People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 165 Frightened upon hearing the news
The Han collapsed!
The court is in chaos!
The long struggle between officials and eunuchs had laid a mine for the Han Empire, which would cause the world to collapse and split apart once it exploded. This was definitely terrible news for the Han Empire, but it might not be a bad thing for the gentry all over the world.

When the central authority is destroyed and power is completely out of control, the nobles and heroes may soon realize that their opportunity has come.

The central government of the Han Dynasty was completely held hostage by Dong Zhuo, and the local areas could no longer respect the imperial court. The governors of various provinces all did their own things, and the local areas had become completely autonomous.

Even if the imperial court gave instructions, everyone knew that it was just an edict issued by the traitor Dong pretending to be the emperor.

Who would be willing to listen to Dong Zhuo, a traitor?

As a result, although local officials paid lip service to the emperor, they actually disregarded the central government as nothing.

With the central government shut down, the Thirteen States of the Han Dynasty will truly enter a stage of competition for the strongest soldiers and horses. In the future, the only thing that can determine a person's voice is the amount of soldiers and territories they hold.

Of course, this is just the beginning of a great era, everything is just beginning, and time has not yet reached the really hot stage.

However, for Liu Yu and Xu Chen in Youzhou, this situation gave them two completely different feelings.

Xu Chen was naturally happy to see this happen. The Han Dynasty was in disarray, and as a rebel, he would not have to face the pressure of the entire empire. At most, he would have to deal with one or a few local heroes, and his life would be much easier.

But for Liu Yu, this was like the collapse of heaven and earth.

As a relative of the Han Dynasty, he was definitely the one who felt the most uncomfortable when the Han Dynasty collapsed. Not only was this unacceptable to him because of his feelings as a defender of the Liu family, but even if he only looked at the current situation in Youzhou, he almost wanted to vomit blood.

When it comes to the campaign against Xu Chen and the Yellow Turbans, he no longer has to count on any support from the central government. From now on, he can only rely on the remaining three counties of Youzhou to fight against the Yellow Turbans.

But Liu Yu had no confidence at all.

"Dong the thief has ruined our Han country. He deserves to die, he deserves to die!"

It had only been a few days since Dong Zhuo came to the capital to depose and enthrone the emperor. When Liu Yu heard the news, it was like a bolt from the blue, making him hate Dong Zhuo to the core.

Compared with Dong Zhuo, Xu Chen began to look handsome.

After all, Xu Chen is only causing trouble to one side now, but Dong Zhuo is really digging up the roots of the Han Dynasty!

In fact, it was not just Liu Yu. After hearing the news, Gongsun Zan, Qi Zhou Cheng Xu and others were all stunned.

Liu Hong's death several months ago was already quite sudden. Who would have thought that the central government would be so turbulent, leading to the situation evolving to this point.

"The imperial court is controlled by the traitor Dong. I wish I could lead my troops to attack him immediately. However, we are far away in the border area, and there are also traitor Xu nearby. Although we have the will, we don't have the strength." Gongsun Zan sighed and said helplessly.

The rest of the people looked at each other and shook their heads.

This explosive news left them dumbfounded, and before they knew it, the Han's authority in their hearts had been diminished.

Dong Zhuo was a crude and vulgar person who could not even be considered a member of the noble family. However, he was able to bully the Liu family. The so-called emperor became a plaything. How could the Han Dynasty not be laughable?

Liu Yu felt that the court was a group of insects who could have allowed things to develop to this point.

But on second thought, perhaps this is the result of the efforts of certain people in the court.

As a result, all the eunuchs in the court were removed, and Liu Xie deposed Liu Bian, which made Empress Dowager He's rule a joke. Weren't these two things something that the gentry would be happy to see?
Isn't Dong Zhuo's wanton behavior a manifestation of the weakness of the monarch and the strength of the ministers? Isn't this also the result of the desire of the gentry to struggle against the imperial power?
The only deviation is that the position that should have been occupied by the gentry is now occupied by Dong Zhuo. No one knows whether this is the result of the gentry going too far.

Liu Yu could not confirm these speculations and could only treat them as thoughts.

The fact is just as Gongsun Zan said, people like them have no say in the court's affairs, and the court's core affairs can only be resolved by the court itself.

"This is truly a time of trouble. I hope the court can settle down soon. As for us, although we cannot change the central government's affairs, as long as we can protect our Youzhou land, we have fulfilled our duty."

Liu Yu looked at the imperial report in silence for a long time, his brows furrowed for a long time, and finally he sighed and said these words with worry.

The others were also silent. They were not fools and they keenly felt that the Han Dynasty was on the verge of collapse.

If someone could quickly kill Dong Zhuo and restore order at this time, the Han Dynasty could still survive. If the situation dragged on, then even the gods would be unable to save the Han Dynasty.

So can someone step forward and quickly put an end to the chaos?

Everyone is not sure of the answer now, they can only force themselves to turn their attention back to Youzhou.

The imperial court is important, but for the Youzhou nobles, the current threat is more deadly. "After the last battle, the Yellow Turbans took over Guangyang and Liaodong. For more than half a year, there has been no major movement. They have only focused on governing the local area. According to the information we have obtained, the people of Guangyang are now praising the Yellow Turbans, and there is a sign that some people are loyal to them."

Cheng Xu became worried when talking about the Yellow Turbans next door. They couldn't sleep well with the Yellow Turbans around.

When the others heard the word "Yellow Turbans", they all felt heavy-hearted. No one could have imagined that the Yellow Turbans, which they once regarded as a mob, would now be feared by everyone, or at least avoided.

The Yellow Turbans were indeed well behaved during this period, and Liu Yu could understand why.

Organizing a major war is not an easy task. Just think about how much it cost for officers and soldiers to dispatch a large army last time, and you can imagine the approximate consumption of the Yellow Turbans, which will definitely be more than that of officers and soldiers. After all, a considerable part of the Yellow Turbans' combat effectiveness is fed by money and food.

After the last war, the officers and soldiers had to recuperate and make preparations, and the Yellow Turbans were not much better off, so naturally they could only focus their energy on governing the local area.

But the relatively peaceful situation did not make Liu Yu relax. Instead, it made him feel that danger was approaching.

The Yellow Turbans' governance was surprisingly effective. After completing the governance of Guangyang and Liaodong, the expansion of their power would be unimaginable.

If the Yellow Turbans gather strength again to attack him, will he be able to resist?
If there was anything that could comfort Liu Yu, it was probably only the foreign aid he had attracted with his own face. However, to order these foreign aids around, it would cost him a lot.

"Now that the new army is being trained, we can also ask for help from the Wuhuan and Xianbei tribes in Shanggu and Daijun. As long as we have more time, we will not be as helpless as last time." Qi Zhou snorted coldly when he thought of the Yellow Turbans. He also regarded the Wuhuan and Xianbei as a great help.

However, Gongsun Zan disagreed: "Xianbei Kebineng and Wuhuan Nanlou are both greedy people. Although we can drive them, we can only lure them with a large sum of money. We can regard them as helpers, but we cannot put all our wealth in the hands of outsiders. If we really want to defeat the powerful enemy, we can only rely on ourselves."

The others were not stupid and of course they understood Gongsun Zan's logic.

However, they had lost confidence after being attacked by the Yellow Turbans for a long time. Instead, they began to fantasize about relying on the power of the Wuhuan and Xianbei to reverse the situation, as if they really regarded Kebi Neng and Nanlou as their life-saving straws.

Although Liu Yu summoned these two forces, he had a clear understanding of this: "Bo Gui's words make sense. What we can really rely on is the new army. If it is not necessary, we should not use external forces."

Last time, Ke Bineng and Nan Lou led 10,000 cavalry to provide support, which indeed saved the lives of the officers and soldiers, but it was really expensive to let them make this trip.

Liu Yu had no choice but to give them money. After all, the other party would also consume manpower when they sent out troops. If he didn't give them money, they would not come again next time. In the long run, Liu Yu still squeezed out money and food to reward them even though he was in a situation where his vitality was severely damaged.

How could Liu Yu not be anxious when he saw the way the Yellow Turbans treated their soldiers? The Yellow Turbans knew that improving the treatment of soldiers would enhance their combat effectiveness, so how could the officers and soldiers not learn from them?
Instead of using the money to hire the Wuhuan and Xianbei, it would be better to spend it on building a new army, even if it's just to buy a few more sets of armor.

Considering the huge cost of driving out the Wuhuan and Xianbei, Liu Yu felt that it would be better not to trouble others unless it was absolutely necessary.

Qi Zhou sighed, "Having said that, we lost Guangyang County, so it's even harder to raise a new army. Forget about the original 50,000 troops. Now we're thankful to have 30,000 troops. With the remaining troops of Captain Gongsun, we can barely make up 50,000."

Everyone was silent for a while. They felt uncomfortable just thinking about the current situation.

Shanggu and Daijun are also barren lands. They are the main activity areas of the Xianbei and Wuhuan in the western part of Youzhou. It means that the officers and soldiers can now only mobilize the resources of Zhuojun.

However, as early as when the Yellow Turbans first entered Youzhou, they had already looted Zhuo County, which had already caused great damage to the vitality of the place, not to mention that they had to use the resources here to support the construction of the new army.

The way they are preparing the army now is completely a way of exhausting all resources. Even though Liu Yu sympathizes with the common people, he has no choice but to do so.

If the bandits cannot be suppressed, Youzhou will be lost sooner or later. When faced with the issue of survival, people's livelihood issues cannot be taken care of.

Liu Yu pondered and said, "Now it is not our business to attack the bandits, but the bandits may invade us. It takes time to train the new army. Before that, we must do a good job in the defense of Zhuo County, build weapons, strengthen the city walls, and prepare supplies for the defense of the city. These things must be done one by one."

At this point, Liu Yu seemed to remember something: "Especially the way the thieves break into the gate is really powerful. We must be on guard against this. If there is a war, we must immediately block the city gate with stones and bricks!"

When everyone heard this, they all agreed. If they had not suffered a great loss last time, they would not have lost the city so quickly.

Although they have now found out that the so-called Yellow Turban leader's thunder magic is actually caused by gunpowder, the means are not important and the result is what is important, so they must guard against this trick.

Qi Zhou hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Just leave the defense matters to me, the governor. I will make sure everything goes well."

Liu Yu nodded happily: "You have done a great job in these matters. I feel relieved to leave them to you."

Seeing that the discussion was almost over, Gongsun Zan sighed, "Youzhou is in chaos with bandits rampaging around, and the court is in turmoil. During this turbulent time, I hope everyone can cooperate sincerely, at least get rid of the bandit Xu and restore peace to Youzhou."

Even Gongsun Zan, who had always been at odds with others, made such a statement, and everyone felt heavy-hearted.

It's all Guangtou Xu's fault, otherwise everyone wouldn't have to bear so much pressure.

(End of this chapter)