My younger brother Lü Fengxian

Chapter 308 Black Mountain Army

After the Yellow Turbans were defeated, the battered Han Dynasty barely managed to survive.

However, Liu Hong did not grasp this last straw and chose to work hard to govern the country and reform to prolong his life. Instead, he once again thought that the world had returned to peace, and continued to live a life of singing and dancing and extravagance in the deep palace of Luoyang.

A Zhang Jiao fell down.

Countless Zhang Jue emerged one after another because of Liu Hong's heavy exploitation without any restraint.

The Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou, the Yellow Turbans of Runan, the Yellow Turbans of Heishan...

When Zhang Jiao started his army, he had only thirty-six thousand men in total.

However, after several years of development, the remnants of the Yellow Turbans, which should have been destroyed, have become more numerous than Zhang Jue who was destroyed in the past.

The Yellow Turbans in Runan were everywhere in the mountains, the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou were said to number a million, and the Yellow Turbans in Heishan occupied the entire Taihang Mountains. They would often come out of the mountains to attack nearby counties and prefectures. The government officials in the nearby counties and prefectures were all afraid of them, and at the slightest sign of movement all the officials in the city would abandon the city and flee, not daring to resist at all.

However, as if things didn't get worse, the Xiliang Qiang people, who had gradually calmed down, revived under the leadership of Beigong Boyu and others. Almost overnight, the war spread to Chang'an, which was only separated from the capital Luoyang.

Only a few years after Zhang Jue was trapped and killed by Lu Yi, the whole country was once again in the midst of war, as if even the heavens were dissatisfied with Liu Hong's rule and were punishing him.

Liu Hong had no choice but to further delegate the central government's military and political power. He adopted the advice of Liu Yan, a member of the royal family, and first abolished the policy of appointing provincial governors in Yizhou. He granted the provincial governors the military and political power to lead a province and devoted all his efforts to eliminating the Yellow Turban rebels under his rule. The imperial court, on the other hand, concentrated its forces to assemble a large army to deal with the Xiliang Qiang Rebellion, which was not only close at hand but also the most threatening to the Han Dynasty.

Liu Yan thus became the first vassal to become a governor of a province, and was appointed governor of Yizhou by Liu Hong.
In addition to Yizhou, the reform of abolishing the historian and establishing the pastor in other provinces and counties was also put on the agenda. The officials with a salary of more than 2,000 stones in the provinces and counties all geared themselves up to compete for this official position that could hold sway over the whole province.

No matter what their background or family circumstances are, any official who can become an official of two thousand stones is a fool.

Everyone can see that the Han Dynasty is now in a precarious situation and may collapse at any time.

The prefectures and counties controlled the military and political power of a state. If the Han Dynasty declined, the governor would directly become the master of the state, just like the ruler of a country during the Warring States Period.

Different from Liu Hong, who was overwhelmed by the rebellions and the title of nobility.

Many ambitious people in the world were secretly rejoicing and began to prepare to join the feast of dividing up the Han Dynasty.

Lu Yi, who had been preparing for war in Pingcheng for two years, naturally could not miss this critical opportunity. He immediately issued orders to all civil and military officials in the county, preparing to mobilize all troops to wipe out the Black Mountain Yellow Turban Army that was closest to him.

"Now, the emperor has accepted Liu Yan's advice and has begun to gradually implement the policy of abolishing the governors and establishing provincial governors. We must seize this God-given opportunity and do our best to seize the position of Bingzhou governor that is about to be established!"

"The Black Mountain Army is now entrenched in the Taihang Mountains, often plundering counties and prefectures. They are said to have a million men, and are the biggest bandits in Hebei. If we can eliminate them, with this military achievement, it will be easy for me to become the governor of Bingzhou!"

Inside the meeting hall of the Pingcheng Yanmen County Magistrate's Mansion, Lu Yi sat high in the main seat and looked at the talented civil and military officials in the hall, and said in a deep voice.

Now Lu Yi is over thirty years old, with a three-inch long beard. In addition, due to his high position and strong body gained from years of martial arts training, he looks majestic and very oppressive, making everyone in the hall stand respectfully with their heads bowed.

"What the Lord said is true!"

"The Black Mountain Yellow Turbans are the remnants of Zhang Jiao's Taiping Daoism. Their leader, Zhang Yan, was originally named Chu Yan. He was called 'Flying Swallow' by his followers because of his sturdy and agile skills. He was the adopted son of Zhang Niu Jiao, the former leader of the Black Mountain Army. After Zhang Niu Jiao's death, he changed his surname to Zhang and led the Black Mountain Army to escape into the Taihang Mountains. The government soldiers have repeatedly encircled and suppressed them but have failed. As a result, in the past two years, his followers have grown to hundreds of thousands, and they claim to have a million. Their power is no less than that of Zhang Jiao two years ago. They are powerful bandits!"

Upon hearing this, the left military advisor Tian Feng was the first to step out and respond, and he revealed Zhang Yan's background in one sentence. It was obvious that he had been collecting intelligence on Zhang Yan and the Black Mountain Army for a long time.

He spoke eloquently and with a look of complete confidence, which made everyone look at him with concern.

"There are many bandits in the Black Mountain, but their orders are unclear. The Taihang Mountains are deep, but they have many connections."

"My lord, you now have two million people under your command and tens of thousands of soldiers. It would be easy to destroy them. I am only worried that the bandits will rely on the dangerous Taihang Mountains to avoid fighting."

"Feng has a plan that can make the Black Mountain bandits come out of the mountains to fight. In this way, the lord can capture Zhang Yan in one battle!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Yi nodded and looked at Tian Feng expectantly.

"What ingenious tricks does the military advisor have for me?"

"This is easy. Although the Taihang Mountains are deep and dangerous, the land there is limited and cannot support a million-strong Black Mountain Army. My lord, you can dispatch generals to lead heavy troops to block the passes in the Taihang Mountains and block their way to plunder. After a long time, the bandits in the mountains will run out of food and will fight like trapped beasts. They will take the initiative to come out of the mountains to seek a fight with my lord. At that time, my lord's military power will help the Black Mountain bandits to be defeated!"

After Tian Feng bowed to Lu Yi, he revealed his plan.

Tian Feng's plan is exactly the same as the historical strategy that suggested Yuan Shao to take advantage of time to defeat Cao Cao by deepening his roots. It is a naked conspiracy.

In the past two years, Lu Yi has not only captured hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban captives, but also gained a refugee population far exceeding that of the Yellow Turbans. Now, he has two million military settlements under his command, which are independent of the imperial court's civil system.

Yanmen is a vast area with a sparse population. It is also the essence of the Hetao area, so it is not difficult to support a population of two million.

This huge scale of military settlements and the number of settlers not only helped Lu Yi accumulate more than one million dan of military rations in the past two years, but also allowed Lu Yi to carefully select 10,000 brave warriors who were good at riding and shooting, and reorganize and train another 10,000 Bingzhou cavalry. Together with the original 10,000 veteran soldiers, Lu Yi now has 20,000 cavalry under his command!

In this era, 20,000 armored cavalrymen armed to the teeth were the strongest force besides the Han and Xianbei.

Even all the Huns in the south of the desert combined were not as powerful as Lu Yi.

If Jiang Qu had not been relatively law-abiding in the past two years and had not caused any trouble in the south of the desert, and if Lu Yi had not wanted to fail at the critical moment of the competition for the post of Governor of Bingzhou, he would have led his army northward and wiped out the Xiongnu in the south of the desert long ago.

With Lu Yi's strength and so much food, it would be easy for him to trap Zhang Yan to death.

In Lu Yi's opinion, those who took risky actions and designed extremely dangerous strategies could only be considered second-rate strategists.

Only people like Tian Feng, whose naked conspiracy is irresistible once he makes a move, can be called a strategist.

Therefore, Tian Feng's plan satisfied Lu Yi very much. He nodded and was about to speak, but Lu Bu, who did not want to stand at the head of the generals, stood up and objected.

"Although the military advisor's plan is good, who knows how much food Zhang Yan and the Black Mountain bandits have, and how long we will have to besiege them?"

"If we act too late, the position of Bingzhou Mu will be taken away by others!"

"In my opinion, as long as you give me 10,000 soldiers, I can go deep into the Taihang Mountains to wipe out the Black Mountain Army and chop off Zhang Yan's head and present it to you!"

After Lu Bu said this, Zhang Fei, who was also a straightforward person, couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"This is a brilliant plan, I, Zhang, am willing to be the pioneer!"

"Oh? Yide also thinks this plan can succeed?"

"Hahaha, if you and I join forces, Zhang Yan and his ilk will probably flee in fear!"

"No, Generals!"

After seeing these two idiots, who were lowering the average intelligence level of the people present, flattering each other, Right Army Advisor Chen Gong couldn't help but shake his head and stepped out to give some advice.

"The bravery of the two generals is rare in history, but the Taihang Mountains are deep and winding, and our army is heavily armed, which is not conducive to advancing. If we rashly enter the mountains, we may be ambushed by the Black Mountain Army. Zhang Yan is well aware of the dangers of Taihang Mountains. He has repeatedly designed ambushes for officers and soldiers who entered the mountains to fight, and each time he won a great victory. We must be on guard!"

"Military Advisor, why do you want to destroy your own prestige and boost others' ambitions?"

Seeing this, Lu Bu could not help but complain angrily. Zhang Fei also had an unhappy expression on his face and glared at Chen Gong.

"All right!"

"The two military advisors' advice is the advice of an experienced and experienced person. If adopted, we will surely achieve great success. Fengxian and Yide must not act recklessly!"

Seeing this, Lu Yi, who was sitting in the main seat, raised his hand to stop the argument between the civil and military officials and made the final decision.

Lu Yi is not a mediocre leader like Yuan Shao who is fond of showing off. He ignored the sure-fire strategy that could easily lead to victory and chose to go all in with others. In Lu Yi's opinion, this is really a sign of mental illness.

Besides, what Lu Bu just said makes some sense.

But now the chaotic times have begun. Even if the throne of Bingzhou Mu is taken by someone else first, the military force in Lu Yi's hands is not for show.

Historically, after Sun Jian became the governor of Changsha because of his military merit in suppressing the Yellow Turbans, he would attack other counties that were not in harmony with him at any time. He even killed the governor of Jingzhou for personal revenge, but the court did not hold him accountable.

Now Lu Yi’s strength is far greater than that of Sun Jian when he was the prefect of Changsha. Does he lack the courage to use force?
If there was someone so blind as to want to compete with Lu Yi for the position of Governor of Bingzhou, Lu Yi would have a hundred ways to win.

Either they force him to disappear on his own initiative, or they make him disappear from the face of the earth forever.

After seeing Lu Yi's decision, although Lu Bu and Zhang Fei were somewhat dissatisfied with Tian Feng and Chen Gong's strategy, they still obediently returned to their original positions and waited for Lu Yi's next order.

"Order, Lü Bu, Gao Shun, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and other generals to lead their troops to the various passes in the Taihang Mountains to encircle Zhang Yan. I will lead 10,000 central troops as the backup for the rest of the troops, and be ready to fight a decisive battle with Zhang Yan and the Black Mountain Army if they show up!"

"I'll obey!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Bu, Gao Shun and other generals immediately bowed their heads and accepted the order, and stepped forward one by one to receive the command arrows issued by Lu Yi.

The two young men in the queue in the hall were still standing there, with some dissatisfaction on their faces.

"My lord, why do all the generals in the hall have command arrows, but we two don't?"

"My lord, do you look down on our youth?"

The two people in the hall are Zhang Liao and Zhang He, the youngest men under Lu Yi's command.

These two men are of similar age and are collectively called the Two Zhangs.

Among the two Zhangs, Zhang Liao relied on the fact that he was Lu Yi's brother-in-law and stepped forward to question him with a slightly rude attitude.

Although Zhang He behind Zhang Liao did not question him out loud, his closely following Zhang Liao's steps and his face full of resentment showed his attitude.

"Ok?"

"How dare you two question my orders?"

Seeing this, Lu Yi couldn't help but frown and stare at the two of them, speaking with dissatisfaction.

"I can't wait!"

"It's just that we should be loyal to the emperor when we eat his salary. The lord has forgotten us two time and again, which makes us unable to eat and sleep peacefully!"

But the two young generals, Zhang Liao and Zhang He, refused to retreat and continued to argue.

Lu Yi looked at the two men and although their faces seemed stern, he was actually somewhat happy in his heart.

Anyone who knows history knows that the future achievements of Zhang Liao and Zhang He are limitless.

Before, Lu Yi had always refused to let the two of them go into battle easily for the sake of protecting them, but now it seems that he was too concerned and lost his mind.

Now that the two Zhangs have grown up, they are top-notch in both literary and military skills. They should no longer be treated as children.

Moreover, although the sword is gorgeous, it will eventually be unsheathed.

It seems that it is time for these two pieces of uncut jade of extraordinary quality to start showing their brilliance to the world!

"How dare you be so rude in front of my lord!"

"What crime should be committed!"

After teasing the two of them for a while with a fierce look on his face, Lu Yi suddenly laughed.

"Haha, since you two are so eager to fight, I will punish you two to accompany this governor and be at my service at any time!"

When Lu Yi said this, Zhang Liao and Zhang He were overjoyed and immediately stepped forward to accept the order.

"We are willing to die for our lord!"

"Hahaha……"

The civil and military officials in the hall couldn't help but smile kindly at the two young men who were eager to make achievements.

……

Perhaps Lu Yi and others could laugh.

But several months later, Zhang Yan and others from the Black Mountain Army who had been trapped to death by Lu Yi could not laugh at all.

"Damn it, we, the Black Mountain Army, have no grudges against Yanmen Lu Yi in the past, and even when we went out to hunt in the mountains in the past, we never provoked him in Yanmen. I didn't expect that we would not have provoked Lu Yi, but he actually stepped on our heads!"

"It's tolerable, but it's unbearable!"

In the tent where the leaders of various Black Mountain Army gathered, leader Yang Feng was the first to start cursing, and he kept swearing at Lu Yi, who had no martial ethics.

"Damn it, we have hundreds of thousands of Black Mountain troops. Are we afraid of a small governor?"

"It just so happens that all the leaders are meeting here today. Why don't we go out together and fight him in the mountains? Let this Lu Yi see how powerful our Black Mountain Army is!"

On the other side, the leader Yu Du slammed the table and stood up upon hearing this, shouting angrily at everyone.

"Haha... With your limited ability, you want to fight Lu Yi?"

"Have you forgotten who killed the three brothers of General Tiangong a few years ago?"

After hearing what the two said, the leader Bai Rao, who had been silent all this time, couldn't help but make sarcastic remarks, which made the two people who had spoken earlier angry and embarrassed.

……

(End of this chapter)