Great Han Empire

Chapter 795
After Xianyufu led the army to capture Xuantu County and drove away the Fuyu people and Gaogouli people, he immediately sent people to appease Gongsundu in Liaodong. .

After Gongsundu's army withdrew from Xuantu County, it has maintained a high degree of vigilance against the Han army.Gongsun Du himself did not take the initiative to contact the Han army.When Xian Yufu's messenger arrived in Liaodong, Gongsundu responded hastily after knowing the court's attitude.

Gongsun Du tried his best to justify his behavior in his letter to Xian Yufu.When the cavalry armies of the Hu tribes rushed into the border county and Liaodong was besieged on three sides, in order to preserve Liaodong, he had no choice but to make a compromise and take this bad strategy.As for the expulsion of the rich in Liaodong, Gongsun Du also had his own explanation. He said that the purpose of driving them away was purely to preserve the vitality of Liaodong.Of course, Gongsun Du also admitted that he was guilty of treason.No matter how many reasons he has, he cannot escape the fact that he and the Hu people joined forces to rebel.

Gongsundu was willing to accept the punishment of family punishment, but he believed that his staff and Liaodong soldiers were all under his orders, and they were not guilty.If the imperial court is willing to issue an order to exempt them, they will be tied up immediately.

Xian Yufu agreed.

It is meaningless to find out whether Gongsundu really colluded with foreigners to raise troops to rebel. He needs to stabilize Liaodong immediately, and needs to solve the Liaodong matter as quickly as possible at the lowest cost.

Xian Yufu reported his memorial and Gongsun Du's plea to Jinyang on a fast ride of eight hundred miles.

Soon, the imperial court wrote back, agreeing with Xian Yufu's performance, but stipulating that all Liaodong officials with a salary of more than [-] shi can be exempted from death and life crimes are unforgivable.

After the imperial decree was sent to Liaodong, the Liaodong people quit.They refused to accept the punishment in the imperial decree, thinking that they had not committed such a serious crime.The imperial court pardoned their capital crimes, but deprived them of their taxis. What is the difference between this and killing them?
The Liaodong people backtracked, which made Xian Yufu very annoyed.He immediately commanded the army to cross the Liaoshui River and went straight to Xiangping City (now Liaoyang, Liaoning).

The imperial army approached the city, and the situation in Liaodong suddenly became tense.Gongsundu hurriedly wrote to Xian Yufu, asking him to start from the perspective of long-term stability of Liaodong, and give himself some time to persuade his subordinates.

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"So, Gongsun Du hasn't made a decision yet, and he's still stalling for time." Li Hong said dissatisfiedly, "Does he think that we are fighting Kirby Bear now, and we won't be able to deal with him for the time being?"

"General, the officers and soldiers of Liaodong did not have much responsibility for following orders." Yu Peng cupped his hands and persuaded, "We are killing each other, and it will only make the enemies quick and the relatives painful. This is not beneficial to the stability of Liaodong. Please, General Do think twice."

"It will be troublesome if the war situation drags on until winter. The matter in Liaodong must be resolved immediately." Li Hong waved his hand decisively and said, "Urgently tell Gongsun Du to come to see me, otherwise I will bloodbath Xiangping City in three days' time."

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Gongsun Du and Liaodong officials were terrified when they heard that General Li Hong had suddenly appeared in Liaodong.Gongsun Du didn't hesitate at all. Regardless of everyone's dissuasion, he immediately went to Gaoguli City to meet Li Hong.

On the banks of the Liaoshui River, Gongsun Du met General Li Hong.

Seeing him, Li Hong sneered and said, "Should I line up to welcome the heroes who defended Liaodong?"

Gongsun Du bowed to the ground and dared not speak.

"Back then, Master Zhao Bao and the Xianbei people fought in western Liaoning. The Xianbei people took Master Zhao Bao's wife, wife and children hostage, and forced Master Zhao Bao to surrender. How did Master Zhao Bao do it?" Li Hong said sharply, "Zhao Bao Your Excellency would rather abandon his mother, wife and children, but also swear to defend the territory of the Great Han. Between his mother and Sheji, Lord Zhao Bao chose Sheji without hesitation, what about you? What have you done? Don’t you feel ashamed?"

"The Son of Heaven is benevolent, the court is generous, and His Royal Highness the Princess also understands the sufferings of Liaodong soldiers, so I specially amended the law and pardoned your capital crimes, but you are arrogant and shameless. At this time, you dare to openly defy the imperial decree." Li Hongzong shouted loudly. Roar, "Do you still have the Son of Heaven and the imperial court in your eyes? Is the law of the Han Dynasty just a pile of useless pieces of broken bamboo? If you want to die, just say it, and I will fulfill you. I would rather lose Liaodong than allow rebellious officials and thieves to trample on the Son of Heaven and the imperial court wantonly. The majesty of the imperial court wantonly insults the dignity of the Han law."

Gongsundu was ashamed, but he still tried his best to defend his subordinates, "I am the governor of Liaodong, and I will bear all the blame. Liaodong soldiers are innocent, please give them a chance."

Li Hong was silent for a long time, then slowly said: "The court can give them a chance, and even give you a chance, but you have to give the court a promise."

Gongsun Du couldn't believe his ears. He was stunned for a long time, his eyes fixed on Li Hong.Suddenly, he suddenly fell to the ground, kowtowed repeatedly, and shouted in a hoarse voice: "General, my officer..."

"Don't thank me, this is a gift from the emperor and the court." Li Hong interrupted him with a wave of his hand, "Defending Liaodong is not enough to atone for your crimes. If you want to get complete immunity from the emperor and the court, there is only one way , that is to lay down a large territory for the big man."

"You have expanded your territory and made great achievements. The emperor and the court can not only forgive you for the crimes you committed in the past, but also confer titles on you as marquises and generals. Because of the expansion of the territory of the Han Dynasty, Liaodong will change from a border county to an inner county. From now on, Liaodong is as solid as gold." Li Hong punched the table and said loudly, "Master Gongsun, do you have such ambition? Do you have such determination to serve the country to the death?"
Gongsun Du was so grateful that he prostrated himself on the ground and bowed again, "General, my subordinates and all Liaodong officers and soldiers swear to the heavens that as long as they breathe, they will be smashed into pieces as a big man, and they will never retreat."

"Okay." Li Hong jumped up and waved his arms vigorously, "When I pacify the Central Plains, I will provide you with food, grass and supplies to help you achieve the great cause of opening up Xinjiang."

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In the middle of October, Yuzhou, Qi (qi) city in Peiguo.

When the armies of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were fighting against Huang Zu repeatedly in Jiangxia, Yuan Shu decisively mobilized nearly ten thousand troops from the Yangtze River to the city of Qi (qi).He assembled an army of [-], took advantage of the mistakes in the cooperation between the Yanzhou army and the Xuzhou army, and took the initiative to attack in early October, severely injuring the Yanzhou army and killing Cao Cao's generals Xu Xi and Mao Hui.

Cao Cao and Liu Bei withdrew for fifty miles and stationed troops in Suishui to discuss countermeasures.It was late autumn and winter was approaching, so Liu Bei suggested to withdraw his troops.Cao Cao considered that the army had been fighting for too long, and had recently lost a battle. The morale of the two generals was low, so he agreed to Liu Bei's suggestion and planned to withdraw the army and return to Yanzhou.

At this moment, Yuan Shao sent someone.

This time Yuan Shao did not ask Cao Cao to send the emperor to Luoyang, but proposed a compromise.Yuan Shao suggested that Cao Cao send the emperor to Yingchuan and use Xuchang in Yingchuan as the temporary capital.

At the junction of Yingchuan County in Yuzhou and Chenliu County in Yanzhou, Xuchang City is about [-] miles away from Chenliu City in Chenliu County, and about [-] miles away from Luoyang.

Yuan Shao's suggestion is obvious. Put the emperor in a place where neither of them can hold him hostage, so that although he can't monopolize the imperial power, it also makes Cao Cao lose his strong support.

This is the first time Yuan Shao has publicly expressed his attitude since Yuan Shu re-established the imperial system.Yuan Shao not only recognized the imperial system established by Cao Cao, but also took a generous step back, which made Cao Cao suspicious.

Yuan Shao suddenly expressed his attitude at this time, which obviously had a lot to do with Yuan Shu's defeat of Cao Cao and Liu Bei, and the two planned to withdraw their troops.Yuan Shao didn't want the two to withdraw their troops, but the question was, did Yuan Shao decide to abandon Yuan Shu just because he wanted them to continue fighting?Is there some conspiracy here?
Yuan Shao recognized the imperial line established by Cao Cao, and the next step is to distinguish the boundaries with Yuan Shu, announce to the world that Yuan Shu is a traitor of the great Han, and support Cao Cao and Liu Bei to attack Yuan Shu.Yuan Shao pushed Yuan Shu to a dead end, and Yuan Shu must fight back and fight Cao Cao and Liu Bei to the death.When the two sides are fighting to the death, Yuan Shao may attack the Central Plains.

If Yuan Shao wants to take the Central Plains immediately, then Yuan Shao may have already controlled Jingzhou at this moment.Cao Cao was puzzled.Was Liu Biao so vulnerable after the battle in Yizhou?Liu Zhang, Sun Ce, and Zhou Yu attacked Jingzhou one after another, and inadvertently formed a pincer attack from east to west, but defeated Liu Biao in this way?

If Yuan Shao took control of Jingzhou, and then designed to drive Yuan Shu to a dead end, let him entangle himself and fight for both sides, then the Central Plains may change hands in a flash.

Cao Cao immediately decided to withdraw his troops, intending to ignore Yuan Shao's suggestion.

Cheng Yu, Guo Jia and others tried their best to dissuade them.

If we withdraw our troops now, this year's battle will be in vain.If your lord agrees to Yuan Shao's request and sends the emperor to Xuchang, then Yuan Shu will be abandoned by Yuan Shao.Without Yuan Shao's support, Yuan Shu is bound to fall into a desperate situation, and its internal split is inevitable.Yuan Shu's internal chaos, defeating Yuan Shu is a piece of cake.

After taking down the two counties of Jiangbei in Yangzhou, we will connect the Central Plains and Jianghuai together, and we will be able to advance and retreat freely on the battlefield in the future.Even if we lose the Central Plains and let Yuan Shao snatch it away, we can still compete with Li Hong and Yuan Shao for hegemony with the alliance between Jiang Zhunzhi and Cao Liu Sun Zhou.

Now that Yuan Shao is powerful, Hebei is unable to go south in a short period of time because of the Hu people's rebellion in northern Xinjiang. If Yuan Shao occupies the Central Plains at this time, he is very likely to usurp the throne.Once Yuan Shao usurps the throne, a war between us and Yuan Shao will be inevitable.After Hebei has stabilized the northern border, it can reap the benefits of the fishermen and take advantage of the momentum to go south.Therefore, in order to prevent Yuan Shao from usurping the throne, we should agree to Yuan Shao as soon as possible and send the emperor to Xuchang, so that we can effectively slow down Yuan Shao's usurpation and buy us enough time to seize Yangzhou and consolidate the Central Plains.

Guo Jia also assumed another possibility.

If Yuan Shao controls Jingzhou now, his strength will increase dramatically, and it is impossible for us to stop him from capturing the Central Plains.What should we do if we lose the Central Plains?
A secret alliance with Hebei.

If we send the emperor to Xuchang under Yuan Shao's threat, and we lose the emperor, we can send people secretly to the north, form an alliance with Hebei, and use the power of Hebei to attack Yuan Shao.When Hebei and Yuan Shao fought inextricably, we assembled a heavy force to attack.In this way, we can not only get back the Central Plains, but also more likely to get Yuzhou.

Your Excellency's strength increased sharply, but Yuan Shao's strength suffered a huge loss. He had no choice but to bow his head to His Excellency and return the emperor's line.In addition, at that time, he had to depend on the face of the adults to barely survive in the Guan and Luo areas.In this way, the adults can occupy half of the country, and in time, the adults can lead a large army, cross the Hebei, calm Hebei, and unify the world.

After carefully weighing the pros and cons, Cao Cao followed the advice of Cheng Yu and others.In order to ensure that the matter is safe, Cao Cao specially asked Mao Jie to go to Luoyang to talk.

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In November, news of the Jingzhou battlefield reached Cao Cao's camp.

Liu Biao defeated Liu Zhang's Yizhou army in mid-October.Sun Ce and Zhou Yu joined forces to attack Jiangxia, but were stubbornly blocked by Jiangxia's prefect Huang Zu. The Jiangdong water and land armies fought for more than two months, gaining nothing, and had no choice but to withdraw.

Yuan Shao wholeheartedly wanted to wait until the Jingzhou army was unable to hold on to help, so as to quickly control Jingzhou, but unexpectedly, things backfired, and the Jingzhou army won both battles.Yuan Shao failed to control Jingzhou.

Cao Cao was overjoyed, and immediately told Mao Jie to talk to Yuan Shao slowly, don't worry, delay as long as you can.However, he had already decided to send the emperor to Xuchang, and if he procrastinated, he wanted to get more benefits from Yuan Shao.
At the same time, Cao Cao wrote to Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, asking them to reorganize their troops and threaten Yuan Shu from the Yangtze River as much as possible, so as to cope with his attack from the front.

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In November, Jizhou, Guangzong City.

After receiving the general's urgent order, the commander-in-chief of the Seventh Battalion in Jizhou rushed to Guangzong City day and night to meet with the general Li Hong.

After seeing Li Hong, Zhang He, Gao Lan, Xu Huang, Wang Dang, Gao Shun, Zhang Liao, and Zhang Xiu hurriedly asked about the situation in northern Xinjiang.The generals didn't know that the news sent by the court was false, and they were anxious and eager to know the specific situation of the battle.

"That news is fake." Li Hong said lightly, "The purpose is to deceive the Central Plains rebels and make them temporarily lose their vigilance against Hebei."

The generals looked at each other, dumbfounded.Wang Dang couldn't get angry, so he cursed, "The people in the imperial court are really full, and they have nothing to do to make us poor."

Zhang Yun leaned over to Li Hong and asked in a low voice, "General, are you going to attack the Central Plains?"

"Yes, I didn't return to Jinyang directly, but went to Jizhou to meet you first, just to fight the Central Plains in the spring."

"Okay..." Wang Dang was overjoyed, raised his fist excitedly, and punched the case several times, "General, Master Zhang Yan promised me that if I hit the Central Plains, I will be the first to cross the Yellow River."

Li Hong smiled, "The first battle in the Central Plains War was not to cross the Yellow River, but to attack Luoyang from the direction of Hanoi."

All the generals turned their attention to Zhang Liao and Zhang Xiu at the same time.Both troops were stationed in Hanoi.

"Attacking Luoyang is just to restrain Yuan Shao's troops. There is no battle to fight. It's boring." Wang Dang curled his lips in dissatisfaction, "General, when will you cross the Yellow River?"

"When Yuan Shu asked for help, it was the day we killed the Yellow River."

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(End of this chapter)