The World of Yellow Sky

Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao were also veteran generals of the Yellow Turban Army, and their ability to lead troops in battle was much stronger than the bandits in the mountains, and Zhou Cang's bravery was not inferior to He Man in the slightest.

"Then who is this?"

"Yan Zhong, greet the general."

The man put away the silk fan in his hand, and cupped his hands at Xu An with a smile on his face.

Xu An was shocked. When he was watching the Three Kingdoms, he was very curious why Huangfusong and others didn't come out to stop Dong Zhuo's rebellion, so he checked Huangfusong's information. He clearly remembered that after Huangfusong broke the yellow scarf.

It was a man named Yan Zhong who persuaded Huangfusong to take the opportunity to rebel and seize the artifact.

"My surname is Yan, my first name is Zhong, and my courtesy name is Enzhi. I am a native of Guzang, Wuwei County."

Xu An's pupils shrank, he knew that this person was Yan Zhong who persuaded Huangfu Song to replace Han and stand on his own.

Yan Zhong is actually not famous in history, there are only a few records, but there is a story in it that Yan Zhong is good at observing people, and Yan Zhong and Jia Xu are from the same town. Yan Zhong admired him very much, and said that Jia Xu had the talents of Zhang Liang and Chen Ping. Later, as expected, Jia Xu became the prime minister of Cao Wei, worshiped Taiwei, and was canonized as Shouxianghou.

But this person didn't disappear after leaving Huangfusong. Until the fifth year of Zhongping, the kingdom rebelled, and he was coerced into being the leader of the rebel army. Because he refused to help the tyrant, he died angrily.

This is only the second year of Zhongping, how come he came here.

"It seems that General Xu has heard my name before."

Yan Zhong also noticed the change in Xu An's expression, and asked slowly, shaking the silk fan in his hand.

"Mr. Yan, a famous scholar in Liangzhou, nobody in the world knows him. I'm just curious, what's the point of coming to Taihang Mountain if Mr. Yan is not an official in the Han court?"

Naturally, Xu An couldn't say that he had seen Yan Zhong's deeds. Only then did he know that Yan Zhong was indeed a famous scholar in Liangzhou, and it was normal to know his name. Of course, this was for the gentry, but Xu An said so , Yan Zhong is in the Yellow Turban camp at this time, and he definitely doesn't dare to ask the bottom line, and there is no need.

This time Liu Pi was surprised. He thought that Yan Zhong was just a bandit leader who heard about the reputation of the Taihang Yellow Turban and came to join him, because since the bigger bandits in the Taihang Mountains were all defeated by Xu An, there have been more bandits one after another. Came here to take refuge.

"Because, the sky is dead, and the yellow sky will be established. The year is Jiazi, and the world will be blessed."

Yan Zhong solemnly read out the slogan shouted by the Yellow Turban Army.

"The Son of Heaven is fatuous, and the ten permanent attendants are a disaster for the court. The people of the four directions are suffering from natural disasters. The barbarians are staring at them. The strength of the Han Dynasty is exhausted. Although there are loyal ministers and good generals, it is difficult to prevent the collapse of the building."

"A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, a good bird chooses a tree to live in, and a virtuous minister chooses a master to serve. Yan Zhong believes that General Xu should be the master."

Chapter 125 Yan Zhong

Yan Zhong read a lot of books since he was a child, and traveled to many places for his studies. On the way to study, Yan Zhong also saw the various states of the world.

There are a lot of taxes, the low-level officials are powerful and clever, and they are exploited layer by layer, so that the common people in Shengdou can only survive in the cracks, and their families will be ruined and their wives will be separated when they encounter natural disasters.

Later, Yan Zhong was promoted as Xiaolian and served as the county magistrate of Xindu. He thought he could show what he had learned all his life, but he was constrained everywhere. Yan Zhong was born in a poor family and had no one to rely on, so he had no choice but to resign and leave, which also planted the seeds of resentment towards the powerful family in Yan Zhong's heart.

Later, after several twists and turns, during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he went out with Huangfusong. The Yellow Turban Rebellion also gave Yan Zhong an opportunity. The chaotic reality has shaken the foundation of the Han Dynasty, and let Yan Zhong see the weakness of the Han Dynasty.

So after the Battle of Quyang, Yan Zhong persuaded Huangfusong to take the power of a great victory and encourage Huangfusong to counterattack Luoyang and replace the Han Dynasty.

It's just that Huangfusong finally ended up in the Han Dynasty, rejected Yan Zhong's proposal, and later asked Yan Zhong to lead his troops to chase Xu An who had fled into the Taihang Mountains.

Yan Zhong was worried that Huangfusong would report him, so after regaining Jingxing Pass, he left again.

Originally Yan Zhong wanted to sneak back to Liangzhou across the Taihang Mountains, but Xu An appeared in sight at this time, and the several forces in the middle of the Taihang Mountains were all defeated by Xu An in just a month.

This also aroused Yan Zhong's interest, so Yan Zhong led his family soldiers to stay in the mountains, and even occupied a small village, becoming the lord of the village, wanting to see Xu An's next move .

But no matter how much Yan Zhong imagined, he couldn't imagine that the originally chaotic Taihang Mountains would be filled with yellow scarves battle flags in less than a year. The thieves of some forces were all swept away by Xu An, and then small groups of thieves everywhere also fell upon hearing the news, and they all bowed to Xu An's command.

This is also the reason why Yan Zhong is now appearing in Banyun Mountain and River Valley.

Xu An looked at Yan Zhong in amazement. He came from later generations and knew what was going to happen later, he knew about the fact that the warlords separated and the feudal lords fought.

But this Yan Zhong is obviously a person of this era, but he dares to assert that the Han Dynasty is exhausted. Although there are loyal ministers and good generals, it is difficult to prevent the collapse of the building.

Yan Zhong smiled slightly and continued to say: "The terrain of the Taihang Mountains is rugged, the mountains are high and the roads are far away, and the Taihang Eight Xings cut off the outside world. There are important routes that can be guarded, and it is absolutely impossible for the Han army to enter the mountain from these two places."

"Presumably the general also knows that the main force of the Han army is now confronting the Qiang cavalry in Meiyang. If they want to defeat Beigong Boyu, the battle is destined to be protracted. Therefore, the Han army must have no time to take care of Taihang in the short term. Although the Taihang mountain range is a place where several states communicate , but still a place of foundation.”

"The world is in chaos. I originally wanted to sneak back to Liangzhou to live in seclusion, but in the mountains, I saw that General Xu subdued the bandits in the Taihang Mountains in just a few years."

Yan Zhong paused.

"I've thought about it for a long time. At this time, Beigong Boyu, Bian Zhang, Han Sui and others are making trouble in Liangzhou. It's not a place to live for a long time. On the contrary, it's better to be under the general's command to be safe and secure. You can also make achievements and show off what you have learned."

Xu An was even more shocked. The historical Yan Zhong died in Liangzhou because of this. In February of the sixth year of Zhongping (189), Han Sui hijacked Yan Zhong and supervised all the ministries. Yan Zhong was shamed by everyone. , died angrily.

Yan Zhong is known as a celebrity in Liangzhou, and he is indeed extraordinary.

Xu An escaped into the Taihang Mountains because he knew Zhang Yan's family history, and wanted to wait for the remnants of the Yellow Turbans and the rebels to take advantage of the chaos, but Yan Zhong came to almost the same conclusion based on the information he had so far. conclusion.

"I don't know if General Xu is willing to accept Yan as his adviser?"

Yan Zhong bowed slightly, and saluted Xu An again.

Xu An already lacked generals, not to mention no advisers, so there was no reason why Yan Zhong refused to agree to his request at this time.

"With the help of my husband today, great things can be accomplished."

Yan Zhong paid his respects again, and replied, "Your Majesty, you don't have to call me Mr. Biao, just call me Biao."

Xu An was kind and kind, and it was the time when he was in a good mood.

But at this time outside the door, a travel-worn messenger soldier ran into him.

"Taihang Xing urgent report!"

"This is?"

Xu An received the letter, feeling a little suspicious. Could it be that something went wrong with Zhang Yan?

Just after reading a few lines of fine print, a smile froze on Xu An's face.

"what happened?"

Liu Pi and Yu Du saw Xu An's expression was not right, so they hurriedly surrounded him.

Although He Man, Zhou Cang, and Pei Yuanshao didn't step forward, they looked a little uneasy. Yan Zhong frowned slightly, but he didn't go forward to ask.

"Zhu Jun is here..."

Xu An raised his head, and handed the letter in his hand to Liu Pi and Yu Du who were beside him.

"Zhu Jun!?"

Of all the people present, there was naturally no one who had never heard of Zhu Jun's name.

"Zhang Yan sent a message. When he withdrew to the mountain, he fought with the Han army in Hanoi. The Han army had nearly ten thousand people. After discarding a small amount of supplies, our army returned to Taihang Xing."

"According to scout reports, the commander of the Han army in Hanoi is Zhu Jun, Marquis of Qiantang."

Xu An's expression was serious, Zhu Jun's history is as famous as Huangfusong, and the experience of facing Huangfusong is still vivid in his memory.

For a while, the atmosphere in the courtyard became heavy because of this news.

Seeing that everyone suddenly became silent, Yan Zhong thought for a while and said, "Taihang Xingcheng has strong walls and narrow terrain. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack. As long as there are heavy troops guarding the pass, there will be no worries in the mountains."

When Xu An heard Yan Zhong's words, he suddenly came to his senses. The shadow Huangfusong brought to him was too great. From Guangzong to Xia Quyang, he had lost consecutive battles.

Suddenly hearing Zhu Jun who was as famous as Huangfusong, he couldn't help making an analogy between Zhu Jun and Huangfusong.

But he forgot that today is different from the past, different from the plains and wilderness of Jizhou. He is now located in the Taihang Mountains. If Zhu Jun wants to lead troops into Taihang from Hanoi, he must break through the checkpoints. It's hard to defend.

In history, Zhang Yan was the same as Xu An, and may even be inferior to Xu An in terms of military strength, but it was not until April of the tenth year of Jian'an (205) that Cao Cao completely defeated the Yuan Group, and Zhang Yan led the crowd to surrender.

Yuan Shao fought Zhang Yan many times, but they always stopped at various checkpoints.

"Even though the Han army outside the mountain has a strength of [-], there is no threat to us in the mountain. I think the most urgent thing is to deal with the affairs in the mountain."

Yan Zhong held the silk fan in his left hand and said solemnly.

"I have only been in the river valley for a few days, but I have also discovered many problems. Although these problems are small now, if they are left alone, they may lead to catastrophe in the future."

Chapter 126

"Appreciate further details."

Xu An really has no experience in government and agriculture, and he really doesn't know much about people's livelihood and politics.

Yan Zhong shook his silk fan lightly, and said slowly: "My lord has experience in military strategy and training, and he is ten times better than me, but when it comes to people's livelihood and political affairs, my lord is not as good as me."

"It's this civil affairs thing I'm talking about."

"First, the bandits in the Taihang Mountains were at the beginning of peace, and the number of peasants and soldiers under the lord's command is increasing day by day. They need to spend a lot of money and food every day. Now they can go out to plunder the surrounding counties and counties to enrich the warehouses, but it is not a long-term solution. There are quite a lot of river valleys in the Taihang Mountains, so we should barely be able to maintain the cost of reclaiming the land."

"Secondly, my lord ordered the residents of the mountains and some soldiers left behind to reclaim the fields in the mountains, but some places were reclaimed blindly, which would have a great impact on the trees, soil and rocks in the mountains. When the mountain rains, the fields will definitely be destroyed, and human and livestock casualties will inevitably be damaged. The prestige of the lord."

Xu An frowned slightly. He was sure that he had given this order, but he basically spent all his time in the barracks, so he didn't know how it was actually carried out.

"Thirdly, it is often said that soldiers and horses do not move, but food and grass go first, but I see that the finances in the mountains are quite chaotic. The day before yesterday, I saw soldiers piling up food, and there were no officials to record it. So how do you know how long the remaining food in the warehouse can be used for? ? How can we know if the stored food is lost?"

What Yan Zhong said, Xu An actually noticed something, but the generals under his command led the troops to fight, and it was okay to charge into the battle and kill the enemy.

But when it comes to dealing with people's livelihood and political affairs, there is almost no one around him except Zhao Le.

Zhao Le was just the head of the family before, and there were only a few hundred people in the Zhao family. Now Zhao Le is asked to take care of the logistics of tens of thousands of people and the people's livelihood and political affairs of the entire Taihang Mountains. This is a bit difficult for others.

These days, Zhao Le is immersed in handling official business every day, but the business has not decreased, but has accumulated more and more.

Even now Xu An doesn't know the approximate number of sergeants under his command, and reports of training camps and casualties are all backlogged on the files.

Xu An glanced at the side and said: "What Enzhi said is very true, but there is really no one around me before..."

Yan Zhong stretched out his silk fan and said with a smile: "Yan is not talented. He was once the county magistrate of Xindu. He spent tens of thousands of people's money and food, and people's livelihood and political affairs. If the lord approves, he will share the worries of the lord."

……

Because Zhao Le was the person who helped Xu An deal with people's livelihood and political affairs before, and he was the chief historian in the army, so Zhao Le directly worked in the side hall of Xu An's residence.

Yan Zhong didn't change his position, and directly moved into the side hall with his entourage. These entourages had been following Yan Zhong all the time. Although they were not talented officials, they could still read and write.

Soon Xu An knew the benefits of having a counselor. Compared with Zhao Le, Yan Zhong was completely different.

The side hall, which was originally a mess, was organized by Yan Zhong in just half a day, and the money and food in the mountain began to be counted again.

Because of Yan Zhong's arrangements, the refugees in the mountain also had a fixed residence. Most of the residents in the mountain, like the original three families in Lutai Mountain, fled to the mountain to avoid bandits.

After Xu An pacified the Taihang Bandit Rebellion, many mountain people moved out of the remote mountains again, but Xu An didn't know anything about it before.

Although Yan Zhong was amazingly efficient, Xu An didn't receive the detailed information about the army until late October due to the excessive backlog.

Xu An spread out the bamboo slips in his hands. The bamboo slips clearly recorded the details of the army, from Xu An's oath to the south to the present.

When the oath master went south, there were 31536 sergeants under Xu An's command, which were divided into 13 divisions at that time.

Attack Lei Gong, Baique, Fuyun, and Wulu, and more than 5000 soldiers will be killed, and more than 2000 people will be lost.

Yu Du, Bai Rao, and Sui Gu led their troops to surrender, with a total of more than 29000 people.

Chishiling fought together and confronted Yang Feng, losing more than 4000 people and losing more than 6000 soldiers.

Yang Feng's general, Yuzai, fought against trapped beasts in Qingyanjue, and finally burned himself to death. The final backlash also caused more than 1300 injuries to the Yellow Turban Army.

The Sili guarding Zhuoquan Valley did not resist, and simply surrendered. The Yellow Turban Army did not lose any sergeants, and had to surrender 3200 soldiers.

After unifying the Taihang Mountains, Xu An chose to go out of the mountains to plunder for money and food.

This time when they came out of the mountains, the soldiers directly under Xu'an suffered the most losses, with more than 5000 soldiers.

Although Zhang Yan's army had a confrontation with the Han army, they retreated back to the mountains in time. Counting the loss of the previous siege, only more than 2000 sergeants were lost.

However, when Yu Du attacked She County, he only lost more than 1000 sergeants, and brought He Man, Zhou Cang, and Pei Yuanshao's more than 2000 Yellow Turbans.

In addition, there were more than 800 people who followed Yan Zhong.

Also, after the unification of Taihang Mountain, bandits from all over the country were afraid of Xu An's military power, and chose to join him one after another.

Therefore, after Yan Zhong's statistics, there are now 67554 sergeants directly under Xu An's command.

Of course, this does not include the seven forces in the northern part of the Taihang Mountains.

Although the seven forces of Zuo Xiao, Guo Daxian, Zhang Baiqi, Liu Shi, Zuo Miaozhangba, Ping Han, and Daji have surrendered, Xu An has not yet sent troops to receive their trilogy.

Therefore, they still have a certain degree of autonomy, so their specific strength cannot be counted.

Now there are only nine generals in the army, Liu Pi, Gong Du, Zhang Yan, Xu Huang, Huang Long, Yu Du, He Man, Zhou Cang, and Pei Yuanshao.

Bai Rao and Sui Gu served as military commanders under Yu Du's command, and Bai Que and Sili, who surrendered, were appointed military marquis under Liu Pi's command.

When Xu An swore to go south, he appointed four lieutenants, Lieutenant Liu Pi of Dianjun, Lieutenant Gong Du of Anjun, Lieutenant Zhang Yan of Heishan, and Lieutenant Huanglong of Hujun.

Yu Du, Xu Huang, He Man, Zhou Cang, and Pei Yuanshao did not have official titles.