![]() ![]() He was also allowed to nominate candidates for office and was expected to send the typical reports tot he Han court. Due to his negotiations with the Han government, Zhang Yan was made an honorary general and given formal control over the land north of the Yellow River. So he offered terms of surrender to the Han court. However, Zhang Yan was an intelligent man and knew that it was only a matter of time until the Han court sent a large army to put him down. Everything north of the Yellow River suffered from Zhang Yan and his bandits. They ravaged Bing and Ji, and none of the local commanders could do anything to stop them. Indeed, the Black Mountain Bandits were so large that Emperor Ling could do nothing about them. Whatever their actual numbers were, though, they were a massive force. The Sanguozhi claims that they numbered over one million, but that is an obvious exaggeration. Zhang Yan called his force the Black Mountain Bandits (Heishan Bandits). ![]() These leaders had such colorful nicknames as Yellow Dragon, Enclosure of the Left, Yu Digen, White Horse Zhang, Liu Shi, Zuo With the Eighty-Foot Moustache, Grand Design to Pacify Han, Director of Retainers who Scales the City Wall, Lord of Thunder, Floating Clouds, White Sparrow, Phoenix Yang, Poison Y u, Five Deer, Big-Eyes Li, Bo Rao, Sui Gu, and Dry Grub. Minor local leaders swore themselves to hsi service, as did many bandit leaders. He spread his influence across the commanderies of Changshan, Zhaojun, Zhongshan, Shangdang, and Henei. Zhang Yan set about increasing his power by recruiting other bandit leaders to join him. Because of his speed, people called him Flying Swallow Zhang (Zhang Feiyan). He was quick-witted and a quick general on the field. He was known for his courage and for the speed with which he acted. Zhang Yan soon distinguished himself as an excellent leader. In honor of his fallen friend, Chu Yan changed his name to Zhang Yan. Before dying of his wounds, he asked his lieutenants to accept Chu Yan as their next leader. Some time after 184, Ox-Horn Zhang and Chu Yan were attacking Yingtao, and Ox-Horn was shot by an arrow. Their forces merged, with Ox-Horn Zhang taking the command role. Another man called Ox-Horn Zhang (Zhang Niujiao) from Boling created a bandit army of his own, and Chu Yan allied with him. Because Han was so foucsed on the Yellow Turbans, they could not spare the men to suppress Chu Yan. They plundered the local area and recruited as they went, in alliance with the Turbans. During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he gathered up a large number of young men and formed a bandit force. Zhang Yan was born Chu Yan, in the county of Zhending, in Changshan, Ji. Because he was a bandit, he could never be called a heroic figure, but he was certainly an interesting one. He took advantage of the chaos of the time and turned a small force of bandits into one of the most powerful groups in northern China. ![]()
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