Great Han Empire

Chapter 623 The Heroes of Troubled Times Like the Abyss
In November, Jingzhou.

After receiving the news that Xu Rong had given up Yuzhou, General Yuan Shu and General Sun Jian were very happy.

Sun Jian immediately asked Sun Ben and Zhu Zhi to rush to Yangdi City with [-] soldiers and horses, and Yuan Shu also asked Liu Xun to bring [-] soldiers and horses to accompany him.At the same time, Yuan Shu urgently wrote to the officials of the various prefectures and states in Yuzhou that General Sun Jian, the general who defeated the captives, was stationed in Yuzhou this time and was also the governor of Yuzhou.If the Hussar General is angered and the great cause of fighting against King Dong Qin and saving the country is affected, the consequences are self-evident.

Sun Jian knew that the Hussar General was willing to give up Yuzhou this time, and he specially asked the imperial court for an order, and Yuan Shu contributed a lot to it.He knew how to repay his kindness, and at the same time fulfilled the promise he made in the past, and immediately led the army to attack Liu Biao.Kuai Yue, Huang Zu, Wen Pin and other generals from Jingzhou led a crowd to meet the enemy, and the two sides fought in Deng County, [-] miles away from Xiangyang City.

Sun Jian and Ji Ling led an army of [-] to attack for three days.Sun Jian's general Zu Mao was unfortunately killed in battle. Sun Jian was filled with grief and indignation, so he personally led two thousand Changsha soldiers to march forward and fight bloody.Jingzhou soldiers couldn't resist, retreated to Hanshui, retreated into Xiangyang City and stood firm.Sun Jian's anger at defeating Yangdi City was fully vented at this time. He commanded the army to cross the Han River, defended Xiangyang City, and launched a violent attack like a storm.Liu Biao couldn't stand it anymore, so he urgently ordered Huang Zu and Wenpin to lead their personal guards to break out of the siege and go to other counties to recruit reinforcements.

Yuan Shu learned that Sun Jian had won consecutive battles and Xiangyang was in sight, so he urgently wrote to Sun Jian to congratulate him.After getting Jingzhou, you and my brothers have nothing to worry about.Just after General Hushi, Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan and others fought in Jizhou, we immediately entered Luoyang to challenge King Dong Qin and made great achievements.

Soon, Huang Zu moved from Jiangxia to rescue soldiers and rushed to Xiangyang.After Sun Jian heard the news, he led an army of five thousand to attack head-on.Huang Zu was defeated and fled in defeat.Sun Jian led his army in pursuit, intending to annihilate them all. When they reached Xian (xian) Mountain near Xiangyang City, Huang Zu, who had nowhere to escape, turned red, and simply returned with his bodyguards to fight to the death.During the fierce battle, several of Huang Zu's men shot and killed Sun Jian with crossbows.Sun Jian was unable to dodge in time and was shot dead on the spot.

Cheng Pu, Han Dang and others were enraged and led the army to fight to the death, intending to take back Sun Jian's body, but Wenpin also led the army back to Xiangyang at this moment, and the two sides immediately started a bloody battle.Because of Sun Jian's death in battle, the Nanyang soldiers and Changsha soldiers were in chaos and retreated steadily.After Ji Ling broke it himself, the covering army withdrew across the Hanshui River and returned to Chaoyang City.

When Yuan Shu heard of Sun Jian's death, he was terrified. It took a long time before he hugged his head and cried bitterly.

Cheng Pu, Han Dang and others urgently wrote to Yuan Shu, wanting to borrow troops to fight again and pay back blood debt.

Yuan Shu wrote back that the troops were insufficient, and the fight was useless.I hurriedly asked the Hussar General for reinforcements.When we fight Xiangyang again, I will definitely kill Liu Biao.

It is a great pity that after Sun Jian's death, no bones survived.At this time, Shangshu Huanjie, who had fled from Chang'an, volunteered to go to Xiangyang to retrieve Sun Jian's remains.After the failure of the Chang'an mutiny in March, Shangshu Zheng Tai, Hua Xin, Huan Jie and several other ministers fled Chang'an and fled to Nanyang along the mountains near Wuguan.

Huan Jie was able to promote Xiaolian and serve as a minister in the capital because of Sun Jian's recommendation.In order to repay Sun Jian's great kindness, Huan Jie went to Xiangyang City alone, explained the whole story to Liu Biao, and begged Liu Biao to let him take Sun Jian's coffin back to Wu County for burial.Liu Biao and Huan Jie met several times when they were in Luoyang. In addition, he didn't want to tarnish his reputation because of this incident, so he agreed immediately.

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November, Jinyang, Longshan.

The garrison crisis triggered a crisis in the imperial court, and various forces in northern Xinjiang launched a fierce confrontation in order to compete for power.

Hussar General Li Hong's attitude was criticized by many ministers in the court.

First of all, Li Hong tried his best to protect Yang Qi, Wang Han, Guo Yun and other big officials in northern Xinjiang. Li Hong released more than 30 local officials in the custody of the Imperial History Mansion for various reasons.The head of Zhangzi County of Shangdang County, which ignited the crisis in northern Xinjiang, and the subordinates of the county government office each wrote a letter of apology, and then Li Hong sent them to work in several Tuntian counties in Jizhou.In addition, Li Hong raised different opinions on the court's unauthorized increase of taxes.The several counties south of the Great Wall in Northern Xinjiang have suffered serious land shortages due to the annual farming, and it is reasonable for the government to reduce the land property. How can the court ignore the facts and take it for granted that the government intends to confront the court?For this reason, Li Hong complained a few words to Mr. Zhao Qi, "Master Zhao Qi has been in charge of farming in northern Xinjiang for many years, don't you know?" What was caused by the imperial court has nothing to do with the prefectures in northern Xinjiang.

It's hard for Zhao Qi to say anything. The court really wanted to add fuel to the flames, because he and the court ministers wanted to use this opportunity to anger Li Hong, and then use Li Hong's hand to wipe out the forces opposing the reform in northern Xinjiang.Ministers such as Zhang Wen, Cui Lie, and Ma Rixun immediately attacked Li Hong.The general had sworn at the beginning that he firmly supported the reform of the imperial court, why did he suddenly backtrack and change his mind?

Li Hong smiled bitterly and said, "My lords, take a look at what time it is now? The northern border is at stake, so how can I support the reform of the imperial court? I will never break my promise to support the reform of the imperial court, but the current situation is indeed not for reform. Time." A group of young ministers including Li Wei and Zhu Mu immediately reported the current situation to the eldest princess and the court.Dong Zhuo sent troops to Guanxi, and Luoyang was in danger.Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan broke up, and Jizhou was about to start a war.In the future, the Northern Xinjiang Army is very likely to fight on two fronts, and will be in danger of being attacked from both sides.At this moment, what northern Xinjiang needs most is stability, unity of purpose, and collective efforts, not internal strife and disputes.Restructuring will affect and harm the interests of most forces in northern Xinjiang. It is really inappropriate for the imperial court to implement reform now.

Li Hong and a group of people from the Hushi General's Mansion are relatively restrained and respectful of the court, but people like Yang Qi and Wang Han are not polite. In their eyes, the court is now the source of disaster for the country. Zhang Wen, Lu Zhi Waiting for a group of ministers are the traitors of the defeated great man, they can't wait to drive the court out of northern Xinjiang immediately.With Li Hong's support, these people became more courageous. They attacked the imperial court violently without any scruples. At the same time, they united with the officials of the border counties outside the Great Wall to demand that the imperial court immediately abandon the restructuring and move back to Luoyang as soon as possible.

Yang Qi and other senior officials said in the memorial that Luoyang has been conquered, the eldest princess and the court can move back at any time, and the mission of the Jinyang court has ended.They begged the Eldest Princess to let Li Hong, the great general of the hussars, take over the state affairs temporarily and take charge of the power during the period when the imperial court was preparing to move back to Luoyang.In the future, when the eldest princess and the imperial court move back to Luoyang, Li Hong will stay in the northern border to guard the border. Naturally, this power will be returned to the eldest princess and the imperial court, so the imperial court does not need to worry that Li Hong will become Dong Zhuo's second and endanger the country.

When things got to this point, the imperial court and Northern Xinjiang had no room for maneuver, and everyone turned their attention to Li Hong, the great general of the hussars.At this time, Li Hong had to make a choice, should he support the imperial court or support Northern Xinjiang?

Recently, Li Hong stayed at the General Hussar's Mansion, discussing with Xian Yufu, Li Wei, Zhu Mu and others day and night about the war situation in Jizhou and Gyeonggi, and did not pay attention to this matter.On this day, he received an edict from the eldest princess.The eldest princess asked him to settle the matter immediately, and not to delay it any longer, so as not to make the matter worse.

Li Hong then asked Zhao Qi, Zhang Wen and other court officials to sit down with Yang Qi, Wang Han and other northern Xinjiang officials, "Your lords have the same purpose, they are all to save and revitalize the country, so I beg your lords Give up your prejudices, and under the premise of Zhongxing Sheji, discuss a solution calmly. You were all friends in the past, and some were relatives. Master Lie is a cousin, the relationship between you is so good, and your personal friendship is very deep, why can't you work together to resonate the community?"

Under Li Hong's persuasion, the imperial court discussed with twenty high-ranking ministers from northern Xinjiang for eight days.Among them, Cui Lie, Lu Zhi, Yuan Pang, Yang Qi, Wang Han and others ran away several times because of disagreements. Li Hong had no choice but to coax them back again.Li Hong felt very tired, and he became more and more disgusted with these entangled state affairs.Every day when he came home exhausted, the first thing he did was lie down and sleep.

Eight days later, Li Hong still faced the same problem, to support the imperial court or support the northern Xinjiang?

Faced with two completely different solutions, Li Hong was at a loss as to what to do.After Li Hong came back, he persuaded the imperial court to reduce and exempt the taxes of the counties, and the majesty of the imperial court was hit.Now the Chang'an court is useless, and the Jinyang court's move back to Luoyang has also encountered great resistance. If I openly stand on the side of Northern Xinjiang at this time, I can imagine the blow to the court. How to solve?
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Li Hong summoned Xian Yufu, Li Wei, Zhu Mu, Yu Peng and others to discuss carefully, but they had great differences and could not be unified.

At this time, the [-]-mile fast ride gallops to Longshan.General Qu Yi of the Zhenjun sent an urgent letter from Jizhou.After Gongsun Zan defeated the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army in the south of Dongguang City, he broke openly with Yuan Shao, and led an army to attack Wei County, intending to occupy the entire territory of Jizhou.So far, I haven't received any letters from Gongsun Zan, but Yuan Shao has received one letter after another asking for help.Yuan Shao was fighting fiercely with the Black Mountain Yellow Turban Army at this time, and he had no time to care about him, so I decided to lead the army to stop it.Although the Northern Border Army used to have the idea of ​​sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight, but at this moment, it has become a top priority to contain the rapid expansion of Gongsun Zan's power.If Gongsun Zan was allowed to defeat Yuan Shao, occupy most of the counties and counties in Jizhou, and his strength increase sharply, he would be at a disadvantage in future conflicts with him in Northern Xinjiang.Qu Yi said in the book that Gongsun Zan threatened to recruit [-] troops from the captives of the Yellow Turban Army. If this statement is true, the Northern Xinjiang Army is not strong enough to defeat Gongsun Zan. Dispatch iron cavalry from outside the Great Wall to Jizhou for help.

The sudden change in the situation in Jizhou surprised Li Hong and the officials in the mansion.Zhu Mu sighed and said: "After Yuan Shao killed Bai Rao, the Yellow Turban Army in Heishan seemed to have gone crazy. They have been fighting from August until now, without a break in the middle. There is a posture that they will not give up if they don't kill Yuan Shao. If there is heavy snow After they are down, if Yu Du, Sui Gu and the others don't give up, then General Qu Yi's [-] troops will be very dangerous."

"Originally we expected Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan to fight first, and then we would benefit from it. Fortunately, Gongsun Zan wiped out the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou, and his strength increased dramatically, while Yuan Shao was entangled by the Yellow Turban Army in Heishan, and he was powerless to do anything else. Jizhou The situation turned around in a blink of an eye, and it became a confrontation between us and Gongsun Zan." Li Wei shook his head again and again, "This is really something that I never expected.

"Yuntian (Qu Yi) made the right decision." Xian Yufu smiled wryly, "We must fight this battle, even if we lose, it will be worth it. I wonder if General Zhang Yan can provide support in time?"

"It's too late, our reinforcements are too late to reach the southern part of Jizhou." Zhu Mu pointed to the map and said helplessly, "General Zhang Yan arrived in Pingcheng half a month ago. In order to return to Changshan as soon as possible, he chose The road from Feihu Fortress to Zhongshan Country, and then back to Changshan from Zhongshan Country. If everything goes well, General Zhang Yan and his army can reach Changshan in a month."

"After the heavy snowfall, the Taihang Mountains cannot be crossed, so we can only choose to take the Feihu Fortress. Although there are many detours, this is the shortcut that saves the most time." Zhu Mu explained, "Similarly because of the heavy snow, the cavalry outside the fortress have to fight with each other. It will take at least a month for General Zhang Yan to rendezvous." He looked at Li Hong and Xian Yufu, and said dejectedly, "We are too late, the situation is changing too fast, who would have thought that Gongsun Zan could defeat 3 Yellow Turbans with 30 people Army? Neither Huangfusong, my father, nor you, the general, ever achieved such a feat. Is it Gongsun Zan who is strong, or the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army who is weak?"

"We don't know how Gongsun Zan fought in the battle of Dongguang, but one thing is for sure, the Yellow Turban Army of Qingzhou is definitely not a vulnerable army." Li Hong said worriedly, "They have been fighting for two years. An idiot also knows that he must fight to the end in order to survive. It is precisely because of this that Gongsun Zan's [-] new troops pose a considerable threat to us."

"But we have to fight this battle. We must keep Gongsun Zan's army out of Wei County, and prevent Gongsun Zan from driving Yuan Shao out and occupying most of Jizhou before the end of this year." Li Hong looked at Xian Yufu and the others, and smiled wryly. , "Now we can only hope that the heavy snow will come sooner. As long as the heavy snow comes, Gongsun Zan's attack will have to stop, so that our reinforcements will have enough time to rush to Jizhou."

"What if the heavy snow doesn't fall for a long time?" Li Wei gritted his teeth in pain, and punched the case table, "4000 people, the price is too high. In my opinion, it is better not to fight as much as possible. Don't we just Is there no other way to temporarily stop Gongsun Zan's attack?"

"Gongsun Zan must know better than us the benefits of occupying Wei County and driving Yuan Shao away." Li Hong pointed to Luoyang on the map and said, "If this battle is not fought, after Yuan Shao loses Jizhou, he will first cut off our food and grass supply It is quite difficult for us to defeat Gongsun Zan's army alone when we lack food and pay. In addition, the army on the Kansai battlefield will also lose food and grass support. In order to attack the northern border, Yuan Shao must urgently write to the southern states to let They blocked Chidao and withheld the grain we bought. Xu Rong's army in Kansai would be defeated back to Hedong without food, so Luoyang would be lost, and northern Xinjiang would be in danger of fighting on two or three fronts. Therefore, we are now We can only join forces with Yuan Shao and drag Yuan Shao to Jizhou. Even if he doesn’t have time and troops to come back to help us, it doesn’t matter. As long as Yuan Shao can help us survive the winter and let us last until April next year, we will have enough troops and strength Time defeated Gongsun Zan."

"Yuan Shao will feed tigers?" Zhu Mu asked, "We must guard against his turning against us."

"As long as Luoyang is in our hands, Yuan Shao can't turn the world around." Li Hong said confidently.

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Li Hong, Xian Yufu and the others discussed it for a while, and then hurriedly played the eldest princess to ask for Gongsun Zan's credit, and at the same time urgently wrote to Qu Yi, don't rush to a decisive battle with Gongsun Zan, delay it if you can.As long as the snow falls, the situation in Jizhou will be reversed.

Li Hong urgently wrote to Xu Rong, explaining the situation in Jizhou in detail, and asked him to contact Yuan Shu as soon as possible to help Yuan Shu gain a firm foothold in Yuzhou quickly, and let some of Yuan Shu's troops station in Luoyang at an appropriate time.As long as Yuan Shao does not occupy Luoyang, he will not turn against Beijiang for the time being, let alone take the opportunity to attack Hedong and threaten Beijiang.

Li Hong personally wrote a letter to Yuan Shao.The letter repeatedly assured that as long as the four counties of Jizhou in northern Xinjiang are garrisoned, and that northern Xinjiang will get rid of the crisis in the future, these four counties will definitely be returned to Jizhou.Under the current circumstances, Beijiang and Jizhou must work together to defeat Gongsun Zan.Li Hong did not disclose to Yuan Shao the news that the Northern Xinjiang army was about to reinforce Jizhou, but slightly revealed that Northern Xinjiang deliberately abandoned Luoyang in order to avoid fighting on both sides.

Li Hong urgently wrote to Zhang Yan, ordering him to do everything possible to go south to support Qu Yi.Zhao Yun, General Duliao of Yunzhong Daying Camp, Jiang Wu of Li Feng Zhonglang of Hanbei County, Liu Ming, King of the Xiongnu Rizhu, and Mustafa of the Ural Mountains, ordered them each to lead five thousand cavalry to the south at great speed. Gaoliu City in the county joined him.

Li Hong also wrote a copy for Huwei Zhonglang General Pang De of Mobei Dufu, Hanbei County Prefect Tian Yu, Li Wu Zhonglang General Yan Wuwei, Xiangwu Zhonglang General Wei Jun, Yang Lie Zhonglang General Yang Ming, and Zhubian County Prefect each. letter.[-] iron cavalry and [-] frontier troops marched south one after another. This will extremely shock the desert and the border counties. Please be careful and take care of it to ensure the stability of the thousands of miles outside the Great Wall.

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Riding fast for eight hundred miles to Longshan.

Xu Rong urgently reported that Sun Jian, the general who broke the captives, was killed in battle, and Yuzhou was in critical condition.

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(End of this chapter)