Great Han Empire

Chapter 664
After Li Jue and Jia Xu got Xu Rong's promise, they were very happy and returned to Taolin Fortress as quickly as possible, but Guo Si who went out to greet them gave them bad news.Li Su and Hu Zhen led their troops to Huayin, joined forces with Duan Yan and Bao Hong, and attacked Tongguan.Li Su also sent someone to send an emperor's decree, urging Li Jue, Guo Si and other Xiliang generals to kill Niu Fu immediately, and then go to Beijing to plead guilty to the emperor.

Niu Fu and the Xiliang generals were cornered by the imperial army and had no choice but to fight back.At this time, the generals in Xiliang no longer have any worries, and they can completely fight for their own survival.Niu Fu was not at ease with Xu Rong's promise, and repeatedly asked Li Jue, could Xu Rong's words be taken seriously?Once the army launches a counterattack, there are only two armies in the Guanxi direction: Zhang Ji of Hongnong City and Guo Si of Taolin Fortress. They may not be able to stop Xu Rong's Northern Frontier Army.

Li Jue sneered, "At this time, do we have any choice? Fight."

At the end of April, the battle of Tongguan began.Niu Fu, Li Jue, Fan Chou, Wang Fang, and Jia Xu each led their armies, and they took the initiative to leave the customs and launched a frenzied counterattack against the Northern Army of the imperial court.When the fierce battle was in full swing, Hu Zhen suddenly turned his back and led his army to attack Bao Hong hard.Bao Hong died in battle, and the Northern Army was defeated.Li Su and Duan Wei retreated to Huayin and asked Chang'an for help.

When the news reached Chang'an, Chang'an was shocked.

Situ Wangyun was very angry.In front of the emperor and his ministers, he accused Hushi General Li Hong of being arrogant and domineering, arrogant and perverting the law, and blatantly disobeying the imperial decree, "As early as April, the imperial court had urgently written to Li Hong of Jinyang and Xu Rong of Kansai, ordering them to immediately They launched an attack on the rebels in Kansai, but they turned a deaf ear and stood still, causing the rebels to counterattack and threaten Chang'an." Wang Yun begged the emperor to issue another decree, urging Xu Rong to attack Niu Fu immediately.

Huang Fusong objected, and he urged appeasement, and was willing to go to Tongguan in person.

Wang Yun immediately refused.

Since Wang Yun was in charge of state affairs, he quickly stabilized the Sanfu through the old officials and disciples he arranged to serve in various counties and counties in the early years, and invited the emperor to vigorously promote and reward a group of his cronies. Among them, Lu Bu was worshiped as Fen General Wei, participated in Li Shangshu affairs, false festivals, Yibi Sansi, entered the feudal Marquis Wen, and had power for a while.Li Su was worshiped by Huben Zhonglang.As for ministers such as Shi Sunrui, Yang Zan, Huangfusong, etc., Wang Yun only asked the emperor to reward them, but did not promote them to official positions.In fact, these people are all in high positions, and Shi Sunrui is still a minister, even if he is promoted, it is limited.

Wang Yun may think that killing Dong Zhuo and eradicating traitors is what the ministers should do, and there is nothing worth showing off. Some ministers may also think so. For example, Shi Sun Rui once asked the emperor to resign after Dong Zhuo died. , but didn't all the ministers who participated in the killing of Dong Zhuo think so?Obviously not.Wang Yun treats many meritorious ministers with little affection and no justice. His behavior has been resented by many people in the ruling and opposition circles.

Lu Bu kindly reminded Wang Yun about this.Lu Bu said that the imperial court confiscated more than 3 catties of gold and more than 9 catties of silver from Meiwu. Silk and silk, rare treasures were piled up like mountains, and the imperial court should give some of them to meritorious ministers.

Wang Yun smiled wryly.The Great Han has fallen so far, how much money do we need to revive the country?If the rebellion in Xiliang is suppressed, and the emperor and the court return to Luoyang, how much money will we need to complete the relocation?The Yellow Turban Ant Thieves are rampant in the Central Plains. How much military resources will we need to completely suppress the rebellion in the future?Since Dong Zhuo's rebellion, wars have been raging in the states and counties of the world, and refugees have become disasters. How much money will we need in the future to relieve the refugees and send them back to their hometowns?It's not that the imperial court has more money, but that it has no money at all, but that it is seriously short of money.If the money and food confiscated from Meiwu can last until the emperor returns to Luoyang, I will be grateful, thank God.

The great man has withered to this point, don't we and the subjects have no heart to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country?Don't you have any heart to revive the country?Without a big man, where is the home?Where did life come from?Where does the glory and wealth come from?When the big man is overthrown, even if you have mountains of gold and seas of silver in your home, it will also be fleeting.

Lu Bu was so ashamed that he bowed his head and was speechless.

Lu Bu was able to ascend to the sky in one step, was able to be worshiped as General Fenwei, and participated in the affairs of Li Shangshu, all because Wang Yun wanted to exclude Huangfusong from his authority.Wang Yun believes that he can completely control Lu Bu at present, and Lu Bu also has enough troops to defend Chang'an.When he has weakened Huangfusong's power to the extreme and no longer poses any threat to the court, Lu Bu's role will be gone.

Wang Yun's approach is a bit like crossing the river and breaking the bridge. Many ministers and ministers are very dissatisfied with him because of this, and they are even more dissatisfied with his domineering and domineering government affairs. However, Wang Yun turned a blind eye and firmly held the power alone. , Do whatever you want, do whatever you want, and the means of eliminating dissidents are becoming more and more intense.Although Lu Bu was also involved in Li Shangshu affairs, he was not familiar with state affairs and followed Wang Yun's orders in everything, which was purely a display.Of course, Lu Bu also knew that Wang Yun's real purpose of letting him participate in the affairs of Li Shangshu was to monopolize the power, so he was very self-conscious and devoted himself to recruiting troops and training soldiers and horses, and seldom interfered in political affairs.

The emperor was very afraid of what happened in Chang'an, and he was also very afraid of Wang Yun. No matter what Wang Yun said, he kept nodding.

Wang Yun disagreed with Huangfusong's idea of ​​appeasement, and asked Lu Bu to immediately gather the state soldiers from Fufeng and Fengyi counties and rush to Huayin City to defeat the rebels.

However, at this time, an astonishing news came from Linjin City in the direction of Luoshui. Xu Rong and Zhang Baiqi led the northern border army to cross the Yellow River and enter Guanzhong.

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After Xu Rong returned to Daying, he immediately wrote three letters.

A letter was sent to the eldest princess and the Jinyang court, detailing the killing of Dong Zhuo.Now in the Chang'an court, Situ Wangyun and General Fenwei Lu Bu jointly participated in the affairs of Li Shangshu and assisted the emperor.Today, the Chang'an court insists on refusing to pardon Dong Zhuo's old tribe, but Dong Zhuo's old tribe has the heart to serve the country, but there is no way out.Niu Fu, Li Jue and other Xiliang generals begged the court to pardon their crimes, and led their troops to the northern frontier.Xu Rong asked the eldest princess and the Jinyang court to give himself a clear answer immediately.

A letter was sent to Li Hong in Jizhou with a fast ride of eight hundred miles.Now that the situation in Guanzhong has changed drastically, what countermeasures will the Jinyang court and Beijiang take?Should the soldiers immediately enter the pass to protect the emperor?
A letter was urgently sent to Zhu Jun in Luoyang.The situation has changed suddenly, and the crisis of the country has taken a major turn. At this time, Kanto cannot afford to lose, and Luoyang cannot afford to lose.

On the third day, Zhu Jun flew to Daying in Shancheng.He was very excited, and carefully discussed with Xu Rong about guarding the eight important passes.He was looking forward to the emperor's return to Beijing, and he was full of confidence that the country would soon be stable.

On the fourth day, the imperial edict of Jinyang arrived.The eldest princess and the court asked Xu Rong to immediately go north to Hedong, cross the river from Pubanjin and enter Guanzhong, and rush to Chang'an as quickly as possible to protect the emperor.All affairs in Kansai are temporarily in charge of the driving and cavalry general Zhu Jun.As for whether to appease Dong Zhuo's former troops, the eldest princess and the Jinyang court believed that under the current situation, it is better to follow the opinions of the Chang'an court.In other words, they rejected Xu Rong's offer of appeasement.

At the end of April, Wang Rou sent back the news of Dong Zhuo's murder from Chang'an.The eldest princess was overjoyed and asked the northern army to rush to protect the emperor immediately.After careful discussions, Zhang Wen, Lu Zhi, Xian Yufu, Li Wei and other ministers had to change the revitalization strategy originally planned by the imperial court, and instead first protected the emperor and stabilized the country.

Since Li Hong, the general of the hussars, had to be consulted on this policy, Xu Rong's order to enter Guanzhong was temporarily put on hold. However, Xu Rong's urgent letter was sent to Jinyang.Considering that Niu Fu and other Xiliang generals threatened Chang'an with an army of tens of thousands, Zhang Wen and other ministers resolutely decided not to wait for Li Hong's reply, but to let Xu Rong lead the army to cross the river quickly.Considering the safety of Kanto and Luoyang, the court did not order Zhu Jun to lead the army to attack Niu Fu, but ordered Zhu Jun to put the main force in Kanto.

After Xu Rong received the imperial edict, he did not dare to delay, and crossed the Yellow River with his bodyguard cavalry, and flew overnight to Pubanjin Daying Camp to meet Zhang Baiqi.

At this time, Zhang Baiqi, Xie Ming, and Wang Yi, the prefect of Hedong, had received the imperial edict, and hundreds of temporarily recruited tank boats had also rushed to Pubanjin to wait for orders.

When Xu Rong arrived at Pubanjin, he immediately ordered to cross the river.Duan Yan and Bao Hong's army, who were originally stationed on the other side of Pubanjin, are now fighting fiercely with Niu Fu at the foot of Tongguan. The camp is actually an empty camp.The soldiers of the Northern Xinjiang Army crossed the river safely without any effort.

Zhang Baiqi led [-] vanguard battalion soldiers and rushed to the city of Linjin.

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Wang Yun was shocked, and immediately ordered Lu Bu to take the soldiers from Fufeng County to the Luoshui River to block the northern army.

Wang Yun believed that if the Northern Xinjiang Army was stationed in Chang'an, the emperor and the court would surely be controlled by Li Hong.Wang Yun and the ministers in the court did not trust Li Hong. A large part of the reason why the great Han Dynasty was overthrown today was caused by Li Hong's inaction. Some ministers even believed that Li Hong had died long before the late emperor , has the heart of usurping, this person is more bloody and cruel than Dong Zhuo.

Lu Bu ran along the Weishui River with the imperial decree of the emperor.

Song Yi, the prefect of Fengyi County, led the soldiers of the county to the east and blocked Zhang Baiqi near Xiagui (gui) County.At this time, as long as the Northern Xinjiang Army crossed the Weishui River, they were only two hundred miles away from Chang'an City.

When Xu Rong saw Lu Bu, his expression was very cold.To Xu Rong, Dong Zhuo's death felt an indescribable sadness and sympathy. He felt like a rabbit died and a fox was sad, especially Li Jue's words, which greatly stimulated him.If Li Hong was killed like Dong Zhuo in the future, he would end up just like Tian Yi and Li Jue, and his life would be wiped out.No matter how outstanding his past military exploits are, he is still dead.On the contrary, a person like Lu Bu will immediately change from a penniless ordinary official to a famous powerful minister.

Dong Zhuo's 40 years of military exploits were reduced to dust by Lu Bu's swing of a knife, and at the same time, he also made Lu Bu's glory today.

There is no fairness in this world at all. Whoever wins will have justice and fame.

Xu Rong looked at the proud Lv Bu standing in front of him, and a strong disgust and contempt slowly rose from his heart.In the past, Lu Bu was a man, but since he followed Wang Yun and other scholars to conspire to kill Dong Zhuo, he is no longer a man, but a despicable villain.In Xu Rong's view, to kill Dong Zhuo, he had to kill Dong Zhuo in an upright manner, on the battlefield. He hated this despicable villain's behavior extremely.

If you are a warrior, you should be frank and magnanimous, and you should rely on your righteousness, come in the blood and go with the sword. Even if you die or lose, you will still be vigorous and a hero.

Lu Bu felt the change in Xu Rong's attitude towards him, but Lu Bu misunderstood Xu Rong. He thought that Xu Rong's indifference to him was due to his current status.

Although Lv Bu's official position is not as high as Xu Rong's, but Lv Bu participates in the official affairs and is in charge of state affairs like the Hushi General.

After Lu Bu announced the imperial edict, Xu Rong's face suddenly became ugly.

"Is this the meaning of the Son of Heaven, or the meaning of Master Situ and Master Lu?" Xu Rong was so angry that he even changed the name of Lu Bu.

During this period of time, Lu Bu often discussed state affairs with Taiwei Yang Biao, Situ Wangyun, Sikong Chunyujia, Taichang Zhongfu, Taiservant Lu Kui, Dahonghe Zhou Huan, Shangshu Lingshi Sun Rui and other ministers. With a more detailed understanding of what he did in the past few years, his view of Li Hong gradually changed.Li Hong has the most powerful army of the Han Dynasty, but he has always used the crisis in northern Xinjiang as an excuse to resolutely refuse to challenge King Dong Qin, causing the Han Dynasty to be pushed into the abyss of overthrow by Dong Zhuo step by step.Why did Li Hong refuse to ask King Dong Qin?Is it really for Northern Xinjiang?The big man is about to be overthrown, why is Li Hong still guarding a barren northern border?Obviously, Li Hong has ulterior motives, not only has the intention of separatist and hegemony, but also has the intention of usurping the country.

Lu Bu was still smiling all over his face, and tried his best to explain the various reasons why the imperial court refused to allow the northern army to enter Guanzhong.

Xu Rong listened to Lu Bu's words very patiently, and then gave him two big words: bullshit.

The smile on Lu Bu's face froze, extremely embarrassed.

"Lord Lu, can I understand this?" Xu Rong sneered, "After killing the rebels in the northern border army, I turned around and returned to Beyond the Great Wall?"

Lu Bu hesitated for a moment, and said in a low voice, "Master Situ wants to ask the general to give up Jizhou..."

"Really?" Xu Rong laughed angrily, "Okay, okay, okay."

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Lu Bu urgently reported to Chang'an, Xu Rong refused to leave Guanzhong under the pretext of obeying the eldest princess, and insisted on going to Chang'an to meet the emperor.

Wang Yun was furious and ordered Huangfu Hong to lead an army to Xiagui County to support Lu Bu.

Before Huangfu Hong's army left Chang'an, Duan Yan's urgent report arrived.Huayin City fell, and Huben Zhonglang killed Li Su in battle.

In desperation, Wang Yun ordered Huangfu Hong to support Duan Yan and block the rebels.

Huangfusong played again, begging the emperor to immediately issue an order to pardon the Xiliang generals and appease the rebels.Wang Yun flatly refused.

Taiwei Yang Biao suggested that Xu Rong lead the army to fight against the rebels, but Wang Yun refused.Xu Rong wanted to enter Chang'an, and Niu Fu also wanted to enter Chang'an. Xu Rong, Niu Fu and other Xiliang generals were friends for many years. Once the two armies merged into one, Chang'an would be over.

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Kansai.

Zhu Jun received the emperor's decree.

The edict was originally sent to Xu Rong by the Chang'an court, but by accident, the messenger was delayed on the way.The messenger went through untold hardships and managed to secretly arrive at the camp in Shancheng, but at this time Xu Rong had already led his army into Guanzhong.

The emperor ordered the northern army to immediately attack Niu Fu to eradicate the rebellion and defend Chang'an.

Zhu Jun received the imperial edict and immediately ordered the two generals Yan Liang and Yushi to lead the army to attack Hongnong City.The emperor was at stake, and the army rushed westward to King Qin.

Zhu Jun was worried about the lack of troops, so he ordered Zhou Hua who was stationed in Luoyang and Gao Lan who was stationed in Hangu Pass to lead troops to help.

Zhang Ji was caught off guard and Hongnong City was lost.The army ranks in Northern Xinjiang chased after them and killed Taolin Fortress.

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Hanoi County, Huaicheng.

Yuan Shao received an urgent report from Chunyu Qiong.Zhu Jun led the army to storm the Taolin Fortress, leaving Luoyang empty.

Yuan Shao didn't hesitate at all, and immediately ordered to assemble a large army and rushed to Mengjin.

(End of this chapter)