A Journey Through the Worlds of Film and Television.

Chapter 688: Black Mountain Army Returns

At this time, all the princes in the world are seizing the time to develop. Boss Cao, who later became very powerful, now has few soldiers and generals and has nowhere to go.

After the failure of the campaign against Dong Zhuo, Cao Cao suffered heavy casualties and had only a few soldiers left, so he had to go to Yangzhou to recruit soldiers.

When Yangzhou Governor Chen Wen and Danyang Prefect Zhou Xin learned of Cao Cao's situation, they each gave Cao Cao a portion of their troops. But when Cao Cao led his troops back to his base camp, many soldiers were unwilling to leave their homeland and rebelled against Cao Cao.

In desperation, Cao Cao had to recruit some new soldiers and station them in Henei County.

At the same time, Yuan Shu and Sun Jian, who had fallen out over the issue of food and fodder when the alliance of princes was fighting against Dong Zhuo, joined forces with each other. Sun Jian attacked cities and seized territories in the front, while Yuan Shu provided food and fodder in the back, actively expanding their territory.

On the other hand, due to the appearance of Lu Cheng, the three brothers Liu, Guan and Zhang were unable to show up when the princes were fighting against Dong Zhuo. They are still unknown and can only wander around.

After hearing that Gongsun Zan had killed Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou, and that he was later beheaded by Lu Cheng, Liu Bei gave up the idea of ​​going to Gongsun Zan again and instead headed south to go to Liu Biao.

It is worth mentioning that Liu Biao had entered Jingzhou alone not long ago, and with the help of the local noble families of Jingzhou, Kuai Liang, Kuai Yue and Cai Mao from Xiangyang, he successfully controlled the seven counties of Jingzhou except Nanyang County, and became famous overnight.

At the same time, Liu Yan, the governor of Yizhou, became a local tyrant in his own territory. Zhang Lu, the third angel of the Five Pecks of Rice Sect, also occupied Hanzhong, cut off the traffic and held one side.

At the same time, the city of Zhongshan in Jizhou was full of people.

"My lord, the commander of the Black Mountain Army, General Zhang Yan, the General who pacifies the rebellion, has arrived."

"Please come in, General Zhang."

Speaking of Zhang Yan, he can be regarded as a legendary figure in the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period.

Zhang Yan's original surname was Chu, and his given name was Chu Yan. He was from Zhending, Changshan (now south of Zhengding, Hebei).

, and he is a fellow villager of Zhao Yun.

In the first year of Chuping, when the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, Zhang Yan gathered a group of young men as bandits, moved between mountains and rivers, continuously expanded his power, and gathered more than 10,000 people, becoming a relatively large group of bandits entrenched in Changshan County.

Afterwards, Chu Yan and another group of bandits, Zhang Niujiao, joined forces to attack the county town. Unfortunately, Zhang Niujiao was seriously injured, and before he died, he ordered his men to follow Chu Yan. Chu Yan then changed his name to Zhang Yan, integrated the two forces, and had more troops.

Afterwards, Zhang Yan continued to expand his own power, contacted various rebels, big and small, in the surrounding counties and prefectures, formed alliances with each other, and eventually gathered tens of millions of people, known as the Black Mountain Army.

Of course, these millions of people were basically civilians who fled into the mountains because they could not survive. Among them, the elderly, children, women and children accounted for the vast majority, and there were not many real soldiers available.

But even so, this is an extremely powerful force.

In order to feed these people, the Black Mountain Army plundered the surrounding counties all year round. The officials and soldiers of the counties were helpless, and the imperial court could not send troops to encircle and suppress them.

Later, Zhang Yan took the initiative to send envoys to Luoyang to ask for surrender to Emperor Ling of Han.

Emperor Ling of Han appointed Zhang Yan as General of the Central Army for Suppressing Rebellions, and put him in charge of managing the mountainous areas north of the Yellow River. He also allowed him to recommend filial and honest officials to the court every year.

When the princes were fighting against Dong Zhuo, Zhang Yan also sent a part of his troops to join the war, hoping to unite with the princes. However, all the princes looked down on Zhang Yan. Only Gongsun Zan considered forming an alliance with Zhang Yan.

But not long after Gongsun Zan returned to Beiping, he killed Liu Yu and was subsequently beheaded by Lu Cheng.

After much deliberation, Zhang Yan decided to surrender to Lu Cheng.

Although the Liaodong Army rejected the alliance with the Montenegrin Army a few years ago, it also agreed to trade with the Montenegrin Army. The two sides have done a lot of business over the years and their relationship is still good.

Moreover, the Montenegrin Army had a large number of people, and they could not feed such a large population simply by reclaiming wasteland in the mountains, farming and hunting, so they could only continue to plunder the surrounding areas.

The previous Jizhou governor Han Fu was a mediocre person, and the Black Mountain Army could still make a living by looting.

However, the strength of the Liaodong Army was obvious to all in the Black Mountain Army, so naturally they did not want to encounter the Liaodong Army during future looting and get beaten to a bloody pulp.

The biggest advantage of the Black Mountain Army is that they are scattered among the mountains, and the government is unable to clear them out. But if the counties have sufficient troops to defend the cities and passes and stop the Black Mountain Army from looting, the Black Mountain Army will have to starve in the mountains.

Therefore, after careful consideration, Zhang Yan finally decided to take a risk and meet Lu Cheng in person.

"Zhang Yan meets Governor Lu."

"General Zhang, you are polite. Please take a seat."

Although Lu Cheng currently still holds the official position of Liaodong governor, he has actually occupied a territory far larger than that of a state.

Lu Cheng was very welcome to Zhang Yan's initiative to surrender. A population of tens of millions, even if there were many elderly, weak, women and children, was still a huge number.

Lu Cheng currently occupies the entire Youzhou and part of Bingzhou. Together with the captured Xianbei, Buyeo, Goguryeo and many other surrounding small countries and tribes, the total population under his rule is less than four million.

"If General Zhang is willing to lead his people to surrender, I can promise here that I will treat the Black Mountain Army the same as the people of Liaodong. Those who are willing to go back to farm can be allocated land, good seeds, farm tools, and properly resettled.

Those who are willing to continue to serve in the army need to undergo reorganization and screening, and only those who are qualified can stay in the army. I believe General Zhang is aware of the strength of our Liaodong troops. "

"Zhang Yan naturally knows that Governor Lu is kind and loves his people. The Liaodong army is strong and powerful. Yan has another question. How will the governor arrange for the generals under my command?"

"All officers and soldiers in Liaodong need to be trained in the Military Academy and learn how to command troops again. If any officer under General Zhang is willing to continue to lead the army, he can enter the Liaodong Military Academy. As for General Zhang, he will retain his title of General of the Central Army for Suppressing Rebellions and will still be the commander of the Black Mountain Army."

Zhang Yan was silent for a moment, and finally nodded: "In this case, Zhang Yan will discuss with the soldiers after returning and then make a decision. I have many leaders in the Black Mountain Army, and not all of them may obey me. I hope the governor will forgive me."

"That's fine. Those who are willing to surrender will naturally enjoy treatment. We won't force those who don't want to surrender. However, if anyone dares to rob counties again in the future, don't blame my Liaodong Army for being ruthless."

"Yan understands. I will convey the governor's intention to the other leaders."

Not long after, Zhang Yan led the Black Mountain Army in Changshan County to surrender, and tens of thousands of people left the mountains and were properly resettled.

Lu Cheng transferred Lu Su and Tian Yu over to be responsible for resettling the people and stabilizing the area.

Speaking of which, the four states of Jizhou, Qingzhou, Yuzhou and Xuzhou were all the places where the Yellow Turban Rebellion was most severe, resulting in countless people being displaced, land being barren and villages being abandoned.

Now that these Montenegrin troops have come out of the mountains, they only need to be dispersed and scattered across the country, and there will be enough land to accommodate them.

Moreover, after the neighboring Bingzhou expelled a part of the Xiongnu and Wuhuan people, a part of the land was also vacated, which could be used to settle the people.

However, now that winter has arrived, some food supplies still need to be allocated from Liaodong to help these people survive the winter and endure the spring plowing and autumn harvest next year.

With the surrender of the Black Mountain Army, Zhao Yun's capture of Changshan County became even faster.

At the same time, Zhongshan County also had Wuji Zhen family as an insider, helping to persuade officials from various counties to surrender, and the progress was also quite fast.

The key areas that need to be considered are Hejian State and Bohai County...