Zhang Yan learned that there are more than 2,000 people in Ganning, at least in the number of brothers, there can be no one less, the gangsters pay attention to pomp, there are fewer brothers, and the social status is low, except for 500 people left behind, bring more than 2,500 people to Niutou Mountain. Zhou Cang and Liao Hua of Niutou Mountain also heard the name of Zhang Yan of Montenegro for a long time, and waited at the bottom of the mountain, Zhou Cang saw that the Black Mountain Army brothers were all holding black and bright machetes, and the lineup was neat, and he thought to himself, worthy of being the big brother of the rivers and lakes who had been crisscrossing Taihang Mountain for many years, and stepped forward to salute and said: "In the next Zhou Cang, this is my brother Liao Hua, who has been waiting for Zhang Dashuai for a long time." ”

Zhang Yan saw that Zhou Cang was tall, black-faced and bearded, and spoke boldly, so he also replied: "We used to be in the same vein, but now we are all brothers in the rivers and lakes, so you don't have to be polite." Thinking that Ganning has many brothers standing and is so arrogant, today I will go to the brothers of Niutoushan to ask for an explanation. "Zhang Yan has been crisscrossing the rivers and lakes for many years, naturally a person with means, and now in order to complete Yuan Xi's task and go deep behind enemy lines, of course, we must unite the forces that can be united.

The Black Mountain Army merged with the Niutoushan brothers and went to Ancheng to kill. At this time, Gan Ning was counting the big gifts given by Ancheng County, two hundred stones of grain and one thousand taels of silver, and after checking that they were correct, he was about to give up Ancheng and knock bamboo poles elsewhere, and the gang of thieves in Niutoushan came to kill. There were more than 3,000 people, Gan Ning ordered people to line up to protect the spoils of war, and he stepped forward to Pei Yuanshao and said: "You live yellow turban thieves, Uncle Gan wants to let you go, and now call Brother Qi to come together to send him to death!" ”

With Zhang Yan's support, Pei Yuanshao naturally wouldn't be afraid of Gan Ning, and laughed and said: "Gan Ning, I don't know who is dying, look at who this big guy is, the famous Montenegro Zhang Yan!" "If you are afraid, you will return the loot seized in Ancheng to us, and then kowtow to your grandfather Pei and admit your mistakes, and I will spare you."

Gan Ning has also heard of Zhang Yan's name and knows that this is not a good person, but Gan Ning is a man who stands up to the sky, and it is absolutely impossible to be soft, so he just spoke politely: "It turned out to be Zhang Yan of Montenegro, I have heard of it, but if you want to stand up for this gang of innocent thieves, I Gan Ning will definitely accompany me to the end." ”

Zhang Yan also frowned when she heard Gan Ning say that Pei Yuanshao killed innocents indiscriminately, but she had promised Yuan Xi not to do the murderous and oversold things, and looked at Pei Yuanshao with a look of shame, it was really something. At the end of the Han Dynasty, most of the Yellow Turban thieves were poor people, and they had an unwritten rule of robbing homes and houses, that is, not to kill innocent poor people indiscriminately. Although Pei Yuanshao had done it before, he had not done it in front of Gan Ning, and explained to Zhang Yan: "Dashuai, don't listen to nonsense, I just went to Ancheng to borrow grain, and then Ancheng County ordered that if you don't give face, you can only do it yourself." After a while, that Gan Ning came, and you can see that the food he was protecting should have been the trophies of our army. ”

Zhang Yan was also relieved when she heard Pei Yuanshao's words, and after pondering, she shouted to Gan Ning: "Gan Xingba, I think you are also a good man, but you look down on our Yellow Turban brothers, we must fight for this tone." Why don't we have a fight, you and I will choose ten people each, solve it with our fists and feet, whoever wins the food will go to whom, and apologize! ”

Gan Ning agreed with Zhang Yan's method, but his color head could be seen, but Zhang Yan didn't, could they win? Dissatisfied: "Zhang Dashuai's proposal is good, but I asked for this food, and it has nothing to do with you, if you want to be fair, you must also come up with the corresponding prize." ”

Zhang Yan also said secretly, this Gan Ning is really thick and fine, and he was not bypassed by himself, so he laughed and said: "Leader Gan is reasonable, I have never brought so much grain, but I brought silver, according to the market price, it should be 200 gold, come and take gold." This gold was prepared by Yuan Xi for Zhang Yan, the grain and grass were not easy to carry, the gold was easy to carry, and it was also cheap for Zhang Yan.

Unexpectedly, the Montenegrin Army is so rich, not only is it envied by the brothers behind Gan Ning, but the brothers of Niutoushan are also eager to join the Montenegrin Army to really have a rich way! Gan Ning saw that Zhang Yan was refreshed, and he was not easy to fall behind, so he selected nine Jinfan brothers with good martial arts and challenged Zhang Yan.

The Jinfan thief is a good man on the water, crisscrossing the Yangtze River, but he suffered a lot of losses in the competition with Zhang Yan on land, especially the fist and foot competition, and he felt that he was fooled, Zhang Yan, Zhou Cang, Liao Hua, Pei Yuanshao, Li Damu, Guo Daxian and other leaders have been rolling on the rivers and lakes for many years, and their fighting skills are outstanding. The surrounding brothers were shouting and cheering on the side, Zhou Cang saw that his side was obviously superior, only Gan Ning had not been knocked down on Jinfan's side, and in the fight with Zhang Yan, Gan Ning still had an advantage, it was originally a fight, and there was no so-called heads-up, Zhou Cang hugged Gan Ning from behind, and pressed the spot, although Gan Ning was strong, but was raided by Zhou Cang, and he also rolled to the ground, Zhang Yan pounced on the situation, and the two held Gan Ning down.

When the Jinfan thief brothers saw that the leader Gan Ning was captured by Zhang Yan and Zhou Cang, they immediately wanted to rush up, but Gan Ning stopped them: "Our skills are not as good as others, and we are willing to gamble and lose." Then Gan Ning said to Zhang Yan: "You win, give you food." Zhang Yan saw that Gan Ning conceded defeat, so Gan Ning let go, and he also respected Gan Ning, a good man who dared to act and kept his promises, and said to Gan Ning truthfully: "Leader Gan is worthy of being a well-known figure in the rivers and lakes, this time Zhang won a fluke, if it is a water war, even if I give me 100 people, I am not Gan's opponent." I have a proposal, since everyone is here in Yuzhou to ask for a living, one of us is good at water warfare, and the other is good at land warfare, it is better to form an alliance by land and water, crisscrossing the Central Plains, wouldn't it be happy? ”

The plan Zhang Yan said really made Gan Ning's heart move, but looking at Pei Yuanshao and others, these people did not do it openly, and said bluntly: "Leader Zhang's chivalrous name has been famous for a long time, and today is not in vain, but now that I am an official and soldier, I no longer do the business of killing people and goods." When Zhou Cang saw Gan Ning devoting himself to Jiangxia, he looked down on himself and the others, and said angrily: "What's the big deal about the thief officers and soldiers, my brothers are in trouble here, and it's not because of the officials and soldiers like you who are doing evil." Although my brothers in Niutoushan fell into the grass, they did not bully the poor people, let alone use the heads of the common people as war exploits. ”

Zhang Yan knew that Gan Ning was not used to Pei Yuanshao's practice of looting the county and killing innocents indiscriminately, but he also saw that Gan Ning listened to Zhou Cang's words, his expression was different, and he thought that Gan Ning was not happy in Jiangxia, so he hit the railway while it was hot: "My Montenegrin army has long been an official army, and this time I came with a similar purpose to Gan's leader, in order to disturb Cao Cao." As for the brothers of Niutoushan, I also have the fate to know each other, and I am not very familiar with what they have done before, but I believe that they also talk about morality. If you are willing, you can go to Jade Emperor Mountain with me to gather righteousness. He will be rewarded by the general, and my lord Major General Yuan Xi is young and promising, recruiting virtuous and virtuous, only outstanding talents will be reused. ”

Zhou Cang, Liao Hua, Pei Yuanshao and others in Niutou Mountain were also envious of the fact that the Black Mountain Army had the funding of the general, and seeing that Zhang Yan was willing to accept himself and others, they also expressed their willingness to go to Yuhuang Mountain to gather together. Gan Ning had also heard about Yuan Xiping's Black Mountain, the attack on Luoyang, and the deeds of the war officer, but no one introduced him. Since Zhang Yan is the guarantor, he is really aggrieved in Jiangxia, so he might as well go to Yuhuang Mountain to reveal his skills on the water, and don't let Zhang Yan and others underestimate themselves, and it is good to ask for an official position at Yuan Xi in the future. So, the three places coincided, gathered 8,000 people and horses, with the Jade Emperor Mountain as a stronghold, specifically to deal with the gentry and nobles in the hinterland of the Central Plains, plundered the army's grain and grass, and relieved the poor people, and the leaders were also happy mountains and forests, but Xun Yu of Xuchang was a headache, there were fewer soldiers, and they couldn't be wiped out. However, he was afraid of affecting the morale of Cao Cao and Yuan Xi in the battle, so he also sent Cao Zhi to escort the army rations to boost morale, hoping to win the battle of Guandu as soon as possible.