The great man will live forever

Chapter 228 Supporting the Emperor
Liu Xiu and Liu Yan prepared to capture Wancheng, where they encountered troops commanded by Yan You and Chen Mao.

Yan You was a talented general in the Xinmang court. In the second year of the founding of the country (9 AD), he was appointed as General Tuihu. He went out to Yuyang to attack the Xiongnu. Later, he was granted the title of Wu Jianbo. In the third year of Tianfeng's reign (16 AD), he succeeded Chen. Mao is the great Sima.

A few years ago, Chimei and Lulin rebelled. During a court meeting, Yan You said that the Xiongnu affairs could be put aside and that pacifying the "Shandong thieves" was the top priority. Wang Mang was furious and issued a policy letter to remove him from office and replace him with Dong Zhong. For Da Sima.

Later, due to helplessness, Yan You was appointed as Nayan and general.In the third year of Emperor Di Huang's reign (22nd year), Jingzhou had a large army in Xiajiang, and Yan You and Chen Mao were sent to attack it.

Yan You complained to Chen Mao and Wang Mang said: "The generals who are sent do not follow the instructions of the soldiers. They must first invite them and then move. This is the result of being blamed for Han Lu."

At first, the pacification of Xiajiang's soldiers had a certain effect, but when Liu Xiu and Liu Yan joined the Han Dynasty, the situation became out of control.

After Yan You arrived in Jingzhou, he recruited troops and used the original local army as the backbone. He quickly organized a more effective force and achieved some victories in the battle with the Green Forest Army.

After the Green Forest Army won the victory against the Zhenfu and Liangqiu Ci armies, Yan You and Chen Mao came with their troops to prepare for a decisive battle near Wancheng.

Liu Yan was not afraid and determined to face the enemy with all his strength. At this time, Liu Yan's troops were still at a disadvantage, so he "sworn his troops to the masses, burned his accumulations, broke the cauldrons, and marched forward" with determination to die and courage to win. , accompanied by the rumbling war drums, the governor led the entire army to charge.

Under the city of Tuoyang, a fierce battle began with Xinmang's army.

"Kill it!"

"Boom!"

"Come on!"

"Help!"

With limbs and arms broken, blood splattered everywhere, and accompanied by shouts of killing, tens of thousands of troops were fighting each other. On one side were the rebels of Liu Xiu and Liu Yan. Their equipment was not inferior to that of Xin Mang's army. Their consecutive victories made them more imposing. Ruhong also got a lot of equipment.

On the other side, naturally were the officers and soldiers of the New Dynasty commanded by Yan You and Chen Mao. Most of them were soldiers from counties and counties. Some of them were not even as well-dressed as the rebels, and their morale was extremely low.

If you can overlook the battlefield, you will find that although the new dynasty's army is larger in number, it is obviously at a disadvantage.

Seeing something was wrong, Chen Mao immediately suggested, "General, no, retreat. The bandit army is strong. Let's conserve our strength and wait for His Majesty's reinforcements. Your Majesty has asked Da Sikong to recruit 42 elite troops from various places, and they are arriving now. .”

Yan You gritted his teeth helplessly, "Retreat!"

Good guy, as soon as he retreated, the rebel army came to cover him up. The new army was defeated and 3000 people were beheaded.

The rebel army pursued the victory and surrounded Wancheng. After this battle, Liu Yan called himself General Zhutian and became famous ever since.

After Wang Mang knew Liu Yan's name and deeds, he publicly offered a reward. At the same time, he also ordered that Liu Yan's image be painted on the entrance halls of the official offices in Chang'an and the Tianxia Township Pavilion, and ordered his soldiers to shoot at it every day to vent his hatred.

Later, Wang Mang also ordered people to arrest random civilians, saying it was Liu Yan, parade them through the streets and kill them.

Wang Mang sighed secretly, "Liu Yan, Liu Yan, you are too sharp. Therefore, if the trees are beautiful in the forest, the wind will destroy them; if they are piled up on the shore, the current will be turbulent; if you are higher than others, the crowd will reject you. If you were smarter, you might be the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, but history is already destined, I wrote it, and you wrote it."

……

In the fourth year of Emperor Di Huang's reign (AD 23), after successive victories against the official army, the Green Forest Army grew to more than 10 people. They had surrounded Wancheng and were dividing their forces to attack other counties. The sesame blossoms are growing higher and higher.

Most of the leaders of the rebel army believed that in order to facilitate the unified leadership of the entire rebel army, enhance their appeal to the general public, and promote the struggle against Wang Mang's regime on a larger scale, a member of the Liu clan should be elected as emperor.

In the camp of Liu Xiu and Liu Yan, Liu Xiu's third sister Liu Boji handed a wanted notice to Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu took it and looked at it and smiled, "Who drew it? It doesn't look like it at all."

"My eldest brother doesn't think it's the same either. He also said that he is wise and powerful, much stronger than the one in the portrait."

"Where did you get this picture?"

"I saw it on the street and took it out for everyone to take a look at. Now our eldest brother is worth a lot of money. Wang Mang said that whoever kills eldest brother will be made a Duke, with a fief of [-] households, and a reward of [-] catties of gold. That's ten thousand pounds." Ten thousand gold coins, I have never seen so much money in my life."

"So many?" Liu Xiu was a little surprised.

"Brother said that if he had known that his head was so valuable, he would have sold it to the old thief Wang Mang, and he could have exchanged it for us a lot of weapons and horses. But how can we fight without our heads?
So, let that old man Wang Mang sulk while looking at the portrait. "

Liu Xiu took the image and looked at it over and over, "Brother, you are very generous."

"This is nothing. I also heard that the old thief Wang Mang ordered Liu Yan's image to be painted on the entrance halls of the official offices in Chang'an and the Tianxia Township Pavilion. He ordered the soldiers to shoot at it every day and cursed my brother. You think it's ridiculous. Isn’t it ridiculous?”

"This guy actually believes in this victory-hating technique. He is really confused."

"Brother, tell me, if the reckless thief has such thoughts, he must be feeling guilty and afraid of him."

At this time, "Uncle Wen, Uncle Wen."

Along with the shouting, it was Liu Jia who came, and he hurried over.

"Where's Big Brother?"

Liu Xiu asked quickly, "What's wrong? What happened?"

Liu Jia gasped and said, "I heard a message in the Xiajiang military camp that our Han army is going to support an emperor."

Liu Boji was a little happy, "To establish the emperor, do you want to establish the eldest brother as the emperor?"

"do not know."

After listening to this, Liu Xiu's face suddenly became serious, and he quickly said: "Let's go find big brother."

In the military tent, Liu Yan wiped the sword and laughed, surrounded by his confidants.

"Haha, I see, they are in a hurry to establish an emperor, and they just want a name to fight against the reckless thieves, so let's just go with the flow and enjoy the results?"

The other children of the Liu family hurriedly smiled and said: "Brother is right, eldest brother is extremely brave and wise, and won the great victory at Xianshui and Juiyang. In terms of ability, military exploits, and prestige, who can compare with our eldest brother?" "Yes, Han." Apart from my eldest brother, among all the people in the army, who else is qualified to be emperor?"

"That's right."

Liu Yan was very happy to see his confidants and disciples of the Liu family supporting him so much. Just when he was about to say something, he turned around and saw Liu Xiu's gloomy face. He quickly asked, "Xiu, what's wrong with you? You don't speak, and your face doesn't look good. It looks good, but is it uncomfortable? Or do you not want your eldest brother to be the emperor?"

"Of course not, brother, I just think that the situation may not be as you think, brother. You may have forgotten that we initially joined forces with Wang Kuang to overthrow the rogues. Our purpose was to eliminate traitors and restore the Han Dynasty. They are more It's about making money and surviving.

Brother, you run the army strictly and hate evil as much as you hate evil, but they are greedy for personal gain and only care about looting..."

After saying this, Liu Xiu sighed, "Well, the situation is huge in front of us. I don't think they will be willing to surrender and obey your orders."

Several other Liu brothers quickly said: "If I don't let my eldest brother become the emperor, who will have the qualifications?"

"Yes, since ancient times, we have selected the best and established them. If we don't establish the eldest brother, how can we establish a person with no virtue and talent?"

"Xinshi, Xiajiang, and Pinglin belong to the Green Forest faction. They have strength in numbers. Wang Kuang and Zhu Kun have always been scheming and planning. I think they may have their own candidate."

It must be said that Liu Xiu's judgment of the situation is extremely keen. He has read many books in these years and his prediction of the future is very accurate.

However, not long after they had been discussing, a soldier appeared and reported, "To the general, General Wang Kuang invites all generals to discuss matters."

Liu Yan looked at everyone, then looked at Xiao Bing and said, "I understand, go down."

The soldier said "No" and went down.

A descendant of the Liu family said: "A showdown with us so soon?"

Liu Yan quickly looked at Liu Xiu and asked, "Xiu, if it's really what you think, how should we deal with it?"

Liu Xiu thought about it for a while and said, "This new powerful enemy is in the front, and the heroes are in the rear. If there are disputes and fight among each other at this time, it will be a big taboo and will lose the support of the people. Moreover, our forces may not be able to fight." Those who have crossed the green forest, brother, for the sake of the overall situation, no matter what, you cannot argue with them in person at this time."

After hearing this, Liu Yan agreed very much, nodded, looked at everyone and said, "That's it, let's go and see what kind of medicine they sell in the gourd?"

Arriving at the meeting hall, the seats were already filled with people from Lu Lin. The two groups sat across from each other. On the left were Liu Xiu and his eldest brother Liu Yan, as well as the children of the Liu clan, and on the right were all people from Lu Lin.

At this time, Wang Kuang took the lead and said: "The people of the world miss the Han people. This is the general trend. Now our Han army is at its peak. After discussion, we decided to support an emperor, so that we can legitimately compete with the reckless thieves and compete in the world. .”

Liu Xiu's eldest brother Liu Yan glanced at Liu Xiu, thought about it, and said: "You need to make a careful decision to support the emperor, it is no child's play!"

He obviously wanted to delay this decision, so Wang Kuang immediately took over the words, "What Bo Sheng said is absolutely true. The candidates we recommended were also carefully considered. We have decided to elect Liu Xuan and Liu Shenggong as the emperor."

Good guy, Liu Xuan, who was sitting on his knees, raised his head when he heard this. He was confused because no one had ever said these words to him before, and no one had expressed this meaning.
Wang Kuang ignored this and continued: "This will command the world to revive the Han Dynasty."

Liu Xiu's eldest brother Liu Yan was very surprised, "Liu Xuan?", he exclaimed.

At this time, Liu Xuan came to his senses and kept shaking his head like a rattle, "No, no, no, I have no merit and no virtue, I don't dare." He looked very frightened.

Seeing him like this, the people in Lulin were even more satisfied. They just wanted to support an easy-to-control emperor. Wang Kuang said quickly: "Shenggong is too modest. Shenggong belongs to the Chungling clan, and he is the founder of our Han army." A general is of course the most suitable person. Even according to the genealogy, the Holy Duke comes first. Bo Sheng won't object, right?"

Good guy, this almost made Liu Yan confused about what to do.

He pondered for a moment, his eyes suddenly became serious, and said: "You want to respect the clan. For us Liu family descendants, of course it is a great kindness and kindness. However, you have already seen the current situation. In order to overthrow the reckless thief, , rebels have risen up in various places, especially the red eyebrows in Xuzhou, Qingzhou, with as many as 10 people.

There are also descendants of our Liu family among them. If one day, they also support their own emperor, they will definitely be two tigers fighting with us, and then the thieves will be able to benefit.

And in this history, few people succeeded in establishing the emperor after the first army. Moreover, Wancheng has not been captured yet. If we rush to establish the emperor now, then these heroes will definitely become our hostile forces. , and some people can take advantage of it. "

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone nodded, but Zhang Xuan, a member of the Green Forest Army opposite, said angrily: "Liu Boxheng, do you disagree with the emperor's actions? Or do you disagree with the establishment of General Gengshi as the emperor? Is it your own thinking? Will you be the emperor?"

"You!" Although Liu Yan thought so in his heart, there were some things that couldn't be said openly, and he was very angry.

Zhu Tun, who was on the opposite side, quickly scolded him, "Don't talk nonsense. Is the general a suspicious and narrow-minded person like you said? However, our Xinshi, Pinglin, and Xiajiang generals all believe that looking at the overall situation, there is indeed no such thing." A more suitable candidate than the Holy Duke.”

At this time, Liu Xiu had no choice but to speak, "General Zhu, my eldest brother is devoted to the Han army, so naturally he has no other ideas except for this plan.

Instead of supporting the emperor, it is better to first find a virtuous and virtuous person and respect him as a king. He can also control the princes and command the four directions. In the future, if there is an emperor in the red eyebrow side, and he is a virtuous person, we will lead everyone to follow him. If not, it won’t be too late for us to establish an emperor after the new Mang is defeated. "

Wang Chang, who had a good impression of them at this time, quickly said: "What Uncle Wen said is very reasonable. Now that Wang Mang has not been defeated, I think it is better to proclaim the king first."

Seeing that the plan to make Liu Xuan the emperor was about to fail, Zhang Xuan pulled out the sword and stuck it on the ground. "How can half-hearted efforts achieve great things? Today's discussion must not be divided. Anyone who opposes it must be with the Han Dynasty." The army is the enemy.”

Zhu Tuna began to make peace with Xini again, and he quickly scolded, "It's not unreasonable. The general is also planning for the future of our Han army. However, there are many rebels now. If someone else proclaims the emperor first, it will be detrimental to our Han army. Today Let’s make an agreement.”

As soon as he finished speaking, most of the Green Forest generals stood up, knelt down to Liu Xuan and shouted, "We are willing to respect General Gengshi as emperor!"

And Liu Xuan also quickly knelt down and worshiped, acting very reserved and scared, "I, Liu Xuan, have no merit and no virtue. I don't dare. How can I be the emperor? It's impossible."

The Green Forest Army ignored this and continued to shout: "We are willing to follow General Gengshi, no, Emperor Gengshi."

Several people ignored him, put him on the seat above, and then knelt down and said, "We will follow your majesty to the death, drive out the thieves, and revive the Han Dynasty."

The generals who were still unwilling to go down the river had no choice but to stand up and kneel down.

On this side, most of Liu Yan's people did not move, but Li Yi stood up, then knelt down and shouted, "We are willing to follow your Majesty."

Liu Yan was extremely helpless, but it was not easy to fall out with the people in Lulin. Liu Xiu took his hand and whispered in his ear: "Brother, please be patient for now. One day they will pay the price for what they did today. "

They may have paid the price later, but Liu Yan paid the price even more, and so did Liu Xiu!

(End of this chapter)