Han Cheng led a thousand men and horses to the city, and asked the soldiers to shout together, "Open the city gate quickly, General Li Meng has been ambushed." ”

The soldiers defending the city saw the rout fleeing early, and they did not dare to open the door for fear of fraud.

Nearly 1,000 soldiers were seen carrying General Leemon, two of whom were carrying the machetes unique to General Leemont, and they had a backbone in their hearts, so they ordered the city gates to be opened to meet General Leemon.

When the soldiers defending the city came to the city gate, the soldiers around General Li Meng suddenly shot crossbow arrows, and the soldiers were caught off guard and were defenseless, and they all fell to the ground with arrows, and there was chaos at the city gate.

Wei Yan was hiding in the distance, and when he saw the chaos at the city gate, he immediately led the remaining more than 4,000 soldiers and horses to Xingyang City.

Just after nightfall, Xingyang City planted the banner of Jizhou Army Han Cheng.

......

At this time, Cao Cao was in the middle of a stray arrow, and there were less than 1,000 people left around him, but fortunately, his younger brother Cao Hong gave up the war horse to Cao Cao, so he was able to escape with his life. So, he fled back to Sour Zao by night, and when he arrived at Sour Zao, he took stock of his men: Bao Xin was wounded, Bao Tao, Wei Zi and others were killed in battle, and most of the 10,000 soldiers and horses were lost.

After returning to the sour date, Cao Cao saw more than 100,000 people in the Kwantung army, drinking and gathering all day long, and did not want to forge ahead, so he suggested that the armies occupy the key passes, and then divide the troops to attack and disturb the pass. None of the generals listened to Cao Cao's words and still went their own way.

Cao Cao had no choice but to leave the sour jujube with his subordinate general Xiahoudun, go to Yangzhou to recruit troops, get more than 1,000 people, and go north again and settle in Hanoi County.

......

On the second day, Han Cheng in Xingyang City listened to the report of his subordinates.

"The Jizhou army killed 252 people, wounded 695 people, killed more than 2,500 enemies, and captured more than 2,000 people. The granaries in the city were well preserved and did not suffer much damage. A total of 30,000 stone of grain and 5,000 taels of gold were obtained. ”

"This time we won a good battle, but we also suffered a lot of casualties." Han Cheng said in his heart.

Then he ordered: "Find all the healers in the city, the wounded soldiers must be treated immediately, and the brothers must not be allowed to die because of their wounds." The brothers who died were all cremated and brought back to Jizhou, so that the soldiers could return to their roots.

At the same time, the pensions for the casualties of the battle were doubled.

The brethren who participated in the battle, the salaries of the army were doubled this month, and the captured gold was immediately distributed. In addition to the necessary defense men and horses in the city, the other horses can rest in the city for three days, waiting for the arrival of the alliance army of the princes. ”

As soon as he was about to leave, Han Cheng stopped him again, "Also, those who want to join the army among the captives will be accepted according to the standards of the Jizhou Army; Those who don't want to join the army should give each of them ten days of food and 300 yuan, and let them go home. ”

In Xingyang City, Dong Zhuo was once stationed with 25,000 men. There is plenty of grain and grass, abundant wealth, and more than 300 Xiliang war horses. Anyway, when the alliance of princes comes, the spoils of war are all from the alliance army, Han Cheng is not so stupid, and what can be used is definitely not wasted.

Each sergeant carried ten days' worth of food, and half of the remaining grain in Xingyang City was distributed to the people in Xingyang City. Of course, the soldiers were instructed to do good deeds and leave their names when they were divided, and they must tell the people that it was the grain distributed by General Han Cheng of the Jizhou Army.

The other half was sold to the city's major families at a very low price.

......

Speaking of the big families in Xingyang City, the main one is the Zheng family in Xingyang.

This Xingyang Zheng clan is a big family in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the ancestors can be traced back to the Zheng State of King Xuan of Zhou, after Han Aihou destroyed Zheng, the descendants successively took the country as the clan.

In the Western Han Dynasty, there was a big Si Nong Zheng at that time, who settled in Kaifeng County, Henan County, and now the Zheng clan also mainly lives in Kaifeng County. However, Xingyang is the starting place of the Zheng family, the foundation of the Zheng family, and will not give up until the last resort.

A day after Han Cheng's army occupied Xingyang, a family gathering was held among the Zheng family in Kaifeng County, and the heads of each house participated in the meeting.

Zheng Yuan, the head of the family, said straight to the point: "The alliance army of the princes fought against the Xiliang army under the leadership of Yuan Shao, and now Dong Zhuo has burned Luoyang and headed for Chang'an. Although Dong Zhuo is quite friendly to our Zheng family, Dong Zhuo is brutal by nature, and he comes from a remote place in Xiliang, even if he has 100,000 troops, it is still not a climate, and my Zheng family cannot take refuge in him.

Now that Han Cheng of the Jizhou Army has occupied Xingyang City, and the three rooms and one vein still live in Xingyang, I just took the opportunity to hold a family gathering, the main purpose is to talk about it, while the world is in turmoil now, where will my Zheng family go? ”

In charge of the family's finances is Zheng Yuan's third brother Zheng Rang, this Zheng Rang is a concubine, but the power of the Zheng family is not divided into concubines, and those who can live in it.

Because he was in charge of financial power and often dealt with businessmen, he was relatively well-informed, so he was the first to stand up and say to Zheng Yuan, the head of the family: "I am in charge of the businessmen of the family, and they have brought back a lot of news from the south and north.

I'll talk about this Han Cheng. This son is the nephew of Jizhou Mu Hanfu, who is eighteen years old this year and has a hand in archery. After Han Fu arrived in Jizhou, he began to take charge of the army, and Han Fu trusted him to be stationed in Changshan County for most of the year, and the surrounding bandits were exterminated.

Every time a bandit is exterminated, the army is sent to repair the houses of the people, etc., which is quite famous in the Jizhou area.

This time the princes crusaded against Dong Zhuo, only this Han Cheng and Cao Cao Lieutenant chased Dong Zhuo together, and they were really people who knew the righteousness. However, his uncle Han Fu has an indecisive personality and looks forward to doing things, and he is not a master to turn to. ”

After Zheng Rang finished speaking, Zheng Yuan's second uncle Zheng said angrily: "Han Cheng's son, no matter what he does, is only an eighteen-year-old young man, and he is far from the world-famous Yuan brothers. Now, Yuan's reputation is in full swing, and if my Zheng family adds a little more strength, the world can take it. ”

Zheng Yuan didn't express any opinions, but listened silently in his heart, muttering: "Second Uncle and Yuan's are very close." ”

Zheng Yuan's fourth brother Zheng Tai has been an official in the imperial court, at first he assisted the general He Jin, served as a scholar and served as a servant, and later moved to serve the imperial history.

said: "The national thief Dong Zhuo, the cholera government, should raise troops to fight. But after Yuan Shao's son broke the tiger prison, he hesitated and used the name of righteousness for personal gain. In my opinion, it is difficult to achieve great things.

And Cao Cao, Han Cheng and others dared to lead the army to pursue, they were really loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty, and I expected that these two people would be able to achieve great things. I have worked with Cao Cao for a period of time, and I have a good relationship, and I feel that Cao Cao's son must not be a thing in the pool, so I suggest going to Cao Cao. I heard that Cao Cao was defeated in Bianshui recently, and it was the time when my Zheng family sent charcoal in the snow. ”

After Zheng Tai finished speaking, Zheng Yuan nodded with satisfaction, and everyone knew that the head of the family was also optimistic about Cao Cao.

At the same time, the major families are also holding different family gatherings to discuss the general trend of the world and the objects of defection.

Some families expressed their approval of Cao Cao and Han Cheng's actions, while others expressed opposition and had different opinions.