Great Han Empire

Chapter 603 The Heroes of Troubled Times Like the Abyss
In December, Nanyang.

After the snow fell, Lu Bu and Hu Zhen led their troops to retreat slowly.Sun Jian took the opportunity to send troops out of Luyang, and pursued them all the way to Liangcheng in Yin, Henan, where he confronted Lu Bu's army on both sides of the Ru River.

At this time, scouts came to report, and Dong Zhuo led his army out of the pass to help.Seeing the big banner (dao) flying high on the other side of the river, Sun Jian was worried that he had been tricked, and hurriedly led the army back to Luyang.After arriving in Luyang, Sun Jian received an urgent letter from Kong Ni, saying that Dong Zhuo personally led an army to support Hu Zhen. Tens of thousands of troops stormed Yangdi City, but he couldn't hold it, and he had already retreated to Yingyin City.

The city of Yangdi was lost, and Sun Jian's right wing immediately lost its protection. The army was attacked on both sides, and the situation was critical.Just when he was considering whether to support Kong Ni or withdraw to Wancheng to join Yuan Shu, Kong Ni wrote urgently again.Hu Lie's General Yan Liang suddenly appeared at the foot of Yingyin City, and the northern army severely injured Hu Zhen and killed Li Meng.Dong Zhuo was defeated and returned to Yangdi City.

Sun Jian was overjoyed, and immediately wrote to Yuan Shu, asking him to lead the army northward to meet up and attack Luoyang together.Part of Yuan Shu's army is now in Wancheng, and part of it is led by Ji Ling and Qiao Rui (rui) and is chasing Dong Yue and Li Su. He has no soldiers to transfer, so he immediately wrote to Liu Biao in Xiangyang, asking him to send troops north to attack Luoyang .

Yuan Shu never forgets Jingzhou, anyone can see his thoughts.Liu Biao wrote back that the Beiyu Rebellion in Nanjun had not yet been settled, Su Dai and Cao Yin in Changsha and Wuling counties were still fighting endlessly, and the Jingzhou army was temporarily unable to go north to attack Luoyang.He believes that Jingzhou's current top priority is to quickly quell the rebellion, stabilize the counties, and then do everything possible to provide food and salaries to the adults and the kings from all walks of life to discuss Dong Dajun.Liu Biao said at the end of the letter, after your lord led the troops from all walks of life to capture Luoyang, he had made outstanding achievements and would surely be able to enter the court and serve as the public. Naturally, this Nanyang prefect will no longer serve concurrently. Therefore, should Nanyang be returned to Jingzhou as soon as possible?
Yuan Shu sneered, and said to Kuai Yue who came to deliver the letter: "Liu Jingsheng is threatening me. If I don't agree, will he not provide me with food and salary?"

Kuai Yue said: "Your Excellency, you will be the general and prefect of Nanyang in the future. Who issued this decree? Do you respect Dong Zhuo and the Chang'an court? Dong Zhuo is a national traitor, and he has a bloody feud with Your Excellency. The Chang'an court is even Dong Zhuo's court. Your Excellency also complies with the imperial decree? Since your Excellency regards Dong Zhuo as a national traitor, this imperial edict from the Chang’an court has no effect, that is to say, your Excellency is still the rear general, not the prefect of Nanyang."

Yuan Shu was speechless.Kuai Yue also said that the internal turmoil in Jingzhou is uneven, how can Mr. Liu guarantee the continuous supply of food and wages?If your lord wants to successfully capture Luoyang, lord Liu must first stabilize the counties in Jingzhou.

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At the end of December, Zhu Jun wrote to Yuan Shu, Kong Ni, Yan Liang, Sun Jian and others, Xuzhou governor Tao Qian, Chenliu prefect Zhang Miao, Wu Yi Zhonglang general Gao Lan and others led an army to attack the Yellow Turban army Sima Ju, Xu He, and the Yellow Turban army. The army was defeated in Pengcheng and returned to the Taishan area to continue to persist.Now Tao Qian, Zhang Miao and others are commanding the army to pursue the Yellow Turban Army and regain the cities of Donghai, Langya and other counties. Gao Lan, Zhu Zhi and others have led their troops back to Gyeonggi, and it is estimated that they will reach Zhongmou in the middle of the first month.

Zhu Jun implores all the adults to raise food and grass immediately, and move the army northward, trying to attack Luoyang in early February.Zhu Jun said that the siege of Luoyang by the three armies has basically taken shape, and the various armies are now gathering one after another. However, with Dong Zhuo's talent, he will be able to predict the development of the situation in the next few months, so Dong Zhuo is very likely to take advantage of the southern armies. Before the assembly was completed, they quickly moved south to occupy Nanyang and Yingchuan to ensure that the Northern Army could advance and retreat freely.In order to resist Dong Zhuo's upcoming attacks, Zhu Jun persuaded Yuan Shu to join hands with Liu Biao and send troops to Luyang to join Sun Jian, and resolutely drive Dong Zhuo out of Nanyang and Yingchuan.

After receiving Zhu Jun's letter, Yuan Shu discussed with Li Ye, Yan Xiang and others whether to listen to Zhu Jun's opinion and gather troops to attack Luoyang.

Li Ye and Yan Xiang believed that they should abide by the agreement with General Hushi and lead the army northward according to the predetermined plan.This time, with the General Hussars and the Northern Border Army participating in the battle, taking Luoyang will not be a problem.

Yuan Shu disagreed with going north.Now the three-way attacking army has surrounded Luoyang. To the south of Luoyang, there are more than 2 troops from Zhu Jun, Yan Liang, Kong Ni, and Sun Jian.Going there won't help much, but it will increase the consumption of food and pay for the army, and more importantly, once the army leaves Wancheng, Liu Biao will definitely take the opportunity to occupy Nanyang.Wasn't the purpose of Liu Biao's refusal to send troops to attack Luoyang just to take back Nanyang while I was going north?

"General Hushi's strategy of attacking from three sides and winning in the middle is very beneficial to Yuan Shao. After Yuan Shao first entered Luoyang, he made great achievements and became the top minister. What should I do? Do you want me to bow down to Yuan Shao? Do you want me to hand over the position of Patriarch of the Yuan clan?" Yuan Shu waved his hand, "Yuan Shao advanced to Luoyang, and Nanyang was occupied by Liu Biao. I have nowhere to go. Sooner or later, I will die. I will leave Wancheng."

"After taking Luoyang, the situation will become more complicated. The power struggle in the court will be very fierce. Whether the Yuan Clan can survive or not depends entirely on the final result of the power struggle of all parties. The survival of the family will play a vital role." Yuan Shu said, "As long as I own Jingzhou and have an army in my hand, the Yuan Clan will be fine, and Yuan Shao will never want to be the Patriarch."

"What's the reason? What's the reason why we don't go to Luoyang?" Li Ye asked.

"Attack Chang'an." Yuan Shu pointed to Wuguan on the map and said, "Let's go to attack Chang'an. This reason is too sufficient, and no one dares to refute it. By attacking Wuguan, we can show my loyalty to the emperor and divert me from the direction of Guanzhong. Dong Zhuo's strength can also preserve our strength and prevent Liu Biao from raiding Nanyang."

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The first month of the second year of Chuping (AD 191) of the Han Dynasty.

On the Xinchou day of the first lunar month (the sixth day of the lunar month), the emperor pardoned the world.

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At the beginning of the first month, Nanyang, Wancheng.

The eldest princess set up a dynasty in Jinyang, and told the world that King Qin asked Dong's edict to be sent to Nanyang.

Letters from Han Fu, Mu of Jizhou, Liu Dai, Mu of Yanzhou, Yuan Yi, prefect of Shanyang, and Wang Gong of Dongjun were also sent to Yuan Shu at the same time.In Liu Dai's letter, there is also a letter written by Yuan Shao.

The contents of the four letters were exactly the same, they all urged Yuan Shu to join them in supporting Liu Yu as emperor and revitalizing the Great Han Society.

Li Ye, Yang Hong, Xun Zheng, and Yan Xiang were shocked.Li Yechang sighed: "The great opportunity to revitalize the country has been ruined like this."

"Who would have expected that the Jinyang court would become a decoration in a blink of an eye." Xun Zheng also smiled wryly, "After Dong Zhuo knows about it, he can live in Guanzhong steadily and rest easy."

Yuan Shu laughed, "Yuan Benchu ​​and Han Wenjie were too deceitful and killed themselves. Can we control northern Xinjiang with Jizhou? What a joke. However, in this way, our chance has come."

"My lord is determined to come together with Beijiang?" Yan Xiang asked worriedly, "In the future..."

"We'll talk about the future." Yuan Shu said with a smile, "As long as I have Jingzhou, I can rest easy."

"Then what should we do now? Or advocate temporarily fighting Wuguan?" Yang Hong asked, "Yuan Shao's move may anger Liu Yu and Li Hong. If Beijiang and Jizhou fight, the Luoyang war will not be fought."

"It is difficult for us to accurately predict how the Jinyang court and Beijiang will react to this matter. We can only take one step at a time." Yuan Shu said, "As long as we firmly grasp Jingzhou and Yuzhou, we can advance and retreat immediately. In an invincible position. With money and food and an army, no matter what happens, we can deal with it calmly."

Yuan Shu immediately wrote back to Yuan Shao.Today's son is wise and wise, with outstanding qualifications, and he is a peerless genius.The traitor Dong Zhuo took advantage of the country's crisis to hold the emperor hostage and control the court. This is just a small misfortune for my big man.You said that the emperor "is not descended from the first emperor, and has no royal blood", this is pure slander, it is a treason against the superior, and it should be sentenced to death.You said that "the whole family was killed, and you can no longer submit to such an emperor", which is even more nonsense.Who killed our kin?It was Dong Zhuo, not the young emperor.Are you blind?I, Yuan Shu, are loyal to the emperor and the great man. I respect the emperor, and I am full of sincerity. Now I only know that I want to serve the king to ask for the director, and I want to revitalize the country. I don't know anything else.If you want to rebuild the imperial lineage, you should do it alone. Don't implicate our Yuan family, tarnish our Yuan family's reputation, and insult our Yuan family's ancestors.

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Liu He also read the letters of Han Fu and other ministers, and he was already trembling with anger.If you seize power, you will seize power, but there is really no need to force our family to die.

From now on, Liu Yu's charge of usurping the mastermind and plotting treason has been confirmed.Even if in the future King Liu Yuqin succeeds in fighting against Dong, saves the emperor and rejuvenates the country, it is inevitable that the emperor will find an excuse to punish the nine clans.Since ancient times, which emperor dared to keep such ministers in the world?

Liu He wants to set off for Jinyang immediately.Yuan Shu asked him, what are you doing in Jinyang?Take your father and flee to Youzhou, to the deep mountains and old forests to avoid disaster?You and your father are both clan ministers and descendants of the ancestors. How can you just watch your ancestors be destroyed?What are you afraid of?Isn't it just death?If death can restore the country, it is worth dying.

Liu He cursed angrily, and then immediately wrote to Liu Yu.The catastrophe has already happened, and my Liu family cannot hide from it. At this time when the society is in peril, my Liu family still has to shed blood and sweat for the revitalization of the society, so as not to humiliate the ancestors.I implore my father to send an army to the south immediately, and I will lead this army to attack Luoyang, to fight for the king, and to defend the country to the death.

Liu He handed over the letter to several of his confidantes, and asked them to rush to Jinyang day and night, and at the same time asked them to inform Liu Yu that he had received the imperial decree from the emperor.Yuan Shu immediately dissuaded, "This matter should not be spread."

Yuan Shao, Han Fu and others do not recognize the present day at all, they want to rebuild the imperial line, so if this imperial decree appears in Jinyang, not only will it not help the situation, but it will aggravate the deterioration of the situation.At present, what the Jinyang court has to do is to deal with the issue of power distribution decisively and avoid a breakup between northern Xinjiang and Jizhou.If Northern Xinjiang and Jizhou break apart, the role of the eldest princess in building a dynasty will be lost immediately.

"This imperial decree is actually useless." Yuan Shu said, "If the power distribution of the Jinyang court is properly resolved, and all states and counties support the Jinyang court, let alone rebuilding the imperial line, it is also possible to rebuild the country. "

Liu He was very depressed and extremely sad.Yuan Shu said, please give me this blank edict.With this edict, I can justifiably attack Liu Biao and control Jing and Yu prefectures.The Jinyang court had Beijiang and Youzhou, Jingzhou and Yuzhou, and then defeated Luoyang and united the four states into one, so we can revitalize the country.

Liu He thought for a while and said, when Jinyang has a reply, the matter is irreversible, I will give you this blank edict, and you can write it however you want.

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In the middle of the first month, Jinyang.

Zhang Qi, Prime Minister of Anping, Shi Liu Gong, Governor of Jizhou, engaged in trial and appointment, Xu You and Feng Ji from Bohai County, and officials from other states and counties, a total of 17 people braved the wind and snow and rushed to Jinyang. They represented the states and counties The big officials jointly signed the petition, demanding that the current emperor be deposed, the imperial line be rebuilt, and the dynasty formally established.

Jinyang shook.

The eldest princess was horrified when she heard the news, and immediately sent a copy of the edict, and sent her to the east of the river on a fast ride of [-] li, and urged Li Hong, the general of hussars, to return to the court quickly.Chen Ji of the eldest princess mansion quickly commanded the Huben guards to surround Taifu's mansion.

Grand Tutor Liu Yu was furious, "Now that the emperor is in trouble, traitors are harming the country, and the country is in danger, you and other state and county officials don't want to serve the country, but instead plan this kind of counter-conspiracy to tarnish my reputation. What's the reason?"

Zhang Wen and other court officials beat their chests and feet, looked up to the sky and sighed, "The country is about to fall, and it cannot be restored by manpower." The veterans never expected that the Jinyang court would collapse within a month after its establishment, but they were even more unexpected What's more, the culprit is not others, but the scholars themselves.

Hussar General Li Wei urgently wrote to Li Hong that the Jinyang court had suffered a sudden change, and implored the general to immediately order to take back all the military and political power in northern Xinjiang to minimize the loss in northern Xinjiang.

The three governments discussed together, and Li Wei suggested that the Jinyang court should try its best to solve the imperial crisis. The Taifu Mansion will not deal with state affairs for the time being, and all government affairs of the Taifu Mansion will be temporarily handed over to the Hushi General's Mansion.

Li Weizuo asked the eldest princess to go to Yunzhong with a fast ride of [-] li, and ordered Du Liao general Zhao Yun to lead [-] cavalry to the south immediately, Chen Bing Huguan, in case of changes in Jizhou.Then he issued a decree to Gongsun Zan, the rebellious general in Youzhou, ordering him to immediately ride [-] troops and ride southward to the three prefectures of Hejian, Bohai, and Zhongshan.

Veteran officials such as Zhang Wen, Cui Lie, and Ma Rixun resolutely opposed the use of large troops to threaten Jizhou.

Li Wei roared loudly: "How can we not kill such traitors who have harmed the country?"

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(End of this chapter)