The Three Kingdoms: The Oath of the Peach Garden, the Rise of the Han Dynasty

Bei Gong Boyu stood atop the city wall of Ji County, watching Zhao Yun lead his men away triumphantly, and kicked over a soldier on the parapet beside him.

"Useless! A bunch of useless trash! They can't even capture a few hundred remnants!"

Han Sui stood aside, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes. Good thing he didn't catch her!

Advice:

"General, please calm down. Liu Bei's cavalry has arrived, and his main force is certainly not far away. We have just captured Ji County and our foothold is not yet secure, so it is not advisable to pursue them."

"It would be better to first defend the city, reorganize the troops, and then engage Liu Bei in a decisive battle."

Bei Gong Boyu snorted coldly and waved his hand unwillingly: "Send the order to withdraw the troops and return to the city!"

……

Zhao Yun led Ma Teng and his men to retreat eastward for several dozen miles.

Just as they stopped, a deafening sound of footsteps came from afar.

A huge banner bearing the character "Liu" appeared on the horizon. Liu Bei, leading the main force of the Han army, had finally arrived.

"Zilong!"

Liu Bei saw Zhao Yun from afar and spurred his horse to meet him.

"Brother!" Zhao Yun reined in his horse and returned the greeting, "I have fulfilled my mission and rescued Colonel Ma and General Pang."

Ma Teng and Pang De dismounted and bowed, saying, "We are Ma Teng and Pang De, greetings to General Liu! Thank you for saving our lives!"

Liu Bei dismounted, having already learned the basic information about Ji County, and personally helped the two men up.

"There's no need for such formalities, gentlemen. As fellow Han officials, we should support each other. I am deeply saddened by the fact that Prefect Guo died for his country. If I had arrived even a day earlier, things wouldn't have come to this."

When Guo Dian was mentioned, both Ma Teng and Pang De looked somber.

The group entered the central command tent and sat down according to their roles as host and guest.

Ma Teng recounted the entire story of the fall of Ji County. When he spoke of Guo Dian's death in battle, the tent fell silent.

Zhang Fei slammed his fist on the table, roaring angrily, "You scoundrels! How dare you use such a vicious scheme! Once I capture Ji County, I'll tear them to pieces!"

Liu Bei sighed, "Things have come to this point, there's no point in saying more. Ji County has fallen, and the rebels have fortified cities to defend, so the next battle will be difficult."

At this moment, Pound suddenly stood up, knelt on one knee, clasped his hands in a fist and said:

"General Liu! Your subordinate, Pang De, is willing to lead his brothers to surrender to you! We will serve you faithfully, slay the traitors, and avenge Prefect Guo!"

During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, even Pang De, who was far away in Liangzhou, had heard of the four brothers' formidable reputation!

Everyone was taken aback.

Ma Teng looked at Pound in surprise. "Good, good, you found a better place without making a sound."

But he could understand. The two had known each other for several months, and he knew that although Pound was young, his strength was almost catching up with his own!

Liu Bei was both surprised and delighted, and stepped forward to help Pang De up:

"Lingming, please rise quickly! With your assistance, we will be like a tiger with wings! With your help, the suppression of the Liangzhou rebellion will be just around the corner!"

Pang De stood up, his expression unusually firm: "This humble general has long heard of your benevolence and virtue, General. Seeing you today, I can confirm that your reputation is well-deserved. It is my honor to follow you, General."

Li Chang sat to the side, looking at Pang De, and glancing at Guan Yu out of the corner of his eye. These two were destined to meet, and perhaps they could cooperate more in the future.

Ma Teng remained silent for a moment, then stood up as well:

"General Liu, I am very grateful for your life-saving grace. However, I still have many brothers under my command scattered throughout Liangzhou. I wish to return to Longxi first to gather my old troops, and then join you in the future to jointly punish the rebels."

He was a descendant of General Ma Yuan, who had been stationed in Liangzhou for generations and had a deep-rooted influence in the area.

Seeing the rebellion in Liangzhou, he had some ambitions, a desire to make a name for himself. He had his own thoughts and didn't want to be subordinate to anyone.

Liu Bei didn't insist and nodded, saying:

"Shoucheng is absolutely right. In that case, I will not force you. If you need my assistance in the future, please feel free to send someone to deliver a message. The door of Liu Bei is always open."

"Thank you, General!" Ma Teng bowed.

That evening, Liu Bei hosted a banquet for Ma Teng and Pang De.

During the meal, Ma Teng revealed all the information he knew about the rebel army's defenses.

As Li Chang listened, he marked on the map and asked questions from time to time, including some details that even Ma Teng and Pang De had not noticed.

Ma Teng and Pang De looked at Li Chang and became more and more impressed. No wonder Liu Bei was able to rise from a commoner to a general commanding tens of thousands of troops; he had such a strategist by his side.

The next morning, Ma Teng led his several hundred men to bid farewell to Liu Bei and head to Longxi to gather his old troops.

With his prestige, he could even attract a lot of Qiang people.

Pang De stayed behind and officially joined Liu Bei's army.

Zhang Fei, holding Pang De's hand, laughed loudly:

"Lingming! From now on, we're brothers! When we attack Ji County, let's have a contest and see who kills more traitors!"

Pang De smiled and nodded, "I am willing to compete with General Zhang!"

……

Within Ji County, however, a gloomy atmosphere prevailed.

Bei Gong Boyu sat in the main seat of the prefect's mansion, looking at the grain register in front of him, his face ashen.

"What? Only three thousand shi of grain?" He slammed the grain register on the ground and roared, "Guo Dian has been guarding this place for three months, and this is all he has left?!"

The generals who were confiscating the granaries knelt on the ground, trembling.

"General, is that really all? The city's food supplies have long been eaten up by the garrison."

The governor had initially attempted to requisition grain from those powerful families, but they all hid their grain, refusing to part with a single grain.

"Powerful clans?" A fierce glint flashed in Bei Gong Boyu's eyes. "These bastards! When I besieged the city, they stayed inside, watching the tigers fight from the mountain. Now that I've entered the city, they still dare to hide grain and refuse to hand it over!"

He drew his scimitar, ready to order the ransacking of the house.

"General, wait!" Han Sui stepped forward to stop him.

"General, please calm down. These powerful families have been operating in Liangzhou for a century, deeply entrenched, with disciples and former officials everywhere. Forcibly seizing them might incite a popular uprising, which would be troublesome."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Bei Gong Boyu asked irritably.

"How much food do 40,000 troops need every day? 3,000 shi wouldn't last three days! Without food, we'll collapse before Liu Bei even attacks!"

Han Sui smiled slightly: "General, we can't just take it by force, but we can 'borrow' it."

"Borrow?" Bei Gong Boyu was taken aback.

"Yes." Han Sui nodded.

"The general ordered that all the prominent families in the city, in exchange for official appointments, each contribute a thousand bushels of grain to support the army."

Those who refuse to surrender are considered traitors and colluders with Liu Bei!

Then the general can legitimately confiscate their homes and their grain.

Those willing to donate grain were widely publicized! They were forcibly tied to us!

Bei Gong Boyu's eyes lit up, and he didn't think at all that he was the one who was the traitor!

Slapping his thigh:

"Great plan! Wenyue, let's do as you say!"

Order: All prominent families in the city must contribute 10,000 shi of grain per household within three days. Failure to do so will be considered treason and the entire family will be executed!

"The general is wise!"

Han Sui bowed respectfully.

This is exactly what he wanted.

These powerful families have always been arrogant and looked down on him, a man who had risen from the bottom.

Now, through Beigong Boyu's hands, we will kill them and let them know who truly calls the shots in Liangzhou.

As soon as the order was given, chaos erupted throughout Ji County.

Those powerful and influential families were filled with resentment.

Ten thousand shi of grain is an astronomical figure for ordinary families. Even for these powerful families in Liangzhou, taking so much grain at once would be a huge financial burden!

Countless people were lamenting: "We should have offered grain to the governor back then! Who knew these rebels would be so unruly!"

But with Beigong Boyu's knife at their necks, no one dared to disobey.

Many people handed over their clan's stored grain, and for a time, the price of grain in the entire Ji County actually dropped significantly!

The people's lives were no longer secure, and they no longer had to worry about the Qiang people in the city betraying them; instead, the Qiang people directly joined the rebel army.