Great Han Empire

Chapter 731
February of the first year of Jian'an (AD 196) of the Han Dynasty.

At the beginning of February, Li Hong, the great general of Sima, was ready to go north to the desert.

General Longxiang Zhao Yun, Captain Changshui Mustafa, and Captain Huqi Jifeng led [-] cavalry to go out with them.Shi Yupeng, Sima Fugan, the governors of the two prefectures, Chen Qun and Yuan Huan, the ministers, and Sima Yi, the master, accompanied more than a dozen of their relatives.

The day before the departure, the grand master Ma Rixun, Da Situ Zhang Wen, and Da Sikong Yang Biao came to see him off.

The stability of the desert and border counties will directly affect the success or failure of ZTE's great cause, so the ministers are very supportive of Li Hong's trip to the north.However, the Jinyang court had just been rebuilt, and the relationship between the Hebei provinces and the court had not yet been straightened out. It was very inappropriate for the general to rush northward under such circumstances.The ministers had various speculations about this.

Li Hong didn't take it seriously. He comforted the three Shanggongs a few words, and then said: "The matter of the Hu tribes can only be resolved by me. This time, the Xiongnu Shan Yuting and the Northern Xianbei King ignored the great Han Tianwei and deliberately provoked It is an unforgivable crime to start an incident and trigger a war on the frontier. Taking this opportunity, I want to unite the various tribes belonging to the Hu tribe and abolish the privileges of some vassal Hu people. Make the Hu people honest and secure, and we have no worries Only then can we crusade against rebellion with peace of mind."

"The general's idea is correct, and we all support it." Taifu Ma Rixun said, "Your Majesty has granted the general the privilege of envoys to hold festivals. The general can kill the barbarians first, and then play. There is no need to ask for everything" ( The so-called envoy festival means that when an envoy or an expedition takes place, the power of the monarch is performed, and officials under two thousand shi can be killed in peacetime and wartime.)
"Although using Hu to control Hu is a good way to stabilize the frontier, the general must pay attention not to let a certain Hu tribe become stronger in the process of using Hu to control Hu." Zhang Wen stroked his beard and said, "Using Hu to control Hu The key to Hu is to weaken and support the development of Hu people's power, so this time the general must hit Shan Yuting hard, and it is best to let Liu Bao kill Shan Yuting across the Yellow River and wipe out Shan Yuting. The vassal Hu people are also a warning."

Li Hong smiled and shook his hands, "Shan Yuting wants to hit hard, but we can't kill them all. Killing them won't solve the problem. The best way is to make them submit and let them belong to the big man completely. Subdue without fighting." Soldiers are the best strategy."

"That's what you say, but we don't have time." Yang Biao sighed, "The general is going, it's best to make a quick decision and come back as soon as possible. The longer you stay in the desert, the greater the danger in Hebei. .”

"In the short term, Yuan Shao doesn't have the strength to fight us yet." Li Hong laughed, "Last time you said that you wanted to send ministers to Luoyang and Yanzhou. First, it can buy time for Hebei, and second, it can split Yuan Shao and Cao Cao's internal affairs. , I think this idea is good, you can send someone to test it out first."

"But both your majesty and the eldest princess disagree." Zhang Wen said helplessly, "The eldest princess said that since we have sent ministers to Qing, Xu, Jing, Yang, and Yi as envoys, we can no longer send envoys to Luoyang and Yanzhou. , this will make Yuan Shao and the officials of various states and counties think that the court is afraid of them and will increase their arrogance. The eldest princess suggests that the emperor and the court should issue an edict to the world and announce the crimes of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. She believes that only in this way can other states and counties be deterred. Only then can Yuan Shao and Cao Cao be isolated."

"The emperor and the imperial court must never bow to rebellion." Ma Rixun said solemnly, "In this matter, I support the princess. Rebellion is rebellion, and the heinous crime is the heinous crime. If rebellion can also become a successful minister, the heinous person can not only How can the majesty of the emperor and the court be found when he escapes the law and can still stand in the court with his heroes? Where is the majesty of the laws of the Han Dynasty? The emperor has no majesty, and the law has no majesty. How can the officials of various states and counties return to the court? Yuan Shao has refused According to the present day, Cao Cao first massacred the city and then broke the embankment, the crimes of these two people are heinous, they deserve to be killed, and there will be no pardon."

Li Hong had no intention of joining the debate, so he hurriedly interrupted the conversation and brought the matter to the excavation of the Zhongxing Canal. A large part of the 18 military households had to be recruited from the refugees who dug channels.With fewer people digging canals, the speed of canal opening will be slowed down. If there is another flood in the Yellow River this year, things will be troublesome. Therefore, Li Hong has repeatedly instructed that the imperial court should rush to repair Zhongxing before the flood season of the Yellow River comes. The canal connects all the major rivers on the land of Hebei, which is not only conducive to flood discharge, but also more conducive to the irrigation of fields and the transportation of materials and soldiers.

=

That night, Li Hong hosted a banquet for a group of generals from the Northern Frontier Army in Jinyang. Xian Yufu, Xu Rong, Zhang Yan, Qu Yi, Lu Bu, Zhao Yun, Yang Feng, Yan Liang and other generals were present one by one. Come by invitation.

During the banquet, Li Hong repeated one sentence, no matter what happened to the Jinyang court, the South, North, Huben and Yulin Army must resolutely support the eldest princess.

The generals clung to their promises.

Yan Liang smiled and said: "Since the general is worried, then stay and let Zilong and I go to the desert."

Li Hong smiled wryly, "I don't want to leave either, but if the matter in the desert can't be resolved, there will be a lot of worries for the future. When we go south to counter the rebellion in the future, if the army falls into the dilemma of being the first and cannot take care of both, we will be miserable."

"It's just that with the departure of the general, I am afraid that Jinyang will enter into troubled times." Zhang Yan frowned and said worriedly, "Many ministers said that the general took advantage of the Huns and Xianbei to go north to the desert on purpose. For this reason, the intention is to wipe out the opposition forces in the imperial court."

"Opposition forces?" Li Hong said with a smile, "What opposition forces does the imperial court have? In the Battle of Kansai, the ministers of the Chang'an imperial court were almost killed and injured. They just wanted to stir up trouble, but they didn't have the strength. Don't think too much, just help The eldest princess and Da Situ are carrying out the New Deal. Also, soldiers need to be trained, and when I come back from the desert, we can go south."

Then he talked about the recruit system, "I know that some of you have opinions on the recruit system, and think that the imperial court deprived you of your military power, and don't believe you. Today, I will explain it here."

"This military system actually originated from Emperor Guangwu. When Emperor Guangwu rejuvenated the Han Dynasty, in order to strengthen the restraint of soldiers, clean up military discipline, improve the combat effectiveness of the army, and at the same time, in order to give full play to the talents of the generals, he adopted the division of the generals. method. After reviving the Great Han Dynasty, he once retained the Liyang Camp, Yong Camp, and Huya Camp to guard the capital and maintain law and order in the counties."

"The biggest advantage of the command of the generals in separate battalions is that none of the commanding generals of each battalion has more than 1 troops, and their strength is limited, and the generals are still restrained by each other. The army has laid the foundation. The reason why Deng Yu, Geng Chun, Wang Ba and others were able to die well and benefit future generations is directly related to Emperor Guangwu's easy recovery of military power."

When Li Hong said this, the generals already roughly understood the purpose of Li Hong's urging to modify the military system.In addition to increasing the army and reducing military expenditures, the ultimate goal is to save everyone from being killed after the world is settled in the future.

"The general has discussed privately with me many times in order to modify the military system." Xian Yufu said with a smile, "We have rescued the emperor, and the next step is to pacify the world. After the pacification of the world? What should we do? Everyone is a general , all have military power and an army, how will the emperor deal with us? We cannot place our hopes on the trust of the emperor, we must leave a way out for ourselves. This way out is today's recruit system."

"According to the regulations of the recruiting system, the generals are in the court at ordinary times, and in wartime, they lead the troops in the battalions with the emperor's imperial decree and the 'Tiger Talisman'. That is to say, from now on, we no longer have military power, and no longer directly control the army. When the world is settled in the future, if you are interested, you can join the court as an official, if you are not interested in political affairs, you can resign and go home, or stay in the capital and become the head of a family."

Everyone had different expressions and didn't speak, only Qu Yi was very happy.

"The situation of the Northern Xinjiang Army is special. If we are still tied together as before, you will not survive if I die." Li Hong smiled, "Fortunately, Zhang Wen, Cui Lie, Ma Rixun, and Brother Yu Xing, after a long time of discussion, they finally resolved this issue. In the future, when my great general falls, although you will be implicated, but you will not lose your life, it should be the hero or the hero."

"This military system has just been implemented. In order to prevent accidents from happening when I am not in Jinyang and harm the Hebei and Northern Xinjiang armies, I ask you to support the eldest princess." Li Hong bowed his hands to the generals and continued, "At present, the most The one who believes us is the eldest princess. After all, she has been in Northern Xinjiang for seven years, and she knows Northern Xinjiang and us very well. As long as we support her and let her control the emperor and the court, Jinyang will be fine, and Hebei will be fine. Something will happen."

=

After sending off the generals, Li Hong returned to the back tent and found that Feng Xue hadn't returned yet.

This time when he went north to the desert, in order to deal with the affairs of the Xianbei people, Li Hong specially invited the emperor, and brought his wife Fengxue with him.The eldest princess has a deep relationship with Xiaoyu and Fengxue. When she heard that Fengxue was leaving, she specially sent someone to bring Fengxue to the eldest princess' camp to talk.Since the Son of Heaven arrived in Hedong, the eldest princess no longer dared to go in and out of the general's camp casually.

Li Hong hugged Xiao Yu, and the two had just been tender for a while, when the eldest princess sent someone over to deliver a message.It's too dark, please go to the Chang Gongzhu's camp to bring Mrs. Fengxue back.

Xiao Yu pursed her lips and snickered.Li Hong was very helpless, "You go. It's so late, I can't enter the eldest princess camp."

"Let's go." Xiaoyu tugged at Li Hong's beard and said softly, "She came to invite Fengxue this afternoon, so I knew her intentions. The eldest princess has grown up, and she is no longer a child. You don't know yet?"

Li Hong smiled bitterly, "So what if I know? She is the eldest princess, and I am the general. If..." Li Hong shook his head, "Who is not afraid in the world? Son of Heaven, ministers of the court, and generals in the northern border, who is not afraid? Power Once the checks and balances are broken, things will get out of hand. She is still a child, too willful, and she doesn't know the seriousness at all."

"She is 17 years old. If she were in Luoyang, she would have been married." Xiao Yu said sympathetically, "She is not a child anymore."

Li Hong sighed, and put Xiaoyu on the ground, "Go and bring Xiaoxue back."

Xiao Yu didn't move, but his eyes were pleading.

"It's about the survival of the society, and she cannot be left alone." Li Hong waved his hand and said, "In today's world, who dares to marry her? Who is qualified to marry her? Whoever marries her will be a disaster for the family."

Xiao Yu looked at him sadly, and whispered, "This is all your fault."

Li Hong looked at Xiao Yu in surprise and remained silent for a long time.

"She has no one to marry, no one dares to marry, it's all your fault." Xiao Yu leaned over and took Li Hong's hand, "If it wasn't for you, how could she not be able to marry? If she did, would you Don't you want to take her back?"

Li Hong closed his eyes, his face full of shame, "The Son of Heaven is young, and the country is in ruins. Except for her, who can support the court?"

"You are all for yourself, for your brothers in Beijiang." Xiao Yu hugged Li Hong's neck, and kissed him lightly on the forehead, "You are no longer that hero who stands up to heaven and earth."

Li Hong hugged Xiao Yu tightly, buried his face in Xiao Yu's chest, and remained motionless.

"You go and bring Xiaoxue back, I can't go."

=

In mid-February, Taifu Ma Rixun and Taifu Zhao Qi held the festival according to the order, and persuaded Tian Kai and Kong Rong in Qingzhou, Liu Bei in Xuzhou, Yuan Shu and Liu Yao in Yangzhou.Taichang Cheng Xu Shao, Zhishu Yushi Sima Fang, and Taizhong doctor Yang Qi detoured the Yangtze River and went upstream to appease Liu Biao of Jingzhou and Liu Zhang of Yizhou.Doctor Guanglu Zhou Zhong detoured outside the Great Wall to appease Han Sui in Xiliang.

=

In March, Li Hong led his troops to the Duliao Camp, and joined Duliao General Yan Rou and Yang Lie General Yang Ming.

Shan Yuting was terrified.

Li Hong asked to go to Shan Yuting to meet the Great Chanyu.Artest was very scared, and offered to give up the Great Chanyu and give way to Liu Bao.King Huchuquan of Zuoguli was very angry, scolded Artai, and then ordered all the tribes in the name of the Great Chanyu to immediately rush to Shanyu's court with his troops to gather.When the tribal leaders heard that Li Hong was in Duliao, none of them dared to go.

Fearing Liu Bao's revenge in the future, the leaders of several Xiongnu tribes notified Li Hong of Huchuquan's plot to attack the Han army.Li Hong was furious and led his army to surround Meiji overnight.King Youxian went to see that Shan Yuting was about to be wiped out by the Han army, and hurriedly united with a group of Hun nobles to kill Artai and Huchuquan.

Li Hong entered Meiji, arrested the nobles of the Xiongnu wantonly, and arrested all the nobles and tribal leaders who supported Atai as the successor of the Great Chanyu.

At the end of March, Zuo Xian Wang Liu Bao and Ri Zhu Wang Liu Ming returned to Meiji.Liu Bao successfully succeeded the Great Chanyu.The Xiongnu nobles were almost completely killed by Liu Bao.

=

In April, the imperial court received a report from Li Hong and decreed to confer Liu Bao the title of Grand Chanyu of the Huns. At the same time, he deprived Shan Yuting of many privileges and stipulated that Shan Yuting must hand over a certain amount of money to Xihe County and Wuyuan County every year. Livestock must be used to offset taxes, and military households and war horses must be provided to the Duliao camp. The Xiongnu nobles and tribal leaders must, like the Chanyu, send their children to Jinyang as hostages and study scriptures.

Shan Yuting's status as a vassal state has been greatly weakened so far.

At the end of April, Li Hong led his army across the desert in Hebei Province.Liu Ming, the Right Wise King of the Xiongnu led ten thousand cavalry to accompany him.

At the same time, Jinyang was caught in a quarrel over the title system.

Although there was no response from the ministers sent to various places to persuade, Jinyang received a joint petition from six state and county officials, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Liu Biao, Liu Bei, Yuan Shu, and Tian Kai.The ministers respect the current emperor and obey the orders of the imperial court, but considering the current state of chaos in the country, the ministers are willing to guard the country and the prefectures for His Majesty.Then it's time to negotiate conditions, which is very simple, adding officials to ranks, conferring land and building princes.We are our princes, Your Majesty is His Majesty's emperor, and this country is still the country of the great Han.

When the emperor saw it, he was happy and worried.Good is good, the war can be stopped, the world can be peaceful, but there will be endless troubles.There was the Spring and Autumn and Warring States of the Zhou Dynasty before, and then there was the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion of this dynasty.The princes have great ambitions, and a fief as big as a palm can't satisfy their desires. What they want is the country and the country.

The eldest princess vetoed it.Since they all want to be rebellious, let them fulfill their wishes and wait for death.

Ministers and ministers had mixed reactions.Some people think that it is a fact that states and counties support their own self-respect and segregate one side. In the current situation where the imperial court is unable to suppress the rebellion, this method can not only appease the rebellious heart, but also buy Hebei more time to accumulate strength. It is a good plan. promise them conditionally.

Some strongly opposed it.Once this system is changed, Hebei is bound to be in chaos.The power in Hebei is complicated, and there are many ministers with meritorious service and troops. Once they also jump out and ask for titles and fiefdoms, it will be completely over.

There is another faction that remains silent, that is, a group of civil and military officials in the former northern Xinjiang, but their silence has put tremendous pressure on the emperor, the eldest princess and the court.

=

In May, the news that the imperial court was going to revise the title system and add a fifth-level higher title to the original [-]th-level title spread throughout Hebei provinces.All of a sudden, the big officials of various prefectures in Hebei wrote letters one after another, some agreed, some opposed, and some even sent their cronies to Jinyang with heavy gifts.There are at least several counties or even a county in the feudal city of a high title, so the status and wealth are very different.

In mid-May, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Tian Kai and others wrote a letter again, vowing to respect the emperor and obey the court.They explained that the reason why we want titles and feudal titles is mainly because we are afraid that the general will kill us, not because we want to disrupt the country and endanger your Majesty's country.As long as we have titles and fiefs, we will return the states and counties to the imperial court and live in our own fiefs.

The emperor was shaken.He convened his relatives and some ministers of the former Chang'an court to discuss for many times, and finally heeded the opinions of Fude, Dong Cheng, Feng Shuo and others, and decided to restore the five-class title system.

Da Situ Zhang Wen and Da Sikong Yang Biao did not object to the emperor's decision. They believed that after Emperor Guangwu revived, he downgraded the titles of princes and kings to princes and princes, and at the same time deprived them of their military power in the fiefdoms. If it can be awarded to the prince, no matter how great the other people's contributions are, at most they will be granted the title of Marquis.The Duke does not have military power in his fief, and the Marquis certainly cannot.

However, they reminded the emperor that what these rebels wanted was not titles and fiefdoms, but hereditary inheritance, the hereditary inheritance of the military and political power of the states and counties they occupied.After conferring titles and fiefdoms, they will continue to blackmail the court, so the best way is to be perfunctory, and when Hebei regains its vitality, they will immediately give a severe blow.

After the emperor's opinion and the memorials of the ministers were delivered to the eldest princess, the eldest princess set fire to it, but she ignored it.

At the end of May, the eldest princess issued an edict to the various prefectures in Hebei in the name of the emperor, and the imperial court never proposed to modify the title system.Anyone who dares to continue spreading rumors will be punished severely.

=

At the beginning of June, the emperor moved to Jinyang Palace, and the court moved to Jinyang City.Huben, Habayashi Army and Southern Army marched along with them.

Because Li Hong had confessed before leaving Jinyang that he would continue to stay in Longquan Daying, the residence of General Da Sima did not move.The Northern Army still stayed at Longshan Camp.

The eldest princess refused to move.

The emperor begged several times, but the eldest princess was unmoved.The emperor was very angry, and blurted out: "My sister is so old, and she lives in the same battalion with the general, how can she be decent?"

The eldest princess was furious and hit him with her hand raised.The emperor ran with his head in his arms, shouting as he ran, "Even if I make an order to marry you to the general, will the general dare to marry you? Even if the general dares to marry you, will the ministers of the court agree? Those rebels I was worrying that I had no excuse to go to Hebei, and as soon as you got married in front, they would kill you in the back."

The eldest princess was very sad and wept secretly.

=

In June, an astonishing news came from Yangzhou, Taifu Ma Rixun was pissed off by Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu wrote to the imperial court asking for the title of duke and the fiefdoms of two counties.The imperial court refused, and Yuan Shu, in a fit of anger, locked up Ma Rixun and Zhao Qi who had rushed to Jiujiang County to appease them, and snatched Ma Rixun's scepter.Ma Rixun scolded Yuan Shu and refused to eat. As a result, he died of hunger and anger.

Yuan Shu saw that things were getting serious and he couldn't step down, so he released Zhao Qi and asked him to return to Hebei with Ma Rike's coffin.

Then came another bad news from Qingzhou.Tian Kai attacked Kong Rong, Prime Minister of Beihai, and Kong Rong asked the court for help.

Kong Rong insisted that Qingzhou submit to the imperial court, which made Tian Kai, who controlled Bei Qingzhou, very angry.Tian Kai had always been worried that Kong Rong, who was in control of Southern Qingzhou, would be bad for him. Now he had an excuse, so with the secret help of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, he raised his troops to attack Beihai.Kong Rong asked Liu Bei for help, but Cao Cao and Yuan Shu were staring at Xuzhou north and south, and Liu Bei dared not move.Kong Rong had no choice but to ask Hebei for help.

Without hesitation, the emperor immediately ordered troops to attack Tian Kai and rescue Kong Rong.

The eldest princess withheld his imperial decree.

The emperor was very angry and yelled at Zhang Wen, "If I don't save Kong Rong, who else will believe me? Who else is willing to submit to me?"

Zhang Wenwen and Yang Biao went to Longquan to persuade the eldest princess.It's better to send out this soldier, your Majesty's words are still reasonable.Pingyuan Camp currently has 1 horses. We can let Zhechong Zhonglang General Gao Shun lead his troops across the river to threaten Beiqingzhou and force Tian Kai to withdraw his troops.

The eldest princess refused to send troops.

The emperor was very angry, and he told Fu De and Dong Cheng that a woman is a woman, and she can't do much except to have children.I want to marry her off, immediately.

=

(End of this chapter)