Chapter 513: Pacifying the Rebellion

CaoCao, not to mention his future, at least gave people the feeling of being free and easy, making one feel like they were bathed in a spring breeze. Bai Lang drank three large goblets of wine with him. CaoCao was no more than seven feet tall, while Bai Lang was eight feet five inches. CaoCao did not show the slightest bit of inferiority in front of Bai Lang, as if there were no difference in height at all. It could be considered heroic, so both host and guest were happy. Bai Lang also received toasts from several generals near him—since the Cavalry Commandant from Luoyang was like this, they didn't need to keep a straight face.

Moreover, Bai Lang's martial bravery truly shocked everyone. Those who could stimulate the spirit of battle were martial generals, naturally destined to stand above ordinary soldiers.

Now that the Yellow Turbans had retreated, they naturally had to pursue the victory and attack Guangzong. However, the task assigned to Liu Dai by Huangfu Song was to recover Dong Commandery in Yanzhou, which had been occupied by the Yellow Turbans. Bai Lang then led his cavalry to follow the Yanzhou commandery troops and volunteers to kill their way to Dong Commandery. Bai Lang was the first to scale the walls of Dong'e city, taking it with a single drumbeat. In this battle, Bai Lang wore heavy armor, held a shield in one hand and a spear in the other, and climbed the scaling ladder by force.

The shield was thick and heavy, deflecting rolling logs and stones. After climbing a few steps, Bai Lang shouted and used his strength on the ladder to leap onto the city wall, and the ladder snapped cleanly... Bai Lang threw his shield out, and the shield spun with a fierce sound, directly smashing two people to death. Next, Bai Lang displayed his weapon skills—the most efficient and highest-level martial arts were undoubtedly those of weapons. It was no problem for Bai Lang's Southern Dipper White Tiger Fist to evolve into Southern Dipper Iron Spear Killing—the Southern Dipper Holy Fist was originally such a bold martial art.

Once they had catapults, maybe he could even practice the Southern Dipper Catapult Break... Anyway, now when Bai Lang swung his iron spear, it was wide open, treating the iron spear as a long stick with a blade. The weapon in Bai Lang's hand did not have a purely round shaft, but an elliptical cross-section, and there was a three-foot iron sleeve at the back of the iron spear to prevent it from being cut by swords—although Bai Lang didn't know if a shaft made of steel wire core would count as uncuttable by swords...

However, he hadn't reached that step yet; the shaft in his hand was still made of split wood and bamboo strips glued and painted. However, the double-edged spearhead was made of refined steel forged a hundred times. Bai Lang just used it as a double-headed sword, and the cannon fodder on the city wall couldn't stop his horizontal sweep. Wherever the blade went, blood and armor flew. There was no one in front of Bai Lang who could withstand a single blow. With thrusts and slashes, Bai Lang killed the Yellow Turbans on the city wall by himself, and the volunteers under his command also climbed the wall one after another.

After lowering the city gate, Dong'e was considered broken. Bai Lang led the volunteers to sweep along the roads inside the city. "Surrender and live!" Bai Lang shouted. Governor Liu Dai rode over under the protection of his generals. "The bandits were once children of the nation; if they can surrender, there is no need to kill them indiscriminately." He also ordered the commandery troops to shout that those who surrendered would be spared. Thus, except for one-third of the Yellow Turbans who fled, the rest all surrendered.

Then came Baima and Dunqiu, both taken in a single day. Bai Lang was the first to scale the walls every time, and his merit was always the first among the generals. Some were unconvinced, but once they were surrounded while scaling the wall, they had to rely on Bai Lang to rescue them. Thus, they were convinced and all publicly recommended Bai Lang as the bravest in Yanzhou. At this time, Rencheng Administrator Liu Dai had already been recommended by Huangfu Song for his merit as Yanzhou Inspector, and he also appointed Bai Lang as a commandery military officer, in charge of one thousand cavalry.

Bai Lang only had eleven chivalrous men in his entourage, and these eleven had limited skills, only able to follow him as personal guards or lead squads and platoons. Puyang was the seat of Dong Commandery, and the fleeing Yellow Turbans all huddled there. On this day, the Yanzhou troops arrived and surrounded Puyang. A military advisor in the army offered a plan, "My Lord, you can send someone into the city to persuade them to surrender to avoid many deaths. The day before yesterday, our army swept through Dong Commandery, and the enemy has lost their courage. If you send someone now, they will surely surrender."

Liu Dai agreed and sent local elders and scholars. Bai Lang just sat on his horse, holding his spear horizontally, looking at the city in front of him. The Yellow Turbans on the city wall were trembling, and almost no one dared to stand within his line of sight. After only half an hour, there was a commotion in the city, then it calmed down, and the city gate opened wide. All the Yellow Turbans in Dong Commandery surrendered, and those few who wanted to defect to Zhang Jiao in the north were also killed. Thus, Yanzhou was pacified.

The Jizhou Yellow Turbans had also been decided. Huangfu Song broke Qu Yang, and Zhang Jiao had already died of illness. Huangfu Song broke the coffin and mutilated the corpse, killing over one hundred thousand Yellow Turbans in Qu Yang, using their corpses to build a Jingguan to show off his military merit and deter the lawless. The imperial court promoted Huangfu Song to Chariot and Cavalry General, leading Jizhou. Huangfu Song also recommended Lu Zhi for his merit and innocence, and the court restored Lu Zhi to his original position. CaoCao also had merit and was appointed as Jinan Administrator, and would leave for his post that day.

Zhu Jun also attacked with all his might, breaking Yangcheng and pacifying dozens of commanderies in Nanyang. Zhu Jun returned to the capital and was decreed as Chariot and Cavalry General and Henan Yin. Zhu Jun recommended Sun Jian, LiuBei, and others for their merit. Sun Jian had connections and was appointed as a military officer in another commandery. "It's a pity I didn't see LiuBei," Bai Lang sighed. At this time, he also received a decree, appointing Liu Dai as Yanzhou Inspector, and all the generals recommended by Liu Dai were rewarded. Bai Lang was officially appointed as Yanzhou Military Officer, but he didn't like military affairs and spent his days wandering in places like Changyi.

Bai Lang also collected iron ore himself, ordering the craftsmen in the province to re-forge his iron spear—this time, even the handle was wrapped with iron wire. Of course, the wire-drawing process already existed in the Eastern Han, but it was time-consuming and laborious. What Bai Lang did was just improve the wire-drawing plate and heat-treat the iron wire to obtain sufficient performance. Re-forging weapons was painstaking, and the so-called iron ore was just for show; the final material used to re-forge the iron spear was the iron mace Bai Lang brought—this material was good.

And he used the iron ore he mined to forge iron maces...

The forged iron spear also had a name, "Cloud Water." It was named because after the iron spear was double-edged and polished, it looked like a pool of autumn water reflecting the cloud patterns in the sky.

After that, it was considered a time of peace. Because Liu Dai mainly accepted the surrender of the Yellow Turbans, there was not much killing in Yanzhou, and production recovered quite well. The Ten Eunuchs and their ilk became increasingly arrogant. Over the past few years, the politics in Luoyang of the Great Han could be said to be increasingly corrupt and degenerate—all the spearheads were pointed at the Han Emperor Liu Hong. "This jade fish is completely lusterless; I'm afraid this time is not short." Bai Lang muttered, touching the jade fish.

On this day, the imperial court issued a decree that all those who were long-term officials due to military merit should be screened. Not only LiuBei Liu Xuande, but I'm afraid Bai Lang was also among them. Because he also joined the army as a commoner, and there were no old friends or elders in his family, Liu Dai was afraid he wouldn't have the courage—since it was an imperial decree, he was afraid it would be difficult for him to reject it for Bai Lang. Moreover, the Ten Eunuchs in the imperial court sent people to demand gold and silk from the generals who defeated the Yellow Turbans, and those who did not comply were reported to be dismissed.

Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun were not spared, let alone Liu Dai—if he hadn't been from the imperial clan, he would probably have been dismissed too. Even now, Liu Dai was dismissed from his post as Yanzhou Inspector and ordered to return to Luoyang to take office. Bai Lang also bid farewell to Liu Dai and led the dozens of soldiers who were still willing to follow him to the countryside—he had also acquired some land over the years, so farming was no problem at all.

However, within a few days, the Changsha bandit Qu Xing rebelled; Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun of Yuyang rebelled: Ju claimed to be the Son of Heaven, and Chun claimed to be the Great General. The Emperor decreed Sun Jian as Changsha Administrator to suppress Qu Xing. Within fifty days, he reported victory, Jiangxia was pacified, and Sun Jian was decreed as Marquis of Wucheng. Liu Yu was appointed as Youzhou Inspector, leading troops to Yuyang to conquer Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun. Liu Dai sent a letter of recommendation, asking Bai Lang to join Liu Yu as a general. Bai Lang gathered his soldiers and headed north. ===== CHAPTER 514 =====