At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 171 Gai Yuangu died in Chang'an, Zhou Cheqi became seriously ill and fell into a coma

It is night, the moon is bright and the stars are sparse.

Due to the lack of necessary entertainment measures and the high cost of lighting lights at night, the ancients fell asleep early, and the city was mostly dark and very quiet.

At midnight, a group of black-clothed and masked people suddenly appeared outside the post house where Tian Feng and others lived.

The leader holding a sharp sword was Bo Yanxiang, the leader under Yuan Shu's command, but at this moment there was already a murderous intent in his eyes.

When meeting Zhou Qi during the day, Yan Xiang clearly felt that he was at a disadvantage, and that Zhou Qi would most likely be persuaded by Tian Feng to ally with Yuan Shao.

Yan Xiang didn't say much at the time, because he had already thought of a strategy, which was to follow Ban Chao's example and kill the envoys of the Huns, so as to cut off the way for King Shanshan.

Seeing Zhou Qi's goodwill towards Tian Feng, Yan Xiang had no choice but to make a bad move, ready to take the risk.

"My lords, what happened tonight is either dead or alive. Tian Feng doesn't have many subordinates. We will follow the example of the ancients and kill the enemy envoys to fulfill the king's order."

Seeing the resolute look on everyone's faces, Yan Xiang didn't continue to speak, and suddenly swung his right hand down.

The two skilled attendants understood immediately, and threw the chain with the iron hook in their hands to the wall. After the hook hooked the eaves of the wall, they began to pull the rope to climb over the wall.

"Crench!"

Not long after, the door was opened, Yan Xiang and more than a dozen people entered in a file, and then quietly closed the door.

Most of the post houses were built in the same way. Yan Xiang led the people under his command without staying too long at all, and went straight to a room that was still lit.

After a while, Yan Xiang and the others touched the door of the room, one of them gently pushed the door open, and then everyone rushed into it without any hesitation at all, and directly swung their knives at the person lying on the side of the bed.

"Oops, I fell into the trap. There's a dummy on the bed."

As soon as the knife hit the humanoid object on the bed, everyone felt something was wrong.

After they lifted the quilt and found that it was wrapped with pillows and clothes, all of them changed their expressions drastically.

"Quick retreat!"

Yan Xiang knew he was in the middle of the trick, so he didn't dare to neglect, and hastily ordered everyone to retreat.

"Chirp."

However, at this moment, a rocket was shot in, and it happened to be inserted on the fire starter that had been arranged in advance.

"boom!"

In an instant, the door burst into flames, and then quickly spread towards the entire house.

The many assassins who were preparing to retreat all looked frightened.

"Rush out, or you can only be burned to death in the house!"

Although Yan Xiang was just a scribe, his character was resolute and resolute, and he took the lead to rush towards the door that was spread by the fire.

When the rest of the people saw this, even though they were frightened, they could only bite the bullet and follow.

Because they knew that if they didn't rush out of the house when the fire started, there would be no chance later.

"Pfft!"

However, just as Yan Xiang rushed out of the room, large areas of his beard and eyebrows were scorched.

Before he had time to rejoice, he felt a pain in his chest.

Yan Xiang looked down, only to see that an arrow had pierced his heart.

"puff!"

"puff!"

"puff!"

Immediately afterwards, there were a few more piercing sounds, and those assassins who followed Yan Xiang out of the room also fell into a pool of blood.

Although Tian Feng did not have many followers this time, there are many generous and tragic people in the land of Yanzhao, and there have been many heroes since ancient times.

Yuan Shao knew the importance of this mission to Yangzhou. In order to ensure Tian Feng's safety, several people under his command were all very famous rangers in Jizhou.

They calculated with their minds but did not have any intentions, and they shot cold arrows in secret, so although there were many people under Yan Xiang's command, they were all shot to death very quickly.

Not far from the post house, Zhou Qi in armor was waiting quietly with Dian Wei, Chen Wen, Zhang Yun and hundreds of elites.

Zhang Yun looked at Zhou Qi who was still standing still, and asked with some doubts: "Since the general values ​​Tian Yuanhao so much, why didn't he send troops to stop the assassin in advance, so he is not worried that he will be killed by Yan Xiang?"

Zhou Qi looked at the flames starting to ignite in the post house, and said, "If Tian Feng was plotted to death by Yan Xiang so easily, he wouldn't be worthy of my attention."

Zhang Yun asked again: "The general is not worried, did Yuan Shu's envoy Yan Xiang be killed by Tian Yuanhao?"

"I think the general also appreciates Yama Lord Bo very much."

Hearing this, Zhou Qi just smiled and didn't speak, then waved his right hand to signal Chen Wen to take people to put out the fire.

It didn't take long for the fire in the post house to be extinguished, and the bodies of Yan Xiang and a dozen of his followers were neatly placed on the ground.

Zhou Qi looked at everything in front of him, his face sank like water.

Tian Feng stood beside him with a smile on his face and didn't speak.

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

Chang'an City, Sili Xiaowei's Mansion.

However, since Gai Xun entered Luoyang as a hostage, although Dong Zhuo was hindered by his reputation and Zhou Qi had a large army, he treated him quite politely and even let him serve as the captain of Sili.

However, Sili Xiaowei is a high-ranking lieutenant and has military power. Naturally, Dong Zhuo will not really let Gai Xun have real power.

As a result, all the officials under the Weiwei House of Sili School were replaced by Dong Zhuo's confidantes.

Without Dong Zhuo's permission, Gai Xun would not even be able to command a single soldier.

Gai Xun originally thought that after he entered Luoyang, he would be able to contact the ministers of the court and put some pressure on Dong Zhuo, so that the other party would not be so unscrupulous, so at least it would ensure that the majesty of the Han Dynasty would not be trampled on.

It's just getting started.

In addition to Gai Xun's lack of real power, Dong Zhuo was also polite to him. Even if Gai Xun sometimes contradicted him, Dong Zhuo could still hold back his anger and dare not explode.

However, as the princes began to challenge Dong, Dong Zhuo's temperament changed drastically, and he became cruel and inhumane towards the nobles who were originally very respectful. Even the Yuan family in Runan was wiped out, let alone other scholars.

When Dong Zhuo executed Yuan's family, Gai Xun tried his best to dissuade him, which made Dong Zhuo furious.

If he hadn't retained some sense and was afraid of Zhou Qi, who was commanding a large army in the southeast, he might have done harm to Gai Xun in a fit of rage.

But since then, Dong Zhuo has put Gai Xun under house arrest in disguise.

It wasn't until the Xiliang Army was defeated and Dong Zhuo hurriedly moved the capital that Gai Xun was able to leave the mansion.

It was precisely because of this trip to relocate the capital that Gai Xun, who was determined to restore the Han Dynasty, was completely defeated.

In order to raise food, grass and military expenses, Dong Zhuo sent troops to loot everywhere in the capital Luoyang, and many wealthy families were wiped out.

Not only that.

Dong Zhuo even had the mausoleum excavated, and the corpses of Wang's clan and nobles were thrown into the wilderness, sweeping away all the funerary objects inside.

Before leaving, in order not to leave the prosperous Luoyang to the princes of the Guandong, Dong Zhuo directly ordered someone to burn it down.

The capital has always been a symbol of a country.

Gai Xun watched Luoyang being burned by fire, and he couldn't help but feel angry. He wanted to find Dong Zhuo to argue with him, but he couldn't see him at all.

After Luoyang was burnt to ruins, Gai Xun, who was still aspiring to revive the Han Dynasty, felt his spiritual sustenance collapsed.

He knew that after Dong Zhuo's disturbance, the majesty of the Han Dynasty, which had accumulated power for hundreds of years, would definitely be severely trampled to the ground.

When a court doesn't even have majesty, those ambitious people will inevitably swarm everywhere, which is when the dynasty comes to an end.

During the entire journey to Chang'an, Gai Xun witnessed with his own eyes that the emperor and the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty were driven away by the Xiliang army like pigs and dogs.

Those people who originally lived at the feet of the emperor were worse than pigs and dogs. They were tied together by the Xiliang army with ropes, and if they walked slowly, they would be beaten and kicked.

What's more, those Xiliang soldiers who came from the borderlands even raped other people's wives and daughters in front of their husbands, and killed those who dared to resist.

Many elderly people who should have been respected were killed by the Xiliang army at will because of their inconvenient legs and slow walking, and then their bodies were thrown into the wilderness.

You must know that most of these people who can live under the emperor's feet have a good background. Even ordinary civilians used to feel that they were superior to others.

But now, what happened to them was like being born in purgatory.

What kind of emperor's feet, what kind of imperial subjects, how is it different from pigs and dogs?
After Dong Zhuo's wanton looting, coupled with the influence of his casting of small coins, the price of grain in Guanzhong has skyrocketed, and it has risen to tens of thousands of dollars per stone.

Not to mention ordinary people, even those aristocratic families can't afford such a high food price.

After all, although the aristocratic family is rich, it also has a large population, and a large population means that it consumes more food.

No matter how rich the family is, they can't afford such high food prices.

Faced with the soaring grain prices in Guanzhong, Dong Zhuo did nothing at all. Instead, he hoarded grains and sold them at high prices, searching for money everywhere.

As such.

In a short period of time, people in Guanzhong were starved to death, thieves were everywhere, and nine out of ten houses were empty.

If.

When Dong Zhuo first came to Beijing, he still wanted to hold the power of the court and order the world. In order to achieve this goal, he even cherished his feathers.

Then when the scholars rebelled and the princes raised troops to challenge Dong, Dong Zhuo had clearly realized that his previous thoughts were completely daydreaming.

That being the case, he simply abandoned his fantasy and began to let himself go completely.

Dong Zhuo no longer thinks about the long-term, all he wants is gold, silver, money and food, and what he wants is to be able to live comfortably in the rest of his life, to be prosperous and rich.

Therefore, it seems that the princes begged Dong Zhuo to be just, but in fact it was a hypocritical edict. In this way, the majesty of the Han Dynasty was severely trampled, and Dong Zhuo was completely driven into a frenzied appearance.

Gai Xun witnessed everything and was depressed for a long time. After arriving in Chang'an, he thought too much and became seriously ill.

With Gai Xun as a trump card to balance Zhou Qi, Dong Zhuo naturally would not sit back and watch him die of illness, so after learning that Gai Xun was seriously ill, he sent the best doctors to diagnose him.

However, what Gai Xun suffered from was heart disease.

Physical illnesses are easy to heal, but mental illnesses are hard to heal.

Although the doctor's recuperation helped Gai Xun to live longer, his body was still in decline, and in the end he even became skinny.

Under such circumstances, Gai Xun's own immunity was weakened, and he lay in bed for a long time, resulting in back sores.

If it is in later generations, it is no problem to have various anti-inflammatory drugs, but in ancient times, back sores could be fatal if they were not controlled.

not to mention.

Gai Xun's faith had collapsed and he had no desire to live. He could not hold on for long in this situation, and finally died on the hospital bed.

Before dying, Gai Xun, who was skinny and haggard, thought for a long time, and finally brought a pen, ink, paper and inkstone, wrote a secret letter, and sent it to Yangzhou.

Yangzhou, Cheqi General's Mansion.

Since Yuan Shu's envoys failed to attack Tian Feng and were all killed instead, Zhou Qi seemed to have no choice but to form an alliance with Yuan Shao.

However, Tian Feng knew that with Yuan Shu's personality, he might not care about the killing of his boss Bo.

If Zhou Qi is willing to write a letter to explain, the two sides may not be able to get back together.

After all, compared to the great cause of the alliance between the two princes, what is the mere leader Bo?
Because of this insight, even if Tian Feng killed all the envoys sent by Yuan Shu, when facing Zhou Qi, he still didn't dare to be aggressive, instead he showed emotion and acted with reason.

Zhou Qi had no choice but to sigh: "Although I have the intention to solve the crisis in Jingzhou, Yangzhou's internal troubles continue. Whether it is the Shanyue rebellion in various counties or counties, or the refugees who flock to Yangzhou, most of Yangzhou's energy is restrained."

"Now there is not much food in Yangzhou, and there is not enough relief for refugees. If we send a large army to help Jingzhou, we will consume a lot of food and grass, which is simply unaffordable."

Tian Feng knew the elegant meaning when he heard the strings, and immediately said with a smile: "The chaos in the mountains and mountains cannot be calmed down overnight, the general should not act too hastily."

"As for food and grass, there is no need to worry."

"The land of Jingzhou has millions of households, a vast territory, countless fertile fields, and less than wars, so there must be no shortage of food and grass."

"If the general is willing to rush to help Jingzhou, I am willing to be a lobbyist and let Jingzhou provide the general with all the food and grass needed for sending troops."

Zhou Qi's expression eased slightly when he heard the words, and then he shook his head and said: "Just food and grass is not enough. You must know that when the two armies fight, it is inevitable that there will be casualties. The soldiers under my command have been with me for a long time, so I can't treat them badly. There must be a high pension."

Tian Feng pondered for a while, thinking that it was not Jizhou who paid for the food anyway, so he immediately asked: "How much food does the general want, you might as well just tell me."

Zhou Qi didn't hesitate at all, just opened his mouth wide and said, "200 million shi for grain and grass, as for the money, forget it, it has already been converted into the grain and grass."

Even with Tian Feng's Qi-nourishing skills, when he suddenly heard such a terrifying amount, his complexion changed slightly, and he said secretly: "Zhou Cheqi is really good at talking."

Without any hesitation, he shook his head and said: "Two million stones of grain and grass are absolutely impossible. Not to mention that Jingzhou can't produce so much grain. Even if it is barely possible, Liu Jingsheng will never agree."

As the saying goes: ask for the price, pay back the money on the spot.

Zhou Qi was planning to argue with Tian Feng for a while, when he suddenly saw Zhang Yun hurried in with a travel-worn man.

He was wondering why Zhang Yun would be so rude, but he saw that the other party was holding a letter, walked to his side, and said quietly: "Gai Gong had a sore on his back, and the medicine stone was ineffective, and he passed away."

"This is the last letter written to the general by enduring the pain of my husband before he died."

When Zhou Qi heard this, he felt dizzy and almost fell to the ground.

He took the letter with trembling hands, weeping while reading it, and the tears soon wet the letter.

When he finished reading all the contents, he held it tightly in his hands and felt that it became difficult to breathe.

A strong sense of guilt flooded into my heart like a tide, and soon engulfed Zhou Qi.

He couldn't bear it anymore, and suddenly spit out a mouthful of blood, and fell straight to the ground.

(End of this chapter)