing his bones through his palm.

The sharp sound of the falling roof tile startled everyone, who looked up abruptly. Moonlight shone through the leaky courtyard, casting pale spots of light on the pool of blood, illuminating the silent wounded soldiers in the courtyard, as if they were in a battlefield of carnage.

Three days ago, although he managed to escape from the West City camp with three hundred personal guards and barely survived, the situation was very bad.

Because of the previous battles, many of his personal guards were wounded, with more than thirty seriously wounded.

There were no fewer than a hundred people who sustained minor injuries!

Fortunately, for some unknown reason, the number of people in Luoyang suddenly decreased at a visible rate, and many vacant houses appeared.

This allowed him to successfully find a hidden place to set up camp.

However, the lack of medical care and medicine will not change, and may even worsen.

If sufficient medicine cannot be found to treat the wounded guards...

Zhang Liao's personal guard is likely to suffer heavy losses.

But this is not their most serious crisis.

Although they have found a temporary place to stay.

However, Dong Zhuo never relaxed his search for them.

The one leading the search party was none other than that scoundrel Lü Bu.

That scoundrel's nose is even more sensitive than a dog's.

I don't know how they managed to find this area.

Therefore, if they cannot leave Luoyang City as soon as possible...

That's probably not the day when there will be a massive loss of personnel due to a lack of medical supplies.

Lu Bu will bring those traitorous Bingzhou wolf cavalry over and wipe them out in one fell swoop!

But getting out of the city is not that simple.
Although the four gates of Luoyang are not completely closed, they are all heavily guarded by Dong Zhuo's troops.

In their current state, attempting to storm the city gates and escape the city would be tantamount to suicide.

Staying in the city would also be tantamount to courting death.

This small unit seemed to have gained a temporary respite, but in reality, they were already in dire straits!
"General Zhang, since you are in a dilemma, why not serve me? I can solve all the problems you are currently facing!"

A clear voice appeared behind Zhang Liao, interrupting his thoughts.

Zhang Liao suddenly turned around and saw a young man dressed in black, with handsome features and an imposing presence.

His eyes widened instantly, and he demanded, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"I am Ji Qiu, the Prefect of Mount Tai. I came here to help General Zhang after learning that he was in dire straits!" Ji Qiu nodded to Zhang Liao and then said calmly.

Zhang Liao raised an eyebrow: "Prefect Ji Qiu of Mount Tai? The owner behind the Pavilion of Rare Treasures?"

He knew Ji Qiu's name; although he didn't know much about him, he had certainly heard of him.

In April or May of the fifth year of the Zhongping era, Ji Qiu was considered a prominent figure in Luoyang.

I heard that he came from the Ji family, a powerful local clan in Rizhao, Jiaozhou, and was just an unimportant illegitimate son in his family.

However, after only three months in Luoyang, he became a famous wealthy merchant and established the Qizhenyibao Pavilion as his business.

Later, he became even more remarkable. Despite being a commoner, he managed to humiliate Yuan Shao, and as a result, the emperor appointed him as the Commandant of Taishan Commandery.

Later, he even assessed the Yellow Turbans of Mount Tai and was appointed by the emperor as the governor of Mount Tai.

Ji Qiu's entire career is practically a real-life novel about a poor kid rising to the top!

Zhang Liao, who was also from a poor family, was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.

Unfortunately, even if he felt envious, jealous, or resentful, it was useless.

At that time, he was still in Luoyang, suffering from suppression from both Emperor Liu Hong and General He Jin. It was difficult enough for him to survive, let alone get promoted.

However, since Ji Qiu became the governor of Mount Tai, Zhang Liao had not heard much about him.

It is said that in order to establish their authority and deal with Ji Qiu, the Yuan family used an economic blockade, uniting the powerful families of the four surrounding prefectures of Taishan County to block the roads leading into and out of Taishan County, attempting to starve Ji Qiu out.

At this time, Ji Qiu should be trapped on Mount Tai, and his situation should not be much better than his.

Why did it suddenly appear here?

Or is this person impersonating Ji Qiu to deceive him?
"Hehe, General Wen Yuan, are you questioning my identity? It's alright, General, just take a look at this!" Ji Qiu took out a large seal from his personal space and tossed it to Zhang Liao.

Zhang Liao took the seal, looked at it closely, and exclaimed in astonishment, "The official seal of the Prefect of Mount Tai!"

“Indeed, it is the official seal of the Prefect of Mount Tai! This is unique in the world today. General Zhang will no longer question my identity, will he?” Ji Qiu said with a light laugh.

Although the Imperial Seal of the State and the official seals of the governors of the 105 prefectures under Heaven are now in his hands.

However, the vast majority of these official seals cannot be taken out legitimately.

Only this seal of the Prefect of Mount Tai, which was directly bestowed upon him by Emperor Liu Hong, could be used to legitimately demonstrate his identity.

"So it really is the Marquis of Andai Pavilion! This humble general pays his respects to the Marquis!" Zhang Liao handed the official seal of the Prefect of Taishan back to Ji Qiu, and then said respectfully.

Ji Qiu's current identity is Marquis of Andai Pavilion and Prefect of Mount Tai.

His retainers and generals naturally addressed him as their lord.

For civil officials who were not his retainers or generals, or scholars who did not hold official positions in the court, he was usually addressed as "Prefect," which was a respectful title for his position as Prefect.

For military generals like Zhang Liao, who held official military positions in the imperial court, he was addressed as "Lord Marquis".

After all, being ennobled as a marquis was the ultimate goal for all military generals in the Han Dynasty!
"But I heard that you are currently trapped in Taishan County. How did you end up in Luoyang?" Zhang Liao asked in confusion.

Although Zhang Liao had confirmed Ji Qiu's identity, he was still puzzled as to why Ji Qiu was there.

So they chose the simplest way to find out: to ask directly.

Ji Qiu chuckled and said, "It's just a blockade by a large army. How could it possibly trap me?"
"If I didn't possess the ability to move freely within the army's blockade, how could I dare say I'd come to rescue the general?"

Zhang Liao immediately fell silent.

He couldn't help but think of the straightforward words Ji Qiuchu had said when he first appeared.

They wanted him to join Ji Qiu in exchange for Ji Qiu taking them out of Luoyang!

Seeing Ji Qiu's confident demeanor, he began to believe him to some extent.

This autumn, perhaps there really is the ability to take them out of Luoyang.

But should he just go and join Ji Qiu's side?

Logically speaking, his former lord, Ding Yuan, was already dead.

Moreover, as everyone knows, he fought desperately for his former lord Ding Yuan before Ding Yuan died, and he was fully worthy of Ding Yuan's kindness in recognizing his talent.

Therefore, it is not entirely wrong for him to switch allegiances at this time.

However, his former lord, Ding Yuan, was the governor of Bingzhou, who was in charge of the military and political affairs of Bingzhou. He had recommended him from a commoner to the position of cavalry captain in the imperial court, so it was only natural that he should be Ding Yuan's lord.

Ji Qiu was merely a prefect, of the same rank as Ji Qiu, who was a cavalry captain, and had not shown him any favor.

Sending him to seek refuge with Ji Qiu would be akin to a superior bowing to a subordinate, which is inappropriate.

But as soon as Zhang Liao thought of these things, he couldn't help but give a bitter smile.

Now is not the time to discuss this.
The Han dynasty is now on the verge of collapse.

Meanwhile, the value of official titles and positions in the Han court decreased day by day.

The situation might be better in the central plains, but in border regions like Liangzhou and Bingzhou, the strong have long ruled!

Zhang Liao was from Bingzhou, a border region, and naturally understood the law of the jungle where might makes right.

The idea of ​​using official titles and ranks to determine rank was something that only came about after entering Luoyang.

But now that it's clear that things are no longer going well in Luoyang, these worthless ideas should naturally be thrown to the winds.

After abandoning this idea, Zhang Liao reconsidered his decision to join Ji Qiu.

Then he discovered that he actually had no choice at all.

Perhaps Ji Qiu wasn't his best choice, but it was his only choice at this moment.

Given his current situation, if he still clings to his pride and refuses to submit to Ji Qiu, then he will only face certain death!
Once this judgment is made, the rest becomes much easier.

Zhang Liao immediately knelt on one knee and said, "My lord, you risked your life to rescue me when I was in danger."

This is the grace that saved my life. I am willing to surrender and become your sword, my lord, to slay all enemies under heaven!

"Good! My Wen Yuan has gained another great general!" Ji Qiu stepped forward to help Zhang Liao up and said with a light laugh.

Once the master-servant relationship is established, the rest will be much easier.

Ji Qiu put Zhang Liao and his three hundred personal guards into the Qiankun Bag, and with a single step, returned to Taishan County.

Zhang Liao and his three hundred guards were then released, and his men went to settle them in and treat their injuries.

Zhang Liao was stunned and speechless in the face of this situation.

He considered all the methods Ji Qiu might use to get them out of Luoyang.

He even thought that Ji Qiu was so well-connected that he could deceive everyone and move freely through the heavily fortified gates of Luoyang.

But to everyone's surprise, Ji Qiu used such a simple and brutal method to take them out of Luoyang City and to Taishan County!
The more straightforward and brutal the method, the greater the shock to Zhang Liao. How could Ji Qiu disregard terrain and distance, leading a large army back and forth like that?

No wonder the Yuan family contacted powerful families in the four surrounding prefectures of Taishan County and used heavy troops to block the roads in and out of Taishan County in an attempt to starve Ji Qiu to death, but to no avail.

Ji Qiu has such incredible abilities, so who can possibly restrain him?
As an outstanding military commander, Zhang Liao understood even better what this ability would mean if applied to the military field.

To make an army cross an insurmountable barrier and suddenly appear in a place that was never supposed to appear.

Who can defend against that?

Faced with such a divine skill, which faction could withstand it?

An era of great strife is about to begin.

When the Han dynasty lost its mandate, the whole world scrambled for it!

But his lord possesses such great power, so his future is incredibly bright.

At this moment, Zhang Liao felt that his recent period of bad luck had finally been broken, and he had finally made it to the point where his suffering was over!

Not to mention Zhang Liao was extremely excited and once again full of confidence in the future.

They began their new jobs with great enthusiasm, striving for a bright future.

Ji Qiu settled Zhang Liao and his personal guards in the military camp, and then began to inquire about Zhang Liao's secret techniques.

They discovered that Zhang Liao's innate secret technique was actually the same as Huo Qubing's back then: the Heavenly Martial Holy Cavalry!
This is a very powerful secret technique for strengthening the military.

It can be used to buff cavalry units, and up to eight hundred people can be buffed.

At the initial level of the ninth rank, the strength and constitution of the buffed troops can be increased by 30%.

After that, each minor realm increases by 10%, and each major realm increases by 20%!

Furthermore, they possess a secret military formation technique known as the Invincible.

This secret technique is incredibly powerful; once used, it can create a circular protective shield.

The duration of the protective shield depends on the attacks it withstands and the amount of dragon energy within its body.

As long as the attacks you withstand don't deplete all of your dragon energy, you can protect yourself from harm!
It's so arrogant!

This secret technique is practically a smaller, solo version of the Halberd Warrior's Iron Wall Secret Technique!

Because it reduces the protective range without affecting mobility, the power of this secret technique is actually far greater than the Iron Wall Secret Technique of the Halberdier!
No wonder that in history, Huo Qubing, with only less than a thousand Imperial Guards, was able to roam the desert and make the Xiongnu cry out in terror.

No wonder that in the future, Zhang Liao was able to lead eight hundred personal guards to chase and hack away at Sun Quan's army of over ten thousand men.

With such an innate secret technique at hand, dealing with an opponent like Sun Quan is something I could easily do myself!
Unfortunately, this secret technique can only benefit a maximum of eight hundred people.

Therefore, it is destined that it can only be used to support small elite units, mainly to carry out tasks such as decapitation and assault.

It is worth mentioning that although this secret technique can only bless a maximum of eight hundred people, it can actively reduce the number of people it can bless.

The fewer troops that receive the blessing, the stronger the blessing effect!

If the blessing is reduced to one person, and only bestowed upon Zhang Liao himself.

That would allow Zhang Liao's strength to be greatly enhanced.

Therefore, Zhang Liao was not only able to command military formations, but also to lead troops in charges and even engage in duels with enemy generals on the battlefield.

He's a true all-rounder!

In addition to his innate secret techniques, Zhang Liao also mastered several acquired military formation techniques suitable for cavalry.

These are all fairly standard acquired techniques, so there's no need to go into detail.

"Wen Yuan has actually awakened the same innate secret technique as Huo Biaoqi back then."

"It seems that Heaven wants Wen Yuan to complete the task that Huo Qubing failed to accomplish back then, to continue pursuing the fleeing enemy, striking at the barbarians, and raising the prestige of our great Han Dynasty!" Ji Qiu said with a smile after learning about Zhang Liao's secret techniques.

Zhang Liao hurriedly replied, "No, no, I dare not. What merit or ability do I possess to be compared with General Huo?"
However, to pursue Huo Qubing's ideals and continue to fight against the barbarians, using the sword in my hand to open up new lands and territories for the people of my great Han Dynasty—this is indeed my heart's desire!

"Good! Wen Yuan has such ambition, I will definitely lend him a hand!"
"If there is ever a war with the Hu people in the future, I will definitely appoint Wen Yuan as general, so that Wen Yuan will also be remembered in history like Huo Qubing!" Ji Qiu said earnestly.

His goal was to establish a completely new Han Chinese dynasty, and to establish this dynasty, battles with the Hu people were inevitable.

Therefore, his words were by no means untrue.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Liao's eyes lit up, and he solemnly said, "If it can truly be so, I will die without regret!"

A look of leisurely longing involuntarily appeared in his eyes.

In fact, not only him, but all the military generals in the world, who could resist becoming the next Huo Qubing?
After settling Zhang Liao in, Ji Qiu left the military camp and returned to the prefect's residence to continue his daily work.

His daily work involved transporting the Luoyang people recruited by the Pavilion of Rare Treasures and importing and exporting goods for the modern world.

The former is actually not so bad.

The relocation plan for the residents of Luoyang is now nearing completion.

Almost all the lower-class people have been relocated to Taishan County.

More than 80% of the middle-class people were also moved to Taesan County.

The Luoyang residents relocation mobilization team, led by Wei He, was still conducting a final ideological mobilization among the remaining 20% ​​of the middle-class residents.

As for the powerful and wealthy families who stood at the top of the Luoyang city population, they were never Ji Qiu's target for mobilization from the very beginning.

The two sides are not even in the same social class. Given the other's status in Luoyang, they would not have moved to Taishan County.

Under Ji Qiu's governance, Taishan County had essentially eliminated the traditional aristocratic class, leaving no room for these powerful and wealthy families to survive.

Therefore, Ji Qiu wouldn't rush to recruit them and cause himself trouble.

Therefore, the number of Luoyang residents transported daily is decreasing.

However, compared to the decreasing number of Luoyang residents, the daily volume of goods transported from the Three Kingdoms and the modern world is showing an increasing trend.

And this is not a slow increasing trend, but a rapid increasing trend.

As Taesan County becomes increasingly developed, it is turning into a large factory.

Every day, it handles an astonishing amount of raw materials and goods.

Raw materials must be imported from modern times, while goods must be exported to modern times.

This volume of transport is truly astonishing.

This is Ji Qiu's main daily task.

Time flies by amidst the constant busyness of each day.

In the blink of an eye, it was mid-December of the sixth year of Zhongping.

On the 17th day of the 12th month of the sixth year of Zhongping, Ji Qiu was in the prefect's mansion, preparing for the general meeting of all officials of Taishan County in the sixth year of Zhongping.

The so-called "Sixth Year of Zhongping General Meeting" is a collective term for the "Sixth Year of Zhongping Summary Meeting" and the "First Year of Chuping Preparatory Meeting".

Just then, he suddenly saw Xu rushing in from outside the door, placing several intelligence reports on Ji Qiu's desk.

"Dong Zhuo has deposed and installed the emperor, supporting Liu Xie, the Prince of Chenliu, as the new emperor, while the original emperor, Liu Bian, has become the Prince of Chenliu and the Prince of Hongnong?"

"Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Cao Cao, and others, dissatisfied with Dong Zhuo's misrule, all fled Luoyang?"

"Cao Cao issued a proclamation against Dong Zhuo and elected Yuan Shao as the leader of the alliance, thus establishing the anti-Dong Zhuo alliance?"

"In a fit of rage, Dong Zhuo ordered the massacre of the entire Yuan clan in Luoyang?!"

Ji Qiu's head was buzzing with shock from these bombshell news items.

How could it be so fast?

Does he remember that in history, after Dong Zhuo took control of Luoyang, although he had conflicts with the powerful clans, the two sides still managed to maintain a period of peaceful coexistence?
How could they have turned against each other so quickly?

Jia Xu explained the whole story to him, and he then realized that the matter actually started a month ago when Dong Zhuo officially took control of Luoyang.

At that time, Dong Zhuo spent three months finally defeating Ding Yuan and successfully taking control of Luoyang.

However, the situation he faced was worse than in the same period in history.

The army was exhausted from the long battle, so they continued to reward the troops to maintain morale.

Dong Zhuo, of course, immediately sent a report to his financial backers requesting payment.

But his financial backers no longer wanted to give him money.

The real financial backer of Dong Zhuo was the Yuan family.

The Yuan family's original purpose in inviting Dong Zhuo to the capital was to eliminate the power of the eunuchs and the imperial relatives, and to completely control Luoyang.

And now they have achieved that goal.

At this moment, they looked around and found that the external enemies had all disappeared.

At this point, the only one who could restrain them was Dong Zhuo, one of their own.

Therefore, at this point, they no longer needed Dong Zhuo to stay in Luoyang; they needed him to immediately return to where he came from.

However, Dong Zhuo was clearly unwilling to do so.

He had finally arrived in Luoyang and had the chance to transform from an insect into a dragon, so how could he be willing to give it up?
Therefore, a conflict arose between the two parties.

To resolve this conflict, Dong Zhuo's backers used their financial power to cut off his funding.

Historically, Dong Zhuo resolved this issue by allowing his Xiliang troops to plunder the people of Luoyang.

Although this incident caused great damage to Luoyang, it miraculously did not cross the bottom line of either side.

For Dong Zhuo, robbery was no big deal. The people of Luoyang were so wealthy that it would be unjust not to rob them!
As for the powerful and wealthy families, since it wasn't them who were being robbed, it didn't really matter to them.

Thus, a world in which only the people of Luoyang suffer while both other sides are satisfied is achieved.

Dong Zhuo in the world of Dragon Aura Three Kingdoms also planned to do the same.

But to his astonishment, he discovered that the once bustling crowds of Luoyang people, as numerous as grains of sand on a beach, had all mysteriously vanished!

The once vast city of Luoyang was now completely deserted.

There were hardly any households to be found!

Unable to stabilize the morale of his army by robbing civilians, Dong Zhuo had no choice but to turn his sword against the powerful and wealthy families.

This is something that powerful and influential families absolutely cannot tolerate.

(End of this chapter)