Great Han Empire

Chapter 593: Troubled Times Heroic Chapter Dangerous
Li Hong, Xu Rong, Yushi, Zhu Mu and others carefully speculated what might happen in Luoyang based on Zhu Jun's letter. Everyone agreed that Zhu Jun must join forces with Yan Liang, otherwise, he had no way out.Wu Qiuyi only had [-] soldiers. Even if he managed to make a surprise attack, the northern armies outside Luoyang would quickly return to help, encircling Zhu Jun and Wu Qiuyi in Luoyang, making it difficult for them to fly.Their only escape route is Hulao Pass.Will Yan Liang lead his army to attack Luoyang?Although his strength is small, according to Yan Liang's temper, Dong Zhuo beat him, and he would never let go of the opportunity to fight back against Dong Zhuo.Will Yan Liang be besieged and annihilated under Luoyang City by the Northern Army?

Zhu Jun raised his troops suddenly at this time, his purpose of course was to drag Dong Zhuo to Luoyang, buy enough time for Yuan Shu and Sun Jian to counterattack, and completely defeat Dong Zhuo's plan to occupy Yingchuan and Nanyang.It seems that Zhu Jun is very urgent to kill Dong Zhuo, to kill the king and save the country. He has lost confidence in Li Hong, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, and he wants to support the sky alone.

Now that Dong Zhuo has ruined the check and balance, Zhu Jun added fuel to the fire, Beijiang and Dong Zhuo have completely torn apart, Li Hong has only one choice left, and that is to beat Dong Zhuo.It is certain to beat Dong Zhuo. If Dong Zhuo is allowed to do whatever he wants, Northern Xinjiang will be dragged down by him sooner or later, and Dahan Sheji will have no hope of revitalization.

Li Hong originally wanted to use the power of checks and balances to quell the flames of war and stabilize the country, and then use the strength of the northern border to strengthen the imperial power, gradually concentrate all forces in the court, and eliminate the crisis, but because Dong Zhuo was determined to kill Yuan Shao and other rebels, Continuous atrocities made it impossible to form checks and balances. Later, if the Yellow Turban Army rebellion broke out in Yanqing, Xu Sanzhou, Yuan Shao and Dong Dajun were too busy to take care of themselves, this checks and balances would never have been partially realized.

The Yellow Turban riots in Yanqing and Xu Sanzhou gave Beijiang and Gyeonggi a chance to breathe. As long as Dong Zhuo and Li Hong join forces and help each other, Yuan Shao and Dong Dajun will perish sooner or later. But Dong Zhuo asked the emperor to abolish the five baht coin at this time. Li Hong, who was under tremendous pressure, could no longer bear it.Dong Zhuo massacred Luoyang's clan clan and famous scholars, forcibly moved the capital, connived at the plundering of Gyeonggi prefectures and counties, and killed Yuan Kai and Yuan clan's close relatives. Fu, he can't bear it.Li Hong immediately changed his strategy, blocked the connection with Gyeonggi, and cut off the exchange of goods between the two sides. He planned to suppress Dong Zhuo with the help of checks and balances, and prepare for the future against King Dong Qin.

Dong Zhuo, who was driven to a dead end, immediately counterattacked, actively attacking Hedong and Nanyang, trying to break the check and balance, and taking advantage of the Yellow Turban riots in Yanqing, Qingzhou and Xuzhou, the ensuing flood of refugees, food shortages and many other crises to push Li Hong, Yuan Shao and other forces into collapse. the abyss.Dong Zhuo tried in vain to keep his power at the cost of the overthrow of the country and the loss of life.

Li Hong and many officials in Northern Xinjiang have seen the coming crisis. The only way to protect the country and the common people in the world is to quickly defeat Dong Zhuo. Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and the forces of various states and counties.

===

"No matter how the situation in Luoyang develops, the 7000 people from Zishan (Yan Liang) will never come back." Xu Rong gently rubbed his big hands, and said worriedly, "At present, there are only 5000 troops from Congyi (Yushi) in Hedong. Zhi (Yang Feng)'s 5000 troops are still on the way. If we add [-] black leopards and [-] tigers, we will only have [-] troops. With [-] troops crossing the Yellow River to attack Luoyang, the force is too weak and failed It is inevitable, so we will not be able to catch up with this opportunity today, we can only hope that Yan Liang and Wu Xiong will hold on to the pass until next month."

"Next month?" Yushi sighed, "Is one month enough? After one month, we can gather only so many troops. The four garrison counties in Jizhou need at least 5 garrison troops. Feiyan (Zhang Yan) ) and Yuntian (Qu Yi) could not lead the troops to Hedong. We need more troops.” He looked up at Li Hong who was sitting silently across from him, “General, what do you think about recruiting troops to garrison the fields? Without [-] people, we cannot take Luoyang."

"The field soldiers in Hedong were recruited from the refugees in July last year. They can open up wasteland and farmland, but they are too bad at fighting. At the beginning of the year, Lord Yang brought 1000 of the strongest field soldiers to Luoyang. In the battle of Hanoi, he did not shoot a single arrow, but only went back and forth. More than [-] people ran away, and this kind of soldier can no longer be used." Zhu Mu said, shaking his hand, "This kind of soldier can be used to fill the scene and frighten people, but it can't be used for fighting, and it will be a bad thing. Master Yu temporarily recruited Wan Tuntian soldiers, didn’t the general order them to disband and go back to the autumn harvest? That’s the reason. To conscript the Tuntian soldiers, I think they should be recruited from the Hetao military area. The Hetao Tuntian soldiers used to be the Yellow Turban Army, although they haven’t fought for more than three years , but relying on their past experience in fighting in Jizhou and Taihang Mountains, there is no problem in guarding the border. Twenty thousand soldiers were recruited from Hetao to guard the border, and the [-] infantry army guarding the border counties immediately went south to join the battle."

"Gongding is a good idea." Yushi repeatedly praised, "For war, it is best to use soldiers who have fought a hundred battles. The military resources in the northern border are short, and they need elite soldiers and strong generals. Fifty thousand soldiers must be used as fifty thousand soldiers. In addition, let Zi Long will bring another [-] cavalry to the south, so that our attack power will be enough. General, what do you think?"

Li Hong shook his head.

"Now the military resources of the 12 frontier army have become the biggest problem in northern Xinjiang. You don't want to solve it, but you need to increase the number of troops by another [-]." Li Hong said with a wry smile, "I want to reduce the number of troops, and you want to increase the number of troops. What do you mean? ?”

"The situation has changed." Yushi said, "Without troops, how can we attack Luoyang?"

"Have you calculated how much military resources are needed for an army of [-] to attack Luoyang?" Li Hong asked, "Should we be like Dong Zhuo, allowing the soldiers to plunder everywhere, or eating people if we can't?"

Yushi didn't speak.

"Dong Zhuo currently has an army of at least [-]. If we attack him with an army of [-], how long will it take to take Luoyang and Chang'an? If Dong Zhuo loses, he can take the emperor hostage and flee to Xiliang. How much time will it take us?" Kill Dong Zhuo to save the emperor? If this battle lasts for half a year or even longer, can we continue?" Li Hong said helplessly, "That's the reason for attacking Luoyang first, and the reason for waiting for an opportunity to attack Luoyang The same is true. We must first ensure our own survival and ensure that we will not be defeated by Dong Zhuo. We cannot afford to be defeated, and it will be difficult to stand up if we are defeated."

"I understand what the general means, but will Dong Zhuo give us this chance?" Yushi asked suspiciously.

Li Hong and Xu Rong looked at each other, worried.If Dong Zhuo took the initiative to seek peace, if Dong Zhuo had not been attacked by Zhu Jun and Wu Qiuyi, if Yan Liang and others had completely controlled the three passes of Gyeonggi, then there was indeed a chance, but it is very slim now.

After Xu Rong thought for a while, he pointed to the map and said: "Under the premise of ensuring the northern border, we can only use the least amount of military resources and the least amount of troops to achieve our goals, so the best way now is to unite Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and Soldiers from all states and counties attacked Luoyang at the same time, this is what Yuan Shao and Dong Dajun wanted us to do most at the beginning of the year."

"My lord, Yuan Shao and the soldiers and horses from various states and counties are now fighting fiercely with the Yellow Turban Army. Yuan Shu and Sun Jian are fighting Dong Zhuo. They will not have the strength to attack Luoyang in the short term." Zhu Mu said, "If we don't launch in November Attack, Yan Liang and the others are finished."

"We can take the initiative to make peace with Dong Zhuo. After all, his main purpose is Yingchuan and Nanyang, not to attack my northern border. The Yellow Turban Army, we can attack Luoyang early next year."

"Ding, you immediately write a letter to Dong Zhuo in my name, saying that I want to talk to him."

"In addition, you told the eldest princess and Li Wei about our estimate of the situation in Luoyang, and your plan to unite Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and other states and counties to attack Dong Zhuo and Luoyang, and ask them to think carefully, and then find a way to give us two The [-] troops raised about four months' food and wages."

===

Two days later, Niu Fu sent someone to send a letter saying that Mr. Xiangguo had something to discuss with General Hushi.If General Hushi agrees, Shi Tianyi, the governor of Xiangguo, can rush to Hedong immediately.

Li Hong hurriedly wrote back, agreeing with Tian Yi to come to Hedong, and ordered Ji Feng to take a hundred black panthers to protect him along the way to avoid accidents.Now the Northern Xinjiang soldiers are very hostile to the Northern Army and Dong Zhuo's people. If that disobedient officer leads someone to kill him on the way, things will be troublesome.

Li Hong deliberately asked Zhu Mu to avoid him.Li Hong, Xu Rong, and Yushi secretly breathed a sigh of relief after reading Dong Zhuo's letters.Zhu Jun is still alive, and so are Yan Liang and Wu Xiong. Although the [-] Northern Xinjiang soldiers must have been damaged, Hulao, Mengjin, and Xiaopingjin are still under their control for the time being. The situation in Luoyang has not deteriorated to the point where The point of tidying up.However, can Dong Zhuo's words be believed?Are Zhu Jun and Yan Liang still alive?

Dong Zhuo's talk about giving up Luoyang was nonsense. He was worried that Li Hong would beat him, and he had no time to send troops south to plunder money and food, so he hurriedly sent Tian Yi to Hedong to discuss peace.Both sides knew this in their hearts, and tacitly understood each other, never mentioning Dong Zhuo's violation of checks and balances, attacking Hedong and the northern border army stationed in Luoyang, and directly cut to the point.

Li Hong said, I will send someone to Luoyang immediately.Yan Liang must be told about the handshake between Beijiang and the imperial court as soon as possible, lest he send troops to attack Lord Xiangguo again and cause unnecessary losses to both sides.

Tian Yi agrees.He said that Lord Xiangguo said that after I arrive in Hedong, the general can send people to Luoyang, but considering the safety of Luoyang, Lord Xiangguo hopes that the general will order the northern army to withdraw from Hulao, Mengjin and Xiaopingjin.Yan Liang's army must retreat to the Zhongmou area. (Zhongmu City is located at the junction of Henan Yin in Gyeonggi Province and Chenliu County in Yanzhou, about 400 miles away from Luoyang.)
Li Hong disagreed.After the northern Xinjiang army retreated to Zhongmu, there was no food and grass to support them, so they could support them in a short time, but they couldn't do it in a long time.Li Hong said that it would take time to convince Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu. After all, Lord Xiangguo killed more than 50 people in Yuan Kui, Yuan Ji and the Yuan family. Ask Yan Liang to take the Northern Army back to Hedong.

Tian Yi said with a bitter face: "General, now you and Lord Xiangguo don't trust each other, how could Lord Xiangguo let Lord Yan bring the Northern Border Army back to Hedong? Luoyang is where the foundation of the Han Dynasty lies. It is in danger. It is for this reason that Lord Xiangguo decided to withdraw from Luoyang. I implore the general to put the country as the most important thing, and to supervise Lord Yan to lead the army to leave Hulao as soon as possible."

Li Hong sneered, "Since Mr. Xiangguo is determined to withdraw from Luoyang, why did Yan Liang leave the Tiger Prison?"

Tian Yi persuaded: "Master Xiangguo will sooner or later entrust the important task of defending Luoyang to the general, why should the general be in a hurry at this moment?"

"Defend Luoyang?" Li Hong snorted, "Why should I go to Luoyang? The late emperor and His Majesty asked me to guard the northern border, how can I go to Luoyang? You go back and tell Lord Xiangguo that I want to play the emperor, and beg the emperor to let me go." The princess went to Luoyang to take charge of the military affairs of the six prefectures, and unified command of the soldiers and horses of the prefectures and counties to quell the Yellow Turban riots."

Tian Yi said calmly: "The general's discussion is very appropriate. But, now..."

"Now I want to contact Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu immediately." Li Hong interrupted him, "In order to buy time, the subordinates in my mansion have to enter and leave the capital at will without any hindrance."

Tian Yi smiled and said: "This is a matter of course. If the general is not at ease, I can stay in Hedong until Lord Xiangguo returns to Chang'an."

Li Hong unceremoniously left Tian Yi in Hedong immediately.Tian Yi bowed and said goodbye, and went back to the army tent to write a letter to Dong Zhuo.

===

Xu Rong looked at Dong Zhuo's letters repeatedly, and said suspiciously: "Let us go in and out of Luoyang to contact Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu? Is Dong Zhuo really going to give up Luoyang? After Li Ru died, Liu Ai and Tian Yi were very important to Dong Zhuo. How could he Are you willing to keep Tian Yi with us? Is there something in it that we haven't thought of?"

Li Hong lowered his head and paced back and forth in the big tent.Yushi frowned in thought.

"It is impossible for Dong Zhuo to give up Luoyang." Li Hong said, "If Yuan Shao and the soldiers and horses from various states and counties can defeat the Yellow Turban Army in the near future, and Yuan Shu and Sun Jian can withstand Dong Zhuo's attack, then by the beginning of next year at the latest, we can simultaneously Attack Luoyang. Dong Zhuo is unable to cope with the three battlefields, so he must retreat to Chang'an, and then..."

Xu Rong and Yushi looked at Li Hong seriously, waiting for him to continue.

Li Hong pondered for a long time, then sighed, "Then we will have to see the faces of the Yellow Turban Army. Whether Bai Rao and Yu Du from Heishan, or Sima Ju and Xu He from Qingzhou, they will not give up such a good opportunity. It will go down the mountain again. In this way, can we ensure that Jizhou is not lost? If Yuan Shao and the troops from various states and counties have to turn back to suppress the rebellion, then the attack on Luoyang is very likely to end halfway, and Luoyang still belongs to Dong Zhuo."

"Why does Dong Zhuo believe that Yuan Shao and the troops from various states and counties will not be able to quell the Yellow Turban riots this year?" Yushi said suspiciously.

"Why do we believe that the Yellow Turban Army will definitely be defeated this year?" Li Hong said, "The only reason why Huangfusong, Zhu Jun and others were able to defeat the Yellow Turban Army within six to eight months was that the court received sufficient support. With the support of food, salaries and military equipment, the imperial court opened warehouses in time to release food and relieved a large number of refugees, and stabilized some states and counties in the shortest time, but now? Now Yuan Shao and the chiefs of various states and counties have nothing, even The anti-insurgency army can’t compare with the Northern Army back then, it’s very good that they can drive the Yellow Turban Army back to the mountains before winter comes.”

"Dong Zhuo participated in the battle to put down the Yellow Turban Army back then. He should be very clear about these things. It is not surprising that he can predict the situation next year. I have fought the Yellow Turban Army, and I know everything about it very well. It seems that the Yellow Turban Jun is going to help Dong Zhuo."

Xu Rong looked at Li Hong, who was frowning, and comforted him in a low voice: "Zhengqing (Gao Lan) has been in Yanzhou for more than two months, and there should be a letter. Let's see what he said. No matter whether there will be a Yellow Turban riot next year, we will all If we want to attack Luoyang, what will happen to Northern Xinjiang?"

===

Zhu Mu strongly asked to go to Luoyang, but Li Hong refused.

Li Hong invited Wei Cao and Xu Hun to the tent and asked him to go to Luoyang.

Li Hong wrote a reply letter to Dong Zhuo, full of nonsense, and did not mention the three hurdles such as whether the Northern Xinjiang Army would withdraw from Hulao.Li Hong said to Xu Hun, after you met Dong Zhuo, you were ambiguous about everything, and if you couldn't do it, you just asked three questions, but you must see Yan Liang as soon as possible, and ask Yan Liang to tell me what happened in Luoyang in detail.

Then Li Hong told about Beijiang's plan to unite with Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu to attack Luoyang.Li Hong said, you start from Hulao Pass, detour to Chenliu County to Hanoi to meet Yuan Shao, and discuss this matter with him carefully.Let Tian Chou go to Nanyang to meet Yuan Shu.If you have any news, go back to Hedong and report to me in person.Regarding whether to stick to the Hulao pass, Li Hong asked Xu Huan to give Yan Liang a message.If the loss of troops is too large, if conditions permit, recruit troops on the spot to replenish them.

===

In mid-October, Jinyang, Longshan.

Under the auspices of Zhang Wen, Ding Gong, Cai Yong (yong) and others, the eldest princess mansion vetoed Li Hong's proposal and asked Li Hong to immediately transfer troops from outside the Great Wall to the south, taking advantage of Dong Zhuo's opportunity to attack Yingchuan and Nanyang, Enter Chang'an King Qin.

The eldest princess was very surprised after hearing the report from Zhang Wen and others, "War is a general's military, how can we interfere?"

Zhang Wen explained that fighting a war is indeed the general's business, but whether to fight it or not, and where to fight it is not the general's business, but His Royal Highness's business.

The general of the hussars is in charge of the military administration of the sixteen counties of northern Xinjiang, which means that the sixteen counties of the northern border are in charge of military affairs and civil affairs, and the generals of the hussars have the final say. At this time, the generals of the hussars are equivalent to the state of a state. animal husbandry.The general of the hussars supervises the military affairs of the six states. This means that when there is a rebellion in these six states, the general of the hussars can lead the army to suppress the rebellion without the imperial edict, but the general of the hussars only has the command of the battlefield. There is no decision-making power in military strategy and military administrative power.

The eldest princess is respected, she is the daughter of the first emperor, and the elder sister of the current emperor.At a time when the country is in crisis, it is natural that the family and the country are united, and it is necessary to shoulder the heavy responsibility of saving the country.Relying on the last emperor's edict, today's emperor bestowed the festival biography, axe and axe, and the eldest princess has great power and influence, and she is already under one person and above ten thousand people.Based on this point, as a minister, the Hussar General must consult everything, without the slightest scorn (zen), so as not to violate the etiquette.

In addition, today's son ordered the eldest princess to supervise the military administration of the six states.Although the Eldest Princess has a lot of power in supervising the military affairs of the six states, it cannot be simply understood as the great state shepherd who leads the six states.If a person has such great power, isn't he equivalent to half of the "Son of Heaven" of the Han Dynasty, then the emperor can still sit firmly in the country?He was killed within two days.This matter of supervising the military administration of several states generally occurs during the country's extraordinary period, and it must be the royal family members who are in charge of this power. This power is jointly restricted by the emperor, the imperial court, and the states. Simply put, it has no personnel power The power of harmony and wealth cannot replace the governor of the state and county, and cannot collect the wealth of the state and county. Its greatest power is actually the coordination power generated by relying on the imperial power.

For example, there are ant thieves rioting in Yanqing, Xu Sanzhou, and the eldest princess can coordinate the governors of the six states to coordinate the deployment of troops, money and food to counter the rebellion.At this time, General Hushi was equivalent to a state shepherd of a state, while Yuan Shao was much worse. He was just a prefect of Bohai County and a subordinate of Jizhou Mu Han Fu.

Another example is the fight against Dong Zhuo this time.Dong Zhuo has great power, holds state power, and acts as an agent of state affairs. If the emperor does not say that he is a traitor, who in the world would dare to call him a traitor?Whoever says anyone is a rebel, like Yuan Shao and Han Fu are now the rebels of my big man.But Dong Zhuo is indeed a traitor, today is young, how can he distinguish between Dong Zhuo's treachery and loyalty?Moreover, the emperor was held hostage by Dong Zhuo, so even if he wanted to say that Dong Zhuo was a traitor, he dared not say so.At this time, the eldest princess needs to come forward.The eldest princess came forward to call on the states and counties of the world to crusade against Dong Zhuo, work hard to rejuvenate the country, and rectify the great man, and the world will follow her.In other words, before the emperor got out of trouble, the eldest princess was in charge of state power and acting as an agent of state affairs.No matter how powerful the hussar general is, he must be controlled by the eldest princess. The decision-making power of military strategy and military administration are in the hands of the eldest princess.

Why did the general Hussars report the attack on Luoyang to the eldest princess?That's why.From the current point of view, Li Hong is still a loyal minister of my big man.The choice of the late emperor was indeed right, and it was also true that the late emperor sent His Highness to the northern border. The hope of my great man's rejuvenation lies in the great general of the hussars.

The eldest princess seemed to understand but half understood.She was worried that if she intervened in the war, she would offend the general of the hussars, so she was unwilling to affix her own seal on the document.

"Don't His Highness want to save the emperor? Don't you want to save Sheji?"

The eldest princess shook her head.

"Then please seal the letter, His Highness."

===

Li Wei was furious.

The conscripts marched south and cooperated with Yuan Shao all the way. Yuan Shu pretended to attack Luoyang and attacked Chang'an with the main force all the way.How is it possible to fight on two fronts?where is the moneyWhere is the food?

If we want to attack Dong Zhuo, it means that we don't recognize the current imperial court, so the decision-making power of military strategy should temporarily belong to the Hussar General's Mansion, not the Eldest Princess' Mansion.

Zhang Wen retorted, who raised the banner of King Qin begging Dong?Is it the eldest princess or the general of Hussars?
Li Wei also retorted, who commanded the 12 frontier troops in northern Xinjiang?Is it the eldest princess or the general of Hussars?

Zhang Wen sneered and said: "Within the four seals, is it the land of the king, the hair that eats the soil, or the minister of the king. Every plant and tree in this world belongs to the emperor, not to mention the general Hushi and the 12 frontier army in northern Xinjiang Could it be that Mr. Li thinks that the 12 frontier troops are the private property of the General Hussars?"

Li Wei changed color in shock.

===

(Tomorrow, I will work early and have to work overtime at night, so I will not update it. Please understand. Sorry, sorry. I will try to make up this section when I have two days off. Thank you for your support and encouragement, thank you.)
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