Great Han Empire

Chapter 469
After Li Hong finished speaking, the hall was silent and no one spoke.

The emperor smiled and said: "It seems that Aiqing will not stop until I toss my Wanjintang completely."

Li Hong bowed and said: "Your Majesty, the refugees in northern Xinjiang are in disaster. If you want to resettle them properly, you have to move them to Beidi County in Xiliang and Henan in Bingzhou to farm. There is no other way. To farm in these two places, it is necessary to move the Huns to the north and south of the Yinshan Mountains and the Xianbei people to the depths of the prairie. Therefore, the expedition to the north of the Yinshan Mountains to occupy the large area of ​​Xianbei in the north should be the main purpose of this battle. It's not just for recovering the frontier county. I implore Your Majesty..."

"I know that what Aiqing said is the truth." The emperor waved his hand and interrupted Li Hong's report, and said solemnly, "If the army wants to go to the north of Yinshan Mountain, it must first recover the border county, and the second depends on when Aiqing recovers the border. County. If Aiqing can regain Border County before August, then the expedition to the north of Yinshan Mountain is still possible, but if the battle to regain Border County is delayed until September or October, then this year’s expedition to the north of Yinshan Mountain is impossible. So, in my opinion, Aiqing should first take down Border Commandery, as to whether to go to the north of Yinshan Mountain, we can discuss later."

Li Hong was overjoyed when he heard the words, and hurriedly asked: "Your Majesty means that you agree to lead the army to the north of Yinshan Mountain?"

The Son of Heaven shook his head, pointed at Li Hong and said with a smile, "Ai Qing is so confident that she will end the battle to retake the border counties in August? That's not what you said just now."

"As long as Your Majesty agrees to my expedition to the prairie, I will spare no effort to end the war in the border counties in August." Li Hong said confidently, "I implore Your Majesty to discuss the matter of the expedition again, and to determine the completeness of the Northern Xinjiang War as soon as possible." strategy so as not to delay fighter jets in the future.”

The emperor stared at him for a long time, and then looked at the three ministers.

Taiwei Ma Rixun said: "The general's consideration is very reasonable. In order to properly resettle the victims and solve the increasingly serious crisis in northern Xinjiang, it is still necessary to go on an expedition to the prairie. If the court waits until the general recovers the border county in August before discussing There will definitely be a delay in the expedition, so I agree with the general's proposal, it is better to finalize the complete northern border strategy as soon as possible while the general is in power."

Situ Dinggong followed suit, and he also strongly advocated early determination of the northern border strategy, "Even if the general cannot make an expedition this year, he will still lead his army across the Yin Mountains to the north next year, so it is very necessary to make a strategy early, so that we can make sufficient preparations for next year's expedition. preparation."

The emperor thought about it, and then said to Li Hong: "Then follow Aiqing's play. Aiqing and the adults at Shangshutai make a plan as soon as possible, so as not to delay the time to go out and attack."

Li Hong didn't expect things to go so smoothly, he couldn't hold back his excitement, and asked excitedly: "Your Majesty agrees that the army will leave the fortress in mid-April?"

"Aiqing is now trapped by millions of disaster victims in northern Xinjiang. I want to recover the border counties and expand the territory. How can I not understand your difficulties." My heart aches for emptying my Wanjintang."

All the officials knelt down and shouted long live.

===

Li Hong took Xiao Yu to bid farewell to the emperor and queen mother at dusk, and went out of the palace to return to the post house.The queen mother liked Xiaoyu very much, and rewarded him with a lot of silk and silk clothes.Not long after Li Hong left, the Empress Dowager asked the emperor, now that General Zheng Bei Da has returned to Beijing, when will the matter of the emperor's reunification be resolved?The emperor said, don't worry, wait until General Zhengbei leaves Beijing.

The queen mother asked in surprise: "Isn't it because of the emperor's affairs that the emperor summoned General Zhengbei from northern Xinjiang to return to Beijing?"

The Son of Heaven smiled and said: "Of course it is for the sake of the imperial order. I will use the opportunity of establishing the imperial order to solve many difficult problems at once, such as the general He Jin, the empress, and those middle officials whom the queen mother hates very much, and I want to get rid of those scholars with ulterior motives in the court hall, so as not to bring endless troubles to Young Marquis Dong in the future, but General Bei Da is a bigger trouble, didn’t the empress see it?"

"If General Zheng Bei leads the army to go south to deal with He Jin by force, I will not be sure to control the situation in Luoyang. Li Hong hates the middle official. If he and the scholars in the capital conspire to kill the middle official, how will we respond? Li Hong The iron cavalry are all barbarians, and the infantry are all ants, no one will listen to me. At that time, Li Hong could do whatever he wanted in Luoyang with a heavy army in his hand, and even I had to act according to his face. How do you think I can control the situation? Who can I trust in this world except my mother?"

"Since the emperor doesn't trust General Zhengbei, why did the emperor call him back to Beijing?"

"I asked General Zhengbei to return to Beijing, just like I said to abolish the queen. The purpose is to force He Jin to rebel." The emperor patiently explained, "To solve the problem in Luoyang at once, we need to find an opportunity for He Jin , the old officials in the palace and the group of scholars in the court killed each other, and when they were dying, I came out to clean up the mess and solve everything easily, and this opportunity was He Jin's rebellion."

"If He Jin wants to rebel, he must support Shi Hou as the prince, and if he wants to convince the world, he must have an excuse for rebellion and the support of scholars. What is the excuse for He Jin's rebellion? The scholars support He Jin's rebellion. What's the condition? It's just the execution of middle officials. After He Jin enters the capital, all the scholars who helped He Jin enter the capital will be exposed, and the rest is very simple. I agree to the request of He Jin and the scholars, and respond to the world. Voice, kill the old middle-ranking official. After I killed the middle-ranking official, I immediately issued an imperial edict to pardon the lives of all the scholars who participated in the rebellion and the soldiers of the Northern Army, but He Jin was not pardoned. He Jin will be like Dou back then. Wu Yiyi died miserably. He Jin naively thought that I couldn’t control the Northern Army, that was a big joke. I couldn’t control Li Hong’s frontier soldiers, but to control the Northern Army, an imperial edict is enough.”

"The middle official is dead, He Jin is dead, and the rest are those scholars with ulterior motives. Does the Queen Mother know why I want to force them to agree to abolish the first son and establish a concubine? I just want to force them to firmly support He Jin. Without the firm support of these scholars, how could He Jin dare to rebel? If the scholars did not support He Jin's rebellion, they would not be able to kill the Zhongguan, and if the Zhongguan is not eliminated, the power of the Zhongguan will be as strong as before after He Jin's death. Scholars have experienced the scourge of being imprisoned by the party twice, and the hatred of the past is unforgettable. How could they let go of such a good opportunity? When He Jin rebelled and killed the middle official, they would immediately kill He Jin again, otherwise, it would be me Kill them. Since these scholars have agreed with me to abolish my son and establish my concubine, how dare they go back on their word? Going back on their word is a crime of deceiving the emperor, not to mention that I have already issued a pardon at that time, who dares to help and advance?"

"Didn't the emperor say that he would kill the scholars?"

"Dong Hou's succession to the imperial line still requires their efforts." The emperor laughed, "When the imperial line is established and Dong Hou becomes the crown prince, I will kill what should be killed, and what should be avoided, and drive them all out of the court."

"Then when will He Jin rebel?"

"After General Zhengbei left Beijing and returned to northern Xinjiang, as long as He Jin heard the news that he led the army out of the fortress, He Jin would immediately turn against him." The emperor suddenly showed pain, pressed his hands on his chest and abdomen, and grinned, "He Jin If Jin is hesitant, I will help him again, and forgive him if he dares not to turn back."

Seeing that the emperor was in great pain, the queen mother asked in panic: "The emperor should ask a medical craftsman to take a look. It's not a problem to hold on like this."

The Son of Heaven took out two golden pills from his bosom and swallowed them, shook his head resolutely, "If there is news that I have contracted a disease at this time, He Jin will not only rebel, but will do everything possible to kill me. Queen Mother, do you still remember how Wang Meiren died? I moved to the Jiade Palace to prevent this. Since the Empress dared to poison Wang Meiren, she also dared to poison me."

"Then what about the emperor's illness? How long will it be delayed?" The queen mother touched the emperor's forehead lovingly and said worriedly, "The emperor has a fever again. This illness is getting worse and worse. Can it be done by taking golden pills? "

"Two pills can relieve the pain." The emperor comforted the queen mother and said, "I'm fine, I'm not seriously ill. I've had stomach pains in the past, so I'll be fine after taking the golden pill."

The queen mother looked at him very worriedly, and said in a low voice: "Emperor, it's better to settle the matter of the emperor's order as soon as possible, so as not to cause more accidents to Ye Changmeng. The emperor can take advantage of the time when the general Zhengbei is in power, and at the same time issue a decree for the death of the queen and He He." Jin, while decreeing the canonization of the crown prince, the matter of the emperor's lineage will be resolved. Why does the emperor have to make things so complicated?"

The Son of Heaven rested his abdomen with one hand and rubbed his temples with the other, and sighed sadly: "Now there are three powers in the court, the general He Jin, the middle officials, and the scholars. They hug each other and barely maintain the balance of power in the court. Once the general dies, this balance will be broken, and the middle officials and scholars will fall into power disputes again, and the result is self-evident. Under the current situation, the Han society may fall apart. This opportunity will weaken their power, so as to maintain the stability of the country."

"Mother, it's not that I want to make things so complicated, but that the great Han society urgently needs stability. If we don't do this, we can't do it. If we let it develop, our Great Han Kingdom may fall soon. Mother, the imperial line is actually a trivial matter. Stability The national community is the most important thing. Without the country and the community, how can the little Donghou have a great rule?"

The queen mother burst into tears, sadly speechless.

===

In April of the sixth year of Zhongping in the Han Dynasty (AD 189).

===

After the war strategy in northern Xinjiang was approved by the Sangong Mansion and Shang Shutai, the emperor immediately decreed that the generals of the Peking University should be recruited to lead the army to the battle.

Li Hong quickly ordered Zhao Yun, who was stationed at the Great Wall Fortress, to lead his troops to set off immediately with a fast ride of eight hundred miles. Yan Rouyushi led the army to make an attack posture to lure the Hu coalition forces to gather more troops in Dingxiang County.

At the beginning of this month, General Li Hong participated in the last court meeting on the war in northern Xinjiang.After the court meeting is over, he will leave Beijing and return to northern Xinjiang.

At the court meeting, the emperor and the ministers made a final agreement on the matter of levying food, salaries and military equipment for the Northern Army. Then the emperor asked Li Hong, is there any embarrassment for the general?If so, say it now, when you leave the capital, there will be no chance.

Li Hong said with a smile: "Yes, there is, but neither His Majesty nor the court can solve it, so let's not talk about it."

The emperor smiled and said, "Really? Is there anything I can't solve? Tell me."

Li Hong hesitated for a moment, then said: "Our frontal attack force is insufficient. If there are 12 to [-] people, we will have an absolute advantage. In this way, we are absolutely sure to lure out the main force of the Huns' rebels to support Xu Rong and Zhao Yun. Passers-by successfully crossed the river and completed the siege of the Hu coalition forces. As long as the Hu coalition forces are successfully encircled, I can ensure that I will recover the border county before August." He glanced at the calm emperor and said in a low voice, "But our hands There are indeed no troops left."

The Son of Heaven nodded and said, "Don't you have 4 people in your hands? You can recruit the two armies of Xian Yufu and Zhang Yan."

Li Hong said in embarrassment: "Your Majesty, there must be no army left behind inside the Great Wall. The disaster victims flooding into Bingzhou in batches is a hidden worry, the Yellow Turban Army in Taihang Mountain and Montenegro is a hidden worry, and..."

The Son of Heaven shook his hand and interrupted Li Hong, "I transferred the former general Dong Zhuo over and asked him to concurrently lead Bingzhou Shepherd, stationed in Jinyang, and escort you with food and grass."

The ministers were startled and stared at the emperor one by one, but no one said a word.Li Hong's face was a little ugly, he bowed his head and was speechless.

===

The emperor sent Dong Zhuo to Jinyang, asked Dong Zhuo to supervise the military administration of Bingzhou, and also asked Dong Zhuo to escort the army to conquer the north. Didn't this capture Li Hong's vitals?Before General Zhengbei went to battle, the emperor impatiently sent people to Jinyang to guard the Great Wall. Didn't this clearly mean that he wanted to suppress and constrain Li Hong's growing power in northern Xinjiang?Isn't it too obvious for the emperor to do this?Do we still want to fight this battle?

Taiwei Ma Rixun, Situ Dinggong and Shang Shuling Lu Zhi looked at each other with admiration and worry in their hearts.Last month, the emperor was going to take away Dong Zhuo's military power, but for some reason he gave up later. Could it be that the emperor had thought of this at that time?Dong Zhuo refused to hand over his military power, and the emperor was unwilling to pursue it, which made the scholars very annoyed and brooding.Just when they were unable to solve this potential threat, the emperor transferred them to northern Xinjiang.Good thing.

Both Dong Zhuo and Li Hong have arrived in northern Xinjiang, and the two restrain each other, and neither can do anything to the other.In the future, even if the Northern Xinjiang War is won, Li Hong will be stopped outside the Great Wall by Dong Zhuo, and the threat of the powerful Li Hong to Gyeonggi will be reduced to the minimum.But Dong Zhuo didn't dare to go south because Li Hong and Chen Bing were outside the pass. As long as he moved, he would surely die.In addition, Li Hong is in charge of military affairs in northern Xinjiang, and Dong Zhuo is in charge of military affairs in Bingzhou. The powers between the two overlap in many places. There will definitely be conflicts in the future, so there is no need to worry about the two collaborating.As long as there are many conflicts between the two, the emperor can take them down one by one without any effort.

Thinking of the emperor's foresight and foresight, the hearts of the scholars were heavy.Li Hong's threat was easily resolved by the emperor, but what about the imperial lineage dispute?Did the emperor already have a plan in mind?
Standing behind the emperor, Zhao Zhong broke out in a cold sweat.The emperor suddenly changed his mind, instead of forcibly depriving Dong Zhuo of his military power, he asked himself to send someone to appease him. It turned out that he was deliberately betraying the scholars and generals in exchange for Dong Zhuo's loyalty to him, and then he transferred Dong Zhuo to Bingzhou. Contain Li Hong, and at the same time completely remove Dong Zhuo's threat to the emperor.But why did the emperor do this?Now that Li Hong is going to fight beyond the Great Wall and Dong Zhuo is stationed in Jinyang, he has no power to threaten He Jin. If He Jin doesn't turn against him, he will be an idiot.The Son of Heaven deliberately wanted to force He Jin against him, and he didn't even want Li Hong as a back-up. What on earth did he want to do?Could it be that if we middle officials die, he can escape the catastrophe?How could He Jin let the Son of Heaven go?
Zhao Zhong and Zhang Rang looked at each other, determined to get together with the Queen and He Jin.If you continue to follow the emperor, you will surely die. It is better to follow the queen to have a chance.

===

The Son of Heaven looked at the ministers, walked up to Li Hong slowly, patted him on the shoulder, and said gently: "This world belongs to me, how can there be things that I can't solve?"

"The most important thing for Aiqing right now is to concentrate all your energies on fighting. Today's Great Han Kingdom can't bear a single defeat. You must win this battle and never lose." The emperor looked at Li Hong solemnly He said, "I recruited Dong Zhuo to Bingzhou, let him take charge of the military affairs of Bingzhou, and escort you with food and grass. It is equivalent to handing over all the burdens of Bingzhou to Dong Zhuo. Aiqing only needs to lead the army to fight. Other things in northern Xinjiang have already been done." It has nothing to do with you anymore, you just have to fight. Whether it's the riots of the disaster victims in Bingzhou, or the interruption of grain and grass transportation, Dong Zhuo's responsibility is all on Dong Zhuo's, so you don't have any worries."

"Last year you were fighting the rebellion in Youzhou, but you were thinking about the Bingzhou battlefield in your heart. It was very hard work. Last year you fought in the territory of the Han Dynasty, and you fought within the Great Wall. You didn't go out of the fortress, and you didn't have an expedition to the grassland. You can barely support it if you are single-minded, but this time is different, this time you must not single-minded, if you lose this time, the northern border of the Great Han Kingdom will be over."

"Can Ai Qing understand my painstaking efforts?"

Li Hongfan came to his senses, and hurriedly knelt down to thank him.

"Don't think too much, Aiqing. Originally, I planned to let Huangfusong go to lead Bingzhou Mu, but because you changed the battle strategy in northern Xinjiang, I had to let Dong Zhuo sit in Bingzhou, let Huangfusong sit in Xiliang, and take care of the three assistants. Dong Zhuo gave You guard the rear and escort the food and grass. Huangfu Song is stationed in Xiliang, and Jing Zhaoyin Gaixun provides Xu Rong with food and grass. In this way, the two armies going outside the Great Wall can get a stable supply of food and grass at the same time."

The emperor stretched out his hand to help Li Hong up, and continued: "Aiqing went on an expedition outside the Great Wall to open up territory for our Han Dynasty to recover the border counties. How could I doubt your loyalty to such an important minister of the Han Dynasty? Aiqing, don't let your imagination run wild."

Li Hong bowed again to thank the emperor for his trust.

===

Lu Zhi pondered for a while, then asked cautiously: "Your Majesty, how many people did General Dong bring to Bingzhou?"

"What do you say?" the emperor asked casually.

Lu Zhi thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, from the perspective of my ministers, 1 people are enough. At present, there are still several thousand soldiers from the counties in Bingzhou, and there are also soldiers from the fields in Hedong that can be recruited temporarily. The Zheng army can return to help at any time, so..."

"1 people is too little." The Son of Heaven said, "The general has put [-] troops in Jinyang, so let's use this force. Order the former general Dong Zhuo to lead Bingzhou Mu and immediately lead the [-] Northern Army Hurry to Bingzhou, and be sure to arrive in Jinyang in mid-April."

The ministers laughed.In the end, this Dong Zhuo was deprived of Xiliang military power by His Majesty.

The emperor asked Dong Zhuo to lead the northern army to Bingzhou, but the Xiliang soldiers let Huangfusong take command. Didn't Dong Zhuo's military power be indirectly deprived?The Northern Army was a garrison in Gyeonggi, and they would be conscripted and transferred back to Beijing immediately if there was no war. Once the Northern Army left, Dong Zhuo would have no soldiers and horses. His Bingzhou Shepherd was just an empty shelf.The emperor asked Dong Zhuo to lead the northern army to Bingzhou, obviously considering the safety of Gyeonggi after Li Hong went out to fight.Of course, the northern army stationed in Bingzhou is much safer than Xiliang soldiers stationed in Bingzhou. Moreover, it is difficult for Dong Zhuo to command the [-] northern army.First of all, his prestige cannot be compared with Huangfusong, and secondly, his status is not as noble and respected as that of a general. It is impossible for him to lead [-] troops south without an imperial decree. Several lieutenants of the Northern Army will not ignore him.

"Your Majesty, if Dong Zhuo took away [-] northern troops, Xiliang's anti-insurgency troops would be insufficient." Lu Zhi whispered.

The Son of Heaven smiled and said: "Decree, General He Jin is ordered to lead the Northern Army to Xiliang immediately to support Huangfu Song. Ding Yuan, the governor of Bingzhou, was General Wumeng Zhonglang, and led the soldiers of [-] counties of Bingzhou to Hanoi immediately to kill Black mountain ant thief."

The ministers immediately looked at each other in blank dismay, and everyone felt a sense of trepidation.The general is finished, completely finished, unless there is an immediate rebellion.No one thought that the emperor would still transfer the general to Xiliang.Last year, the emperor was going to send the general to lead the army to Xiliang, but Huang Fusong spoiled the emperor's good deed first, but this time the general couldn't escape.

Going to Xiliang has to pass through Gyeonggi, which just gave the general the opportunity to lead his army close to Luoyang.Lu Zhi's heart beat violently a few times, and a trace of fear flashed across his face.Now that General Zhengbei has gone out to fight in the fortress, and the emperor has no reliance, how dare he let the general lead his troops across the capital?The emperor first released the general from the capital to give him a chance to rebel, and then continued to force him to rebel, and now he even gave him the way to return to the capital to rebel. What does the emperor want to do?Does he have a winning strategy?
The more Lu Zhi thought about it, the more frightened he became, and his back felt chilly.Today's Son of Heaven has completely controlled the overall situation, and he insists on forcing against the Great General. Is it really for the sake of the emperor's order?
"On the day of Aiqing's triumphant return, I will go out of the city to meet you." The emperor took Li Hong's hand, looked at the frightened ministers, waved and said, "Everyone, Aiqing, go out of the city to send off the general of the Peking University on my behalf."

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(End of this chapter)