Chapter 647

The tense expression on his face relaxed significantly.

"Great, finally I don't have to be so fearful all day long. If the hundred thousand Huang Jin rebels in Quliang City were to rush out, the few troops we have would certainly not be able to stop them," Yuan Shao said.

Xu You nodded in agreement.

The total number of commandery troops in Wei Commandery was only about ten thousand, and they still had to defend the safety of each county. If it weren't for the temporary expansion and recruitment of troops, they probably wouldn't even have enough soldiers to defend the city.

Of course, the reason Yuan Shao was able to hold on until now was not because he had withstood the attacks of the Huang Jin rebels.

In fact, since Zhang Jiao led the Taiping Dao believers south from Julu, Yuan Shao had only fought one battle with Zhang Jiao when he reached Wei Commandery.

And strictly speaking, it didn't even count as a battle.

At that time, Yuan Shao received an order from Luoyang to intercept Zhang Jiao.

Yuan Shao mobilized all the commandery troops, totaling more than four thousand men, to block Zhang Jiao head-on.

But when he saw the dense crowd of Taiping Dao believers covering the mountains and plains, Yuan Shao was also a bit stunned.

Four thousand men to fight against over a hundred thousand.

Let alone Yuan Shao, no one had any confidence.

Everyone's heart was empty.

But Yuan Shao never expected.

When he ordered Yan Liang and Wen Chou to charge, the more than one hundred thousand Taiping Dao believers led by Zhang Jiao did not resist but retreated instead.

At the time, Yuan Shao didn't dare to order a pursuit; after all, he only had four thousand troops. If Zhang Jiao had an ambush, ten thousand people ambushing four thousand, one spit from each person would be enough to drown his four thousand men.

Yuan Shao led his four thousand troops and followed the retreating Taiping Dao main force all the way to outside Quliang City.

Yuan Shao originally thought Zhang Jiao would just keep retreating like this.

But on the second day after arriving at Quliang City, the Taiping Dao suddenly launched an attack on Quliang City.

In just half a day, Quliang City fell.

All hundred thousand Taiping Dao believers entered Quliang City.

And since that day, the hundred thousand Taiping Dao believers had not taken a single step out of Quliang City.

And Yuan Shao had also been waiting outside Quliang City with his four thousand troops.

With over a hundred thousand troops in Quliang City, Yuan Shao never even thought about attacking.

He only hoped that before the imperial court's reinforcements arrived, these Taiping Dao believers who had turned into rebels would not leave Quliang City.

"Zi Yuan, you say they neither come out, nor retreat, nor advance—what exactly are they doing in Quliang City?"

This question had troubled Yuan Shao for a long time.

Xu You looked at Quliang City in the distance, his brows tightly locked.

From the time Zhang Jiao set out from Julu until he reached Wei Commandery, it had actually been proven that Zhang Jiao had no intention of rebellion.

At the very least, he had no intention of rebellion when he left Julu.

Otherwise, those hundred thousand Taiping Dao believers would not have been without any weapons.

But why did they suddenly attack Quliang City later, and why did they enter Quliang City and never come out?

Xu You also couldn't figure out why.

Now, besides Jizhou, the Taiping Dao in Youzhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, and Yuzhou had completely become rebels.

Only this Jizhou.

"I'm afraid that besides those inside the city, no one knows what is going on," Xu You said with a heavy tone.

Quliang City, in the back courtyard of the County Government.

An old man with half-gray hair, wearing a gray long robe and carrying an old wooden box on his back, walked out of the room.

Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang, the two brothers waiting outside the room, immediately walked toward the old man.

"Two Generals..."

After the old man reached Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang, he bowed and said: "Two Generals, this old man is incompetent. The Great Virtuous Teacher's illness has already entered his internal organs; medicine cannot cure it, and the poison has entered his bones. It is difficult to prolong his life."

"My medical skills are not refined; I am truly powerless."

The old man kept nodding and apologizing as he spoke.

Zhang Liang waved his hand in agitation.

The old man apologized again with the medicine box on his back and walked toward the front courtyard.

Zhang Bao's gaze was gloomy as he looked at the old man walking out of the courtyard.

"The news of Big Brother's serious illness must absolutely not be leaked, otherwise the believers outside will turn into birds and beasts in an instant. And now that the imperial court is threatening us so tightly, we cannot sit and wait for death like this!"

"Second Brother... what do you mean?" Zhang Liang asked, looking at Zhang Bao.

"Heaven and Earth are not benevolent; they treat all things as straw dogs."

"The imperial court is not benevolent, and the officials are forcing the people to rebel. We have no choice but to rebel now. If we wait like this, we will surely suffer disaster sooner or later!"

"If the imperial court sends a large army to attack, we will surely die in this Quliang City."

"It would be better... if we just rebel against them!" Zhang Bao's gaze was fierce.

Zhang Liang frowned, his expression hesitant.

"But... Big Brother... Big Brother told us absolutely not to confront the government troops. If we really rebel, then we will truly be rebels," Zhang Liang said hesitantly.

"Not rebel?"

"If we don't rebel, are we just waiting to die in this city?"

Zhang Bao pointed outside the city and said: "Those are the government troops outside the city."

"They are not leaving; they must be waiting for reinforcements. If their reinforcements arrive, can we still live?"

"Can the hundred thousand believers in this city still live?"

"We can choose not to rebel, but what about them?"

"Can those government troops let us go?"

"They can't wait to take our heads to claim rewards!"

Zhang Bao's voice grew louder as he spoke, and Zhang Liang also fell into deep thought.

That's right, even if they didn't rebel, would the Han army outside the city let them go?

"Third Brother..." Zhang Bao reached out and patted Zhang Liang on the shoulder, saying earnestly: "Third Brother, Big Brother is good at everything, but he is too indecisive."

"Now that Big Brother is seriously ill and cannot manage affairs, if we keep waiting like this, we will not only harm the hundred thousand believers in this city, but also harm Big Brother."

"And... the Liu clan can rule this world, why can't our Zhang clan?"

"Liu Bang was only a pavilion chief at the beginning, and when he started his army, he only had a hundred or so soldiers."

"And we now have hundreds of thousands of soldiers, with eight provinces responding. Why don't we just march into Luoyang, topple that Emperor, and in doing so, as long as we treat the people well, wouldn't that also fulfill Big Brother's wish?"

"Third Brother, I am absolutely not saying this for myself; I am doing it for these hundreds of thousands of Taiping Dao believers, for the people of the world!"

Zhang Liang's expression was moved.

He looked up at Zhang Bao: "Then... what should we do?"