Great Han Empire

Chapter 356 The Swordsman
In June, Luoyang.

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The Taishi ordered Xu Shao to watch the sky at night, and found that the guest star was like a three-liter bowl, coming out of the cable, traveling southwest into the sky city, and disappearing at the end.Xu Shao turned pale with shock, and immediately occupied the class.The next day, when the Son of Heaven heard the news, he summoned Xu Shao urgently and asked whether it was bad luck or good luck.Xu Shaozou said: "Your Majesty, the entry of a guest star into the sky market is a sign of a great funeral for a nobleman, and it is a terrible thing for the Lord."

The emperor was overjoyed when he heard this.The nobleman had a great funeral, and it seemed that General He Jin was bound to die.He then rewarded Xu Shao heavily, ordered Wei Wei Liu Bo, and Xiao Huangmen Jian Shuo to speed up the pace of army building, and asked them to build the West Garden Army before the end of July.

After He Jin heard about this, he was so worried that he couldn't sleep or eat, and even fell ill.He Yong was so worried that he hurried to find Xu Shao and asked, "Sir General, what kind of noble is this nobleman?"

Xu Shao looked sad and remained silent.

He Yong's heart suddenly turned cold, and he said in disbelief: "How is it possible? The situation in Luoyang is so good now, and everything is under our control. How could there be a reversal? Could it be..." He stared at Xu Shao with a low voice. He asked in a low voice, "Is there a turning point in the battle in northern Xinjiang? Can General Zhenbei defeat Murong Feng?"

Xu Shao looked up to the sky and sighed, "Uncle Qiu, I have to go."

"You want to leave?" He Yong was shocked, "You want to leave Beijing?"

Xu Shao nodded lightly, and said: "Mr. Cai sent me a letter, asking me about the study of "Yi". In terms of talent and learning, I can't match Mr. Cai, so I dare not reply casually. Therefore, I I plan to go to Jinyang in person to discuss and communicate with Mr. Cai."

He Yong's eyes showed fear, and he was speechless for a long time.Xu Shao acts with a deep meaning in every step.At this time, the battle situation in northern Xinjiang was dangerous, Yanmen Pass was in danger, and Jinyang was extremely dangerous. He went to Jinyang at this time, obviously not to discuss the "Yi" study with Cai Yong, but for another purpose.Did he go to Jinyang to avoid disaster?But at present, there is no turning point in the war in northern Xinjiang. Even if Yanmen Gate is guarded, most of the border counties in northern Xinjiang will be lost. Except for the support of General Zhenbei, he has no ability to move his troops south. If the Son of Heaven does not have the support of General Zhenbei With the army as the backing, what can he use to deal with the general?Could it be based on the West Garden Army that is still under construction?

He Yong was puzzled, he really couldn't see any way for the emperor to win, except that the war situation in the northern border was reversed, and the general of Zhenbei won a complete victory, freeing up his hands to raise his troops to the south, the emperor did not defeat the emperor at all. General's strength.He Yong looked at Xu Shao, cupped his hands and begged, "General, for the sake of the great Han country, please give me some pointers."

Xu Shao hesitated for a long time, then said slowly: "Boqiu, it's not that I don't say anything, but that I really don't know. I'm not a god. At most, I just use the celestial phenomena to calculate what may happen in the future. The celestial phenomena will change at any time. , Different signs will appear at any time. How can we ordinary people see through the mysteries of the sky? In today's world, there are countless people like me, and everyone has different interpretations for the same celestial phenomenon. Retrograde into the Purple Palace, the last three times, it took more than sixty days to disappear. At that time, I told Your Majesty that the comet will wipe out the Purple Palace, and the world will change hands. There are people who want to plot evil, conspire to codify the country, and want to seize His Majesty's country and society. His Majesty listened to the greedy words and urged the formation of the West Garden Army, which made the situation in Luoyang even more chaotic."

When He Yong heard Xu Shao say "the world has changed its master", he suddenly realized that the astronomical phenomenon in February indicates that the world will change its master, and the astronomical phenomenon in June indicates that the nobles will die. Standing up, he raised his hands and shouted, "Open your eyes, the Han country is saved, it's saved!" Facing Xu Shao, he laughed loudly, "Brother Zijiang, have a good trip, a good trip..."

He Yong saluted respectfully, turned around and left. He wanted to tell the general and all his friends immediately the good news.

Xu Shao stood up, looked at He Yong's hurried back, and suddenly shouted: "Boqiu..."

He Yong suddenly turned around, looked at Xu Shao excitedly, and waited for his startling words.

"Boqiu, you have to forgive others and forgive others..."

He Yong's heart was clear, and he laughed and said: "Brother Zijiang, I'm going to Xiliang soon. I won't see you off when you leave Beijing. You and my brother will meet later."

Xu Shao was dejected and murmured, "This farewell will be a farewell forever."

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Xu Shao asked the emperor to resign on the grounds that his mother was old and had no one to take care of her.The emperor had no choice but to reward him generously, and summoned him in the imperial study in person.The emperor said that it is a pity that the great Han country is employing people, but the husband cannot contribute to the government.Feeling the grace of the Son of Heaven, Xu Shao prostrated himself on the ground with tears streaming down his face, "I am very sad that I cannot see Your Majesty again. I implore Your Majesty to cherish the body of the dragon for the sake of the society of the Great Han. Be sure."

The Son of Heaven helped Xu Shao up, and said slightly sadly: "I will keep your words firmly in my heart. Ever since I saw you, I have always had a secret worry in my heart. I wonder if you can share my worries and solve my problems before I leave?"

Xu Shao sighed, bowed and kowtowed again: "Your Majesty's worry is nothing more than Princess Changping. I didn't say anything that day, and it was really a great difficulty. Today, I am going to travel far away, and His Majesty has it in mind, so I have to say it." gone."

The emperor showed concern and listened attentively.

"In the future, if His Majesty needs to send someone to the north for any embarrassing matters, the princess will be the one who takes on this important task."

The emperor was taken aback.Princess going north?What does Xu Shao mean by this?What I want to hear is the future fate of the princess. How did he get involved in going north?Why go north?Could it be... the more the Son of Heaven thought about it, the heavier his heart became. He silently watched Xu Shao kneel and leave without saying a word.

Xu Shao's departure from Beijing did not cause much shock. Recently, many famous scholars and scholars left Beijing, and no one cared.Xu Shao left Luoyang on a stormy morning with dozens of Taixue students, as well as tens of thousands of volumes of books purchased by Taixue Jijiu Ma Rixun entrusted by Cai Yong.

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The emperor was very concerned about the war in northern Xinjiang. On this day, accompanied by the little Huangmen Jianshuo, he went to Shangshutai to listen to Huangfusong's report.

Huangfusong explained the battle situation in northern Xinjiang carefully, "At present, Qu Yi's army has left the Great Wall Fortress and is approaching Meiji, General Zhenbei's army has also left Jicheng to threaten Yuyang, and Wen Chou, who is sticking to the Feihu Fortress, has basically The crisis has been stabilized." Huangfusong pointed to the map and said, "Your Majesty, please see that the Han army has fully deployed on the two wings of northern Xinjiang, and each department has used offense instead of defense to firmly restrain the Xiongnu rebels and Murongfeng. If we can’t break the Xianbei’s offensive, we’ll have to watch the Yanmen Pass battle in the middle.”

The emperor said worriedly: "Can you expect these ants to do it? Back then, you defeated them with tens of thousands of people, and Li Hong even beat them to death with [-] cavalry. Is this okay? Isn't it too risky?" ?”

Princess going north?Could it be that the Xianbei people occupied Bingzhou, and I want to use the princess to make a marriage proposal, right?Otherwise, what's the need to send the princess north?The Son of Heaven was taken aback by his sudden thought. He touched his little face and felt a chill in the back of his head.If the leopard loses Beijiang, I will kill him and dismember him to vent my hatred.

Huangfusong didn't speak, and he had no idea.He really has to thank Seo Rong for being silent now.Ever since Xu Rong received the imperial decree asking him to defeat the Xianbei people at Yanmen Pass, he had no news, and he didn't know how he would fight, how to fight, and how many Yellow Turban troops he would recruit to fight. There is no news about the ordnance documents from the Zhenbei General's Mansion.It's good if there is no news, otherwise, the ministers in the DPRK will definitely criticize, neither east nor west, and the few ministers at Shangshutai are struggling to cope, so they don't want to do anything, just accompany them to talk nonsense.

"Xu Zhonglang hasn't written yet?"

Several ministers at Shangshutai shook their heads.Han Fu said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, Xu Zhonglang handed over the Zhenbei General's Yinshou Jieyue to Zhang Yan, and asked Zhang Yan to act as the Zhenbei General's army, and went to Yanmen Pass to command the battle by himself. Was Xu Zhonglang too rash to do this? What's more, he didn't ask His Majesty for advice beforehand, and decided on his own, which is really a bit..."

"Master Han..." Lu Zhi interrupted Han Fu, and said very dissatisfied, "The situation in Bingzhou is critical, and the war is changing rapidly. If you have to consult the imperial court for everything, how can you fight this battle? Since your majesty asked the governor of the General Zhenbei The military affairs of the three states and two counties are trust in them, and they are willing to let them fight without restraint. The battle of Yanmenguan is related to the overall situation of northern Xinjiang. Of course, as the chief general, they can kill first and then play. This is the power given to them by His Majesty. "

Han Fu's face was ugly and he didn't refute.Xu Jing followed Lu Zhi's words and said: "It depends on what the matter is. You can't do whatever you want, and do whatever you want. Xu Zhonglang recruited 13 soldiers in one breath without the court's consent. For such a big event, he actually did it in advance." Not even telling His Majesty, seems too much, right? He only has one head, but I have millions of people in Bingzhou, which is more important, doesn't he know?"

"I have already said that the battle situation in northern Xinjiang is changing rapidly, so there is no room for hesitation and delay." Lu Zhi said coldly, "It is precisely because there are millions of people in Bingzhou that His Majesty wants to give the Zhenbei General's Mansion so much power. Both of you The adults are entangled in these trivial matters, and make irresponsible remarks again and again. How will this help the battle at Yanmen Pass? Now we should work together to help Xu Zhonglang win this battle, and we should not say here What law did he violate, what law did he break, are the two adults going to arrest Xu Zhonglang from Yanmen Pass?"

The emperor glared at Lu Zhi.When fighting the Yellow Turban Army in the first year of Zhongping, the emperor listened to the slander of the little Huangmen Zuofeng and arrested Lu Zhi from the Guangzong battlefield.The emperor later knew that he had done something wrong, but he couldn't apologize to Lu Zhi, could he?So the matter is over.In order to express his apology, the emperor deliberately put Lu Zhi on the Shangshutai, which can be regarded as a kind of compensation.At this time, Lu Zhi suddenly mentioned arresting Xu Rong, obviously reminding the emperor not to listen to greedy words and make the same mistake again.

"Forget it, I gave him all these powers. Don't talk about it in the future." The emperor waved his hand and said, "The defeat of the Xianbei people is the top priority, so let him do what he wants. Li Aiqing's subordinates have the same temper as Li Aiqing , are not obedient, and I will reprimand them after we win this battle."

The Son of Heaven pointed to Huangfusong and asked, "In Aiqing's opinion, when will Xu Zhonglang and Zhang Zhonglang defeat the Xianbei people?"

Huangfusong said with a wry smile: "It will be August at the earliest. To defeat 20 Xianbei iron cavalry, at least 20 troops are needed, and if [-] troops are to fight a big battle, it is absolutely impossible without three to four months of preparation. of."

"August? How can there be money in August?" The emperor exclaimed, "20 troops? Last year Li Aiqing defeated the Xianbei people with 10 people. Why did he use 20 troops this year?"

"Last year, General Li had 3 iron cavalry, and most of these cavalry were Qiang people from western Xinjiang. Of course, they had to fight bravely to protect their homeland." Huangfusong explained, "Last year, we also occupied The terrain advantage, if there is no advantage of Liupan Mountain, how can the Xianbei people go south in a team of [-] people? It is precisely because the army of the Xianbei people is out of touch, General Li seized the opportunity to defeat them one by one with superior forces."

"This time Xu Zhonglang has no iron cavalry and no terrain advantage. If he wants to defeat the Xianbei people, he only needs to lure the Xianbei people into the pass, then cut off the Xianbei people's retreat, and force the Xianbei people to fight against him. 20 people fight 20, wipe out It’s impossible, we only need to hit hard, and fortunately we only need to hit the Xianbei people hard, otherwise, [-] people are not enough anyway.”

"Lure into the pass?" The emperor pointed to Yanmen Pass on the map and glared at Huangfusong, "Putting the Xianbei people into Yanmen pass? Did Xu Rong say that or did you say that?"

Huangfusong knew what the emperor was thinking. The emperor was worried that if the Yellow Turban Army failed, or if the Yellow Turban Army suddenly rebelled, Northern Xinjiang would be completely over. He also had the same worry, but besides this method, he couldn't think of any better way for Xu Rong The method can defeat the Xianbei people.Huangfusong was flustered for a while, and he even had some difficulty breathing. He gasped for breath twice, and replied in a low voice, "Your Majesty, this is my minister's opinion, not Xu Zhonglang's strategy to annihilate the enemy."

The Son of Heaven looked back at Han Fu suddenly, and shouted: "Decree to Xu Rong, order him to guard the Yanmen Gate, and not let a single Xianbei in."

Before Han Fu had time to agree, Taiwei Fan Ling suddenly appeared at the door of the Shang study.Fan Ling was out of breath, sweating profusely, and his whole body was drenched by the rain.

"Your Majesty, the Yellow River has burst its embankment."

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In mid-June, Luoyang.

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Due to the continuous heavy rain, the water of the Yellow River skyrocketed, and the embankment of the Yellow River, which had been in disrepair for a long time, finally couldn't bear it. The affected population reached millions.

The ruling and opposition parties, and the three prefectures immediately invested all their manpower and material resources to start disaster relief, and the food, payment and military equipment transported to the northern battlefield were suddenly interrupted.

After hearing the news, Huangfusong, Lu Zhi and other ministers were dumbfounded. It really is heaven's death for our great Han country.

The emperor doesn't care about northern Xinjiang anymore.The top priority now is disaster relief. There are millions of refugees in the Central Plains. If one is not handled well, there will be repeated rebellions immediately.

The emperor summoned his ministers to discuss matters all night long, and imperial edicts were sent to various places, and fast horses galloped on the roads leading to various county governments.

The war in northern Xinjiang was completely stopped due to lack of food support.The Son of Heaven ordered Qu Yi, the Hun general Zhonglang, to withdraw his troops back to the Great Wall Fortress immediately, ordered Zhenbei General Li Hong to lead his troops back to Jicheng, ordered Xu Rongzheng to dispatch the Yellow Turban Army to guard Yanmen Pass, and ordered Duwei Wen Chou to stick to Feihu Fortress.At the same time, the Son of Heaven informed the generals in the four places that the food and salaries had been completely cut off, and that all the departments of the army should use the food sparingly, and that the delivery would be limited in the next few months.The emperor also ordered that all the grain not to be transported across the Yellow River be diverted to the disaster-stricken counties.

Da Sinonong Yuan Pang cried to the emperor in the court hall, Da Sinonong's mansion has no money, how can he provide disaster relief?The emperor also knew that the problem was serious this time, so he could no longer be stingy.He ordered the Shaofu to donate 20 billion yuan to the Dasinongfu, and he himself donated a billion yuan from Wan Jintang to the Dasinongfu. All donate.

Some ministers suggested that the emperor suspend the preparations for the construction of the West Garden Army and use the money for the preparation of the West Garden Army for disaster relief.The emperor disagreed, pointing to Weiwei Liu Bo and Xiao Huangmen Jianshuo, if we don't see [-] Xiyuan troops by the end of July, I will blame you.

A few days later, the emperor decreed that Taiwei Fan Ling was dismissed.Fan Ling was dismissed because of a crime after only serving as a captain for 33 days, which he never thought of beforehand.Fan Ling is heartbroken. He gave the emperor [-] million yuan for this captain.While crying bitterly, Fan Ling yelled at Cao Song for being that fat man who gave the emperor [-] million yuan to show off, but he was forced to follow behind even if he wanted to give it away, and lost [-] million yuan for nothing.

No one in the court dared to ask the emperor to be a captain anymore.In order not to be the Taiwei, Situ Xu Xiang hurriedly gave money to the Queen Mother and the emperor.At this time, whoever sits on it will be dismissed. If it is not good, the time in office is shorter than that of Fan Ling. Not only will he lose money in vain, but he will also ruin his excellent career.Now, there are 10,000+ barbarians rebelling and invading outside, and millions of refugees inside are mourning. If there is any trouble, they will step down immediately.

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(End of this chapter)