Great Han Empire

Chapter 685
Huangfusong was very sad when he heard that Lu Zhi passed away.After taking a short rest in Xingyuan, he went to the cemetery to pay homage, accompanied by General Li Hong, Zhang Wen and others.

Lu Zhi's cemetery is located in a beautiful place at the southern foot of Gushan Mountain, surrounded by mountains and rivers, very quiet.

Huangfusong stood in front of the tomb, staring at the words on the tombstone for a long time, thinking of the big man in the wind and rain, and felt extremely sad.In the past few years, one friend after another has passed away from this chaotic world. They did not see the revival of Dahan, nor did they see the hope of Dahan's revival. They left this world with inexhaustible regret and grief.Today, Lu Zhi also left, when the big man needed him most.

Depression, loss, pain, all kinds of emotions rushed into Huangfusong's heart like a tide, invaded his bone marrow, and made him cry.

"Before Zigan died, what words did he leave behind?"

"He kept calling his wife's name and the names of his two children..." Zhang Wen said in a low voice, "A few years ago, when Zhang Niujiao led his army into Youzhou, his wife and two children All four children died in the war. Zigan was in Luoyang at that time, and he has always felt guilty and blamed himself for this."

Huangfusong wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes with his hand, and asked softly, "Does he have any heirs?"

"There is also a young son named Lu Yu who was brought up by his sister-in-law." Li Hong said from the side, "I took them to Jinyang last year. Now they are all in Handan. Do you want to meet?"

Huangfusong shook his hand, "Forget it, forget it, it makes me even sadder to see it. Zigan worked so hard for a big man, but in the end he couldn't even save his wife and children. What kind of world is this..."

=

After meeting the Eldest Princess, Huangfusong explained the purpose of his visit.

He and Zhu Jun were ordered to go out of the pass to appease various places. They went to Luoyang, Yuzhou, and Yanzhou successively, and met with the officials of various prefectures and counties.At present, Zhu Jun has gone to Xuzhou, and he himself is going north to Jizhou, and then plans to go to Youzhou.

"What do the officials of various states and counties say? Are you willing to respect the current emperor and the court?" Li Hong asked hastily.

"During the New Year, the only ones who took the initiative to pay taxes to the imperial court were the General, General Zhennan, and Jingzhou Shepherd Liu Biao." Huangfusong smiled wryly, "When we arrived in Luoyang, Yuan Shao avoided seeing him, saying that he was going to Nanyang. There is no way, we We only left the Hulao and continued eastward. When we arrived in Yanzhou, we didn’t see Cao Cao either. It is said that he is fighting Yuan Shu in the area of ​​Peiguo.”

"Zhang Miao of Chenliu County told us that after the death of Liu Dai, the former Yanzhou shepherd, Yuan Shao worshiped Cao Cao as the Yanzhou shepherd with the order of 'Chengzhi', and later the emperor worshiped Jin Shang as Yanzhou governor. Miao believes that the imperial court's appointment did not take into account the current situation in Yanzhou, and the counties and counties in Yanzhou cannot accept Jin Shang as the governor of Yanzhou. Recently, Cao Cao defeated the Yellow Turban Army of Qingzhou in Yanzhou, leading the army and people of Yanzhou to successfully restrain the spread of the plague. Driven away, and resettled Yanzhou refugees to farm, these achievements are enough to succeed Yanzhou Mu. Zhang Miao suggested that we immediately go to the emperor and re-appoint Cao Cao as Yanzhou Mu."

Huangfusong introduced the story in detail, and finally said, "Now that the emperor is in trouble, the imperial power is weak, and the court is subject to rebellion, under such circumstances, it is okay for the states and counties to respect the emperor, but it is difficult to obey the court."

The situation in Yanzhou is not very clear in Hebei.After Li Hong and the others listened to Huangfusong's narration, they realized that Yuan Shu had been beaten by Cao Cao to Peiguo in Yuzhou.

=

"Lord Huangfu, your trip was in vain." Li Hong said, "Respecting the Son of Heaven is not something you talk about, but you have to put it into action. Liu Biao took the initiative to express his apology and pay taxes. This is called respect." Serving the Son of Heaven. People like Yuan Shao and Zhang Miao are all perfunctory words. If they want to honor the Son of Heaven, why can’t they take the initiative to write a letter of apology and pay taxes like Liu Biao? In my opinion, the one who should be killed should be killed, and don’t hold it anymore. What a fantasy."

Huangfusong looked at Li Hong, forced a smile, "Now that the general has pacified Jizhou, he has money and food in his hands, and his tone of voice is really different."

"The general's words are indeed reasonable, but the general must know that with the current strength of Hebei, it is very difficult to go south to pacify the world. The general not only needs time to accumulate strength, but also needs time to save the emperor and the court. If the general The emperor and the imperial court ignored it and led the army across the south of the river to suppress the rebellion, and the resistance was very great."

"I'm here today to say something bluntly. If the general goes south to fight without the backing of the emperor, he will definitely be called a usurper. Think about it, if people like Yuan Shao and Cao Cao can't beat you, Li Jue and Guo How can Si defend Guanzhong? When they face life and death, they must join forces to deal with you, and the most effective weapons against you are the emperor and the court. If they change their course, respect the emperor, obey the court, and tell the world What will happen to Hebei when you crusade against you rebel? Will the states and counties in Hebei betray you? Without a stable Hebei, without a strong foundation, how long can you persist?"

"Why can Dong Zhuo stick to Guanzhong? Why can Li Jue and Guo Si command the world? It's not because they are powerful in force, but because they have held the emperor hostage and have confidence in their hands."

"Why doesn't the general dare to attack Guanzhong? It's not that you are not strong enough, but you are afraid when you see the emperor being held hostage by a traitor. You are worried that the emperor will be killed by a traitor, and you are also worried that the traitor will tell the world in the name of the emperor that you are The rebellion of the big man puts all the blame for the overthrow of the big man on your head, making you a target of public criticism, causing the northern border to collapse instantly, and the society to collapse suddenly, so you look forward and backward, fear the head and feet, hesitate, why? Isn't it because of the emperor? He and the imperial court were held hostage by traitors. If the emperor and the imperial court were both in Hebei and were rescued by you, would you be able to break through the pass now? Would you justifiably and recklessly kill the Yellow River?"

Huangfusong looked at Li Hong solemnly, and said word by word: "Today, Dong Zhuo died, Yuan Shao entered Luoyang, the emperor and the court were once again held hostage by traitors, and the imperial power was hit hard. On the verge of overthrow, the situation in the world has completely changed, and the general's strategy of saving the country must be changed, and major adjustments must be made."

There was no sound in the big tent.

=

Li Hong looked dignified, bowed his head in thought.

Too many things happened in the past year. The ministers of the Chang'an court tried their best to save the big man and pull him out of the desperate situation of death, but they failed. The big man struggled between life and death, and then Falling into the abyss of defeat at a faster speed.

Warriors like Huangfusong and Zhu Jun did their best, and scholars like Wang Yun and Huang Wan also did their best.The dead were buried in the mass graves and became history. The living are still tasting the pain of failure. They reflect in despair, they are working tirelessly, and they vow to sacrifice the last drop of blood for the holy place in their hearts. .

It was with this purpose that Huangfusong and Zhu Jun went to the Kanto and the Central Plains.They want to rescue the emperor and the imperial court. Even if the society collapses suddenly, as long as there is the emperor of the great man, as long as there are loyal subjects of the great man, the great man can be rebuilt, and the society can be revived.

Li Hong raised his head, and what caught his eyes was the sad eyes of the eldest princess.The eldest princess's cherry lips trembled slightly, and her talking eyes had already told Li Hong all the thoughts in her heart. She wanted to beg the general, and she wanted to save the emperor.

Li Hong's heart softened, and he said in a low voice, "After beating Youzhou, I'll go to Guanzhong."

=

In the evening, the general Li Hong, the guard generals Zhang Yan and Zhang Wen, and many other veterans, Xun You and Zhang Fan from the princess's residence, Li Wei and Sima Lang from the Grand Sima's residence, Zhu Mu and Tian Chou from the Grand General's residence gathered together In the big tent, King Shiqin was arguing fiercely.

What happened in Youzhou made Huangfusong more determined in his mind.

Gongsun Zan is just a small general. He not only kidnapped the Taifu, but also shot the Taifu. Who gave him such courage?Where did he read the scriptures for many years?He has guarded the frontier for many years and is familiar with the laws of the Han Dynasty. Why does he dare to be so lawless?In a word, the emperor and the imperial court have become decorations, the majesty of the great Han has been swept away, and the states and counties of all states have their own self-respect. Who can the laws of the great Han restrain?The loyalty taught in this scripture and the reality are fundamentally two different things. Who still believes in loyalty?

When Zhang Wen and other veterans went to Jinyang to set up the imperial court, the main purpose of Zhongxing was to rejuvenate the country, but the reorganization involved the check and balance of the imperial power and the prime minister's power, so the meaning at that time was to wait for the reorganization to mature, and then go west to Qinwang to eliminate the implementation of reorganization. resistance.

Now the situation has become too severe. The officials of various states and counties not only support themselves, but also conquer each other for their own power and territory.At this moment, the country has collapsed, and the big man is quickly falling apart.One of the most important and most intuitive reasons for this situation is that the emperor and the court have lost their dignity, the emperor and the court have lost control of the world, and the laws and regulations have been completely lost.

Therefore, in order to save the country, the most important and direct way is to work hard for the king, revive the majesty of the Han emperor and the court, and then calm down the world. As for reforming and rejuvenating the country, it is now insignificant.The country is gone, so why change the system?

In Huangfusong's view, serving the king immediately is the only way to save the country.

However, the result of the debate not only disappointed Huang Fusong, but also made General Li Hong dumbfounded.

Except for Cui Lie, Ma Rixun and other veteran officials, the other high officials in Hebei were almost unanimous and unanimously opposed to immediately Qin Wang.

=

Zhang Wen, Ding Gong, Chen Ji, Cai Yong, Zhao Qi and other ministers are very stubborn. They firmly believe that the current situation has not deteriorated to the point of immediate collapse of the society.Reforming the system first, the king of logistics, is still the best way to save the country.When Emperor Guangwu rejuvenated, the situation was far worse than today, but because Emperor Guangwu quickly restructured and strengthened his strength after he proclaimed himself emperor, he finally pacified the world in a short period of time and rejuvenated the great Han.Can't this living example that happened more than 100 years ago point us in the right direction?

"Now Hebei is indeed capable of King Qin, but what about the queen of King Qin? Will Hebei become the target of attacks from various states and counties? If Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and Zhang Miao say that the general has held the emperor and the court hostage, and use this as an excuse to attack Hebei How long can Hebei last?" In a hurry, Zhang Wen blurted out something that shocked everyone, "Today's emperor and court have been repeatedly held hostage by traitors, and they no longer have any prestige. Is this imperial line to be rebuilt, we I have to think about it too."

Zhang Wen immediately realized that he had made a slip of the tongue, but Cai Yong immediately covered up Zhang Wen's words with excited shouts.

"The current restructuring is only limited to wealth and selection strategies, and it is far from the key points. If the emperor arrives in Hebei, or we capture Chang'an, how will the imperial power and prime minister's power be checked and balanced? How to revise the official position? How to prevent the harem, Foreign relatives and eunuchs are in power? Have we thought about how to deal with these things? Do you want to see Wang Mang’s disaster again? Liang Yi’s disaster? Can a big man be revived if he has an emperor? Since a big man can be revived if he has an emperor, why did the big man come to the point where he is overthrown today?"

Xun You, Zhang Fan, Zhu Mu and other senior officials firmly supported the opinions of Zhang Wen and other veteran officials.They believed that as long as the northern border army did not attack Guanzhong, the emperor would not be harmed.As long as the emperor and the imperial court are present, no matter how courageous the officials of various states and counties are, they will not dare to usurp the position openly, and at most they will be kings and hegemons.

What Li Wei and Tian Chou said is even more shocking.Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and Zhang Miao and others have ulterior motives, not only wanting to be kings and hegemony, but also usurping the country.Take a look at the people who have achieved the king's career in history, what did they do later?Would they still hand over their hegemony to the emperor, and wait for the emperor to kill his nine clans?With their current attitude towards the emperor and the court, they are treasonous, and they should be killed without hesitation.

=

General Li Hong had no reason to object to the decision jointly made by the officials of Hebei. He could only announce that Hebei would not be king for the time being.

Huangfu Song looked up to the sky and sighed, his heart was full of grief, two lines of old tears slowly fell down.

Five years ago, when Grand Tutor Yuan Kai was planning to challenge Dong to save the country, Yuan Shao and a group of scholars betrayed the emperor, betrayed the great man, and pushed the great man into the abyss of defeat.Today, when the eldest princess and the general begged the officials of Hebei to go west to King Qin, Zhang Wenwen and another group of scholars even betrayed the emperor and the man without hesitation, pushing the crumbling man to the point of collapse .

The big man has bloodbathed the scholars twice with the disaster of party imprisonment, and today, it is finally the turn of the scholars to bloodbath the big man.

The betrayal of the scholars wiped out the great Han.

=

The next day, Huangfu Song made a special trip to visit Zheng Xuan, Zhang Yun, Hu Zhao and other master scholars.

The arrival of Zheng Xuan confirmed the absolute status of ancient classics in official studies, but because Zheng Xuan held a positive attitude towards modern classics, scholars who studied modern classics also reluctantly accepted Zheng Xuan's theory of classics.Zheng Xuan's status in Confucian classics is so high that even He Xiu, a master of modern Confucian classics and a leading figure in the world today, feels inferior to him, let alone other people.

Zheng Xuan made his living by studying ancient Chinese classics, and combined the strengths of modern classics to form his own unique theory of classics. Although this set of classics theory still needs a long period of time to be promoted and studied, it will be of great help to the great man and his father. For the Han scholars, its influence is very far-reaching.

With the efforts of the officials in Hebei, the official school achieved the goal of reforming quietly.Huangfu Song was extremely amazed by this.When ministers such as Huang Fusong and Zhang Wen were discussing the strategy of restructuring and rejuvenating the country in Chang'an, they all believed that the reform of the official school was the most difficult and most resistant.

On the third day, Huangfusong bid farewell to the eldest princess and went to Qingzhou alone, and he had to use his last ounce of strength to save the big man.

=

In April of the fourth year of Chuping in the Han Dynasty (AD 193).

=

At the beginning of April, Princess Eldest heard that Li Hong insisted on going to Youzhou, and rejected the dissuasion of many officials in Hebei, so she went to find Li Hong herself, "The general is going to Youzhou, and I will go too."

Li Hong thought that the eldest princess was joking with him, "His Royal Highness is going to conscript? Then I will go even more. I want to protect His Highness's safety."

The eldest princess glared at him resentfully, and said in a low voice, "I mean it."

Li Hong looked at the beautiful face in front of him, those resolute eyes, and his head was a little dizzy, "Your Highness, no one will agree. If I agree, Lord Zhang and Lord Cai will eat me up."

"Then don't go." The eldest princess lowered her head, two blushes flew up on her face, "You always go to war, so can't you take a break?"

Li Hong took a careful look at the eldest princess.His Highness has grown up, these words are comfortable to listen to.Li Hong said respectfully: "Your Highness, even if your body is broken, I still want to help His Majesty rejuvenate the big man, but the current situation is not good, my minister..."

"With me, do you want to say that too?" The eldest princess looked up at him and asked with a frown.

Li Hong smiled awkwardly, "Your Highness, I have to go, Youzhou is related to the development of Hebei..."

The eldest princess's eyes suddenly turned red.Li Hong was startled and shut his mouth hastily.

"The general is going, and I will go too." The eldest princess turned and left.

=

Li Hong thought for a long time with a sad face, and then sent someone to invite Xun You over, "Brother Gongda, the eldest princess told me just now that spring is here, and she wants to go back to her hometown in Hejian Kingdom. Look at this..."

Xun You knew the general was in trouble as soon as he heard it.The eldest princess admired the general since she was a child. After arriving in northern Xinjiang, because of her young age and difficult state affairs, she was very dependent on the general.More than three years have passed in a blink of an eye, and the child has grown up, and this matter is a bit complicated.The general is not only the eldest princess's subject, but also the eldest princess's teacher. The two live in the same courtyard, which is incompatible with etiquette.Although many ministers knew about the Eldest Princess' girlish thoughts, this matter was absolutely impossible, especially at this time, when even gossip was forbidden.Once it is reported that there is any breach of etiquette between the eldest princess and the general, it will not only damage the reputation of the eldest princess and the general, but also the great cause of ZTE.

The eldest princess has a quiet temperament, and many ministers said that she resembles her mother, but sometimes she is very stubborn and willful, much like the late emperor.What the eldest princess has decided, the advice of the ministers is useless, otherwise, the eldest princess would not still live in the same Xingyuan with the general.

Xun You pondered for a long time, "The general came to Youzhou in the name of accompanying the eldest princess to patrol Xizhou and counties. In this way, the general can not only supervise the army in combat, but also protect the safety of the eldest princess. As for the eldest princess returning to her hometown in Hejian, it is just a way That’s all, there’s no need to raise it specifically, lest Mr. Zhang and other adults would object.”

"This..." Li Hong hesitated, "This still seems a bit inappropriate."

"I heard that one of the two wives of the general is from Youzhou and the other is from the desert. They haven't been home for many years. Why doesn't the general take this opportunity to accompany the wives home? After all, the general The trip is to patrol Xizhou and counties, instead of leading the army to fight, you can bring your family with you."

"Good idea..." Li Hong was overjoyed, jumped up, and rushed out of the tent with big strides.

"General..." Xun You shouted strangely, "General, I haven't finished yet."

"Brother Gongda, thank you. When I come back from Youzhou, I will definitely roast the lamb for you."

=

Li Hongfei usually rushed into his sleeping tent.

Xiao Yu was reclining on the Hu couch and reading a book.Fengxue hugged Li Wei's baby, and hummed Hu Qu softly in his ear.The little baby grinned, yelled, and gnawed at Fengxue's fair face.

Li Hong rushed up, snatched the baby, and kissed Feng Xue heavily on the face, "Xiaoxue, I will accompany you to talk about Moon Valley."

Feng Xue was stunned for a moment, looked at Li Hong suspiciously, then reached out to take the baby from Li Hong's hand, and said with a smile, "Don't lie to me. Why did you take me with you when you went to war?"

Xiao Yu put down the scroll and was about to ask, but Li Hong turned around, walked to Hu's couch in a few steps, hugged her up, and said excitedly, "Xiao Yu, I will accompany you back to Xu Wucheng and Lulongsai. "

Xiao Yu was ashamed and anxious, and hurriedly turned her head to look at the entrance of the military tent, "Put it down, it's broad daylight..."

"It's just our family here, so what does it matter?" Li Hong lowered his head and kissed Xiao Yu's face lightly, "We'll be leaving tomorrow."

"Really?" Feng Xue was surprised and delighted, "You didn't lie to us?"

Li Hong laughed and said, "When did I ever lie to you? Oh, it's not good..." Suddenly his face changed, and he pointed to the little baby who was looking at him strangely with wide eyes and said, "There is an outsider here."

Xiaoyu couldn't help laughing.

Li Hong put Xiao Yu back on the couch, pulled Feng Xue to sit beside him, and then covered the baby's eyes with a big hand, "When I kiss you again, I can't let him see it, lest this kid learn to It's broken." After finishing speaking, the other big hand wrapped around Feng Xue's slender waist, put his lips on Feng Xue's blond hair, and kissed her tenderly twice, "Are you happy? After such a long time, I finally have time to spend time with you Ma Damo, go back and have a look. I miss the Marshal, Iron Wolf, and I want to visit them."

Feng Xue shuddered in her heart, buried her head deeply in Li Hong's arms, and two tears fell quietly.

=

Li Hong recounted the matter of accompanying the eldest princess on her tour of the north.

Xiaoyu snuggled up to Li Hong's side, stretched out her hand to stroke Li Hong's long hair, and said in a low voice, "This time I have time, I can go to a few more places, shall we check on the family?"

Li Hong shook his head, held Xiao Yu's hand, and said lightly: "It's been so many years, if they were still alive, there would have been news. I have the two of you now, and there will be many babies soon. I am satisfied. God treats me Very caring, although I lost a lot, but at the same time I also gained a lot, I don't think about it anymore."

Feng Xue slapped him in his arms, "Who said there will be many babies soon? Did you give birth?"

"Haha..." Li Hong stroked her blonde hair affectionately, "Come on, this time we are together every day, I must let you alone give me a baby, haha..."

=

In April, Youzhou.

General Qu Yi of the Zhenjun army launched an attack on Liangxiang City on the other side of the Shengshui River at the beginning of this month.

In the past few months, Qu Yi's army has been supplemented with sufficient food, grass and ordnance, and the morale of the soldiers is very high.The siege battle went very smoothly.Three days later, when Zhao Yun led cavalry from Yangxiang on the lower reaches of the Shengshui River to the vicinity of Liangxiang City, Gongsun Zan's garrison army immediately abandoned the city and hurriedly retreated to Guangyang City in Guangyang County.

Guangyang City is only [-] miles away from Jicheng. If Guangyang City is captured, the Northern Frontier Army will be able to attack Jicheng.

Early in the morning, Qu Yi, Zhao Yun and other generals rushed to the foot of Guangyang City to check the terrain and discuss the attack strategy.

"This battle is not easy to fight. If we don't fight well, we beat Gongsun Zan away." Qu Yi said to the generals, "We can't attack too fast. We have to wait until Lord Yan enters the pass before attacking Jicheng."

"When will Lord Yan enter the customs?" Wen Chou asked.

"I don't know the exact time." Qu Yi said, "However, Lou Lu, Lu Huanyang, and Ran Ran's Karasuma cavalry are very close to Juyongguan, so they should have assembled."

"Then why don't we fight quickly?" He Feng said loudly, "The fight was late, and the Karasuma people took all the credit."

Qu Yi glared at him like that, "What are you in a hurry for? Gongsun Zan's army has at least 7 to 3 people, and we use 7 people to attack a city guarded by [-] to [-] people, looking for death? First force him out of the city, and then wipe him out in the wild , but don’t push too hard, and scare him away.”

He Feng chuckled, raised the whip in his hand flatteringly, and shouted: "My lord general is really good at using soldiers like a god. I am so crazy that I am so impressed."

Qu Yi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "What kind of flattery are you, kid? Let me tell you, don't be greedy for credit. We should fight the war, we fight, the Karasuma people fight the Karasuma people's war, you don't want to grab it. You If you don’t obey the command, I’ll take your skin off.”

At this time, Qu Yi, who was riding eight hundred miles away, received a letter from the general.Seeing that the smile on Qu Yi's face was fading away, Zhao Yun hurriedly galloped to his side, "Is there anything urgent, General?"

"Your wife is here?"

"My wife is here?" Zhao Yun said with a smile, "My lord, what are you kidding?"

Qu Yi handed the letter to Zhao Yun, "Look for yourself." Then he pointed at his generals one by one with a horsewhip and said, "The princess and the general are coming soon, don't embarrass me, take Jicheng Take it down for me and kill Gongsun Zan."

=

(End of this chapter)