In the winter of the third year of Chuping of the Han Dynasty, the weather suddenly turned cold. The cold wind from the northwest plateau, pinched by the mountains on both sides of the river, blew across the land of Yanzhao, and then galloped across the North China Plain until it reached Dongyue Mount Tai on the south bank of the river. Circling back and forth. The sudden arrival of the cold surprised a group of men and horses walking through the mountains of Mount Tai.
It was Yang Feng, Han Siam and his party.
When they set out from Zheng County, it was still a bit hot, and they often encountered unexpected heavy rains along the way. After the rain, the world was shrouded in a dark, hot and humid mist. This scene made the autumn clothes originally prepared at home seem too cumbersome. Travelers in foreign lands were so hot that they put on light clothes again and continued eastward along the current.
But the ups and downs and hardships on the road are always beyond the expectations of Han Xian and others. When they arrived at Wuguan, it was already occupied by Liu Biao, so they did not dare to cross the pass in a grand manner. They had to take a mountain road and spent three times the time to get around Wuguan. However, the team of nearly ten thousand people could not hide their traces. The Jing people in Wuguan After discovering traces of their crossing the river in Danshui, they immediately reported it to Xiangyang.
After the war at the beginning of the year, Xiangyang hated the Liang people deeply, and immediately sent troops to pursue them after hearing about them. The two armies met in Shunyang. The Baibo army had no intention of fighting, so they had to stop resting and rush north from Shunyang to the Funiu Mountains.
But even so, the Jing people followed them all the way, wandering back and forth in the Xixian and Li country areas, preventing the Baibo army from leaving the mountains and not being able to supply supplies. After a few days, the Baibo army had to give up the plan of grabbing food on the spot and crisscrossed mountains and rivers for nearly a hundred miles until Xi'e was able to get rid of the Jing people's siege. After hastily plundering two countrysides, they did not dare to stop for a moment. They entered Qianzhuan Mountain from the north bank of Wanghua Lake and passed through Zhongyang Mountain directly into Yingchuan River.
According to original expectations, it would take them about three days to cross Nanyang and enter Yuzhou. However, after being harassed by the Jing people, it took the Baibo army twenty days to reach Kunyang. Compared with the time consumed, the losses of the soldiers in the army were even more heavy. Due to the siege in the mountains, the army was short of food and clothing, and about 4,000 people fell behind and fled due to hunger and thirst. The remaining travelers felt that their future was bleak, and even Han Xian, who had called for the eastward trip, felt gloomy in his heart.
Fortunately, after arriving in Yingchuan, Bai Bojun's life became easier. At this time, Yuan Shu was gathering heavy troops in the Xiaoxian area of Peixian County to resist the Gengcang Army of Yanzhou. Facing one and losing the other, the Runan area of Yingchuan was inevitably empty.
The counties in Runan have been at peace for a long time, but no one expected that Jingzhou could actually spring out an army out of thin air. When Bai Bo's army passed by Xiping County, they found that the city gates were open and undefended, and the defense seemed to be empty.
Bai Bojun was so surprised that he immediately entered the city and seized money, silk, millet and noodles, and got enough for a month. What made Yang Feng and Han Xian even more satisfied was that there were many Yellow Turban remnants in Runan. They heard that the Baibo Army was going to Linzi, so they came to seek refuge one after another. In Xiping County alone, there were as many as 6,000 dependent people. Han Xian was overjoyed, and under the guidance of the local Yellow Turbans, he successively plundered the four counties of Dingying, Zhaoling, Zhengqiang, and Xihua. In just ten years, the number expanded to more than 40,000. The situation was so smooth that the three Discuss privately whether to occupy a place and wait and see the situation.
But good luck eventually came to an end. By mid-September, Yuan Shu's army still didn't know where it was, but Chen King Liu Chong suddenly led the soldiers of Chen State to go south to fight Bai Bo.
Liu Chong was a well-known wise king. Although he only had more than 10,000 men under his command, most of them were elite soldiers. However, Bai Bo's army expansion in more than ten days only added unarmored and hungry people. The two sides fought in Xihua, and the Baibo army suffered a crushing defeat within two hours, and the loot gained was immediately lost. In the end, more than 6,000 people fled northeast.
When they fled to Yu County for a while, they found themselves in an extremely embarrassing situation: Yanzhou troops were garrisoned in Jiyin counties in the north, Yuan Shu's army had already gathered in Pei State to the east, and Chen Wang Liu Chong was still in the west. They pursued them relentlessly. Although the three had no connection, they blocked all the roads for the Baibo Army to advance eastward. There was almost no way to go to the sky or to the earth.
The whole army was extremely desperate about this situation, and finally had to make plans to fight Liu Chong to the death. However, on the eve of death, God was compassionate and gave them another way to survive.
The Baibo Army's actions this month involved three counties in Yuzhou, and the impact was naturally not small. So much so that the Linzi court also heard that a remnant of the Yellow Turbans had risen in Yuzhou. Although the Linzi court could not figure out where the Yellow Turbans came from, it still sent envoys to try to recruit them. It was at this moment that the envoys found them.
This envoy's surname was Wu Mingtong. He was only about thirty years old, but he was extremely mature. After he inquired about the situation of Bai Bo's army, he immediately made a decision: to personally lead Bai Bo through Jiyin.
The three of them were overjoyed when they heard this. The reason why they were in such trouble was that they could not find a reliable guide for a short time. Now that there was an envoy to guide them, they could rest assured.
Another autumn rain fell that night. The soldiers hurriedly took out the cow felt raincoats they had received during the salute and put them on. They walked out of the city on a rainy night and looked at the surrounding fields. Dark clouds covered the sky and the night sky was gloomy. Many people could not see clearly their surroundings and could only follow the team forward in confusion. . But their straw sandals stepped on the ground full of fallen leaves, and their ears were filled with the sound of rustling rain and the sound of broken leaves being washed. They knew that their heads were covered with bleak and withered branches, and autumn was about to end, and In this foreign land, they could only helplessly trust a person they didn't know and follow him in this endless muddy world, trembling and waiting for the rain to stop.
They drove all night, and when dawn came, six thousand people took a rest beside a river. After Wu Tong introduced them, they realized that they had driven a hundred miles during the night and had now passed through Jiyin. County, arrived at Dongmin County. Another hundred miles to the northeast is where the Geng Cang Army is stationed.
When the whole army heard about it, their morale was greatly increased. After resting for only half an hour, they continued to march without stopping for six hours. They finally arrived at Kangfu on September 27th. Wu Tong arranged for Bai Bo to rest in the countryside of Kangfu City first, and wait for him to return to Linzi to report the details. He would then make detailed arrangements for them after discussions with the court officials.
When Wu Tong came back, it was already the seventh day of October. But the scene in front of him was beyond his expectation. After the situation was safe, the tight strings among Bai Bo's soldiers finally relaxed, but unexpectedly, symptoms of acclimatization appeared again. Compared with the dry and cool climate of Kansai, the weather in Kanto is more humid and cold. Many soldiers have vomiting and diarrhea from time to time, and there are many who fall ill. Even a tough man like Dugu Qubei has been nursed back to health for four or five years. day.
Fortunately, there was no plague, so they just talked and comforted themselves these past few days.
Wu Tong stayed until the tenth day of the lunar month, and when they had calmed down, he sent an edict from Linzi, asking the three of them to leave their troops in Kangfu first, and follow him to Linzi to meet the Emperor of Linzi. After that, the court would entrust them with appointment.
At first, the three of them had doubts about temporarily leaving the army, but considering that they had come thousands of miles to join the army, they had to express their sincerity. They finally agreed and set off with Wu Tong with only more than 20 guards.
They went north along the Surabaya River, from Lu County to Bian County, and the plains gradually turned into the foothills. People were between Luliang in Taihang. In fact, they had already seen many endless mountains, but before they saw the peaks, they were like unsheathed mountains. Rising from the ground like a sword was a novel experience for them. At this time, they no longer had to worry about life and death, so they relaxed and enjoyed the surrounding scenery.
When Wu Tong led them through between Liangfu Mountain and Mengshan Mountain, the trailing cold wind finally followed them. Looking up, the dim sun is still hanging in the sky, but the wind is raging in the valley, and the weak sunlight shines on my body, and I can't feel any warmth. People all put on fur coats and animal skin hats and braved the wind all the way deep into the deep valley at the source of Yishui River. The deep valley winds up, and the so-called Yishui River is nothing more than countless small streams at your feet, meandering like earthworms between the loess and stones. At night, the surrounding mountains disappeared, leaving only one or two dim stars in the sky.
At this time, Wu Tong said to the guests, have you seen the high mountains in the northwest that can block some starlight? The novelty of the people had passed. Although they looked up, they were a little disapproving. It was not fair to say that the mountains in Bingzhou could block the moon in Zishi. Wu Tong shook his head and said to them, that is Mount Tai.
And people suddenly stopped talking, they knew that it was Feng Chan's Mount Tai. It is said that three generations ago, Wu Huai, Fu Xi, Shennong, Emperor Yan, Huang Emperor, Zhuan Xu, Emperor Ku, Yao, and Shun were all granted the title of Mount Tai. Three generations later, Yu, King Cheng of Zhou, Emperor Qin, and Emperor Shizong of this dynasty were granted the title of Mount Tai. They are all beautiful stories that have been passed down forever, so Mount Tai is also known as "Daizong", which is far beyond comparison with other famous mountains. And people looked at it again, and all that was left in their hearts was admiration.
Two days later, Wu Tong and his party came out of the mountains from Guishan and ten miles to the north. A huge city covering an area of more than ten miles suddenly came into view. Wu Tong pointed to the city and said: "This is Linzi. How many people are there?" Coming from Guanzhong, I wonder how Linzi compares to Luoyang and Chang'an?"
It was very unfortunate that he asked this question. Although Luoyang and Chang'an were under the control of Dong Zhuo and Chen Chong, and Yang Feng and Han Xian first fought with Chen Chong and then switched to Dong Zhuo's command, Luoyang and Chang'an never met. They had seen the biggest The city is just Jinyang City. They had no choice but to say: "Jinyang is far away."
Wu Tong said "Oh", and Han Xian saw that his face was calm, but he could still hear a bit of disappointment in his words.
The group of people came down the mountain and went straight to the south gate of Linzi. From a distance, Linzi seems spectacular, but when you get closer, you realize that the city is still under construction. Many trenches, moats, and roads have not been completed, and even the south gate is still being replaced. They privately estimated that it would take several months to completely build the city. But despite its many flaws, in Han Siam's view, this place does seem like a national capital, because there are crowded markets and people coming and going, which shows that this place is full of vitality.
Just after entering the city, Wu Tong was about to lead a group of people to the General's Mansion when suddenly a fast horse galloped from the south gate and rushed straight towards the palace from the muddy gallop. Yang Feng saw a knight on a fast horse carrying a crimson flag. The yellow geese on the flag seemed to be waving their wings in the wind. He asked Wu Tong what it meant, and Wu Tong smiled and replied that it meant good news. Yang Feng asked again what the good news was, and Wu Tong shook his head and said that he didn't know either.
But Yang Feng did not doubt for too long. An hour later, a good news spread quickly in the city: Grand Sima Guanhai captured Xiapi and captured Tao Qian, and the three counties of Donghai, Pengcheng and Xiapi surrendered. The whole city rejoiced, and the people of the city shouted long live.
