A Journey Through the Worlds of Film and Television.

Chapter 644: Troops Arrive at Xiangping

(Eastern Han Dynasty Map) (Liaodong Map) In February of the second year of Zhongping (185 AD), a fire broke out in Luoyang, the capital, and the Nan Palace was destroyed. The eunuchs Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong and others persuaded Emperor Ling of Han to increase taxes, build palaces and cast bronze figures.

Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty issued an edict to the whole country that, in addition to the normal taxes, an additional 10 coins per mu of land would be collected to build the palace. In addition, the promotion of officials and the appointment of new officials also required payment.

In some rich counties, the county governors even had to pay 20 to 30 million coins. As a result, officials at all levels exploited and levied heavy taxes, making the people even more miserable and complaining.

The Yellow Turban Rebellion had just been quelled when uprisings and rebellions of varying sizes broke out in various places. From Yizhou in the west to Jiaozhi in the south and the Central Plains in the north, people everywhere who could no longer survive rose up in rebellion, either occupying the mountains and becoming kings, or attacking county towns and killing officials.

But Emperor Ling of Han and the Ten Eunuchs did not restrain themselves, but instead went even further, selling official positions and titles openly. Even the positions of the three highest officials in the court could be purchased with money.

There was Cui Lie from Zhuo County who paid five million yuan to get the position of Si Tu, but because of this he became infamous and was despised by the world.

Under such a chaotic situation, the imperial court naturally had no time to take care of Liaodong, and the princes were all busy developing their own areas, so Lu Cheng could focus on conquering cities in Liaodong with peace of mind.

The winter in Liaodong is quite long and is not completely over until April.

After a long winter of training, the more than 12,000 soldiers have basically taken shape. They just need to go through a few actual combat battles to become a regular army.

In addition to these combat soldiers, Lu Cheng also summoned local militiamen and yamen runners from various parts of the city to form a local garrison. These garrisons usually do not participate in external combat, and will only come out to help defend the city when the enemy invades.

Compared with combat soldiers, the training intensity of these garrison troops was lighter. They usually only received necessary training after busy farming seasons, similar to the militia of later generations.

Anyone who joins the garrison and trains on time will be given a certain amount of food and salt every month.

In this way, even if most of the soldiers in each city are withdrawn to fight outside, there will still be enough people to guard the city.

The ice and snow had just melted for a few days, and when the ground became solid, Lu Cheng and Zhou Cang each led 3,000 soldiers and set out from Fang County and Liao Division, heading straight for the two cities of Xinchang and Anshi.

When Lu Cheng led his troops to the city of Xinchang, he went to the city gate as usual, threw out a long spear, nailed it to the gate tower, and attached a document of surrender.

I thought it would take some effort, but I didn't expect the Xinchang County magistrate to be very tactful. He opened the city and surrendered within less than a quarter of an hour after receiving the document of surrender.

In fact, after this winter, the reputation of Lu Cheng and Zhou Cang's bravery has spread throughout Liaodong. Especially Lu Cheng's unique way of attacking the city, which makes people tremble with fear.

During the long winter, officials and powerful families in Liaodong also sent out some spies to investigate the situation of Liaodong. They found that the entire Liaodong was not destroyed, and Lu Cheng's Yellow Turban Army would not plunder at will. Instead, they knew how to govern the city and stabilize the place, which made them pay more attention.

If it is a Yellow Turban Army that can only fight and plunder, then it is not a big deal. But if it is a disciplined team that can not only capture cities and territories, but also govern a region and develop the economy, then it is not just a simple bandit or traitor.

The most important thing for those powerful families to be able to occupy a place for decades or even hundreds of years is to judge the situation and make bets. They know better than anyone when to resist and when to surrender.

Therefore, after learning about Lu Cheng and his team, officials and powerful families from all over Liaodong actually had plans to place a bet.

It's not easy to be a fence-sitter. You have to always pay attention to the wind direction and not lean towards it.

The Xinchang County Magistrate is a person who can see the situation clearly and make choices.

Lu Cheng was quite satisfied as he looked at the county magistrate in front of him who was holding the official seal and documents. This was the first time he had encountered someone who surrendered directly, so naturally he had to act more friendly.

After receiving the official seal and documents, Lu Cheng smiled and said, "It is wise for County Magistrate Wang to judge the situation. This general is very pleased. Now our country is in need of a county magistrate. I wonder if County Magistrate Wang is willing to condescend to do his duty?"

County Magistrate Wang's real name was Wang Jun, with the courtesy name Boyuan. He was from Xuantu County and was known for his benevolence and filial piety. He was selected as a filial and honest official and later appointed as the magistrate of Xinchang County. He was a good person and official, and he did some practical things for the people.

Therefore, Lu Cheng planned to let him continue to serve as the county magistrate, but he had to transfer him to Bintu County to serve as the county magistrate, changing his position.

Wang Jun thought that he had a clean record and had never harmed the people. He could go home and study peacefully after surrendering. He did not expect that he could continue to be an official. He immediately bowed and said, "Thank you, General. I will go back to handle the handover procedures and go to Bintu to take up my post."

After taking over Xinchang City, Lu Cheng immediately arranged for the rotation of troops and reorganized the officials in the county government. He replaced some important positions with his own people, while unimportant positions were kept as they were, in order to minimize the changes.

At the same time, Zhou Cang's march into Anshi was relatively smooth. Although the defenders of Anshi did not surrender directly, they only resisted for one day before being defeated by Zhou Cang's night attack.

Afterwards, Zhou Cang continued to attack Wen County to the south, while Lu Cheng led two thousand troops to attack Xiangping directly.

Xiangping, which is Liaoyang in later generations, is the seat of government of the entire Liaodong County.

The magistrate of Xiangping County was named Gongsun Zhao. He was born into a family of officials. Several generations of his ancestors had served as prefects or even ministers. He had been an official in Xiangping for many years. He colluded with wealthy families, annexed land, levied heavy taxes, and did all kinds of evil things.

Lu Cheng had previously punished those wealthy and unkind powerful families in the Liaodong vassal state, and had confiscated their property and exterminated their families. Naturally, the news reached Xiangping.

Gongsun Zhao knew Lu Cheng's methods, and he also knew that if he allowed Lu Cheng to attack Xiangping, he would definitely not end well.

Therefore, after receiving the news that Lu Cheng was sending troops to Liaodong, Gongsun Zhao immediately summoned all the powerful families in the city, mobilized their servants to guard the city, and strengthened the city defense. At the same time, Gongsun Kang bribed some Wuhuan and Fuyu people with gold foil and borrowed 2,000 cavalry to prepare to destroy Lu Cheng in one fell swoop.

When Lu Cheng's troops arrived at the city of Xiangping, Gongsun Zhao had already made preparations to defend the city.

Standing on the city wall, seeing that there were only 3000 soldiers outside the city, Gongsun Zhao sneered: "Lu Cheng is so arrogant that he only brought 2000 soldiers. I have infantry in Xiangping City, and borrowed Wuhuan and Fuyu cavalry, which is enough to make him never return!"

At this time, Lu Cheng had asked Xu Hu to lead his men to a place within an arrow's reach of the city, and he spoke loudly, challenging the people in the city.

Gongsun Zhao, who was on the city wall, turned around and looked around: "Who is willing to go out of the city to fight?"

The generals around were silent for a while, not daring to answer. A military officer said, "Your Excellency, Lu Cheng is so brave and invincible, why should we fight him? The enemy has come from afar and has not yet established a firm foothold. Why don't we go out of the city to fight directly, with the cavalry and infantry on top, and use the force to overwhelm them and destroy them in one fell swoop!"

"That's exactly what I want to say. With 5000 to 2000, I have the advantage. Send out the order immediately, gather the troops, and attack with all your strength."

"Yes!"

Outside Xiangping City, Lu Cheng was looking at the heavily guarded city walls, thinking about how to break through the city, when he saw 2000 cavalrymen rushing out of the city and heading towards his own army.

Seeing this, Lu Cheng was not surprised but happy. It seemed that he didn't need to bother with it this time. He could just break it with force...