Chapter 191

"Is Yingchuan already that dangerous?"

Su Fan asked, "Is it possible that the imperial court's Forbidden Army cannot suppress the Yellow Turban army?"

"I am not clear about other fronts, but Bo Cai's army in Yingchuan is indeed extraordinary. The Right General of the Household has clashed with them several times and only managed to maintain a stalemate. Although they have killed ten times as many Yellow Turban soldiers, they have been unable to defeat the enemy..."

Xi Zhicai also said with some bewilderment; the power erupted by the Yellow Turbans had indeed shocked many people.

They had known before that the Taiping Dao was a hazard, but they had not expected it to be such a great one. They were all aware that local armies were no match for the Yellow Turban army, as military preparedness was lax and they lacked a numerical advantage.

But it was different that even the Forbidden Army, the strongest force in the world, could not suppress the Yellow Turban army.

In several major battles between the two sides, the imperial army was quite fierce, yet the Yellow Turban army was no worse. Even when they were about to be scattered, the enemy would bring out the Yellow Turban Warriors, and the formation would quickly stabilize.

As a result, the imperial army had to retreat; otherwise, if they were truly trapped by the million-strong Yellow Turban army, there would be only one outcome: death.

"Looking at it this way, this Yellow Turban Channel Commander Bo Cai is indeed a capable general," Su Fan said with some surprise. Although he knew of Bo Cai's prowess, being able to suppress the imperial army to this extent still surprised him.

In Yingchuan Commandery, besides Zhu Jun's 200,000 Forbidden Army troops, there were 300,000 troops gathered locally, totaling 500,000.

Yet they were still unable to suppress Bo Cai's army and were instead suppressed by the enemy.

Not to say they were being crushed, but at the very least, the imperial army could not repel Bo Cai's army and had to rely on the city to resist.

"Indeed, Bo Cai is quite capable of commanding troops. Such a talented general, yet it is a pity he turned to rebellion."

Saying this, Xi Zhicai did not know if it was regret or some other meaning.

"You are a fine person, why turn to rebellion?" Su Fan recited immediately.

"'You are a fine person, why turn to rebellion?' Brother Ning'an, what a fine literary talent you have," Xi Zhicai's eyes lit up.

Upon hearing this, Su Fan coughed dryly. He had no literary talent; he was merely borrowing a famous line from later generations.

If you wanted him to discuss Daoist classics, Su Fan would have absolutely no problem, but as for poetry or such things, he was truly incapable.

Of course, he knew many Tang poems and Song lyrics from later generations, but these things were not popular in this era.

"Cough, cough! Brother Zhicai, I wonder where you plan to go next? Since the imperial army cannot suppress Bo Cai in Yingchuan, it remains very dangerous there."

Su Fan quickly changed the subject.

"I plan to take my wife and children to Runan to seek refuge first. Once they are settled, I will prepare to wait for an opportunity to take revenge. I cannot leave the grudge of my father-in-law's family unavenged."

"Runan Commandery?"

"Brother Zhicai, if you want to go to Runan Commandery, I think you should forget it. As far as I know, there are even more Yellow Turban troops in Runan Commandery, and the devastation is even more severe."

Su Fan was somewhat surprised by Xi Zhicai's choice.

"Is there also Yellow Turban devastation in Runan?"

"How is that possible?"

Xi Zhicai was somewhat surprised.

"Why is it impossible? Nowadays, Yellow Turban troops are ravaging almost every part of the world. There are hundreds of millions of them. Although most are a rabble and many are just coerced farmers, their sheer numbers sometimes give them an advantage."

"As far as I know, the number of Yellow Turbans in Runan is several times higher than in Yingchuan."

"In the entire Runan Commandery, except for a few cities, I fear most have already been ravaged by the Yellow Turbans."

The more places there were with prominent clans, the more the Yellow Turbans ravaged, because prominent clans oppressed the lower-class people more.

Peasant uprisings were a result of resistance against oppression.

Looking at the Divine Han Dynasty, the reason why there were so many Yellow Turbans in the Central Plains was that many of the lower-class people were oppressed and could no longer survive.

So, when the Taiping Dao called, almost everyone stood up; of course, many were also coerced.

"This..."

Xi Zhicai still did not believe it. In his eyes, Runan Commandery was one of the world's most prominent commanderies and the ancestral home of the Yuan clan. Logically, it should be safer, but he had not expected it to also be ravaged by the Yellow Turbans.

Where in this world was there a place of peace?

"Brother Zhicai, are you wondering why I know this?"

"Actually, this is a long story..."

Su Fan also briefly recounted how he was forcibly taken as a disciple by Zhang Jiao and the base he had established in Donghai Commandery.

Since he wanted to win over Xi Zhicai, he naturally had to be open and also show his current strength.

He was currently without official rank or position, making it very difficult to win the other party over, but showing his own strength, combined with the fact that he was from the Guangling Gao clan, helped.

With his family background, becoming a Prefect would be difficult, but becoming a county official through the filial and incorrupt recommendation was not too hard.

Especially in the current situation, Emperor Ling of Han had already relaxed the suppression of local powerful clans and ordered that local areas be allowed to raise troops to suppress the Taiping Dao.

This gave local powerful clans the possibility of involving themselves in military power.

People with aspirations all saw the weakness of the Liu clan. If the Divine Han imperial court were not weak, how could they allow local powerful clans to organize troops to suppress the Yellow Turbans? Wasn't this giving them the opportunity to meddle in military power?

"I never imagined Brother Ning'an would have such an experience!" Xi Zhicai sighed upon hearing this. He did not doubt the possibility of Su Fan turning to rebellion.

After all, as long as one was not a fool, one could see that the Taiping Dao and the prominent clans were completely at odds.

Su Fan was born into a prominent clan and was naturally at odds with the Taiping Dao. How could he join the Taiping Dao? Xi Zhicai did not care much about him being forcibly taken as a disciple by Zhang Jiao and being forced to join the Taiping Dao.

Instead, learning from the other party that he had established such a large territory in the wilderness of Donghai Commandery surprised him.

Although he had not built a city, governing millions of people was enough to make him a Commandery Prefect.

Xi Zhicai also admired Su Fan's talent.

After all, building such a large foundation from nothing, especially being able to feed millions of refugees, was quite extraordinary.

At the same time, he also felt the ambition in the other party.

"Brother Zhicai, if you don't mind, you can settle your family on my side. It is far from the troubles, and the land of Xuzhou itself does not have many Yellow Turbans. After Guan Hai left, there are even fewer."

"The remaining ones pose no threat at all."

"This..."

Xi Zhicai was still hesitant.

"Are you worried about my side?"

Su Fan naturally knew what Xi Zhicai was hesitant about.

So he said, "Brother Zhicai, rest assured. Once Zhang Jiao is suppressed, I will immediately send troops to suppress the Yellow Turbans around Xuzhou to establish military merit, and then seek the position of Prefect of Donghai Commandery. In this way, that place will rightfully become the jurisdiction of the Donghai Prefect's office."

"Brother Ning'an, why wait until Zhang Jiao is suppressed to send troops?" Xi Zhicai asked curiously upon hearing this.

Generally, if one wants to establish merit, isn't it the earlier the better?