"I also wish to go to Youzhou and fight alongside Your Highness to achieve merit! I wonder if Your Highness could take me with you?"
Gao Lan hesitated for a moment, then his expression turned serious, and he made his request.
"Actually, I also wanted to take Prefect Gao with me to fight the enemy."
"However, if you take troops with you, wouldn't that let Yuan Shao know that you have already defected to me?"
“He will definitely not give up easily and will organize troops to take Changshan Kingdom.”
Upon hearing Gao Lan's request, Liu Wei politely declined, saying, "This place is of paramount importance and will surely be of great use in the future. I need someone I trust to guard and manage it, and it must not be lost."
Liu Wei looked earnest.
There are two passages in and out of the Taihang Mountains within the territory of Changshan State: Puyin Pass and Jingxing Pass.
After Dong Zhuo enters the capital, he will definitely leave a large number of troops at places like Yanmen Pass and Pianguan Pass to prevent Liu Wei from launching a surprise attack from the rear if he comes south from the Hetao region.
However, to the west of Bingzhou lies the Yellow River, a natural barrier. Therefore, the Eight Passes of Taihang are the best route to conquer Bingzhou.
It wouldn't be unreasonable for Liu Wei to leave some troops there after he goes to Youzhou to help Liu Yu quell the rebellion and drive out the foreign tribes.
Moreover, on the other side of the Yellow River, Yao Guangxiao was also organizing troops to open up a passage from beyond the Great Wall to Youzhou.
At that time, both Youzhou and Jizhou will secretly deploy troops to attack Bingzhou from the eight passes of Taihang Mountain, taking it by surprise.
Liu Wei's words deeply moved Gao Lan: "Then I will abandon this idea and guard Changshan Kingdom for Your Highness."
"Attack the Black Mountain Army in the west, and confuse Yuan Shao in the south. Ostensibly, it's about suppressing bandits, but secretly, it's about nurturing them," Liu Wei immediately instructed.
"I will remember it!" Gao Lan nodded repeatedly as if enlightened.
Over the past three days, Liu Wei has spoken privately with officials at all levels in Zhending to gauge their intentions.
Anyone who wavered even slightly or had contact with Yuan Shao was to be killed!
At the same time, they encouraged others to report, and another group of people were killed. The remaining people were promoted or given raises.
Later, at a banquet, Liu Wei revealed the duration of a certain official's sexual intercourse with his concubine the previous night, as well as the nickname they used during their intimate moments.
The official was drenched in cold sweat, and the other officials were even more horrified.
Only then did they realize that their every move was under the prince's control, and they immediately pledged their loyalty to the prince and had no other intentions.
They might not know how ruthless the Embroidered Uniform Guard is, but if they harbor even the slightest disloyalty, they might find their heads gone the next day.
This deterrent action helped Gao Lan eliminate the destabilizing factors within Zhen Ding.
As long as he follows Liu Wei's plan, he can wait until Liu Wei orders him to send troops to Bingzhou.
"Alright, you should first discuss with the military advisor and others how to advance into Taihang and implement my strategy."
"I am going to offer amnesty to these Black Mountain soldiers who have come to Zhen Ding!"
After saying this, Liu Wei called Zhao Yun, Murong Ping, and Tian Kai to accompany him, and they rode to the place outside the city where the leaders of the Black Mountain Army were gathered.
......
As night fell, bonfires were lit outside Zhen Ding City.
The aroma of wine and meat filled the air, along with the tantalizing scent of cooked millet.
More than 30,000 Black Mountain soldiers set up thousands of tents outside the city, making quite a show of force.
The grain and fodder piled up there were like mountains.
The daily consumption of 30,000 people is no small amount.
If each person consumes 1.5 jin of grain per day, then 30,000 people would consume 40,000 to 50,000 jin of grain, or approximately 400 shi.
If these people don't leave, Zhen Ding will probably be completely devoured.
It is estimated that the officials and people in Zhen Ding City are hoping that they will leave as soon as possible.
At this moment, bursts of loud laughter occasionally erupted from one of the large tents in the center.
Zhang Yan summoned the ten leaders here and treated them to fine wine and meat.
While talking to these people, he would occasionally look outside, hoping for Liu Wei's arrival.
"General Zhang, now that everyone's here, when are we going to divide the money and the territory?"
Lei Gong took a swig of wine, stroked his beard, and shouted, "What do you all say? Isn't that right?"
Lei Gong had the most soldiers, numbering ten thousand, which is why his voice was the loudest.
When he learned that Zhang Yan had fought a major battle with the government troops of Zhengding and had been reduced from 30,000 to just over 10,000, he immediately had some ideas.
However, he overlooked the Guan Ning cavalry guarding the city, as well as Gao Lan's three thousand troops.
Since Zhang Yan followed Liu Wei's orders and didn't let these people enter the city, it's normal that Lei Gong and the others didn't know the situation inside the city.
Lei Gong and the others only saw grain being continuously transported out of the city; the people transporting the grain were Zhang Baiqi and Du Chang's men.
"That's right. Changshan Kingdom has more than ten counties. Each of us has a county town, so we no longer have to stay in the Taihang Mountains eating rocks and mud noodles."
"That's right, let's all help the commander-in-chief conquer Changshan Kingdom and create a great cause!"
"I've heard that there are 300,000 Yellow Turban brothers in Qingzhou, and there's a rebellion in Youzhou. Although the Great Teacher has passed away, his spirit continues to inspire us to move forward!"
"Next, we'll march on Ye City and take over Ji Province! Then everyone here will be a governor or general!"
"If we're going to kill, let's kill our way to Luoyang, kill the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, and then we'll all elect our commander-in-chief as emperor!"
As soon as Lei Gong finished speaking, the others started to cheer and make a fuss, each one boasting more and more outrageous than the last.
When Zhang Yan heard them say that they wanted to make him emperor, his expression immediately changed drastically.
You can drink whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want.
"Brother Green Ox Horn, you mustn't speak carelessly!"
Zhang Yan quickly stopped her.
"What's there to hide? Haha! We were always planning to rebel against the Han Dynasty!" Green Ox Horn said nonchalantly.
"Shut up, all of you! We're here to discuss dividing up the territory, but you've all gone off on a tangent!"
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