At the end of the Han Dynasty, Yuzhou had a large population of several million.
Yingchuan County was less than a quarter of Runan, but it had a population of about 400,000. In addition, Yingchuan had many aristocratic families and tens of thousands of illegal slaves.
This was a county with a large population.
There were about 400,000 people in the Liang Kingdom, and more than 300,000 in the Chen and Lu Kingdoms.
As the largest county, Runan County had the largest population of over two million people. Even though the population had been decreasing year after year after the outbreak of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, it still had about 150 people. However, there were more elderly people, women, and children among them, and relatively fewer young adults.
The largest aristocratic family in Runan County was the Yuan family of four generations and three dukes. However, the two representatives of the family, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, chose Jizhou and Huainan respectively as their base for hegemony.
In contrast to Runan County, Pei Country had the smallest population in Yuzhou. Currently, there were no more than 200,000 people. Among them, Feng County had 50,000 people, while the other counties had tens of thousands. As for Qiao County, it had a population of more than 100,000. Among them, there were the Heng family, Liu family, and He family, all of which were led by the Cao family and Xiahou family.
At this moment, Heng Dian, Liu Guang, and He Xin had all gathered at the Cao family to pay their respects to Cao Bin.
The head of the Cao family was Cao Cao's biological father, Cao Song, a former Grand Marshal of the Great Han Dynasty. When Cao Cao rebelled in Chenliu, he refused to follow him and brought his youngest son, Cao De, to Langye to avoid disaster.
Cao Cao had taken several sons of the Xiahou family to occupy the East County of Yanzhou, so Cao Bin, the second son of Cao Song, was temporarily the head of the family.
"Cao Family Head, why don't we send a letter to ask the General for help?”Heng Dian suggested.
The General of Vigor referred to the military position that Cao Cao had received when he was fighting against Dong in the alliance of the Eastern Barons. It was more valuable than the position of Governor of Dongjun.
"It's inappropriate!" Cao Bin pondered for a moment and shook his head." My brother has just been defeated by Du, Bai Rao, Sui Gu, Yu Fuluo, and others. East County is still unstable. Moreover, distant water cannot quench the thirst of the present.”
East County was in the north of Yanzhou. To reach Qiao County in Pei Country, one had to pass through Jiyin County and Chenliu County, and then through Liang Country. It would take several days for a fast horse to travel, and the marching speed would only be slower.
It was too late!
"Then why don't we ask Marquis Wu Cheng to help?"
Liu Guang suggested," Marquis Wucheng has been appointed as the governor of Yuzhou by the general. He is stationed in Yangcheng, not far from Qiao County. If he leads his army here and arrives within five days, he will be able to deal with a mere Yellow Turban."”
Later, the general pointed to Yuan Shu.
Wu Cheng Hou pointed to Sun Jian, Han Ming Lord.
"No!" Without waiting for Cao Bin to speak, Heng Dian spoke first,"These few days, we have been obstructing Han Ming's conscription. Now that the Yellow Turban Army is besieging the city, we have not sent out our family's private soldiers to help.”
"I heard that Marquis Wu Cheng is a violent person. If he were to station his army in Qiao County, I'm afraid we won't have a good life.”
Qiao County was where Yuzhou was located, but Sun Jian had led his army to Yangcheng. Although part of the reason was to facilitate the attack on Luoyang, and at the same time, it was also convenient to recruit soldiers in Yingchuan, the obstruction of the aristocratic families of Qiao County was also part of the reason.
The reason was that Sun Jian followed Yuan Shu, while Cao Cao followed Yuan Shao.
Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao both wanted Yuzhou. Cao Cao was temporarily Yuan Shao's underling, so Qiao County naturally couldn't be handed over to Sun Jian, who was more powerful than Yuan Shu.
"Marquis Wu Cheng, ignore it!"
Cao Bin gave a definite answer.
"Then what should we do?"
Liu Guang sighed.
"Liu Pi and Gong Du are entrenched in Runan and claim to have a hundred thousand Yellow Turban soldiers. This time, they are leading thirty thousand troops, and with He Yi and Huang Shao assisting them from the rear, Qiao County will definitely not be defended.”
"Those Yellow Turban bandits are like locusts and are not friendly to our families. If they respect the city, I'm afraid our private soldiers won't be able to guard it for long.”
Cao Bin and the other two's faces darkened slightly when they heard this.
They understood the logic, but it seemed like it was very difficult to find reinforcements nearby.
Even though it was a chaotic time, not every county had soldiers. In most cases, only the prefectures and cities had armies.
"I do know someone who might be able to help us.”
In the silence, He Xin, who had been silent all this while, suddenly spoke, attracting the attention of the other four.
"Who is it?" Xiahou Jie, the acting lord of the Xiahou family, asked hurriedly.
"Feng County Lieutenant, Zhang Mu!" He Xin spat out six words.
"It's him!"
The four of them were deep in thought.
During this period of time, they had heard a lot of news about Zhang Mu.
He is the grandson of Zhang Daoling and the disciple of Wen Ju Gong Gao.
None of them were weak.
It was said that Zhang Mu had tens of thousands of elite soldiers who had wiped out the bandits near the northern counties of Pei Country to protect the peace of the area.
He indeed had the ability to help, and he was still in time.
"Zhang Mu is indeed suitable, but I have my concerns.”Heng Dian said.
"What concerns?"
"Letting a wolf into the house!"
Heng Dian spat out four words and said in a deep voice,""I heard that Zhang Mu's ambition is not small. Looking at his actions and the tens of thousands of soldiers under him, it can be seen that if we lure him here, he might not be willing to leave.”
Zhang Mu was the county captain of Feng County. Logically speaking, the number of soldiers under him could not exceed 1,000. Now, he had clearly violated the rules, but no one cared about him in this world.
At the same time, as a county captain, unless there was an order from the higher ups, Zhang Mu could not bring his troops to other counties. Otherwise, it would be equivalent to rebelling.
As Qiao County was the state capital of Yuzhou, the position of the state minister (prefect) of Pei State and the county magistrate of Qiao County were originally held by the former Yuzhou governor Kong Wei. At that time, the current Yuzhou governor could be said to be Sun Jian, and the position of state minister of Pei State was held by Cao Bin himself. He had the right to order Zhang Mu to lead troops to help.
But once Zhang Mu entered Qiao County, it might not be so easy to get him out.
With the current situation, it was easy for him to do anything.
He was still guarding Qiao City for the Cao Clan.
"Report!"
Just as Cao Bin and the others were hesitating, a servant suddenly rushed in.
"What is it?" Cao Bin frowned.
"Patriarch, Han Ming died in battle, and the Yellow Turban Army has entered the city!”
What?
The five of them were shocked.
He Xin's expression changed and he hurriedly said,""Cao Family Head, don't hesitate!"
"Even Han Ming has been defeated. Liu Pi and Gong Du aren't simple. Our private troops can't hold out for more than a few days.”
Cao Bin also knew the seriousness of the matter. He did not hesitate and began to write the edict. At the same time, he ordered people to get the seal of the governor of Yuzhou and the seal of the minister of Pei.
Soon, a group of horses flew out of the Cao Manor.
However, not long after the horse left Dongcheng Ming, it was stopped by a large group of people.
The imperial edict fell into Zhang Mu's hands.
"With this, half of the filial piety plan has been completed!”
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。