Lu Fang's sudden surrender shocked the bandits of Anping. In front of Lu Fang's persuasion and Zhang Fei's army, some of the dishonest bandits of Anping surrendered. Zhang Fei didn't have any good ideas about how to deal with these surrendered bandits. Zhuo County had a lot of land, and although there were many people, the land was still more than the people. Therefore, under Zhang Fei's suggestion, the old man at the entrance of Zhang Village, Zhang Ye, who was Zhang Fei's father, bought a piece of land in the east of Anping. Zhang Fei made a preliminary estimate. It was a full 200 mu. Even if the Zhang family had another 200 mu, they would still be able to eat it. However, the county magistrate of Anping indicated that Zhang Fei should not be too eye-catching. Because Zhang Fei's army had already exceeded the military reserves needed by the imperial court in a small county, the Zhuo County Mayor had already begun to criticize Zhang Fei. If he had bought more land this time, he would probably have caused some unnecessary trouble.
At the end of autumn, Guan Yu brought his adoptive parents to Anping. Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei were very happy. Zhang Feng and Zhang Ji felt that Guan Yu was indeed a man of his word. After settling down Guan Yu's parents, Zhang Fei recommended Guan Yu to the Anping County Magistrate, so Guan Yu became Zhang Fei's deputy general.
The bandits of Anping that had been around for eight to nine years were almost completely dealt with by Zhang Fei in just three months. As a result, the achievements of the Anping County Magistrate also went up. At the end of the year, the Mayor of Zhuo County reported that the County Magistrate of Anping County had been promoted to Luoyang as a counselor. The County Magistrate knew that this achievement came from Zhang Fei, so he recommended Zhang Fei to the Mayor of Zhuo County. About ten days before the New Year, the higher-ups sent a letter of appointment, appointing Zhang Fei as the Sima of the other department of Zhuo County. When Zhang Fei heard this news, he was instantly overjoyed. In this way, Zhang Fei officially became a high-ranking military officer. At this time, Zhang Fei already had the power to appoint and dismiss some low-level officers. Guan Yu and Zhao Yun were also transferred to Zhang Fei's side at the same time. Although they were still deputy generals, the power in their hands was much greater. Zhuo County was a big city, so compared to other counties, it could have more garrison officers and soldiers. Moreover, they could report to the emperor about the expansion. The advantage of a big city was obvious on this point. To put it bluntly, in the big city, all the official positions were fat jobs. Unfortunately, Zhang Fei took on the fat job among the fat jobs.
Jizhou, Yuzhou, and even Qingzhou sometimes had a problem in the army, namely, they had to pay and eat rations. Some greedy officials often lied about the number of troops, saying that 20,000 soldiers were 40,000 soldiers. In this way, the pay and rations of 20,000 soldiers would go into their pockets. Additionally, if they could get through the relationship with the patrol commissioner and the mail supervisor, even if the pay and rations of the remaining 20,000 soldiers were deducted, nobody would know. As long as he showed some respect to the Patrol Inspector and the Overseer, nothing would happen.
The position of the commander of the other division was not the highest in the local army. He only did some auxiliary work, but he was usually in charge of the big and small matters in the army. Therefore, he could be considered a position in the decision-making level. Zhang Fei was indeed a person with a very high status now.
Shandong wasn't peaceful during the New Year. Zhang Jiao, whom Zhang Fei was worried about, had shown obvious signs of rebellion. Like Guangzong to Chuzhou area, unexpectedly became only known as Daliang Tianshi and did not know the Han Dynasty emperor. Zhang Fei could only feel helpless about this situation. He had also talked to the county magistrate of Anping County about this matter. The county magistrate of Anping County had also reported this situation to the higher-ups, but the imperial court still did not make any moves. As for the reason, it was because the Emperor had been deceived by the eunuchs. Many important memorials had been robbed by the eunuchs before they could reach the Emperor. The ministers 'repeated remonstrances were all rejected by the Emperor. The Emperor sitting in the high hall was really muddle-headed. Pushe Wang Yun, Da Si Nong Yang Biao, Da Si Kong Yuan Kui were all helpless. They only knew how to sigh all day long. In the end, it was Ding Yuan and General He Jin who discussed how to get rid of the thief. However, he did not expect that Emperor Ling of Han would die after the new year. Before he died, he made a crown prince and called him the Young Emperor.
The sudden impact in the court caused the various powers to stop what they were doing, but it gave the eunuch Zhang Rang and the other eunuchs a chance to catch their breath. When the Young Emperor first ascended the throne, Zhang Rang was in charge of everything, big or small. It was almost like Zhang Rang was manipulating the Young Emperor. After spring, it became even worse. The Young Emperor actually called Zhang Rang "father". This was definitely the greatest humiliation of the royal family since the founding of the Han Dynasty! The emperor had called a eunuch servant his father!
Zhang Rang was not without any support. Empress Dowager Dong and Empress Dowager He had always been on bad terms in the court, but the He family had produced a great general who slaughtered pigs, He Jin. As for the Dong family, although their official titles were not comparable to the position of great general, the Dong family had always been prominent. Moreover, Empress Dowager Dong's status was higher, so in the internal court, Empress Dowager Dong could get whatever she wanted. Unfortunately, Eunuch Zhang Rang was very popular with Empress Dowager Dong and Empress Dowager He, so in many cases, a noble woman like the Empress Dowager still relied on a servant like Zhang Rang.
Undercurrents were surging in the palace, and Shandong and Henan had already begun to rebel. The leader was Zhang Jiao! After more than a month of rebellion, the court finally made a move, and the little Emperor did not know what to do. The civil and military officials in the court discussed for a few days before General He Jin decided that Huangfu Song would be the general of the Eastern Expedition. He would receive the party order and send 100,000 troops to destroy Zhang Jiao in three ways. Speaking of Zhang Jiao's rebellion, he made some mistakes and was discovered by Guangzong's government. Therefore, Zhang Jiao raised his rebellion ahead of time and shouted, The sky is dead, the yellow sky should be established, the year is in Jiazi, the world is very lucky! The whole of Shandong, Henan, and Hebei were divided into 36 large groups and 72 small groups. Each group had a commander. From the information that Zhang Fei had received, Zhang Jiao's troops numbered as many as a million. At this moment, all of Shandong, except for Beihai, had fallen into Zhang Jiao's hands.
After the Yellow Turban troops crossed the Yellow River, Huangfu Song confronted Zhang Jiao's second brother, Zhang Bao, who was also known as the Earth Duke General, in the east of the river. As for the Luoyang Order, Zhonglang General Lu Zhi and Zhang Jiao's headquarters were locked in a stalemate west of Guangzong. Zhang Jiao's third brother, Zhang Liang, also known as General Ren Gong, had begun to expand southward and had already reached Hefei. Zhonglang General Zhu Xie followed Lu Zhi's plan and held down Zhang Liang's troops west of Hefei. The three armies were all waiting for an opportunity. The imperial court was waiting for the arrival of reinforcements, while the Yellow Turban Army led by Zhang Jiao was waiting for the Yellow Turban Army in Shandong to retreat to Guangzong and Hedong. With their advantage in numbers, they could drag down Huangfu Song and then attack Lu Zhi from the east of Luoyang. Luoyang was the capital city, so the imperial court ordered the troops of Liangzhou and Jingzhou to march into Hanoi and Henan to support the three armies.
Surprisingly, at the end of the spring, the Luoyang magistrate Lu Zhi was arrested by the court for slacking off in exterminating thieves. He was replaced by the newly appointed General of Chariots and Cavalry, Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo led the cavalry he brought from Liangzhou and won a small victory on the plains south of Guangzong. However, in the blink of an eye, they were all wiped out in the same place ten days later. Dong Zhuo led the remnants of his troops to flee towards Hanoi, but he was surrounded in Changyi on the way. Dong Zhuo's situation was extremely critical, but the reinforcements from the imperial court would arrive in at least six or seven days. By then, Dong Zhuo would probably be minced meat. At this time, there was only one large army in Anping, north of Guangzong. This was Zhang Fei's Zhuo County garrison. Due to the critical situation, it was indeed a problem for a team of less than 5,000 people to pass through the Yellow Turban area between Anping and Guangzong. Moreover, they had to save Dong Zhuo. It would take three to five days to pass through this area. Even if they reached there, how could five thousand people defeat his strength of one hundred thousand in a day or two?
"Milord, what should we do?" Guan Yu asked Zhang Fei as he looked at the rescue document that had just been sent over. It was Zhao Yun's suggestion to call Zhang Fei 'Daren' since there were no rules in the army. Zhang Fei didn't care about it. The Zhang brothers also felt that it was reasonable and called him 'Daren' as well.
"..." Zhang Fei frowned and didn't speak for a long time. According to the imperial court's decree, it was indeed not easy to cross Anping to Guangzong, a land where the Yellow Turban was rampant. Moreover, his troops were really few. A few days ago, the highest commander of Zhuo County's army, the Commander-in-Chief, pleaded illness and returned to Luoyang. Now, in Zhuo County, besides the prefect Liu Yan, Zhang Yide's words carried the most weight. And Liu Yan was obviously an unreliable person. This time, it was really difficult for Zhang Fei. Zhang Fei couldn't help but miss Wang Xi, who was far away in Luoyang. However, now that Lu Zhi had been captured, he didn't know how he was. It had been several months, but there was no news from him.
"If you can't fight with your strength, you can only win with your wits!" Zhang Fei stared at the front and said slowly. Everyone saw that Zhang Fei was silent for a long time and finally spoke, so they all looked at him expectantly.
"Look at the map.”Zhang Fei pointed at a place and said. Everyone knew that Zhang Fei was good at drawing maps, so they looked over, wanting to know what place Zhang Fei was so concerned about.
" Cang Ting?!" A voice came from the crowd. It was Lü Meng. After Lü Fang surrendered, Zhang Fei promised him to be the steward of the Zhang family's fields, while Lü Meng became Zhang Fei's guard. Because Lü Meng and Zhang Ji were of similar age, they had the same interests. Lu Meng also admired the Zhang brothers 'abilities, so he also learned from Zhang Fei and the others in peace. In the blink of an eye, a few months had passed.
"You know about it?" Zhang Fei turned around and asked when he heard Lu Meng mention the place.
" Master," Lu Meng bowed and said," A few years ago, when my uncle and I were making a living on the river, we had a place to settle down. So, we are quite familiar with the place."”
"Are you familiar with both land and water?" Zhang Fei said seriously, so Lu Meng also said seriously,""Familiar. From the east of the river to Linzi in Shandong, there should be no one more familiar with this waterway than us.”
"Do you know how to control these ships?”Zhang Fei asked again.
"The original brothers of Flowing Current and Countercurrent are all experts, this is for sure.”Lu Meng smiled confidently. Zhang Ji gave him a thumbs up, which made him very proud.
"Alright, tonight, we'll go downstream from the Jing River, which is fifty miles away, into the Yellow River. If nothing goes wrong, we should reach the Yellow River in two days. At that time, we'll have to depend on Lu Meng's ability. We have to cross the Yellow River without any mistakes and land from Cang Ting. Then, we'll turn from Cangting to Changyi and attack the Yellow Turban army besieging General Dong from behind. As long as the Yellow Turban army besieging Changyi is in disorder, the siege will be lifted. This time, what we need to do is to send a surprise army and win with surprise!”After saying that, Zhang Fei suddenly placed his hand on Changyi's seat. When everyone saw this, their eyes were calm as they said in unison,"Sir is wise! Let's fight to the death!"
At this time, Sima Huiyin of the Yingchuan Academy had a different way of speech and governance from others. He ran to Jingzhou alone and took in two disciples. One was surnamed Xu and his first name was Shu, and the other was surnamed Zhuge and his first name was Liang. Not only were the two of them quick to learn, but they also had a strong memory. They were also quick-witted and knew everything about astronomy and geography. They knew everything about ancient times and culture. They also knew military formations and internal affairs. At the same time, Wang Xi, who Zhang Fei missed day by day, also admired Sima Hui's name and went to Jingzhou to study.
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