People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 184 Farewell
The campaign against Dong Zhuo was in full swing. More than a dozen heroes from all over the country quickly formed several coalition forces and stationed them in Hanoi, Suanzao and Nanyang. The war was about to break out, and Dong Zhuo could no longer remain calm in the face of such pressure, and immediately forced the relocation of the capital.

However, before the court moved the capital, the residence of Cai Yong, who had just been promoted to General of the Left by Dong Zhuo, was not very peaceful.

At nightfall, a gentle and beautiful woman quietly walked into the study and saw Cai Yong flipping through a book under the lamp. Out of curiosity, she looked forward and found that the book was unusual. The words on it were different from the commonly seen words and were much simpler.

At this time, Cai Yong had already noticed the movement behind him. He looked back and laughed, "Yan'er, you're here."

"What book is father reading?" Cai Yan bowed slightly and asked curiously.

Cai Yong glanced at the book in his hand and closed it casually. On it were three large characters: "Natural Scriptures". "This is the scripture of the Youzhou heretic religion. It was originally a banned book by the court. However, Master Dong seemed to have some interest in the Youzhou heretic religion, so he asked me to study this scripture. Didn't this make the situation chaotic again? The matter was left unresolved."

Cai Yan said, "Since Master Dong has already forgotten about this matter, why does father want to read it again?"

"This book is indeed surprising, I just read it a little more." Cai Yong shook his head and looked at Cai Yan. He couldn't help but sighed: "I called you here because I have something important to tell you. Let's not talk about this."

Upon hearing this, Cai Yan responded obediently. In fact, she knew that her father had many worries after coming to Beijing, so she took the initiative to talk about other topics to avoid the atmosphere being too depressing.

Now that we have to talk about business, we have to get our minds back.

"At the court meeting today, Grand Tutor Dong has decided to move the capital. He will soon take the imperial court to Chang'an. Naturally, your father will follow him. However, the coalition forces are pressing outside, and the court is also in a state of turmoil. The situation is dangerous and unpredictable. Your father thinks it is better not to take you with him."

When Cai Yong spoke, his expression and tone were filled with uncontrollable worry, and it was unclear whether he was worried about his country or his own daughter.

Cai Yan was also shocked when she heard this, but she was reluctant: "If my father doesn't take my daughter with him, where will my daughter go alone and helpless?"

When talking about this, Cai Yan looked at her daughter with even more heartache.

I had arranged a marriage for my daughter, but less than a year after the marriage, my son-in-law died of illness. My eighteen-year-old daughter was left alone and helpless, so she had no choice but to follow me, her old father.

However, he had already thought of a suitable place for Cai Yan: "Pack your bags tonight. Tomorrow I will send someone to take you to Mount Tai. Stay at your sister's house for a while. When the situation here is a little more stable, I will take you back."

Cai Yan fell silent when she heard this. Of course, it was possible for her to temporarily stay at her sister Cai Zhenji's house, but she would rather accompany her father.

In his early years, Cai Yong was framed by high-ranking officials in the court. In order to avoid disaster, he fled and retired. He avoided officialdom for more than ten years. If nothing unexpected happened, he would disappear like this for the rest of his life.

However, after Dong Zhuo came to power, he took a fancy to Cai Yong's reputation and took the initiative to recruit him. Cai Yong was reluctant to accept the offer, but under Dong Zhuo's threat, he had no choice but to agree.

Although Dong Zhuo was now a traitor to the Han Dynasty, and although he was unwilling to go along with this traitor, Cai Yong had to admit that Dong Zhuo did have a favor for him, otherwise he would probably never be able to return to the court in this lifetime.

Under such circumstances, Cai Yan, as a daughter, was naturally worried about her father's future fate and was even more reluctant to leave.

But when she looked at Cai Yong's eyes again, they were full of worry for her, which made her speechless.

As one of the most talented women in the world, Cai Yan also had excellent emotional intelligence. She immediately understood that if she stayed, her father would probably worry about her every day.

It would be better to follow the arrangement and stay temporarily at my sister's house. My father will feel at ease without any worries.

"My daughter knows. She will leave early tomorrow morning."

Cai Yan was inevitably a little depressed at the separation, but she was more worried about Cai Yong: "After my daughter leaves, father must be careful in the court, especially remember not to get too close to Master Dong."

Cai Yong sighed when he heard this. This is the bad thing about people who are too smart. They know everything and worry a lot.

But he was promoted by Dong Zhuo, so how could this relationship be easily denied?

Cai Yong now has mixed feelings towards Dong Zhuo. From the perspective of a Han minister, he extremely hopes that Dong Zhuo will be conquered and beheaded by the coalition forces, but from a personal perspective, he may be grateful to Dong Zhuo.

In the end, he could only helplessly respond: "Father can handle the affairs of the court, you don't have to worry, just take care of yourself."

Cai Yan's eyes were slightly red, and she could only bow slightly, and then she started to organize books for Cai Yong in the study.

When everything was almost ready, Cai Yan finally bowed and left.

Seeing his daughter leave, Cai Yong sighed again. He felt uncomfortable about the separation between father and daughter, but he could only accept the current situation.

Tonight, not only does my daughter have to pack her bags, but I have to prepare as well. Under the general trend of the world, there is no way for an individual to reverse the situation. I can only be taken to Chang'an along with the Han court by Dong Zhuo.

There weren't many things to pack, the most important of which were some books. As a famous scholar who was good at classics and calligraphy, he had to study no matter where he went. I had intended not to bring too many books, but after packing casually, I unknowingly filled several large wooden boxes.

Cai Yong shook his head helplessly. In comparison, it seemed that paper books like "Natural Classic" were more convenient. Although they could not be preserved as long as bamboo slips, they could record more words and were more portable.

Judging from the texture of this thread-bound book, the Yellow Turbans in Youzhou should have been using this kind of paper book very commonly.

Just by touching the book in his hands, Cai Yong had a special feeling. This paper book seemed to carry the vitality of a new thing, while the bamboo slips felt old and backward.

After thinking about it carefully, he felt that this feeling was not strange. If the text of this book was engraved on bamboo slips, it would take at least seven or eight volumes to contain the content, not to mention that the book could be printed. The efficiency of making the book would be much higher.

The advantages and disadvantages of emerging things and old things are clear at a glance.

Without any hesitation, Cai Yong finally stuffed the "Book of Nature" into his arms.

The more he studied this thing, the more interesting it became. Both the novel naturalistic methodology and the naturalistic thoughts and doctrines amazed him. This was also the reason why Dong Zhuo was still studying this scripture even though he had clearly forgotten about it.

And according to his contacts with other scholars in the court, he was not the only one who was studying this privately.

At least if we put aside the doctrines of naturalism that were extremely unfriendly to the gentry, the understanding of the world in the scriptures was very attractive to real scholars, not to mention that the methodology of naturalism has made some achievements nowadays. For example, the theory of the microscopic world has made countless scholars eager to take a look, and Cai Yong is no exception.

At the same time, Cai Yong was also planning to wait until the situation stabilized and then submit a petition to the court to learn from the Yellow Turbans' method and promote this kind of paper books.

Regardless of whether he was promoted by Dong Zhuo or not, he was still a minister of the Han Dynasty after all, and it would be good for him to do something.

When the next day came, Cai Yan was seen bidding farewell to her father while crying. Finally, she reluctantly got on the carriage and headed eastward in this turbulent time.

Cai Yong went to the palace with his attendants and luggage.

What Cai Yong saw along the way was that Luoyang City was in complete chaos. Dong Zhuo's Western Liang cavalry were trampling on the people and looting their property in the city. Raging fires could be seen everywhere, and the miserable cries of the people could be heard everywhere.

Such a scene was like the end of the world. Cai Yong could not bear to watch it any longer. Although he wanted to stop it, he finally sighed. He knew that there was nothing he could do.

However, this is not the end of the disaster. For the people, there is more torture to come.

Dong Zhuo's relocation of the capital was not as simple as moving the imperial court. All the people along the way west from Luoyang would be forced to move with Dong Zhuo. In this era, such a large-scale migration of millions of people would only result in a huge catastrophe.

The people's property had long been looted by Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu. Countless people died of starvation and exhaustion on the way. If someone really couldn't keep up with the team, they would be killed without hesitation by the Xiliang Cavalry. The road was almost littered with corpses, which was a horrific tragedy.

The entire Luoyang and the surrounding counties were burned down by Dong Zhuo's fire, leaving only a mess.

For Dong Zhuo, Guanzhong and Liangzhou were his real hometowns. He would not feel bad even if Luoyang was reduced to a scorched earth. He made the worst-case scenario plan and even if he was defeated, he would not let the coalition forces get anything.

However, what Dong Zhuo did not expect was that although the coalition forces were powerful, they were far from being as powerful as he had imagined.

Although the coalition forces seemed to be working together, they actually had their own ulterior motives. The various princes were afraid of Dong Zhuo's strength and were unwilling to serve as the vanguard. After the initial disadvantage, they all retreated.

Cao Cao was the only loyal member of the coalition who took the initiative to seek battle. He joined forces with Bao Xin and Zhang Miao to advance westward, but was eventually ambushed and defeated by Xu Rong, a general under Dong Zhuo. Cao Cao himself almost died. Fortunately, Cao Hong offered him a horse in times of crisis, which saved him from disaster.

After this battle, Cao Cao became disheartened and had to withdraw his troops to garrison.

The other two coalition forces also achieved poor results. Both Yuan Shao's army and Yuan Shu and Sun Jian's army were defeated. The coalition forces on the entire battlefield did not gain any advantage at all. It was as if Dong Zhuo alone was defeating many other heroes.

The campaign against Dong came to an end at this stage, and the coalition forces' demoralized character was clearly exposed.

However, for the Yellow Turbans, when the coalition forces and Dong Zhuo were fighting in full swing, they had their own development opportunity. All the princes in the world were suppressed by Dong Zhuo, so the Yellow Turbans could develop outward without any worries.

The Yellow Turbans, who had just wiped out Xuantu and Lelang and concluded a treaty with Buyeo and Goguryeo to stabilize their rear, also began to set their sights on the last piece of land in Youzhou.

"This time, I will go to war and completely conquer Youzhou, laying a foundation for my religious career!"

At the pre-war meeting, Xu Chen, as the leader, set the tone for everyone with his first words.

(End of this chapter)