My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 245 Sweeping Away Yingchuan
He Luan eventually surrendered, although before surrendering he demanded a fair fight with Xu Huang, saying he would surrender if he lost and not if he won.

In Liu Feng's eyes, this was simply a case of selling the first prize under a signboard.

However, He Luan's bravery was beyond Liu Feng's expectations.

He actually managed to hold out against Xu Huang for twelve or thirteen rounds before finally being knocked down by Xu Huang's head-on attack.

It was a true knockdown; Xu Huang knocked He Luan down with just one heavy punch, leaving him unable to get up.

He Luan surrendered and expressed his willingness to go to Yingyin to persuade He Yi to surrender.

Liu Feng showed considerable trust and released He Luan early the next morning, along with the remaining dozen or so of He Luan's personal guards, and provided them with horses.

He Luan led his personal guards straight to Yingyin, arriving at the city walls that evening.

The Yellow Turban official guarding the gate simply opened the gate and let He Luan into the city.

Upon hearing that He Luan had returned, He Yi was overjoyed and went straight to the county government gate to wait for him.

Upon seeing He Luan, He Yi rushed over, grabbed his shoulders with both hands, and looked him up and down: "Are you injured anywhere?"

"uncle!"

Faced with his uncle's protection, He Luan's eyes reddened, and he immediately knelt down on the ground: "Uncle, your nephew is incompetent. The five thousand fellow Daoists you gave me... are all trapped in Yingyang."

"Hey……"

He Yi sighed. He originally had no intention of rescuing Yingyang. As soon as he received the news, he wrote to Yingyang and Yangdi, hoping that Huang Shao and Bo Xing could bring people to Yingyin to join forces.

Yingyin City had stored up two or three years' worth of grain. The city walls were tall and imposing, and it was the only one among the surrounding cities that had been repaired.

He Yi refused to believe that the Xuzhou army could besiege them for two or three years.

They'll have to retreat eventually, and once the Xuzhou army leaves, Yingchuan will be under their control.

But why are Bo Xing, Huang Shao, and even his own nephews all so competitive?

If General Bo hadn't wanted to wipe out Huangfu Song in one fell swoop, he wouldn't have suffered a crushing defeat and died.

"It'll be good to come back, it'll be good to come back."

Although He Yi felt sorry for his five thousand elite troops, he clearly valued his nephew's life more than his own.

Although the Yellow Turban Rebellion was a peasant uprising, it differed somewhat from later peasant uprisings.

From the preparatory stage of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, it was led by powerful local magnates and people from humble backgrounds. Almost all of the thirty-six leaders in the preparatory stage were local magnates, and none of them were truly from commoner origins, let alone peasants.

If we really want to argue about it, whether the Yellow Turban Rebellion can be considered a peasant uprising is questionable.

For this very reason, the Yellow Turban Rebellion was prepared far more thoroughly than any peasant uprising in later generations, and therefore their ambitions were much greater. At the outset of their rebellion, they aimed to wage a strategic decisive battle on the front lines against the dynasty's regular army.

In later dynasties, peasant uprisings at the end of the dynasty would take more than ten or even several decades to accumulate enough strength to fight a direct battle with the dynasty.

This certainly demonstrates the strength of the Yellow Turban Army, but it also proves the status of the powerful clans within the Yellow Turban Army.

It can be said that before the uprising, the Yellow Turban Army had already degenerated and had long since become the very people they once hated.

It was for this reason that He Luan lost five thousand elite Yellow Turban troops, but He Yi did not hold him accountable at all, simply because he was He Yi's nephew.

The other Yellow Turban generals had no objections to this, considering it even worse than the government troops.

"It's good that you're alright. You must have suffered quite a bit this time, right?"

He Yi took He Luan's hand and prepared to walk inside: "You were able to come back safely this time, which is a blessing from heaven. You can't be so reckless next time."

He Luan suddenly grabbed He Yi's hand and said, "Uncle, I have something to report to you privately."

He Yi glanced at He Luan, then nodded: "Come with me."

As he spoke, He Yi walked to the side, and He Luan followed, leaving the generals standing still.

"what do you want to say?"

Reaching an open space nearby, He Yi turned around and asked, "You didn't escape this time, did you?"

He Luan's body trembled, his face instantly turned crimson, and he knelt down with a thud: "Your nephew is incompetent and was indeed captured by the Xuzhou army."

"Hey……"

He Yi sighed, then said, "They let you come back because they want me to surrender?"

He Luan blushed, gritted his teeth, lowered his head, and spat out a sentence through the gaps between his teeth: "Yes."

He Yi sighed again, and said as if it were nothing out of the ordinary, "Then let's lower the price."

"uncle!?"

He Yizhen agreed, but He Luan looked up in shock, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He Yi sighed for the third time and explained, "Yesterday, scouts reported your situation back to Yingyin. Not only were the captured brothers not killed, but even the wounded received medical treatment, right?"

"Yes!"

He Luan answered loudly, "I saw it with my own eyes. The Xuzhou army is indeed different from other government troops. Even the wounded followers received medical treatment and medicine. Only those who were beyond saving were given a quick death."

"If that's the case, then what's the point of us resisting?"

He Yi laughed and reached out to pull his nephew, who was kneeling on the ground, up: "It's good that it has been deposed. Although the Azure Heaven is dead, the Yellow Heaven has never been established either."

He Luan opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

He Yi patted him on the shoulder and said, "Let's go. This is a big deal, and we need to hear the opinions of the generals."

Seeing that his uncle had already turned around, He Luan quickly took two steps forward and said, "Uncle, won't you listen to the conditions offered by the government troops?"

"We're about to surrender, what more conditions do we need?"

He Yi laughed: "We are thieves, and they are officials. If they are truly willing to give, they will give it to you even if you surrender. If they are not willing to give, taking it will only bring trouble."

He Luan understood somewhat, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "Although the commander of the government army is young, he has a heroic spirit, and his fierce generals are all brave enough to fight ten thousand men. I don't think he would lie to us."

"Wouldn't that be better?"

He Yi led He Luan back to the ranks and immediately summoned the generals to discuss the matter.

The main label of He Yi's faction is dove. They have the highest level of farming skills and harvest the most grain, so their numbers are much larger than those of the other Yellow Turban factions.

He Luan was already the head of the hawks in He Yi's faction. Since he had surrendered, almost no one under He Yi's command objected.

Occasionally, there would be concerns that the government troops might go back on their word.

With He Luan as guarantor, He Yi's troops almost unanimously agreed to surrender.

In fact, the situation in Yingyin was already quite dire at this point.

The fall of Yangdi, Yingyang, and Xuxian led to the complete loss of the protective barrier around Yingyin, leaving it without any cover.

Guan Yu's forces from the east have begun to advance, with their main force converging in Xu County, only two days' journey from Yingyin.

The southern border of Lin'ying has been scouted, and there are at least six or seven thousand people there. Adding Liu Feng's troops to the west, Yingyin has become a death trap.

Moreover, the furthest of these cities is only three or four days away from Yingyin, and the closest is less than two days away. The situation could be one where the enemy is at the gates at any time.

Furthermore, He Yi discovered that the Yellow Turban prisoners of war were treated very well by the Xuzhou army; they were not only not slaughtered or abused, but were even given medical treatment.

He Yi was unaware that this was a decree issued by Liu Feng, which strictly prohibited the killing of prisoners, but these scenes undoubtedly greatly weakened He Yi's resolve to resist to the end.

The next morning, He Luan went directly to Yingyang and delivered the news of He Yi's surrender.

Upon receiving the news, Liu Feng was overjoyed. However, he did not rush to Yingyin to accept the surrender. Instead, he ordered Pan Zhang to garrison Yingyang, and then led Taishi Ci, Zhang Liao, and Xu Huang's troops out of the south gate. After meeting up with Xiahou Bo's 6,000 troops who had arrived at Fenqiu, they turned north to Yingyin.

When Liu Feng arrived at the city of Yingyin, Guan Yu's vanguard Gao Shun had already arrived at the east side of the city.

Liu Feng crossed the Yi River and joined Gao Shun's forces.

At this time, Yingyin had already opened its city gates, and He Yi personally led his Yellow Turban generals out of the city to surrender. He Yi and the other generals had all removed their armor, and He Yi, the leader, was even carrying a bundle of thorns on his back, which made Liu Feng look at him with new respect.

Don't underestimate the power of an idiom. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the flow of most knowledge was extremely slow. Poor transportation and subpar means of communication made the dissemination of knowledge both costly and slow, and prone to errors.

He Yi's knowledge of the story of "bearing thorns to apologize" suggests he must have come from a powerful family.

Liu Feng dismounted and personally helped He Yi up, then removed the thorns from his clothes. Finally, he took off his cloak and wrapped it around He Yi's body.

"Why did the old general have to go to such lengths?"

Liu Feng comforted him, saying, "The old general is a man of great wisdom and righteousness. He was able to unite the people in farming and stabilize the country. This has been a great service to the nation. Zhang Jiao is dead, and there is no need to mention the past anymore."

He Yi said gratefully, "Thank you for your kindness, General. We are all deeply grateful."

Subsequently, Gao Shun was the first to enter the city. In fact, He Yi led the main generals out of the city, which clearly showed that he would not be plotting anything.

Not only was the procedure like this, but Liu Feng himself didn't want to risk his life either, in case someone had a sudden change of heart.
He Yi has been honest enough; Liu Feng doesn't need to add any more drama. Just comforting He Yi is enough.

As expected, He Yi did not resort to any tricks. Everything in the city remained the same, and the Yellow Turban soldiers in various places obediently accepted the Xuzhou army's request for troop rotation and then returned to their camps.

The weapons were confiscated and sealed in the armory, awaiting inspection by the Xuzhou army.

He Yi's surrender marked the complete pacification of the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Yingchuan. This not only brought a large influx of people to Xuzhou, but also provided them with enough food, weapons, cloth, and other goods to support them.

In addition, Liu Bei received an unexpected bonus: strong goodwill from the gentry of Yu Province, especially the gentry of Yingchuan.

Historically, Cao Cao gained this goodwill and the benefits that followed, but now, all of it belongs to Liu Bei.

Of course, because Liu Bei ceded Yingchuan to Cao Cao, Cao Cao would eventually receive something. At least the large amount of cultivated land outside Yangdi, Yingyin, Yingyang, and Xuxian would be enough for Cao Cao to enrich himself.

As long as he has food and a wealthy population, he can easily complete the land reclamation in Yingchuan.

The fields and houses are all ready-made; Liu Feng can't move these things, nor would he intentionally damage them.

The people are suffering too much, and Liu Feng can't bring himself to do it.

According to statistics, the grain in Yingyin City exceeded the total grain in Yangdi and Yingyang combined. As the main base of the Yellow Turban Army and the last stronghold it held during the siege, it had stockpiled a massive amount of grain, amounting to more than 2.2 million shi (a unit of dry measure).

Much of this grain was transported from Yangdi, Yingyang, and Xuxian.

Meanwhile, there were nearly 100,000 people in Yingyin City, of whom more than 70,000 were Yellow Turban soldiers and their women and children, and more than 20,000 were ordinary civilians.

With just this population, the annual food requirement would be at least one million shi (a unit of dry measure).

If you include the grain reserves in Yangdi and Yingyang, it's no wonder He Yi was confident he could hold out for three years.

Liu Feng was overjoyed, but then became troubled.

Transporting so much grain back to Xuzhou by land would be incredibly costly and exhausting, a waste of manpower and resources, and absolutely unacceptable.

The only way to get there is by water, which offers the best value for money.

As mentioned earlier, Yingchuan's waterways are closer to the Jingzhou water system and are not connected to the Central Plains water system. To clarify, this statement should be corrected to say that they are not easily connected.

Yingchuan's water system is actually connected to the Central Plains water system, but the distance is simply too far.

There are two main waterways that connect the two areas.

The first waterway follows the Ying River downstream, covering over a thousand miles, eventually joining the Huai River within Yangzhou. From there, it flows along the Huai River into Xuzhou, then upstream to Tancheng, a journey of three thousand miles.

The second waterway was slightly better. It also went south along the Ying River, reaching Xiang County, which was on the border of Runan County in Yuzhou and Chen State. From there, it entered the Langtang Canal and then the Sui River. This marked its formal entry into the Central Plains water system and became the main waterway supply line for the Xuzhou army's northward march.

This waterway is not long, only about two thousand li.

The average loss of water transport is 2% to 5% per 100 li. The maximum loss of water transport over 2,000 li is almost double. That is, if you transport 100 shi of grain by water, you will need to consume an extra 100 shi of grain when you reach your destination.

Even if the grain were transported by water, more than half of it would be lost. What's more troublesome is that a large number of people would need to be transferred.

Liu Feng did a simple calculation: if he wanted to send these 200,000 to 300,000 Yellow Turbans and civilians to Xuzhou, most of the grain in the reserves would likely be used up, and it would be quite good if 700,000 to 800,000 shi could be left.

Thinking about the excellent irrigated land outside the city, Liu Feng really wanted to stay put.

But this was just wishful thinking. If they actually took over Yingchuan Commandery, Cao Cao would really fly into a rage.

Cao Cao was a very impulsive man. Historically, he was only able to be persuaded by Xun Yu, Cheng Yu, Xi Zhicai, Guo Jia, and Xun You. Otherwise, given his temper, he might not have been able to outmaneuver Yuan Shao, who started strong but ended weak.

Liu Feng dared to gamble with Xuzhou; if he dared to occupy Yingchuan and not return it, Cao Cao would dare to start a war with him.

No matter how good Yingchuan is, it's still not as good as Runan, let alone compared to the whole of Yangzhou.

So forget it.

After Liu Feng entered the city and comforted He Yi, he immediately summoned Xiahou Bo.

As soon as Xiahou Bo sat down, Liu Feng said politely, "General Xiahou, I summoned you here urgently because there is something I would like to ask you."

Xiahou Bo clasped his hands together and replied, "Young Master, please ask any questions you may have. I will not dare to conceal anything I know."

"good!"

Liu Feng praised him, then asked impatiently, "You set off from Runan and headed north to Linying. I would like to ask, what was the scenery like in the Runan region you passed through?"

Xiahou Bo was slightly surprised, not expecting Liu Feng to ask about the scenery of Runan.

In reality, he was merely passing through the territory of Chen and entering a small, protruding corner in the northwest of Runan.

This is another characteristic of the Eastern Han Dynasty. On the border between Yingchuan and Chen, Runan seemed to have grown a horn, penetrating deep into the middle of these two commanderies and kingdoms, protruding into a piece of territory.

Don't underestimate this place that looks like the corner of Runan; this corner contains five counties of Runan.

Xiahou Bo recalled the journey and then honestly shared his observations.

"The area along the way is relatively desolate. Only around cities and fortified villages are there fields for cultivation, and the area is not large."

Xiahou Bo recalled carefully: "When we set off from Yinqiang County, the county town had already been abandoned, with only a few hundred elderly, weak, women and children in it. But I heard that the further south we went, the stronger the government became. However, when we got to Gebei, a large group of Yellow Turbans occupied several nearby counties, and the government couldn't do anything about them."

Liu Feng suddenly realized something, and then became excited.

He had an idea before, but he didn't know if it was feasible.

That was to relocate the Yellow Turban rebels from Yingchuan to Runan.

The total number of Yellow Turban soldiers, including surrendered soldiers, women, and children, was approximately 150,000. The largest populations were in Yingyin, Yangdi, Yingyang, and Xuxian, with about 60,000 to 70,000 civilians. The total number of Yellow Turban soldiers was approximately 230,000.

Given the topography of the two major provinces in the Central Plains, Henan and Yan, each county could accommodate at least 60,000 to 80,000 people, and even 100,000 people could be accommodated if they were squeezed in.

There are four counties in the corner of Runan. If they are all undeveloped, then settling the Yellow Turban Army would be too easy.

Moreover, the two sides are connected by waterways, and the Yellow Turban Army has three or four thousand naval troops, making the transportation of supplies extremely simple.

After listening to Xiahou Bo's words, Liu Feng felt that the plan should be feasible. As long as they did not occupy Yingchuan and refuse to return it, even if it took another year or two, Cao Cao would not turn against Xuzhou.

Besides, Yingchuan is so big, we can return the money to the other dozen or so counties first, which will make things even simpler.

Therefore, Liu Feng invited Taishi Ci to arrange a large number of scouts to scout the corner of Runan.

Then, he suddenly remembered He Yi and his nephew He Luan, who were in Yingyin and obviously knew about the nearby corner of Runan.

Moreover, if they were to be relocated to the corner of Runan, the attitudes of He Yi and his nephew He Luan would be extremely important.

Huang Shao still refused to surrender. Bo Xing and Ma Zhong had already died in battle, leaving only He Yi and his nephew He Luan as the last leaders of the Yellow Turban Army.

So Liu Feng got up again, preparing to go out and visit He Yi.

Coincidentally, just as he was about to visit He Yi, He Yi took the initiative to visit him.

He Yi's visit to Liu Feng this time was to bring him an important gift.

"Young master, I have something that I don't know what to do with."

He Yi's expression was somewhat complicated, a mixture of helplessness and shame, yet her attitude was very resolute.

(End of this chapter)