Three Kingdoms King of the North

"Benhou believes that Wang Hun and Zhou Cang's trip will definitely fulfill their mission." Han Zhan felt that what Guo Jia said was not complete enough, so he added: "Except that we made Zang Ba a condition that he could not refuse. In addition, our hundreds of thousands of troops from the north and the south pressed against Kaiyang and Taishan at the same time, so he had to choose between being promoted to the rank and suffering the disaster. I think Zang Ba is a smart man, he will make a choice. a wise decision."

The hundreds of thousands of troops that Han Zhan said included those who had surrendered to the Yellow Turban Army.With such a large-scale army, it is very easy to destroy Zang Ba, who has only 3 people.What's more, Zang Baxin took over Kaiyang not long ago, and whether the morale of the people is stable is still a big problem.That's why Han Zhan dared to make such a bold guess. As long as Zang Ba saw the new conditions he set, he would definitely choose to submit to him.

Guo Jia and Han Zhan thought of going together as to whether Zang Ba would surrender.However, Guo Jia has his own views on how to use Zang Ba after he surrendered.Taking advantage of today's opportunity, he cautiously proposed: "My lord, in our new conditions, we promise that the imperial court can make Zang Ba the Marquis of Kaiyang, and that he will not move any of his soldiers, and let them continue to fight." Stick to Kaiyang. I am worried that if Zang Ba is an ambitious person, after a long time, will he have two minds?"

Although Han Zhan has never met Zang Ba himself, but through his understanding of history books, he feels that Zang Ba is still very reliable, not the kind of villain who faces Qin and Muchu.As long as he doesn't do anything outrageous and offends him severely, he will never rebel easily.Thinking of this, he turned his head and said to Guo Jia: "Although this Marquis has never met Zang Ba, I believe that he should be a trustworthy person. I am very relieved to entrust Langya Kingdom and Dongguan County to his jurisdiction. "

Chapter 474 Arima Coming from the North

Hearing what Han Zhan said, Guo Jia hesitated for a moment, and then asked probingly: "My lord, I have something to ask, should I ask?"

"What's the matter with Feng Xiao, but it's okay to ask." Although he didn't know what question Guo Jia wanted to ask, Han Zhan still smiled: "Do you still use such politeness between us?"

"This subordinate would like to ask the lord, not long after General Ziyi returned, the lord gave him gold and silver and ordered him to go to Danyang to recruit new soldiers." Guo Jia asked tentatively: "Isn't the lord worried that Ziyi will take people to defect to the old lord Liu?" Yao?"

Han Zhan was taken aback by Guo Jia's words. When he thought about it carefully, when he sent Tai Shici to Danyang to recruit soldiers, he only considered that he had stayed in Yangzhou and was familiar with the local conditions. As for whether he would abscond with the money and bring people to defect I never thought about Liu Yao's matter.Hearing Guo Jia mention it now, I couldn't help but feel that my actions were indeed a bit too risky.

Now that Guo Jia asked about this matter seriously, he couldn't tell him that he hadn't thought about it at all.Because in his mind, most of the well-known civil servants and military generals during the Three Kingdoms period were trustworthy, and as long as he recognized who was his master, he would not easily betray him.

So, he replied solemnly: "Feng Xiao, you know that Ben Hou has always employed people without suspicion. Since Ziyi has surrendered to Ben Hou, Ben Hou naturally has a lot of trust in him, and I think he will not let me down." Hou's trust in him."

After listening to Han Zhan's words, Guo Jia couldn't help feeling secretly in his heart: It's easy to say, but how many people have been able to really do it throughout the ages?My lord is definitely an anomaly, not only employing bold people, but also employing talented people.But from this point of view, choosing to follow him was a correct decision.

Han Zhan and his party quickly caught up with Zhao Yun's army. When Zhao Yun saw Han Zhan, he asked with concern, "Second brother, I wonder why Tao Xuzhou sent envoys here?"

"The envoy is Chen Yuanlong, Lieutenant of Diannong, who said that it was Tao Xuzhou who saw tens of thousands of troops entering the border of Xuzhou, so he was ordered to come and check." Han Zhan said with a sneer, "Ziyi's soldiers and horses have been stationed in Licheng for half a month. More than that, during this period, Lu Bu's soldiers and horses also stayed outside the city, but Tao Xuzhou didn't care about it, and now that we are about to leave, he only sent people to check, it's too much to cover up."

As soon as Han Zhan finished speaking, Guo Jia added: "It's nothing more than Tao Xuzhou's panic when he saw the Jizhou army pressing down on the border. He obviously asked Chen Yuanlong to check who has moved into Licheng, but secretly he was testing whether our army has captured it. The meaning of Pi. Once we find out that our army is preparing to attack Xiapi, we will definitely dispatch troops and generals immediately, ready to fight our army.”

"Xuzhou's army is weak, and its combat power is low." Zhao Yun said confidently: "If it is a field battle, I can use [-] cavalry to defeat [-] soldiers and horses; Xiapi."

Although the Jizhou Army has not been in the army for a long time, judging from the record of conquering Qingzhou in the past six months, Zhao Yun's statement is not exaggerated at all.After hearing this, Guo Jia even said: "What General Zilong said is very true. Compared with Qingzhou, the combat power of Xuzhou's army may be even inferior. Otherwise, Zang Ba would separate the Taishan and Kaiyang areas, and Tao Xuzhou would not pretend to be deaf. Dumb."

Han Zhan is not interested in knowing what Tao Qian thinks, but what he cares about now is whether Wang Hun and Zhou Cang have met Zang Ba and persuaded him to submit to him.He looked at Zhao Yun and asked, "Brother, when can the army arrive at Kaiyang?"

"According to the current itinerary, we will be able to reach Kaiyang tomorrow afternoon at the latest." After Zhao Yun answered Han Zhan, he asked worriedly, "Second brother, if Zang Ba refuses to submit to our army, what should we do? "

"Our soldiers and horses, plus Huang Hansheng's soldiers and horses going south, can fight no less than 10,000+." Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, Han Zhan knew in his heart that they were thinking about how he planned to deal with this matter, so he didn't hesitate. He said vaguely: "Zang Ba is willing to surrender, if he wants to continue to resist, then the army will directly destroy him."

After hearing Han Zhan's statement, everyone breathed a sigh of relief in unison. They were deeply afraid that when they arrived in Kaiyang, they would see that Zang Ba refused to surrender, and Han Zhan was unwilling to start the war lightly. The horse will waste countless money and food.

When the army arrived a hundred miles away from Kaiyang, seeing that it was getting late, Han Zhan told Zhao Yun, "Brother, it's getting late, let the army camp here." Zhao Yun agreed, and immediately began to issue orders. Let the army begin camping on the spot.

Taking advantage of the army camping, Han Zhan and Guo Jia led a group of tiger and leopard riders to a nearby hill and looked towards Kaiyang.Although Han Zhan said that as long as Zang Ba didn't submit, he would dispatch an army to destroy him.But speaking from the heart, Han Zhan was unwilling to fight Zang Ba. He hoped that Wang Hun and Zhou Cang's missions would make Zang Ba voluntarily surrender.

Seeing Han Zhan's preoccupied look, Guo Jia guessed that he must be worried about Zang Ba's affairs, so he comforted him and said, "My lord, don't worry, don't see Zang Ba's separatism in Taishan, Kaiyang and other places, Tao Xuzhou There is no way to deal with him. It is a pity that his foundation is too shallow after all, and coupled with the small number of soldiers, if someone else sends troops to attack, I am afraid that he will not be able to support him for long. Presumably he will come to surrender after seeing the conditions that the lord has set for him. of."

Hearing Guo Jia say someone was going to attack Zang Ba, Han Zhan couldn't help asking curiously: "Feng Xiao, tell me, who will take the initiative to attack Zang Ba?"

Guo Jia pointed to the west with his hand and said: "Cao Mengde, the prefect of Dongjun, is not a person who is willing to be subordinate to others. He is now recruiting soldiers and heroes from all over the world. If Jia's guess is right, he will definitely want to replace Liu Dai and become the leader of Yanzhou. Inspector. To do this, he must find a way to regain Zang Ba, first to relieve his worries, second to expand his own strength, and to seize the position of Yanzhou Shepherd, the confidence will be greatly increased."

"What Feng Xiao said is very true," Han Zhan believed in what Guo Jia said. As a latecomer, he couldn't understand what kind of person Cao Mengde was. If he loses his own strength, sooner or later he will become the confidant of this Marquis."

The two of them were talking, when they suddenly saw several cavalry galloping from the north. Judging from the costumes of the knights, they were all dressed as the Jizhou army.Guo Jia turned to Han Zhan and said, "My lord, is it Wang Hun and Zhou Cang who sent someone back to deliver the letter?"

When Han Zhan saw a knight coming, he was also eager to know the reason for his visit. Hearing Guo Jia's proposal, he said smoothly, "In that case, let's go down the mountain."

Chapter 475 Han Zhan Meets Zang Ba

When Han Zhan and Guo Jia came down from the hill and returned to the camp, they saw Zhao Yun talking to the returning knights.Han Zhan hurried forward and asked Zhao Yun in an official tone in front of many subordinates: "General Zilong, where did they come from?"

"See my lord!" The knights who were talking to Zhao Yun knelt down on one knee and saluted when they saw Han Zhan appearing.

Han Zhan recognized these knights as the tiger and leopard riders he sent to send urgent letters to Wang Hun and Zhou Cang. He vaguely remembered that the leader of the team was Wu Qi, so he asked bluntly, "Wu Qi, what are you doing?" Isn't it the messenger sent by the Marquis to deliver letters to Wang Hun and Zhou Cang?"

When Wu Chang saw that Han Zhan called out his name in one gulp, he couldn't help being very excited.But he did not forget the purpose of his trip, and hurriedly reported to Han Zhan: "My lord, the younger one is Wu Qi, who was ordered by Prefect Wang Hun to deliver a letter to my lord."

Hearing that it was sending a letter, Han Zhan knew that it must have something to do with lobbying Zang Ba, and quickly asked, "Where is the letter?"

Wu Qi took off the bamboo tube on his back, pulled out the rolled letter from it, held it in both hands and handed it to Han Zhan: "Here is the letter, my lord, please read it."

Han Zhan was eager to know what was going on at Wang Hun's place, so he quickly opened the letter and quickly browsed the contents.Just halfway through, Han Zhan's face showed joy.Seeing this, Guo Jia, who was standing at the side, guessed that it must be good news, and quickly asked, "My lord, could it be that Wang Hun has already convinced Zang Ba?"

"Exactly." While continuing to read the letter, Han Zhan nodded and replied to Guo Jia: "I really didn't expect that Wang Xuanchong is quite capable in his work, and he actually convinced Zang Ba."

Seeing that the big tent not far away had been set up, Guo Jia greeted Han Zhan: "Master, this is not a place to talk, let's go back to the big tent first."

Han Zhan came to the tent, read Wang Hun's letter, passed it to Guo Jia and others, and said with emotion: "Zang Ba's surrender saved our army from a big battle and saved countless soldiers. It is a great achievement." pieces."

After Guo Jia read the letter, he confirmed that Zang Ba had indeed decided to submit to Jizhou, put down the huge rock in his heart, raised his head and said to Han Zhan with relief: "My lord, don't see Zang Ba has tens of thousands of soldiers, but he is not born in any family. Without any foundation, even if he barely occupies the two places, his status will probably be in jeopardy after a long time. But as long as he submits to the lord, he can be named Kaiyanghou and occupy the name of righteousness, and his foundation will become more and more solid by then gone."

Now that Zang Ba has surrendered, he needs to appease him as soon as possible.Han Zhan stood up and said to the crowd: "Tomorrow morning, Feng Xiao, Ziyi, and Shuzhi will lead [-] cavalry to Kaiyang first. Zilong will lead the army to walk slowly behind."

As soon as Han Zhan finished speaking, everyone stood up and replied respectfully: "Take orders!"

In the early morning of the next day, Han Zhan, Guo Jia, Tai Shici, Chen Dao and others led [-] cavalry and galloped in the direction of Kaiyang.Two hours later, seeing that Kaiyang City was in sight, Chen Dao urged his horse to come to Han Zhan's side, pointed to the front, and said loudly, "My lord, there are soldiers and horses on the official road ahead. I don't know if they are Zang Ba's soldiers and horses." .”

"Soldiers and horses stop!" Han Zhan saw that there were indeed many soldiers and horses on the official road in front of him. He didn't know what the other party's intention was, so he ordered the cavalry to slow down vigilantly, and at the same time told Chen Dao: "Uncle Zhi, Send someone over to see who the other party is." After a short time, two cavalrymen rushed out of the formation and galloped towards the soldiers and horses ahead.

Guo Jia, who was originally behind, saw the front team stop suddenly, and hurriedly rode to Han Zhan's side, and asked curiously, "My lord, why did you stop here?"

Han Zhan pointed forward with his hand and said: "There are soldiers and horses of unknown origin on the official road ahead. To be on the safe side, the Marquis has sent someone to check."

After hearing Han Zhan's words, Guo Jia set up an awning and looked into the distance for a while, then turned to Han Zhan and said, "My lord, according to Jia, the soldiers and horses in front seem to be preparing to welcome someone."

Although Han Zhan had guessed in his heart that he might be welcoming his team, but such a troop suddenly appeared in an unfamiliar place, and he had to be vigilant before seeing familiar people.So he replied to Guo Jia: "Feng Xiao, although this place is close to Kaiyang, you can't take it lightly. If Wang Hun and Zhou Cang don't show up today, you should wait until Zilong's army arrives before moving forward, so as not to be ambushed by thieves. "

"My lord is right." Guo Jia agreed with Han Zhan's statement. Although Wang Hun's letter stated that Zang Ba was willing to submit to Jizhou, which was already the border of Kaiyang, he still couldn't take it lightly. Zang Ba was cheating, and if he rushed over so recklessly, he might encounter accidents: "We will wait here for the return of the horse, and see who is in front of us."

After waiting for about a stick of incense, the two saw the scout horses they had just sent out, coming back from the soldiers and horses in front, and there were two more people.Han Zhan had good eyesight, and seeing one of them was more familiar, he said to Guo Jia, "Feng Xiao, look at the person who came back with Tan Ma, is it Yuan Fu?"

Guo Jia quickly looked intently and saw that among the two who came back with Tan Ma, one was indeed Zhou Cang who was sent to Kaiyang, so he nodded twice and said, "That's right, it is indeed Yuan Fu."

Now that Zhou Cang has appeared, it proves that the soldiers and horses on the official road in front of him will definitely not be disadvantageous to him.Han Zhan turned his head and told Chen Dao, "Uncle Zhi, order the troops to move on!"

"My lord!" Chen Dao heard Han Zhan say this, and quickly dissuaded him: "The origin of the soldiers and horses in front is unknown, so it might be wrong to just pass by like this."

"There's nothing wrong with it." Han Zhan waved his hand at Chen Dao, and said, "You didn't see Yuan Fu coming back with the two scouts you sent. The soldiers and horses in front must have greeted us on the official road."

Not long after, Zhou Cang and his party arrived in front of Han Zhan. After saluting immediately, he said to Han Zhan, "My lord, leader Zang personally leads people to meet you in front. This is the subordinate he sent , Chief U Dun Wu!"

"Yuan Fu, since General Zang is going to surrender to Jizhou, why do you still call him Chief Zang?" Han Zhan waited for Zhou Cang to finish speaking, and corrected him, saying, "You should call him Marquis of Kaiyang!"

Although Wu Dun agreed with Zang Ba's return to Jizhou, he saw that Jizhou's army was strong, and if he resisted forcefully, it would be like hitting a stone with an egg, so he chose an expedient measure to return to Jizhou first to resolve the immediate crisis.Zang Ba sent him to meet Han Zhan with Zhou Cang. He was still somewhat unwilling, but at the moment when he heard what Han Zhan said, he couldn't help but see a bright light. You know, it was just the other party who recommended Zang Ba as the Marquis of Kaiyang. One of the conditions for his solicitation, speaking out in public now, is tantamount to publicly announcing that Zang Ba will become the Marquis of Kaiyang, and it is already a certainty.

Thinking about it this way, Wu Dun's attitude towards Han Zhan suddenly became enthusiastic. After he clasped his fists and saluted, he said respectfully, "Young Wu Dun sees the Marquis of Anyang, the leader of my family is waiting on the official road in front, please Move over."

Accompanied by Wu Dun, Han Zhan came to the crowd that greeted him.Sitting on horseback, he saw Wang Hun and the bearded and armored general beside him at a glance. Han Zhan guessed that the man was probably Zang Ba, so he got off his horse and walked over quickly.