Great Han Empire

Chapter 489
He Jin went up to the Queen Mother, saying that the country is currently in turmoil and wars are frequent, and the Northern Army needs to be expanded immediately to cope with more and more conquests.

Empress Dowager He consulted the middle officials for their opinions.The middle officials objected with one voice.If the Northern Army expands, He Jin's strength will increase dramatically. This will be a disaster for the middle officials, and of course they will not agree.

Zhao Zhong said angrily that the general ignored the authority of the emperor and the empress dowager, ordered soldiers to encircle the mansion of the general hussars privately, detained the general hussars for no reason, and used this to coerce the empress dowager into allowing him to recruit troops and expand the army. His behavior has seriously trampled on the law of the Han Dynasty, and he should be executed according to the law.

Zhang Rang also persuaded that if the queen mother succumbs to the threat of the general, it will encourage the arrogance of the general. In the future, he will hold tens of thousands of soldiers in the capital, where will the emperor and the queen mother talk?

Duan Gui was a little furious, he knelt down and played: "Queen Mother, today the general can encircle the Hussar general's mansion and detain the chariot general, then tomorrow the general can rush into the palace to kill the middle officials and imprison the emperor and the queen mother. From my point of view, since the general doesn't care about family ties, why should the empress dowager be lenient? I beg the empress dowager to issue an order to immediately encircle the hundred counties' mansions with the West Garden Army and seize the military power of the general, so as to avoid future troubles."

The fat on Zhao Zhong's face trembled a few times, but he hesitated to speak.

Zhang Rang frowned and stared at Duan Gui, cursing in a low voice: "You're in a daze, what time is it now? How can you remove the general's military power by force? Once Luoyang is in chaos, will the Northern Xinjiang War still be fought? Does the country still want to fight?" Is it? The general and the ministers in the court are worrying that there is no chance to solve us now. Are you looking for a dead end? Do you think you can control the Xiyuan army when there is chaos? Are you an idiot?"

Duan Gui snorted twice angrily and did not speak.

Empress Dowager He sat there angry and anxious.The Son of Heaven had just succeeded to the throne, and his elder brother not only didn't do anything to help, but instead made Luoyang a mess in order to seize power, and now he is even more lawless, even his own younger brother is arrested, what will happen if this continues.

The middle officials scolded one after another, but no one could come up with a solution.Empress Dowager He was very anxious, and hurriedly announced Taifu Yuan Wei, Situ Dinggong and Sikong Liu Hong into the palace to discuss matters.

===

Although Yuan Kai and He Jin were in the same office, because the middle officials controlled the inner court, and He Jin stayed in the Baijun mansion and said that he would not be sick, he could not get news of many things in the first place, so he and the outer court recently The ministers are very passive.For this reason, he discussed with the ministers many times and decided to maintain the balance among the three powers in Luoyang as much as possible on the basis of ensuring the Northern Xinjiang War, so as to ensure that the Northern Xinjiang War can be won before the rainy season. The situation will gradually stabilize.According to Yuan Kui's vision, by August at the latest, General Zheng Bei Da will be able to recover the border counties.As long as General Zheng Bei Da can end the war in northern Xinjiang, the matter in Luoyang can unfold step by step.

Now the scholars are worried about He Jin.

This time the great Han changed hands, the young master was established, and the queen mother came to court. According to the usual practice, the general should be in charge of the state power, but with the tacit cooperation of the scholars and middle officials, they not only drove the general out at the most critical moment Luoyang, and successfully suppressed and suppressed the expansion of the general's power, so that the general has not dared to leave the Baijun mansion, let alone enter the palace for his own safety.Now He Jin of course understands his situation and how it came about. He can't succumb to the suppression of scholars and middle officials. He must regain what should belong to him. He is doing it now, and he is showing his sharpness. .

He Jin took advantage of his participation in the affairs of Li Shangshu to recommend many capable subordinates of the General's Mansion to join the court.In the past, for the sake of the imperial lineage, he needed to win over and get the support of scholars, so he needed famous scholars such as He Yong and Yuan Shao to advise him, but now he does not need it.Now there are so many celebrities and scholars in the General's Mansion, he doesn't need He Yong, Yuan Shao and others to support him; now that the imperial line has been established, no matter whether it is the reward of his hard work or God's will, he has succeeded, and he does not need He Yong and Yuan Shao to support him. Made a plan.He is the winner in the battle for imperial lineage.

He Yong, Yuan Shao and others entered the court one after another as officials and left the General's Mansion. Although this seemed to be a reward for meritorious service, it was actually a signal that He Jin alienated the scholars, and he wanted to do it himself.He told the scholars in this way, I know what you did behind my back, I also know what you use me to do, and I know even more what you want to do in the future.For the sake of the emperor, He Jin kept a low profile and carefully struggled in the vortex of power in Luoyang for more than ten years. Now he finally had his day, and when he was proud, he was plotted against at the last moment, and his life was almost lost. Lost, how can he bear this tone?Was he really an incompetent butcher?
Now that the three parties in Luoyang are powerful and scheming against each other, there is no possibility of trust and cooperation.Without the secrets of He Yong and Yuan Shao participating in the General's Mansion, the scholars lost control and use of He Jin, and could only take one step at a time.However, Yuan Kai and the scholars were not worried that He Jin would deal with them immediately.Scholars now control the outer court to handle state affairs, and do not control too much imperial power. The emperor and the queen mother need them, and He Jin needs them even more.

What is He Jin going to do next?Scholars and middle officials are all guessing, but what He Jin has to do is to save his own life, expand the power of the He clan, and then completely control the power of the country.In order to achieve his own ultimate goal, he still has a lot to do.Now that the matter of Huangtong has fulfilled his wish, He Jin's top priority is to try to preserve and consolidate Huangtong.The situation in Luoyang is very complicated now, and if you are not careful, all previous efforts will be for naught. This time He Jin lost the opportunity to take power alone is a clear proof. This shows that the current Han Kingdom is not the emperor and the queen mother, let alone He Jin The final say.In order to survive, He Jin had to fight back hard for a better survival.

What kind of sharp blow will he launch?
===

After Yuan Kai, Ding Gong and Liu Hong read He Jin's memorial, the three of them looked at each other speechlessly, with deep worry in their eyes.

Once He Jin's Northern Army expands again, more and more troops will be stationed in Gyeonggi, and the hidden worry of chaos will inevitably appear. Push He Jin too hard.The reason why He Jin dared to risk the chaos in Luoyang to encircle the Hussar General's mansion and detain the Chariot General was because he was pushed too hard. For his own safety, he can only hide in the Baijun mansion and say he is sick. , in this precarious situation, he can only fight back.

He Jin's reliance is that Luoyang cannot be chaotic.Everyone knew the consequences of the chaos in Luoyang, and even the middle officials did not dare to make trouble easily, but He Jin just kept making troubles in Luoyang, leading the situation in Luoyang to the direction of chaos.If you don't agree to my conditions, you will bear the consequences.

"Currently the new ruler just established Luoyang and there are many crises, and the war in northern Xinjiang has just entered the most critical stage of encirclement. This Luoyang must not be chaotic." Yuan Kai thought for a long time, then sighed, "I see, this recruiting act It's not impossible to agree. Now that the Northern Army has [-] troops fighting the rebellion in Xiliang, it will be difficult to return to Gyeonggi in the short term, and the Xiyuan Army has to shoulder the responsibility of stationing Luoyang. .”

Zhao Zhong interrupted hastily and said, "Master Taifu, now there are [-] Xiyuan Army, [-] Northern Army, and [-] Southern Army in Luoyang. There are [-] troops in total. Why do you need to recruit troops to expand the army? General Huangfu's [-] Northern Army Sooner or later, we have to return to Gyeonggi. If General Huangfu returns, Luoyang will have [-] troops. How much military funds do we need to support such a huge army? This policy must not be agreed."

Liu Hong looked at Zhao Zhong, and said with resentment: "Master Zhao, who is gathering in the hall late at night? You killed Jian Shuo with a knife, but you gave the general the opportunity to surround the mansion of the general Hushi and threaten the Queen Mother Dong." , how do you say this matter is settled? Are you worthy of the spirit of the late emperor in heaven?"

"Master Liu is going too far, so far." Zhang Rang smiled slightly, the wrinkles on his face were all crowded together, and he could hardly see his eyes, "The general is an important minister of the country, and he would not do such treasonous things What's more, the general doesn't have evidence that General Hussars colluded with Jian Shuo to plot something wrong."

"Evidence?" Ding Gong stared at Zhang Rang with contempt and disgust, and said in a cold voice, "When you arrested the party members, what evidence do you have to prove that the party members are planning to rebel?"

"What is the meaning of Master Ding's words?" Guo Sheng's face turned cold, and he said very angrily, "Could it be that the late emperor killed the wrong party member?"

"Okay...okay..." Yuan Wei stood up and cupped his hands in all directions, "Don't argue anymore, the past is over, now we are talking about the general's recruitment, don't talk nonsense."

Because of Yuan Kai's face, both sides looked at each other with cold faces and angry eyes.

Empress Dowager He knew that they had deep grievances, and they quarreled before they even said a few words, and there was no way to discuss it later.

She looked at Yuan Kai helplessly, and said in a low voice, "Master Taifu, please make an idea, I will listen to you."

Yuan Kai pondered for a long time, bowed and played: "I see, the queen mother should agree to the general. Now that there are frequent wars, the Northern Army does need to expand so that it can go to the four directions at any time. However, the queen mother can issue an order on behalf of the emperor to let Beijing recruit troops. The leading generals of the army trained their soldiers near the place where they were enlisted, and they were not allowed to return to Beijing without the imperial decree of the emperor. It took several months to go out of Beijing to recruit soldiers, and it took even longer to train soldiers. By then, the war in northern Xinjiang should have ended Yes. As long as the war in northern Xinjiang is certain, it will be difficult for Luoyang to think about it."

Empress Dowager He ignored the strong opposition of the middle officials, and immediately agreed to He's request to recruit troops to expand the Northern Army.

===

Xinsi (June [-]th).

He Jin received the emperor's imperial edict and immediately called Sima He Jin.

"Add another thousand troops to surround the Hussar General's Mansion."

"What does the general mean? Isn't the queen mother already..." He Jin glanced at He Jin in fear, and asked carefully, "Couldn't the general wait until after the late emperor was buried in Wenling?"

He Jin sighed, took out two secret letters and handed them to He Jin, "I don't want to be a general respected by everyone, but I don't have time. I'm spat on, but it's better than being killed and dumped into a messy graveyard in Mangshan to be fed to dogs."

The first letter came from the mansion of General Zhengbei University in Jinyang. It said that General Zhengbei University had already led his army to encircle the coalition forces of the Hu nationality at the end of May.According to the normal attack speed, the war of encirclement and annihilation should have begun, but General Zheng Beida did not attack the fierce attack in the early stage of the war. Abnormal.In addition, the letter also mentions that Li Su, Dong Zhuo's subordinate, frequently appeared in Jinyang recently, and had several secret talks with Xian Yufu and Zhang Yan, but the details are unknown.

The second letter came from Chang'an.General Zuo Huangfusong led his army back to Huaili City in Fufeng County on the pretext of running out of food and grass, but he himself rushed to Chang'an City secretly to meet Jing Zhaoyin Gaixun.

He Jin's scalp was numb and he was speechless for a while.

"The first emperor likes to ask his favorite ministers with edicts, discuss state affairs, and talk about private affairs with them. Among these ministers are Li Hong, Huangfusong, and Gai Xun. Did the late emperor tell them anything with edicts before he died? What did the late emperor write in the secret decree to the general who conquered the North?” He Jin said slowly, “Only the queen mother and Jian Shuo stayed by his side until the late emperor’s death, and only the queen mother and Jian Shuo knew about these things. Now Jian Shuo has been raped It was killed with a knife, and we have no way to check, so we can only hope that Hussar General Dong Zhong knows a thing or two."

He Jin asked in a low voice: "What does the general want to know? So what if you know?"

"There must be a reason for killing." He Jin smiled wryly, and said again slowly, "There must be a reason for killing."

"General, the current situation is dangerous. If you do this, it may cause chaos in Luoyang." He Jin said cautiously, "Is there no safer way, General?"

He Jin remained silent.

"It's only natural for the eldest prince to inherit the throne, but why is there such a situation in Luoyang today? It seems that the eldest prince is usurping the throne." He Jin suddenly smiled bitterly, "What crime did I commit? I provoked Who is it? Why am I always the target of being killed? Why do I have to worry about surviving, staying alive?"

that power.He Jin secretly sighed, it's all for power, why isn't the general fighting for power?

Xu Liang and Wu Dang hurried in.He Jin turned around and retreated.

He Jin gave Xu Liang a few words in a low voice, and then said: "Let Wu Kuang and Zhang Zhang bring 200 people in, and you must clarify the few things I told you."

Xu Liang nodded and asked, "When will Hejian Kingdom send people there?"

He Jin hesitated for a moment, then said: "Ask the princess and Liu He if they ever had a will. If not, forget it. If so, you will take people north."

Wu Tang said: "General, you can't be soft at this time, if you want to kill, kill it, otherwise there will be endless troubles in the future..."

He Jin sat on the case table in a daze for a while, then waved to Wu Dang, "Go and do it."
===

The censor Zhang Liao, the captain Wu Qiuyi, the military commander Zhang Yang and Liu Bei were ordered to rush to the Baijun mansion.

He Jin walked out of the study to greet him.Zhang Liao and others were greatly moved and bowed down to worship.

He Jin helped them up one by one, and said with a smile: "There is an errand that requires you to work hard."

Zhang Liao said impassionedly: "The next official will die."

He Jin smiled and said: "The Son of Heaven has a decree to order the Northern Army to recruit troops from all over the country to expand the army. I know that the iron cavalry in Bingzhou and the infantry in Danyang are very famous, and their combat effectiveness is very strong, so..." He pointed to the four people and said, "Zhang Liao and Zhang Yang, you go back to Bingzhou to recruit cavalry, Wu Qiuyi and Liu Bei, you go to Danyang to recruit infantry, what do you think?"

The four hurriedly bowed and agreed.

"At dusk, you withdrew from the Hussar General's Mansion, and then each took 500 people out of Beijing overnight."

===

Sitting on the horse, Zhang Liao thought that he would soon be able to return to Bingzhou to visit his parents, and he felt very happy.At this time, he saw Xu Liang walking out of the Hussar General's mansion with the two hundred cavalry that had just entered.

"Master Xu finished the search?"

Xu Liang smiled, waved his hands and said, "General Hussars has committed suicide in fear of crime. I think you should leave Beijing immediately, so as not to cause trouble for the general."

Zhang Liao was taken aback, and the back of his head felt cold, and the chill came suddenly.

Seeing his dumbfounded look, Xu Liang patted him on the shoulder with a smile and said, "After you leave Beijing, I will tell the matter to Mr. Yuan, Lieutenant of Sili." He looked up at the sky and urged, "Hurry up and leave!" , it's getting dark."

Without any further hesitation, Zhang Liao flew onto his horse and raised his hands and shouted, "Brothers, withdraw, withdraw..."

When Guan Qiuyi, Zhang Yang, Liu Bei and others saw Zhang Liao running over in a panic, they were secretly surprised and hurriedly surrounded him.

"Wen Yuan, when did you panic?" Wu Qiuyi asked.

"Let's go, let's go..." Zhang Liao didn't get off his horse, leaned over and said hastily, "General Hussars has been killed by someone sent by the general, we will be in trouble soon, let's go, leave the customs overnight, leave the customs overnight..."

===

Just as night fell, the Northern Army suddenly launched a full-scale mobilization, and the mansions of the ten permanent servants were all besieged. He Jin personally led troops to surround the mansion of Da Changqiu Zhao Zhong.

=

At this time, the queen mother had already received Yuan Shao's urgent report, and the hussar general Dong Zhong committed suicide in fear of crime, and all 120 people in the whole house died for him.

Zhao Zhong and the others turned pale with shock, they hadn't woken up from the shock yet, Yuan Shao made another rush, the Northern Army was dispatched, Xia Mengu Gate was charged, and the residences of the ten permanent servants were all besieged.

"Quick, quick, order the Xiyuan Army to dispatch, order the Xiyuan Army to dispatch." Zhao Zhong looked at the panic-stricken Empress Dowager He, and said in a trembling voice, "Order Hu Ben and Yulin to block the palace quickly, hurry up, Queen Mother..."

Empress Dowager He was too frightened to stand up.

Duan Gui hastily wrote the imperial decree and sealed it, and suddenly found that the Xiyuan Army had no commander, "General Chaqi was detained by the General in Baijun Mansion, and the Xiyuan Army has no commander, who is this order given to?"

"Go." Zhao Zhong pointed at him without hesitation and shouted, "Hurry up..."

"Why don't you go." Duan Gui said angrily, "I won't go, I won't leave the palace."

"You bastard..." Zhao Zhong was so angry that the fat on his face trembled violently, and his eyes wanted to burst into flames.

"Okay, okay, what's the fuss?" Zhang Rang roared angrily, "Cao Cao, Lieutenant of the Dianjun Commander, told him to lead the Xiyuan Army to control the gates of Luoyang and surround the troublesome Northern Army. Hurry up... ..."

A Zhonghuangmen rushed away holding the imperial decree.

"Wait..." Zhang Rang suddenly remembered something, rushed out and shouted, "Order Cao Cao not to conflict with the general, and those who disobey the order will be executed."

===

(End of this chapter)