My younger brother Lü Fengxian

Chapter 304 Zhang Jiao is Critically Ill
Lu Bu took the general's head among a hundred thousand soldiers, which immediately frightened the other Yellow Turbans.

The Yellow Turban Army, which had originally planned to launch a counterattack with a human wave attack, was stunned.

If generals like Cheng Yuanzhi died, they could still stick to their original intentions and continue to resist the court.

Then Zhang Bao, one of the founders of the Yellow Turbans, was a general of the Taiping Dao.

His death was a huge blow to the morale of the Yellow Turban Army throughout the world.

Originally, everyone was a die-hard believer of Taiping Taoism. The reason why they disbelieved in so many other sects and chose to believe in the Taiping Taoism founded by the three brothers Zhang Jiao was because of the effectiveness of Taiping Taoism.

And because the two brothers Zhang Jue commanded the Yellow Turbans in the name of God's messengers, they were able to suppress the fear of the imperial court and the government in the blood of these Yellow Turbans and make them behave so fearlessly.

But now the lies that Zhang Jue had fabricated to everyone were immediately shattered with the death of Zhang Bao.

Zhang Bao, the messenger sent by Huang Tian, ​​who was supposed to be protected by gods and shunned by evil spirits, is dead. This can only mean that Taiping Taoism is ineffective!
Since Zhang Bao is dead, can ordinary believers like them continue to receive the so-called blessing of God?
When Lu Yi saw that the Yellow Turban Army was in great panic, he did not want these precious population resources to suffer heavy casualties, so he immediately rode forward and personally lifted Zhang Bao's body high with a painted halberd that was more than ten feet long.

"The bandit leader Zhang Bao has surrendered. Those who followed him will be spared!"

After Lu Yi spoke, tens of thousands of Han soldiers, including Gongsun Zan and his Youzhou light cavalry, all responded to Lu Yi, riding their horses and shouting loudly outside the Yellow Turbans.

"Those who follow will be spared, and those who surrender will be spared!"

"Those who follow will be spared, and those who surrender will be spared!"

"Those who follow will be spared, and those who surrender will be spared..."

"General Ren Gong also died in battle...?"

"Does Huang Tian have no chance anymore...?"

When the Yellow Turban Army saw Zhang Bao's body, which was held high by Lu Yi, the shock on their faces was even greater than their fear for life and death.

This is a collapse of faith.

"pat..."

After the first weapon was thrown powerlessly to the ground, some of the weak-willed among the 100,000 Yellow Turbans quickly put it down and surrendered.

"You bunch of idiots, we still remember clearly how these Han dogs oppressed us in the past. How could you be so stupid as to believe in the promises of these Han dogs?"

"If you surrender, they will kill you. If you resist, you will die. If you surrender, you will die. It's better to fight them while you still have weapons in your hands. It won't be a loss to take a few people with you!"

However, there were still some middle and high-level generals among the Yellow Turbans who were unwilling to give up resistance even in the face of Zhang Bao's death.

As generals, they were either the most severely brainwashed believers of Zhang Jue or the unfortunate people who had the deepest hatred towards the imperial court.

No matter which one of them, they had completely given up on the court and would rather die than believe the promises of the Han generals and officials.

"Kill the person who spoke!"

Lu Yi couldn't help but show anger when he heard this. He gave a cold order to Zhang Fei, who was already full of fighting spirit behind him.

"Finally we can go to the battlefield. My fellow men, follow me, Zhang, to fight!" Zhang Fei shouted excitedly and led his Yanyun Camp cavalry to rush into the group of Yellow Turban bandits and killed the speaking general and his personal soldiers who dared to resist. Wherever Zhang Fei and the Yanyun cavalry passed, most of the Yellow Turbans avoided them in fear and had no morale to resist at all.

After the Yellow Turban general who dared to openly oppose Lu Yi's persuasion to surrender was killed, more people began to lay down their weapons and surrender to the Han army.

"So that everyone knows, I am Lu Yi, the governor of Yanmen County. I have been in charge of Yanmen for several years. Originally, it was desolate and dilapidated because of the Xianbei invasion, but now the population is prosperous and the supplies are sufficient. I dare not boast that all the people under my rule can be rich and extravagant, but I can guarantee that they have enough food and clothing."

"For those who surrender today, I will not harm anyone, and I will ask the emperor to pardon your crime of following the enemy. You can all move to Yanmen and become citizens. Everyone will have clothes to wear, food to eat, and land to plant!"

Lu Yi's words immediately caused an uproar.

Lu Yi was originally the number one hero in Hebei, and his name was known to almost everyone in Hebei.

After he defeated the Xianbei and recovered Hebei several years ago, he was regarded as a hero by countless people in Hebei whose families were destroyed because of the Xianbei.

Since he was appointed as the governor of Yanmen County due to his merits, Yanmen County has become a paradise longed for by countless helpless hungry people and refugees.

Everyone who can go goes there, but among those who go there, very few leave.

Therefore, even among the Yellow Turbans, the legend of Lu Yi and Yanmen County was often circulated.

Now after hearing that it was Lu Yi who defeated them, some Yellow Turban radicals who were originally unwilling to give up resistance became discouraged.

Are you kidding? Back then, Lu Yi's 3,000 men dared to charge into the 300,000-strong Xianbei central army, and they even won.

Now they have 10,000 men, which is three times more powerful than before, while our defeated soldiers are only 100,000. How can they compare to the 300,000 Xianbei troops a few years ago?

Being defeated by a hero like Lu Yi is not even considered a shame. On the contrary, being able to survive Lu Yi's attack is a kind of bragging capital.

As for the majority of others who originally chose to join the Yellow Turban Rebellion just for a chance to survive, now that they see a chance to survive right before their eyes, they naturally are unwilling to struggle any further.

As long as the Han people have a way to make a living, they are always willing to be obedient subjects of the government.

Unlike the Hu people, most Han people would rather get rich with their own hands and hard work than plunder.

"Crash..."

As soon as Lu Yi finished speaking, the sounds of various weapons and farm tools falling to the ground were heard one after another.

"Lord Lu, we...are willing to surrender..."

"Brother, we won!"

"Now that we have these 100,000 captives, Yanmen County's foundation will be even stronger!"

Seeing this, Lu Bu couldn't help but be very happy.

He rode his horse to Lu Yi and said excitedly.

"What Fengxian said is correct, but there are still many backbone and leading Yellow Turban middle and high-level generals who need to be selected."

"These people are rebellious by nature, and have experienced the bitterness of looting and resistance. They will definitely not be obedient citizens in the future. After these people are selected, they should be locked up separately to prevent the two sides from having the opportunity to collude!"

However, Lu Yi was clearly aware that defeating and capturing the Yellow Turbans was only the beginning of a series of tasks.

"Don't worry, brother. I won't leave anyone behind!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Bu vowed to guarantee that he had been a captain of the army for many years. Not only was he in charge of the Tianlang Camp, he also controlled the entire Bingzhou border pass. His abilities had long been honed, and it was easy for him to distinguish whether a few prisoners were captured or not.

"With Fengxian taking action, I am naturally relieved!"

Lu Yi also smiled and nodded, but to be on the safe side he still asked his military advisor Tian Feng to assist him.

One hundred thousand Yellow Turbans launched a surprise attack, but thousands were killed by Lu Bu and his men, and thousands more were trampled to death by each other. In addition, some key members were selected from among them and were imprisoned in solitary confinement.

There are still more than 80,000 people remaining.

Even if we were to capture 100,000 pigs, it would take a long time, let alone 80,000 rebel prisoners with hands and feet?
Not only were all of Lu Yi's Bingzhou cavalry mobilized, but Lu Zhi also led 10,000 Han troops under his command to join in the work of guarding and identifying prisoners.

The army was busy until midnight before they finally settled all the prisoners and reduced the possibility of a riot to a minimum.

Only after Zhang Jue was completely wiped out and all the captives were escorted back to Yanmen did they finally have no worries.

Lu Yi and Lu Zhi had already reached an agreement on this.

Although Lu Zhi was a strong and upright person, he was not a pedantic person. However, even though he was so loyal to the Han Dynasty, Liu Hong was wary of him and repeatedly neglected and punished him.

He was not a masochist. If it were not for his belief in loyalty to the emperor and serving the country, and if it were not for the great scholar of the time who could write books and pass them down to future generations, Lu Zhi would never have thrown himself into this corrupt world.

Although he understood that Lu Yi's action was definitely motivated by selfish motives, Lu Yi was taking the initiative to send troops to help the court suppress the Yellow Turban Rebellion. He did not openly raise the flag of rebellion, so naturally he did not touch Lu Zhi's bottom line.

Moreover, in Lu Zhi's view, whether it is the people of Jizhou, the people of Nanyang, or the people of Yanmen, they are all the people of the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, allowing these people to join Yanmen County and enrich the border county is also a rare achievement.

After all, including these 80,000 people, plus Zhang Jiao and more than 100,000 Yellow Turban troops in Guangzong City, and Zhang Liang and the Yellow Turbans led by him who were stationed in Julu, the number of Yellow Turbans in Jizhou was probably no less than 300,000. Even if they were defeated, how to accommodate the prisoners would be a difficult problem.

Once the Han army successfully won the victory, this problem would naturally be unavoidable.

Lu Zhi himself was penniless and had no property, so he naturally had no money or food to accommodate these refugees.

But if Liu Hong was asked to pay for the resettlement of these people, there would be no hope.

If Liu Hong was a benevolent monarch who worked hard and loved his people, the people would not have fallen into the trap of joining the Yellow Turban Army to rebel against the court.

Since it was impossible to resettle them, the only thing left was to kill the prisoners.

After all, we can't let them go back and continue to steal.

But killing prisoners has always been an ominous sign since ancient times.

The God of Killing Bai Qi and the Overlord Xiang Yu both killed hundreds of thousands of surrendered soldiers, and their endings were mostly miserable, and they carried the curse for the rest of their lives.

Therefore, Lu Zhi was also troubled by the problem of how to place these captives.

Now, Lu Yi not only has the idea of ​​​​relocating these prisoners, but more importantly, he actually has the ability to do so.

Therefore, Lu Zhi simply did a favor and handed these ordinary Yellow Turban prisoners over to Lu Yi for their placement.

This is also one of the conditions for Lu Yi to help.

For such core interests, even if Lu Zhi opposed, Lu Yi would not obey obediently.

The Han army's victory over 100,000 Yellow Turbans in one battle not only shut up the imperial court but also gave Liu Hong some sense of security.

It can also greatly boost the morale of the soldiers.

At this moment, everyone in the world had seen the decline of the Yellow Turban Army and Zhang Jue.

Everyone believed that victory would belong to the Han army.

Even Zhang Jue and the remaining Yellow Turban Army in Guangzong City believed this.

"Third brother!"

"My brother!"

After learning of Zhang Bao's death in battle, Zhang Jue was heartbroken.

In addition to being brothers from the same mother, he and his brothers Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao are also mutual supporters along the way.

Now his own Taiping foundation is unstable, not only has Huang Tian’s dream been shattered, but even his brother has died.

Zhang Jue suffered a fatal blow at once, vomited three mouthfuls of blood, and suddenly fell into coma.

Zhang Bao died in battle and Zhang Jue fell into a coma. The Yellow Turban Army in Guangzong City was suddenly leaderless and fell into chaos.

Fortunately, Zhang Jiao's disciple Zhou Tang, who had escaped earlier, stabilized the situation and prevented the Yellow Turbans in Guangzong City from falling into civil strife.

After the Han army won, Gongsun Zan and others took advantage of the situation to attack the city and defeated Zhang Jue and the Yellow Turbans of Guangzong in one battle.

However, Lu Yi suggested to Lu Zhi that since Zhang Jue was now critically ill, it would be better to wait until Zhang Jue died and then persuade the Yellow Turbans in Guangzong City to surrender in order to avoid causing too much killing.

"How did Sixiao know that Zhang Jue would definitely die of illness? If he recovered in a few days, wouldn't it be a waste of time?"

Upon hearing this, Gongsun Zan became suspicious of Lu Yi.

"Don't worry, Bogui. Zhang Jiao is claiming destiny, so he will be punished by the gods. I predict that he will die within ten days or more!"

Lu Yi, however, seemed very confident.

Because he had already planted a secret force in Guangzong City, and among the captives who had escaped back to Guangzong with Zhou Tang a few days ago, Lu Yi had bribed one of them.

Over the past few days, the other party had used the fireworks taught by Lu Yi as a signal at night in Guangzong City, and had already conveyed the news that Zhang Jue was critically ill.

Although Zhang Jue was a traitor, rebel and villain in the eyes of the Han Dynasty.

But in Lu Yi's thinking and cognition, he is a pioneer who leads the people to seek a way to survive.

A hero is judged by his deeds, not his heart.

As a top figure in the religious circle at the end of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Jiao could even deal with the eunuchs around the emperor.

If such a person is content with being rich and wealthy, then he can have inexhaustible wealth just by waving his hand.

Why would someone who has already achieved wealth and honor lead the vast majority of believers in rebellion?
This was definitely due to Zhang Jiao's ambition, but this cannot completely erase Zhang Jiao's contribution in speaking up for the people.

Although Lu Yi did not agree with Zhang Jiao, he could understand him and admired him very much.

If Zhang Jue was still alive after the Han army attacked the city, it would be better for him to be dead.

Therefore, Lu Yi did not suggest wasting a few days and let him die of illness. This could be regarded as the last dignity Lu Yi gave him.

Of course, this is only a small part of the reason why Lu Yi disagreed with the siege.

The bigger reason was that once the Han army attacked the city and the war started, even if they could recapture Guangzong City, the Yellow Turban Army in the city would suffer heavy casualties, which would be detrimental to Lu Yi's collection of prisoners.

Therefore, when the overall situation was already decided, Lu Yi was more inclined to persuade the enemy to surrender.

This would also result in a greater number of prisoners.

Faced with the disagreement between Gongsun Zan and Lu Yi, Lu Zhi thought for a moment and decided to side with Lu Yi.

After all, without Lu Yi, he would still be confronting the Yellow Turbans, so how could he achieve such a great victory?

In this way, time passed slowly.

Everyone's attention was focused on Zhang Jiao in Guangzong City.

After several days, Zhang Jue finally woke up from his coma.

Not only did he wake up, he even had an appetite to eat.

After drinking some rice water, Zhang Jue felt much better and even looked radiant.

……

(End of this chapter)