The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 217 Chapter 216
The next day, Liu Biao met with Kan Ze again, and solemnly stated that once Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, he would lead his army to attack, and the scope of his attack would be Lujiang County, which is adjacent to his power.

Kan Ze quickly returned to Pengcheng with Liu Biao's reply.

When Zhang Yan learned that Kan Ze had returned from Jingzhou, he took the initiative to meet him. He also learned about Zhang Xian's rebellion from Kan Ze. In addition, he also accidentally learned that Liu Bei had become the prefect of Wuling under Liu Biao's tent. .

Regarding Liu Bei's news, Zhang Yan was quite surprised, because he had never seen Liu Bei since he parted with Liu Bei in Qingzhou.

For a long time, Zhang Yan was busy dealing with Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, but left Liu Bei far behind.Now, Liu Bei became the prefect of Wuling with Liu Biao, which caused him some surprises.

But at this moment, Zhang Yan still couldn't care about Liu Bei. After all, the enemy he had to deal with was Yuan Shu, and he had to eliminate Yuan Shu as soon as possible.

Yuan Shao in Hebei has already occupied Bingzhou. If he destroys Gongsun Zan and occupies Youzhou, his power will increase greatly. At that time, Yuan Shao will definitely make Zhang Yan his number one enemy.

In case Yuan Shao joins forces with Yuan Shu to attack from the north and the south, then Zhang Yan will fall into a two-front battle.

Therefore, Zhang Yan had to eliminate Yuan Shu first before Yuan Shao eliminated Gongsun Zan, so as to solve his worries, so that he could calmly deal with Yuan Shao with all his strength.

For this reason, Zhang Yan first appointed Yuan Shu as the Grand Tutor, and then named him Marquis of Hefei, and then used various methods to show weakness to Yuan Shu, letting Yuan Shu know that he, Zhang Yan, was more afraid of him.

Its purpose is to strengthen Yuan Shu's expansion of ambition so that Yuan Shu can proclaim himself emperor quickly, and then he will take command in person to conquer the rebellious Yuan Shu!
Liu Xun, the prefect of Lujiang, had been bought by Zhang Yan. Zhang Yan asked him to encourage Yuan Shu to proclaim himself emperor. Even He Yi, Liu Pi, He Man and others, he also used them to encourage Yuan Shu to proclaim himself emperor.

In addition, through Yuan Huan who escaped from Yuan Shu, Zhang Yan secretly contacted Yang Hong, a confidant of Yuan Shu's subordinates, and asked Yang Hong to encourage Yuan Shu to proclaim himself emperor.

Yuan Shu held the Jade Seal of Chuanguo in Shouchun, and watched it every day and night. The dragon robe and the crown have been custom-made, and even the seals of the Sangong and Jiuqing have been completely engraved. Now, just wait for an auspicious day, and then proclaim yourself emperor.

For half a month, Yuan Shu's subordinates encouraged him to proclaim himself emperor. Yuan Shu also asked Taoist priests to calculate the auspicious days of the zodiac, and decided to officially proclaim the emperor on the ninth day of September.

Therefore, Yuan Shu summoned Ji Ling, Yan Xiang, Yang Hong, Yuan Yin, Huang Yi and others to discuss matters in the hall.

Ji Ling, Yan Xiang, Yang Hong, Yuan Yin, Huang Yi and others arrived at the meeting hall one after another. After Yuan Shu arrived, they saluted in unison: "My lord!"

Yuan Shu waved his hand, signaling all the generals to sit down, and immediately said to everyone: "Now the Liu family has declined, and there is a lot of chaos in the sea. The four generations of our Yuan family are all important officials in the court, and the people are willing to submit to me. I want to uphold the will of God. , following the popular will, ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, what do you think of the princes?"

After hearing this, everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, Ji Ling, Yang Hong, Yuan Yin, and Huang Yi didn't say anything, only Yan Xiang hurriedly said: "No!"

When Yuan Shu heard someone objecting, he showed a hint of displeasure on his face, and immediately asked: "Now I have a strong army and a wealth of talents. The emperor is near Pengcheng, and the army will drive straight in. It will arrive in Pengcheng within three days, and sweep Xuzhou with the momentum of destroying ancient times. Why not?"

Yan Xiangdao: "Back then, the Zhou people, from their ancestor Houji to King Wen, accumulated meritorious deeds, three points of the world can be said to have their two points, but they still cautiously became the courtiers of the Yin and Shang Dynasty. Although you have been a high-ranking official for many generations, my lord. I'm afraid it's not as prosperous as the Ji's family; although the Han Dynasty is in decline, it seems that it can't be compared with the cruel and innocent King Zhou of Yin! What's more, what the lord sees are just some illusions, and the generals have persuaded the lord to become emperor , is nothing more than for the sake of high officials and generous salary. The subordinates believe that the lord must not be called emperor, otherwise, it will be tantamount to rebellion, and the world will condemn it. At that time, the lord will become the target of public criticism..."

"Stop talking!" Yuan Shu was furious when he heard Yan Xiang's words, "You always discourage me from proclaiming the emperor, are you secretly colluding with Zhang Yan?"

Yan Xiang immediately knelt down on the ground, kowtowed to Yuan Shu, and said, "My lord! This subordinate speaks from the bottom of his heart, is loyal to the lord, and has no second thoughts. All the worries of the subordinates are for the sake of the lord..."

Yuan Shu wanted to be the emperor with all his heart. These days, many generals persuaded him to be the emperor. In the past few days, even Yang Hong came to persuade him.But who knew, he would encounter Yan Xiang's obstruction again.

"Proclaiming the emperor is settled like this. On the ninth day of September, no one can stop me!" Yuan Shu got a little impatient, and in a fit of anger, he walked away.

As soon as Yuan Shu left, Yang Hong, Yuan Yin, Huang Yi and others all took a look at Yan Xiang who was kneeling on the ground, sneered, and left the hall with a trace of sarcasm.

Ji Ling walked to Yan Xiang's side, and said to Yan Xiang: "Lord Yan, why are you bothering? My lord wants to be emperor with all his heart, you don't know, why do you still want to stop him?"

"What do you know? You are all villains who are greedy for glory and wealth. If you hadn't kept persuading the lord in front of him, the lord would definitely not have become emperor so quickly. To become emperor in a hurry, the foundation is not stable, and it will not last long, besides The power of the Han Dynasty is not exhausted. The lord suddenly proclaims himself emperor at this time, and he will inevitably be attacked by the heroes. Back then, even the mighty Dong Zhuo didn't dare to proclaim himself emperor, but the lord has been thinking about becoming emperor because of a jade seal. You are too eager for success! When the time comes, all the heroes in the world will attack it, and Huainan will definitely be devastated..."

Speaking of this, Yan Xiang stopped talking, stood up from the ground, and laughed loudly. The laughter broke through the roof and went straight to the sky, making people feel a little creepy after hearing it.

"General Ji, if your lord proclaims himself emperor, you must become a great general. Although you are honored and favored for a while, you are not far from death. I advise you to leave Huainan as soon as possible, lest there will be no bones left!"

Hearing Yan Xiang's frustrating words, Ji Ling was a little unhappy, and immediately said to Yan Xiang: "Master Yan, please respect yourself!"

As soon as the words fell, Ji Ling left the hall, leaving Yan Xiang alone in the hall.

Yan Xiang walked out of the hall laughing all the time, seemingly insane, and when he returned home, without saying a word, he immediately packed up and saluted, took a carriage overnight, and fled with his family.

Arriving outside Shouchun City, Yan Xiang took one last look at the majestic Shouchun City, and thought to himself: "The world is so big, where is my shelter?"

Tears glistened in Yan Xiang's eyes. He turned his head, and after thinking about it, he decided to go to Jingzhou first, and then go to Yizhou from Jingzhou, so as to stay away from this place.

Soon, Yuan Shu's confidants informed Yuan Shu about Yan Xiang's escape. After hearing this, Yuan Shu said regretfully: "I originally planned to make him the current captain after proclaiming himself emperor. Since he doesn't know current affairs, , let him go!"

The news that Yuan Shu would become emperor on September [-]th was learned by Zhang Yan's scouts, and the news spread to Pengcheng very quickly. After Zhang Yan learned about it, he immediately deployed his troops, mobilized [-] troops, and secretly gathered in Longkang , Xiangxian area, ready to sweep Huainan when Yuan Shu became emperor on September [-].

In addition, Zhang Yan sent another envoy to Jingzhou to inform Liu Biao of the news and ask Liu Biao to make preparations.

It is getting closer and closer to September [-]th, and there are still ten days to go. Yuan Shu has grown impatient, and even lived the life of an emperor ahead of schedule, searching for beautiful women in Huainan, and pretending to be himself in everything, which made him The whole of Huainan knew that Yuan Shu was going to proclaim himself emperor.

Many people heard the news and knew that Yuan Shu's abusing his name was tantamount to rebellion. They were afraid of being implicated, so they fled one after another and migrated to Xuzhou, Jingzhou, and Yuzhou.

Yuan Shu sang and laughed in the harem all day long, indulged in wine and sex, lived an extremely extravagant and corrupt life, and turned a deaf ear to the outside world.And Yan Xiang's departure, because Yuan Shu couldn't find anyone to take Yan Xiang's place, so official documents piled up like snowflakes.

Finally, on September [-]th, Yuan Shu officially proclaimed himself emperor, established the Zhong family name, granted Yang Hong the title of Taiwei, Yuan Yin the title of Situ, Huang Yi the title of Sikong, Ji Ling the title of General, Zhang Xun the title of Hussar General, Xun was General Chariot, Chen Lan was Former General, Lei Bo was Left General, Li Feng was Right General, Lei Xu was Rear General, Mei became General Wei, Han Yin was Wei Wei, and the rest of the generals were rewarded.

Yuan Shu had waited for a long time for this day, and built an altar outside Shouchun City to commemorate the heaven and the earth.

On this day, Yuan Shu led all the civil and military officials who were rewarded to the altar, burned incense and prayed, and prayed for heaven's blessing.

Unexpectedly, when Yuan Shu inserted the three sticks of incense into the incense burner, a bolt of lightning suddenly struck down in the originally clear sky, directly splitting the incense burner in half, followed by deafening thunder .

In an instant, the wind and cloud changed color, and billowing dark clouds rolled in the sky, covering the sky and blocking out the sun.Not long after, countless hailstones the size of eggs fell from the sky, hitting people with pain.

"Escort! Escort! Escort!"

All kinds of unknowns seem to indicate something, and everyone is worried.

The hailstone fell for about a stick of incense, followed by heavy rain, accompanied by lightning and thunder in the sky, as if the sky was falling.

Yuan Shu frowned, he didn't expect this kind of thing to happen just after he ascended the throne, and all the civil and military officials behind him were also worried.

At this moment, a scout braved the wind and rain, rode a fast horse, and quickly galloped up to Yuan Shu, got off the horse, knelt on the ground immediately, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, Zhang Yan led an army of fifty thousand I have crossed the Huai River, captured Yicheng, and are heading for Shouchun!"

(End of this chapter)