I am not an ant thief in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 200, Undercurrent in Luoyang

Emperor Ling closed his eyes and thought about it. Now the big man has prestige and can suppress the entire family of the powerful and powerful in Jizhou, just those few famous ministers, or the patriarchs of the fourth and third generations, they can be said to have always been the political enemies of Emperor Ling!
He has finally driven them out of the court through various means over the years. Although they can still command the court remotely, it is not as good as sitting in charge in person after all.

If he had a choice, Emperor Ling would not want the patriarchs of these noble clans to enter the court, but their support is indispensable to deal with Lei Gong!Especially to deal with Lei Gong, the Jizhou army is the main force, and Jizhou's support through food and grass is even more indispensable!
Cui Lie is the representative of the noble family in Jizhou. Lingdi was the first to give up on him. He has been too disappointed with the noble family in Jizhou these years. If they hadn't continued to make trouble, how could the Yellow Turban Army in Jizhou have been defeated repeatedly.Even let Lei Gong grow into the current scale.

The Yang family is also well-known in the Han Dynasty, but since Yang Ci died of illness, all the young and strong factions like Yang Biao are left behind in the family. They still need time to accumulate prestige. To the follow-up war against Lei Gong.

Although the Xu family in Runan County is also the top family of the big man, and there are brothers Xu Shao and Xu Jing who are famous for the "Yue Dan Ping" in the family, but because Xu Xiang took refuge in Zhang, they did not have much prestige and could not suppress the powerful families in Jizhou. .

After thinking about it, now that those who have the prestige to suppress the nobles of Jizhou and make them obey the command of the big Han, only the Yuan family is the head of the big Han clan.

Yuan Kai is fighting against Emperor Ling on behalf of the entire clan, and it can be said that he is the main political enemy of Emperor Ling. If Yuan Kai becomes the shepherd of Jizhou, there are good and bad. The advantage is that the Yuan family is far away from the court and its influence is weakened. It is the money and food center of the imperial court, and can continue to influence the imperial court locally. Even Emperor Ling didn't know whether sending Yuan Kai to Jizhou strengthened the Yuan family or weakened the Yuan family.

Under the cleanup by Fu Bian and Liu Bei, the taxes in Jizhou not only did not decrease like other places, but increased continuously. In the past, the taxes in Jizhou were only about 8 million yuan, but now they exceed 30 billion yuan (most of them are brought about by rising food prices), and now more than half of the imperial court’s taxes depend on Jizhou. If Yuan Kai becomes the shepherd of Jizhou, the Yuan family can use money and food to control the court in turn!
After thinking about it for a long time, Emperor Ling decided to send Yuan Kai to become Jizhou Mu to assist Huangfusong in destroying Lei Gong.

Luoyang, Yuan Mansion.

Since Yang Ci of the Yang Clan in Hongnong County died of illness, Yuan Kai has become the well-deserved head of the No. [-] clan of the Han Dynasty.

Although he has been unemployed at home because of being implicated by Wang Fen, Yuan Kai is still full of energy in his sixties, and the Yuan family is another power center of the big man.

And after Liu Bei raised his troops to control the entire Jizhou officialdom, the entire Luoyang city was no longer quiet. Everyone was either condemning Liu Bei, or condemning the actions of the Jizhou clan. Call it a butcher, and now the elites in Jizhou slaughter all their own people.

This matter was unheard of and unseen. Normal people would not do such a thing. This matter instantly became a new hot spot in Luoyang City.

People don't understand the hatred of the elite clans of Jizhou towards the Yellow Turban Army, they just think that the elite clans of Jizhou were frightened stupid by the Yellow Turban Army, and there will be no Yellow Turban Army after killing all the people, but who will farm for you!The whole gossip party in Luoyang City is discussing what caused the whole Jizhou elites to do such crazy things!
The momentum of the discussion is getting stronger and stronger, and it is becoming more and more unfavorable to the powerful and noble families of Jizhou. The patriarchs of the powerful and powerful families in Luoyang City can't sit still. They meet at Yuan's house to discuss the issue of Jizhou!

In the study, the Taiwei Ma Rixun, the former Taifu Yuan Kui, the former Sikong Xu Xiang, the former Taiwei Zhang Wen, the former Taiwei Cui Lie, the five-featured Zhonglang General Yang Biao, etc., are all high-ranking officials of the Han Dynasty.

Taiwei Ma Rixun blamed: "Brother Wei Kao, what are you thinking? How could you slaughter the people under the rule of the big man? You are not giving people a handle on how you let the whole world treat us!"

Cui Lie smiled wryly: "I said I didn't know about this, do you believe me?"

The noble families present at the scene didn't believe it at all. As the head of Jizhou's number one family, would you not know about such a big event coming out of Jizhou?
Cui Lie said helplessly: "But I really don't know about this. I have been in Luoyang City these years, and I have never returned to Jizhou. I only know that Jizhou has been destroyed several times by the Yellow Turban Army in recent years. The major families in Jizhou have suffered heavy losses these years. Many families have already perished, maybe because of this, they hate the Yellow Turban Bandits, so they want to kill the grass and roots like this!"

Xu Xiang mocked: "It's not like you cut the grass and roots. You can kill some captives of the Yellow Turbans. After all, Huangfusong also slaughtered 10 Yellow Turbans to deter the rebellion, but there are people like you who slaughtered the people to deter the rebellion. Is it? You are trying to push the common people to Lei Gong's side!"

Cui Lie smiled wryly and said: "It's not Liu Xuande's fault. His wife's benevolence did not allow the killing of the captives of the Yellow Turbans, and placed hundreds of thousands of captives of the Yellow Turbans in Daluze. It seems that they are going to continue to farm. It didn’t get vented, and it turned out to be vented on the people.”

Yuan Kai doubted: "Even if there is no venting, it is not the case that the entire Jizhou clan has become like this. It is said that the entire area near Taihang Mountain is almost killed. You must know that this is Jizhou. The population of a county It’s more than a big man in a frontier state! But now I’m scared away if I haven’t killed them all!”

Cui Lie shook his head and said: "I really don't know what happened here, I can only wait for the news from Jizhou! But I know that the situation in Jizhou must be different from Luoyang City. In recent years, there is no place where the big man is better than Jizhou It was turbulent, there were 10-4 wars with more than 5 people, and the war just ended was a big melee with as many as 50 people. It can be said to be the biggest war in hundreds of years. To put it bluntly, the current Jizhou Bixi Liang will be in turmoil!"

Thinking of this, Cui Lie suddenly realized: "Luoyang City still has a bit of prosperity, but the current Jizhou is more chaotic than the troubled times. At least in the troubled times of the former Han Dynasty, the elites in Jizhou haven't lost so badly. The world is in chaos among the big men, so they will do any radical behavior!"

Zhang Wen suddenly realized: "So that's the case, this makes sense!"

Then Zhang Wen explained to everyone: "When I led the troops to attack Xiliang for rebellion, I found that the situation in Xiliang was completely different from that in the mainland of Han Dynasty. The military discipline of the local county soldiers is also very poor, and they often massacre the local people. If the imperial court controls them, they dare to directly create defections and rebellion. This is not very similar to the current Jizhou!"

Yang Biao said: "Who will agree with this reason? Do we have to tell Jizhou that such a thing is already in troubled times? Who will believe this? And who will admit that the big man has stepped into troubled times!"

Even the Patriarchs present would not admit it. This does not mean that they are not capable of bringing a good man into the troubled times. You must know that they have been in power for the past few years!

Yuan Kai frowned and said: "We still have to find a way to minimize the influence of this matter, and at the same time transfer Liu Bei out of Jizhou, and send a highly respected veteran to guard Jizhou, so that this kind of thing will not happen again! "

Cui Lie looked at Yuan Kai and said, "Brother Ciyang, please protect the families in Jizhou. They have been ravaged by the Yellow Turban Army several times, and they can't stand any more trouble."

Yuan Kai said helplessly: "I'm afraid His Majesty will not let this opportunity go!"

After thinking for a while, Yuan Kai said: "Now we have to abandon the car to protect the handsome man, throw some people out to let the world vent their anger, and then we will find a way to calm down this matter slowly! Fortunately, we still have a chance. Now that His Majesty is seriously ill, we have time to deal with it." End it, cut your losses!"

Xu Xiang thought for a while and said, "As long as there is something that everyone cares more about, everyone will naturally not care about what happened in Jizhou!"

Cui Lie thought for a while and said, "Think of a way to get someone to attack Lei Gong?"

Yuan Kui frowned and said, "This is just drawing fire!"

At this time, the little eunuch in the palace came to convey the order, saying that Emperor Ling had summoned him!
Yuan Kai could only say to them: "That's the end of the discussion today, after I have seen His Majesty, we will find a way!"

Luoyang City, the Imperial Palace.

After Yuan Kai entered the palace, it was hard to believe that Emperor Ling was so ill that he couldn't even get up.

Emperor Ling asked Yuan Kai to approach him and said, "I'm afraid I can't do it this time!"

Yuan Kai panicked and said: "Your Majesty is just feeling a little unwell, why did you say such serious things!"

Emperor Ling smiled bitterly and said, "I know my body well. The only thing I can't worry about now is Lei Gong of Bingzhou! Lei Gong not only has hundreds of thousands of troops, but also has enough money and food to accommodate millions of victims. This level of strength has become The first scourge of the big man! If you don’t get rid of Lei Gong now, you will definitely become the scourge of the big man in the future.”

"I will transfer Liu Bei to Xiliang to suppress the rebellion. At the same time, I will transfer Huangfu Song to Jizhou to resist Lei Gong, and let him prepare for the war against Lei Gong in Jizhou. However, there is turmoil in Jizhou. I want Aiqing to become the shepherd of Jizhou and suppress the nobles in Jizhou. Don't let them drag Huangfusong back, Aiqing can also help Huangfusong raise money and food in Jizhou!"

Hearing Emperor Ling's words, Yuan Feng was also thinking in secret. To be honest, he didn't want to leave Luoyang City, especially when he knew that Emperor Ling's life was near, he didn't want to leave Luoyang City even more.

At this time, he left Luoyang City and waited for the new emperor to ascend the throne. He was far away in Jizhou and it was difficult to grasp the information of Luoyang City. If he is to be suppressed by the imperial power headed by the general, his many years of planning will come to nothing.

Yuan Feng thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, Huangfu Yi in Jizhou is really enough to suppress everything. Even if the old minister goes to Jizhou, it will not change much. On the contrary, it will easily affect Huangfusong's control of Jizhou. Jizhou will push the old minister and Huangfuyi." If His Majesty really wants to deal with Lei Gong, Huangfu Yizhen must become the only center of Jizhou, so that the resources of the entire Jizhou can be used to prepare for Lei Gong!"

"Your Majesty, Lei Gong is not an ordinary rebel. The army in his hands can defeat 10 Xianbei people. Compared with the army, Lei Gong is not much worse than a big man. I don't know military affairs. If I go to Jizhou, I can only add chaos to Huangfu Yizhen!"

Emperor Ling closed his eyes and meditated for a long time when he heard the words. Even Jizhou Mu couldn't attract Yuan Kai. It seemed that he was determined to stay in Luoyang City.

Emperor Ling knew that after his death, the only ones who could control the power of the great man were the great general He Jin and the leader of the clan Yuan Kai, but the two were capricious, the other was treacherous and cunning, and they were not good auxiliary ministers.

The other ministers lack prestige, but Lu Zhi is well-known, talented, and loyal. He can be said to be the best auxiliary minister in his mind, but he is a lonely minister and has no strength to compete with Yuan Wei.

At this time, Emperor Ling regretted that he didn't pay much attention to his eldest son, and he didn't cultivate him too much. Regardless of whether He Jin or Yuan Kai would take power in the future, it was inevitable that he would become a puppet. He didn't even think that his eldest son Liu Bian could regain his own right hope.

But at this point, he can only resign himself to his fate. His son is young and strong, and he has practiced health preservation techniques with Taoists (when Liu Bian was young, the Emperor Ling was worried that he would not survive, so he was handed over to a Taoist surnamed Shi to raise him , so Liu Bian is also called Shi Hou), at least there is a chance to kill He Jin and Yuan Feng!
After thinking about it, Emperor Ling said: "Since Aiqing is unwilling to go to Jizhou, I will appoint other people to go, and Aiqing will stay in Luoyang and sit in the court!"

After Yuan Feng left, Emperor Ling said to Zhang Rang Zhao Zhong: "I will make He Jin and Yuan Wei the auxiliary ministers. They will fight for their own rights. Keep a low profile and find a good opportunity to join He Jin. You and the powerful The gentry have been fighting for many years, He Jin will need you!"

At the same time, Yuan Kai left the palace and immediately summoned the patriarchs of the noble families just now.

"The Son of Heaven is really seriously ill, and time is probably numbered." Yuan Kai said with a heavy heart.

"The matter in Jizhou is already a trivial matter. Without the support of the emperor, now is the best time for us to eradicate Zhang and let them!"

Although the faces of the Patriarchs who reappeared were heavy, their hearts were full of excitement. After more than ten years, they finally saw the opportunity to eradicate the eunuch.

The eunuchs rely on imperial power to fight them, and once the Emperor Ling dies, the eunuchs will be at their weakest, and it just so happens that they have allied with the great general He Jun, and the eunuchs will lose even their military power. , they can unite with He Jun to kill Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong.

Zhang Wendao: "I'm afraid that the general will not be willing to kill Zhang and let them! After all, the reason why the general will ally with us is because His Majesty intends to exchange reserves. The general has to form an alliance with us to resist His Majesty, but now His Majesty has decided to let us The first prince became the new king, Zhang Rang made them the natural allies of the general, don't forget, Zhang Rang and the general are relatives by marriage, and their relationship is closer than ours."

Everyone present was thinking, the new emperor ascended the throne, and the chaos in the court is the best plan to eradicate Zhang Rang and them now. Once the court situation is stable, He Jin must join forces with Zhang Rang to control the court and the inner court.Both sides have the same interests and are natural allies.

It's just that Yuan Kai's decades of hard work will be in vain, and their gentry will be suppressed by the eunuch party.

Thinking of this, Yuan Kai said with a cold face: "So we have to find a way to push this general to kill the eunuchs. This is the reason why we supported He Jin in the first place!"

Cui Lie said: "Now the general controls the military power, and the eunuchs control the palace. The general is not willing to even have another party between them, what can we do?"

Yuan Kui thought for a while and said: "So military power is very important. Dong Zhuo was originally my disciple. He wanted to belong to my sect again some time ago. He is now in charge of Bingzhou's 6 army. It is not far from Luoyang City. Dong Zhuo will be our help!"

Zhang Wen was surprised: "Dong Zhuo is not a member of the eunuch party, how could he join us?"

Yuan Kai sneered and said: "Dong Zhuo has been resisting Lei Gong, the pressure is too great, he gave Zhang Rang a lot of money, and wanted Zhang Rang to help him transfer back to Xiliang, but unfortunately, His Majesty would never agree to such a situation at that time. Dong Zhuo may have found this old man because of such a grudge, and now as long as someone can help him leave Shangdang County, whoever he will take refuge in!"

Yang Biao said: "Dong Zhuo can't be trusted, and sending foreign troops into Luoyang City is the next best thing to do!"

Yuan Kai smiled bitterly: "But the Southern Army and the Northern Army are unlikely to listen to us!"

The northern and southern armies of the Han Dynasty are all descendants of the nobles of the Han Dynasty. In a fashionable saying, they are called generations of Zhongliang. cornerstone strength.

They are naturally sensitive to court struggles. Even if these powerful children become captains of these armies, and everyone can eat, drink and have fun together, it is impossible for the soldiers to listen to their rebellion. Instead, they may arrest these captains who want to rebel.

Although it is a bit ironic, although the northern and southern armies are a bit rotten, they are the real army of the Han country. When Dou Wu became a general, he wanted to mutiny and wipe out the eunuchs. In the end, Dou Wu, who is a general, was forced to commit suicide!

And like Dong Zhuo's army, there are only soldiers who can command the [-] Xiliang soldiers in his hands, except Dong Zhuo, who can't command them!Soldiers will also only obey Dong Zhuo's orders.And it was for this reason that Yuan Kai asked Dong Zhuo to join him again, because as long as he could control Dong Zhuo, he could control this kind of army, which was too important for the current powerful clan.

Zhang Wen thought for a while and said: "The general is not without enemies. The captain of the military academy, Jian Shuo, is in charge of the entire Xiyuan army. According to our majesty, even the general He Jun has to listen to Jian Shuo. Everyone thinks that the general will let him go." Shuo, but to deal with Jian Shuo is not the same as dealing with eunuchs.

"Empress Dowager Dong and Empress He have always been at odds, Hussar General Dong Zhong is also a high-ranking and powerful man, and the Dong family can even replace the He family as the first relative of the big man. Everyone wonders whether the general will worry about Dong Zhong."

"So the situation is not as bad as we imagined, and the general's situation has not improved much. To deal with Jian Shuo and Dong Zhong, the general needs our support!"

The news that Emperor Ling was seriously ill and would die spread throughout Luoyang City from the moment Yuan Kai left the palace.

Sure enough, everyone no longer cared about things in Jizhou far away, but began to care about the emperor's condition.

At the same time, they were discussing the changes in the political situation of the Han Dynasty, but no matter how they discussed, the General He Jun must be the center of everyone. Even the ordinary people in Luoyang City knew that the General He Jun would definitely be the number one minister of the Han Dynasty in the next ten years.

And He Jin is also a bit high-spirited during this period, the pressure in his heart has been greatly reduced, he has finally survived the most dangerous moment, and the whole world will listen to his voice from now on, if the timing is not right, he will call his friends to have a drink .

He can be regarded as the general with the weakest power in the Han Dynasty. Because he became a general by relying on eunuchs, he not only failed to become a powerful minister, but was suppressed by the emperor and eunuchs. Even Jian Shuo, a small yellow family, bullied him.

A small lieutenant of the military academy is actually in charge of the military power of the entire Luoyang City, and his general He Jin must obey Jian Shuo's leadership, which is absolutely impossible.

If a general wants to listen to the school lieutenant, is there a general in the whole big man who is more faceless than He Jin!

He Jin knew that Emperor Ling had created this general in order to suppress him, to ensure that the little prince Liu Xie could become emperor, so starting from the third year of Zhongping, his power as a general continued to shrink, and it happened that Zhang Rang and others also Concerned about the gap between He Jin becoming a general and him, he is unwilling to help him.

There is no way, He Jin can only unite with the nobles and nobles to resist the suppression of Emperor Ling, and the nobles and nobles did not let him down. They used a Qigu thatched cottage to ask Zhao Qi to become the history of the general's mansion, which made He Jin famous. All the famous people in the world have taken refuge in his general, and his power has rapidly expanded to the point where even the Ling Emperor has to be afraid.

It was because of these celebrities that He Jin could resist Lingdi's oppression all these years, and now it was even worse. Lingdi was about to die of illness, and the mountain pressing on his head finally disappeared, and he felt that his breathing was much easier!

But at this time, Yuan Shao reminded He Jin: "General, don't forget that Jian Shuo is still in charge of the Xiyuan Army and controls the palace. His Majesty intended to appoint the little prince as the crown prince, and the helpers he found for the little prince were the captain of the military academy Jian Shuo and the hussar general Dong. Importantly, if the two of them are still in charge of the 4 West Garden Army and guard the palace, it will be disadvantageous to the First Prince and the General!"

When He Jin heard this, his expression turned cold. He found that it was not the time to be happy. The eldest prince had not yet become the real emperor, nor had he fully controlled the military power of Luoyang City. It could even be said that he, a great general, could control The military power is only 3 Northern Army, which is not as strong as Jian Shuo, and may capsize in the gutter!
He Jin asked: "What's your opinion at the beginning!"

Yuan Shaodao: "If the general wants to completely control the situation in Luoyang City, he must kill Jian Shuo with lightning speed, take over the Xiyuan Army, kill Dong Zhong at the same time, and cut off the little prince's wings. , no one in the world can threaten the eldest prince's throne, and at the same time, no one can threaten the great general!"

He Jin nodded approvingly, and other people didn't say anything, Jian Shuo must be wiped out!
(End of this chapter)