In the seventh month of the fifth year of the Jian'an Era, taking advantage of the great battle at Guandu, Qin Tian sent troops into Jiaozhou and launched a campaign against Zhang Jin on charges of colluding with foreign tribes.
In less than two months, Zhang Jin was killed by his subordinate general Qu Jing, and Cangwu Commandery fell.
Having secured this place, Qin Tian had completed more than half of his task in Jiangdong and could already report success.
Yet pacifying Jiaozhou was merely a matter in name. The true control of Jiaozhou still rested in Shi Xie's hands.
Thus, after taking Cangwu Commandery, Qin Tian did not lead his army away. Instead, he first entered the city to meet with Xue Zong, Xu Jing, Shi Huang, and the others.
The purpose of meeting the three was to use political means to gain control of Jiaozhou.
Of the three, Xu Jing and Shi Huang were both in the government office, while Xue Zong alone had returned home. Qin Tian therefore paid him a personal visit, intending to recruit Xue Zong into service.
When Xue Zong saw Qin Tian come personally to visit him, his face filled with shame as he said:
"Zong has neither rank nor title, nor any great talent. I failed to spare this land the calamity of war. How could I let my lord come personally to invite me?"
In truth, he had not held much goodwill toward Qin Tian before this. After all, he had lived in Jiaozhou for many years, and there had never been war here.
Yet Qin Tian was a typical ambitious man, directly bringing the calamity of war to Jiaozhou and leaving the people restless.
But after witnessing Zhang Jin's string of actions, he realized that even without Qin Tian, Zhang