It has been more than a hundred years since the rise of Xianbei, but since the death of Tan Shihuai, its influence has been greatly weakened. Tanshihuai's grandson Qianman and the regent Kuitou have been fighting for power for several years. They have been granted official positions and issued many orders. In just a few years, all the ministries have been separated from each other, from the north of Helan Mountain to the south of Yinshan Mountain. Conquering each other will no longer be the same as the spectacular scene in the past when Tan Shihuai gave an order and half a million warriors gathered in the royal court of Danhan Mountain, and Kyushu was captured by their souls.
But this does not mean that Xianbei is declining. On the contrary, among the struggles and battles among various ministries, Xianbei is brewing more and more heroes. Tan Shihuai's great unification gave them a clear goal, and Tan Shihuai's death gave them the opportunity to rise. On the vast plateau from Yanran Mountain to Xianbei Mountain, the warriors on horseback and holding bows have great ambitions. God has destined them to do something earth-shattering.
The leader among them is Kebineng.
No one knows what Kebineng's real name is, and no one knows where he came from. When the Xianbei people first met Kebineng, he appeared in the Baishan area and was a handsome man from a small tribe.
He was not from here. He was elected as their leader because he helped this tribe avoid the jackals and survive the winter. When others asked him his surname and origin, he only smiled and said that a surname like a rat and a rabbit was not worth mentioning, and if he did, he would only be scorned in vain. He just wanted to compare him to Ke with swords and whips, bows and horses. Neng's name was engraved in the blood of the Xianbei people, and then the surname Kebi Neng was passed down to future generations.
He said this with his mouth and acted in this way. Among the Xianbei tribe, Tanshi Sophora japonica was valued highly, so he imitated Tan Shi Sophora japonica everywhere.
At the beginning of Tanshihuai's rise, he was the commander-in-chief of his grandfather's tribe. He formulated the Xianbei laws and rectified the faults of various tribes, and then he was elected as the leader of most tribes. Even though Kebineng was born in a disgraceful family, Tanshihuaiyuan Yuanyuan, he still behaved in the same way. Whenever there were stories of big clans oppressing small clans around him, Kebineng would go to mediate the disputes personally regardless of the difference in power.
At the beginning, because of his weak power, his actions were mostly laughed at. However, he was a strong man, upright in dealing with things, upright in his judgment, and not greedy for money. As time went by, he really won the hearts of the people of all the Baishan tribes, and was subsequently elected as the leader of the Baishan tribe. Coinciding with the great chaos in Hebei, many Han people from Hebei fled outside the Great Wall. Kebi was able to use the fields and livestock to encourage them, and he also reused his craftsmen to mine gold and silver from mountains and rocks. From then on, he gradually prospered and became one of the few forces in eastern Xianbei.
Qian Man heard of his virtuous reputation in Danhan Mountain and ordered to summon Ke Bineng. Ke Bineng immediately led his troops there, transporting four carts of Danhanshan swords, a thousand war horses, and three hundred slaves. When he met Qian Man, his attitude could not be more respectful. Qian Man was deeply satisfied and immediately appointed Ke Bi as the Lord of the East, giving him the power to oversee the various tribes in the East so as to help him fight against the leader.
However, a few years later, Qian Man did not expect that the leader and Bu Dugen, whom he thought were powerful enemies, died at Yanmen at the same time, while Ke Bineng, whom he thought was a strong supporter, gradually became independent. In the third year of Chuping, Qianman tried to conquer the newly rising Tuoba Xianbei, and fought with him in Wuquan, but was defeated.
In desperation, Qianman ordered Ke Bineng to come to help. But when Kebi Neng came to Tanhan Mountain again, he brought with him 60,000 people who controlled strings. He led his army and drove straight into the royal court. Then he summoned the leaders of various ministries and angrily denounced Qian Man in public: As a Chanyu, the country is in chaos and the people are in disaster. Instead of rescuing them, they act for personal gain and enrich themselves, leading to the disunity of various departments and the collapse of the country. Jianman was silent but unable to answer. Kebi Neng then announced in public that he would abolish Qianman's position as Chanyu, marry Qianman's sister, and establish himself as the Chanyu of Xianbei.
From then on, Kebineng had more than 600,000 people under his control, ruling a vast area west of Danhan Mountain and east of Yuyang. He had 100,000 warriors under his command.
In October of the first year of Yanxing, after Yuan Shao negotiated peace with Gengcang's army, Geng thought about how to recover the lost territory in the north. Xu You, the military advisor, offered wine and came up with a plan. He said that if he wanted to get rid of Gongsun Zan, it would be difficult to rely on Jizhou alone. It would be better to rely on Xianbei Wuhuan soldiers and horses to attack Youzhou from the north and south. Gongsun Zan would be unable to win because he was weak on both sides.
The rest of the counselors generally agreed with this proposal. After all, supporting Ke Bineng would not only have the effect of attacking Gongsun Zan from both sides, but also restrain Bingzhou so that he would not dare to use his troops rashly. Yuan Shao then sent Wu Meng of the Prefectural Mufu to engage in Qu Yi, his nephew Gao Gan and others, carrying the map of Youzhou and Bingzhou, secretly went to the court of the king of Danhanshan, hoping to make an alliance with Ke Bineng.
Ke Bi was overjoyed after receiving the map, and immediately formed a good alliance with senior officials and others. However, he refused to attack Gongsun Zan until next year. Kebi Neng wanted to directly attack Bingzhou and eliminate Tuoba Xianbei on the grounds of revenge for Bu Dugen, the leader of the army. He invited Gao Gan and his entourage to accompany the army. Gao Gan and others also wanted to see the bravery of this new chanyu, so they happily agreed. .
"The Sword Comes"
It was November in winter, the weather was freezing, the horses were hungry and thin, and the pasture was withered and yellow. Ke Bineng led his army to bypass Yanmen, sneak into Yunzhong County from the north bank of Yanze, bypass Wujin and Chengle all the way, and point directly at Yunzhong, the royal court of Tuoba Xianbei.
At this time, the main force of the Tuoba tribe was still resting in the Wuquan area. The only ones in the cloud were the eldest man Tuoba Lin and his various tribes, old and young, and they were completely unprepared for the coming danger. It wasn't until Kebi was able to go thirty miles to the camp that he realized it. Upon seeing this, all the tribesmen knew that it was impossible to defeat them, so they fled towards Wuquan in a hurry, but Kebi Neng pursued them day and night, and ran into Wuquan's returning army the next day.
The two sides immediately started a battle in Beiyu. Tuoba Jiefen formed the formation in a hurry, but Kebi Neng had no time to eat and drink, so he immediately charged into the formation with thousands of horses alternately. At this time, the northwest wind was strong, and the cold wind hit his face like a knife. Kebineng's men fired arrows in the wind, and thousands of arrows flew into the Tuoba formation like locusts.
Kebineng divided his cavalry to outflank the flanks. Not to be outdone, the Tuoba people also spread their wings to resist. The two armies intertwined like long dragons entangled, and the sound of killing shook the heaven and the earth. Jizhou Wumeng was engaged in Qu Yi and had experienced battles for a long time. He was the general Yuan Shao relied on to fight against Gongsun Zan. In this situation, he couldn't help but change his mind. When he saw Gao Gan covering his face with a turban to protect him from the wind, he grabbed his bridle and shouted at him against the wind: "The Eastern captives are more powerful than the Western captives. Ke Bineng will definitely win a great victory today, but within a hundred years, he will be defeated." It’s hard to say whether the country can be peaceful or not!”
As they spoke, both wings of the Tuoba tribe were defeated, and the battlefield turned into a massacre. Not long after Tuoba Lin returned to his son, he was shot to death by random arrows. Tuoba Jiefen himself was also hit by an arrow and fell from his horse. Knowing that his time had come, he only told Tuoba Liwei to flee east to Pingcheng for help, and then slit his throat. Suicide. Most of the other children and tribal leaders of the Tuoba tribe were captured. Only the prince Tuoba Liwei and Tuoba Jiefen's younger brother Tuoba Gutu, the son of Tuoba Saowu, fled with hundreds of horses to Yanmen Pingcheng.
The Xianbei tribes in Yunzhong, Wuyuan, Shuofang and Monan were all horrified when they saw that the Tuoba tribe was defeated in one battle. They all offered tribute to Kebineng and recognized Kebineng's dominance. The few who were unwilling to surrender fled to Xianbei in the west and even the Western Regions, patrolling the northern wilderness and not daring to return. It was quite similar to the sad scene when the Northern Huns drove out the grasslands for Xianbei.
From then on Kebi Neng returned to Danhan Mountain and made an appointment with Gao Gan and others to attack Gongsun Zan from both sides in the autumn of next year. Although Gao Gan and others were worried about Ke Bineng's strength, they were full of confidence in their victory over Gongsun Zan. When they thought that Ming Zai Prefecture could occupy the land of Youyan and dominate the world with strong cavalry, everyone was elated. Overjoyed.
When it comes to returning to Youzhou, although Gongsun Zan is not clear about Yuan Shao's movements, he is not completely aware of it. Since the armistice and peace talks, he has been always preparing for next year's war. As soon as Gongsun Fan and Gongsun Xufu took control of the two kingdoms of Zhongshan and Changshan, Gongsun Zan immediately ordered them to recruit more troops and contact powerful forces.
At the same time, Gongsun Zan himself recruited warriors to form a new army in Youzhou, and asked Tian Kai and others to reorganize the army while personally negotiating with Wuhuan ministries in an attempt to obtain some war horses. Within half a year, Gongsun Zan gained more than 40,000 troops, including more than 20,000 cavalry. His momentum shocked Hebei, and his military fame spread beyond the Great Wall. Even Gongsun Du, the governor of Liaodong, sent envoys to befriend him. Local people lamented: When Sanming in Liangzhou tried to pacify the border areas, its momentum was probably similar to that of Jihou.
It's just that although Gongsun Zan won a powerful army, he gradually developed a rift with Liu Yu, the shepherd of Youzhou.
As a shepherd in Youzhou, Liu Yu was also granted the title of Grand Sima by Dong Zhuo. His prestige in the government and the public was unmatched by anyone. Not to mention Liu Yan, the shepherd of Yizhou, even Liu Bei, who was now a general, was not as good as him.
In terms of moral standing alone, Liu Yu was an honest official, cherished the power of the people, and did not attach importance to the powerful, nor worship the superiors or subordinates. He had the style of an ancient saint. In the turbid court of the late emperor, he could be called a real clean stream.
In addition, Liu Yu was not only a famous minister in the court, but also the descendant of Guangwu's eldest son, Prince Donghai Gong. In terms of blood lineage, apart from the current emperor, Liu Yu was the most recent. Therefore, the world not only regarded Liu Yu as a good minister who helped the country, but also regarded him as the leader of the clan.
But Liu Yu was so prestigious and he was entrusted with such an important task for the country, Gongsun Zan actually refused to obey his orders. Yuan Shao and Liu Yu had formed a good relationship earlier and did not allow Gongsun Zan to attack Jizhou, but Gongsun Zan refused to listen. Returning after a year of no success, Gongsun Zan still disobeyed orders. Not only did he conscript troops without permission, he also forced Wuhuan to recruit 9,000 horses in the name of General Liu Bei when making a deal with Wuhuan. Wuhuan Shanyu Tadun reported the matter to Liu Yu. Liu Yu was very angry and ordered Gongsun Zan to return the horse, but Gongsun Zan still refused to listen.
When Yuan Shao's agents in Youzhou learned of the news, they took the opportunity to go for a walk among the people and sang a ballad: "The white horse rides on the clear stream, dominating the second grandson of Yan. Poor Bo'an Gong, Jicheng is like a sand dune." There is another saying: "You have no idea. The officials and ministers have no top, how can the ten counties be like Youzhou?" These ballads mean that Liu Yu was replaced by Gongsun Zan and Gongsun Du, and no one in Youzhou obeyed the orders of the state capital.
After Liu Yu heard about it, he became even more angry towards Gongsun Zan. After discussing with the staff of the state government, he first went to the court to reprimand Gongsun Zan for all kinds of violations of discipline and law, hoping that the court would uphold justice. Then he issued a letter in the name of Grand Sima and ordered Gongsun Zan to abandon the army and return to the government.
How could Gongsun Zan be willing to obey his orders? Liu Yu had two articles, and he also had two articles. First, he returned the letter to Liu Yu on the grounds that he had the position of General Fenwu, saying that he had the right to make decisions and not obey orders. At the same time, he also sent a letter to Liu Bei, saying that Yuan Shao was rebellious and hoped that Liu Bei would appoint him as Jizhou Mu. Once Yuan Shao rebelled and declared chaos, he would be able to eliminate the troubles in Hebei.
As a result, Chen Chong received a letter from Liu Yu, and Liu Bei received a letter from Gongsun Zan, and both of them fell into deep thought.
