The next day, after seeing Zhang Song and his entourage off, Zhang Fei immediately set out to lead his troops, leaving Li Yan to guard Jiangzhou and Su Fei to command the navy, and the men headed straight for Baxi.
Pang Tong ordered that military discipline be strictly enforced along the way and that civilians should not be plundered, but anyone who disturbed the people would be executed immediately. If they lost the support of the people as a result, the loss would outweigh the gain.
Fa Zheng had the orders of General Liu Zhang, and his journey was unimpeded, with food and fodder supplied from various places. When he arrived at Dianjiang, he found the city gates closed and no one came out to greet him. Meng Da went forward and knocked on the door.
An old general came out from the city wall and shouted, "I was ordered to let you go. You can go through the border by yourselves. Why do you have to enter the city?"
Meng Da tried to persuade the old general with kind words, but the old general did not open the door. Instead, he went back into the city, so Meng Da had to come back to report.
Zhang Fei was furious when he heard this and was about to lead his troops to attack the city. Fa Zheng advised him, "The commander of Dianjiang, Yan Yan, is a famous general in Shu. He was previously a general in Jiangzhou. He was transferred to Dianjiang because of your visit. He must be very upset. Don't provoke him."
Gan Ning said disdainfully: "I haven't seen this old villain for more than ten years. He is still alive. He is now an old soldier. Why should I be afraid of him? If he refuses to obey, I will beat him into submission and settle the grudges of the past."
When Liu Zhang succeeded as the governor of Yizhou, Gan Ning, Shen Mi, Lou Fa and others rebelled, but were defeated by Zhao Wei. The general leading the army at that time was Yan Yan, who shot Lou Fa to death with one arrow. This revenge has not been avenged to this day.
Fa Zheng said: "Although Yan Yan is old, he is still energetic. Dianjiang connects Jiangzhou and Langzhong. We should not make him an enemy now. Wait until Sanba is pacified. If he still refuses to change his ways, it will not be too late to fight him again."
Zhang Fei led his troops to set up camp ten miles away from the city to rest and sent someone with official documents into the city to ask for food and fodder.
Yan Yan followed Zhao Wei in suppressing the rebellion and made great contributions, and was appointed as the general of Jiangzhou. However, because of Zhao Wei's rebellion, Liu Zhang no longer trusted the civil and military officials of Yizhou, and he was never promoted from then on and remained in Jiangzhou to train troops.
A few years passed, and suddenly Liu Zhang issued an order to give up Jiangzhou as bait in order to deal with Zhang Lu. Isn't this like throwing meatballs at a dog, which will never come back
Yan Yan was furious and wrote a letter to the emperor requesting permission to lead troops to take Hanzhong. However, he was laughed at for being old, weak, stubborn and overestimating his own capabilities.
Liu Zhang was afraid of the military power of the generals of Xichuan. Since Yan Yan had a very high prestige in Shu, he did not dare to act rashly. He took the opportunity to transfer him to Dianjiang County, leaving him with only 5,000 troops.
At this time, Liu Qi had already taken Hanzhong, and Zhang Fei wanted to march into Bazhong. Seeing that Bazhong was no longer safe and there was no safe place to rely on in Shu, Liu Qi was anxious and angry, but helpless. How could he let Zhang Fei enter the city
Just as he was sighing, a messenger soldier came into the city with an official document requesting that food and grass be supplied along the way. Yan Yan was furious and said, "I am leading troops to guard the border, how can I have extra food supplies?"
The messenger was ordered to leave, but was stopped by someone at the door, who ordered the messenger to rest temporarily while vehicles were prepared to transport grain.
This man was about twenty years old, with a slightly dark complexion, bright eyes, and a heroic look between his brows. He was Yan Yan's apprentice Ju Fu.
Ju Fu was from Hanchang, Baxi. Ju was a big family in Hanchang. However, the Ba people rebelled and oppressed the Han people, and much of the clan's land was occupied. Ju Fu was determined to drive out the Ba people and revitalize the family. At the age of eighteen, he went out to look for a famous teacher. In Jiangzhou, he was highly regarded by Yan Yan. They were nominally master and apprentice, but in fact they were like father and son.
Yan Yan's face was gloomy, and he snorted coldly: "The soldiers of Jingzhou have evil intentions, can't Xiaoxing see it?"
Ju Fuyan said: "Although Liu Qi intends to take Yizhou, Master, this move will not only fail to preserve your reputation, but may even ruin your reputation."
Yan Yan said unhappily, "I am loyal to my master and fulfill my duties. What's wrong with that?"
Ju Fu advised: "Master, you requested an order before, but you were demoted to this place instead. This shows that the lord is dissatisfied. Now the order has been issued here. If you resist the military order again, it will be disloyalty. Please think twice."
Yan Yan stroked his beard and sneered, "When a general is away from home, he may not obey the king's orders. Dianjiang is located in the strategic area of the Three Rivers. We must defend against the Jingzhou troops in the south and the Ba people in the north. It is best to store food and train soldiers. I will explain this to the lord."
Ju Fu advised: "Although everyone knows Liu Bowei's intentions, now that he has seized the gateway to Hanzhong and Jiangzhou, he is reluctant to use his troops. This is because his reputation is not right! There is no reason to send troops. If Master disobeys orders and resists Zhang Fei, the two armies will clash, which will give others a handle. If the war is caused by Master, won't you become the sinner of Xichuan?"
Yan Yan sighed and said, "Although I hate Liu Qi for coveting Yizhou, he said something very well: Every man has his share of responsibility for the fate of a country. My lord, you are using a tiger to defend yourself, but sooner or later you will be devoured by the tiger. There is no one in Xichuan to prevent danger. Isn't it heartbreaking?"
Ju Fu said, "Master, you are sincere, and heaven and earth can bear witness to that. But the lord does not use you, which is like throwing a pearl into the dark! In the current situation, is there no one in Chengdu who can advise you? Are Zhang Song and Fa Zheng not stupid? General Fubo once said, 'Since ancient times, it is not the lord who chooses his ministers, but the ministers who choose their lords. At this time, everyone in Shu is protecting themselves and acting according to the situation. Master, you are just a county magistrate. Why do you have to step out and invite disaster upon yourself?"
Yan Yan was silent for a long time, and finally agreed to send only ten carts of food and fodder, which was barely enough to comfort the troops but not enough for military rations.
Ju Fu wanted to persuade him again, but Yan Yan went back to the back court. Ju Fu could only sigh helplessly. Although Yan Yan was old, he had a fiery temper. He was already dissatisfied with Zhang Fei, but he still had to provide food and fodder, and he couldn't let it go for the sake of face. This was his last stubbornness.
In desperation, he had to transport grain out of the city himself, saying that Dianjiang was a small county and the treasury was empty, so he could only barely reward the three armies, and more food and fodder needed to be transported.
Zhang Fei was furious and said, "I am helping Liu Yizhou fight against the enemy. How dare an old man like you treat me so lightly? I will go to the city to check now. If there is any food or grass, I will take him to Chengdu to argue with him."
Fa Zheng hurriedly advised: "Now is the time to unite and fight against the rebellion. Don't let your temper flare up and cause chaos among yourselves, which will make people laugh at you."
Gan Ning laughed wildly and said, "Liu Yizhou passed down the order, but this old man dared to disobey. If we don't teach him a lesson, does he think we are easy to bully?"
Zhang Fei was instigated by Gan Ning, and the two of them put on their armor and mounted their horses, leading their troops to the city of Dianjiang and shouting to open the city walls. Yan Yan refused to come out of the city walls, so Zhang Fei rushed straight to the city walls and tried to cross the moat, but was shot back by arrows.
Gan Ning shouted and cursed along the city wall and was almost shot by Yan Yan's arrow again. The two cursed for a while, but no one came out of the city at night, so they had to suppress their anger and return to the camp.
Zhang Fei grabbed Ju Fu and was about to behead him in protest, but Pang Tong advised him, "Calm down, Yide. If there is no grain in Dianjiang, we can just send it from Jiangzhou. Why make things difficult for an old county magistrate?"
Fa Zheng also tried to persuade him, but Zhang Fei pointed at Ju Fu and cursed, "Yan Yan is an old man who doesn't know when to advance or retreat. If he runs into me one day, I will cut off his head and use it as a wine jug."
Gan Ning laughed and said, "I'll be your chamber pot when you're done!"
Zhang Fei glared and said, "Are you taking advantage of me?"
Fa Zheng took advantage of the quarrel between the two and quickly asked Ju Fu to leave. Ju Fu had not expected such a situation and was frightened by Zhang Fei and Gan Ning. He left in a hurry with cold sweat on his forehead.
Zhang Fei called the two of them into his tent and complained, "I was just looking for an excuse to send troops to capture Dianjiang, and then I would take Langzhong and bring the old villain Yan Yan to Yizhou to question him. Can't you two see that?"
"The general is pretending to be angry?" Fa Zheng was stunned, then he remembered Pang Tong's evaluation, shook his head and laughed, "Yide is indeed a man of great talent!"
Zhang Fei snorted and stroked his stubbled face: "Everyone says that I am rude, it's not that I don't know how to use strategies, I'm just too lazy to use them. A real man should fight on the battlefield, galloping freely, and destroying the enemy with overwhelming force, that's the real pleasure!"