Chapter 324: Incompetent generals and ministers, the city fell in one day At the end of the Han Dynasty, Jiaozhou was the least noticeable province, and even the Romance of the Three Kingdoms did not mention it much. But because there is no sense of existence here, peace has been maintained for quite a long time. This not only led to a large number of people migrating to Jiaozhou, but also many talents moved south. Xue Zong was one of them. He was originally from a prominent family in Pei County, and his ancestor was Tian Wen, the Mengchangjun of Qi State. Later, because the Tian family was granted the title of Xue State, they all changed their surname to Xue. They served as officials for generations and became one of the big surnames in the local area. However, with the outbreak of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Xue family moved to Jiaozhou. In the original history, after the Battle of Chibi, he followed Shi Xie to join Sun Quan and served as the prefect of Hepu and Jiaozhi counties. Later, he repeatedly advised Sun Quan and was promoted to the position of Prince's Tutor, becoming one of the famous ministers of the Wu State. However, at this time Xue Zong was still a young man in his twenties, and he came to Qin Zhen's camp as an envoy under the order of Zhang Jin.

Originally, Qin Zhen did not want to meet the envoy from Zhang Jin, but when he heard it was Xue Zong, he let him into the camp. As soon as Xue Zong entered the camp, he immediately greeted Qin Zhen, but unexpectedly, he waved his hand and said: "Sir, there is no need to be so polite. I originally did not want to meet Zhang Jin, the thief's envoy, but because I respect that you are from a famous family, I am willing to meet you!" "No need to say too much polite words, just state your purpose!" This was the first time Xue Zong met Qin Zhen. Although he was in a remote place, he had heard of Qin Zhen. He knew that Qin Zhen was a senior official under Liu Bei and was also the commander of this battle. Seeing how young he was, he was about to praise him, but he didn't expect Qin Zhen to be so pragmatic. After hesitating for a moment, he simply bowed to Qin Zhen again and said: "Since you are such a straightforward person, I should not say anything else." "To be honest, my Lord, I came here to ask you why you led your troops here!" "Now Liu Zhengdong only supervises the military affairs of Yangzhou, Xuzhou and Yuzhou." "This place belongs to Jiaozhou. Your troops should not be here." "Your Excellency was originally appointed by the Emperor as the General of the Five Officials and concurrently the Governor of Wu County." "Why don't you stay in Wujun, but lead your troops to Jiaozhou?" His meaning is of course very clear. Let’s not talk about anything else for now, let’s just say that you sent troops to Jiaozhou, right? Qin Zhen nodded and smiled when he heard this, looking at Xue Zong and said: "You are a man who is good at speaking. I don't want to chat with you." "I only ask you, what crime should be committed for colluding with foreign tribes to invade Han territory?" "Our army has not invaded our borders, but Zhang Jin is using the Shanyue people to plot against our army's land. What crime has he committed?" When Xue Zong heard this, he frowned and said after a moment of silence: "Does the Lord have any evidence for what he said? If it's just empty talk, it's hard to convict him!"

In fact, his mission this time was just to persuade Qin Zhen to withdraw his troops according to Zhang Jin's order. However, we don't know the details of why Qin Zhen marched forward. If things are really as Qin Zhen said, then Zhang Jin must be the one in the wrong. Seeing him like this, Qin Zhen waved his hand and asked someone to bring two pieces of cloth and handed them to Xue Zong: "This is the book that Zhang Jin used to collude with them. There are also witnesses." "If you are interested, I can call a witness to come and meet you!" These two silk books were obviously forged by Qin Zhen, and now there is no witness to them. But it is easy to find a pretext to accuse someone of a crime, and now the troops have already arrived in Jiaozhou. It is impossible to withdraw. Even if it is forged, he will collect a lot of evidence for Zhang Jin! In this way, after we deal with Zhang Jin, we can report to the court. Xue Zong looked at the letter forged by Qin Zhen, and naturally did not know whether it was true or not, so he could only say in a deep voice: "But even if the envoy is guilty, he should be reported to the officials first, and the court will deal with him after the emperor finds guilty." "No matter what, it is not your turn to send troops here to punish us!" Seeing that he was still asking questions, Qin Zhen sneered and said: "I am under the order of the General of the Eastern Expedition to lead all the counties and supervise the land of Jiangdong." "Zhang Jin sent someone to harm my people. I will lead the troops to hold them accountable!" "I know that you are devoted to your studies and do not know that people are evil, so I do not want to accuse you of anything." "Just go back and tell everyone that I only arrested Zhang Jin this time, and I won't blame the others!" "If you continue to resist, don't blame my men for their sharp weapons!" After saying this, he said no more and expelled Xue Zong from the camp. After Xue Zong was driven out of the camp, he felt helpless and had to return to Gaoyao City to report. Zhang Jin was more than seven feet tall. Although he was the governor of a state, he wore a Taoist robe. This is also one of Zhang Jin's quirks. He is very superstitious about Taoism, which is prevalent in this matter! He often wrapped a red turban on his head, played the piano and burned incense. He did not wear official uniform but Taoist robes. When he was in the Central Plains, he was relatively normal. But after moving south, he became increasingly absurd. Because of this incident, Zhang Jin's control and supervision over his subordinates was very loose and he lacked sufficient prestige. At this time, he was sitting on a cushion with an incense burner beside him and smoke rising from the air. When he heard Xue Zong return, he opened his eyes and asked Xue Zong about the result. When Xue Zong saw this, he told the truth, and then he thought of the letters he had just read and said: "Qin Zhen said that the envoy sent people to persuade the Nanyue and Shanyue tribes. I wonder if this is true?" When Zhang Jin heard this, he frowned, stood up, put his hands behind his back and said: "Although this happened, I was acting on the orders of the court and had no selfish thoughts." "The little boy Qin Zhen first rebelled against Lord Cao, and now he has marched here without permission. This is a serious crime."

"Why didn't Jingwen first question this person's crime, but instead questioned my faults?" Seeing how pedantic he was, Xue Zong couldn't help but sigh inwardly and said with a wry smile: "They were so confident of their military might that they were driven out of the camp before I could question them." "If I were to ask this question out loud, I don't know if I would be able to come back alive!" "Since the envoy has received the imperial order, I don't know where the imperial edict is. If you give him the imperial edict, you will surely persuade him to retreat!" But when Zhang Jin heard that he wanted an imperial edict, he shook his head and said unhappily: "This order was a private letter from Cao Gong last year. After I read it, I threw it away." "Without this book, would Qin Zhen dare to march in person?" "More than dare, Qin Zhenyan said he would arrest you and bring you to justice!" Xue Zong saw that he was still calm and composed, so he said anxiously: "I see that Qin Zhen's troops are strong and powerful, and you are definitely no match for them!" "Why not send a letter now to ask for reinforcements from Zhang Xian and Shi Fujun, then maybe we can fight them!" When Zhang Jin heard the request for help from Shi Xie, he hesitated for a moment, because in his eyes, Shi Xie was not a good guy either. Since he went south, Shi Xie has been guarding his own territory with his own troops and is also a separatist. Moreover, Shi Xie was just a native of Jiaozhou and his subordinate. If he were to ask Shi Xie for help now, wouldn't that be a loss of face for Zhang Jin? After hesitating for a while, Xue Zong wanted to persuade him again, but at this moment, a soldier came to report: "Sir, something is wrong. The enemy has led their troops out of the camp and are challenging us at the gates of the city!" When Zhang Jin heard this, he became furious and immediately took Xue Zong towards the city. As soon as they reached the city wall, they saw tens of thousands of Qin Zhen's troops lined up neatly outside in an extremely orderly formation. Another general rode his horse back and forth under the city wall, pointed his spear at the top of the city wall and said: "I am Taishi Ci of Donglai. You are a coward on the city wall. Do you dare to come down and fight me?" He stood at the foot of the city, with a long beautiful beard and two halberds on his back, looking like a lone man blocking the way for ten thousand. Zhang Jin saw this from the city wall, and said to his generals in a deep voice: "Who among you, the generals, dares to go down to the city with me to capture this madman and bring him to justice?" However, as soon as he spoke, all the generals fell silent, obviously unwilling to go down to the city to fight. Zhang Jin saw this and looked around at the generals. He then pointed at one of them and said: "Qu Jing, you lead your troops down to the city and capture this man for me. I will personally help you to plunder the enemy." The general he pointed out was a burly man with a solemn look. Upon hearing this, he frowned and said: "Our soldiers have not been in battle for a long time, how can we be their opponent?" "If you want to go to the battle, just go to the city and fight the enemy general in person!" "In this case, I think with the protection of the immortals, you will surely win a great victory!" As soon as Qu Jing finished speaking, all the generals burst into laughter. This is also a characteristic of Zhang Jin.

This man was not only superstitious about Taoism, but he also often cast spells to strengthen the army, and he thought the effects were remarkable. But the generals knew that it was useless and always thought it was a joke and often made fun of it. Zhang Jin was extremely angry when he heard this. His face flushed red as he pointed at the generals and wanted to curse them, but he couldn't. Xue Zong watched from the side with a frown on his face, but said nothing. At this moment, with a whoosh, a long arrow shot onto the city wall. Taishi Ci was seen holding a bow in both hands, looking at the city with contempt and laughing: "A bunch of rats, just playing and laughing on the city wall, no one dares to go down to the city to fight?" Zhang Jin’s order might not work, but Taishi Ci’s ridicule angered the generals. Immediately, a burly general shouted angrily at Taishi Ci below the city: "Enemy, please don't be so arrogant. I will fight you!" After saying this, he went down the city wall and rode his horse to meet Taishi Ci. However, as soon as the man left the city, he saw Taishi Ci drawing his bow and shooting an arrow, which hit the general in the face. Before the general could announce his name, he fell down and was shot dead on the spot by Taishi Ci. When one person was killed in this way, the three armies shouted in unison, and cheers were heard. Taishi Ci rode his horse and laughed loudly. He stepped forward and chopped off the enemy general's head with a single blow. He held it in his hand and said proudly: "This man is dead, what other general dares to fight me?" He rode his horse around like this, and all the generals in Jiaozhou were terrified. The area of ​​Jiaozhou originally had few soldiers and generals, and the generals on the city wall were all tallest among the short ones. Seeing how brave Taishi Ci was, they all feared to fight and did not go out. Qin Zhen saw this from a distance, and immediately drew his sword and pointed forward, saying: "All troops, listen up! Beat the drums and help us capture this city!" With his loud shout, tens of thousands of troops rushed directly towards Gaoyao City. There are few big cities in Jiaozhou. Except for the county seats in various places, the rest of the cities are not high. For example, the Gaoyao City is less than three meters high and the city walls are narrow. This kind of city is good for defending against foreign invaders, but it cannot defend against the Han army. After exploring the city, Qin Zhen decided to launch a forceful attack! At this time, Taishi Ci had just hit the enemy's morale, so he ordered a general attack. A large number of soldiers carried bamboo ladders and began to climb up the city wall, fighting bravely. Seeing this, Zhang Jin never expected that Qin Zhen would launch a general attack as soon as he arrived, so he hurriedly ordered his generals to defend.

The generals under his command also began to hurriedly order the soldiers to move supplies for defending the city. As a result of this delay, Qin Zhen's troops rushed onto the city wall. Xu Sheng was the first to go up to the city wall. He raised his sword and shouted: "Gentlemen, whoever captures the old thief Zhang Jin will be rewarded with a hundred gold coins and a thousand acres of good farmland!" As soon as this voice was heard, the morale of his soldiers was greatly boosted, and they rushed towards the city without caring about their lives. Zhang Jin had never seen such a scene before, and stood there in shock for a moment. Xue Zong grabbed him and said: "A gentleman does not stand under a wall. Let me hurry and do not stay!" As he said this, he pulled Zhang Jin and walked towards the city. When he retreated, all the generals under his command retreated one after another. For a while, people were crowded and trampled on the city wall. Many Jiaozhou soldiers were so frightened that they jumped off the city wall. The news spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred, and in less than three quarters of an hour, the southern wall of Gaoyao City was captured by Qin Zhen. As the two armies began street fighting, Xue Zong realized that the city was difficult to defend, so he withdrew from Gaoyao with Zhang Jin. At this point, Zhang Jin was defeated in the first battle and Gaoyao City fell in less than a day. Seeing this, Qin Zhen couldn't help but sigh to Lu Xun, Lu Dai and others beside him: "It is the incompetence of the generals and ministers that has exhausted the army. Compared with them, Liu Jingsheng is a hero!" Although Liu Biao was just a guard dog in their eyes, he was also capable of guarding the house. In comparison, Zhang Jin doesn't even have the ability to guard the house, he is a complete loser. Seeing that Zhang Jin's army was in disarray, he ordered Taishi Ci to lead his troops in pursuit. This went on for two days. Zhang Jin was unable to escape the pursuit, so he simply crossed the Duan River and retreated to Guangxin City. As a result, Taishi Ci captured the important town of Duanxi City in Cangwu while pursuing. On August 14, Qin Zhen captured two cities in succession and led his troops to the city of Guangxin, the capital of Cangwu County. (End of this chapter)