Great Han Empire

Chapter 687
The main officials of the Princess Chang's Mansion, Da Sima's Mansion, and the General's Mansion discussed urgent matters in Xingyuan.

Tian Chou roughly analyzed the situation.In order to help Gongsun Zan defend Youzhou, Tian Kai and Liu Bei from Qingzhou crossed Hebei to attack Pingyuan County. Zhang Yang and Han Hao took advantage of the opportunity when the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army besieged Youzhou to attack the Black Mountain Yellow Turban Army and threatened Jizhou. Among them, the General's Mansion has already been fully prepared, and the Jizhou mansions do not need to panic, and continue to concentrate on doing a good job in spring plowing.The most important thing at present is to stabilize Jizhou, and do our best to provide a steady stream of food, grass and supplies for the army attacking Youzhou.

Zhang Yan wrote a letter to the officials of the various prefectures in Jizhou, announcing the current situation, asking all the adults to work together to help the Northern Xinjiang Army put down the rebellion in Youzhou as soon as possible.

At this time, Xu Rong from Kansai sent an urgent message with a fast horse of [-] miles. Yuan Shao's army began to attack Xin'an and Mianchi.

Yuan Shao didn't let go of any opportunity to attack the northern army, which made Zhang Yan and the officials in Hebei deeply feel the threat of Yuan Shao.Zhang Yan hastily wrote to Xian Yufu, begging him to increase the money and food assistance to the Kansai battlefield, and at the same time urgently told General Li Hong that the battle in Youzhou should be accelerated, so that Hebei would not be exhausted from fighting and its wealth would be exhausted.

=

In mid-April, Jin Shang, governor of Yanzhou, crossed the river and rushed to Puyang. Zang Hong, governor of Dongjun, welcomed him into the city.

Before Jin Shang crossed the river, he wrote to Cao Cao.Cao Cao kept his promise.Brother Yuanxiu, Yanzhou has been basically pacified by me, and everyone in Yanzhou is waiting.Jin Shang was very happy and hurried south, but when he arrived in Puyang, Zang Hong told him that the prefects and state ministers of five of the eight counties in Yanzhou firmly opposed Jin Shang's entry into Yanzhou.These people said that now that the emperor and the imperial court were held hostage by traitors, Jin Shang's appointment as the governor of Yanzhou was not the intention of the emperor and the imperial court, but the rebellion of Li Jue and others in Xiliang.They did not recognize the court, and of course they would not accept Jin Shang, the governor of Yanzhou. They insisted that Cao Cao be the governor of Yanzhou.

"Master Cao is now persuading the prefects and prime ministers of the five prefectures to ask them to welcome Mr. Envoy into Yanzhou." Zang Hong said helplessly, "So, it is best for Mr. Cao to stay with me for a while, and wait for Mr. Cao to take over Yanzhou." This matter is settled, and Lord Jun will go to Changyi City to take up his post again."

Jin Shang hesitated.Zang Hong also said that Yuan Shao re-appointed the Prime Minister of Jibei, the Prime Minister of Rencheng, and the Prefect of Sanyang under the order of "inheriting the system". Think carefully about it."

Hearing what he said, Jin Shang suddenly remembered that the Dongjun prefect sitting across from him was also appointed by Yuan Shao.Cao Cao invited himself to be in charge of Yanzhou, and asked Zang Hong to say these words to himself on the bank of the Yellow River, obviously wanting himself to retreat in the face of difficulties.As soon as he left, Cao Cao neither broke his promise to the general, nor avoided conflicts with some officials in Yanzhou, let alone offended the court, and easily occupied Yanzhou.

The joy in Jin Shang's heart had long since disappeared, replaced by resentment.You want to drive me away, but I don't want to leave, I want to see what you Cao Cao do to me.

"I'm going to Changyi tomorrow."

=

Under April, Luoyang.

Cao Cao urgently wrote to Yuan Shao.Unafraid of the threat, Jin Shang continued to head south and reached Chenliu County.If I use force to drive him away, it will definitely anger Li Hong.If Li Hong used this as an excuse to lead his army south, I would not be able to resist.In the past few months, the Yanzhou Army and Yuan Shu fought repeatedly, and the loss was great, and the army urgently needed to rest.Now if I want to get rid of Jin Shang, I must get the help of Brother Ben Chu.

Cao Cao also told Yuan Shao that Tian Kai from Qingzhou had sent people to Yanzhou several times, and hoped that I would send troops to the Yellow River to contain the forces of the Northern Frontier Army and help him attack Jizhou.If Brother Benchu ​​can support me, I will send troops to the Yellow River under the pretext of driving Jin Shang away.Under the restraint of various armies, the Northern Xinjiang Army must dispatch troops to the south to defend Jizhou. This will be very helpful for Gongsun Zan to defend Youzhou, and it will also be of great help to our future attack on Hebei to pacify the world.

After reading the letter, Yuan Shao said to Jushou: "After Meng De defeated the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army and drove off the road, his tone became more serious. I think he is going to gain a foothold in the Central Plains and seek hegemony."

Ju Shou said with a smile: "In troubled times, people like Cao Mengde certainly have the heart to dominate. But Yanzhou is the hinterland of the Central Plains, where the four wars took place. If he wants to use Yanzhou as the foundation to dominate the world, it will be too difficult."

Yuan Shao shook his head, "Cao Mengde should not be underestimated. If he uses the excuse of attacking Li Hong and Hebei to join forces and make full use of Qingzhou and our strength to contain the northern army for him, he will not only be able to stop Li Hong in the short term. When Hongnan goes down, he can quickly develop his strength. When Cao Mengde has strength, he will fight for his hegemony, and his attention will then be transferred to..."

Yuan Shao looked at Jushou, Tian Feng, Guo Tu and others sitting around, raised his voice slightly, and continued: "Xuzhou, he will go to fight Xuzhou. With Xuzhou, Cao Mengde will have money, food, foundation, and In depth, in the future, even if Li Hong conquers the Yellow River, or we attack Yanzhou, he will be able to make full use of his own advantages, calmly deal with it, and advance and retreat freely."

Ju Shou, Tian Feng, Guo Tu and others suddenly woke up and looked at Yuan Shao with great admiration.

"It's better for adults to see far." Feng Ji smiled, "We were blinded by Cao Mengde's predicament where he was surrounded by enemies, and we even forgot that he still has such a way to survive."

"It's not the road to survival, but the road to domination." Yuan Shao said slowly with a smile on his lips, "I've been with him since childhood, and I know him very well. Sometimes he is even a little ruthless and unscrupulous, but what I admire most about him is his tenacity. If he wants to do something, he must do it. Even if there are many difficulties, he will persevere. "

"However, it won't work this time. I can't let him get Xuzhou." Yuan Shao frowned and said solemnly, "If Cao Mengde is allowed to occupy a foothold in the Central Plains, it will be even more difficult for us to pacify the world."

=

To prevent Cao Cao from occupying Xuzhou, first of all, it is necessary to restrict the growth of Cao Cao's strength, but the reality is just the opposite. Yuan Shao not only cannot restrict the growth of Cao Cao's strength, but also helps Cao Cao to increase his strength.If Li Hong goes south, Yanzhou will bear the brunt. Cao Cao must have enough strength to stop Li Hong, so as to buy time for the states and counties to gather troops to fight against Li Hong.

Now Li Hong in Hebei is attacking Youzhou. Once Gongsun Zan is defeated and Li Hong has stabilized the three states in Hebei, the northern army will surely go south. With the current strength of Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Tian Kai and other states and counties, it is difficult to compete with Li Hong, so The most urgent task for Yuan Shao and others is to use the time when Li Hong attacked Youzhou to stabilize Hebei to develop their strength rapidly.Only when everyone's strength is strong, can they compete with Li Hong and survive.

However, when Cao Cao became stronger, he would no longer look at Yuan Shao's face, and would no longer listen to Yuan Shao's command. For his own survival, for his own hegemony, he must work hard, and he will take Xuzhou at all costs.As long as Xuzhou is owned, Cao Cao will be invincible, and he will be able to stand on a tripod with Li Hong and Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao discussed with his subordinates for a long time, and finally agreed that Li Hong must conquer Youzhou no matter how much he pays this year, otherwise he will be in a dilemma.Although he and Tian Kai are currently attacking the Northern Frontier Army from left to right, and want to help Gongsun Zan, but with the support of Jizhou Qianliang, Li Hong's method can only greatly damage his strength, but it cannot shake his fundamentals.Li Hong only needs to shake his teeth and persist for a period of time. After the wound is healed, he will be able to counterattack immediately.

Cao Cao wants to establish his own hegemony in the Central Plains, and Li Hong wants to occupy the Central Plains and then pacify the world. In the future, the Central Plains will be full of flames and blood will flow like rivers.

Yuan Shao resolutely decided to change the strategy of revitalizing the Central Plains, and instead plot Guanzhong, using Guanzhong as the foundation to pacify the world and revitalize the Han. Our revitalization goal is to pacify the world in the shortest possible time, if we fall into a bloody battle in the Central Plains, the loss of strength will be too great, not only will we not be able to save the country, I am afraid that we will even lose our lives in the end."

It is very difficult to occupy Guanzhong. The opponents are not only rebels such as Li Jue, but also Han Sui and Ma Teng from Xiliang, Li Hong from Northern Xinjiang is even more eye-catching, and the most troublesome ones are the emperor and the court.After occupying the Kanto, do we respect the current emperor and the imperial court?
Yuan Shao was in a good mood, and he didn't seem to care about the difficulties of occupying Guanzhong. He smiled and said to his subordinates, "As long as we set a goal and work hard towards this goal, we will succeed soon. The opportunity to occupy Guanzhong There are many, emerging one after another, as long as we can keenly spot opportunities and seize opportunities, Guanzhong will definitely be ours.”

After hearing Yuan Shao's words, everyone became more confident and offered advice one after another.

"Although we gave up capturing Yanzhou, we cannot hand over Yanzhou to Cao Cao, let alone Li Hong, so we should do everything possible to turn Yanzhou into a battlefield that consumes the strength of all parties. Yanzhou is constantly fighting, and Cao Cao His development is limited, so he has to rely on the assistance of the adults, obey the orders of the adults, and be driven by the adults.” Ju Shou suggested that Yuan Shao help Cao Cao strengthen his strength, and at the same time let Tao Qian deeply feel the threat of Cao Cao. Let them fight first and consume the strength of both.When Cao Cao and Tao Qian fought, Li Hong would have a chance to go south.As soon as the northern border army goes south, my lord can come forward to form an alliance and unite the forces of states and counties from all over the country to fight against Li Hong. In this way, my lord can not only firmly control the states and counties in the southern part of the Yellow River, limit their strength development, but also effectively attack and contain them. The northern border army, thus finding an opportunity for the adults to seize Guanzhong.Once the lord occupies Guanzhong, his strength will be even stronger, and he can ally all states and counties in Henan, and attack Hebei from the west and south at the same time.

"Putting Yanzhou into continuous war is only one of the methods we use to seize Guanzhong." Tian Feng believes that if we want to successfully capture Guanzhong, we should also actively extend our power to Xiliang.He suggested sending people west to Liangzhou to form an alliance with Han Sui and Ma Teng, split the Xiliang people inside, and weaken the strength of Dong Zhuo's old troops such as Li Jue and Guo Si.At the same time, it is necessary to make full use of the complicated situation in Chang'an, support and help some ministers of the Chang'an court to kill traitors, and launch a mutiny in Chang'an as much as possible in order to gain the opportunity to occupy Guanzhong.

Yuan Shao adopted the opinions of the two.He asked Guo Tu to go to Yanzhou, Xuzhou, and Qingzhou immediately. The main purpose was to unite the vertical and the horizontal. A dozen, so that the Central Plains chaos.

Then he asked Fengji to visit Yuan Wei, the governor of Yuzhou, and Liu Biao, the shepherd of Jingzhou, in Jingzhou.One is to raise money and food, and the other is to invite Yuan Wei to Yangzhou to have a good talk with Yuan Shu.If Cao Cao and Tao Qian were to fight, Yuan Shu would still be very useful. This person now hated Cao Cao to the bone, and he probably didn't want to stay in that remote place in the south for a long time.The third is to ask Liu Biao to send another special envoy to Chang'an.Those powerful bureaucrats in Chang'an, those who should be contacted should contact them immediately.

Yuan Shao asked Chen Lin to write several secret letters, and Xun Chen took a few cronies with high martial arts skills to Hanzhong, and first formed an alliance with Zhang Lu, the prefect of Hanzhong, and then these cronies went directly to Fufeng County from the direction of Dasan Pass to meet. Ma Teng, while Xun Chen turned south and went to Yizhou Shu County to meet Yizhou Shepherd Liu Yan.

=

Lu Bu came to see Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao went out of the mansion to greet him personally, "Fong Xing, you will lead your troops out of the customs soon, I wish you a successful start and success in no time."

Lu Bu smiled, did not speak, and looked very disturbed.

Yuan Shao smiled and said: "If we can defeat Xu Rong this time, we will be able to enter Guanzhong and westward to King Qin. Please don't worry too much. The emperor is in Chang'an, and nothing will happen. Forgive him, Li Jue and other gangsters for their courage. No matter how big you are, you don’t dare to kill the king.”

Lu Bu followed Yuan Shao into the gate of the mansion, chatted and laughed with Yuan Shao in a low voice, but the worry on his brows was even stronger.

Yuan Shao treated Lv Bu very courteously, and entertained Lv Bu exactly as Shangqing treated him, without any neglect.Lü Bu lived in a luxurious mansion, and went out with a three-division ceremonial guard. Whenever Lv Bu participated in discussions and banquets, Lv Bu was always on Yuan Shao's left, extremely prominent.When Lu Bu escaped from Chang'an, his wife and children were all trapped in the city, and were later killed by the rebels.In order to comfort Lu Bu and let him stay in Luoyang with peace of mind, Yuan Shao specially married a daughter of a noble family for him.Apart from not allowing Lu Bu to intervene in military affairs, Yuan Shao gave Lu Bu everything he could, which made Lu Bu very grateful.

This time Yuan Shaoxi entered Qin King, of course Lu Bu should be obliged to go up with his halberd, but the commander of the northern border army in Kansai is Xu Rong, Lu Bu felt ashamed, so he never asked Yuan Shao to take the initiative, but this is not because Lu Bu was unwilling to fight the main reason.

After Lu Bu escaped from Chang'an, he first went to Nanyang to follow Yuan Shu, and then went to Luoyang. For a while, he still lingered at Liu Biao's place in Xiangyang for several days.After contacting so many state and county officials, Lu Bu has already realized very clearly that none of these so-called important officials of the Han Dynasty is willing to go west to serve the king.These people only have themselves in their hearts, only their own power and wealth, and the Dahan Sheji and the Dahan Emperor are just tools they use to decorate their appearance.He saw through the hypocrisy of these people, and sometimes when he saw the eloquent and impassioned officials who shouted to serve the king and rejuvenate the country, he wished to rush up and beat them to death with one punch.

Yuan Shao is more terrifying than these people.Yuan Shao did many things in Luoyang, for example, he treated unowned land as his own private property, arbitrarily rewarding his subordinates and the aristocratic families of the Kanto.For example, in Luoyang, he established various prefectures to govern the prefectures and counties according to the imperial court model. For example, he reopened Taixue, recruited students from all over the world, and selected outstanding ones to enrich the prefectures.During this year, Yuan Shao carried out a series of restructuring strategies in Luoyang with great fanfare, and everyone praised him, especially the rich and powerful, who gained more power and wealth from Yuan Shao's restructuring. Very supportive.

The aristocratic families in Runan, Yingchuan, and Nanyang did not hesitate to change their families and helped Yuan Shao drive away Yuan Shu. A large part of the reason was that Yuan Shao's strategy of governing the country was in line with their own interests.On the contrary, in their eyes, Yuan Shu is just a rogue, an ignorant gambler who only knows how to rob, following Yuan Shu will lead to death.

Yuan Shao's actions are said to be for the revitalization of the country, but the real purpose is for his own career as a king.What will Yuan Shao do after he succeeds in his hegemony?History is full of such examples.Luoyang is the capital, and the nobles here are all smart people, of course they have a plan in mind, so various rumors spread like wildfire, the most eye-catching rumor is that Yuan Shao has the appearance of an emperor.

Lu Bu's current lady comes from a famous family, and her family background is very prominent.Lu Bu walks around frequently every day, so he is naturally clear about what happened in Luoyang.

Yuan Shao's name is King Qin, but he actually wanted to attack Kansai.If Guanxi cannot be captured for a day, Yuan Shao cannot rest in peace for a day.

Lv Bu wanted to be king wholeheartedly, so of course he didn't want to fight for Yuan Shao's hegemony.If Yuan Shao's hegemony is achieved, will he abandon his hegemony and instead honor the emperor and the court?Even if Lu Bu had no brains, he also knew that Yuan Shao would never go to Qin Wang, so he didn't want to go to the Kansai battlefield, but Yuan Shao insisted that he go.

Lu Bu's official is too big, a general who is involved in the affairs of Li Shangshu, and he must be the commander-in-chief when he arrives on the Kansai battlefield, but Yuan Shao will not hand over the army to him.Since Yuan Shao didn't give the army to Lv Bu to command, and he didn't let Lv Bu lead the troops to fight in person, then why did he let Lv Bu do it?To boost morale.After Yuan Shao spared no effort to publicize Lu Bu's mission, everyone knew about it.As long as he stood in the camp and pulled up the battle flag, he told the whole army to fight to the death, march westward to serve the king, and save the emperor.The morale of the soldiers is like a rainbow, and they are indomitable. This battle in Kansai is likely to be won.

Yuan Shao knew what the purpose of Lv Bu's visit today was, so he babbled and talked about family matters, in order to remind Lv Bu that you owe me a lot of favors, so don't be ungrateful.

Lu Bu hesitated for a long time, but in the end he couldn't refuse, so he had to bow and leave.

Yuan Shao was very happy and sent him out of the house himself.

=

Zhang Liao kicked the table in front of him away, and shouted angrily: "If you go to Kansai, I will return to northern Xinjiang immediately, and I will never beat my brother. Have you forgotten the battle at Yanmen Pass? Who fought bloody battles with us? Who defeated the Xianbei people with us?"

Wei Xu grabbed Zhang Liao, "Wen Yuan, we all came from northern Xinjiang. We are going to die or live. We all want to be together. Don't say such sad things."

"He's going to Kansai, do you hear?" Zhang Liao struggled to break free from Wei Xu, blushing, and roared at the ashamed Lu Bu standing in the lobby, "Yuan Shao gave you the house, treasure and women , Can you compare with the lives of our brothers? Can you compare with the brothers who died in Yanmen Pass? Can you compare with the brothers who died in Guanzhong and Master Situ? You have to betray the emperor, you have to betray your loyalty, and you have to be a rebellious man , then you go ahead and do it. I would rather die here than let my dead brother be humiliated under Jiuquan."

"Wen Yuan, don't say any more, let your lord think about it." Li Feng patted Zhang Liao on the shoulder, and persuaded in a low voice, "Your lord has been thinking about King Qin Qin all day long, you don't know?"

"I said, go to the northern border and find the general, but he doesn't want to. No matter what the generals say, he doesn't want to serve the king." Zhang Liao turned to face the generals and said loudly, "If the generals don't want to serve the king, the whole world Who else will serve as the king? Let’s go to the northern border, I believe the general will serve as the king.”

"If you go to northern Xinjiang, you have to go to Guanxi, but you are going to go to General Xu Rong." Wei Xu looked at Lu Bu with a gloomy face, and said carefully, "Master Xu is a good man, he will not blame you for the Chang'an matter. .That matter, after all, has nothing to do with the adults directly. The adults also acted according to the order, and the incident happened helplessly."

Lu Bu shook his head, walked up to Zhang Liao, and said firmly, "I listen to you, we won't go to Kansai anymore. Let's leave Luoyang."

"Really?" Zhang Liao looked happy, "Are you willing to give up everything here?"

"Hmph..." Lu Bu sneered, "In my life, I have nothing but you guys. Let's go."

"Where are we going?" Wei Xu asked suspiciously, "We're not going to northern Xinjiang, where are we going?"

Lu Bu gritted his teeth, "If the general works hard for the king, how can the emperor be coerced by traitors? If we want to rescue the emperor, we can only rely on ourselves."

"On our own..." Zhang Liao looked at Wei Xu, Song Xian and others surrounding him, and asked in surprise, "We..."

"Yes, I've thought about it. If we don't have an army and a place to live, we won't be able to rescue the emperor until we die, because we are the only fools in this world who still think about King Qin every day." Lu Bu's eyes turned red, He said a little excitedly, "Brothers, if you are willing to follow me to wander around, fight everywhere, and follow me to save the emperor, then let's go now."

Zhang Liao was silent for a while, then shook his head helplessly.Since Lu Bu didn't want to go back to northern Xinjiang, he had no choice but to follow him.He believed that the general would be the king, and when the general went west to the king, he would definitely pull Lu Bu and follow the general into Chang'an.

"Where?"

"Go to Hanoi." Lu Bu strode out of the hall, "If Uncle Zhi (Zhang Yang) is still a brother, he will definitely help us."

=

Lu Bu stopped suddenly. He saw his wife standing under the eaves outside the lobby, tears streaming down his face, heartbroken.

Zhang Liao, Wei Xu and others were shocked.She must have heard the quarrel in the lobby just now. If the news leaked out, Lu Bu and his 600-odd brothers would be finished.Zhang Liao winked at Wei Xu and the others, and Wei Xu's big hand immediately grabbed the handle of the knife.

"Xiaoyue..." Lu Bu called softly, feeling extremely painful in his heart.A wife was abandoned by him in Chang'an, and her soul returned to Tianfu, but a wife was about to die in front of him.Lu Bu's heart was bleeding, and he wished he could stab his own chest with a knife.He roamed the battlefield, but he couldn't even save a woman.

"I want to go with you." Xiaoyue threw herself into Lu Bu's arms and cried bitterly, "I want to follow you forever."

Lu Bu held the handle of the knife in his hand, and tears rolled down instantly.

"Take her away." Zhang Liao rushed forward suddenly, grabbed the unsheathed sharp knife, "Take her away together."

The unsheathed knife stopped suddenly.

"Put on her armor, quickly..." Zhang Liao said loudly, "Beat the drums, let the brothers assemble immediately, let's go."

=

After leaving Xiamen, Lu Bu and more than 600 riders hurried for five miles, then suddenly turned around and galloped northeast to Xiaopingjin Pass.

Xu You, who accompanied Lu Bu to Kansai, immediately realized that Lu Bu was fleeing Luoyang. He was about to order his subordinates to go back to report the news, but saw Zhang Liao's spear reaching his throat, "Master Xu, if you don't want to die, you can kill him." Send us out of Luoyang."

Xu You sneered, and said to the expressionless Lu Bu beside him, "My lord, even if you escape to Hanoi, you will die."

"Hmph..." Lu Bu snorted angrily, raised his hand and gave him a whip, "If you talk nonsense, I'll kill you."

Xu You snorted in pain and cursed loudly.But after he cursed a few words, he immediately fell silent.Zhang Liao's spear pierced his throat, and he almost fell off his horse in fright.A dozen of Xu You's entourage were also disarmed, wrapped in Bingzhou iron cavalry, and ran wildly all the way.

Xiaopingjin Pass is [-] miles away from Luoyang, and it is only a blink of an eye.

Wu Zheng, the captain stationed at Xiaopingjin Pass, was very surprised when he saw Lu Bu, "Didn't your lord go to Kansai? How did you get here? Your lord is going to Hanoi?"

No one answered him.Wei Xu's saber flew to his neck.

Wu Zheng was furious. He pointed at Lu Bu and shouted, "Order your subordinates to retreat immediately, or I will cut him down."

At this time, Xu You was taken to the front by Zhang Liao tremblingly.

"Master Wu, let them go. If your lord is to blame, I will bear it alone."

=

Lu Bu ordered Zhang Liao to release Xu You after seeing all the soldiers crossing the river.

"I would like to ask Mr. Xu to report back to Mr. General. All kinds of kindness will be repaid in the future."

Xu You smiled wryly, "Where are you going, sir? Northern Xinjiang?"

Lu Bu stared at the surging Yellow River, looked up to the sky and sighed, "I don't know either."

=

(End of this chapter)