Great Han Empire

Chapter 218
In the second attack, Black Panther Yicong killed seven people and injured 18.

There were more than 50 assassins in this group, including both Han and Hu people. Among the Hu people, there were not only Qiang people but also Huns. They besieged and killed Li Hong with the heart of death, but they all failed.Li Hong blocked and killed 19 people by himself, and Sun Jian, who came to support him, was dumbfounded by his powerful martial arts.

Qi Shen fell asleep for a day, and woke up the next day.

Li Hong suffered several injuries, which did not hinder his movement.That night, Tao Qian came to him.

Tao Qian comforted him a few words, and then told him bluntly that the time and location of the assassination were just right, and there must be a master behind him directing it.Now the traitor, the Xiliang and Guanzhong bureaucrats may spend money to hire someone to kill him. It is meaningless to guess who is behind the scenes. The most important thing is to protect your own life, so that the assassins will not be able to start from now on.

Tao Qian said solemnly: "Assassinated you at the old street, the other party obviously wanted to blame the Taiwei, so we can easily think that the assassin was appointed by a traitor, but I think this matter may not be so simple. Now There are so many things that are true and false that it is difficult to say clearly?"

Li Hong smiled and said gratefully: "Thank you for your concern. I have offended so many people and killed so many people. It is normal for them to kill me. I don't want to pursue these things. Although my brothers died a few but I know how to recover this blood debt for them."

Tao Qian looked at him attentively and nodded.

"Subject, why did you agree to go to Jincheng? In such a safe place as Huailicheng, you were almost killed, let alone go to Jincheng. Are you looking for death? Don't you know the secret behind Mr. Taiwei? Motivation?"

Li Hong bowed his head and remained silent.

Tao Qian said angrily: "Why did you go to Jincheng? Did the rebels send someone to hand over the indictment? Who is sure that the rebels will surrender? Why did you agree to such an easy excuse?"

"Okay, even if the enemy is willing to surrender, but you killed tens of thousands of rebels in two battles, and you have a deep hatred with the rebels. How can you go? There are so many officials in Xiliang, and it's not your turn to go. The rebels Over there, there are more people who want to kill you than here, so it’s hard for you not to die.” Tao Qian sighed and continued, “Even if the rebels don’t kill you, how safe is it to go to Jincheng and return for more than 800 miles? Promise? Are you taking an army?"

"This is murder with a borrowed knife."

Tao Qian looked at Li Hong sympathetically, and said, "I don't see any hope of you coming back alive."

"My lord cares about me so much, it's really touching." Li Hong cupped his hands to Tao Qian and said, "I'm willing to go because of my reasons."

"I think Lord Taiwei still wants to solve the Xiliang problem as soon as possible. Killing me is a secondary matter after all."

"Although Mr. Taiwei intends to borrow a knife to kill someone, but when I think about it carefully, I am indeed the most suitable person to recruit, and the possibility of success is the greatest. This time the court took the initiative to recruit, what it wants to show is strong strength and blood, and I It is the most suitable. General Dong will inevitably have all kinds of grievances and grievances because he has been with them for many years. But I didn’t. , there is no grievance at all."

"Is that why you're going?" Tao Qian thought for a moment, nodded, and said, "I rarely go to the battlefield, and it's hard to understand such things. Maybe you're right."

"That's not the only reason I'm going." Li Hong said softly.

Tao Qian immediately looked at Li Hong with interest.

Li Hong smiled slightly: "I'm sorry my lord, I can't say it."

Tao Qian nodded understandingly, and then asked with concern: "Are you really sure you will come back alive?"

"Of course. If I'm not sure, I won't go." Li Hong laughed.

===

Although Taiwei Zhang Wenwen and the court ministers spent a lot of money and wrote letters to persuade them, the emperor was determined and refused to let Li Hongxi go to Jincheng County to appease the rebels.

The eunuchs Zhao Zhong, Duan Gui, Xiao Huangmen Jian Shuo and other eunuchs also took the opportunity to speak.

When the emperor saw that the eunuchs who had always been against the court officials also recommended Li Hong to go to Jincheng County to persuade the rebels to surrender, he immediately became alert.He privately said to his confidant, Xiao Huangmen Jianshuo: "You and the ministers in the court have always spoken in two voices, but this time you have the same accent. It must be famous."

He immediately ordered Taiwei Zhang Wen to strictly forbid Li Hong to set foot in Jincheng County.

Now, Li Hong is a tool for the emperor to make a fortune, how could he let Li Hong have an accident.The list of officials suspected of corruption that Li Hong gave him made the emperor a fortune, so much so that he even issued an edict, urging Li Hong to give him another batch of lists.It's so easy to earn money.

Seeing Li Hong's very strong and determined request to appease the rebels, Zhang Wen felt a little uneasy.He asked Li Hong several times, but he couldn't tell whether Li Hong was really an idiot or just pretending to be one.He took out the imperial decree of the emperor to Li Hong, and told Li Hong, now, unless you personally write to your majesty, stating in detail the reasons for your request, the emperor will not agree.Li Hong felt very uncomfortable when he saw the imperial decree of the emperor.Of course he knew why the emperor didn't let him go to Jincheng County. The emperor had already made it very clear in the edict to him.

Li Hong asked Zhao Yun to write a memorial for himself to the emperor.

Li Hong first explained the reason why he voluntarily asked to go to Jincheng County to persuade the rebels to surrender.In the memorial, he repeatedly assured the emperor that after returning from Jincheng County, he would definitely bring more income to the emperor.The second is the issue of captives and food.

That day, although Lord Taiwei didn't talk to Dong Zhuo about the allocation of military funds, Zhang Wen thought it would be unwise to delay Dong Zhuo's army's military funds at this time because of the stalemate between the two sides.He made a decision to hand over all the [-] captives of the Xiliang rebels to Li Hong, and Li Hong had full authority to deal with them.Li Hong was so angry that he wanted to curse.But when he saw Zhang Wen's gray temples, frown, and haggard face, he couldn't bear to refuse.The [-] captives were handed over to Li Hong. To put it bluntly, Zhang Wen didn't care about their food, drink and life.Li Hong starved them to death, killed them, or sold them, as long as they didn't ask Zhang Wen for a grain of food, they asked for a lot of money.However, once Xiliang was pacified, Li Hong would most likely return to Youzhou, and the [-] captives would still have to be sent back to their original places.All that was given to Dong Zhuo and the Northern Army was money, but what was given to Li Hong was [-] prisoners who needed to eat and drink.Li Hong is stupid, how will he explain to his brothers when he goes back.

Seeing Li Hong's dissatisfaction, Zhang Wen called him cunning in his heart.He thought that Li Hong had withheld a large part of the stolen money and goods obtained from the ransacking of the house.In fact, Li Hong wanted to allocate part of the money to the Western Expeditionary Army, part to the Son of Heaven, and part to the treasury of Xiliang.But who would believe this?He has a hard time.

Li Hong told the emperor about his difficulties. There was not enough food for [-] more prisoners.This group of people can't be killed, and they can't be released.Kill it, Xiliang's people will lose their hearts, and Xiliang's population will be even smaller; let it go, it will be a fire.These captives rebelled because they had no food to eat, but when they were sent back, they still had no food to eat, and they still wanted to rebel.So he begged the emperor to help him find a way to allocate some food for emergency.As for the money to buy food, he will have it as soon as he returns from Jincheng County.

He wrote another letter to Xian Yufu.He told Xian Yufu that he had promised Lord Taiwei to go west to Jincheng County to appease the rebels, and he asked Xian Yufu to call Xu Rong, Qu Yi and Zuo Yan to discuss it immediately after receiving the letter.What Li Hong meant was for Xu Rong and Nie Xiao, the commander of the Qiang people, to go to Jincheng County to meet with the leader of the rebel army first, and to find out what Bian Zhang and Han Sui said.In addition, let Lei Zi and Wen Chou rush to Huaili with two thousand black panthers, and he wants to go back to Zixiu Mountain Camp.

===

After Li Hong returned to Daying, Song Dian and Zhen Ju came to visit him together.After the three chatted for a while, Song Dian and Zhen Ju said goodbye and left.

"How many days have Xu Rong and Nie Xiao been away?" Li Hong asked as he strode back to the big tent.

"After receiving the letter from the lord, Zilie took Nie Xiao away that night." Xian Yufu replied.

"How did you discuss my going to Jincheng County? The few things I asked for have been arranged."

"According to your lord's wishes, we have made arrangements." Zuo Yan said with a smile, "As soon as His Majesty's imperial decree arrives, your lord can go on the road. However, there is one thing that requires you to make up your own mind."

"What's the matter?" Li Hong asked.

"After my lord has left, it is very likely that Lord Taiwei will be responsible for the corruption of Xiliang Su." Zuo Yan continued, "What about the criminals detained in the camp and the evidence we collected? If Lord Taiwei Take it away, we..."

"Your Majesty still expects these people to make some money, so Mr. Taiwei will not disobey the emperor's intention and let them go?" Li Hong said with a smile, "Well, you only do two things. Take good care of the money, no one will take it, and whoever takes it will have his head cut off. The second is to guard the barracks tightly, and no one is allowed to leave the camp."

Qu Yi asked puzzledly: "My lord, what do you mean? Could it be that the matter of Xiliang Su's corruption has been abandoned halfway like this?"

Li Hong smiled and said: "Before I came to Huaili, didn't I tell you that this is where the Taiwei Lord has the greatest authority. He can do whatever he wants, and you can't resist it. Whether it's the arrested person or the criminal, the evidence is also important." Well, let them deal with it, don't worry about it, as soon as I come back, hehe..." Li Hong smiled maliciously, "Xiliang is about to tremble."

Xian Yufu, Qu Yi and Zuo Yan looked at Li Hong suspiciously.

Li Hong shook his hand at them and said, "You will know why when I come back. Don't ask now, and I won't tell you if you ask."

"My lord is so confident in appeasement of the rebels?" Qu Yi said with a smile, "Old Bian is not an easy talker."

Li Hong smiled confidently: "Yuntian, do you want to go to Jincheng with me?"

A look of excitement flashed across Qu Yi's face, and then he thought of something and shook his head, saying, "Your Excellency, you should take Zilie with you. Mr. Wen Yue doesn't like me. I'll go, and it won't help you."

"Subject, the safety of going to Jincheng this time..." Xian Yufu looked at Li Hong, and said worriedly, "These people are cruel and merciless, you cannot guard against them, you..."

Li Hong put his arms around his shoulders and comforted him with a smile: "This time I was careless and killed several brothers. Don't worry, there will be no next time. With this lesson, it will be difficult to kill me."

The curtain was lifted, and Tian Zhong, Wei Zheng, and Ji Wei walked in.

Tian Zhong took Li Hong's hand, looked up and down, his gray goatee was shaking, a little excited, he smiled and said, "Zi Min, are you alright?"

"I can't die." Li Hong felt warm in his heart. He patted Tian Zhong's skinny hand and said with a smile, "Old man, I still want to fight to the setting sun with you. How can I die?"

Li Hong immediately held Ji Wei's hand, and asked with concern: "Is the wound better these days?"

Ji Wei was injured during the attack on Qingwu and never recovered.Ji Wei smiled and said, "Compared to your lord's injury, mine is nothing."

"Guoan, why don't you look so good? Are you busy these days?" Li Hong pointed at Wei Zheng and asked with a smile, "Did someone violate military discipline again?"

Wei Zheng smiled and replied: "My lord, next time you go out, you must not be so careless."

"Thank you." Li Hong said dejectedly, "When I left that day, I just listened to your advice and brought more people." He shook his head again and again with a rather sad expression.

Zheng Xin, Yushi, Yan Rou, Xian Yuyin, Heng Ji and other generals rushed in, and then Yan Liang, Zhang He, Gao Lan and others rushed over upon hearing the news, and the tent was immediately full of people.Everyone was very happy to see that Li Hong was safe and sound, talking and laughing in the big tent.

Li Hong looked around, and asked strangely: "Where's the beard? Where's the fist? By the way, where's Lou Lu? You're all here, why aren't they here?" Li Hong pointed to Yan Rou Hengji and asked , "What's the matter, what are they busy with? They don't come to see me anymore?"

Yan Rou's complexion darkened, and Heng Ji bowed his head in silence.The big tent quietly fell silent.

Yan Wuwei glared at Wei Zheng fiercely and said, "Go back to your lord, they were all imprisoned by your lord for stabbing and raping."

Li Hong laughed. He looked at Wei Zheng and said, "Guoan, what happened to them this time? When have these people been safe?"

Wei Zheng cupped his hands beside him and said, "My lord, it's not a big deal, it's just a trivial matter, a little punishment will be fine."

Hua Xiong raised his thick eyebrows, and said loudly: "Master Wei, what do you mean by saying that? What trivial matter? You are simply protecting yourself."

Qu Yi said unhappily: "Master Wei, that's not what you said when you arrested people that day. What is a trivial matter? What is a slight punishment? Sir Wei, why don't you explain it to me?"

Wei Zheng blushed, embarrassed.

Tian Zhong disliked Yan Wuwei's talkativeness, so he slapped Yan Wuwei with his hands in anger, then walked to Wei Zheng's side, smiled and said to Qu Yi and Hua Xiong: "We are all one family, and some things should be settled through negotiation. It is necessary to make matters worse. We should pay for what we should pay, and what we should apologize for. After drinking three bowls of wine, we are still brothers."

After all, Tian Zhong's position in the Jizhou Army was different, he took the initiative to speak up, Qu Yi and Hua Xiong were in the way of face, it was difficult to say anything.The two nodded with unkind faces, and said nothing harsh.

As soon as Li Hong heard it, he understood that there must be a conflict between his subordinates and Xiliang's soldiers.He originally wanted to ask more questions, but when he saw Tian Zhong stood up and said nothing, he didn't want to ask any more.

Everyone talked nonsense for a while, and then took their leave one after another.

Li Hong left Zheng Xin.

"What happened?" Li Hong asked, "Does Master Wei seem to be in a difficult situation?"

Zheng Xin faltered for a long time, and said: "My son, the old man has already talked about negotiating and handling, so you should stop interfering?"

Li Hong smiled and said: "Okay, okay, I agree. What a big deal, everyone is mysterious. Could it be that they killed someone?"

"It's not a murder, but there are one or two thousand soldiers on both sides participating in the fight, which is really outrageous." Zheng Xin shook his head.

Li Hong was taken aback, and said with a smile, "The scale is so big?"

"Are you still laughing?" Zheng Xin said angrily, "Fortunately, you are still a Zhonglang general, the commander in chief of the army, why are you still laughing when such a big thing happened in the barracks?"

Seeing Zheng Xin's panic-stricken look, Li Hong burst out laughing.

"The matter was all caused by Lou Lu. He invited a group of Karasuma brothers from Baishan to dinner in the military market, and by the way he called dozens of camp prostitutes to join in the fun. A dozen military officers from Xiliang also happened to be in the military market that night. Go to the camp prostitutes. When those people saw the camp prostitutes, Lou Lu snatched them first, and they were angry, so they cursed people outside the camp prostitutes’ tent. Lou Lu and a group of brothers were angry when they heard that, they rushed out and beat them up. Paused. As a result, those people ran back and shouted hundreds of people and beat them up again. Lou Lu went to find Huzi and fisted for help. Three people led more than 1000 people to the military market to fight. What happened next? Needless to say, you already know..."

Li Hong shook his head and said nonchalantly, "Are there not many prostitutes in the military market?"

"Not many, about 100 people. The last time Zilong led people to attack the camp, he killed many of them."

"Let's do this." Li Hong said, "There are thousands of corrupt wives, concubines, children, servants, servants and servants in the camp. Go and check them out. Those who are of the right age will all act as camp prostitutes."

Zheng Xin glanced at him in surprise, and said, "My lord, is it appropriate to do this?"

"What's inappropriate." Li Hong said coldly, "I've killed dozens of corrupt officials, and I still care about these people."

"They are so pitiful..." Zheng Xin whispered, "We do this..."

"I can't let them go, can I?" Li Hong smiled wryly, "We were born poor and humble, and I was a slave, so we all know the pain of being a lowly person. But sympathizing with them does not mean that we can help them. According to Da Han Lu, this is their fate, and no one can change it. What do you say?"

Zheng Xin was silent.

"Let's solve our own problems first." Li Hong said with a sigh, "I can't take care of that much anymore. We still have to solve the problem of feeding [-] captives. Shouyan, what's your idea?"

Zheng Xin was in a bad mood. He spread his hands and said with a sad face: "What can I do? I eat twice a day, so save some money. Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou have already visited the old man several times. Look at their posture, It seems like there will be riots if there is no food, and whoever is afraid of whom."

Li Hong was helpless.

===

Yunwu City is located on the south bank of Huangshui River, sixty miles away from the Yellow River.The county seat of Jincheng County is located in this city.

Although Bian Zhang's injuries were under control, life was still unstoppably draining from his emaciated body bit by bit.The pain tormented Bianzhang all day long, making him miserable.

Han Sui walked slowly into the courtyard where Bian Zhang lived.

Bian Zhang on the sickbed was already thin and out of shape, but thanks to the careful and thoughtful care of the person, he still looked clean, refreshed and in good spirits.

"Didn't you bring your flute today?" Bian Zhang asked in a low voice.Every day, Han Sui came to see him and played a song for him.

Han Sui lightly gave Bian Zhang a thin quilt, and whispered, "Zi Lie is here."

Bian Zhang was silent.

Han Sui smiled and said, "Old Bian, now your wish has come true."

Bian Zhang sighed softly and asked, "Why didn't Zilie come to see me?"

"There are some things we have to talk about first." Han Sui said, "Zi Lie came too suddenly, and we were not prepared. How do we talk to Zi Lie? Is it surrender or recruitment? Is it to appease or appease? We always have to leave a note for ourselves The back road, just in case."

Bian Zhang smiled wryly and said, "Is it Zilie talking to us?"

"It's Li Hong, the leopard."

Bian Zhang was startled suddenly.He and Han Sui glanced at each other, with surprise, admiration, resentment, and helplessness flashing across their faces.He shook his head and closed his eyes.

"Old Bian..." Han Sui called softly.

"Li Zhonglang's bloody crackdown on corruption in Xiliang suddenly caused great chaos in Xiliang and Guanzhong, and their western expeditionary army was already facing extreme difficulties due to lack of military resources. At this time, Li Hong suddenly came to appease the emperor on behalf of the emperor. We must be helpless. We can take advantage of this opportunity to take the initiative and force the court to make concessions." Han Sui said with confidence, "Old man, what do you think? The key is that we can't leave Jincheng, we can't give up the army, you say Woolen cloth?"

Bian Zhang nodded slightly, and said, "You can make up your own mind about these things." Then he opened his eyes, looked at Han Sui, and continued, "He was corrupt in Xiliang, killing corrupt officials, doing what we always wanted to do but What he failed to do, speaking of it, he is also a bloody man, which is admirable. For decades, who dared to take up the butcher knife of justice in Xiliang? There is only this leopard from northern Xinjiang."

Han Sui nodded in admiration, and said, "This man is very courageous, bloody in his methods, and fierce in his aura, which is very rare."

"He dares to come, he must rely on something." Bian Zhang said, "Wen Yue, you have to be more prepared. In addition, you have to greet Yang Qiu and the others, and don't try to murder him. Although we were defeated by Li Hong, the 10,000+ army was defeated He was destroyed overnight, but it was an upright confrontation between the two sides on the battlefield, and there was no personal grievance at all."

"Now he is fighting corruption in Xiliang, he has offended various factions in the imperial court, and his future is bleak. If he dies here, we will not only lose the opportunity to appease, but also lose the hearts of the people in Xiliang. He is now in Xiliang and the people in Guanzhong Zhong’s reputation is very high, at this time, we must not let him die here, you understand?”

"I know." Han Sui said solemnly, "Zi Lie said that before he came, Li Hong was stabbed twice by a group of assassins in Huaili City and was injured. There are too many people who want to kill him now. I'll take care of it."

===

The emperor's imperial edict was delivered to Zixiu Mountain Camp.

The emperor agreed that Li Hong hurried to Jincheng to appease the rebels.The emperor was probably worried that Li Hong would be too resistant in the process of recruiting the rebels and would not be able to return in a short time, so he specially gave Li Hong a bottom line to appease the rebels: as long as the rebels expressed their allegiance to the emperor and surrendered to the Han Dynasty, they would be free under any conditions. You can agree.

The emperor did favor Li Hong a lot.He agreed to Li Hong's request to allocate grain.He told Li Hong with his edict that he had issued an order to Hedong and Hongnong, several major counties in the Kanto region, to immediately raise a batch of grain and send it to Zixiu Mountain camp.

Sang Yang, who accompanied him to announce the decree, looked at Li Hong and said bluntly: "Why is your luck so good? Your Majesty gave you such a condition that even if I go to Jincheng, I can return in triumph."

Li Hong leaned over to Sangyang's ear with a smile, and whispered, "I paid for this."

===

(End of this chapter)