At the third hour, it was late at night and most of the people in the ancient city had fallen asleep. Under the hazy starlight, our army quietly set off, and a team of more than 4,900 people left the ancient city with all the supplies and rations that had been prepared and headed straight for Runan.

Yesterday, Jian Yong came back from Runan and reported that Liu Pi was willing to surrender, the eldest brother immediately decided to leave for Runan the next day. However, I had the idea of ​​leaving at night. In this way, I mainly considered trying to hide the whereabouts of our army and prevent some people from being noticed.

After dawn, the people of the ancient city were shocked to find that all the garrisons outside the city had disappeared, and even the county government was empty. Only a notice was left on the wall outside the front hall of the county government government that our army had left. Many people sighed: Our army had been stationed in the ancient city for about 5 months, and it was said that they had not violated them at all. It was probably the first time they had encountered such an army in the years.

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Runan City is 130 miles southeast of Gucheng County. Runan County is under the jurisdiction of Yuzhou. Yuzhou was once the most prosperous and densely populated state among the thirteen prefectures of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and Runan was the most populated county among the six counties under Yuzhou. At its peak, Runan's population once reached nearly 2 million, which can be said to be the most populated county in the world at that time. In ancient times, when advanced production technology was lacking, the population represented production capacity, so at that time, Runan's annual money, grain and taxes accounted for almost half of the entire Yuzhou. Such a rich county naturally became the target of many people at that time. During the reign of Emperor Ling of Han, there was a farce in which two officials fought for the position of prefect of Runan until their heads were bleeding.

However, Runan County is no longer prosperous now. Since the Yellow Turban Riot in the first year of Zhongping (184 AD), Runan County has encountered wars almost every year for more than 10 years. For a time, Runan was filled with sorrow and people were living in poverty. Six or seven were empty in the ten rooms. In less than 20 years, the population of 2 million was sharply reduced to only more than 300,000, and most of them were women and children.

After a day of marching, at dusk, Runan City was finally far away. Two miles away outside the city, dozens of people were waiting. As soon as we arrived, we immediately came over. The two men with yellow turbans were in their 40s, with a rough and fierce appearance with a bit of local honesty.

Are they Liu Pi and Gong Du? I thought to myself.

Sure enough, the two of them came to the eldest brother Ma, and with a "plop", knelt on their knees, bowed their heads, and said to the eldest brother: "Liu Pi (Gong Du) pays homage to Uncle Liu!" Liu Pi, Gong Du, were both leaders of the former Yellow Turban Army, and they did not have very high talents. In the original historical trajectory, the most commendable deeds of the two were probably the heroic death in order to protect the eldest brother in the Battle of Runan, and they followed the eldest brother for less than two months.

The eldest brother immediately turned over and dismounted, helped Liu and Gong up with both hands, and said in a stern manner: "What kind of virtue is Liu Bei? How dare you help the two generals perform this great gift and defeat Liu Bei."

After Liu Pi was helped up, he didn't dare to raise his head. He said in an extremely respectful tone: "The emperor's uncle is kind and famous all over the world. Brother Gong and I have been respecting the emperor's uncle for a long time. We have been trying to join the emperor's uncle for a long time. Now we have the chance. I beg the emperor to take it in!"

Gong Du next to him also said earnestly: "Please take in the emperor!"

"Since that's the case, I dare not refuse. From today on, we will be our own family." The eldest brother did not make any hypocritical refusal and agreed readily.

"Thank you lord!... Please follow us into the city! Please, lord, please, everyone!"

After a while, under the leadership of Liu Pi and Gong Du, we came to the city of Runan. I looked up and looked at the city in front of me: the city wall was at least 3 or 4 times higher than the ancient city. It seemed that it was nearly 4 meters tall, and there was a moat nearly 3 meters wide outside the city wall. There were obviously traces left by swords, guns and arrows on the city wall, indicating that Runan had experienced many wars in the past. After all, it was the city of the county city, which was incomparable to the weak city defense of the ancient city. As long as such a city had a certain amount of troops stationed, it would be very difficult to attack.

There were many soldiers from Liu Pijun garrison on the city wall and at the city gate. After looking at these soldiers, I was even more shocked than when I saw the city just now. It was not because these soldiers were so powerful and mighty, but because these soldiers were too good and bad, including 5 and 60-year-old men, 2 and 30-year-old young men, and 12 and 3-year-old children. At first glance, less than 40% of the hundreds of soldiers I saw were truly young and middle-aged. I could imagine what kind of combat effectiveness would be like this army! How did Liu Pi and Gong capture Runan? The second brother next to me seemed to have this question. Our brothers looked at each other and shook their heads.

The roads in Runan City are relatively wide, estimated to be 6 or 7 meters wide, and the roads paved with bluestone are very neat. Although it is almost dusk, there are still many people on the streets, and people are coming and going. It seems that Liu Pi is treating the people quite well. The scene in front of him shows that the people in the city can at least accept the rule of Liu Pi's army.

The county magistrate's mansion is located in the center of Runan City. Under the leadership of Liu Pi and Gong Du, we entered this magnificent mansion. When we arrived at the spacious main hall, many people were already waiting. It looked probably all the leaders in Liu Pi's army.

Liu Pi invited his elder brother to sit down at the main hall, ordered someone to take the seal of the county magistrate of Runan, bowed his head, picked it up with both hands, and sent it respectfully to the elder brother, "Please ask the lord to take the seal of the county magistrate!"

When the elder brother took the seal, Liu Pi immediately knelt on his knees, leaned down, and shouted loudly, "Liu Pi greets the lord!" Behind him, the leaders led by Gong Du also knelt down one after another, and treated the great ceremony with respectful expressions, "Welcome to the lord!"

The eldest brother gently placed the county magistrate Yin Xin on the table, walked down from his seat, helped Liu Pi and Gong Du up, and said sincerely and kindly: "Please get up, please get up! In the future, you will be your own family, so you don't have to be so polite. Please get up..."

When everyone in the hall stood up, the elder brother began to introduce us to Liu Pi and others.

"This is my second brother Guan Yu and Guan Yunchang!" "Greetings to General Guan!" The second brother nodded slightly and smiled faintly on his face.

"This is my third brother Zhang Fei and Zhang Yide!" The elder brother brought Liu Pi and his party to me and introduced him. As soon as he heard my name, Liu Pi and Gong Du were shocked. When he looked up at my appearance, his face changed drastically. He bent down and lowered his head without folding. His hands were slightly trembling and raised his fists over his head, and said in a trembling voice: "Bless... pay homage to Zhang... General Zhang!" It turned out to be the god of killing. (See Volume 1, Chapter 12)

The eldest brother was wondering why Liu and Gong and the others talked to me in such a tone, "Two generals, you seem to be a little afraid of my third brother, but for some reason?"

Liu Pi took a deep breath, and said with a look of fear: "Lord! I have been fortunate to see Zhang for more than 10 years... The general's power is amazing. Although it has been many years, I still feel deeply afraid when I meet today. I am making my lord laugh!"

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After my elder brother introduced us to the group, Liu Pi began to introduce us to a group of leaders in the army. Three of them caught my attention: one of them was named Zhu Kang, who seemed very unhappy with our arrival. He looked quite unhappy when he knelt down to worship my elder brother just now. This person needs to be wary of him in the future! The reason why the other two attracted my attention was because of their names that made me feel familiar with.

Fan Jiang!
Chapter completed!