Ma Chao couldn't help but be silent after hearing this, and carefully recalled the history, it seemed that Zhang Yan had fought against Yuan Shao many times, but unfortunately his corporal was really vulnerable, and he was defeated by Yuan Shao and Lu Bu many times. Later, he joined forces with Gongsun Zan and Wuheng King Qiu Liju to fight against Yuan Shao, but they were still defeated, and their forces weakened a lot. From then on, Zhang Yan hid in Taihang Mountain, and it was not until Cao Ying defeated Yuan Shao and destroyed Yuan Tan that he led more than 100,000 people to come out and be reused by Cao Ying.

After pondering for a while, Ma Chao suddenly had a bold idea in his heart, stroked his palm and smiled: "What Junyi said is reasonable, Ben Jiang decided to recruit Zhang Yan, the Black Mountain homeless people have already gone to 7788, Zhang Yan is difficult to support alone, it is a good time to surrender!" ”

Zhang He had just joined Ma Chao's command, and was anxious to make a meritorious service, so he hugged his fists and said: "The last general is willing to recruit Zhang Yan to the Snow Wolf Valley!" ”

Ma Chao shook his head and said, "This matter must be done by the general himself!" After that, he looked at Dian Wei and said: "Can Lao Dian dare to break into the Longtan Tiger's Den with Ben General?" ”

"Why don't you dare!"

Xu Huang was shocked and hurriedly persuaded: "The lord must not!" For Zhang Yan, we are limited to hearsay, how can the lord and his golden body go to the danger in person, in case Zhang Yan turns his face and does not recognize people, why don't you stick her wings and escape? ”

Zhang He also said: "What General Xu said is very true, the princess is the safety of millions of people in the two states, if there are three long and two short, won't we become sinners for the ages!" ”

Ma Chao said: "Don't worry, the two of you are not reckless, I have already calculated this matter, you two will return to the army to standby, if this trip goes well, maybe you can rush back to Jinyang for the New Year!" ”

Before dawn the next day, Ma Chao and Dian Wei changed into ordinary people's clothes, wore anti-arrow vests, hidden swords, and quietly stepped into Taihang Mountain with three Black Mountain guards who were familiar with Snow Wolf Valley.

In December, it was extremely cold in the mountains, the wind was cold, everything was depressed, and there were few people along the way. At noon, seeing that it was less than twenty miles away from Zhang Yan's Snow Wolf Valley, several people dismounted and hid in the mountain col to avoid the wind. Ma Chao took out a letter from his arms and asked people to enter the Snow Wolf Valley and hand it to Zhang Yan. About an hour later, more than 100 horsemen could be seen coming from a distance, and there were Black Mountain guards around him who had seen Zhang Yan and recognized him at a glance.

Ma Chao was overjoyed, and only took Dian Wei to greet him, only to see that the first person was about thirty-one or twelve years old, not tall, thin, full of beard, and a deep scar at the corner of his left eye, which looked very strong.

Still far away, Zhang Yan shouted: "The one who came, but the champion Hou Ma Mengqi? ”

"Yes! I have heard for a long time that Zhang Feiyan, the marshal of the Black Mountain Army, is fortunate to see Sansheng today! ”

Zhang Yan shook his head and said, "You are an official, I am a thief, how fortunate is it?" ”

Ma Chao said: "Officials distinguish between corrupt officials, clean officials benefit one party, and corrupt officials poison the world; In the same way, thieves are divided into evil thieves and righteous thieves, evil thieves are evil for the common people, killing people like hemp, righteous thieves help the needy, robbing the rich and helping the poor. ”

Zhang Yan savored it carefully, and arched his hand: "I have been taught, so according to the champion Hou, in the opinion of the champion Hou, am I Zhang Yan a thief or a righteous thief?" ”

Ma Chao didn't answer and asked: "Then according to Zhang Dashuai, is this a clean official or a corrupt official?" ””

Zhang Yan laughed: "The champion Hou really deserves his reputation, don't you want to recruit this handsome man in person today!" ”

Ma Chao said: "It's okay to say yes, it's okay to say no!" The general said yesterday that he heard that the Montenegrin commander's direct line of the Montenegrin army never robbed the surrounding civilians, and he was impressed. I came here to see the people in the Snow Wolf Valley, and secondly, I want to send you a fame and wealth, I don't know if Zhang Dashuai is interested. ”

Zhang Yan said: "In this case, can the champion Hou dare to enter the valley? ”

Ma Chao was proud in his heart, waved his hand and said, "Why don't you dare?" Lead the way! ”

Zhang Yan was stunned, he didn't expect Ma Chao to have such courage, Snow Wolf Valley is his base camp, not only there are nearly 70,000 soldiers who can fight, but also more than 100,000 people who depend on him, as long as he gives an order, ten Ma Chao will have to lose ten heads. couldn't help but praise: "Xiliang Ma Mengqi, the champion of the world, this courage, this courage is rare in the world, Yan admires!" ”

Ma Chaolian didn't dare, and the group marched along the mountain road, and came to a pass after about half an hour. I saw that there was a hole more than 100 meters wide that was artificially built with stones to build a section of high wall, under the wall there are horses and traps, there are arrow towers and sentry posts on the wall, and in the middle is a thick wooden walled gate, in addition to the absence of a moat, it is like a city gate that is easy to defend and difficult to attack!

When I entered the valley, I saw that there were caves on the steep slopes, and there were many stone houses, wooden houses and tents on the clearing. Smoke curls in, countless men, women and children are interspersed with it, although they live the life of primitive people, but all of them talk and laugh, as if this place is not a refuge, but a paradise.

Zhang Yan didn't make any noise, dispersed more than 100 entourages, and led Ma Chao and the five people straight to a large-scale cowhide tent. After the guests were seated, Zhang Yan ordered someone to warm the wine and serve the food, and then hugged Ma Chao and said: "How do you feel about what Champion Hou saw all the way?" ”

Ma Chao was in a heavy mood and said: "I didn't expect these homeless people to live so hard, compared to the livestock of large families, I am very ashamed." It's just that at the beginning of the year, we will vigorously recruit displaced people in Bingzhou, why don't these people go to take refuge, now there are nearly 400,000 displaced people from Montenegro near Jinyang, all of whom can be fed and clothed, although they have some coolies, they are also a hundred times stronger than nesting in the valley! ”

Zhang Yan said: "Champion Hou is my great benefactor of the Black Mountain Army, first there are Zheng Gu, Yu Poison, Yang Feng led nearly 300,000 people to vote, as far as I know, these people in Shuofang, Jiuyuan generation are living ordinary people's lives. Therefore, at the beginning of the year, when he heard that the champion Hou had recruited displaced people in Jinyang, Yan encouraged more than 300,000 people to vote. The general is worthy of heaven and earth, has the people in his heart, and does not discriminate against my Black Mountain homeless people, please accept Yan Yibai! Then he lifted up his shirt and bowed down on one knee.

Ma Chao hurriedly got up and helped Zhang Yan up, and said urgently: "What does Leader Zhang mean?" It would have been just doing what it was supposed to do, so why do you need such a big gift! ”

Zhang Yan said: "Recently, I heard that the champion Hou Bing came to Jizhou to exterminate us, how could Yan dare to fight with the general, so he has been staying in the valley for several months, but fortunately, the number of people is several times less, and the grain produced in the poor land in the valley is barely enough!" If the general doesn't leave, I'm afraid I'll starve again. ”

Ma Chao said: "In this case, why don't you go down the mountain to join the general, at the moment, Zheng Gu, Yang Feng, and Tao Sheng are all too guarded, and they are all named miscellaneous generals by the imperial court, and Leader Zhang is the number one person in the Black Mountain Army, if you are willing to lead the people to join the general, how can you be treated badly!" ”

Zhang Yan smiled bitterly: "I have this intention in the morning, but I really have to suffer!" ”

"I want to hear about it!"

Zhang Yan drank a glass of warm wine, and said: "Although the Black Mountain Army was created by me, the ingredients are extremely complex, there are countless large and small leaders, and in the heyday, there were millions of people in the Taihang Mountain, which stretched for thousands of miles, how could I, the nominal big leader, restrain all the millions?" After a long time, it gradually divided into two factions, as the general just said, one group is the evil thief, and the other group is the righteous thief! When Su Gu, Yang Feng, and Tao Sheng defected to the general, they took almost all the righteous thieves, and the remaining thieves took refuge in the three of them, and now the three of them are more and more chaotic! Even out of control, some small leaders do not listen to orders, and repeatedly rob the people unscrupulously, even if they are not thieves, they will be called thieves! ”

After a pause, he said: "If Yan is in the Snow Wolf Valley, he can still restrain some people, if he leads the crowd to defect to the general, there will be three to fifty percent who will not obey, and if no one restrains him, won't he even worse?" In this way, the people of Hebei and the two states will suffer again. ”

Ma Chao was in awe when he heard this, and hugged his fists and said: "Although Zhang Dashuai is a thief, he is a rare righteous thief, which is really admirable!" Super intends to give you a fortune, which can not only get you rid of the infamy of thieves, but also allow your subordinates to leave Snow Wolf Valley and become an ordinary person again! ”

Zhang Yan said: "The general has something to say, but please say it clearly!" ”

Ma Chao got up and said: "Has Zhang Dashuai ever heard that Ben will vigorously suppress the local powerful family in Bingzhou?" ”

"I've heard a little! Since the general took office and the state pastor, he has vigorously strengthened the taxation of the powerful family, reduced the taxes of ordinary people by seventy percent, and accepted a large number of homeless displaced people. ”

Ma Chao said with a smile: "In this way, we are still in the same way, I won't tell you that sooner or later I will take down the land of Jizhou, and I plan to implement a series of decrees in Jizhou, but there are many landlords in Jizhou, and it is inconvenient to directly come forward to destroy them one by one!" But if you use Zhang Dashuai's identity as a 'thief', plus tens of thousands of Montenegrin troops, you can just attack these big and small heroes!"

Zhang Yan pondered for a while, frowned, and said, "Could it be that General Fei wants to get rid of all the powerful families in Jizhou?" ”

Ma Chao shook his head and said: "All the families that annex land on a large scale must be eliminated, but this matter can only be slowly figured out, with your Montenegrin army in the Ming, coupled with the secret support of the general, our officials and bandits cooperate, and most of the landlords in Jizhou can be eliminated in less than a year!" At that time, Ben will come forward to recruit An, and you can become a court official and a Han official in a transformation, and with the protection of this general, no one can help you! ”

Zhang Yan was very moved when she heard this, and said excitedly: "This move is very good!" Yan is also willing to serve the general, but there are only more than 60,000 strong men left under my command, and the weapons and equipment are extremely poor, and those small families who do not have Wu Bao often put food in the city, and they are not enough to deal with Wu Bao of those big families. ”

Ma Chao said with a smile: "This matter is easy, I will secretly provide you with food, grass and weapons, and at the same time open the door of convenience when you attack the city, as long as you can ensure that your command does not plunder the government and ordinary people, except for a few important places such as Jinyang and Yecheng, all small and medium-sized cities are plundered!" ”

Zhang Yan was overjoyed, with Ma Chao's support, he was equivalent to robbing by order, and he didn't have to confront the official army, he only needed to deal with the domestic slaves raised by those powerful landlords, the Montenegrin army had sixty or seventy thousand people, and it was easy to rob small and medium-sized families! (To be continued.) )