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

Even so, a few households still couldn't raise enough money and were confiscated and their entire families exterminated on charges of treason.

For a time, everyone in Ji County was in a state of panic, and powerful families hated Beigong Boyu to the bone.

Late at night, in a secluded courtyard next to the prefect's mansion.

Han Sui, dressed in plain clothes, entered the courtyard alone.

The heads of more than a dozen prominent families had been waiting for a long time.

Upon seeing Han Sui enter, everyone hurriedly rose and bowed, both respectfully and pleadingly:

"Mr. Han! Please save us! Beigong Boyu is pushing us to our deaths!"

Han Sui sighed, feigning helplessness:

"Gentlemen, I have no choice. I, Han Wenyue, am just a puppet! What other accusations does Beigong Boyu want to pin on me?"

Bei Gong Boyu is now desperate for supplies and won't listen to anyone's advice. I risked my life to secretly come to see you.

"Mr. Han, you are so resourceful, you must have a way to save us!"

"Yes, Mr. Han! If you can save us, we are willing to give up half of our fortune and will follow your lead from now on!"

Everyone expressed their opinions.

Han Sui looked at them, satisfied. This was exactly what he had been waiting for.

"Rest assured, everyone," Han Sui said in a deep voice.

"I am also a Han Chinese. How can I stand by and watch Beigong Boyu, this Qiang and Hu barbarian, harm the people of the Han Dynasty?"

I have secretly sent someone to contact General Liu Bei. General Liu is benevolent and has promised that as long as we cooperate from within and without, kill Beigong Boyu, and take Ji County, he will forgive your past transgressions and protect your property and status.

Everyone was overjoyed upon hearing this: "Thank you, Mr. Han! We will all listen to you, Mr. Han!"

"Alright." Han Sui nodded.

"After you return, secretly gather your servants and await my signal. When Liu Bei's army arrives at the city gates, we will light fires in the city as a signal to open the gates and welcome the Han army in!"

"Yes, sir!" the crowd responded in unison, their eyes regaining their light.

Han Sui watched the crowd leave, his smile growing wider and wider.

……

Outside Ji County, the Han army camp stretched for more than ten miles.

Liu Bei's army numbered 15,000, but they made it appear as if they had 25,000.

They fought for ten days against Bei Gong Boyu's 40,000-strong rebel army, separated by dozens of miles.

Beigong Boyu, relying on his superior numbers, led his troops out of the city on several occasions.

The first time, he led several thousand cavalrymen to charge into the enemy lines, but Zhao Yun and Pang De joined forces to fight back, suffering hundreds of casualties.

In the second instance, he personally led 20,000 main troops into battle. Guan Yu flanked from the left flank, while Zhang Fei charged head-on, slaughtering the rebel army and leaving corpses strewn across the battlefield. Bei Gong Boyu was almost knocked off his horse by Zhang Fei's spear.

In the third attempt, they planned to sneak into the Han camp at night, but Xu Rong saw through their plan beforehand and set an ambush, resulting in the loss of nearly a thousand more men.

After three major defeats, Beigong Boyu dared not leave the city again and instead stayed in Ji County to defend it.

Liu Bei's army is also having a hard time.

With 15,000 men, they couldn't even block all four city gates, let alone besiege the city. They could only set up camp in the east of the city and keep an eye on Beigong Boyu's main force.

"Brother, this can't go on forever." Zhang Fei sat in his tent, slapping his thigh in frustration. "We're outnumbered, we can't take the city. If we drag this out, our supplies will run out, and we'll have no choice but to retreat."

Liu Bei frowned as he looked at Li Chang: "Fourth brother, what's your idea?"

"Wait a minute." Li Chang waved his feather fan at Zhang Fei. "Colonel Ma Teng has gone to recruit the Qiang people, which will take some time. We have already sent the battle report by fast horse. It is estimated that Luoyang will continue to send a large army to quell the rebellion."

Liu Bei sighed, "I, Liu Bei, have failed Your Majesty!"

Li Chang shook his head and said calmly:

"Brother, it's not your fault. We arrived too late; they've already gained enough strength. Now the rebels have even occupied Ji County, and the entire Liangzhou region has nominally fallen. The Qiang people are increasingly rebelling; it's a matter of who can act faster!"

……

The Imperial Palace in Luoyang.

The three battle reports were finally placed on Emperor Ling of Han, Liu Hong's, desk.

One plan was to recapture Qian County and kill the traitor Li Wen; the other was to launch a surprise attack on Jieting and capture Longguan without losing a single soldier.

The last piece of news arrived quickly, bringing bad news.

Liu Hong was overjoyed, slapping the table: "Excellent! Excellent Liu Bei! Excellent Li Chang! I knew I hadn't misjudged him!"

But the rebels were too powerful; 20,000 men were not enough!

He immediately summoned all officials to discuss sending troops to Liangzhou. The court was in complete chaos.

Some argued that Liangzhou was too remote and would cost too much money and supplies, so it would be better to cease hostilities and negotiate peace; others argued that the rebel army was too powerful and reinforcements were necessary, otherwise Chang'an would be in danger. After arguing for more than ten days, a decision was finally reached.

"Issue my decree!" Liu Hong announced loudly, "Appoint Huangfu Song as General of Chariots and Cavalry, grant him the authority to command troops, and dispatch 50,000 elite troops from Luoyang to Liangzhou to quell the rebellion! All troops shall be under Huangfu Song's command!"

Huangfu Song, who had just returned from Jizhou, stepped forward:

"Your subject obeys the imperial decree! The pacification of Liangzhou is complete; the heads of Beigong Boyu and Han Sui are to be presented before the palace!"

This time we had enough time to prepare, and the efficiency was quite good.

Three days later, Huangfu Song led an army of 50,000 out of Luoyang and headed for Liangzhou.

……

News of Beigong Boyu's occupation of Liangzhou had already spread far and wide.

The Qiang people, and even some oppressed Han people, rebelled in large numbers and joined the rebel army.

In a short time, Bei Gong Boyu's popularity soared, and he was about to break through 100,000.

He jumped up, his face turning red!

regain confidence:

"We have nearly 100 million people, while Liu Bei has at most 20,000 troops. The advantage is on our side!"

Han Sui stood to the side, his brow furrowed, and suggested:

"General! Time is of the essence! While Liu Bei's troops are still few in number, let's concentrate our forces and break through Liu Bei's camp in one fell swoop!"

Bei Gong Boyu snorted coldly, "Fine! Pass on the order!"

Because of his previous failures, he was more cautious this time!

"At midnight tonight, the first batch of five thousand men will launch a feigned attack with ten thousand torches!"

An hour later, the second group of 10,000 men launched a night attack without carrying torches!

Half an hour later, two thousand cavalrymen led ten thousand men to encircle the Han army from the east!

"Yes, sir!"

Each of them accepted their orders and went to prepare.

Bian Zhang and Han Sui left, until they reached a place where no one was watching them.

Bian Zhang flew into a rage and coldly said, "Han Wenyue? What do you want? Do you want to completely join the rebels?"

"You know they're rebels!" Han Sui gazed at the distant Han army camp. "We've been taken hostage, and we're the nominal leaders of the rebels! What will those people from Guandong think? Do they really want to believe we've been held hostage?"

He used his hand as a knife to slash his own neck!

"No, no way! They're only thinking about taking our heads to make a name for themselves in the military! To use them as stepping stones to their rise to power!"

"You...sigh..." Bian Zhang pointed at Han Sui, wanting to say something, but then sighed. He had some guesses about these things, but what could he do?

Seeing that he had calmed down, Han Sui continued to explain:

"Liu Bei has been winning too easily lately! We need to make him suffer a few defeats so he'll realize the strength of the rebels, understand our role, and finally take us seriously!"

"Back then, who would have called us rebels?" Han Sui sneered.

"You and I were both manipulated by Beigong Boyu. When the time is right, we'll kill Beigong Boyu, return to the court, and still be loyal subjects of the Han Dynasty!"

Bian Zhang was stunned, staring at Han Sui as if he were seeing him for the first time.

"You...you planned this all along?"

"From the day we were coerced, we had it all planned out," Han Sui said calmly. "Bei Gong Boyu is just a reckless fool; he's incapable of anything. Going with him is a dead end."

Bian Zhang basically agreed, but still sighed: "Wen Yue, you've overthought things. I'm worried that doing this will backfire sooner or later."

After saying that, he turned and left.

Han Sui watched his retreating figure, thinking, "We have different paths, so we cannot work together."

He murmured, "If I cannot achieve fame and success, then I will wreak havoc on this region!"