Jinting Han people

In February of the seventh year of the Yuankang reign, Qi Wannian led a large army to capture Weiqiao and cross the Wei River, dispatching 10,000 men each to attack Ducheng and Lantian. The remaining 50,000 main forces camped directly ten miles north of Chang'an. As the Qiang and Hu armies arrived, Qiang and Hu people from Yong, Qin, and Liang provinces also continued to rush to join them.

Chang'an City was situated on a vast plateau known as Longshouyuan. To the east of Longshouyuan lay Tongrenyuan, to the southwest of Tongrenyuan lay Bailuyuan, and to the south of Longshouyuan were Shaolingyuan, Fengqiyuan, Leyouyuan, and Shenheyuan. These plateaus surrounded Chang'an City, varying in height and intersecting with the eight rivers—Jing, Wei, Ba, Chan, Feng, He, Fu, and Lao—creating a highly complex terrain.

Not to mention, Chang'an's defenses were formidable. The walls were six zhang high and three zhang wide, allowing soldiers to ride on horseback. Outside the city, there were several outer palaces, similar to Changxin Palace, which supported each other and provided resistance, almost forming a chain-like defense system.

As the rebels reached the gates of Chang'an, they were filled with emotion. Gazing east and west, they could only vaguely see a vast expanse of uninterrupted plains and hills. Apart from the towering Qinling Mountains to the south, every inch of the plain was fertile land suitable for cultivation. Indeed, farmers could be seen carefully tending newly sprouted crops across the plains.

"There are no stones here." The Hu people from Qinzhou Longyou held the soil in the fields and shouted loudly.

"It's true! There are no stones in the field."

It's hard to imagine. Since the advent of agriculture, removing rocks from fields has been a necessary task. There should be rocks in the fields. However, Guanzhong, the most fertile part of the Loess Plateau, is truly stone-free. This is unbelievable to the Qiang people in Longshang and even Hehuang.

However, Qi Wannian had no intention of attacking Chang'an head-on. Historically, there has been only one example of a successful frontal attack on Chang'an: Li Jue and Guo Si, leading over 100,000 Liangzhou troops, crushing Lü Bu and Wang Yun. However, the numerical disparity between the two armies was significant, with the Liangzhou troops outnumbering Lü Bu by over ten to one, making this insignificant example. Other than this, all subsequent changes of control in Chang'an were typically achieved without a fight.

Chang'an, one of China's largest cities, had a massive population. During the reign of Emperor Ping of the Western Han Dynasty, Chang'an's population reached 400,000. Even after its decline, it remained around 200,000. With such a large population, it was impossible to rely solely on the city's food reserves. Currently, Chang'an's food supply relied heavily on transportation through the Wuguan Pass.

What Qi Wannian needed to do now was to block the food supply route for two to three months, just as the Jin army had previously planned to do to Qi Wannian. This would cause the city of Chang'an to collapse without a fight due to lack of food. At the very least, the starving people within the city would cause considerable unrest. This predicament could only be reversed if the Jin army dared to leave the city and engage the rebels in battle, reopening the food supply route. However, judging by the Jin army's current performance, they had no intention of doing so.

Therefore, Qi Wannian's troops were to surround Chang'an from three sides, from the south to the east and then to the north. Soldiers repaired deer horns and gates on the official roads, demolished surrounding houses, and cut down the surrounding trees, thus reducing the space for the defenders in Chang'an to move.

In Qi Wannian's view, Chang'an City at this time is like a fruit that is about to ripen. He just needs to wait quietly and it will naturally fall into his hands.

"I have lived in this city for two years."

When Qi Wannian and his entourage were inspecting Chang'an, he pointed at the ancient city and said:

"During that time, I was a slave to this city, being welcomed and sent off every day, and no one looked down on me."

The accompanying Juqu Zhe praised him, saying, "Soon you will become the master of this city, and all those who looked down on you will kneel at your feet."

"Hahaha," Qi Wannian couldn't help but burst into laughter upon hearing this. He then pointed his whip at Chang'an and said to Juqu, "I'm not interested in being the master of any city."

"Ah?" Juqu Zha was a little stunned for a moment.

"A true man must be the master of all the people in the world!"

Qi Wannian turned his horse's head again, pointed to the east and said with great vigor:
"After we capture Chang'an this year, we'll rest for six months. Next year, we'll attack Luoyang! Capture that foolish Sima emperor alive and show the world who the real hero is!"

Everyone was stunned when they heard this. It turned out that after sweeping Guanzhong, Qi Wannian was going to attack Luoyang!
For a moment, the accompanying Hu people were filled with excitement, all moved by their lord's ambition and then bowed down in admiration. For ordinary people, those who dare to dream are always more attractive than those who remain calm. No one likes a mediocre life. The shortness of life always makes people yearn for grandeur. People who do nothing often only know their incompetence and feel lost about the future, unsure of what to do. When such a person suddenly appears and ignites dreams, the raging fire of desire cannot be extinguished.

The Hu people then surrounded Chang'an with even higher morale, observing the actions and level of resistance of the defenders in the city, and at the same time began to discuss their lord's dream of entering Luoyang.

Unfortunately, the city's soldiers showed no intention of leaving. No matter how the rebels clamored and provoked, the city remained peaceful. However, once a Hu person approached within the Jin army's range, the city immediately launched a rain of arrows. After the retreat, the arrows stopped again. The Hu people tried to test the situation, and after losing about a hundred people, they found nothing unusual.

The only change was that at night, the Jin army would secretly lower citizens down from the city walls in wooden baskets, allowing them to escape under cover of darkness. Over a thousand people escaped each night. However, Chang'an was already surrounded by the rebels. Although there were gaps on the west side, many soldiers were patrolling, and naturally some civilians were captured.

The person in charge of the patrol was Pu Guang, a Di people. He asked the captured people about the situation in the city.

The people replied, "Alas, His Majesty the Prince of Liang said that the army is short of food. To ensure the safety of Chang'an, he is collecting food from the civilians in the city. Every time he collects a batch, he releases the people from the city and lets us fend for ourselves outside the city."

"Sir, please spare us! We have nothing left. If we starve to death or get sick here, it will be of no benefit to you!"

These people who escaped were really pale and thin, and they spoke weakly. Pu Guang took a quick look and knew that this was the truth. He immediately reported it to Qi Wannian.

After Qi Wannian learned about it, he raised his eyebrows and said:
"You're not letting the disaster victims eat in the city, and you're using this method to get them out. Are you trying to pass the problem on to me?"

It is obvious that the victims have no food. Once they escape and are out of the sight of the Hu people, they will inevitably become an unstable factor in Guanzhong and are very likely to cause trouble.

Qi Wannian commented on this: "He has a good idea. This way he can save food and still keep me out of trouble. Unfortunately, I don't have the same compassion as the Buddha."

He immediately ordered the entire army to blockade Chang'an, forcing all fleeing civilians back into the city. He then erected a fence around the city. Anyone who crossed the fence was to be killed, forcing the civilians back into the city. The civilians had no choice but to flee back to the gates of Chang'an, begging the Jin soldiers to open them. Though the Jin soldiers were reluctant, they were under orders to do nothing. The gates remained closed, and the civilians were forced out again at night.

As a result, more and more people were trapped under the city walls. They were unable to advance or retreat, and with no food, they could only kneel down and cry out to the soldiers on the city walls and outside the fence, hoping for a chance to live. Among them were women, children, and elderly people who gathered together and wept. The scene was so desolate that even the most hardened heart would be moved and could not bear to watch.

But even so, the commanders of the two armies still strictly ordered their soldiers to block the civilians and let them starve to death outside the city of Chang'an.

Then, outside Chang'an and within the city walls, a horrific scene unfolded: emaciated, starving people were everywhere, their eyes lifeless. Then, some people broke bones for cooking, boiled their own children for food, and eventually, everyone started cannibalizing each other.

No one would have thought that three months ago, the citizens of Chang'an were still full of confidence in the victory of the Jin army, but three months later, the purgatory scene of large-scale cannibalism once again appeared in Guanzhong.

Qi Wannian remained unmoved, believing it was a necessary cost. If it couldn't deplete the Jin army's food supply, it would at least destroy their will. Sima Rong's method of saving food would only delay the battle for another month, but he had plenty of time, so what good would it do if he delayed it for another month?
At present, everyone believes that Qi Wannian is only a short distance away from completely conquering Guanzhong.

Of course, there will be some small surprises. For example, Yao Yi Zhong, who is responsible for sweeping the counties in Weibei, reported that some Jin troops seemed to be gathering in Beidi County, and the scale seemed to be quite large. How should we deal with it?

Qi Wannian's meaning was of course clear. In the current situation, nothing was more important than capturing Chang'an. He didn't want any accidents to happen, so he gave the order:
"Put aside the offensive against Fengyi and open a passage for them to reach Hedong."

"The rest of the troops should withdraw and protect the food supply routes first. If they are seeking death and refuse to withdraw, as long as the food supply routes are maintained, what can they do once we capture Chang'an?"

It can be said that Qi Wannian's strategic vision was extremely sharp. He immediately understood that the most urgent task at hand was to ensure the army's food supply. If this could be implemented, the future development would be unpredictable.

But the rebellion had grown to such a point that no one could fully grasp the overall situation. Since Qi Wannian was supervising the front line in Chang'an, he naturally had no time to take care of the rear.

Under the glow of their successive victories, many Hu people were also overwhelmed. They believed that the Jin army was intimidated and would not dare to attack the rebels. Furthermore, now was the time for each tribe to seize land. If they were slow to act, such good farmland would fall to others. How could they accept this? Therefore, they did not care about shrinking.

By mid-March, Qi Wannian's front was running low on food, so they urged Qinzhou to quickly ship in 100,000 hu of grain. This task was handled by Juqu Zha, an old Tiefu man and, among the hundreds of thousands of Hu people, a direct descendant of Qi Wannian.

He personally went to Chencang to inspect the grain. He observed along the Wei River and found that there were not many Hu people guarding the strongholds along the way, nor did he find many scouts and sentries. After arriving at Chencang, he could not help but complain to Li Te, the Di people in charge of guarding Chencang:

"With the troops so disorganized, where can we place your Majesty's military orders?"

Li Te replied: "This is also human nature. After all, they have not received any prior training and it is certainly difficult to control them in a hurry."

Juquzha also knew this truth. He said helplessly, "Your Majesty is considerate of us, and we should also be considerate of Your Majesty. I think that after Your Majesty captures Chang'an, you will have to teach them a lesson."

However, as a result, the team carrying the first batch of 30,000 hu of millet had only more than 5,000 soldiers to guard it, and the rest were either pack horses or some temporarily recruited civilians.

Generally speaking, more than 5,000 men are enough for defense. But for some reason, after setting off, Juquzha felt a little uneasy. He observed along the way and soon found something wrong:
Around the grain transport team, there would always be some ragged people appearing from time to time, watching around the grain team, appearing and disappearing, just like flies.

Juqu Zha could not help but ask his men, "Why are there people following us? Are they scouts from the Jin army?"

The subordinate replied nonchalantly, "These are refugees from the Jin people. We stole their food last year, and now they have nothing to eat, so they want to pick up some wheat crumbs from behind our grain train! Sir, don't worry about them."

Juqu Zha suddenly realized and stopped paying attention to these people.

At night, they arrived at Yongkangli, two miles east of Mei County. A few camped, but most people leaned against their horses and food bags and fell into a deep sleep. But after a brief dream, they suddenly felt the ground beneath their feet tremble slightly.

Gradually, the trembling began to make a sound, like distant thunder rolling across the earth. The slumbering Hu people were awakened, along with the birds that had been roosting there. The birds fluttered their wings and soared into the sky with strange cries. The monkeys in the mountains were also awakened, and they cried out in panic.

Juquzha and the knights around him were veterans of battle. As they heard the sound, like thunder sinking closer and closer, they knew it was the clatter of thousands of galloping horses. Their hearts raced with fear, and they quickly gave up their food, rallying the knights to prepare for battle.

But he was clearly too slow to react. Suo Jing had already led his troops to the grain train, and then a blaze erupted. Thousands of fiery points flew from the sky, some striking the surrounding open space, instantly illuminating the surroundings. Some struck the men and horses, causing screams and wails to mingle. But more of the flaming arrows burned the grain bags, sending flames soaring into the air and emitting a burnt aroma.

It turned out to be arrows tied with torches and set ablaze. Flames and thick smoke surrounded the Hu cavalry, and following the countless hidden arrows, the raiding cavalry led by Zhang Guang were galloping towards them.

In a very short period of time, the fate of this Hu people's grain team was decided.

They tried to flee, but with the enemy on one side and the Wei River on the other, it was a natural place for the hammer-and-anvil tactic. Juquzha had no time to escape. They surrounded the enemy in vain, launched one or two attacks, and then were surrounded by the numerically superior Jin army and shot like hedgehogs in a rain of arrows. (End of this chapter)