Great Han Empire

Chapter 313 The rain is coming
The emperor looked at the map on the case table and was speechless for a long time.

He was bored, one rebellion after another, more bad news than good news, which made him feel both tired and helpless.Why has the Great Han Kingdom become like this in recent years?If you want money but you don't have money, you need soldiers but you don't have soldiers, natural disasters and man-made disasters are endless, if this continues, when will you be able to survive?
Thinking of the faces of the ministers in the DPRK and China, he was even more angry.These people are not good at fighting, but they are more active in fighting for power and profit than anyone else.He had just imprisoned the chief minister, Wang Han, and the memorials to impeach Wang Han were piled up. He wondered why no one had filed a memorial before that since Wang Han was corrupt and perverted the law.
He knew what kind of man Wang Han was. Apart from being disgusting for pestering him for money every day, this old man was impeccable and a good man.However, in recent years, in order to raise military funds and maintain the expenditure of the imperial court, Wang Han has done his best and offended many people.He proposed to reduce the bureaucrat's salary, but he offended the bureaucrat; he proposed to borrow land rent from the princes and dignitaries, but he offended the princes and dignitaries;To put it bluntly, he was offended if he should be offended. Even the eunuchs guarding Beisi Prison and Zhonghuangmen hated him. Wang Han was beaten to death by them as soon as he entered Beisi Prison.

Looking at the memorials of the Sangong Mansion and the Grand General's Mansion, you can see that there are too many people eyeing the position of Da Sinong. The open and secret struggle began, and everyone wanted to grab it.Sikong Dinggong is currently in charge of the Da Sinong affairs.In the eyes of the emperor, Sikong Dinggong is closely related to General He Jin, and he is not at ease, but it is not easy to change immediately at present, because the queen mother has ordered him to let Ding Gong be in charge for a while no matter what, and wait until the general. Si Nong paid back all the money he had borrowed from the Queen Mother, and it didn't matter who the big Si Nong would be the Queen Mother.

He had already figured out who would be the chief minister, and he was not in a hurry. He just wanted to find an excuse to release Wang Han earlier and let him go home to live his life.

His headache was Zongzheng Liu Yu's request to go to Youzhou.He was unwilling to let Liu Yu go. Once Liu Yu left, he lost another person he could trust in the court.If Xiao Dong Hou Liu Xie is to be the prince, he must control the inner and outer courts as much as possible, so that he can deal with the general He Jin at an appropriate time.The strength of the inner court is gradually strengthening due to the support of middle-ranking officials and the management of military affairs by Shang Shutai, while the outer court can only be gradually controlled by members of the clan, such as Taichang Liu Yan and Zongzheng Liu Yu.As soon as Liu Yu left, the emperor felt that his long-term efforts were in vain.

It is not an easy task to select a member of the clan who is recognized by the whole court to take up the important position of Jiuqing.If you don't have real skills, you can't do Sangong Jiuqing. Don't say that you don't feel at ease, even the opposition and secret support of the family bureaucrats are enough for you to deal with.Take a look at the powerful people such as Grand Changqiu Zhao Zhong, Zhongchang Servant Zhang Rang, and General He Jin. Do any of their relatives have achieved Jiuqing?He Miao was the only one who had served as Yin of Henan before he made military achievements, but that was only equivalent to Zhuqing.Today's imperial court is still ruled by powerful families.Among the clan, currently only Liu Yan and Liu Yu are recognized by the powerful clan because of their outstanding knowledge.

Liu Yu's insistence on leaving Luoyang was selfish, and he didn't want to get involved in the imperial dispute for nothing else.Your Majesty likes him to be a Taiwei, but the Queen and the General and other forces are afraid that the emperor will control the military power through Liu Yu, so they obstruct it in every possible way. For this reason, the emperor suspended the position of Taiwei for more than a month, but in the end the emperor compromised , what does this mean?It shows that the power of the general has become more and more powerful, the struggle with the emperor has become more and more fierce, and the battle of imperial lineage that everyone has kept secret has become more and more clear.If you stay in Luoyang at this time, you have only two choices, either support the eldest prince to inherit the great rule, and side with the queen and the general; or support the little prince to inherit the great rule, and stand with your majesty and the queen mother.Liu Yu had no choice but to choose to escape.The chaos in Youzhou was his best chance to escape from Luoyang.

The emperor didn't know what Liu Yu was thinking. If he knew, he would be furious and put him in Beisi Prison.The emperor thought that Liu Yu was troubled by the rumors in Luoyang, so he had a special talk with him, hoping that Liu Yu would stay by his side, but Liu Yu cried bitterly, and insisted on leaving under the pretext of thinking about the Li people in Youzhou. , He even said that he would rather resign than go to Youzhou to fight the rebels and be loyal to the Han Kingdom.

The emperor was very distressed and at a loss what to do.

Liu Yu felt uncomfortable seeing the emperor's distraught appearance. He knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face, and almost changed his mind, but thinking of the coming bloody storm, he still gritted his teeth and held back.Liu Yu thought for a long time, and decided to test the emperor's mind for the last time.

"Your Majesty, if General Li's suppression of the rebellion ends, how will His Majesty plan to arrange him?"

The emperor seemed to have made up his mind a long time ago, so he said without thinking, "Bingzhou has always been an important place for the imperial border, which is directly related to the safety of Luoyang, so I plan to let him guard Bingzhou, recover the lost land, and protect the capital."

Liu Yu's heart sank, knowing that the emperor had arranged for Li Hong in this way, and he was determined to support the little prince to inherit the great rule.He no longer intended to stay in Luoyang, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, after I arrive in Youzhou, I will try my best to put down the rebellion and guard the border for Your Majesty. If General Li is ordered to go south in the future, I will supply General Li with food and grass, and defend against Hu. captives, to ensure that General Li goes south without any worries.”

The emperor was not happy when he heard the words. He looked at Liu Yu, shook his head and said, "Don't Ai Qing know that I need you to stay in Luoyang more?"

===

The emperor's thoughts were interrupted by Huangfusong's shout.

Huangfusong and Lu Zhi are explaining the battle situation in Youzhou to the emperor.

"Your Majesty, the thieves are so powerful that the loss of Youzhou is a foregone conclusion." Huangfusong raised his head and said calmly, "After the fall of Jicheng, the eastern and central counties of Youzhou have been occupied by ants. any remedy."

The Son of Heaven hummed, and asked indifferently, "When will the reinforcements arrive in Zhuojun?"

"Your Majesty, the most urgent task is not to urge the reinforcements to go north, but to order General Li to rush to Jinyang immediately to prevent Zhang Yan from turning around and returning to Changshan." Huangfusong said, "Our reinforcements are small in number and weak in strength. Defeating the rebels, not to mention taking back Jicheng, at best would slow down the speed of the rebels going south, which is useless."

The emperor was taken aback, looked at Huangfusong and Lu Zhi, and asked strangely: "What do you two loves mean? When Zhang Yan saw the leopard arrived in Taiyuan, he turned around and ran away. He stopped fighting? He stopped fighting. Li Hong can follow Chase."

"General Li is powerless to pursue, because Yang Feng, the ant thief who attacked Shangdang, will immediately go north to Taiyuan to entangle him." Huangfusong said, "As long as Zhang Yan runs away, General Li has nothing to do."

"Your Majesty, it's not that Zhang Yan doesn't want to fight, but he can't fight. He must rush back to Changshan as soon as possible to help the rebels in Youzhou go south quickly and occupy Jizhou." Lu Zhi said with a stroke of his beard. Time, what is the significance of Zhang Yan's occupation of Taiyuan County? What problem can it solve the ant thief? Later we suddenly realized that Zhang Yan's attack on Jinyang was a tactic to lure the enemy. He just wanted to drag General Li's army into Bingzhou. The real purpose is to quickly occupy Jizhou."

The emperor looked bewildered and puzzled.

"Your Majesty, the ant thieves are very ambitious. They proclaim the emperor and build a country. They have made such a big noise. They don't just want to stay in the barren land of northern Xinjiang, do they?" Huangfusong explained, "After they occupy Jicheng, , what do you want to do next?"

"What? Will the thief still attack Luoyang?" The emperor asked with his eyes wide open.

"Of course they don't dare to think about it in Luoyang, but Jizhou still has to fight. Otherwise, where will their food, grass and property come from? Without food, grass and property, how can they support them?" Lu Zhi said, "But only Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun The rebels will not be able to defeat Jizhou."

"10,000+ ant thieves are not enough?" asked the emperor, "Don't they still have Karasuma cavalry?"

"The Karasuma rebels will not go far away from the northern border and penetrate deep into the hinterland of our Han Central Plains. We can be sure of this." Lu Zhi said, "First of all, my Han has accumulated prestige for a long time, and the Hu people are afraid of my Han. Over the years, we have killed them, and at most they have plundered near the border. There is no precedent for attacking the hinterland of our great Han country. Especially now, we have just defeated the 12 Xianbei army in the western border. One can imagine the blow to the confidence of the Hu people. Second, the Hu people used cavalry to go south and had to carry a large amount of cattle, sheep and livestock as rations. Unlike Xiliang, Jizhou has no grassland with lush water and grass, only cultivated land, so fodder for livestock has become a problem .If the Hu people can't solve this problem, their rations will naturally become a problem."

"At present, the Karasuma people can neither expel the fear in their hearts, nor can they provide fodder for their livestock, so it is very unlikely that they will go south to Jizhou with the rebels. If Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun lure them with great profits, I think there will be only a part of them at most Karasuma people are willing to go south with them, but not all of them."

"In this way, the strength of the rebels to attack Jizhou is not enough. Even if they can win a few cities in the early stage, they will be unable to take a single step when our reinforcements arrive. In the case of insufficient backup, the rebels still have to withdraw to Youzhou Huangfusong went on to say, "Therefore, we concluded that Zhang Yan would return to Changshan and seize Zhending, so as to contain our troops and cover the rebels in Youzhou to attack Jizhou. Wait until the three rebels Zhang Ju, Zhang Yan, and Bai Rao After rendezvous, they will have enough troops to attack the city."

"Where are our reinforcements?" asked the Son of Heaven in disbelief. "Where were our reinforcements then?"

"Your Majesty, I have already said that it will take at least a month for our reinforcements to be assembled one after another. When they arrive in Jizhou, the rebels may have already reached Julu County and Anping Country." Huangfu Song frowned and said, "So The most urgent thing now is to keep Zhang Yan in Bingzhou, trap Bai Rao in Weijun, and stop Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun in Zhongshan and Hejian, so as to prevent them from meeting, so that their plan to occupy Jizhou will fail."

===

The emperor looked at the map, and the more he looked at it, the more angry he became, and suddenly he punched the table, and shouted loudly: "Kill, kill all these rebels for me, kill as many as there are, I don't believe that I can't kill them all."

He pointed to Jian Shuo who was standing beside him and shouted, "Immediately issue an order to Li Hong to surround the ant thieves in Jinyang, and no one is allowed to escape."

Jian Shuo hurriedly agreed, and went to the side to draw up an order.

"How to trap the ant thieves in Wei County and prevent them from going north?"

Huangfusong bowed and said: "Your Majesty can order Jizhou Mu Yangqi to lead the army to stop the enemy on the Zhangshui line. Although Master Yang has no soldiers, it is still possible to delay the speed of the ant thief going north. Wait until the distance from Weijun After the soldiers from the nearby Yanzhou Dongjun, Chenliu, and Jiyin counties went north to support them, the ant thieves had no choice but to flee back to Montenegro."

"In addition, if Bai Rao, the leader of the ant thief, has not received the news that Zhang Yan led the army to attack Changshan, he may take the initiative to give up going north and withdraw to Montenegro."

"Ai Qing sure?" the emperor asked.

"Your Majesty, the rebellious Zhang Ju claimed to be the emperor, and Zhang Chun also called himself the prime minister, so why didn't the leaders of the ant thief Zhang Yan, Yang Feng, Bai Rao, etc. call themselves generals? Is it because Zhang Ju didn't give the title or Zhang Yan and others didn't want to accept it? You know, in name, Zhang Yan is the chief leader of the Yellow Turban Ant Thieves. Just like Zhang Jiao back then, he has a high status in the eyes of the Ant Thieves, but now the leader of the Ant Thieves has become Zhang Ju. What is the position among the thieves?" Huangfusong pondered for a while, then said, "Perhaps, they have some internal problems."

"So, I think that under such circumstances, Bai Rao, who has been a thief for many years, will of course preserve his strength to maintain his own survival, so..."

"Hmph..." The Son of Heaven sneered, "Rebels and thieves are punished by everyone. There is no good thing. Then how to stop the Youzhou rebels from Jizhou?"

"We can only count on Qingzhou's army." Lu Zhi pointed to Pingyuan County on the map. As long as Zhang Yan's rebels don't reach Changshan, I think the rebels in Youzhou will not dare to go south easily. If General Li can quickly surround Zhang Yan's rebels in Jinyang, we will have enough time to gather more troops Horses, keep the enemy out of Jizhou."

"Then, in the name of Shangshutai, you personally write a letter to Li Hong, detailing Shangshutai's counter-insurgency strategy, asking Li Hong to follow your arrangement, and warning him not to act self-righteously. If Zhang Yan fled to Changshan and caused Jizhou to fall, you tell him to send his head to Luoyang." The emperor said with a smile, "This leopard is rebellious and disobedient. If you don't threaten him, I'm afraid he will fight again in Bingzhou Together."

Huangfusong and Lu Zhi laughed uncontrollably.

===

Lu Zhi smiled and asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty, after the soldiers and horses from all the counties in northern Xinjiang have gathered in Jizhou to counter the rebellion, they need someone to command the troops. I don't know Your Majesty..."

The emperor immediately thought of Liu Yu.He glanced at Lu Zhi with small eyes, wondering if Liu Yu had sought him out in private.Could it be that Liu Yu was in such a hurry to leave Luoyang?Immediately, he remembered that the four or fifty people on the Shangshutai had not left the Beigong for more than half a month, and it was impossible for Liu Yu to see Lu Zhi.The emperor's heart touched, and he couldn't help sighing.At this time, Lu Zhi proposed who would command the troops to go north to Youzhou to suppress the rebellion, and his intention is self-evident.

The bureaucrats in the court were still wary of reusing Liu Yu, and of causing civil strife in the palace by abolishing their sons and setting up concubines. After all, these powerful families were still on the side of the general.If the foreign court did not support its confidant ministers, it would not be able to influence the gentry.If there is no support from the gentry, can he let Xiao Donghou succeed to the Datong smoothly?For a moment, the emperor was in a state of confusion.

The emperor looked at Huangfusong.Huangfusong lowered his eyebrows, his face was like still water, but the determination in his eyes seemed to tell the emperor that he agreed with everything Lu Zhi said.Lu Zhi stared at the emperor with piercing eyes, and there was a hint of persecution in that friendly smile.

"Which minister does Aiqing think is suitable?" Although the emperor understood what Lu Zhi meant, he still wanted to ask.

"I believe that Zongzheng Liu Yu and Master Liu once served as the governor of Youzhou and are very familiar with the situation in Youzhou. Moreover, when he was in Youzhou, he was an honest official, benevolent in government, and benefited the people. He did a lot for the people of Youzhou. This is a good thing, and is deeply loved by the people of Youzhou. Liu Yu has always adopted a gentle policy towards the Hu people and opposed killing. Absolutely." Lu Zhi praised sincerely, "If Lord Liu leads the army to Youzhou, not only can the people's hearts be restored, but also the help of the Hu people can be obtained, which will be of great help to the early suppression of the rebel army."

"I believe that Lord Liu is the most suitable commander of the counter-insurgency army."

The emperor smiled helplessly, "But he is ranked in the Jiuqing, how can he be demoted and used?"

"Your Majesty, at this time of crisis, we can make a temporary change." Lu Zhi said, "Your Majesty can let Lord Liu lead the governor of Youzhou with the rank of two thousand stone officials, hold a festival axe, restrain the soldiers and horses of each county, and lead the army to the north."

The emperor was silent.

"Your Majesty knows that His Majesty loves and trusts Master Liu, and he is unwilling to let him go, but this is an extraordinary period, and only Master Liu cannot take on this important task." Lu Zhi said earnestly, "Your Majesty wants to use Master Liu again, and there is no one in the court. I don’t know. Your Majesty originally wanted to promote Master Liu to Taiwei, but because of the rumors in the capital, Master Liu was impeached, and His Majesty failed to do so.”

"Your Majesty, what will happen if Master Liu arrives in Youzhou, suppresses the rebel army, and makes great achievements, and then His Majesty recalls him back to Luoyang to entrust him with important tasks? I'm afraid that even if there are more rumors, it won't be able to stop him, right?"

The emperor made a move.If Liu Yu succeeded in suppressing the rebellion and made great achievements, wouldn't everyone be expected to be promoted to Taiwei?And at that time, Liu Yu had disciples in northern Xinjiang and subordinates in the army, and he had a lot of power in the court...

Seeing the emperor's hesitation, Lu Zhi said again: "Your Majesty, although the Youzhou rebels are powerful, they are located in the barren land of northern Xinjiang. Don't forget, there is still Li Hong in Bingzhou. As long as Taiyuan is pacified, Li Hong can send his troops to the north. At that time, it will be difficult for Master Liu to make this achievement."

The emperor's heart suddenly brightened, he raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "Then follow Aiqing's play."

===

In the middle of the night, the Shang study room was still brightly lit with candles.

Huangfusong slowly put down the pen in his hand, and said to Lu Zhi who was sitting on the side: "Zigan, the situation in Luoyang will change after Mr. Liu has made great achievements and returned to the court. If..."

"Yizhen, it's a good thing that Mr. Liu left Luoyang." Lu Zhi put down the bamboo slips in his hand, looked around, then sat opposite Huangfusong, and said in a low voice, "Whether you are in the government or in the field, as long as you are not obsessed with power No one would like a foreign relative to be a general. Whether you, me, Liu Yu, or Lord Sangong, we don’t like He Jin as a general. Look at the previous generals of foreign relatives, There are a few meritorious deeds to my great Han country. Generals with foreign relatives are different from generals from aristocratic families. The former is power, while the latter is the country, which is a world of difference."

"After Cao Jie and Wang Fu killed Dou Wu in the middle of the year, we all thought that there was nothing wrong with not setting up a general, both public and private. If it hadn't been for the ant thief rebellion, why would there be such a general? With such a great general from a foreign relative, how can there be today's struggle for imperial lineage?"

"I have always established the elders and the virtuous in the Han Dynasty. If the elders are incompetent, we can naturally establish the sages. Both Shihou and Donghou are young and do not understand world affairs. We can't think that Shihou has no majesty because of his stubbornness. From now on To put it bluntly, both of them can inherit the great reunification. However, the establishment of a crown prince is a major national event, and His Majesty must negotiate with the ministers, but today? Why didn’t His Majesty negotiate with the ministers? Why didn’t His Majesty establish a crown prince? Because there are great generals."

"Establishing the Marquis of Shi will make Dong Hou Weiyi, and establishing Dong Hou will make the general Wei Yi. This is the reason why His Majesty insists on making Dong Hou the crown prince." Lu Zhi sighed softly, "Your Majesty would rather kill the general than Leave the lives of the Empress Dowager, Marquis Dong, and your clan to the general. Lessons from the past abound, so how can your Majesty repeat the same mistakes?"

Huangfusong frowned, and said in a low voice: "Establishing Marquis Dong as the crown prince, although there is no danger of being a general, there is the danger of rape and eunuchs. There is a balance between the two. Of course the former should be chosen, but Your Majesty chose the latter. A bad idea." He glanced at Lu Zhi and asked, "Does this have anything to do with Lord Liu's departure from Beijing?"

"Yes, if Liu Yu is not in the court, the power of the clan will decrease immediately, and His Majesty will rely on the middle officials. Now that the old middle officials are weak, and the small middle officials are gradually rising, it is a good opportunity to eradicate them." Lu Zhi sneered, "Two tigers are fighting each other. Either death or injury, when the time comes..."

Huangfu Song realized a little bit, "Two birds with one stone?"

Lu Zhi nodded, and said in a low voice, "Yizhen, you just need to understand this matter. If you want two tigers to fight, you need heavy bait, this heavy bait..."

Huangfusong suddenly came to his senses, and exclaimed in amazement: "Zigan, this is playing with fire*."

===

(End of this chapter)