I practiced magic in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 132 Why did Your Majesty rebel?

"Since the Imperial Master is so insistent, then it's ok for me not to go in, right?"

Wang Jing sheathed his sword, stood calmly among the corpses, and looked at Wang Yue calmly. This made Wang Yue very confused.

"Qi Hou, what is your intention?"

"Master Emperor, do you think I did something wrong?"

Wang Jing did not answer but asked, his words were even more impolite: "I was fighting for the imperial dynasty in the front, clearing out the remnants of Dong Zhuo, but a fire broke out in the backyard. Does the imperial teacher know about this or not?"

Wang Yue had been in seclusion to stabilize his cultivation in the Heavenly Man Realm, so he was not aware of what Dong Cheng had done recently. However, he knew the news that Wang Jing had returned to Luoyang.

After a little thought at this moment, I have a general understanding of the cause and effect.

But Wang Yue was born in this era after all, and his awe of the imperial power was deep in his bones. In addition, the territory Liu Hong had promoted him, so even if he knew that Wang Jing had been wronged, Wang Yue could only choose to protect Liu Xie to the death: "Qi Hou, this is not the way of a monarch and his subjects."

"The relationship between the emperor and his subjects mentioned by the Imperial Master can't possibly mean that I should just sit there and wait to be killed, right?"

Wang Jing smiled coldly: "Today I am here only to clean up the emperor's entourage. Dong Cheng and other treacherous villains have been imprisoned according to the law and will be executed soon. I am not here today to harm Your Majesty, I just want to inform Your Majesty."

"Qingjun side!"

Wang Yue instantly had a bad premonition, and at the same time he understood why Wang Jing wanted to break into the palace and kill the imperial guards around Liu Xie.

This move was clearly intended to purge the factions around Liu Xie and eliminate those restless elements. It was also a demonstration to Liu Xie, telling him that those things must not be done.

"Lord Qi, this is really too much."

"Overdoing it? Imperial Master, you are wrong. Your Majesty has been deceived by a villain. How can a loyal minister like me let it go? In short, I am doing this for the good of Your Majesty."

Soon, the Bingzhou soldiers who arrived one after another began to clean up the bodies of the imperial guards outside the palace, while Wang Jing took off his helmet and walked towards Wang Yue step by step: "Emperor Master, may I ask where His Majesty is?"

"You've killed so many people today, haven't you gotten enough?"

Wang Jing walked straight into the Quefei Palace and replied coldly: "I want to see His Majesty. Please ask the Imperial Master to arrange it."

At this moment, Wang Jing had restrained his murderous intent. Wang Yue saw that he had calmed down and knew that Wang Jing would not kill Liu Xie, so he went to the back hall in person and invited Liu Xie out.

After a while, in the empty and deserted hall, Liu Xie, accompanied by Wang Yue, appeared in front of Wang Jing. As the eunuchs and palace maids had already run away, Liu Xie seemed helpless and trembling with fear while sitting on the throne.

A creaking sound was heard and the palace door was pushed open from the outside.

Wang Jing, wearing gilded tiger-patterned armor, slowly stepped into the Jiade Hall. On the pure golden armor, a roaring tiger shadow floated up and down, looming.

"Marquis Qi, are you here to kill me?"

Liu Xie pretended to be calm, but his trembling voice still exposed his deep fear and anxiety.

Wang Jing looked at Liu Xie and said calmly, "Your Majesty, just now, sixty-two Iron Scale Guards and one hundred and seven Imperial Guards died because of your Majesty. I hope your Majesty will remember this loyalty."

Liu Xie was trembling all over, not daring to utter a word. He kept looking for help to Wang Yue, the only close person standing beside him. Now only Wang Yue could save his life.

The fear of death made Liu Xie almost see black. Only the violent beating of his heart in his chest gave him a sense that he was still alive.

Bright red blood dripped along the golden armor plates and fell onto the spotless hall.

It was so quiet, so quiet that one could almost hear the sound of blood dripping onto the ground.

Tick ​​tock, tick tock~
It was not until Liu Xie's fear reached its peak that Wang Jing spoke up to break the silence: "Why did your Majesty rebel?"

Liu Xie forgot his fear and anxiety because of his anger. His eyes were red as blood, and he shouted angrily: "Don't you think it's ridiculous to ask such a question?"

Wang Yue looked at Wang Jing speechlessly, thinking what a bullshit question this was.

But Wang Jing did not smile. He had a serious face, and his eyes were extremely cold when he looked at Liu Xie: "A person who has neither talent nor prestige, just because his father is the emperor, naively believes that he should have power and command the world. This kind of thing is truly absurd."

The sarcastic words made Liu Xie furious. He was almost irritated to the point of exploding. He could only rage in vain: "I am the Son of Heaven!"

"Your Majesty, you should do as much as you are capable of. If you want to rule the country, you should see if you have the ability to do so. I don't have much expectation of Your Majesty. I can handle all the tasks by myself. All I ask is that Your Majesty should not hold me back. But Your Majesty can't even do such a simple thing. To be honest, I am very disappointed."

Wang Jing looked at Liu Xie indifferently with his eyes looking down at him, and his words were even more merciless.

This feeling of being looked down upon made Liu Xie extremely angry: "How can you still be called a minister if you are like this!"

However, for Wang Jing, who had ideals and intended to rebuild China, how could he be bound by the false titles of monarch and subject and loyalty and righteousness?

Therefore, facing Liu Xie's will, Wang Jing was very disdainful and ruthless in front of Wang Yue, bluntly saying: "Identity and status are just tools for me to realize my grand blueprint. If being the emperor can better promote my ideals, I will do it."

"You! Be bold!"

Since Dong Zhongshu promoted Confucianism as the only doctrine, Han orthodoxy and the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and are the theoretical foundation for the Han Dynasty to rule the world.

However, Wang Jing overturned all this without any concealment. How could Liu Xie not be angry?
But Wang Jing obviously had his own theories. Now that he had broken off relations with the royalists, he was too lazy to continue to play along. "Your Majesty, which emperor in history did not act in accordance with the will of heaven and act recklessly? Before Liu Bang, the great emperor, became emperor, he was just a village head, but he dared to point at the carriage of the First Emperor and say, 'A real man should be like this.' Don't I have such courage?"

Liu Xie was so shocked by Wang Jing's words that his eyes were blank, his brain stopped working, and he fell into a state of complete autism.

Wang Jing's cold eyes fell on Liu Xie. He had no good face for this naughty child who refused to settle down. "Your Majesty should be thankful that you still have loyal and righteous people like the Imperial Tutor and Qiantang Marquis around you, but there won't be a next time. I don't hope there will be a next time. Do you understand, Your Majesty?"

Liu Xie shuddered when he heard that, and looked at Wang Yue for help several times.

However, Wang Yue did not respond at all.

What could he do?

The map of mountains, rivers, and the country is in Yuan Wei's hands. Even if Wang Yue possesses a magical weapon like the Snake-Slaying Sword, he is not an emperor. How much power can he unleash from the emperor's sword?

Although the strong people in the realm of heaven and man are enough to dominate the world and fight against thousands of troops, they are not absolutely invincible. At least if Wang Jing really wants to mobilize all his troops and kill Liu Xie at the cost of his life, all Wang Yue can do is to lead Liu Xie out of the siege and live in exile from then on.

However, within the imperial dynasty, other princes might not necessarily be respectful to Liu Xie. Before this, Yuan Shao had even thought of establishing Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou, as emperor. If Liu Yu had not sternly refused, the civil war would have broken out long ago.

From this we can see that although Wang Jing's words just now were a bit domineering, he at least still recognized Liu Xie as the emperor.

Right now, both sides have concerns about each other, yet they are also interdependent, just like a couple who appear to be in harmony but are actually estranged, and who have to reluctantly live together for the sake of their common cause.

What's more, Liu Xie was the one who made the mistake this time, and Wang Yue was very helpless about it.

Not long after Wang Jing left the palace, one of his men came to report to him: "My lord, Wang Sikong wants to see you."

"Father is looking for me?"

Wang Jing guessed the reason and said, "Well, reply for me. I will come as promised tonight at midnight."

"Yes, my lord."

At night, the Sikong Mansion was brightly lit.

Wang Yun prepared the banquet and waited for Wang Jing.

"Father, I've been waiting for a long time."

Wang Jing returned home only after he had settled the soldiers. When he arrived, it was completely dark and a curfew had already been imposed on the streets.

It wasn't that Wang Jing was deliberately showing off and making Wang Yun, his father, wait for him.

It was because Wang Jing had just returned to Luoyang, and there were a lot of complicated things he needed to deal with. The mess left by Dong Cheng's management of Taicang and the armory alone kept Wang Jing busy.

Wang Yun looked at the high-spirited Wang Jing and personally filled a glass of wine for him. Then he could not help but remind him, "Yuan Xu, what you did this time was too impulsive."

Wang Jing understood that Wang Yun was referring to the incident of storming the palace. Although the emperor himself was fine in the end and it was Dong Cheng's soldiers who died, he still couldn't avoid the reputation of being domineering.

The situation in Luoyang is unstable, and wars are raging all over the country. Wang Jing now even dares to confront the emperor. It seems that he is in a glorious position and has great power, but in fact, it is easy to leave room for gossip and trigger a war.

This is how Dong Zhuo killed himself. However, Wang Jing also had his own reasons, and explained to Wang Yun: "I don't want to be a powerful official, but someone has to do things. Father, look at the court today. How many people really care about the country and the people?"

Wang Yun had been Sikong for a period of time, so he naturally knew what kind of people the civil and military officials in the court were.

Even the most trivial matters require meetings to be discussed, and they can drag on for a month or two without reaching any conclusion.

When the news of Wang Jing's injury reached Luoyang, some people within the New Party immediately wanted to surrender, so Wang Yun had to step in to mediate and stabilize the situation.

Obviously, the current New Party is still very fragile, and it can even be said that its survival depends on Wang Jing.

If Wang Jing falls, the New Party will surely fall apart.

In recent times, Wang Yun has been worried about this. Like Wang Jing, he wants to do something practical for the court and the people. However, once the policies he implements involve the interests of the aristocratic families, he will immediately be attacked by everyone and end up in nothing.

It has to be said that after several rounds of tug-of-war, Wang Yun was very disappointed with Yuan Wei, Yang Biao and others.

These people have stolen high positions, but their minds are full of family interests, party interests, home and country. The word "family" is placed in the most important position by them, and they are not afraid to damage the interests of the empire and even the people of the world for this.

On the contrary, although Wang Jing's behavior seemed domineering, he did a lot for the people, and he repeatedly led his troops to quell rebellions regardless of his own life.

Based on this point alone, Wang Yun stood firmly on Wang Jing's side.

Not to mention that Wang Jing is his biological son. Brothers fight tigers together, and fathers and sons fight in battle. Now, under Wang Jing's persuasion, Wang Yun obviously also believes that the Yanhan Dynasty will perish if it does not reform.

However, the father and son also had differences on how to reform. Wang Jing was a radical and believed that the old order should be broken and a new order should be established.

Wang Yun was obviously a moderate reformer who only wanted to make minor repairs to the old order and believed that Wang Jing's approach was too aggressive.

If the old order is broken and the new order is not established, won’t the empire collapse immediately?

This was unacceptable to Wang Yun, so he reminded Wang Jing: "Yuan Xu, since ancient times, powerful officials have never had a good ending. Aren't you worried about how your actions today will be recorded in history books?"

"Father, justice is in the heart of the people. I have a clear conscience, so why should I be afraid of the historian's honest writing?"

Wang Yun hesitated to speak. He really didn't want Wang Jing to usurp the throne, but he also knew very well that powerful officials had never retired after achieving success since ancient times.

Either rebel or be exterminated.

However, seeing Wang Jing's confident look, Wang Yun knew that it was useless to continue to persuade him, so he simply frowned and talked about another matter: "I heard that you married Dong Zhuo's granddaughter Dong Bai as your concubine?"

Wang Jing was stunned for a moment, and had to answer truthfully: "Yes."

After Wang Yun got a clear answer, he frowned immediately. He was worried that the hero Wang Jing would not be able to resist the beauty.

Wang Jing seemed to see Wang Yun's worries and said with a smile: "Father, Dong Zhuo is dead. If we marry Dong Bai now, we can subdue the tens of thousands of remnants of the Xiliang Army and put down the rebellion without bloodshed. This deal is a good deal."

Wang Yun glared at Wang Jing in anger and said, "How can you talk about military and national affairs in such a mercenary way?"

Wang Jing laughed: "It was my fault for speaking out of turn. I will drink three cups as punishment."

In just a few words, Wang Jing dispelled Wang Yun's doubts and made it clear that marrying Dong Bai as a concubine was entirely based on political considerations.

Just when the father and son wanted to chat for a few more words, Xu Lan came hurriedly to report: "General, Liang County is in danger!"

"Sun Wentai, the Tiger of Jiangdong?"

Wang Jing was not surprised to hear the news. After all, how could such a peerless warrior be willing to be
As soon as the news of the conflict between Liu Xie and Wang Jing spread, Sun Jian and Yuan Shu could not wait to take action and launched a fierce attack on Liang County.

At the same time, outside Hulao Pass, the coalition forces were also ready to move, constantly gathering troops and trying to break into the pass.

Wars broke out on both the eastern and southern fronts at the same time. Wang Jing summoned his troops overnight to discuss countermeasures and make pre-war deployments.

"Wenyou, you lead 5,000 soldiers and help Gongming guard Hulao Pass."

"Yes, I will do my best to assist General Xu and protect Hulao Pass."

"Wenhe, you will lead 5,000 men to guard Luoyang. The secret guards will be temporarily under your command. Keep an eye on the capital for me. This is the rear base of our army and we must not lose it."

"My subordinate understands."

Wang Jing assigned tasks to Li Ru and Jia Xu respectively, and also assigned the more than 10,000 surrendered soldiers of Zhu Jun's army who were left after the old and weak were eliminated to the two of them for command and dispatch.

Although these surrendered soldiers are not very strong in combat, they are all local people of Luoyang after all. The responsibility of defending the land can inspire their fighting spirit and morale, so it is no problem to use them to defend the city.

Even so, Wang Jing still felt it was not safe enough.

"Wenhe, pass on my order to transfer Lü Bu and his Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry to Liang County to join me. At the same time, promote Gao Shun to the rank of General of the Western Army, lead 2,000 infantry, and guard Tongguan."

"clear."

Jia Xu had naturally heard about Lu Bu losing the bet, and knew that Wang Jing wanted to give Lu Bu a chance to make a contribution. After all, it was like talking to a cow about gratitude to a man like Lu Bu. The only wise thing to do was to give him some benefits from time to time and drive him to work.

After all, he is the best worker in the Eastern Han Dynasty, especially his talent in leading cavalry is unmatched in the world. It would be a waste of such talent if we don't make good use of it.

Moreover, in Jia Xu's opinion, Lü Bu was unruly and difficult to control, and only Wang Jing could suppress his arrogance. Rather than keeping him as a variable in the rear, it would be better to transfer him to the front line to fight, and monitor his every move nearby.

After all the strategic arrangements were made, Wang Jing led 3,000 Bingzhou soldiers and 2,000 auxiliary troops across the Luo River overnight and headed south to Liang County.

In the small Liang County, there were at least 60,000 soldiers fighting each other. Including the civilians and auxiliary soldiers who were responsible for escorting food and fodder, there were more than 100,000 people.

The original offensive and defensive battle has now been upgraded into a large-scale battle. More and more troops are involved in the battle, and the two sides have formed a jagged situation on the battle line that is dozens of miles long.

The outcome of this battle will directly determine the ownership of the capital Luoyang.

On the south bank of Yichuan, the gurgling river water has been dyed red with blood.

On the battlefield, thick smoke billowed and tattered flags fluttered in the wind amid the sounds of fierce fighting.

Among the crowd, a general with a determined look and a red scarf appeared on the battlefield. Wherever he went, the soldiers of the allied forces cheered loudly.

"The general is coming! The general is coming!"

"My dear man, now is the time to make achievements. Follow me and fight!"

"I am willing to die for the general!"

The soldiers of the Sun-Yuan coalition all raised their arms and shouted, their faces flushed with excitement.

Just because their commander is the fierce tiger of Jiangdong, Sun Jian, Sun Wentai!
On the vast battlefield, Sun Jian, holding the famous sword Gu Ding, led more than ten cavalry guards and dared to charge head-on into the enemy's phalanx of a thousand men. Such a brave and fearless attitude greatly boosted the morale and fighting spirit of the coalition forces.

"Break it on me!"

Sun Jian roared like a tiger and slashed with his sword. The fierce blade was raging and the aggression was like fire. Eight Xiliang cavalrymen were knocked off their horses by the sword energy. Their bodies and limbs flew everywhere and blood splattered everywhere.

His personal guards were also fearless and followed Sun Jian to charge into the enemy ranks. With only a dozen cavalrymen, they managed to carve out a bloody path through the encirclement of more than a thousand cavalrymen.

Under the central army's banner, Xun You looked at Wang Fang and Hua Xiong, pointed at Sun Jian from a distance and asked coldly, "You two, can you help me get this man's head?"

"How difficult is that? We'll be back soon!"

Wang Fang and Hua Xiong were both surrendered generals from Xiliang. They were worried that they had no chance to make merit, so they immediately led their troops into battle after receiving the order.

They each had a cavalry unit of more than 200 people, and 2,000 well-equipped and battle-hardened Xiliang infantry. Although Sun Jian fought bravely, they did not take him seriously.

War is not a street fight. If I can't beat you in a one-on-one fight, I will use troops and tactics to defeat you!

War is never a one-man game.

(End of this chapter)