Great Han Empire

Chapter 102
February 185 AD.

The Son of Heaven took Sikong and Zhang Wen as the chariot general and Zhijinwu Yuan Pang as his deputy. He went west to Chang'an and led the army to destroy the rebels.At the same time, Zhonglang General Dong Zhuo was promoted to be General Polu, and General Zhou Shen, General of Dangkou, was brought under the control of Zhang Wen.

The imperial court moved Guo Dian, the prefect of Julu, to be Jizhou Shepherd, commanding Jizhou's military administration, and exterminating the remnants of the Yellow Turbans in Zhongshan, Changshan, Zhao, and Julu.He relocated Liu Yu to be the chancellor of Ganling State (later Qinghe County), and led his troops to destroy the Yellow Turban Army in the Dongwu area.

After receiving the imperial edict, Zhang Wen, the chariot general, immediately went to visit Huang Fusong, who was at home, and asked him how to conquer the rebels in Xiliang.Although Huangfusong was framed by a treacherous villain, he is open-minded by nature, so he is not too fussy.Zhang Wen was one of the three lords of the dynasty, and a famous scholar at that time, his position was high and powerful, of course Huangfusong did not dare to neglect him, he warmly entertained him, and explained Xiliang's military affairs in detail.

Of course Huangfusong hoped that Zhang Wen would win this battle, stabilize the situation in the northwest, and let the people in the northwest frontier counties live a stable life, so he talked about everything in detail.Huangfusong repeatedly emphasized that in order to defeat the cavalry-based Xiliang troops, the Han army would not be able to do without 10 troops, and it would not be possible without cavalry.After Zhang Wen listened to it, he had a lot of experience and understood it. Then he expressed the hope of getting the strong support of Huangfusong's old department on the front line in Chang'an, and asked his son Huangfu Li to work as a Zhonglang, that is, a senior military staff officer, to coordinate with Huangfu. Songjiu's tribe, Zhou Shen's tribe and Dong Zhuo's tribe who stayed in Chang'an worked together to fight against the enemy.Huangfusong fully agreed, and assured him that the troops remaining on the front line in Chang'an, under the leadership of his eldest son Huangfu Jianshou and Qu Yi and other generals, would resolutely obey Zhang Wen's command.

Zhang Wen is a civil servant. Although he knows nothing about leading an army and fighting, he has many students and old officials who are very good at it.

The disciples taught by the master of Confucianism in person, and the disciples taught by the Confucian masters are disciples.At that time, a large number of scholars took refuge in the disciples of powerful ministers who started with Confucianism in order to be recommended for official positions.The disciples should buy money from the teacher, run and serve for him, and serve the master with the etiquette of a monarch, a minister, and a father and son, thus forming a hereditary relationship of subordinates.The former officials of the powerful ministers and those recommended by them as officials are called the old officials of the powerful ministers.Therefore, officials are like retainers, who call the chiefs the masters of the palace and the masters, serve them, send gifts to them, and even depend on each other in life and death, sharing weal and woe.There is a subordinate relationship between them.After the death of the palace master and the master, the old officials have to serve three years of mourning, and continue to serve their descendants or manage their family wealth.At that time, many aristocratic families used their disciples and old officials to form a powerful political force, which controlled the political destiny of the Han Dynasty at that time.

Tao Qian, who was Yilang at the time, was Zhang Wen's favorite disciple.Zhang Wen recruited him to the mansion of General Cheqi as Sima, and went out with him.Tao Qian was born in a family of petty officials in Danyang County, Yangzhou, and his father was only a county magistrate throughout his life.He lost his father when he was young, and he has always been a playful child. He started to study at the age of 14, and was elected as an official for his filial piety. He served successively as county magistrate, governor of Youzhou, and Yilang.

The general on the right chariot, Zhu Jun, Marquis of Qiantang, is Zhang Wen's best friend.Zhu Jun specially recommended to him Sun Jian, a disciple of Wu Jun, who is also a fellow Jiangnan fellow.

Sun Jian was from Fuchun, Wu County, and his family had been officials in Wu for generations.He was a county magistrate when he was young. When he was 17 years old, he singled out gangs of robbers and became famous.Last year, Zhu Jun was ordered to discuss the Yellow Scarves, and Sun Jian served as his assistant army Sima. He accompanied him in the southern and northern wars, made many meritorious deeds, and was promoted to be a different department Sima under the captain of the Beijun Tunqi School.

Zhang Wen trusted Zhu Jun very much, knowing that he did not promote the fellow for personal reasons, and the person he recommended must be very capable.So he asked the emperor to recruit Sun Jian to join the military in the general's mansion, and he was also a senior staff officer, similar to being a Zhonglang.

At the same time, according to Huangfusong's opinion, Zhang Wen planned to dispatch elite cavalry from various border counties in Youzhou in northern Xinjiang to participate in the battle on the Xiliang battlefield.His original intention was to recruit Li Hong, the recently famous leopard, but the news was somehow known by Zhonglang General Lu Zhi.

Lu Zhi is Gongsun Zan's teacher, so of course he should give his students the chance to become famous.Lu Zhi immediately came to visit.Compared with Gongsun Zan, Li Hong was far behind in terms of qualifications, reputation, and military rank.Zhang Wen naturally wanted to give Lu Zhi this face.He immediately invited the emperor to ride up to Youzhou for [-] miles to recruit, and ordered Gongsun Zan to mobilize [-] cavalry and arrive in Chang'an in the middle of October, which is less than a month.

Once Gongsun Zan left, Liaodong and Liaodong's subordinate countries, as well as the three counties of Liaoxi, lacked a strong man to sit on the border and deter the Karasuma and Xianbei people.Li Hong is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate. If he is used, he will be promoted to an official with a rank and salary of two thousand shi.So there was another quarrel in the court.With General He Jin, clan relatives of the Han Dynasty, and Zhong Changshi as one side, Taiwei Zhang Yan, Sikong Yang Ci and other famous scholars and ministers as one side, they each insisted on their own words, and there was a lot of quarrel.The emperor watched the performances of the ministers with great interest.

It stands to reason that for a military officer like Li Hong who came from a lowly background and was promoted by military merit, no matter how much merit he achieved, it would be impossible for him to be promoted to an official position with a rank and salary of more than two thousand shi in this era.

In the Han Dynasty, the school lieutenants and the captains were all officials who were more than two thousand stones. In the county and the army, they were all high-ranking officials.

Generals in charge of the army were generally rarely set up in the Han Dynasty.The noble status of generals is related to the fact that the number of generals is rare and not often assigned, but more importantly, it is related to the strong spirit of martial arts in the society since the Qin and Han Dynasties.Generals in charge of conquest and rebellion are very honorable. Powerful and noble ministers such as Sangong are often rewarded by the emperor.In the middle and early Eastern Han Dynasty, Du Liao and other miscellaneous generals had a rank salary of two thousand stones, which was equal to the status of the prefect of the county.Except for Du Liao, other miscellaneous generals generally withdraw after they stop.General Du Liao was set up by the court to deal with the Huns on the frontier.The position of a general is valued by the world, regardless of whether it is a heavy general or a miscellaneous general, the status is very high.Many civilian bureaucrats also often add the number of generals, who do not command the army, but are only given as honors.The same is true for military positions such as school lieutenants and captains.During the war, many bureaucrats took the post of prefect of the county with the school lieutenant and the capital lieutenant.Of course, all school lieutenants and captains cannot be generalized.The status of the five major lieutenants of the central military attache is higher than that of the school lieutenants of the frontier army, and the status of the captains of the central military attache cavalry is also higher than that of the captains of the county.

General He Jin's background is also poor, he was a butcher before his sister entered the palace.So he still has a sympathetic attitude towards people like Li Hong.He publicly recommended it to the emperor in the court, but he also wanted to see everyone's reaction.It turns out that being born lowly is a very terrible thing.The common people with this status, the untouchables are the bottom of the country. They do the hardest and most tiring work and enjoy the most unfair treatment. They will never recover, and their children and grandchildren will never recover.

The general and the eunuchs got angry, and they joined forces to fight back against those bureaucrats who were born in famous Confucian families.

Finally, let the emperor rule.The emperor was very interested in this person, and after hearing the two quarrels in the court, he probably knew the ins and outs of Li Hong.Since he has military exploits and outstanding military exploits, he should be promoted, but because he has been in the army for too short a time and is too young, even though he is recommended by a general, he should not make an exception.How about this, let's be Lieutenant Xing Lifeng of the frontier army.Your Majesty is holy.All the ministers shouted, and everyone was happy.

"Xing" means acting as an agent, and acting as a lieutenant is naturally temporary and can be revoked at any time, and the rank salary is also the rank salary of the original official rank.To put it bluntly, there is nothing, the same as in the past.But at any rate, he is also a captain. If you do well, you can turn into a formal one at any time. That is an opportunity.

After Gongsun Zan received the imperial edict, he immediately rectified the army and horses, but where he had 5000 cavalry, he only had about [-] cavalry.The bureaucrats in Luoyang didn't understand the current situation in Youzhou at all, so the lion opened his mouth and gave orders indiscriminately.Gongsun Zan had no choice but to conscript Karasuma cavalry from the Liaodong vassal state.The Karasuma people were afraid of him, and hundreds of tribes immediately gathered [-] cavalry to follow him to the Central Plains.

Gongsun Zan's disposition of hating the Hu people did not change even when he urgently needed their help.When they arrived near Jicheng, the Karasuma people were surprised. What were they doing all this long way?The leader of the army, Xiaoshuai, asked Gongsun Zan where the troops were going.It is also necessary to tell others, and it is not a big military secret.Gongsun Zan didn't think so. He thought that the Karasuma people had evil intentions and came to spy on the military situation. They killed him without saying a word.This misfortune has been magnified.The Karasuma cavalry broke out.Gongsun Zan was not afraid, he glared, and immediately summoned the army to surround the Karasuma camp, captured dozens of Karasuma leaders, big and small, and slaughtered them all one by one in front of all the Karasuma cavalry.This completely angered Karasuma.That night, they hacked to death the Han soldiers monitoring the barracks, and ran away completely.

Gongsun Zan was dumbfounded.Now it's too late to chase after him, and no matter whether he pursues or not, he still has less than [-] cavalry.Those who fail to complete the tasks entrusted by the imperial decree are at most dismissed from their posts and exiled to the army, but if they fail to arrive in Chang'an in time according to the military order, it is a crime of beheading.So he didn't care about the Karasuma people anymore, and led the remaining [-] cavalry to continue on their way.

The news reached the ears of Yang Huang, the governor of Youzhou.Lord Inspector Yang Huang had just arrived in northern Xinjiang, and the situation in Youzhou was unstable. Under such circumstances, he was unwilling to make a big fuss.Immediately, he wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of Liaodong to deal with it leniently and punish him. Don't intensify the contradiction and cause riots.

Before Gongsun Zan crossed the Yellow River, Jizhou was in chaos.

Zhang Niujiao led the Yellow Turban Army to plunder food and plunder everywhere. Seeing that the Han army had no ability to resist, he immediately launched an attack and began to attack the main cities of the counties. Nulu, the house of Zhao Guojun.The three counties were basically occupied by the Yellow Turban Army.
Jizhou Mu Guodian led the Jizhou troops to fight fiercely with Chu Feiyan and Yang Feng in Gaoyi and Yingtao.Seeing that the attack was blocked, the Yellow Turban Army withdrew immediately and stood firm on the border of Zhao State.Guo Dian's troops were unable to counterattack, so they could only defend Gaoyi and Yingtao City. At the same time, they rushed to the imperial court for reinforcements.

At the end of September, Zhang Niujiao, the commander of the Yellow Turban Army, suddenly launched an attack on Youzhou.Zhuojun, the largest county in Youzhou, was the first to bear the brunt, and Beixincheng was captured.

When Yang Chun, the governor of Youzhou, heard that Zhang Niujiao, the Yellow Turban Army, led an army of 20 to attack Youzhou, he was shocked.

The night on the prairie is very charming.The bright moon, the twinkling stars, the rich grass fragrance, the faint earthy smell, and the melodious insects singing unscrupulously hidden in the grass.

Li Hong was lying on a piece of old cowhide tape, looking at the crescent moon in the night sky, thinking about something.

More than 20 days ago, Tian Zhong suddenly proposed to return to Xu Wucheng.

Li Hong was very surprised, and said in amazement: "The army is practicing crossing the river with the cavalry of the Wuye tribe near Qiushui. The task is heavy and there are many things to do. Why do you want to leave suddenly? Is there anything urgent?"

"Everyone is so busy that they don't have time to violate discipline. I'm the only one in the army who has the most leisure time. So I want to go back and see some friends." Tian Zhong said with a smile.

Li Hong looked at him and laughed, "Okay. I am old and always homesick. By the way, help me bring something to Xiaoyu."

Tian Zhong shook his head, stroked his gray goatee and said, "You can run with me."

Li Hong was stunned.

Looking at Tian Zhong's smiling face and his gray hair, a warm current surged in his heart.He is like his grandfather, who is old and needs to be taken care of.

Then he remembered a pair of sad and beautiful big eyes.

Missing her suddenly surged in Li Hong's heart, a strong and unstoppable yearning.At this time, he had never noticed it, and he had never felt it.

Li Hong immediately ordered the troops to stop training, and all soldiers were paid one month in advance, and went home for vacation in three batches, including the Karasuma soldiers in Baishan.There were thunderous cheers in the barracks.

Li Hong, Tian Zhong, Zheng Xin, Yan Wuwei, Lei Zi, Xiao Lan, Hu Ding, Qi Shen and a group of more than 20 people rushed to Xu Wucheng day and night.

Seeing Li Hong standing at the door, Gu Yu was both surprised and happy, tears streaming down her face involuntarily.

"We're going home." Lei Zi called out loudly.

(End of this chapter)