Han Ji

The leaders exchanged glances. Sun Qing was the first to stand up, clasp his hands in a fist salute, and say, "I will obey the commander." Wang Dang didn't speak, but after a while, he lowered his head, then raised it again, patted his knee, and also said, "I surrender."

One by one, the leaders stood up. That evening, Zhang Yan wrote a letter of surrender and sent it down Black Mountain directly to Liu Bei's camp in Xiangyuan.

After reading Zhang Yan's surrender letter, Liu Bei summoned Jia Xu. Jia Xu said that Zhang Yan was no ordinary person, having managed to lead over 100,000 men to survive in the Taihang Mountains for so many years.

Your Excellency needs him, but cannot allow him to remain in Bingzhou. Bring him to Yecheng, grant him an official position, and provide a good settlement for his subordinates; his hundreds of thousands of men will then be loyal to the court. Leaving him in the mountains will only create trouble sooner or later.

The surrender ceremony of the Black Mountain Army took a full ten days. The able-bodied men from each village descended the mountain in batches according to the roster and assembled at a designated location north of Shangdang. Zhang Xiu and Ma Chao's troops set up a temporary registration point nearby.

Jian Yong, accompanied by his clerks, set up a dozen tables to register the names, ages, hometowns, and willingness to stay or leave of the surrendered soldiers, categorizing them into registers. There were over 23,000 able-bodied men and nearly 100,000 elderly, weak, women, and children.

Zhang Yan personally descended the mountain to Liu Bei's central command tent. Two rows of personal guards stood at the tent entrance, their armor impeccable. As Zhang Yan approached the tent, he unfastened the short sword from his waist and placed it in the hands of a guard outside. Then he went inside and knelt before Liu Bei.

Liu Bei stood up from behind the desk and bent down to help Zhang Yan up. Zhang Yan looked up and met Liu Bei's gaze for a moment. This man was older than he had imagined, and the scars on his face were deeper than he had heard.

Liu Bei said, "General Zhang has protected hundreds of thousands of people in the Taihang Mountains for over a decade; it has not been easy. Today, he has come under the control of the court, and the people in the mountains have food to eat and land to cultivate. This is a great achievement."

Zhang Yan bowed his head and said, "This humble general is willing to die for the Great General." Liu Bei helped him up, made him sit down, and had his personal guard pour him a bowl of tea. The tea was coarse, and steam rose gently. Zhang Yan held the teacup, his fingers turning slightly white.

Liu Bei kept his word. Zhang Yan was appointed General of the Household and enfeoffed as a marquis, and returned to Ye City with the central army to assume his post. Sun Qing, Wang Dang, and other leaders of various ranks were appointed as lieutenant generals, deputy generals, and colonels, and respectively incorporated into Zhang Xiu's infantry and the Ji Province camp.

Of the 23,000 able-bodied men, 8,000 elite soldiers were selected to form a new battalion, temporarily led by Sun Qing, a former subordinate of Zhang Yan, and placed under the command of Zhang Xiu. The remaining able-bodied men were incorporated into various battalions to supplement the army.

More than 100,000 elderly, weak, women and children were all registered in Bingzhou, resettled with land, and exempted from taxes for two years. Blacksmiths, carpenters and other skilled craftsmen from the mountain villages were relocated to workshops in Yecheng and Luoyang.

May of the thirteenth year of Xingping. Bingzhou.

After the Black Mountain Army surrendered, there were no longer any organized resistance forces within Bingzhou. Liu Bei moved his central army from Xiangyuan to Taiyuan, and set up his headquarters in the Yuan family's governor's mansion in Taiyuan. A new map of Bingzhou was hung on the wall, and the various counties on the map were now marked with blue.

Jia Xu presented a list of the surrendered counties of Bingzhou. Taiyuan County surrendered, and its garrison commander Gao Gan was captured. Shangdang County surrendered, and its garrison commander Qian Meng, after being captured, surrendered again. Yanmen County surrendered, and its governor sent an envoy to present his seal of office.

Dingxiang Commandery surrendered, Yunzhong Commandery surrendered, and Xihe Commandery surrendered. The garrison commanders of the two border commanderies of Shuofang and Wuyuan were both former subordinates of the Yuan family. After hearing that Liu Bei had captured Taiyuan, they also sent envoys. However, Qian Zhao's scouts reported that these two commanderies had been trading with the Wuhuan for many years, and the garrison commanders' stance needed to be observed further.

Bingzhou is a large province with a sparse population. The southern counties of Shangdang, Taiyuan, and Xihe have a relatively larger population, while the northern and western counties of Yanmen, Dingxiang, Yunzhong, and Shuofang are sparsely populated but strategically located, bordering the northern frontier and serving as the front line for defense against the Xiongnu and Wuhuan.

Liu Bei redrawn the defense line of Bingzhou. Troops were stationed at Yanmen and Dingxiang to defend against the Wuhuan, with a portion of Ma Chao's Liangzhou cavalry remaining to guard these areas. Ma Chao, familiar with grassland warfare, established his camp at the Juzhu Mountain pass north of Yanmen, guarding the shortest route from the grasslands to Taiyuan.

The defenses of Xihe and Shangjun were assigned to Zhang Xiu. A portion of Zhang Xiu's infantry was transferred from Wancheng, while the main force was stationed in Xihe to coordinate with Liangzhou. All the surrendered soldiers in Bingzhou were reorganized, the old and weak were eliminated, and the strong and capable were retained. They were organized into the Bingzhou Camp and temporarily placed under the command of Ma Chao.

Zhang Yan's former subordinates were reassigned to various battalions one by one according to the list. Some leaders were unwilling to be separated from their former units, so Jian Yong talked to them one by one, saying that after being incorporated into the regular army, their rations and pay would be paid monthly, which was more stable than in the mountain stronghold. Your soldiers are still your soldiers, just under a different banner.

Sun Qing was appointed as a lieutenant general, leaving behind two thousand of his old troops, who were incorporated into Ma Chao's Liangzhou cavalry. He and several old brothers divided up tents outside Taiyuan City. The tents were new, the stoves were newly built, and the porridge in the pots was steaming hot.

An old soldier squatted by the tent, untying his old leg wraps from the Black Mountain Army and putting on newly issued cloth leg wraps. Wang Dang was assigned to Zhang Xiu's infantry battalion and continued to serve as a captain.

Only a few leaders who had grown accustomed to maintaining their independent power in the mountain strongholds were transferred to Ye City and given civilian positions. As they left, some of them looked back several times at the ridge of the Taihang Mountains.

By the end of May, the entire territory of Bingzhou had been pacified.

The entire Hebei province, including Ji, You, and Bing provinces, came under Liu Bei's control. From the Taihang Mountains to the Bohai Sea, from Yanmen Pass to the Yellow River, the land stretched out as one. Jia Xu, in his headquarters in Taiyuan, colored the entire Hebei region on the map blue. He put down his brush and said to Liu Bei, "The territory you now control is larger than Yuan Shao's at his peak."

When Cao Cao received news of Liu Bei's annexation of Bingzhou while he was in Juancheng, he was eating fish. The fish was a freshly presented tribute from Qingzhou, salted and steamed before being served.

Cao Cao picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks, chewed it, swallowed it, put down his chopsticks, picked up the scout report, and read it over. He placed the report on the table, stood up, and walked to the map.

Liu Bei pacified Ji Province, You Province, and Bing Province in Hebei. Where will he go next? To the south to attack him, or to the north to attack the Wuhuan? Cao Cao pointed to the location of Qing Province. No matter where Liu Bei goes, Qing Province cannot be lost.

Cheng Yu entered from outside, carrying a document. "My lord, Yuan Tan is still in Le'an. He neither surrenders nor leaves; he's just waiting there."

Cao Cao said, "He is waiting for me to send troops to help him fight Liu Bei."

Cheng Yu said, "He knows we won't send troops, so he's just refusing to leave Le'an. Le'an is now our territory, and it's inappropriate for a remnant of the Yuan clan to occupy it."

Cao Cao asked, "How many men does Yuan Tan still have under his command?"

Cheng Yu said, "Less than two thousand. After retreating from the Bohai Sea to the plains, some more fled. Now they are holed up in a few fortified villages outside the city on the plains."

Cao Cao turned around. "Give him an ultimatum. Either surrender or leave. If he surrenders, I'll give him a bowl of rice. If he neither surrenders nor leaves, then destroy him. The Hejian and Bohai he promised to give us, in the end, didn't fall into his hands."

Cheng Yu wrote an ultimatum and sent it to Yuan Tan. The messenger was a clerk from Juancheng, about thirty years old, wearing a blue robe. He rode a fast horse to Pingyuan and delivered Cao Cao's personal letter to Yuan Tan.

Yuan Tan squatted beneath the earthen wall of the fortified village, took the letter, opened it, read it, and then tore it up. He stood up and looked out from the wall. Beyond him lay the fields of Pingyuan County, where wheat grew, nearly ripe. In the distance was an official road, but there was not a soul on it.

Yuan Tan neither surrendered nor fled. He was now at his wit's end. Liu Bei was in Ye City and wouldn't take him in. Cao Cao was in Qingzhou and wouldn't take him in either. He could only stay here, guarding a dilapidated fortified village, waiting to die. That very night, Xiahou Dun led five thousand soldiers to surround Yuan Tan's fortified village.

The fortified village was small, with earthen walls less than two zhang high, and the moat surrounding the walls was already half silted up. Xiahou Dun did not shout or try to persuade them to surrender; he directly ordered an attack. Battering chariots were pushed forward, and in a few blows, they collapsed the earthen walls of the fortified village.

When Xiahou Dun's men rushed in, Yuan Tan was trying to escape over the wall in the backyard with his personal guards. His guards helped him climb over the wall, but someone on the wall pulled him up by the hand.

By this time, Cao Cao's archers had reached the foot of the wall, and a volley of arrows felled several men around Yuan Tan. Yuan Tan, perched atop the wall, was struck in the back of the neck by an arrow. Yuan Tan tumbled down the wall, landing on a pile of rubble outside, blood gushing from his mouth.