Chapter 143 Killing Zhang

Chapter 143 Killing Zhang

Chapter 143 Killing Zhang

For the entire month of March, Shao Xun was confined in the palace and had difficulty going out.

He could only get some information from Pan Tao, who attended court from time to time.

What is surprising is that Sikong did not enter Luoyang, but instead led his army, passed through Luoyang to the east, then crossed the Yellow River to the north and stationed in Wen County.

With such strange whereabouts, even if Shao Xun didn't get any news, he could conclude that the war in Hebei was raging again.

Wen County is located in Henei County, Sizhou. If you march northeast, you can provide assistance to Hebei. If you march westward across Wangwu Mountain, you can reach Hedong County, and then cross the river at Pubanjin to enter Guanzhong.

Sima Yue only has tens of thousands of soldiers of questionable quality. How dare he support both sides?
In addition to Hebei, Qingzhou also started a rebellion.

The third group of people who served as the king's vanguard met their end.

Liu Borgen, the magistrate of Jian County, started a rebellion and gathered tens of thousands of people, and was called the "Donglai Demon Bandit."

The reason for this name is that he is the master of Tianshi Dao, and Donglai is also one of the areas where Tianshi Dao is widely spread.

When Shao Xun first heard the news, he was quite shocked because he had never seen any Taoist priests in Luoyang. He occasionally heard that someone's family believed in Taoism, but he didn't take it seriously.

Generally speaking, Luoyang and its surrounding areas are not the main activity areas of Tianshi Dao, so this time I was enlightened.

In ancient society, especially in the Wei and Jin dynasties when people loved to talk about ghosts and gods, the power of religion was extremely great.

It is impossible for a county magistrate to gather more than 10,000 soldiers without religious bonus.

Wang Mi, a native of Donglai, joined the rebel army with his family servants.

Wang Mi has a good family background.

His grandfather Wang Qi once served as the governor of Xuantu and followed Guanqiu Jian to attack Goguryeo and returned with a great victory.

Later, he was appointed as the prefect of Tianshui and followed Deng Ai to attack Shu.

After entering Jin, he was transferred to be the prefect of Runan.

Wang Mi's father was not well-known, but by his generation, the family wealth was still considerable and could support many soldiers and servants.

Perhaps he was unwilling to continue sinking like this, so Wang Mi decided to take a risk and join the Tianshidao rebels to cause trouble!

Liu Borgen was very happy to have a local prominent figure like Wang Mi join him, and he personally appointed Wang Mi as the Chief Secretary and his cousin Wang Sang as the General of the Eastern Army.

Sima Lue, the governor of Qingzhou, the commander-in-chief and the King of Gaomi, personally led an army to fight against the rebellion, but was defeated and fled to Liaocheng.

I don’t know if it was a “genetic” problem with Sima Yue’s family, but Sima Lue showed up for the first time in troubled times and was defeated by the religious rebels.

But this rebel army did not get a good result. The governor of Youzhou, Wang Jun, sent troops south, defeated them in one battle, and beheaded Liu Borgen.

Wang Mi fled to Changguang Mountain with a few of his trusted followers, becoming a bandit and temporarily avoiding the limelight. But judging by his determination to rebel even if he spent all his wealth, he is expected to cause trouble again.

The civil and military officials of Qingzhou were at peace, and the hereditary soldiers of Xuzhou had just been defeated by Sima Yue. The local area lacked a reliable force to suppress the enemy, and the situation was a bit empty.

The world is becoming more and more chaotic.

After March, in April, General Chen Jing was in charge of guarding the palace. Shao Xun had a little more freedom. In addition to training the imperial guards and making friends with generals and scholars, he traveled between the major forts and was very busy.

On the fifth day of April, he received an order to advance westward to Xin'an with the main force of the left guard of the central army.

The clouds of war suddenly gathered.

But maybe it's just pressure, who knows.

******
In Bashang, on the eastern outskirts of Chang'an, there was also a fine spring rain.

Bashang was named after the Ba River.

As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Mu of Qin built a bridge over the Ba River.

During the Xinmang period, it was once renamed "Changcun Bridge".

During the Jin Dynasty, it was renamed Baqiao.

This Ba Bridge may not be the Ba Bridge during the time of Duke Mu of Qin, and even the location of the bridge is different, but there is always a bridge over the Ba River to connect the east and the west.

To the west of Baqiao is Bashang.

The reason why the word "Shang" is included is because Bashang is a plateau above the ground located west of the Bashui River.

Yes, it is a common plateau terrain in the northwest region. Because it is high above the ground, it has always been a place for garrisoning troops.

Zhang Fang’s camp was located here.

Perhaps due to the continuous rain, the morale of the soldiers in the camp was a little low.

Attacking Luoyang the year before last would have been a good opportunity.

Sima Yue was defeated at Dangyin, and his army was completely routed. Shangguan Si escaped back and made a big fuss in Luoyang, causing panic among the people. The city was in imminent danger, as if it could be taken with a single drumbeat.

But a man named Shao Xun suddenly appeared and shattered everyone's dreams.

He was cruel and tyrannical, as well as cunning and treacherous. In the narrow streets inside the Daxia Gate, he fired crossbows and arrows like rain, killing 600 elite cavalrymen and making the attempt to seize the gate fail.

In the end, the more than 20,000 infantry and cavalry who went on the expedition failed to rob enough wealth and goods, so they could only rob tombs to comfort themselves.

This year they talked about attacking Luoyang in the east again. Hebei generals such as Shi Chao, Lou Quan, and Qian Xiu had even led their troops to set out, but the follow-up troops did not keep up and ultimately achieved no results, so they retreated in disgrace - the root cause was that the King of Hejian had not made up his mind, and there was nothing to be done about it.

"The king is afraid!" Inside the central army barracks, Zhang Fang was drunk and spitting curses: "What a shitty noble family, cowardly and timid, they will only cause trouble."

The personal soldiers looked at their own commander-in-chief with trepidation, not knowing whether to get closer or farther away.

It was not uncommon for the governor to kill people with his sword when he was drunk.

After hesitating for a while, they sighed, looked at each other, and left together.

"Bi Yuan, you are a rat, but you only know how to talk about peace." Zhang Fang raised his head and took a sip of wine, and continued to curse: "But you don't know that Sima Yue doesn't want to negotiate peace. How ridiculous, how ridiculous, Chang'an and Luoyang are so close, how stupid Sima Yue must be to negotiate peace with you? If I have the chance in the future, I will eat your flesh, sleep on your skin, drink your blood, and play with your wife and daughter, and then send them to the camp as prostitutes, haha!"

There was a sound of horse hooves outside the camp.

The grass was muddy and wet, the horses could not run, and everyone was dirty. After verifying their identities at the camp gate, the gatekeeper respectfully let Zhi Fu and others in.

"You go on your own. I have something important to discuss with the governor." Zhi Fu waved his hand and said. The deputy general responded respectfully.

Such an attitude was not only because Zhi Fu was the most important general under Commander Zhang, but also because of many other unclear relationships.

When Zhang Fang was in a low position, Zhi Fu provided him with not only money and food, but also troops.

These members of the Zhi family followed Zhang Fang in his campaigns, and those who survived became Zhang Fang's confidants.

Of course, Zhi Fu, the former master of these troops, was Zhang Fang's most trusted confidant and they never avoided confidential matters.

Zhi Fu was also very emotional about this.

But there was nothing he could do.

All his family property was in Chang'an, what could he do? The Prince of Hejian could destroy his family with just a flick of his finger.

Don't blame me, blame Bi Yuan if you want to blame someone. He was the one who spread the slander. If you are a ghost, go find him yourself, don't bother me.

Zhi Fu walked into the barracks on the muddy ground, slipping with every step.

He wanted to say something, but saw Zhang Fang drunkenly lying on the table, humming non-stop.

Zhi Fu sighed deeply, then turned and looked at his followers.

The followers looked pale, but they all nodded and dispersed outside, not letting anyone get close.

Zhi Fu walked over with a twitching face and stood beside Zhang Fang, without any movement for a while.

Scenes from the past appeared before his eyes.

When he was young, Zhang Fang was famous for his bravery. As a hereditary soldier of the Hejian army, he followed the King of Hejian, first to Yecheng and then to Chang'an.

The two met by chance.

One was a famous wealthy man in Chang'an, and the other was a down-and-out soldier. Yet they hit it off right away and had a very pleasant conversation.

He was impressed by Zhang Fang's bravery and his identity as a Hejian native, while Zhang Fang was amazed at his immense wealth.

What followed was a story of recognizing and respecting heroes. He generously took out part of his family wealth and troops and gave them to Zhang Fang.

Zhang Fang was deeply moved and promised that if they became rich and powerful, they would never forget each other.

Zhang Fang was famous for his bravery and gradually made many contributions, eventually becoming rich.

After becoming successful, Zhang Fang did not forget me. He gave me the position of his first general and trusted me without reservation.

Over the years, I have made a lot of money thanks to Zhang Fang.

The money and funds invested in the early years have long been earned back with interest, or even multiplied several times.

Zhang Fang has never let himself down!
"Alas!" Zhi Fu sighed and said softly, "The unfaithful person is here, don't blame me."

After saying that, he drew out his sword and slashed hard at Zhang Fang's neck.

"Crack!" The knife penetrated into the flesh and bones.

Zhang Fang's body trembled suddenly. He widened his eyes and looked at Zhi Fu in disbelief.

Zhi Fu hardened his heart, put more strength, and slashed hard.

Blood gushed out and splashed all over him.

Zhang Fang's eyes gradually dimmed and his mouth opened and closed as if he was saying something.

Zhi Fu leaned down and only heard the two words "be careful".

Be careful? Zhi Fu was stunned, not knowing what he was talking about.

When Zhang Fang stopped moving, Zhi Fu cut off his head, wrapped it in cloth, held it in his hand, and left the barracks.

Just then, several generals arrived outside the barracks. When they saw Zhi Fu covered in blood, they stood there in a daze.

When he saw the "cloth bag" still dripping with blood in Zhi Fu's right hand, he subconsciously took two steps back, his hand already on the hilt of the knife at his waist.

"You were originally my servants. Are you trying to stop me now?" Zhi Fu asked expressionlessly.

Several people said nothing.

"This is the order of the king. Do you want to disobey it?" A close follower came over and scolded sternly.

"Now that it's been done, it can't be undone. Think about it carefully, is it worth it?" said another follower.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!" The third follower pushed them a few times.

Several generals lowered their heads and silently stepped aside.

Zhi Fu didn't even look at them, he swaggered out of the military camp, mounted his horse, and rode away.

General Zhang Fang, who once could stop children from crying at night, died in the military camp at the hands of his most trusted benefactor.

At the end of April, Zhang Fang's head was stuffed into a wooden box, sent by horse to Wen County, and handed over to Sima Yue.

Sima Yue didn't want to watch it.

The staff checked carefully and asked several people who knew Zhang Fang to check repeatedly, and finally confirmed that Zhang Fang was dead.

Sima Yue was ecstatic after hearing this.

To be honest, he didn't expect Sima Yong to be so stupid.

Do you really think that you can negotiate peace by killing Zhang Fang? How can you be so naive?

How Zhang Fang died could not be hidden from anyone. Wouldn't the generals and soldiers in Guanzhong be disheartened? How many of them would still be willing to fight for Sima Yong?
"Haha! God is really helping me!" Sima Yue laughed wildly and danced in the big tent.

The staff came forward to congratulate him.

"Pass my order, appoint Mi Huang as the commander-in-chief, lead the army, and attack Guanzhong." Sima Yue's face became serious, and he ordered loudly: "This battle will not stop until Chang'an is captured."

(End of this chapter)