Great Han Empire

Chapter 965 Chapter [-]
"Go and order, didn't you hear me?" Seeing that Fu Gan was still standing opposite him, Li Hong became even more angry, and kept clapping the case, "Go..."

"General..." Fu Gan fell to his knees suddenly, and cried out in grief, "General, if the court is in chaos, it is tantamount to falling into the enemy's tricks. After the big treason case happened, you expected that Xiangyang would send envoys here For the peace talks, they are trying to delay the time for us to go south to suppress the rebellion, and the second is to try to rescue Xun Yu and Zhang Zhao on the condition of peace talks, but now it seems that they have a third purpose, which is to drive apart the parties in the DPRK and China Forces, let us kill each other."

Fu Gan's voice became hoarse in desperation, "General, please calm down, the current situation in the court is still under our control, there is no need to rush to take such drastic measures to fight back. We still have time, We can definitely think of a better way to smash the tricks of the rebels. General, think about Dong Zhuo, think about his lessons learned. If Dong Zhuo hadn’t been tricked by Yuan Kai’s scheme to revise the official school, if he hadn’t been tricked by Li Wei’s scheme to issue an announcement The order, if Wang Yun hadn't been tricked into abolishing the five baht coin, how could he have become a minister of disaster and ruined his reputation? How could he have been defeated so quickly and wiped out the army of Xiliang? How could he have been crushed after his death?"

Hearing the word "Dong Zhuo", Li Hong was startled, and shivered involuntarily, and a chill came from his vest.

"General, for so many years, you have been leading the army to conquer the world, and you basically don't care about political affairs. Do you know how powerful the eldest princess is now? The imperial court now directly controls more than 50 counties and states. Do you know how many prefects and states there are? Are you loyal to the eldest princess? Last year you wrote to the court that many Beijing officials did not understand the actual situation of the county and made many mistakes in formulating and implementing the new policy. , the prefect, and the prime minister were transferred back to the capital, and the capital officials were released. Because of your memorial, more than 20 officials from the northern Xinjiang department were transferred back to the capital by the eldest princess and the prime minister, do you know?"

Li Hong's face changed slightly, his anger gradually dissipated, and a wave of frustration slowly rose from the bottom of his heart.

"Look at today's situation, and then look back and think about the past..." Fu Gan shook his head helplessly, "General, this battle in the court will happen sooner or later. They have been scheming against you and using various opportunities to weaken Your strength. You have been fighting abroad all year round, and you have neglected the government, so it is impossible to defend against it."

"How many counties and states do we actually control?" Li Hong waved at Fu Gan, motioning him to stand up and speak.

"Fifteen counties, mainly the counties north of the Great Wall, and other counties are controlled by the eldest princess and the prime minister." Fu Gan said in a low voice, "Especially the rich counties, the prefects, Almost all the prime ministers are close friends of the eldest princess. After the accidents of four adults, Ding Li, Xu Hun, Zhu Yan, and Yang Yi, the general proposed to let Zhang Liao and other four generals serve in prefectures and counties. Why did they get the eldest princess and the prime minister? Your Excellency's consent? That's the reason. The General has lost control of the various counties."

Li Hong smiled wryly, feeling disheartened for a while.

Now the Northern Xinjiang people's power in the court has been split, and their power in the prefectures and counties has been squeezed out. If the court is in chaos, the prefectures and counties around the country will take advantage of the momentum and refuse to pay the wealth, Li Hong and his army will face difficulties.This is exactly the same as Yuan Kai's method against Dong Zhuo.However, because Dong Zhuo was too short of time to control the states and counties in time, he could only look at the sky and sigh that there was nothing he could do, but he was negligent in preventing, allowing the eldest princess and the prime minister to seize the opportunity.

Think about yourself working hard for the great cause of ZTE wholeheartedly, leading hundreds of thousands of soldiers to the bloody battlefield, but in the end, like Dong Zhuo, you are unknowingly heading towards the abyss of defeat.The way of heaven is so unfair.

The eldest princess has grown up, but because of her love for me, I feel that she has always been so weak and needs my own care and help. In fact, I have known for a long time that there will be no result between the two. For the great cause of ZTE, this kind of love between individuals is nothing, it is just an illusory dream.The eldest princess needs this kind of beautiful dream as an emotional sustenance, but she needs the world more, the country of the great Han, and the continuation and revitalization of Han Zuo.

"Why has no one reminded me?"

Seeing the general calm down, Fu Gan breathed a sigh of relief, "Master Li Wei's goal is to control the internal and external dynasties, he needs this kind of result, and we have been on the battlefield and need continuous financial support, so we He is very slow to the changes in the court, and unless Master Li Wei tells us, it will be difficult for us to deduce the future development of the situation from these changes..."

Li Hong was silent for a long time, then picked up Xu Rong's letter and read it carefully.

"What countermeasures do you have?"

"Now the court is blinded by the hope that the world will soon be unified. I believe that after the news spread, there will be very loud calls from the court and the opposition to negotiate a peace. Not only the officials of various states and counties will support the court, but even many generals in the army will support the court. Support the imperial court." Fu Gan sighed, "The big man has been in chaos for more than ten years, fighting for more than ten years, and countless people have died. Everyone is looking forward to peace, and no one wants to continue fighting. To openly oppose Xiangyang's peace negotiation conditions is to make the enemy of the entire court and the entire Han Dynasty, and the result can be imagined."

Li Hong narrowed his eyes slightly, and a smile suddenly appeared on the corner of his mouth, "Well said, well said... Let's return to Chang'an immediately."

Fu Gan's face showed joy, "The general has decided?"

"Why should I be charged with obstructing the prosperity of the great man?" Li Hong sneered, "Since everyone wants me to leave the court, then I will leave, and I will fulfill their wishes."

Fu Gan was dumbfounded.

"Urgently report to Zhang Liao and Jiang Ji, let them collect evidence, and then hand over the evidence to Master Yuan Yao, I will not interfere in this matter anymore."

=

On the eighth day of March, General Li Hong returned to Chang'an, supported the decision of the eldest princess and the court, and strongly demanded to negotiate a peace with Xiangyang in order to quickly stabilize the world and revive the great man.

The general's opinion shook the court, and almost all the ministers smelled blood in the excited cheers of the general.

The general's report that followed caused everyone to fall into extreme confusion.

On the grounds that this year's war in Hexi was related to the overall situation in Xinjiang, the general asked the emperor and the eldest princess to go to the Hexi battlefield immediately and lead the army to recover the four counties in Hexi.

There was a deathly silence in the hall.The eldest princess and the ministers looked at the resolute Li Hong, at a loss, not knowing what he was going to do.

"General, the peace talks are far more important than the war in Hexi, you should stay..." Prime Minister Cai Yong saw that the eldest princess bowed her head and said nothing, so she had no choice but to dissuade her, but Li Hong cupped his hands and interrupted him.

"I stay in Chang'an, which is not conducive to peace talks. Everyone knows the reason, but I can solemnly swear one thing..." Li Hong held up his right hand and said loudly, "I swear by the spirit of the late emperor, I, Li Hong, obey the orders of the emperor and the court. All the will, even if the emperor and the court want my head, I will give it with both hands, without any second thoughts."

Li Hong's voice reverberated in the main hall and lingered for a long time, deeply shaking the hearts of everyone in the hall.

The general's words couldn't be more clear. He wants to surrender all his military power.

The eldest princess stood up slowly, and just about to speak, Li Hong rushed to play again, "His Royal Highness, this time I went north to Hexi, and only brought a group of relatives and a hundred guards from the General's Mansion. The northern and southern armies are still guarding the capital. There is no need to recruit cavalry outside the Great Wall. With the [-] cavalry on the Hexi battlefield, I can recover the four counties in Hexi. Your Highness, please wait for the good news."

The eldest princess trembled slightly, and a look of pain flashed across her face.

"After the peace talks are successful and the world is unified, I am willing to guard Hexi for the great man, and I am also willing to guard the desert for the great man." Li Hong bowed and shouted, "I am willing to go to the fire for the community, even if my body is broken..."

The eldest princess's heart trembled, and tears welled up quietly.The ministers were all dumbfounded.

It seems that the general will not come back once he leaves. Isn't this too unbelievable?

After the dynasty was over, the general returned to Chang'an quickly without speaking a word to any of the ministers.Grand Sima Xu Rong, Zuo Cheqi General Xian Yufu, Guang Luxun Zhang Yan, Wei Wei Lu Bu, Grand Sima Li Wei and others planned to catch up with Wenwen, but the Grand General had already disappeared without a trace.

On the ninth day of March, Li Hong led his people to leave Chang'an without waiting for the princess's decree, and went north out of Xiaoguan.

=

The court immediately fell into panic.

The eldest princess urgently summoned Prime Minister Cai Yong and other important officials of the court to discuss countermeasures.The general suddenly wants to go to the Hexi battlefield at this moment, which is obviously related to the court's acceptance of Xiangyang's peace plan, but no one can guess what Li Hong is thinking. Stability, the stability of the army, the stability of the prefectures and counties, the military power in the hands of the generals can only be formally taken back after the imperial court completely controls the generals and the army.

Grand Tutor Yang Biao sneered lukewarmly, how much has the general interfered in government affairs these years?How many days did he stay in court?Now that Luoyang has been defeated, the world will be stable, and the court doesn't need him anymore, so what is he still doing here?Of course I went back to the desert to herd sheep.I'm old, and I'm going home too, so I don't get in the way here.The next day, he also returned to Chang'an.

The eldest princess thought over and over again, and after consulting the opinions of many ministers, she did not deprive the general of his military power for the time being, nor did she agree to the general's going to the Hexi battlefield. Waiting for the next step from the court.In addition, the eldest princess also ordered that the ministers are strictly prohibited from revealing the secrets of the court, so as not to shake the states and counties and shake the morale of the army.

Grand Sima Xu Rong was ordered to meet with the generals in court, and severely warned them that no one is allowed to intervene in the court battle without the order of the general, otherwise they will be severely punished.

=

Da Honglu Yuan Yao hastily pays a visit to Tai Fu Yang Biao.

After the general left Chang'an, the case of treason would definitely be handed over to Tingwei's Mansion for trial, but this would cause serious trouble.

"The general said he would help us, why did he go back on his word and suddenly let go?" Yuan Yao asked dejectedly, "Could it be that the general was really cornered by the eldest princess and the court and wanted to go far away into the desert?"

"You boy, when will you become smarter?" Yang Biao reached out and slapped Yuan Yao on the head affectionately, then smoothed his long beard, and said with great emotion, "Ten years ago, I saw the general for the first time. At that time, he was still a lieutenant protecting Qiang, he didn’t understand anything, he was imprisoned in Zhangyuetai by Emperor Xiaoling, and he didn’t dare to go anywhere, but now…” Yang Biao yelled up to the sky, “Now he is not only The first leopard, and the most cunning leopard in the world, powerful, powerful...Emperor Xiaoling will be famous in the annals of history in the future, not because of his Wanjintang, but because he chose a famous Zhongxing official for the big man."

Yuan Yao was puzzled.

"The general holds military power, and everyone is jealous. Everyone wants to take back the military power in his hand, thinking that if the general loses the military power, there will be no threat, but everyone is wrong. The power of the general is not because of him. The military power in his hand is because of his outstanding feats, his invincible myth, and his bravery in the world." Yang Biao smiled until his eyes narrowed, "Now that the general has handed over the military power, you Look, look at the eldest princess, look at Prime Minister Cai Yong, and see which one of them dares to reach out to take this military power? Who dares to take it? Haha... The general's move is so good, it's amazing..."

Yang Biao laughed loudly, "The general went to Hexi without a single soldier. The whole court was so stupid that they didn't know what to do. Think about it when they racked their brains to deal with the general and tried their best to take away the general's military power." Don’t you think it’s funny when everyone looks like they’re facing a big enemy? If the general stretched out his neck to cut them, would they dare to cut them? Stupid, a bunch of extremely stupid idiots. The lesson of Dong Zhuo’s disaster in the past I haven't absorbed it yet, and I want to do it again. Fortunately, the general is not the former Dong Zhuo, otherwise the court would already be bleeding like a river."

Yuan Yao understood everything in an instant, and his admiration for Li Hong could not be increased.No wonder my father forced me to go to Hebei and join the General.Following such a person to fight the world, the world is not something that is in the bag, it is at your fingertips.

"The general is gone, the military power has been handed over, and the court is also stupid." Yang Biao wiped away the tears from his laughter, and said cheerfully, "What will the court do now? Without the general, Xiangyang will honestly negotiate a peace? The Xiangyang people have been waiting for this day. As long as they get the news, they will definitely make more demands. Not only will they establish a vassal, but they will also restore the fifth-class title system, so as to provoke conflicts within the court, and the army will immediately be in chaos. Generals with outstanding meritorious service abound, since you can become a king, why can’t I become a duke and get a county?”

"How many yellow turban generals are there in the northern border army? Are they willing to serve as ministers with Cao Cao? Are they willing to be brothers and sisters with Liu Bei? Willing to shake hands with Yuan Tan? Let's see how many Hu tribe generals are there in the northern border cavalry? They will obey the court It’s a joke. I’m leaving my words here today, as long as the news of the general leaving the court spreads across the desert, all the tribes of the Hu tribe will definitely rebel. The barbarians are waiting for this day until their hair is gray, how can they miss this opportunity?”

"It's messed up, it's all messed up..." Yang Biao's face changed immediately, and his smile was uglier than crying, "The general voluntarily giving up the military power is more terrible than him holding the military power. It's ridiculous that the eldest princess and the prime minister, and that Help the self-righteous ministers, think that they can handle everything with their own strength, ignorance... I don’t understand, and they don’t even think about it, Yuan Wei and Wang Yun were so powerful back then, why did they still lose?”

Yuan Yao's face changed drastically, "Uncle, what shall we do?"

"What else can we do?" Yang Biao looked up to the sky and sighed, "If the eldest princess and the prime minister can come to their senses, immediately refuse the peace negotiation, and invite the general back, there is still a possibility of saving this matter, otherwise...forget it, we'd better shrink back Let’s be human with our heads, we are already in jeopardy, so why bother?”

=

In mid-March, a breakthrough was made in the peace talks, and the two sides reached agreement on many principles.

Cai Mao urgently wrote to Xiangyang, waiting for further instructions from Xiangyang. At the same time, he asked the eldest princess to release Xun Yu and Zhang Zhao.Although Zhang Zhao was not arrested, he was also imprisoned.Cai Mao said that if Chang'an and Xiangyang reached an agreement on all issues of principle, then the court's next step must be to completely solve the problems of Xuzhou and Jiangdong. Therefore, regardless of whether Xun Yu and Zhang Zhao are guilty or not, they should be pardoned. In order to improve relations with Cao Cao and Sun Quan.As for Xin Ping, Xun Chen, and Shen Rong, Cai Mao believed that they should be killed immediately, because the Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi brothers thought they were traitors and wanted their heads very much. Killing them would help the court appease the Yuan brothers.

The eldest princess agreed to Cai Mao's plea and ordered Tingwei Mansion to conclude the case as quickly as possible.

Zhang Miao obviously didn't want to miss the opportunity to attack Ying and Ru scholars, so he tortured Xin Ping and the three to force them to reveal more of their accomplices.

The scholars Ying and Ru are panicked, and the court hall is about to storm.

On March 24, Jiang Ji returned to Chang'an with some evidence of Zhang Chao's embezzlement and perversion of the law.He handed these things to Yuan Yao, and then hurried north to Xiaoguan to meet General Li Hong.

On March 26, Taifu Yang Biao, Taiwei Xunyou, Dahongyu Yuanyao, Guanglu doctor Zhong Yao, Taizhong doctor Yang Qi and other ministers jointly played the impeachment of the former Chenliu prefect Zhang Chao.Because the evidence in this case was conclusive, the law was seriously violated, and the scope of involvement was wide, the eldest princess was immediately alarmed.

The eldest princess ordered Zhang Liao, the governor of Yanzhou, to escort Zhang Chao's three brothers and the witnesses who committed the crime to Beijing.Order Xiaoqi General Wang Dang to arrest Zhang Chao and his men and escort them to Chang'an immediately.

On the same day, the eldest princess issued a decree, ordering Xiaoqi General Wang Dang to hold the axe and supervise Yingchuan's military administration.

On March 28, Ting Wei Zhang Miao was ordered to avoid.The eldest princess decreed that Sima Fang, an old minister, should be appointed as Tingwei, and Xili, the censor of Zhishu, should be appointed as Tingweicheng to hear the case.

On the same day, Tai Fu Yang Biao, Da Honglu Yuan Yao, and Guanglu doctor Zhong Yao played again, asking the court to revise "Tian Lv".

On March [-]th, Prime Minister Cai Yong met with Da Si Nong Li Wei to discuss the revision of "Tian Lv", but the two had too much disagreement and broke up unhappy.

=

In April, Zhang Chao's three brothers and a batch of evidence were escorted to Beijing.Chi Chi, who presided over the case, said nothing, and was tortured, and Zhang Chao's three brothers all confessed.

Soon, Zhang Chao and a group of relatives were also taken to Chang'an.Xi Xi tortured and tortured.Zhang Chao refused to confess and committed suicide in prison.

Zhang Chao's death immediately angered Prime Minister Cai Yong, eunuch Kong Rong, Zongzheng Zang Hong and other Qingyan scholars. They played repeatedly and forced Sima Fang, the court lieutenant, to immediately conclude the cases of Ding Li, Xu Hun and Zhu Wei.

The atmosphere in Chang'an City suddenly became tense.

=

In mid-April, Xiangyang wrote back, and the brothers Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi requested to retain the title and fief entrusted by the emperor of Xiangyang, otherwise they refused to be pampered.At the same time, Cao Cao in Xuzhou, Sun Quan in Jiangdong, and Zhou Yu also went to play the emperor and made the same request as the Yuan brothers.

Grand Tutor Yang Biao, Grand Sima Xu Rong, Zuo Cheqi General Xian Yufu and other ministers categorically opposed it, and the court fell into fierce debate.

At the end of April, all the generals of the Northern Frontier Army headed by Zuowei General Qu Yi in Beijing joined forces to oppose the rebellion of the imperial court entrusting Cao Cao and others.

The matter of peace negotiations immediately reached a deadlock.

=

(End of this chapter)