Chapter 239: Encirclement of Hanzhong
During the Luoyang Rebellion in the past, when Yuan Ji led Liu Bian to escape and escape from Dong Zhuo's attempt to silence them, he had already left behind serious consequences. The position he held in the court in Yecheng was just a sinecure.
Compared with Yuan Shao, a leader who has real power, he should be regarded as the eldest legitimate son of the Yuan family in terms of etiquette and law.
This is why, after Yuan Shu delivered the letter "Shao is not a son of the Yuan family" to Qiao Yan last year, she would pass the letter to Yuan Ji, who would handle the relationship between the two brothers and give Qiao Yan a gift to keep her mouth shut.
His health was not very good at that time.
Although it was not difficult to find famous doctors and tonic medicines with the financial resources and power of the Yuan family, under the current medical conditions, the untimely treatment of this injury and the various sequelae caused by physical deficiency made it only a matter of time before Yuan Ji died.
As early as last winter, Yuan Ji had shown signs of worsening condition, and at the turn of winter and spring, a cold pushed him to the brink of death.
Maybe it's not just because of the old injury.
As the heir of the Yuan family before the changes in the world, Yuan Ji inevitably had to consider the future of the Yuan family after arriving in Yecheng.
After his uncle Yuan Wei died in Luoyang, all the elders of the previous generation of the Yuan family died.
Yuan Wei's two sons followed their mother Ma Lun to Leping and almost cut off contact with them.
Yuan Cheng had no son, so Yuan Shao was adopted.
Yuan Feng's legitimate sons were Yuan Ji and Yuan Shu.
But now Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, one supporting the Yecheng court and the other supporting the Chang'an court, each occupying a prefecture and confronting each other, clearly want to break up the Yuan family of Runan.
It's not even a question of betting your chips in different directions.
Yuan Ji had no doubt that no matter which side supported by Yuan Shao or Yuan Shu won the final victory, they would never let their brothers survive.
This is completely contrary to their father's instructions to brothers to help each other.
It was still difficult for Yuan Ji to predict whether Yuan Shu, who was extremely shameless in both words and actions, would offend Qiao Yan, the number one supporter of the Chang'an court, because of his arrogance due to his noble family background.
While he was ill, Yuan Ji borrowed the Leping Monthly Report from Yang Biao and read it word by word.
Based on their experience as officials in the Luoyang court over the years, Yuan Ji and Ju Shou formed the same cognitive judgment:
The existence of this Leping Monthly News means a potential cultural invasion. After its content and system were formed, it began to explore its way towards Yecheng.
This is a very dangerous signal.
How should Yuan Shao respond to this threat?
The Imperial College that Yecheng had planned to build lost Zheng Xuan, which was originally its own. Instead, it allowed Qiao Yan's Leping Academy to develop a more solid cultural heritage, which was a big mistake in their decision-making.
This gap cannot be made up by studying old drawings.
If Yuan Ji could calm down and recuperate, perhaps he could live a few more years, but he chose to use such tangled thoughts to make things difficult for his body.
This directly led to his final illness, and Yuan Shao passed away before he even had the chance to invite a famous doctor to see him.
Yuan Shao stood in front of Yuan Ji's bed, looking at his brother's body which had stopped breathing. On the one hand, he was grieving for the separation of life, old age, sickness and death, and on the other hand, he couldn't help but rationally consider another problem.
How will others react when the news of Yuan Ji’s death comes out?
This is not a very appropriate time to die.
When Yuan Ji was still alive, both Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao had a "family head" above them.
Although Yuan Shu had disregarded the reputation of the Yuan family and slandered Yuan Shao, as long as Yuan Ji was still alive, he could not make further accusations against the Yuan family in Yecheng.
But now Yuan Ji is dead. He died when the Yecheng court had just changed the era name to Yonghan and was confronting the new court in Chang'an!
It just so happened that Yuan Shu was in Runan, the ancestral home of the Yuan family.
This means that he can get in touch with more members of the Yuan family than Yuan Shao!
Yuan Shao had many counselors under his command, but unfortunately he still couldn't understand what these two people were thinking.
One is Qiao Yan, because she can always win in ways that others can hardly imagine.
One is Yuan Shu, because he can always break the bottom line with the fierce and fierce method he used to use.
Once Yuan Ji dies, God knows what Yuan Shu will do.
Yuan Shao had a terrible headache. While taking care of Yuan Ji's funeral arrangements, he also asked people to keep an eye on the movements in Yuzhou and urge a certain bandit-suppressing general to advance as soon as possible.
Apart from dealing a heavy blow to Yuan Shu when he first marched into Yuzhou, Liu Bei's subsequent actions were too steady and cautious, causing Yuan Shao to even doubt whether using Liu Bei to "eliminate the bandits" was the right choice.
What he guessed correctly was that Yuan Shu did something terrible after learning of Yuan Ji's death.
Cheng Yu, Guo Jia and others in Chang'an originally thought that it was bad enough for Qiao Yan to have a relative like Qiao who was so tactless and wanted to take advantage of him. It even made them more determined to be loyal to their lord. However, compared with Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu who were trying to sabotage each other, the Qiao family members were actually very obedient.
"Yuan Gonglu really dares to say anything..." Guo Jia couldn't help but be amazed as he looked at the letter in his hand.
In the letter, Yuan Shu wrote that Yuan Ji's death must be related to Yuan Shao.
Who are the famous doctors in the world today? If we were to count, the number one would be Hua Tuo.
Yuan Ji has been ill for a long time. Should Yuan Shao invite him to Yecheng to treat Yuan Ji?
As for the fact that Hua Tuo has a better relationship with Qiao Yan and was even invited by Qiao Yan to Bingzhou last spring, this is not a problem.
Even considering the diplomatic relations between the two countries, it is possible to negotiate. Not to mention, according to what Yuan Shu knew in Yuzhou, this person has always believed in the benevolence of a doctor and would never refuse treatment just because of such power grudges.
If Yuan Shao said that it was due to his self-esteem, then the invitation could have been initiated by Yuan Shu.
But Yuan Shao even sent Liu Bei to attack Yuzhou. Perhaps he also could not accept Yuzhou's good intentions.
If Yuan Shao said that it was because he had an unpaid debt with Qiao Yan and was embarrassed to speak up, then it was still Yuan Shao's problem.
Knowing that his calculation skills were not very good, why did he agree to such conditions? And why did he delay paying the mere 50,000 shi of grain until now?
If Yuan Shu had known about this earlier, he would have paid off Yuan Shao's debt in advance and would not have let his elder brother die.
If we think in a more conspiracy-theoretic direction, is there a possibility that Yuan Shao deliberately killed Yuan Ji just to gain the status of the Yuan family's heir and then seize a higher position in the court?
These three speculations can be regarded as a thorough condemnation of Yuan Shao.
Did Yuan Shao attack Yuzhou because Yuan Shu didn't do anything first? It doesn’t matter now. Yuan Ji is dead and Yuan Shao has done nothing good.
Did Yuan Shu actually use the military rations that Yuan Shao borrowed from Qiao Yan? This is not important. Yuan Shao has to bear this debt himself, so Yuan Shu cannot be blamed.
In fact, Yuan Shao hasn't even competed for the position of heir to the Yuan family? If he really doesn't want to fight for it, there is a way for him to prove himself, which is to give the position to Yuan Shu.
Yuan Shu's plan was clear to him.
Cheng Yu couldn't help but sigh: "Although Yuan Gonglu is a traitor, he still has some skills."
No matter how incompetent a person is, he can never cause such a shocking commotion as Yuan Shu did.
Cheng Yu and Guo Jia smiled at each other. They could easily guess how Yuan Shao, who was in Yecheng, would react after seeing such doubts.
Compared with the threat posed by Qiao Yan who relied on his strength, Yuan Shu's gangster behavior probably made Yuan Shao feel more like having a thorn in his throat.
And the mutual attacks between Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu were actually a good thing for Qiao Yan.
Before the two sides could come to a conclusion in their argument, Qiao Yan's hunting meeting in Hanzhong had probably achieved remarkable results.
However, it was not only Yuan Shao who was having a headache at this time, but also Cao Cao.
Yuan Shao was in the north and Yuan Shu was in the south. The conflict between the two sides intensified, leaving Cao Cao helpless in being caught in the middle.
Relying on the support of the Yanzhou gentry and powerful people, he has completely established a firm foothold in Yanzhou.
Through the cotton-padded clothes traded with Qiao Yan and the results of last year's military farming, he integrated the soldiers of the Cao and Xiahou families, the private soldiers and retainers contributed by the powerful families, and the common people recruited from Yanzhou into a disciplined team.
To put it bluntly, it would not be difficult for him to go south and attack Yuan Shu directly now.
However, the Yuzhou gentry identified much more with Yuan Shu than with Cao Cao.
It was easy for him to attack Yuzhou, but it was difficult for him to hold Yuzhou.
Besides, it is not appropriate for him to let Yuan Shao know how powerful he is at the moment.
However, in this way, he could already imagine how many messengers and scouts would be traveling back and forth in his Yanzhou territory once Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu came to power.
If Yuan Shao has reached a cooperative relationship with Gongsun Zan, he does not have to worry too much about the war in the north and chooses to send troops into Yuzhou. Yanzhou is likely to provide him with some military rations.
This is a bit trickier.
He pondered the matter in his mind, stretched out his hand to pinch Cao Zhang's face, and said: "Huang Xu'er, don't learn from Yuan Gonglu and Yuan Benchu. Brothers fighting only makes them a laughing stock. You must remember the principle of brotherly love and respect."
Cao Zhang asked innocently, "But isn't my second brother now in a position of opposition to father?"
"This is different." Cao Cao simply waved his hand and asked Cao Ang to take Cao Zhang away.
In name, Cao Pi, who was in Bingzhou and supported the Chang'an court, and Cao Zhang, who was in Yanzhou and supported the Yecheng court, were on two sides, but this was not the same situation as the brothers Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu.
When Cao Cao has grown stronger, he no longer has to look at the faces of the Yanzhou families, but instead has to look at the face of Yuan Shao.
Qiao Yan would not always stay in the area west of Tongguan.
When the time comes to expand and connect with neighbors, perhaps it is time for him to change his stance.
However, there is no need to say such things to a child like Cao Zhang. It is not appropriate to say them out loud as there may be ears on the other side of the wall.
After watching Cao Ang and Cao Zhang leave, Cao Cao asked Chen Gong, "What does Gongtai think of Ye Shu's promotion to the position of Grand Marshal?"
Not to mention that Yuan Shao felt jealous about this, even someone like Cao Cao, who had a good relationship with her, couldn't help but sigh at the amazing performance of this up-and-coming star.
No one had expected this change in the situation.
The Grand Marshal holds both military and political power, and there have been many people who have usurped the throne according to old precedents. It may not be a good thing for Qiao Yan to rashly ascend to this position.
but--
"There has been no negative comments from Chang'an regarding her taking over the position of Grand Marshal. Perhaps there is some hidden reason behind this." Chen Gong replied, "This is probably related to her march into Hanzhong."
This summons did not reach Yizhou, but was heard by the princes in Guandong because of Qiao Yan's mobilization of troops.
There are still some smart people who can more or less connect these two things together.
Unfortunately, if we think further, the opportunity to send troops to Hanzhong and give the position of general to Liu Yan were all the result of Qiao Yan's calculations, which would probably be quite difficult.
Chen Gong added: "However, if we attack Hanzhong, I don't think Zhang Lu will surrender easily."
Zhang Lu was indeed not one of them, but that did not mean that when Qiao Yan took the initiative, he could easily expel these invaders who were both smart and strong enough from Hanzhong.
After Qiao Yan took the lead in seizing Cheng Gu, the springboard in the central part of the Hanzhong Plain, he fell into a trap woven for him.
Zhang Lu's development after retreating from Wudu County to Hanzhong was not without restrictions.
Zhang Xiu, who also believed in the Five Pecks of Rice Sect, continued to preach in Hanzhong after he went to Wudu County. He also replaced Su Gu, the former prefect of Hanzhong, according to Liu Yan's instructions.
Although they are both sects of the Five Pecks of Rice Sect, they are not two separate groups that can be easily integrated. On the contrary, after Zhang Lu's father Zhang Heng passed away, the east wind prevailed over the west wind for a while, until Zhang Lu's power gradually grew and the situation became what it is today.
But now the situation has changed a bit.
Zhang Lu was defeated by the joint efforts of Xu Shu and Gai Xun, forcing him to give an explanation to his own Taoist followers.
Originally, if he had the support of Liu Yan, it might not be too difficult for him to suppress Zhang Xiu's counterattack.
However, Liu Yan was busy with the appointment of the general at that time and had no time to take care of the situation in Hanzhong, which made it much more difficult for Zhang Lu to regain his foothold.
Fortunately, although Mrs. Lu came to Hanzhong to avoid disaster, it was also a kind of support for his orthodoxy in Tianshi Dao.
At this time, Zhang Lu stationed his troops in Nanzheng, the capital of Hanzhong, while Zhang Xiu lived in Mianyang as his auxiliary.
Zhang Lu was indeed a capable man, otherwise he would not have been able to win the trust of Liu Yan, grow stronger with the help of the power of the Yizhou governor, and become the "Master" of the Tianshi Dao.
He intuitively felt that the attack launched by Qiao Yan and his subordinates against him in Wudu County was not just a blow before giving up his position to Liu Yan, but there was a high possibility that there was a follow-up plan.
After being replaced by her subordinates to attack Chencang and being brazenly expelled by her, Zhang Lu became extremely vigilant against Qiao Yan. He constantly sent scouts to the direction of Xiegu Road to gather information and guard it strictly.
Since the possibility of Luogu Road and Ziwu Valley being used for the advance was far lower than that of Xiegu Road, he simply had people patrolling back and forth.
The garrison of these three passes is precisely to ensure that Hanzhong will not be attacked from the direction of Chang'an.
But what you fear will come true. When he was standing on the top of Nanzheng City and looking towards the top of the distant mountain, he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves coming from the east.
He immediately looked in the direction where the sound came from, and saw a cavalryman coming from a distance. Before he reached the city, he had already raised the token of the Longting garrison in his hand high.
Zhang Lu saw clearly that this was the method he arranged for the defenders in various places in Hanzhong to identify the enemy and us!
The weapon in the other party's hand clearly meant an urgent report.
Zhang Lu quickly raised his hand, signaling the defenders on the city wall to let the people in.
The young man who was let into the city was running a little anxiously. He took a deep breath and calmed down. He said to Zhang Lu: "General Yang asked me to tell Master the news..."
He was halfway through his words when he realized belatedly that he had spoken the Badong dialect in his haste, so he quickly changed his words and said in Mandarin: "The scouts reported that a large army from Guanzhong is coming from the direction of Ziwu Valley. There are about 20,000 of them and they are approaching Wukou. It will take them only one day to get out of the valley."
Zhang Lu's expression froze.
The road to Ziwu Valley is indeed difficult to travel, but during the Chu-Han Contention at the end of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang once led his soldiers through it.
It is not the rainy season recently, so this road is easier to walk on than Luogu Road, so there is still a chance that we can pass it.
Because of this, Zhang Lu arranged his trusted subordinate Yang Ang there.
Now it seems that this arrangement was right!
The scout who delivered the message continued, "General Yang has led his men to the valley entrance to ambush, but I heard that Qiao Bingzhou has always had elite troops, so General Yang is afraid of being defeated, so he asks for your support."
Twenty thousand people!
This is definitely a bad sign.
The scout then handed him Yang Ang's handwritten letter.
It seemed that it was written in a hurry and was put directly into the arms of the messenger. The ink was slightly blurred in some places, but it did not affect Zhang Lu's ability to see that this was Yang Ang's handwriting.
Before the troops were divided, Zhang Lu did remind Yang Ang that if there was any urgent military information, it must be submitted in writing to prevent the seal from being stolen by the enemy and causing errors in the transmission of information.
It seems that the news is indeed true.
With the manpower Yang Ang had stationed at Longting, it would probably be no problem if he only had to deal with a force of several thousand people.
Relying on the favorable condition of guarding the exit of Ziwu Valley, he might be able to annihilate the enemy completely. But now, hearing that there were 20,000 people coming, and they were Qiao Yan's undefeated followers, Zhang Lu did not dare to hesitate at all.
After he entrusted the garrison of Nanzheng to his confidant, he immediately mobilized 5,000 soldiers stationed in the surrounding area.
In order to prevent Zhang Xiu from making any unusual moves after he left, he directly issued an order for Zhang Xiu to lead a thousand soldiers to accompany him.
Zhang Xiu did not know the reason for Zhang Lu's move from the transfer order until he arrived at the city of Nanzheng.
He sneered, "If the opponent is Qiao Bingzhou, I will still help you even if you don't play these tricks with me. How could I not see her attitude towards Zhang Jue's Taiping Dao in the past and how she feels about you, the Tianshi Dao who is going to Wudu County to preach?"
Qiao Yan clearly did not believe in the orthodox Taoism, and even had the intention of wiping it out completely.
In this regard, it was hard for Zhang Xiu not to feel a sense of vulnerability.
Since it was really Qiao Yan who attacked, Zhang Lu just said that he needed his assistance.
This detour meant that he had not had enough time to make proper arrangements for the garrison in Mianyang.
But since he was already there, and the enemy situation was indeed urgent, he did not delay any longer and headed straight for Longting with Zhang Lu.
According to Yang Ren's subordinates, Qiao Yan and others were only one day away from Wukou. The road from Wukou to Longting was smooth along the Han River. When passing through Chenggu County, Zhang Lu and Zhang Xiu did not dare to delay and rushed straight past.
All they saw was Madam Lu, who was there, climbing up to the top of the city wall, looking towards them, and then she disappeared.
Faced with the urgent military situation, Zhang Lu had no time to explain to his mother.
Thinking that Chenggu was located between Nanzheng and Longting and there were not many garrisons left there, it would be time-consuming to redeploy troops at this time, so it would be better not to move. Zhang Lu did not hesitate and continued to lead his troops towards Longting.
However, he did not notice that Xun You, who was still standing on the top of Chenggu City, was looking at this group of people with a meaningful smile on his face, as if he was watching prey jumping into a trap.
At this moment, Zhang Lu was only looking at the road to the east.
He knew that he could not lose this battle.
After being beaten and forced to flee in a panic, he had to defeat the enemy forces that had invaded Hanzhong in order to consolidate his position as the Master of the Heavenly Master.
The inheritance of Tianshidao has developed from the original teaching of Taoism to the integration of military, political and religious affairs under him. It must not take a step back, let alone develop in the direction of disintegration.
With the belief that he must win, he hardly stopped during the hundred-mile march from Nanzheng to Longting.
At this moment, he couldn't help but feel fortunate that he was in the Hanzhong Plain.
If it weren't for this road condition, he would never have been able to reach the city of Longting before dusk the next day.
But having arrived here, if he continued to head straight for Wukou, he would inevitably become a spent force.
He immediately decided to rest and replenish supplies in the city, and then formulate the next combat strategy based on the battle situation in Ziwu Valley.
Thinking of this, he looked towards the Longting County in front of him.
Although this city is small, it is located in the Han River basin, and the Han River can be directly diverted into the moat. There are also many sharp bows and crossbows on the city walls. At this time, the city gates are closed and soldiers are guarding all sides strictly. It can be regarded as a strong city.
Thinking that this scene was aimed at the enemy in the north, Zhang Lu felt relieved.
He raised his hand to signal, and his followers immediately rode forward and shouted towards the top of the city: "Master has ordered, open the city gates quickly--"
The sudden change happened at this moment.
Before he uttered the word "door", a sharp arrow passed by like lightning and pierced his head.
At the moment he fell off his horse, Zhang Lu saw a figure in a red wind cloak appear on the top of the city wall.
At the same time, dozens of other heavy crossbows were set up between the battlements on the top of the city wall.
In this situation, it was clearly not an attempt to welcome him, but a counterattack against him for coming from afar!
Zhang Lu's face changed as he suddenly realized a terrible fact.
I'm afraid I'm too late!
According to the scout's report, at the moment when Yang Ang discovered the whereabouts of Qiao Yan's troops, the Chang'an troops were only a day's journey away from Wukou.
If Yang Ang had not been able to effectively intercept them, it is possible that they had already entered Longting by now.
Then the change of ownership of Longting was just a natural thing.
Almost immediately after the arrow that killed the follower, the crossbows on the top of the city suddenly fired out a swarm of arrows, heading straight for Zhang Lu's team.
Zhang Lu jumped off his horse without thinking, snatched the shield hanging on the side of the horse and held it on his head.
The crossbow arrows that broke through the air instantly killed his horse and several soldiers around him on the spot.
He rushed back, grabbed the other horse and jumped on it.
As the second round of arrows rained down, Zhang Lu shouted loudly: "Retreat! Archers will stay behind to prevent the enemy from leaving the city. The rest of you will follow me and retreat!"
Faced with the sad news of the city's sudden change of ownership, Zhang Lu was indeed panicked for a moment.
Not to mention that he managed to dodge an arrow that almost took his life.
But he knew very well that this was not the time for him, the coach, to panic.
The enemy chose to defend the city, rather than line up their so-called 20,000 troops outside the city to fight. They probably suffered heavy losses in the battle at the valley entrance.
There are quite a few cavalry in his team of 6,000 people, but the enemy cannot carry too many cavalry because they have crossed the Ziwu Road. If they fight on the plains, he will have an advantage.
This gave him the opportunity to withdraw!
What's more, the other party only occupied a dragon pavilion!
That is just the most marginal location in the Hanzhong Plain.
It would not be easy for her to take over Hanzhong just by relying on this place.
There were tens of thousands of Tianshi Taoist followers and Yizhou soldiers scattered across the Hanzhong Plain, at least three times the number of the other side's attackers.
Places like Xicheng and Shangyong to the west of Longting, which are not within the Hanzhong Plain, can also send troops there after receiving the news, and immediately encircle her on both sides, without delaying the time for her to deploy new troops into the Battle of Hanzhong.
In this short moment, Zhang Lu figured out the current situation and the strengths and weaknesses of both sides.
At the same time, he also figured out one thing: from this perspective, his chances of winning were no less than his opponent's.
So he issued another order -
Retreat to Chenggu County!
In the middle of the Hanzhong Plain, a defense line was formed to intercept these troops that invaded Guanzhong!
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