Han officials

Chapter 236 Cause and Effect [22]

After a series of urgent knocks, the bedroom door finally opened.

However, it was the maid who was staying overnight who opened the door on orders. Wei Jin, dressed in a deep robe, walked to the door and angrily shouted, "What troubles me?"

Seeing this, the registrar Qu Qiang disregarded his anger and immediately exclaimed in panic, "My lord, the woodcutter has rebelled!"

Upon hearing this, Wei Jin was immediately stunned.

He was still groggy from just waking up, and hearing this made him even more disoriented.

"What's wrong? Am I still dreaming?"

Seeing this, Qu Qiang quickly pulled him outside and pointed urgently to the faintly visible firelight to the west:
"It's not a dream. The woodcutters in Taiyuan have all rebelled, as have the vegetable growers, peddlers, and laborers. The rebel army has already entered the city."

When Wei Jin shivered involuntarily from the cold night breeze, he finally realized that this was not a dream.

Hearing the faint sounds of swords clashing in the distance, Wei Jin's face turned deathly pale.
"Quickly, summon the county troops to quell the rebellion!"

As Wei Jin exclaimed in alarm, the vast prefectural government finally descended into chaos.

After sending out several rounds of messengers and gathering all the guards in the mansion around him, Wei Jin, still shaken, asked, "Which band of rebels is it?"

Unexpectedly, Qu Qiang's expression stiffened: "This... is still unclear."

Upon seeing this, Wei Jin's temper flared up instantly, and his face turned red with anger.

Qu Qiang looked aggrieved, after all, he had been woken up in a hurry and only knew these things from his subordinates.

However, seeing Wei Jin's unpleasant expression, Qu Qiang quickly tried to salvage the situation by saying:
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. According to my investigation, the peddlers and laborers who helped in this disturbance in the city are all refugees who recently fled from Xihe County. These people repay kindness with enmity, and their crimes are heinous. They must be severely punished!"

Fortunately, Wei Jin wasn't that foolish and knew what time it was.

He sent out more subordinates to gather information while simultaneously opening the treasury to arm the servants and strong women in his household.

If he weren't wary of the powerful and wealthy families in the city, he would have even conscripted their household soldiers.

However, it turned out that everything he did was in vain.

……

North Gate, inside Jinyang City.

As the tightly closed city gates were opened, the drawbridge outside the gates soon collapsed with a crash.

Hao Zhao and Guo Huai were overjoyed at the sight and immediately led the remaining four thousand garrison troops into the city without further ado.

Of course, they wouldn't dare attack Jinyang City with only four thousand men.

In reality, the two were just the vanguard; the main force was still behind. It should be noted that Langmeng County was right next to Jinyang City.

However, upon seeing the valiant man covered in blood and the fallen corpse behind the door, both men couldn't help but show respect.

After all, the Wei army could only send a few dozen elite soldiers into the city. If it weren't for the help of these peddlers and laborers, they really wouldn't have been able to enter the city.

Hao Zhao immediately declared in a firm and resounding voice: "You are all the first to ascend!"

This credit for being the first to scale the cliff was not given by Hao Zhao, but was personally promised by Cui Yan, and there were even subsequent rewards.

However, this was not the time to talk about such things. After ordering the army's medical craftsmen to urgently treat the survivors, the two split up. Hao Zhao headed straight for the prefect's mansion, while Guo Huai went straight to the Wang family in Jinyang.

If we were to say who in Jinyang City had the most resolute will to resist, it would undoubtedly be the Wang family of Jinyang.

If it weren't for the fact that the county soldiers had been holding the city in the hands of Wei Jin's son, the Wang family of Jinyang would probably have colluded with Gao Gan to seize the city long ago.

Wei Jin was extremely wary of Wang Shi, but he never expected that the problem would arise from a commoner he had never thought of.

With the Wei army entering the city, Jinyang City was completely taken over in just one hour.

Upon learning that the county troops had been defeated by the Wei army and that the eldest son, Wei Xun, had been captured, Wei Jin in the prefect's mansion finally despaired.

With a dejected expression, he offered no resistance and simply opened the gate to surrender to the Wei army.

To save his life, he even ordered his family soldiers to guard the gates of the armory and granary to the death, fearing that someone might set fire to them and harm him.

"Your Excellency is too kind. Please go and rest!"

Overjoyed, Hao Zhao couldn't help but smile and instruct his attendants, "Don't treat them harshly."

Upon hearing this, Wei Jin breathed a slight sigh of relief and quietly left with the others.

Guo Huai was at a loss for words, both amused and exasperated.

This prefect is really someone you don't know what to say.

You might call him muddle-headed, but he's also surprisingly clever.

But while he could be considered clever, Wei Jin's various actions made it difficult to criticize him. After Wei Jin left, Guo Huai nodded and said, "The Wang family has been captured."

Given the unwavering loyalty of the Wang clan of Jinyang to Yuan Shao, it was the Wang clan of Qi County who took action this time.

Especially in the Wang family's old stronghold outside the city, almost all those who took action were the private soldiers of the Wang family of Qi County.

Letting the aristocracy destroy the aristocracy—that was Cui Yan's compassion.

He promised to make the Wang family of Qi County become the Wang family of Taiyuan, and he will absolutely keep his promise!
Of course, the shogunate couldn't skimp on its spoils, since even displaced people needed land to cultivate the land.

However, the Wang family of Jinyang cannot be considered completely wiped out. As long as the brothers Wang Ze and Wang Rou are still alive, they may rise from the ashes at any time.

But for Hao Zhao at this moment, this result was enough.

Because the night raid on Taiyuan was just the beginning, Cui Yan led 20,000 troops to garrison Jinyang that very night.

After all, with 150,000 refugees from Qingzhou pouring into Bingzhou, Cui Yan now has an enormous number of troops at his disposal.

Even this counterattack on Taiyuan was something Cui Yan had no choice but to do.

Unfortunately, Yuan Shao's counterattack came too quickly, giving these refugees from Qingzhou no time to settle and cultivate the land.

If Yuan Shao had delayed his actions, even if they had only been given a year to cultivate the land, Cui Yan was confident that he could have become self-sufficient.

But at this time of year, even the winter wheat isn't ripe yet, let alone any other harvest.

Of course, counties like Yanmen and Yunzhong are not yet facing food shortages, since they have Youzhou, Yingzhou, and Liaozhou behind them.

However, Cui Yan knew how much pressure the shogunate was facing. With war on all sides, food supplies must be extremely tight.

Therefore, Cui Yan, who was eager to make progress, decided to take the initiative to share the burden of the shogunate.

It was Cui Yan's idea to bring refugees from Qingzhou to Taiyuan for food.

Anyway, the troops will be farming no matter where they are stationed. Yunzhong and Yanmen can't support too many people right now, so it's better to come to Taiyuan.

To some extent, Cui Yan's actions this time were essentially leading a large army out to beg for food!
Fortunately, his armed begging attempt yielded good results.

After the fall of Jinyang, Cui Yan recruited and accepted defectors, and directly divided his troops into five routes to launch separate attacks.

In just five days, all the counties north of Jiexiu and south of Jinyang fell into the hands of the Wei army.

From then on, Cui Yan controlled the entire Taiyuan Basin.

Only a few strongholds remained in the southern corner of the entire Taiyuan Prefecture, still under the control of Gao Gan.

If Gao Gan hadn't run away quickly enough, he would have been killed by the betrayal of the Wang family of Qi County.

Even so, when he led his remaining troops to Jiexiu, he was caught in a pincer attack by the Wei army and the Jia and Song families of Jiexiu. His entire army was routed, and the brothers Wang Rou and Wang Ze died in the chaos, their bodies never to be found.

The once glorious Wang clan of Jinyang, which dominated both Han and non-Han cultures throughout history, is now completely wiped out!

As for the army's commander-in-chief, Gao Gan, he barely escaped with his life, fleeing alone on horseback.

If it weren't for the timely assistance from Shangdang County, Gao Gan would probably not have escaped unscathed.

Therefore, Gao Gan, who was furious and shocked, swore an oath in front of his generals, pointing to the Fen River, that he would fight Cui Yan to the death.

Upon returning to Shangdang County, he barely rested before preparing his troops for a counterattack on Taiyuan.

However, Cui Yan didn't care, because his focus was on spring plowing.

Thanks to Wei Zhe, local officials under the shogunate paid special attention to land reclamation.

This was especially true after Cui Yan gained control of the Taiyuan Basin.

It should be noted that Bingzhou is mountainous, and almost all of its fertile land is concentrated in the Taiyuan Basin, which is the essence of the prefecture.

The valley plain here is so vast that it covers a million acres. It is bordered by the Taihang Mountains to the east, the Lüliang Mountains to the west, Shiling Pass in Huangzhai to the north, and Hanxin Ridge in Lingshi to the south. The Fen River runs through it, and several tributaries of the Xiao River and Wenyu River also flow into it, making it a place with abundant water resources.

Along the banks of the Fen River, fields and paths intertwine, and as far as the eye can see, almost all of them are lush with water and grass.

The more harsh and cold the other prefectures and counties of Bingzhou were, the more fertile and delicious this river valley plain was!
Therefore, after occupying this place, before the blood on his knife had even dried, Cui Yan busied himself with spring plowing, fearing that he would miss the farming season.

He wasn't too concerned about Gao Gan's counterattack; there were plenty of capable generals and officers in the Wei army.

Even if the emperor himself came to Taiyuan now, he couldn't stop Cui Yan from farming.

Sowing in April and harvesting in July, spring wheat is just in time for this farming season.

It's not that Cui Yan is bragging, but if given six months, he could provide the entire Bingzhou Wei army with provisions without Youzhou having to worry about logistics.

Even if the pressure on both the northern and southern fronts is immense, they will be able to handle it with ease...

(End of this chapter)