Three Kingdoms: I will act as a substitute for the Hunjun

On the second day, imperial edicts were sent to all parts of the country. Some were to promote the new tax system, some were to implement the order to promote commerce, some were to urge the construction of schools at the township, county and state levels, and some were to urge military progress.

There was a busy scene inside and outside the palace and in the five government offices.

In the capital city of Luoyang, the streets are bustling with people, and the shops are filled with the sound of busy shops. It is a peaceful and tranquil scene, as if it has always been like this and has never been disturbed.

However, in fact, Luoyang City had just experienced Dong Zhuo's rebellion and eastward advance, He Jin's rebellion and chaos in the capital, the Huns' army at the gates of the city, Jian Shuo's rebellion, and more recently the Yuan family's rebellion, with Yuan Shao leading his troops into the city wall.

It can be said that in recent months, Luoyang City has rarely had peace, but since some time ago, as long as the civil and military officials and the common people heard that His Majesty was in the capital, they would feel at ease and no longer had to worry about chaos in the capital.

Although there were frequent wars across the country, some of which were even not far from the capital, as long as Your Majesty was in charge, the people could live their lives in peace and contentment.

The tyrant who was once despised by the people has now become the backbone of the people.

Grand Secretary Lu Zhi stretched his aching waist and said with a smile: "This is the first time in my lifetime that I have seen the court run so efficiently. Even in the era without war, it cannot be compared with the present."

"Yes." Grand Secretary of the Imperial Clan Cai Yong sighed, "Just looking at the orderliness and efficiency inside and outside the court, who would have thought that this was a world full of wars? I think that once the war is settled, the Han Dynasty will soon usher in a prosperous era again."

"If my prediction is correct, this prosperous era is probably the greatest prosperity ever." Lu Zhi looked fascinated. "This is an era that many great scholars yearn for. I wonder if I can wait until that day."

"It's not just the great scholars who yearn for it." Cai Yong said with a smile, "According to your majesty's philosophy, it is a prosperous era with all industries flourishing, a hundred schools of thought contending, and a hundred flowers blooming."

"All industries are flourishing! A hundred schools of thought contend! A hundred flowers bloom..." Lu Zhi smiled and pondered for a long time, then slowly said, "It is indeed fascinating, but... is there really such a prosperous era?"

"I heard that your majesty inspected the construction of the Imperial Hospital yesterday and discussed medicine with the two great doctors Hua Tuo and Zhang Zhongjing. At that time, they talked about the story of Yugong moving the mountains."

Cai Yong said, "Your Majesty said that the path of medicine is difficult and will not be accomplished overnight, but as long as it is beneficial to the people's livelihood, we must continue to do it from generation to generation, constantly climbing mountains and overcoming difficulties, so that our descendants will have endless success, and our cause will be immortal. I think the same principle applies to the construction of a prosperous era."

Lu Zhi nodded and said with emotion: "Yes, our descendants will be endless. As long as our bloodline continues, this cause will be passed down forever. There will always be a day when it will become a prosperous era. By the way, you don't have a son yet, right? You don't have any offspring to inherit, so how can you talk about endless descendants?"

Cai Yong: “…”

Lu Zhi: "Hurry up, do you want me to give you half a day off?"

Cai Yong: “…”

Lu Zhi: "I have a deep understanding of this. A diligent person is not lazy!"

Cai Yong: “…”

……

Hedong, Linfen City.

Dong Zhuo's face was filled with rage. He kicked the table in front of him, splashing the wine everywhere, and shouted, "Come here, take Guo Si out and behead him! What use is there for an incompetent like you!"

In the previous night attack, Hua Xiong was captured, and Guo Si escaped with the help of Li Jue. It can be said that the army suffered heavy losses.

Dong Zhuo's army is now shaky and on the verge of collapse, especially the old troops brought from Xiliang, whose numbers are decreasing, while the newly captured men are not motivated.

Seeing that the team's combat effectiveness and morale were getting lower and lower, in tonight's night attack, they lost their top general Hua Xiong and lost thousands of Xiliang's elite Flying Bear Army.

How could Dong Zhuo not be angry!

"My lord, wait a minute." The counselor Li Ru hurried out to stop him. "Now that we are facing a powerful enemy, we need more people. It is better to spare General Guo's life and let him make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence. The most urgent task is to evacuate Linfen City immediately."

"Retreat?!" Dong Zhuo asked in confusion, "Why should we retreat? Why did Wen You say something that would disrupt the morale of the army?"

"Although General Hua failed in the attack on the camp, he has discovered something unusual." Li Ru said, "In the two attacks on the camp, the Han army was always wearing armor and sleeping with weapons by their side. There is only one explanation, that is, there will be a concentrated action tonight, and the only place that can make them act is naturally Linfen City!

When everyone heard this, they became nervous and Dong Zhuo also took a deep breath.

"Since we know that the Han army is going to attack the city, why don't we take advantage of the situation, lure them into the city, and annihilate them in one fell swoop?" Niu Fu shook his big head and asked puzzledly.

Many people looked at Li Ru, and it was obvious that they all had the same question.

"If it's just Gai Xun and his family, then General Niu Fu's strategy is feasible." Li Ru said, "But Gai Xun won't be so stupid as to attack the city with inferior troops. If what I guessed is correct, the actions of the Han army tonight must be the joint efforts of Huangfu Song and Gai Xun. Our army has suffered setbacks one after another, and now we have lost our number one general Hua Xiong. It is difficult to compete with the government army head-on. It is better to retreat in time before the government army attacks."

"As long as we retreat to Longxi, I will gather another powerful army." Dong Zhuo stood up slowly and said, "But the journey to Xiliang is long, and there are many dangerous passes and big cities along the way. The Qiang threat in Xiliang has been suppressed, and I am afraid that the government troops will be surrounded and suppressed from all sides."

"As for now, we should not retreat to a safe place, but to where there is chaos." Seeing that Dong Zhuo had agreed to his retreat plan, Li Ru immediately spoke with confidence, saying, "While the Southern Xiongnu are fighting, why don't we send our army into the Hetao area to reorganize the barbarians? The imperial court has always been accommodating and gentle to the barbarians in the Hetao area, and most of the time they will not send troops to pursue them. As long as we are given a few years to recuperate, we can come back and take revenge!"

Dong Zhuo was also a decisive person. He realized what Li Ru said made sense after a little thought, so he immediately said, "Pass my order on. The army will set out overnight, abandon Linfen City and head north!"

"Yes, sir!" All the generals clasped their fists and accepted the order.

At this moment, suddenly there was a loud sound of drums and trumpets outside the city, and the shouts of killing were deafening.

"Oh no! I guess the government troops have already started attacking the city. Let's prepare to evacuate!" Li Ru shouted.

A personal soldier rushed in and reported loudly: "General, it's not good. The government troops suddenly attacked the city!"

"Can you see how many soldiers there are?" Dong Zhuo asked.

"The government troops took advantage of the darkness and quietly climbed up the city walls." The personal soldier panted, "They engaged in a fight with the brothers guarding the city. There were countless torches under the city walls. I'm afraid they came out in full force."

"As Wenyou said, this is definitely not Gai Xun's army. We must retreat without delay!" Dong Zhuo hesitated for a moment and then said, "Shuying, you and Zhang Ji will lead 3,000 soldiers to guard the city. The rest of you, retreat immediately and head to the Southern Xiongnu!"

Shuying is Dong Zhuo's younger brother Dong Min. At this critical moment of life and death, he was not at ease to send anyone to cover the retreat, for fear that the person who covered the retreat would surrender the city before he could leave.

Unfortunately, although his own brother would not betray him, it would be dangerous for him to leave behind. As for Zhang Ji, he was also one of Dong Zhuo's favorite generals. He was brave and resourceful, and could serve as his brother's deputy.

The crowd dispersed and each mobilized their troops to defend or retreat, and the city of Linfen was in chaos.

Li Jue was also gathering his men as quickly as possible, throwing away all the heavy items and preparing to leave the city with light luggage.

The counselor Jia Xu stood by and watched the busy Li Jue quietly.

At first, Li Jue did not notice Jia Xu's abnormality. While sorting out his things, he told him about the meeting process in the big tent. Later, he found that Jia Xu had been standing by and listening, and did not seem to be packing up and running away.

"Sir, why don't you pack your bags?" Li Jue asked, "Do you disagree with Li Ru's plan?"

As a military general, Li Jue also knew the bad habits of some literati, that is, the so-called literati look down on each other, often looking down on each other and not submitting to each other.

He believed that both Li Ru and Jia Xu were talented. In the Battle of Hongnong, if it were not for Jia Xu, he would have been defeated miserably and might even have been killed.

Could it be that these two wise men were also competing against each other in secret? But if Jia Xu opposed Li Ru's plan, what should I do?
Just as he was wondering, Jia Xu shook his head and said, "No, at the moment, Li Wenyou's strategy is the best."

"If that's the case, why do you..." Li Jue became even more confused.

"It is enough for Lord Dong to have Mr. Wenyou by his side." Jia Xu said with a smile, "But we should leave someone behind to cover our retreat. We have few soldiers and generals, and if no one makes plans, we may not be able to hold on."

Li Jue was deeply moved after hearing this. He bowed deeply and said, "Sir, you are so righteous that you took the initiative to risk your life, which shames those of us who are trying to escape. I will definitely speak well of you in front of Mr. Dong. There is no need to defend Linfen for too long. You just need to help Mr. Dong escape smoothly. With such a great contribution, you will be valued by Mr. Dong."

"Thank you very much, General." Jia Xu also bowed to Li Jue to express his gratitude.

Soon, Li Jue packed up and walked out, with Jia Xu following behind him. Just as he left the barracks, he met Zhang Ji who was rushing towards the south gate with a large number of troops.

"Lao Zhang, I'm going to give you a treasure." Li Jue shouted loudly.

"If you have something to say, say it quickly. We don't have time for bullshit now." Zhang Ji turned around and said loudly.

"This is Mr. Jia, my capable adviser." Li Jue pointed at Jia Xu beside him and said, "Mr. Jia is resourceful and resourceful, not inferior to Li Wenyou. If it weren't for his advice, I would have been defeated in Hongnong. Mr. Jia is righteous and willing to stay and help defend the city. You should take him with you and ask for his advice when you encounter problems. This will ensure that you will not fail so miserably!"

"Bullshit, what do you mean the defeat was not that bad? Zhang wants to kill the enemy and gain merit." Zhang Ji said loudly, "Mr. Jia, please follow me, but you have to protect yourself. Swords and arrows have no eyes, and Zhang can't protect you well in the chaos of battle."

Jia Xu bowed to Li Jue and turned to walk towards Zhang Ji. Li Jue also bowed and rode away quickly.

……

However, Gai Xun had just finished a banquet with his generals in the central army tent to celebrate Hua Xiong's surrender, because it was only half an hour away from the morning hour, and the time agreed with Huangfu Song for attacking the city was three quarters of the morning hour.

There was no way to rest, so he gave the order and prepared breakfast immediately.

In fact, everyone knew what was going on, so even though there was a banquet tonight, no one drank too much and everyone kept a clear head and prepared for battle.

The army had just started to cook when they saw flames rising from the direction of Linfen City and the sounds of drums, trumpets and shouts of killing coming from afar.

Gai Xun was shocked and shouted, "What's going on? Go and find out who is attacking Linfen?"

The time he and Huangfu Song agreed to attack the city was 3:15 am, and it's not even 1:15 am yet, so why has the fighting started?

"Could it be that Huangfu Song is trying to steal the credit?" Hua Xiong asked doubtfully.

Gai Xun shook his head. He knew Huangfu Song very well and even respected him very much. This Grand Marshal was not that kind of person.

Cao Cao said with great enthusiasm: "No matter who is attacking Linfen, as the Han army, we must go and help them."

"Pass my order and prepare to assemble!" Gai Xun shouted.

At this moment, a personal soldier came hurriedly with a military general. Gai Xun recognized him as Huangfu Li, the nephew of Huangfu Song.

Huangfu Li bowed deeply to Gai Xun and said, "I am honored to meet the Grand Justice. My uncle heard that the Grand Justice had sent troops to rescue Hanoi and was attacked by the Dong bandits, so he resolutely led his troops to attack Linfen in advance. I was specially sent here to deliver a letter, asking the Grand Justice to rest for a while and wait until the soldiers have recovered their spirits before going to Linfen to help."

"Bullshit! Who does Huangfu Song look down on?" Gai Xun was furious and shouted, "All troops, gather together, skip breakfast, eat after we capture Linfen, otherwise we will starve, set out immediately, march into Linfen!"

Huangfu Li saw it and said hurriedly: "The Grand Judge has misunderstood. Uncle does not mean to look down on you. I just don't want your army to be too tired. Instead of attacking Linfen together, I will attack first and the Grand Judge will advance later."

“Hahahaha…” Gai Xun laughed loudly and said, “Go back and tell Grand Marshal that I appreciate his kindness, but I, Gai Xun, have never been a wimp and I cannot let others stand up for me. Let Grand Marshal attack from the front while I will lead the army to attack Linfen from behind! It’s not certain who will enter Linfen city first, hahaha…”

Huangfu Li felt relieved when he saw that Gai Xun was not really blaming Huangfu Song, and said happily: "Then let's meet in Linfen City!"

After that, he turned around and left.

At this time, the army had already gathered. Except for Hua Xiong who stayed behind, Gai Xun led almost all the troops out and took a detour to the north gate of Linfen City.

When we arrived at the city of Linfen, it was already dawn. We could see from afar that a fierce battle was raging in the direction of the south city and the competition was very intense.

At this time, the scout came to report: "General, the north city of Linfen is wide open, and the thieves are fleeing!"

"Speed ​​up, don't let the thief Dong run away. Whoever catches this thief will be promoted three levels!" Gai Xun shouted excitedly.

Maybe Gai's contribution today is even greater than Huangfu Song's!
Upon hearing the order, the army marched quickly towards the north gate. Gai Xun felt secretly regretful, thinking that if the cavalry had not been sent to Hanoi to support Zhu Jun, they would definitely be of great use now.

Xu Huang and Xiahou Dun led the way in front, Cao Cao led his clan generals as the second route, Gai Xun was in the middle to coordinate, and Ding Yuan led the Bingzhou army in the rear.

It was as if a black torrent rushed into Dong Zhuo's retreating troops!
(End of this chapter)