Although they couldn't find those far away, there were still a few near them. For example, the two most famous generals in Yizhou during the Three Kingdoms period, Zhang Ren and Yan Yan.
Zhang Ren, 166-214, from Shu Prefecture, Yizhou. He was Liu Zhang's subordinate and was a member of Yizhou. He was known for his loyalty and bravery. It was rumored that Zhang Ren was the eldest disciple of the famous martial arts master Tong Yuan at the end of the Han Dynasty. He was skilled in martial arts and was good at using strategies. He was both wise and brave. When Liu Bei took Shu, Zhang Ren sent troops to resist and was defeated twice and captured alive. Liu Bei sent people to persuade Zhang Ren to surrender, but Zhang Ren would rather die than surrender and was killed. Liu Bei sighed for him.
Yan Yan, 154-223, from Guangwu, Yinping County. He used to be Liu Zhang's subordinate and was the prefect of Ba County. When Liu Bei captured Shu, Yan Yan defended Jiangzhou and was defeated by Zhang Fei and captured alive. Faced with Zhang Fei's forced landing, Yan Yan would rather die than submit. After receiving Zhang Fei's praise and being treated as a guest, Yan Yan surrendered to Liu Bei.
Therefore, Ding Huai decided to go personally this time. It was enough to show how much Ding Huai valued these two people. As long as he could beat these two to it, it would be easy for him to conquer Yizhou in the future. Although there were many talents in Yizhou, most of them were internal affairs talents, such as Zhang Su, Zhang Song, Huang Quan, Deng Zhi, Li Hui, Wang Lei, Liu Ba, Xu Jing, and Dong He. There were very few military talents. The most famous strategist was Fa Zheng. Among the generals, Zhang Ren and Yan Yan were the leaders, followed by Li Yan, Wu Yi, Meng Da, Lei Tong, Leng Bao, Deng Xian, Wu Ban, and Zhang Yi and Zhang Yi in the later period of the Three Kingdoms.
Therefore, regarding Ding Huai's idea, he would settle Zhang Ren and Yan Yan now. Since Fa Zheng was only seven years old this year, after a few years, when Fa Zheng became an adult, he would be recruited. Then, Yizhou would not be a concern. As long as he could keep occupying Hanzhong Fortress, Yizhou would be in his hands sooner or later. It was just that Liu Yan would be in charge of it for a few years. After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Liu Yan would definitely become the herdsman of Yizhou.
In fact, Ding Huai had also thought of using his contribution to quelling the rebellion after the Yellow Turban Rebellion to befriend the officials in the court and make himself the herdsman of Yizhou. Yizhou had always been known as the Land of Abundance and was an excellent base for money and grain. Taking advantage of the wealth and manpower of Yizhou, he sent troops south to pacify Yunnan and east to Jingzhou. Then, after Dong Zhuo's death, he took advantage of Li Guo's war to attack Chang 'an, holding the emperor to order the vassals, and finally taking over the Han Dynasty.
Of course, this grand plan had a foundation, and that was Ding Huai becoming the herdsman of Yizhou. However, in terms of strength, Ding Huai felt that he could not compete with Liu Yan. Therefore, Ding Huai gave up on this plan. However, he had to firmly control the strategic fortress of Hanzhong. If there was a chance, he would occupy Wudu and Yinping counties. This way, the door to Yizhou would be completely open in front of him. In the future, as long as a general led tens of thousands of troops, he could directly take Chengdu.
At that time, Yizhou had a total population of about 5.5 million people, second only to Jizhou and Yuzhou at that time. Jizhou had 6 million people, and Yuzhou had 6.3 million people. Not only did they have the advantage in population, but the terrain of Yizhou was also advantageous. Yizhou was a flat terrain with vast fields and fertile soil. Each mu of land could produce 100 catties more grain than the north.
Hanzhong County could be said to be the county with the least population in Yizhou. Because Hanzhong was mountainous and did not have many fields, it only had a population of 300,000. However, Yinping County, which was almost the same size as Hanzhong County, had twice the population of Hanzhong, with a population of 600,000. Therefore, Ding Huai felt that Yinping County was many times more prosperous than Hanzhong after entering. Yinping County was the third county in Yizhou that Ding Huai had visited after entering Hanzhong. The second county was Ba County. Although Ba County was four times the size of Hanzhong County, it only had a population of one million. It was one of the few counties with a large population.
Guangwu County was the second largest county in Yinping County after Wen County. It was located in the south of Yinping County.
The Yan family was considered a big family in Guangwu County, so Ding Huai did not spend much effort to find out the location of Yan Yan's family when he arrived in Guangwu County.
Yan Yan was only twenty-eight years old and had joined the army for three years. Because there had never been a war in Yinping County, Yan Yan had not made any military achievements even though he had joined the army for three years. He was still a soldier. The northern part of Yizhou was very peaceful, but the southern part was different. It bordered South Vietnam, and there would often be South Vietnamese barbarians harassing the border, invading it for a while before leaving. By the time the Han army arrived, there was no one to be found. Furthermore, these South Vietnamese were very warlike. Provincial Governor Zhang Qiao had once organized an army to go south, but the unique terrain of South Vietnam and the poisonous marsh gas had once become a nightmare for the Han army. Before the army could see any signs of the Nanman people, one-third of the soldiers had already fallen. Zhang Qiao had no choice but to give up.
However, the Nanman people did not give up. Not only did they harass the border more frequently, but the people of Hanjia, Qianwei, Jiangyang, and Bajun did not dare to live at the border and moved north. Moreover, they had also caused two riots in Ba County. Although they were eventually suppressed, they had also caused a moderate impact on Yizhou.
Although Yan Yan was only a soldier now, he had made a name for himself during the Yellow Turban Rebellion and finally gained the recognition of Zhang Qiao, the provincial governor. After Liu Yan came, Zhang Qiao recommended Yan Yan to Liu Yan. Liu Yan was also considered a wise governor. After discovering Yan Yan's ability, he appointed him as the prefect of Bajun, the largest county in Yizhou.
However, although Yan Yan was brave and good at leading troops, he was not good at politics. He offended many of his colleagues, and under their instigation, Liu Yan gradually reduced Yan Yan's power. He divided Ba County into Ba County, Badong County, and Brazil County twice. In the end, the area of Ba County was only two-fifths of the original area of Ba County, but the population was only one-fifth of the original Ba County-200,000. According to the laws of the Han Dynasty, the largest ratio of conscription was one out of ten. Therefore, the 200,000-strong Ba County could only have 20,000 soldiers. However, Yan Yan had less than 20,000 soldiers, only 12,000. This was the real reason why Yan Yan was defeated by Zhang Fei when Liu Bei took Shu.
Although Zhang Fei was brave, Yan Yan had been guarding Ba County for many years and won the hearts of the people. Moreover, he was very familiar with the local terrain. Zhang Fei was only a brave but not resourceful person. He led a tired and unjust army. How could he defeat Yan Yan, the famous general of Yizhou? The difference in strength between the two sides was too great. This was the real reason for Yan Yan's defeat.
Due to the Spirit Monarch's special order to allow Ding Huai to recruit some generals to train his cavalry, Yinping County Governor Zhao Heng basically did not dare to express any opinions. He simply handed Yan Yan's hands over to Ding Huai. Moreover, Zhao Heng did not recognize Yan Yan's ability and thought that he was just a small soldier. For Zhao Heng, there was no big loss. Instead, he got two barrels of beer from Ding Huai. Zhao Heng felt that he had taken advantage of him. Ding Huai, who was good at observing people's expressions, naturally would not let go of this opportunity. After agreeing to give Zhao Heng another 20 barrels of beer, he exchanged it for 10,000 dans of grain. Of course, these 20 barrels of beer had to be given to Zhao Heng in stages. Otherwise, if he sent them all at once, he would definitely face the situation of the beer going bad.
Of course, for 20 barrels of beer, its value was definitely not worth so much food. However, Zhao Heng was obviously trying to curry favor with him. Another reason was that Yinping County was relatively rich. In addition, there was no turmoil in the county, so the amount of food stored was relatively large. If there was more, it would naturally not be valued too much. After all, the rarer something was, the more valuable it was. Moreover, if the food was stored for a long time, it would also mold. This was also the reason why Zhao Heng could be so "generous" to give Ding Huai so much food. This strengthened Ding Huai's determination to occupy Yinping County during the Yellow Turban Rebellion.
As Zhao Heng was only in his twenties, not much different in age from Ding Huai, the two of them got along very well. Zhao Heng might not be famous in history, and very few people knew that he existed during the Three Kingdoms period. However, Zhao Heng had a younger brother who had appeared in the history of the Three Kingdoms. He was not a key figure. This person was Zhao Fan.
Yes, Zhao Fan was the prefect of Guiyang when Liu Bei attacked Jingzhou after the Battle of Red Cliff. When Zhao Yun attacked Guiyang, he led his army to defect and became friends with Zhao Yun at first sight. In addition, the two of them were from the same hometown. They were both from Hebei and became sworn brothers. However, because Zhao Fan wanted to marry his widowed second sister-in-law, Fan Shi, to Zhao Yun, it caused the conservative Zhao Yun to be furious.
Actually, according to the records, Zhao Yun was not a gentleman. He was a man of lust and lust, just like Guan Yu. Back then, Zhao Fan had intentionally let the Fan Clan appear in front of Zhao Yun. Due to the Fan Clan's beauty that could topple a nation, Zhao Yun could not help but ask who this person was. When Zhao Fan said that she was the sister-in-law who had been widowed for three years, Zhao Yun had no choice but to scold Zhao Fan in a serious manner out of concern for her reputation. In ancient times, most people were like this. They would usually forcefully suppress their desires and protect their lofty and glorious image. They would suffer because they wanted to save face. In comparison, Guan Yu was much braver. When he saw the stunning beauty of Qin Yilu's wife, Du Shi, he dared to ask Cao Cao for it. This was how rare it was in the social background at that time. This was also an important aspect that Cao Cao admired. At least Guan Yu was not that hypocritical.
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