Great Han Empire

Chapter 885 Troubled Times Heroic Chapter Wins Central Plains
The fourth year of Jianxing in the Han Dynasty (200 AD), the first month, Jinyang.

Problems happened one after another in the southward move, which made the eldest princess extremely angry.

First, the government officials, officials, and powerful tycoons in the areas where the population moved out of the three prefectures of Hebei ignored the imperial edict and blatantly invaded the land, causing complaints from the people in Hebei. As a result, the imperial court's strategy of moving south was hit hard.The failure to implement the strategy of moving south not only plunged Hebei into crisis, but also delayed the time for the army to attack Luoyang.The inability of the large army to launch an attack after spring plowing is equivalent to giving the rebels more time to breathe and recover, and the consequences are unpredictable.

The eldest princess successively issued decrees, ordering the governments at all levels in the three prefectures of Hebei to re-check the land, and all the land occupied by the government, officials, and powerful tycoons should be immediately released and distributed to the people to stabilize Hebei counties.Anyone who resists the decree will be killed without mercy.At the same time, more than a dozen patrol envoys also went to various places to carry out inspections. If they found corrupt people who broke the law and resisted the order, they would be killed on the spot.

The eldest princess urgently ordered General Li Hong to supervise the military administration of Qingzhou and Yanzhou, thoroughly investigate the "land enclosure and speculation" incidents in the two states, and severely punish those who violated laws and disciplines. Kill without mercy.

Prime Minister Cai Yong, Yushi doctor Liu He, Taichang Xu Shao and other ministers believed that the princess's actions were too drastic, which would not help the stability of Hebei, but might intensify conflicts in Hebei.

The eldest princess refused to accept advice.She believes that the government of officials in Hebei has begun to corrupt, and they must be severely punished and punished without mercy. Corrupt officials will not be tolerated, and as many as they are killed, so as to ensure the steady progress of the great cause of Zhongxing.

The debate among the ministers was also very intense.

The ministers headed by Li Wei and Liu Fang firmly supported the eldest princess to purge Hebei officials. They believed that the southward migration incident fully demonstrated the serious drawbacks of ruling the country with virtue and emphasizing rites and despising laws. , Punish lawlessness.

Because of the serious consequences of the southward relocation incident, the opponents' voices in the court hall were weak.Under the angrily reprimanded by the princess, Cai Yong and other ministers could only keep silent.

Taking this rare opportunity, the eldest princess promulgated a series of new policies and new laws aimed at maintaining the smooth implementation of the New Deal. The promulgation of the new law has greatly advanced the imperial court on the road of "ruling the country by law and respecting the law with grand ceremony".

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While the civil servants in Jinyang were arguing endlessly about which strategy to govern the country would be more conducive to the revival of the Han Dynasty, the generals were also having a heated debate about the conquest strategy for the next period of time.

Due to major changes in the southward relocation, the original strategy of attacking Guanzhong after the spring plowing was affected. Taiwei Xu Rong, Guang Luxun Zhang Yan, and Weiwei Lu Bu immediately had differences in the direction of the army's attack.

The right chariot general and Taiwei Xu Rong insisted on conquering Guanzhong first, then surrounded Luoyang, and joined forces with the Central Plains army to conquer the capital.In order to successfully conquer Guanzhong, Xu Rong went to play the eldest princess and asked for the Hu tribe's cavalry to mobilize an army of about 15 to [-] cavalry to attack Guanzhong.

General Youwei, Guang Luxun and Zhang Yan believe that the current attack on Guanzhong is against Han Sui and Yuan Shao. Once the army is unfavorable in attacking, it is bound to be trapped in the battlefield of Guanzhong, which will lead to the imperial court taking Luoyang and taking the Central Plains within one to two years. strategy failed.Judging from the current situation in Guanzhong, Han Sui's purpose is obvious. He wants to occupy Guanzhong in order to form a tripartite confrontation with Hebei and Luoyang.Whoever wants to beat him, he will join forces with another family to fight against the enemy.In order to prevent the army from being trapped in the Guanzhong battlefield, we might as well let Guanzhong maintain the current situation, let Yang Feng and Pang De take part of the troops to guard the Hedong, and we concentrate all the main forces in the Central Plains, from Henan, Hanoi and Yingchuan. Xiang Xiang attacked Luoyang and fought with Yuan Shao alone.

Although Han Sui knew Yuan Shao couldn't stop us, he was powerless to help Yuan Shao.Chang'an is [-] miles away from Luoyang, and Xiliang's army is out of reach, and our infantry and cavalry forces threaten Sanfu in the areas of Hedong and Anding. We have no choice but to watch us conquer Luoyang and destroy his dream of dominating western Xinjiang.

Therefore, Zhang Yan suggested that the eldest princess station a heavy army in the Central Plains and assemble an army of about 15 cavalry to attack Luoyang.

Lu Bu supported Zhang Yan's attack strategy.

If the Guanzhong War begins, the army on the Central Plains battlefield will not be able to dispatch due to insufficient food and supplies. In this way, Yuan Shao will have sufficient recovery time.

The Guanzhong occupied by Han Sui is an uninhabited place. Even if he is given a few years, he will not be able to restore Guanzhong to increase his own strength, so Han Sui is not a big threat to us, but Yuan Shao is different. Yuan Shao Guandong has Yuzhou , and Jingzhou Liu Biao as a strong backup, his strength recovered a little every day.The longer we give him, the more his strength will recover, and the more difficult it will be for us to attack Luoyang in the future. Therefore, it is better to stabilize Han Sui in Guanzhong and concentrate all our forces to attack Luoyang from Henan, Hanoi, and Yingchuan. The best policy.

However, Lu Bu believes that there is no need to rest and reorganize the 10,000+ army in the Central Plains. The general can transfer half of the army to immediately go south to Xuzhou and eliminate Cao Cao.If the army can occupy Xuzhou and kill Cao Cao, it will have great benefits for the future Luoyang war and for the army to calm the world in the future.We should not let this opportunity go to waste.

Zhong Yao, Minister of Agriculture, and Jia Xu, Minister of Shaofu who participated in the military discussion (after returning to Jinyang, he was worshiped by the Shaofu, one of the nine ministers, for his meritorious service.) The monk Shuling Li Wei, it is not easy to clearly express who they support, they We can only explain their respective positions from the perspective of imperial wealth.

If the attack strategy originally planned by the imperial court is followed, which is the attack method insisted by Taiwei Xu Rong, it will take four battles to conquer Luoyang, Guanzhong, Kanxi, Yingchuan and Luoyang.This is a heavy burden for the court.If the imperial court changes its strategy now and adopts Zhang Yan's attack method, then the two major battles in Guanzhong and Kanxi can be avoided.There will be no battle in Guanzhong, and after the capture of Luoyang in Guanxi, it will be a one-off thing, and there will be no fierce battle for fortifications.It is cost-effective to conquer Luoyang in two battles, both in terms of time and wealth.

The princess did not dare to make up her own mind on such matters, she said to several ministers, discuss it carefully, and then report to the general, asking him to make a final agreement with Lord Qu, Lord Yu, Lord Yan, Lord Zhao and other ministers.

A few days later, the general, Xun You, Yang Qi and other ministers jointly filed a petition to discuss peace with Cao Cao.The memorial clearly explained the advantages of marrying Cao Cao and negotiating peace. Hebei can severely damage the three forces of Cao Cao, Liu Biao, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu without a single soldier. This is of course much better than Lu Bu's suggestion of attacking Xuzhou.

The eldest princess decreed that she agreed with the proposals of the general and the ministers to appease Cao Cao and Sun Ce Zhou Yu.

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Considering that the attack on Luoyang will be postponed for a while, the eldest princess discussed with her aunt, the eldest princess Yangzhai, and the general's wife Xiaoyu, and planned to recall Fu Gan and let him get married in Jinyang. However, this matter has not been discussed yet. Bad news came one after another.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Cui Lie died of illness.

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, Master Chen Ji died of illness.

On the 21st day of the first lunar month, Mr. Yuan Pang died of illness.

I don't know if it's too sad, or the deadline has come. On the 25th of the first lunar month, the old man Ding Gong died of illness.

So far, the seven respected court elders Ma Rixun, Zhang Wen, Lu Zhi, Cui Lie, Chen Ji, Yuan Pang, and Ding Gong who rushed from Chang'an to Jinyang that day to take on the important task of saving the country have all passed away.

Jin Yang was immersed in great grief.

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The first month, Luoyang.

During the New Year, Luoyang did not have the slightest festive atmosphere, and a bloody storm engulfed the entire city.

In the middle of the twelfth lunar month, Yuan Shao braved the heavy snow and rushed to Huayin to meet Han Sui.The two not only talked happily, but also became in-laws.Han Sui married his daughter to Yuan Tan.Although Yuan Tan already has two wives, this does not affect the sincerity of the two parties to marry and negotiate peace.

After bidding farewell to Han Sui, Yuan Shao hurried back to Luoyang for the New Year.When they arrived in Shancheng, Chunyu Qiong and Wang Xiu held a banquet in honor of him.Yuan Shao was in a good mood and drank a little more. When he was dizzy and ready to rest, he was assassinated by a group of guards.This group of guards was very fierce, hacking and shooting, killing more than a dozen of Yuan Shao's personal guards in one go, almost killing Yuan Shao.If Wang Xiu hadn't defended Yuan Shao desperately and blocked two arrows for Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao would have died.

Yuan Shao's personal guards rushed forward and chopped down all the assassins.Feng Ji was still sober, and even asked to stay alive, but it was too late, all the assassins were decapitated.

Yuan Shao was furious and asked Feng Ji to find out the identities of these assassins immediately.That night, Fengji told Yuan Shao, who was still in shock, that these assassins were indeed Chunyuqiong's subordinates, three of them used to be followers of Tian Feng's family, two used to be followers of Jushou's family, and seven had always been followers of Xu You's family. After Xu You died, they went to Kansai to seek refuge with Chunyu Qiong.These people had superb martial arts skills and careful preparations. It was indeed a fluke that Yuan Shao was not killed.

Yuan Shao's lungs exploded with anger, and he immediately put Chunyuqiong into a prison van and escorted him back to Luoyang.

Tian Feng had already been released by Yuan Shao.There were too many people interceding for him, and Yuan Shao really wanted to use him again because of the increasingly tense situation in Kanto, so he let him go.Who knew that within a few days after he came out, he was arrested again.This time Feng Ji interrogated himself, and all kinds of severe punishments were used, forcing Tian Feng to admit that he, Ju Shou and other Jizhou officials jointly assassinated Yuan Shao.

Tian Feng denied it.Feng Ji was too lazy to talk to him, so he grabbed his hand and pressed his fingerprint on the confession.

Two days later, Chunyu Qiong and Tian Feng were killed.

After Yuan Xi of Nanyang received Yuan Shao's letter, he couldn't believe it.He quietly sent someone to inform Jushou, asking him to flee quickly.However, what he couldn't believe was that instead of fleeing, Jushou walked into the government office calmly and wanted to surrender.Yuan Xi was so stupid that he hid in the inner palace and ordered people to drive Jushou out of the city, and gave him a horse and a lot of money.The next day, while Yuan Xi was still sleeping, his subordinates came to report, and Ju Shou came back again.

Yuan Xi had no choice but to tell Jushou the truth, my lord, who is going to kill my father, you and I have a plan in mind, and my father also has a plan in his mind, but the poison of a tiger does not eat its children, what can he do?Chun Yuqiong and Tian Feng have already died in vain, why do you have to lose your life?I beg you, please go away.My lord father will not hold me accountable, nor will I send someone to hunt you down.I know you don't want to betray my father, and you don't want to go back to Hebei, but you can go to Xiangyang, Yizhou, or even Jiangdong, why do you have to die here?

Ju Shou sighed, "My heart is dead."

Yuan Xi smiled wryly, and sent someone to send him home, "I will not arrest you, let alone kill you."

That night, Ju Shou committed suicide.Soon, all Jushou's family members in Luoyang were killed, and only Jushou's son, Juhu, escaped.He was stationed in Chenggao, and after receiving the news secretly sent by the judge, he fled to Hebei overnight and survived.

This month, due to the assassination incident, nearly a hundred civil and military officials were implicated, most of them were former students of Ju Shou, Tian Feng and Chun Yuqiong.In the mass graves at the foot of Mang Mountain, there are thousands more innocent souls.

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In February, Yuan Shao received a letter asking for help from Yizhou Mu Liuzhang.

Liu Zhang's life is more difficult now.Zhao Wei's rebellion in Bajun in the south had not yet been put down, and Zhang Lu in Hanzhong in the north came again.Liu Zhang begged Yuan Shao to send troops to attack Zhang Lu in Hanzhong to relieve the crisis in Chengdu.

Yuan Shao has always been disgusted with Zhang Lu in Hanzhong.Zhang Lu's Five Dou Rice Religion has a lot to do with Zhang Jiao's Taiping Dao.As long as Yuan Shao thinks of the Yellow Turban Army that once ravaged the world, he wants to enter Hanzhong and kill Zhang Lu and Wudou Mijiao.Sooner or later, these rebellions will stab me in the back.

Yuan Shao immediately planned to let Xu Qi, Xin Pi, and Yuan Xi lead the army to attack Hanzhong.Taking Hanzhong will be of great benefit to recovering Guanzhong in the future.Feng Ji hastily dissuaded, the northern army may attack Luoyang at any time, and at this moment must not use troops against Hanzhong.It is very simple to deal with Zhang Lu's rebellion. The adults only need to write a letter to make Zhang Lu surrender obediently.Instead of wasting our troops to attack Hanzhong, it is better to recruit Zhang Lu for our own use.At present, as long as Zhang Lu is not allowed to occupy Yizhou, he will not be successful, let alone pose a threat to us.

Yuan Shao followed Feng Ji's suggestion and wrote to Yuan Xi, Xin Pi and others, asking them to immediately send someone to appease Zhang Lu and force Zhang Lu to retreat to Hanzhong.At the same time, Yuan Shao wrote to Liu Biao, asking him to deal with Zhao Wei's affairs.For the safety of Jingzhou in the near future, it is better to let Zhao Wei and Liu Zhang continue to fight among themselves.

In mid-February, Liu Bei who was stationed in Yingchuan suddenly wrote to Yuan Shao that Liu Pan, the general of Jingzhou, had returned. He brought back news that Cao Cao and Li Hong had secretly married and negotiated peace.

"Ah Cao is so shameless to lie to this despicable person." Yuan Shao gritted his teeth angrily.

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(End of this chapter)