That night, Ding Yuan brought Lü Bu and Zhang Yang to Jinyang City.
Ding Yuan lingered briefly after entering the city before heading straight to the governor's office to report back.
Although the mission was not completed, the Xiongnu suddenly launched an attack, and the Han envoy did not appear.
Ding Yuan ultimately managed to protect the supplies and prevent them from falling into the hands of the Xiongnu.
Even if they didn't achieve great things, they certainly put in a lot of hard work.
Ding Yuan planned to recount what had happened and then plead with Zhang Yi to provide compensation for the soldiers who died in battle.
We'll retrieve the salt and iron hidden in the ruined city after some time.
As for the fact that he learned from Zhang Liao that Liu Wei had annihilated 50,000 Xiongnu and that the Xiongnu Chanyu had died, he would deal with it later.
Once this matter is revealed, it will be like a raging storm, sure to cause a huge uproar in Bingzhou and the imperial court.
However, Zhang Yi probably wouldn't believe it even if he were beaten to death; he would definitely think it was alarmist.
"Ding Jianyang, you handed over salt, iron, and armor to the Xiongnu? Did they promise not to invade our borders again?"
Why didn't the two envoys from the Court of State Ceremonial return with you?
"Of the thousand followers who left the pass, how come only five hundred remain?"
Unexpectedly, Zhang Yi struck first, unleashing a barrage of questions like firecrackers.
Ding Yuan stood there, stunned.
I never expected that my trip would almost cost me my life, and my trusted confidant Zhang Liao would also defect.
I have a bellyful of grievances but no one to confide in.
Now, Zhang Yi actually forced him to swallow his bitterness.
Even a clay figure has some temper, and Ding Yuan was instantly enraged.
Before Ding Yuan could explain, Zhang Yi added meaningfully:
"How come I received a report saying that you delivered supplies to that prince who went from Luoyang to Shuofang to take up his fiefdom?"
"Otherwise, how did that prince suddenly acquire so many soldiers, armor, and weapons? Did you secretly fund them?"
"Ding Jianyang, Ding Jianyang, I entrusted you with this important task because you were a former subordinate of Duan Situ, but who knew you would do such a disobedient thing!"
Ding Yuan could no longer contain himself and flew into a rage:
“Governor Zhang, you are in Jinyang, indulging in pleasure all day long. How did you come to know about these rumors?”
"This is utterly distorting the truth and slander!"
“We went to Luo County, but we didn’t see the two envoys among the Xiongnu people, so I won’t hand them over.”
"Unexpectedly, these Xiongnu people launched a fierce attack, attempting to seize our loot. We were forced to fight back, retreating while fighting, heading towards Yanmen..."
Ding Yuan angrily recounted what had happened to them in the border region!
"The supplies are still in the ruins and can be retrieved at any time."
"As for that prince, I have never even met him. I was able to escape because my son Fengxian went to Yanmen Pass to fetch reinforcements."
Zhang Liao secretly went to Shanwu to seek help from Marquis Yinshan, but ended up becoming someone else's subordinate.
Ding Yuan was displeased but had no way to express his grievances, so he decided to erase the matter and only mention Lü Bu's merits.
Zhang Yi thought to himself: You great captain, you couldn't even stop Ding Yuan with several thousand soldiers, what a waste.
"Officer Ding, do you believe what you say?"
"snort!"
Ding Yuan snorted coldly, "Whether it's true or not, we can prove it by retrieving the supplies from the abandoned city in the east of Luo County."
"These supplies are quite valuable; we definitely have to get them back!"
Zhang Yi feigned concern, saying, "If Ding Congshi is truly wronged, I will certainly apologize in return."
"Let's first register and report the compensation to the imperial court for the soldiers who died in battle!"
"Furthermore, Ding and Zhang, now that you two have returned, please join me this evening for a welcoming feast to celebrate the arrival of the new Left General of Pingbei!"
"The Left General of the Northern Expedition?"
Ding Yuan, unaware of the situation, frowned.
"Hehe! The Xiongnu outside the pass are powerful, and there are rumors that the prince has a major feud with the Qiangqu, and the two sides fought a great battle at Shanwu!"
"The court was worried that it would endanger the border of Bingzhou, so the general requested an imperial decree to transfer a lieutenant general to Bingzhou to take charge of military affairs."
"From now on, you and I will have to cooperate with him in secret!"
So that's what it was about!
Ding Yuan blurted out, "Prefect Zhang, your information is way behind schedule!"
"The battle between the Xiongnu and that prince in Shanwu ended five days ago."
"Fifty thousand Xiongnu people were wiped out! And the Xiongnu Chanyu, Qiangqu, died after falling from his horse."
"Such a momentous matter, and you, as the prefect of Bingzhou, are completely unaware of it? That's really unacceptable!"
What!
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yi immediately jumped up: "Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
"The Xiongnu people of Meiji have mobilized their entire force. Qiangqu personally led the expedition with 40,000 to 50,000 cavalry, and the Left Wise King of Yunzhong has also come to participate in the battle!"
"The Xiongnu have so many troops that even if all the troops in Bingzhou went to fight them, we might not be able to win."
"This prince only has less than 20,000 troops, how could he possibly win?"
at the same time.
A man in black was lurking on the roof beam of the governor's mansion.
When he heard that five days after the end of the Great Battle of Shanwu, Qiangqu had fallen from his horse and died, and that 50,000 troops had been wiped out, he was shocked.
He shuddered and almost fell off the beam.
His expression changed several times, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
Dust fell from the beam, landing right on Ding Yuan's head.
The man in black was shocked and quickly hid himself, not daring to breathe.
Squeak! A huge rat darted past.
Ding Yuan sensed the slight movement, looked up at the beam in surprise, saw the large rat, and then mocked:
"I thought the governor was out of touch with the news, but it turns out he knows quite a lot!"
"It seems that you have a good personal relationship with the Xiongnu, sir!"
"Even the rats have gotten so fat."
Before Ding returned to Zhang Yi to report, a minor official from the governor's office had secretly informed him.
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