Three Kingdoms: Rebirth of Liu Bei, the Zhaolie

"All right……"

Wutulu sighed, "I do know Sun Qing and Wang Dang."

Liu Bei smiled and shook his head, then asked:

"What are the backgrounds of Sun Qing and Wang Dang?"

"The two of them were originally wandering knights-errant, and they had known my lord Zhang Hun for a long time. They knew many people. Later, they went up to Baishi Mountain and became the leaders of the stronghold."

Wutulu pondered, "However, I'm not entirely sure exactly when they joined Baishi Mountain Stronghold. I also don't know why they suddenly joined."

Liu Bei nodded and asked:

"Who is the leader of White Stone Mountain Stronghold?"

"Zhang Niujiao! Known as General Niujiao."

This time, Wutulu answered readily, and continued like beans pouring from a bamboo tube: "The reason he is called the Ox-Horned General is because he wears an ox-horned hat year after year."

Liu Bei listened and nodded silently.

He knew of Zhang Niujiao; there was indeed such a person in history.

Zhang Niujiao was from Boling in Jizhou. After the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, he also raised a force, rallied the masses to revolt, and responded to the call of the Yellow Turban Army, attacking prefectures and counties in all directions.

However, in a later battle, he was hit by a stray arrow and eventually died from his injuries.

After Zhang Niujiao's death, his followers elected Chu Yan as their leader. It was at that time that Chu Yan decided to carry on Zhang Niujiao's legacy, changed his surname to Zhang, and called himself Zhang Yan.

After Zhang Yan became the leader of this rebel army, he used Black Mountain as his stronghold, so the Eastern Han court at the time called them "Black Mountain Bandits".

The Black Mountain Bandits were the infamous Black Mountain Army during the late Han Dynasty.

Liu Bei felt that the Black Mountain Army and the Liangshan Army in "Water Margin" had some similarities.

For example, judging from this resume, Zhang Niujiao is very similar to Chao Gai from "Water Margin." Chao Gai also died from an arrow wound. Zhang Yan, on the other hand, is similar to Song Jiang.

Song Jiang later accepted the Song Dynasty's offer of amnesty.

Zhang Yan also accepted Cao Cao's offer of amnesty.

However, Song Jiang was killed by a cup of poisoned wine from the emperor.

Historically, Zhang Yan, after surrendering to Cao Cao, was not only appointed as General Who Pacifies the North, but also enfeoffed as Marquis of Anguo, and ultimately died a peaceful death.

Now that he has been reborn as Liu Bei, in this life, whether it is Zhang Niujiao or Chu Yan (Zhang Yan), he wants to subdue them and make them his henchmen.

As long as they do not betray him, Liu Bei will grant them wealth and honor, and ensure their peaceful death.

Having thought of this, Liu Bei pondered and said:

"...So, Sun Qing and Wang Dang, the two leaders, were specially sent down the mountain by Zhang Niujiao, the chief of Baishi Mountain Stronghold?"

"Yes."

Wutulu nodded: "After the two leaders, Sun Qing and Wang Dang, came down the mountain, they disguised themselves as wandering knights and secretly came to Peach Blossom Village to find me. After I told them in detail about the recent situation, the two of them decided to infiltrate Qingxi Manor's fortified village through you. You know what happened after that."

Liu Bei then asked:

"How long have you known Sun Qing and Wang Dang?"

Wutulu thought for a moment and said:

"It's been about three or four years now. They all know that I am the lord's most trusted retainer."

Liu Bei pondered for a moment, then said:

"In other words, Fifth Light was right; Zhang Hun did indeed secretly collude with White Stone Stronghold, preparing to plunder goods transported from Qingxi Manor to various places..."

Wutulu glanced at Zhang Fei beside him.

Zhang Fei was clearly unaware of the inside story and was still staring expectantly at Wutulu, waiting for him to tell the truth.

"……Yes."

Wutulu hesitated for a moment, but finally admitted, "However, our lord only provided some intelligence and did not participate in the distribution of spoils. He was just using Baishi Mountain Stronghold to punish Qingxi Manor. Baishi Mountain Stronghold was also happy to use the goods from Qingxi Manor. However, before it could be implemented, it was sabotaged by Wen Xuan and Wu Guang."

Liu Bei listened and nodded silently.

In his view, neither side was a good person; they were like dogs fighting each other, equally bad, and neither could claim to be noble or righteous; both were the work of powerful and tyrannical figures.

It's just like a gangland feud in modern society.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fei sighed silently and frowned deeply.

Liu Bei knew that Zhang Fei was extremely disappointed in his cousin Zhang Hun.

His cousin Zhang Hun's behavior was completely contrary to the education he had received in the clan's private school, which made him feel somewhat ashamed.

Wutulu glanced at Qianzhao again and said:

"However, Young Master Qian can rest assured. The matter of your family's caravan being robbed at the foot of Wolf Fang Mountain has nothing to do with my lord Zhang Hun. That was purely a matter of White Stone Stronghold itself. My lord was not involved in it."

Qian Zhao nodded silently, without saying anything more.

Geng Yong, who was standing to the side, suddenly said:

"Now that things have developed to this point, it's really getting difficult to handle. Xuande, you killed Da Hu of Baishi Mountain Stronghold, and they've finished dealing with the retainers and troops of Qingxi Manor in the forest. Won't that be detrimental to you? Perhaps we should leave this dangerous place now. So many people have already died in this forest; we might end up with a lot of legal trouble..."

Wutulu hurriedly patted his chest and said:

"Xuande, rest assured, no matter what, Yide and I are on your side. If they do anything to harm you, I will speak up for you. Although the people in Baishi Mountain Stronghold are ruthless bandits, they are not unreasonable and barbaric."

Zhang Fei also said:

"Today, if I don't see the corpses of Wen Xuan, Wu Guang, and Cuan Heizi with my own eyes, I won't feel at peace, I won't feel a tightness in my chest. Even if my cousin is a traitor, I will avenge him. Xuande, don't go yet."

After pondering for a while, Liu Bei also felt that he could not leave.

He also wanted to get to know these people who would later become leaders of the Black Mountain Army.

"Cuan Heizi is a top disciple of Wang Yue, the swordsman from Liaodong, and he's not easy to deal with. I wonder if these heroes of Baishi Mountain will be able to kill Cuan Heizi in the end. Perhaps, among those present, only I can defeat Cuan Heizi. I'll wait and see," Liu Bei said.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fei looked at Liu Bei with eyes full of gratitude.

Geng Yong was extremely worried. "Xuande, you finally escaped from the Wild Boar Forest murder case, are you going to get involved again?"

"Xianhe," Liu Bei patted Geng Yong on the shoulder, "you don't need to worry too much. I know what I'm doing and will act accordingly."

As they were speaking in hushed tones, most of the retainers and servants of Qingxi Manor who had entered the dense forest had already been killed or wounded by crossbow bolts, while the remaining few hid behind the trees.

Cuan Heizi, a master swordsman, wielded a longsword, leaped up a tree, dodging crossbow bolts fired from all directions while killing several crossbowmen from the White Stone Mountain stronghold who were ambushing them.

A whistle was heard from the dense forest.

Immediately afterwards, all the crossbowmen hiding in the trees came down and gathered under a large tree with dense foliage that would take several people to encircle. They quickly formed a square formation, aimed their crossbows at the place where Cuan Heizi was hiding, and fired a volley.

Seeing that Cuan Heizi's swordsmanship was too fierce and ruthless, they decided that rather than being killed by Cuan Heizi sword by sword, they should form an arrow formation and fire a barrage of arrows at Cuan Heizi together.

Cuan Heizi hurriedly hid and dared not show himself again.

Suddenly, the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from not far away.

Liu Bei looked up and saw a group of burly Han cavalry, about thirty or forty riders, dressed in black leather armor and wearing iron helmets, galloping toward the dense forest where they were.

Clearly, it was because the retainers of Qingxi Manor, seeing the urgency of the situation, had sent messengers on horseback to inform Yang Tai, the commander of Tiebiwu Fortress near Shiwulipu.

These light cavalrymen were naturally sent by Yang Tai, the commander of Ironwall Fortress.

The reason they sent thirty or forty riders was probably because they were unaware of the ambush by the White Stone Mountain stronghold in the dense forest.

"The garrison troops from the Iron Wall Fortress of Fifteen Miles have arrived. This is getting more and more exciting..."

Liu Bei sighed.

……

When the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, Yan He gathered young men to form a band of outlaws, attacking various places in the mountains and marshes. They eventually captured Zhending, and their forces numbered over ten thousand. Zhang Niujiao of Boling also raised an army, proclaimed himself general, and joined forces with Yan. Yan appointed Niujiao as their leader.

—Chen Shou, *Records of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Wei, Biography of Zhang Yan*