The imperial court adopted Lu Zhi's suggestion and launched a gentle offensive against the Bingzhou bandits and the Southern Huns.
They were given official titles such as Xu Jue, various titles of captain, lieutenant general, and the authority to govern the local area, hoping that they would accept the orders of the Luoyang court and not cause chaos again.
Many people were satisfied with the titles of captain and general, but Zhang Yan was not satisfied.
Because he only received the title of Lieutenant of Anbei and did not receive the highest position, he was clearly the most powerful person in the entire Bingzhou Mountains and the co-leader.
He felt very unhappy about this.
After thinking about it for a while, he could almost understand why the Luoyang court did this.
It is simply that he wants his status as co-leader to be limited and shaken, so that his control over many forces in Bingzhou is less legitimate.
As a result, more people will want to challenge their authority.
The rightful title is still very necessary. Without this title, one's own status as the leader of the Communist Party will really be shaken.
Some things you can live without, but once you have them, you can’t live without them.
But at the same time, he also realized that his ability could not overthrow the Luoyang court. The Luoyang court was strong and he could only achieve short-term victory, not long-term victory.
If there is a long-term confrontation, you will definitely be the one who is brought down.
Moreover, since the war, Zhang Yan has gradually felt that it is necessary to find a way out for herself. She cannot continue to be a bandit and needs to have a serious status.
There is no future for always being a bandit. The ultimate goal of a bandit should be to be recruited, become an official of the imperial court, jump up and break through class restrictions, and become the envy of everyone.
For those who stray outside the rules of the main melody, this may not be a dangerous step forward.
The Luoyang court's move to confer an official title on Xu Jue made him quite tempted. It would also be good if he could obtain the title and then surrender in name and become independent in practice.
If the Luoyang court can give him official titles in this wave, Zhang Yan really plans to shake hands with the Luoyang court for the time being, and close the door to be his own local emperor without any further troubles.
However, the ugly appearance of the Luoyang court angered Zhang Yan, who felt insulted and angry, so she decided to cause trouble.
He heard that Guo Tai was determined to fight against the Luoyang court, refused to accept the title granted by the Luoyang court, and even sent someone to contact him, hoping that he would not go with the Luoyang court, not even a word said by the Luoyang court. Believe it, otherwise you will be killed.
Zhang Yan does not believe that the corrupt Luoyang court can kill him, but he feels that Mrs. Guo has a good willpower and may be able to become his sword and seek benefits for himself.
So Zhang Yan secretly contacted Mrs. Guo, pretending that she was also dissatisfied with the Luoyang court, so she could secretly support Mrs. Guo with money and food and continue to support his operations. If he was short of manpower, he could also send people to help him.
Zhang Yan's only request is that Mrs. Guo can be a vanguard, lead the army to fight first, break through the Han army's defense line on the north bank of the Yellow River, and establish an advance base for the army to cross the river.
The Han army's defense was very tight before, so although he was determined to launch another attack, the opposition was not small.
If Guo Tai succeeded in breaking through the Han army's defense line, then he would have reason to persuade his subordinates to attack Luoyang together, overthrow the corrupt Luoyang court, seize the damn emperor of Han, sacrifice to Huang Tian, and avenge the great virtuous teacher. .
After Mrs. Guo learned about Zhang Yan's "will", she was very happy without doubting his presence. She immediately organized her troops and prepared for battle.
Anyway, he and the Luoyang court were at odds with each other. Unless Liu Hong's head was taken off and sacrificed to Zhang Jiao, he would not be able to rest in peace even if he died.
So just after the fifth year of Zhongping, Mrs. Guo swore an oath in the Baibo Valley, and then led more than 10,000 troops to attack, defeating Linfen County and Jiangyi County in a short time, and defeated the county magistrates of the two counties who had just taken up their duties. They were killed, and all the government officials were also killed.
Then, Mrs. Guo coerced many people and forced them to join the Baibo Army, and then quickly led his troops southward and invaded Wenxi County.
At that time, there were still 20,000 Han troops in Wenxi County, under the command of Zhou Shen, who were preparing to deploy defenses at various strongholds. More than 20,000 people had followed He Miao to the south bank of the Yellow River to reinforce the defense line. There was no fighting. psychological preparation.
Zhou Shen was shocked when he suddenly learned that the White Wave Yellow Turban Army had resurrected and destroyed two counties.
"How could this happen? Didn't the imperial court send people to recruit them? Didn't it say that the situation was very good? How could this happen?"
Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, who had not had time to retreat, were also surprised and panicked for a while.
But there is no way. Since the other party has already arrived, if he escapes now and loses the city, Zhou Shen will definitely not be able to escape jail after he returns.
Thinking of the lessons learned from Huangfu Song who had been killed, Zhou Shen swallowed his saliva and summoned the generals, including Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, to express his views to them.
"In the current situation, if we abandon the city and go south and lose the city, we will definitely be punished. Huangfu Song has learned a lesson from the past. There is still a chance of survival if we fight. If we don't fight, everyone will be a slave and I will be a fish. You should know how to choose. "
I don't know if other people are worried about it, but Yuan Shu is definitely unwilling to do so.
The battlefield was really uncomfortable for him.
The impact of the last defeat made him unable to recover for a while. Now he just wanted to go back to the gentle countryside of Luoyang to heal his wounds. He didn't want to stay in the army and get along with a bunch of smelly old men.
However, what disgusted Yuan Shu was that Yuan Shao seemed to be quite adaptable to this situation.
During the last battle, Yuan Shu collapsed and ran away, but later he learned that Yuan Shao had actually charged into the battle against the odds, and successfully charged into the battle, successfully containing the rebels' front, showing a true man's bravery.
Although he was not rewarded later because he did not win, Yuan Shao was well regarded by the army.
Yuan Shao's bravery was highly praised by He Miao and Zhou Shen. In contrast, Yuan Shu, a long-legged general whose transformation speed was as fast as He Miao, became the target of ridicule.
More than once, Yuan Shu heard someone mocking him in a corner of the army, saying that he was a long-legged general or a flying general, and then praised Yuan Shao, saying that Yuan Shu was cowardly, Yuan Shao was brave, and the hope that the Yuan family could prosper in the future must lie with Yuan Shao. .
This is tantamount to torture for Yuan Shu.
He could accept some criticism, but he couldn't accept someone saying that Yuan Shao was better than him. He swore that he would surpass Yuan Shao in all aspects no matter what.
But an oath is an oath, and when war really came, Yuan Shu couldn't help but feel a little timid.
If it weren't for Sun Jian, a fierce tiger from the east of the Yangtze River, he would even pretend to be sick and retreat.
But even with Sun Jian, can we definitely win the battle?
Yuan Shu expressed doubts.
But Yuan Shao didn't have any doubts. When Yuan Shao heard about the fighting, his eyes immediately turned red and he went to ask Zhou Shen for a fight.
Yuan Shao was extremely angry because he had been implicated by his two pig teammates, He Miao and Yuan Shu, and he had been fighting tooth and nail but failed to gain any merit.
This time there was another opportunity, and he would not let it go no matter what.
In addition to the instinctive fear of death, in his heart now was a strong desire to make contributions and stand out. This desire prompted him to ask Zhou Shen for a fight.
"The traitor must be greedy and wants to blackmail the court to increase rewards. Such greed must not be indulged! Otherwise, if thieves all over the world dare to bargain with the court, what dignity does the court have?
There are still 20,000 troops in the county ready to go. Their strength is not sparse and their morale is not low. If we fight against them, we may not be unable to win. Please send troops to fight against them! "
(End of chapter)
