Chapter 13: Uprooting

  Liu Zhang mounted his horse in one stride, fiercely urging it on, with the Eastern Chu State troops swarming after him. Zhang Ren saw this and could only grab his spear and mount his horse, closely following Liu Zhang as he left. Wang Can and a group of civil officials stood stunned on the spot, with Wang Can asking Fa Zheng: "Xiao Zhi, what shall we do?"

  Fa Zheng burst out laughing and said: "You will naturally go back to sort out the government affairs, and comfort the people of Fu City. As for me, I'll take a nap first." After finishing speaking, Fa Zheng shook his sleeves and went back to the inner city with a pleased expression.

  Liu Zhang led Zhang Ren with 10,000 troops from the Eastern State to pursue Zhao Wei. Zhao Wei's more than 20,000 soldiers were either captured or dispersed, and those who were not killed were forced to surrender. Huang Quan then collected the scattered forces, leaving Zhao Wei with only over 3,000 men fleeing in disarray towards Jiangzhou.

  "Sir, Jiangzhou is Zhao Wei's old haunt. If we let him enter Jiangzhou, it will be difficult to capture him and the people of Jiangzhou will also suffer."

  Liu Zhang was a student in the performance department, had performed acrobatics, could ride horses, but felt unbearable with his butt all day long, relying on the thought of killing Zhao Wei to hold on.

  After listening to Zhang Ren's words, Liu Zhang frowned and pondered. If Zhao Wei were allowed to enter Jiangzhou, it would indeed be a big trouble. However, the southern part of Yizhou was basically under Zhao Wei's control, and he himself had no usable troops, so how could he stop Zhao Wei from entering Jiangzhou?

  But Liu Zhang suddenly remembered someone and asked Zhang Ren, "General Zhang, do you know a man named Yan Yan?"

  Zhang Ren thought for a moment and said, "I know this man. He is an old general from Bashu, nearly fifty years old, skilled in using the hard bow and the large knife, with the bravery of a thousand men, known as the number one fierce general in southern Shu, currently serving as the Taishou of Ba Prefecture."

  "It's great." Liu Zhang was overjoyed in his heart. Yan Yan was a famous loyal and righteous man of the Three Kingdoms. According to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he would rather be a general who loses his head than one who surrenders, but eventually surrendered to Liu Bei after being moved by Zhang Fei's kindness. However, in the official history, Yan Yan's image was even more impressive. He was treated as an honored guest by Zhang Fei, but it is said that after Chengdu surrendered, Yan Yan took his own life and became a headless general.

  At this point, Liu Zhang would rather believe in the orthodox history. Yan Yan was also a character who could fight with Zhang Fei for dozens of rounds. Such a tiger general, why did he appear only once when Liu Bei entered Shu, and then there was no more news about him? There is only one explanation, that is, after Liu Bei became the master of Yi Province, Yan Yan died.

  Liu Zhang immediately ordered Zhang Ren: "Zhao Wei wants to enter Jiangzhou, he must pass through Bajun, General Zhang, you immediately dispatch a fast horse to Bajun and order Yan Yan to intercept."

  Zhang Ren furrowed his brow and said: "Your Excellency, Yan Yan is the Taishou of Bazhou, and he is also under Zhao Wei's command. Will he intercept us?"

  Liu Zhang smiled lightly and said, "Even if he doesn't intercept us, we won't suffer any losses, will we?" Yan Yan was such a loyal and righteous man, but Liu Zhang didn't believe that he would wholeheartedly follow Zhao Wei. Even if the unofficial histories were false, Liu Zhang decided to take a gamble.

  The sun was high in the sky, Zhao Wei led three thousand defeated soldiers and generals to flee to Bazhou without stopping. The soldiers were exhausted, but they saw the city's armor was cold and stern. Pang Le stepped forward and shouted loudly: "Zhao Wei, the Eastern Expedition General, has arrived here. The commander of the defending army quickly opened the city gate."

  At this time, a general wearing armor appeared on the city wall, carrying a hard bow and holding a long knife. He shouted loudly from the top of the city: "Zhao Wei betrayed his lord, Yan Yan was ordered to intercept, and the rebels under the city quickly laid down their arms and surrendered."

  Zhao Wei was furious and uncontrollable, stepping forward to shout: "You old scoundrel, you're as changeable as the wind! You're under my command, Zhao Wei's subordinate, and yet today you've committed an act of treachery - it's utterly shameless!"

  Yan Yan laughed loudly: "General Zhao, you have misspoken! I, Yan Yan, am not a subordinate of your family, but rather under the command of Governor Liu. For twenty years, I have followed the army and been loyal to the Han court. At that time, our former lord Liu Yan had yet to enter Shu, so how could I, Yan Yan, be accused of rebelling against you? It is you, General Zhao, who betrayed our lord and attacked the imperial court's appointed Governor of Yi Province - that is the true traitor! Surrender now, and I will spare your life."

  "Old matchmaker." Zhao Wei cursed loudly and was about to attack the city, but Li Yi hastily persuaded him: "Sir, Yan Yan is defending a strategic location, our army is exhausted and can't fight again, let's retreat."

  Zhao Wei said with a sorrowful tone: "Jiangzhou is our original camp, to go to Jiangzhou, we must pass through Bazhou. Now that Yan Yansheng, the old scoundrel, is blocking us here, where can we retreat?"

  Li Yi said: "Has the lord forgotten about the five tribes of barbarians? Before we sent troops, we gave them many benefits, but it was Liu Zhang who ordered to attack them. Those barbarians are short-sighted, but they distinguish between kindness and resentment. If we go there, they will surely receive us. The barbarian stronghold is treacherous, and Liu Zhang will not dare to attack. At that time, we can borrow the power of the barbarian army, and with the help of the troops from Jingzhou, it's not impossible for us to rise again."

  Zhao Wei hesitated for a moment, then said loudly: "Good, let's do it this way." He immediately turned his horse around and retreated to the east. As soon as Yan saw Zhao Wei wanting to run, he immediately led his troops out of the city and launched a fierce attack. The rebel army, which had been fleeing for a day and night without rest, was cut down in an instant, with eight out of ten tents being eliminated. Zhao Wei fled in disarray with several hundred defeated soldiers into the barbarian lands.

  Liu Zhang led a large army to rush to Ba County, and Yan Yan personally came out of the city to welcome him.

  "The late general Yan will pay his respects to your lordship."

  "Have you ever caught Zhao Wei?"

  Yan Yan lowered his head and said: "I, the end general, am ashamed. Zhao Wei fled eastward, I was afraid that Ba Jun would lose, so I didn't dare to pursue him far, please forgive me, my lord."

  Zhang Ren said to Liu Zhang: "My lord, the eastern part of Ba Prefecture is a barbarous and desolate land. Zhao Wei is going to surrender to the Five Streams Barbarians."

  Liu Zhang nodded and said to Yan Yan: "General, you are right. Now I appoint you as the Commander of the Army, Governor of Jiangzhou, with the special task of recruiting Zhao Wei's rebel army and maintaining peace in southern Shu."

  Yan Zheng has been in the military for nearly thirty years, and has held the position of Taishou of Ba Prefecture for over a decade. Whether it was before Liu Yan entered Shu, when Liu Yan took control of Yi Province, or during Liu Zhang's reign, his position as Taishou of Ba Prefecture remained unshakeable. The passion in his heart had slowly cooled down since his youth. Yan Zheng thought he would grow old and die in this position, but unexpectedly today, Liu Zhang broke the rules to promote him, and he couldn't help but feel grateful and shed tears. He bowed down and said: "Yan Zheng thanks you, my lord, I will not betray your trust."

  Liu Zhang nodded and led his horse eastward, while Zhang Ren caught up with him and said: "My lord is indeed far-sighted, Yan Yan is truly a loyal and righteous general. However, now that Zhao Wei has fled to the barbarian lands, the roads in the Wuxi area are difficult to traverse, and there are also barbarians making raids. Moreover, Zhao Wei only has a few hundred defeated soldiers, which no longer poses a threat. I think it's really unnecessary to pursue him."

  Liu Zhang said in a low voice: "No longer constitutes a threat? General Zhang, don't you know that Zhao Wei has been commanding troops for many years and is deeply rooted in the southern part of Yizhou? If we relax slightly, he will surely return with a vengeance, and at that time, southwestern Shu will be in great chaos again. Therefore, even if Zhao Wei only has one person left, he is still our threat. Without completely eliminating him, how can we launch a northern expedition to Hanzhong and resist Jingzhou?"

  "Has the Lord already prepared to attack Han Zhong?" Zhang Ren asked in surprise.

  Liu Zhang said, "Hanzhong was originally the territory of Yi Province, but it was usurped by the bandit Zhang Lu. If we don't take it back, how can we face the imperial court? However, this is not the time to discuss Hanzhong. Let's first see how to deal with Zhao Wei."