Chapter 321: Internal strife in Shanyue, bravery and dominance South of Wuyi Mountain and north of Dongzhi, this place is the Jianyang District of Nanping City in later generations. However, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, this area to the north was the main place where the Shanyue people of Fujian lived. Because this place is located in the south of Wuyi Mountains, there are two basins connected by a valley among the mountains. Thanks to the pleasant climate here, it is able to support the tens of thousands of people who live here. The Shanyue people who originally lived here were divided into five tribes, and they rarely interacted with each other under normal circumstances. But at this time, a group of commanders gathered together to discuss countermeasures. As for what was being discussed, it was the question of how to resist Qin Zhen's troops. In fact, when Qin Zhen arrived in Dongzhi, these Shanyue people were still unaware. After all, in their eyes, Qin Zhen was far away in Wu County and it was impossible for him to come to this deep mountain forest to attack them.

As a result, they didn't expect that Qin Zhen would "specially" come by boat to attack them. This made everyone feel flattered and terrified. Seeing Nanyue being razed to the ground by Qin Zhen, they quickly gathered together. At this time, the two brothers Hongming and Hongjin from the Hong family, the largest tribe in Wuyi Mountain, were sitting in the main seats. The ones who took action were Yuan Yu, Wu Mian, Hua Dang and other Shanyue heroes. Everyone sat together, and Hong Ming, who was sitting at the main seat, looked at everyone and said: "Everyone, Qin Zhen has led his troops into the mountains. I'm sure you have heard of this man's name." "Since he took control of Jiangdong, all the clans have been massacred." "Now he is leading his troops north again. How do you think we should resist him?" As soon as he asked the question, everyone lowered their heads in deep thought, except Hua Dang who said in a deep voice: "How else can we resist? Just surrender. What else do we need to discuss?" "You have heard of this man. The Peng family of Qiantang has more than 10,000 soldiers to fight against him." "After being attacked by his men, the entire family of more than 500 people were slaughtered." "On the contrary, Zu Lang, who surrendered to Liu Bei, has been promoted to the rank of Commandant of Fuyue!" "Although we have many people, we have never fought in battle. How can we be his opponent?" "If you don't surrender, I will lead the others to surrender and save the lives of my men!" He spoke Chinese mixed with some dialect, which made everyone frown. The Hong brothers wanted to get everyone to resist together, but they didn't expect Hua Dang to surrender right away. Hong Ming immediately said in a deep voice: "What does Marshal Hua mean? We all come from the same origin in Wuyi Mountain." "Although we are now divided into different groups, we have always advanced and retreated together!" "Now that we are facing a powerful enemy, why are you speaking such discouraging words, Marshal?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Hong Jin looked at Hua Dang coldly and said: "Qin Zhen's army hasn't arrived yet, but you're talking to him, has he received some benefit?" When the two brothers said this, Hua Dang glared at them and said angrily: "You guys really have the nerve to say this. If you hadn't received benefits from Zhang Jin, why would Qin Zhen come here?" "Let's not talk about whether you have received any benefit or not. How much benefit have you received?" "When I gained the benefits before, I didn't see you share them with me." "Now that the enemy has come, you are asked to accompany the others to die!" "How can such a thing be possible in this world? You are so brave to speak out!" Having said this, he looked at Yuan Yu and Wu Mian and said in a deep voice: "We have been dating for more than ten years, and I only have one thing to say." "I want to go down the mountain and surrender. Would you two like to join me?" Upon hearing this, Yuan Yu and Wu Mian looked at each other with hesitation on their faces. But Hong Ming sneered, clapped his hands and said with a smile: "Marshal Hua is very decisive. Since he wants to surrender, we will not persuade him any more." As they spoke, they looked at Yuan Yu and Wu Mian again. It seemed as if he was asking what the two of them thought, and they hesitated for a moment. The two of them said nothing, but Hua Dang said angrily: "If you two don't want to go down the mountain with me, then forget it. I'll go by myself!" After saying this, he walked towards the outside of the house, but when he reached the door, he saw a group of swordsmen lying in ambush there. Hua was caught off guard and his throat was cut by a knife with a "whoosh". When Yuan Yu, Wu Mian and others in the house heard this voice, their expressions suddenly changed. Before he could say anything, he saw Hua Dang's head thrown in. "What do you mean, Marshals?" When the two saw this, they both gasped and asked hurriedly. But Hong Ming stood up, stepped on Hua Dang's head and said coldly: "Don't be alarmed, we have no ill intentions, we are just here to eliminate the traitors!" "My ancestors were all from the Kingdom of Yue, but were relocated north by the Han people." "Now that we have finally achieved our goal, there are traitors who want to surrender to the enemy!" "My brother and I have received a promise from Envoy Zhang that if we conquer Dongzhi, we will be granted a kingdom here." "I wonder if the two commanders are willing to help us accomplish our great cause and fight against Qin Zhen together?"

Yuan Yu and Wu Mian were both shocked when they heard this. Although Hua Dang said that the Hong brothers had received benefits from Zhang Jin, they actually didn't care much. It's just some money and food, and they are not short of these things. I just didn’t expect that the two brothers were so ambitious that they actually wanted to dominate here! It has been more than three hundred years since the two Yues were destroyed. Although they are descendants of the Yue people, their customs and habits are not much different from those of the Han people. Even if they restore their country now, how many people will support them? If they had known that the two brothers had such plans, they would never have come. Now, the two brothers have ambushed the executioners and are clearly preparing to detain them here by force! The two looked at Hua Dang's head, hesitated for a moment, then stood up and said: "We are willing to follow your orders and go through fire and water without hesitation!" Seeing the two of them like this, the Hong brothers looked at each other and burst into laughter. But at this moment, Wu Mian bowed again and asked: "That being said, Hua Dang is dead now. The people of his tribe will definitely not submit when they hear this!" "I wonder how we should deal with the people of his tribe?" When Hong Ming heard this, he waved his hand nonchalantly and said: "He has more than 7,000 households and 20 to 30,000 people under his command. We three families should divide it equally!" "Tonight we will attack their tribe and divide their property and money." "Tomorrow, the three families will send out troops together and set up camps on the mountain roads to see how Qin Zhen will go north!" "As for Hua Dang's wives and concubines, they will be divided between the two of you. My brother doesn't want them!" Because some Shanyue people lived in Han territory all year round, their customs were mostly the same as those of the Han people. In this way, they also learned the Han people's concept of having many children and being blessed, so each of these heroes had a large number of wives and concubines. When Yuan Yu and Wu Mian heard this, the fear in their eyes turned into desire and they nodded in agreement. So that night, everyone led their troops and attacked Huadang's stronghold. The three generals plundered all the people and money and food in Huadang Village, and burned, killed, looted and annexed his followers. Until the next afternoon, the three of them joined forces and set up camp on the southern mountain road. At the same time, Qin Zhen led his troops northward along a tributary of the Minjiang River. The name of this river is Jianxi. Its source is the Wuyi Mountains. It is also the river used by the Shanyue people living here for irrigation. It was also because of the existence of this tributary that Qin Zhen could travel north by boat without having to go through the forest. Otherwise, it would take a lot of time just to climb over mountains and hills along the way. However, as soon as their boat passed the city of Jian'ou in later generations, they received the news. It was said that the Shanyue clan bandits had already set up camp in the wasteland on the northern side of Jianxi River. Qin Zhen heard this and smiled to everyone: "I didn't expect that among the mountains and ridges, I could find a place to set up camp." "They set up camp here to keep our army out of the enemy territory?" When the generals heard this, they all smiled knowingly. It was not because Qin Zhen’s words were funny, but they were laughing at the actions of these Shanyue people.

After all, the greatest advantage of the Shanyue people throughout history is that they can defend themselves along the dangerous mountain roads. But since Qin Zhen implemented the strategy of cutting off food supply, the Shanyue people were forced to move down the mountain. Now, this group of Shanyue people are afraid that Qin Zhen will invade their settlement. So it was a bit ironic that we had to follow the Han people's custom and set up camp on the road in advance. Amid the laughter of the crowd, only Zhou Yu frowned and said: "We don't know the terrain here. If the enemy defends the dangerous place, it will be difficult to defeat them!" Qin Zhen looked at the mountains and the direction of the river in the distance and said nonchalantly: "There is no need to worry about this either. There is no camp in the world that cannot be attacked." "Let's go take a look at the enemy's main camp and then discuss it!" After saying this, he led his troops northward along the river and arrived at the Shanyue people’s camp. This place is surrounded by mountains, and at a corner between the mountains, an alluvial plain is formed. The Shanyue people's camp was set up on this plain. Although the camp was arranged very simply, there were a large number of wooden stakes across the river, making it half on water and half on land. There are towering mountains on both sides of the east and west, and the only road heading north is the river. Seeing the enemy's formation like this, everyone was shocked. Among the people Qin Zhen brought, there is not a single one who can't fight. They only took a quick look at the terrain and roughly understood why the Shanyue people set up camp here. Obviously, this place is the only entrance to Wuyi Mountain from the north. The Shanyue people set up their camp here, directly blocking their land and water routes to the north. After observing for a while, Gan Ning clasped his fists towards Qin Zhen and said: "Commander-in-chief, the enemy has set up camp on the water and is determined to engage our army in battle on the water." "Please dispatch fifty boats and more than a thousand soldiers and horses. I will help the commander-in-chief to destroy this camp!" Seeing that he was asking for a mission, Qin Zhen naturally agreed and immediately dispatched people to challenge him. After receiving the order, Gan Ning rowed a boat with twenty people and came to the front of the camp to curse. The Shanyue soldiers saw this and hurriedly reported the news back to the camp. When Hong Ming heard that someone was coming to fight, he said to everyone: "Qin Zhen has come from afar and yet he dares to challenge us. We are no match for him on land, but we are not afraid of a battle on water." "Who among you dares to lead the troops to fight and take the enemy's head with me?" Originally, these Shanyue people did not dare to confront Qin Zhen head-on. After all, the Han army was well-equipped and they could not defeat them. But now that they occupy the waterways, they are not afraid when it comes to water skills.

Immediately, someone behind Wu Mian stood up and asked for orders: "General Wu Sheng, please lead your troops out to fight the enemy!" Upon seeing this, Wu Mian hurriedly introduced this man as a brave warrior from his tribe. Hong Ming was overjoyed to see him and quickly ordered him to go into battle. After Wu Sheng received the order, he selected a thousand strong and young men from his tribe and sailed out in boats. Therefore, the river here is shallow and cannot be entered, and the river channel is narrow and can only accommodate four or five ships in a row. After Wu Sheng led his men into battle, he used five ships as the vanguard to charge. The rest of the ships followed behind, hoping to use the upstream water flow to directly break through Gan Ning's army. Unexpectedly, as soon as he reached the camp, Gan Ning ordered his men to shoot. A large number of arrows rained down, directly killing more than a hundred of his soldiers. Wu Sheng was furious when he saw this, so he stepped to the bow and shouted: "You shameless fellow, you dare to fight me with only your bow and arrows!" Upon hearing this, Gan Ning burst into laughter and hurriedly ordered his men to row forward and said: "I am Gan Xingba from Shu County. My men never kill unknown generals!" Upon seeing this, Wu Sheng immediately gave his orders and ordered his men to row downstream. The two boats were approaching each other, but before they got close, Wu Sheng thrust hard with the bamboo pole, but was unexpectedly grabbed by Gan Ning. Wu Sheng was shocked when he saw this, and tried to pull back hastily, but he saw that Gan Ning was holding the pole with one hand, and no matter how hard he pulled, it did not move at all. After pulling for a while, Gan Ning suddenly let go, and Wu Sheng immediately moved back. But then Gan Ning jumped into the air, drew his sword and rushed over to his boat. Without waiting for Wu Sheng to stand up, he raised his sword and chopped off his head. Seeing this, Gan Ning hurriedly ordered a pursuit and tried to attack the enemy camp. However, as soon as he got close, arrows rained down from the camp. Gan Ning had no choice but to order his troops to withdraw and then go to a distant place to fight. When the Yue soldiers saw this, they hurriedly reported the news of Wu Sheng's death. All the Shanyue generals were shocked when they heard it. "The soldiers under Qin Zhen's command are so brave?" Hong Ming murmured, knowing that he was no match for his opponent, so he simply ordered his men to hold the camp firmly and not leave. (End of this chapter)