Han Ji

In April of the thirteenth year of Xingping, in Bingzhou.

Huguan has been captured. Zhang Yan is still observing. But the Black Mountain Army is not the only force in Bingzhou. Yuan's remnants still occupy Taiyuan and several counties in western Shangdang, guarding the last few cities.

These men were former subordinates of Yuan Shao, who had been sent to Bingzhou to garrison the region. After Yuan Shao's death, they lost their lord and went their own way. Some occupied cities and became local tyrants, some secretly traded with the Black Mountain Army, and some were so poor that they couldn't even afford to support their soldiers.

Ma Chao set off from Huguan, leading his Liangzhou cavalry westward. His first target was Xiangyuan. Xiangyuan, located between Huguan and Taiyuan, was a crucial passage from Shangdang to Taiyuan.

The defender of Xiangyuan was Jiao Chu, a former subordinate of Yuan Shao, who had about a thousand men under his command. Jiao Chu knew that Ma Chao was coming, so he closed the city gates, raised the drawbridge, and lined up archers on the city wall.

Ma Chao did not directly attack the city. He had his cavalry circle outside the city, the dust kicked up by their hooves covering half of the city wall. Then he sent someone to shoot a letter into the city; the letter contained only one line:

Those who surrender will not be killed; those who defend will be killed without exception after the city falls. Jiao Chu finished reading the letter and stood on the city wall, looking down. Outside the city, the Liangzhou cavalry were arrayed in a horizontal line, their spear tips gleaming in the sunlight. Jiao Chu ordered the city gates opened.

After Xiangyuan surrendered, Ma Chao continued westward. His next target was Tongdi. The general guarding Tongdi was a man surnamed Su, sent by Yuan Shang from Yecheng, and he was more assertive than Jiao Chu.

Ma Chao's vanguard arrived at the walls of Tongdi City. The garrison commander, Su, stood on the city wall and cursed Ma Chao, saying he was a Qiang from Liangzhou and unworthy to enter the city. Ma Chao, after hearing his personal guard's message, smiled, revealing his teeth. When he fought the Qiang people in Liangzhou, those tribes had hurled far more offensive insults at him.

Ma Chao divided the Liangzhou cavalry into two groups. One group launched a feigned attack from the front, carrying ladders and charging towards the base of the city wall. The garrison commander Su deployed all his archers to the front, unleashing a dense barrage of arrows.

Another team circled around to the west side of the city, where there was an abandoned pottery kiln with dilapidated earthen walls. General Su had not deployed troops there. Ma Chao personally led his men to sneak up behind the pottery kiln to the base of the city wall, and the defenders only discovered them when they climbed over.

Ma Chao was the first to charge onto the city wall, piercing a captain with his spear tip, then sweeping it across, felling two archers. His Liangzhou soldiers followed, and the defenders on the wall crumbled at the first contact. Commander Su was speared off the city wall by Ma Chao, falling onto the stone slabs at the city gate, where he died. Tongdi City fell.

The main force of the remnants of the Yuan clan in Bingzhou was in Taiyuan. The general defending Taiyuan was Gao Gan, Yuan Shao's nephew, who had 5,000 soldiers under his command. Gao Gan was the highest-ranking military officer of the Yuan clan in Bingzhou. He had been managing Taiyuan for many years, and the city walls were very strong, complete with arrow towers, moats, and a defensive wall.

Gao Gan knew Liu Bei's army would arrive sooner or later, but he didn't expect them to come so quickly. When news of Qian Meng's capture at Huguan reached Taiyuan, Gao Gan was drinking with several of his generals at the governor's mansion. A personal guard ran in to report that Huguan had fallen and Qian Meng had been captured. Gao Gan put down his wine cup, stood up, walked to the map, and said, "They've come so quickly."

Gao Gan withdrew his troops from Taiyuan City, refusing to engage in battle. The city walls were lined with catapults and ballistae, and the moat was filled with water. Ma Chao's vanguard arrived at the walls of Taiyuan, glanced at the city's defenses, and retreated without launching a full-scale attack.

In late April, Zhang Xiu's infantry arrived from the south. Zhang Xiu brought siege equipment: battering rams, ladders, and catapults. The two armies joined forces outside Taiyuan and set up camp. Ma Chao and Zhang Xiu stood on a high ground outside the city looking at Taiyuan. Ma Chao said that the city wall was much thicker than Tongdi, and that it would kill many people to try to break through it.

Zhang Xiu said, "No rush, let's besiege it first." The two besieged Taiyuan for three days, and the people in the city ran out of food. Gao Gan requisitioned grain in the city, but there were not many people left, and the grain they found was not enough to feed the garrison for half a month.

On the fourth night, Gao Gan attempted a night breakout. He led three thousand men out of the north gate, intending to flee towards Shangjun. However, Ma Chao had already laid an ambush outside the north gate.

Liangzhou cavalry charged out of the darkness, intercepting Gao Gan's troops. Gao Gan was dragged off his horse and pinned to the ground by Ma Chao's personal guards. Most of Yuan's troops who attempted to break through were killed or wounded; the rest threw down their weapons and knelt in surrender.

Gao Gan was escorted back to the walls of Taiyuan. Ma Chao tied Gao Gan to a horse and drove him around the city. The city's garrison, seeing Gao Gan captured, opened the city gates at dawn.

With the fall of Taiyuan, the remnants of the Yuan clan in Bingzhou were finished. The remaining counties—Yuci, Yangyi, and Qixian—upon hearing of the fall of Taiyuan and the capture of Gao Gan, all sent envoys to surrender and present their seals of office. Ma Chao incorporated these surrendered soldiers, adding the able-bodied to the Liangzhou cavalry, and providing the elderly and weak with travel expenses to return home. Gao Gan was escorted to Yecheng and imprisoned with Shen Pei.

After Taiyuan was pacified, only one force remained in Bingzhou: Zhang Yan of the Black Mountain Army.

Zhang Yan locked himself in the Black Mountain stronghold for several days. He hadn't given Jian Yong a reply after he left, and the leaders were divided. Sun Qing advocated surrender, Wang Dang suggested waiting and seeing, and several other leaders said Liu Bei's cavalry couldn't roam freely in the mountains, and they might not necessarily lose if they fought. Zhang Yan sat in the council hall, listening to their arguments every day.

That night, Zhang Yan left the mountain stronghold alone. He walked up the mountain path until he reached the edge of a cliff at the back of the mountain. Below the cliff was a bottomless abyss, and in the distance were the continuous ridges of the Taihang Mountains, which were illuminated by the moonlight. He squatted down at the edge of the cliff, took out a dry biscuit from his pocket, broke it in half, and put it in his mouth to chew slowly.

He was lost in thought. He was only a teenager when he joined Zhang Jiao's uprising. After Zhang Jiao died and the Yellow Turbans dispersed, he led a few hundred men into the Taihang Mountains.

Later, more and more people gathered, and the mountain stronghold grew larger and larger. He began to recruit refugees, cultivate wasteland, and confront the government. He survived these ten-plus years in the Taihang Mountains, while all the heroes and valiant men outside died one by one.

Liu Bei fought his way from Ji Province to You Province, and then back to Bing Province. The Yuan family was finished, and Cao Cao was eyeing Qing Province with predatory intent. Could the Black Mountain Army stop them? No. If they couldn't stop them and refused to surrender, they would only face death. He didn't want to die, nor did he want the hundreds of thousands of men who followed him to die with him.

After daybreak, Zhang Yan came down from the back mountain and called Sun Qing to his cave. The two sat facing each other, and Zhang Yan took the imperial edict out of his bosom and read it again.

The imperial edict was very specific: he was appointed General of the Household, enfeoffed as a marquis, and all his subordinates, both high and low-ranking, were given official positions. The able-bodied and strong were to be recruited into the army, the old and weak were to be allocated land and resettled, and they were to be exempted from taxes for two years. Every point was clearly stated without any ambiguity.

Zhang Yan said, "Down."

Sun Qing stood up and nodded.

That afternoon, Zhang Yan summoned all the leaders to the council hall. The hall was packed with people, and twice as many torches as usual were lit. Zhang Yan stood in the main seat and read the imperial edict aloud. After he finished reading it, no one in the hall spoke.

Wang Dang stood up and asked, "Does the General keep his word?" Zhang Yan replied, "Those who came to join us these past few days have seen it from the foot of the mountain; General Zhao's cavalry hasn't stepped into the village gates at all."

The people who surrendered from Jizhou were given land and exempted from taxes. He said so much; if he just wanted to trick us into coming down the mountain, he wouldn't have gone to all this trouble.

Another leader asked, "What about the elderly, weak, women and children in the stronghold?" Sun Qing answered for Zhang Yan: "According to the imperial edict, they will all be registered in the household register, allocated land, and exempted from taxes for two years."

Those unwilling to be allocated land could work in government-run workshops and receive monthly rations. Another leader asked if the brothers had to hand over their weapons. Zhang Yan replied that able-bodied men would be recruited into the regular army; their weapons wouldn't need to be handed over, but would be retrieved elsewhere. Those unwilling to serve in the army would be allocated land, their weapons collected, and given farm tools instead.