Great Han Empire

Chapter 552 Immediately Crossing the Gun
The doctor ordered Li Ru to return to Luoyang.

After Dong Zhuo listened to Li Ru's detailed narration of his trip to the desert, his heart immediately relaxed.The attitude of General Hussars made him very happy. Now that Hedong can garrison troops, Huangfusong in Guanxi has been deprived of his military power, and the threats from the west and north of Luoyang have been relieved at the same time. In this way, he can concentrate all Energized to deal with the attacks from the east and south of Luoyang.

Dong Zhuo's current actual control area is only one prefecture and five counties including Xiliang and Sili's Sanfu, Hongnong, and Henan Yin. Jizhou is not within his control at all. He still can't actually control Jizhou, so he doesn't care about the transfer of all taxes from Jizhou to Northern Xinjiang. On the contrary, he is a little secretly proud.Now that Han Fu and Yuan Shao are recruiting troops to expand their army in Jizhou, the uprising of troops in various states and counties must also require the wealthy Jizhou to bear a large part of the food and supplies. After the general Hussars knows this situation, he must apologize for the fact that Jizhou did not allocate taxes to northern Xinjiang this year. The matter was furious.There is money for recruiting soldiers, and money for fighting, but there is no money for the relief of northern Xinjiang alone. How can there be such a reason in the world?It seems that the conflict between General Hussars, Han Fu and Yuan Shao has already begun.

In the past few years, General Hussars has relied on his outstanding achievements and strong soldiers and horses, and has never suffered a loss. Especially in the crisis situation in front of Beijiang, he will do everything possible to squeeze Jizhou's taxes to subsidize the north. In Xinjiang, he would not just watch Han Fu and Yuan Shao take a lot of taxes to recruit troops to expand the army and launch a rebellion.

"Okay, this matter is well done." Dong Zhuo praised, "Changsheng, tell me, what should we do now? Should we take advantage of the rebellion before forming a joint force to defeat each other, or stick to the capital and wait and see what happens? Or should we take the initiative to retreat?" Go to Chang'an and use Kanto as a game battlefield?"

Li Ru rubbed his slender face, and said a little tiredly: "Your Excellency asked this, obviously he has made up his mind and is going to retreat to Chang'an."

Dong Zhuo smiled and nodded.

=

Tian Yi explained: "Your Majesty intends to move His Majesty to Chang'an while the Hushi General is still planning how to solve the Luoyang crisis and is unable to go south. As long as His Majesty is in our hands, the power is in our hands, so we You can take the initiative and be invincible first.”

Right now, we have several sticky issues that we cannot resolve.First, because the states and counties refused to pay taxes and the national treasury was exhausted, the imperial court was unable to support the food and salaries of an army of 20; secondly, there were many states and counties that rebelled. many.If there are states and counties joining the rebellion one after another in the later stage, the rebel forces will be even more, and it will be very difficult for us to hold on to Luoyang; there is also a crisis in Luoyang, if the powerful and ministers in the capital cooperate with the rebels, we will be in trouble.Now that the rebellion is strong, it will be very difficult for us to win in the short term. The two sides will soon be in a stalemate. We do not have sufficient food and wages, so we cannot stand in a stalemate with the rebellion for a long time. Therefore, there is only one way to retreat.

We have hoarded a large amount of money and food in Chang'an, coupled with the stable foundations of Kansai and Guanzhong, even if the Hussar General joins forces with the rebels in the future, we will be able to protect ourselves.After His Majesty and ministers took refuge in Chang'an, we used part of our troops to guard Luoyang and the Gyeonggi Pass, and then joined forces with the Hussar General to confront the rebels.After a stalemate for a period of time, the rebels have no hope of winning and will surely fall into the embarrassing situation of advancing and retreating.If you advance, you cannot capture Luoyang and Chang'an, and if you retreat, you will die without a place to bury yourself. There are many contradictions.At this time, the adults can ask the emperor to give amnesty to the world, and then send important officials in the court to appease the state and county officials who participated in the rebellion, split up and instigate them to buy them, quickly quell the rebellion, and strive to win the soldiers without fighting.If we can not fight, we will resolutely not fight.

The rebels were unable to capture Luoyang and Chang'an, and we were unable to go out to quell the rebellion, but the imperial court could not lose control of the states and counties because of this.The imperial court needs taxes, but it also needs a complete Han country. We can't let the rebels succeed in their plots, let alone watch the rebels harm the Han society without saving it.Who can save the Great Han Society that is about to collapse?In today's world, there is only the great general of hussars.

The Hussar General has just finished his expedition. For us, his deterrent effect is far greater than his own strength. The army crushed the rebellion.The stability of Northern Xinjiang is based on the stability of the Great Han Society. Now that the Great Han Society is about to be overthrown, how can there be stability in Northern Xinjiang?
"Shu Ping is right." Dong Zhuo said, "General Hushi decided to garrison Luoyang. It can be seen that he has a premonition of the crisis that can destroy the great Han society. He is unwilling and cannot stay out of it. Xu Rong's garrison in Luoyang is equivalent to telling For those rebels, the Hussar General supported the present day and defended our country."

After pondering for a long while, Li Ru slowly said: "The general Hussars stationed in Luoyang may have other purposes, but when Xu Rong arrives in Luoyang, he can't let him go. Today, the big man is at the critical point of life and death, and protecting the safety of the country has become a national responsibility. If you don't give up your life to protect the country at this time, when will you wait?"

Dong Zhuo clapped his hands and laughed loudly: "You should yell this sentence three times at the court and all the officials, see if anyone blush?"

"Quickly draw up an order to invite the emperor to recruit the general of the hussars to go south to suppress the rebellion."

===

At the end of December, as the New Year was approaching, the flow of people in the Gyeonggi area suddenly increased. Dong Zhuo immediately ordered the lifting of the ban on Luoyang, and ordered the eight gates of Gyeonggi to open the city gates to allow the people to enter and exit.

Dong Zhuo said at the court meeting: "My 400-year-old foundation has gone through countless ups and downs and tribulations, but my Dahan community is still unscathed and stable as a rock. With the gang of treacherous ministers and rebellious sons outside the customs, hundreds of thousands of rebels, Is it possible to shake my Dahan Sheji? I stand here today and tell you that even if I, Dong Zhuo, die, this Dahan Sheji will still be guarded by the Hushi General. , as long as I, the Dahan Wuren, still have breath, I will never let the Dahan Sheji fall into the hands of rebellion."

"Today I ordered to open all the city gates in Gyeonggi until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. I want to see if the sky in my big man is blue or black?"

=

The emperor issued a decree to recruit the general of hussars to lead the army to the south to suppress the rebellion.

The emperor decreed to dismiss Qiao Mao, the prefect of Dongjun, and condemned him as a treasonous crime, punishing the nine clans.Then the emperor sent eighteen imperial edicts to various states and counties, severely reprimanding the later general Yuan Shu and the other seventeen prefects and counties for not being able to distinguish right from wrong, believing that Qiao Mao was making trouble, and even raising troops to participate in the rebellion.The emperor made it clear that as long as the governors of the states and counties can quickly stop the army, send taxes to the treasury, and present a confession, they can avoid the death penalty.

On this day, Xu Jing, the censor Zhongcheng, hurriedly abandoned his seal and fled Luoyang after he came down to court.

On the same day, Grand Tutor Yuan Wei received the news that Huangfusong had given up his military power and went to Chang'an City to prepare for the construction of Han'an Dufu.Yuan Kai's face turned pale with shock, and he was in chaos for a while.

Huaili City, where Huangfusong stationed troops in Fufeng, is only a hundred miles away from Chang'an City. As long as Huangfusong raises troops, with Huangfusong's prestige and use of troops, Chang'an can go down immediately, and Tongguan is also in his pocket.Dong Zhuo lost Chang'an and Xiliang, and had no way to retreat. He was immediately surrounded by the army of various states and counties in Luoyang, and he was left at the mercy of others. The key.Strength determines everything, Dong Zhuo has become a trapped beast in a cage, and the Hussar General will naturally make the choice that is most conducive to the stability of the big man.

"Yizhen, you are too confused. What you gave up is not the military power of the [-] troops, but the Dahan Society."

Yuan Kui became ill from worry and anger, and was bedridden that day.Yuan Kui lay on the couch thinking for a long time, and ordered someone to invite Shangshu Zhou Wei to the mansion.

"Zhongyuan, quickly try to meet King Hongnong."

===

A Pavilion is located near Nangong Changqiu Palace, where Hongnong King Liu Bian and Princess Tang Ji were imprisoned.

The Chinese New Year is approaching, Shangshu Zhou Mo sent some silk and food to King Hongnong according to the emperor's decree.Although King Hongnong was imprisoned, he has been in the palace for a long time and knows how to save his life. Moreover, he is young and playful by nature, so he should eat, drink and play. Not only did he not lose weight, but he grew Fat.

King Hongnong asked Zhou Yan, is Your Majesty okay?You tell His Majesty that Chinese New Year is coming, if I allow, I would like to visit him.

Zhou Yan knelt on the ground with a sad expression, almost crying bitterly.Seeing the tears on Zhou Yan's face, King Hongnong recalled these nightmare months, and gradually showed deep fear on his chubby little face, feeling deeply saddened.

"Dong Zhuo misled the country with his own power, killed innocent people indiscriminately, and was bloody and brutal. Our country will soon be overthrown..."

"Your Majesty lives in fear every day, and his life is at stake..."

King Hongnong was so frightened that he stood in the distance without daring to say a word.

Zhou Wu wiped away his tears, looked around, and hurriedly took out a yellow satin full of words from his arms, "Today, all states and counties are gathering troops and horses outside the pass to attack Dong Zhuo..." Zhou Wu then said the present He explained the situation in a few words, and explained in detail the article on Dong Xiwen to King Hongnong, saying that after the volunteer soldiers from various states and counties entered Luoyang, King Hongnong would be made emperor again and the country would be revived.

"At present, the soldiers and horses of the states and counties are temporarily under the command of Yuan Shao, the prefect of Bohai County, but because of his small official position, he cannot control the soldiers and horses of various places, so he urgently hopes to be awarded by His Majesty." Zhou Wei said, "In order to please Dong Shunli, I suggest that Your Majesty With Yuan Shao as the general of the chariot and cavalry, he participated in the affairs of the official secretary and took charge of state affairs, and entrusted all matters to the general of the chariot and cavalry."

King Hongnong was terrified, his whole body trembled involuntarily, and his scalp went numb.He felt that Zhou Yan was not calling his majesty, but cutting his neck with a knife.Zhou Yan pushed himself to a dead end, agreeing or not is actually the same thing.Although he didn't need to stamp the seal on the yellow silk, Yuan Shao could forge it. In the future, Yuan Shao only needs to read this imperial edict, and he will die.

King Hongnong's tears flowed down, he looked at Zhou Yan in despair, and asked pitifully, "Can't my lord spare my life?"

Zhou Yan kowtowed again and again, tears streaming down his face, heartbroken.

===

Xun Yu strode into Sikong Mansion.

Xun Yu is in his twenties, tall and thin, with a white face and short beard, a sharp and resolute handsome face, a pair of piercing eyes, elegant and a little aloof.Xun Yu is an official of the Shaofu who guards the palace order. (The palace guard is the official who is in charge of the imperial paper, pen, ink, Shangshu treasury and sealing clay.) He is about to resign and come to his uncle Xun Shuang for help .

After Xu Jing abandoned his official position and fled, Dong Zhuo immediately asked the emperor to issue an edict that if any Luoyang capital official dared to abandon his official position and escape privately, it would bring disaster to the clan and family members.With this decree, the number of fugitives of officials at all levels in Luoyang has been greatly reduced, and those who escaped are people like Xu Jing whose family is not in Luoyang.

Xun Shuang sighed, "Wen Ruo, when the country is in crisis, it is our duty to serve the country, not..."

Xun Yu sneered disdainfully and said, "Master Uncle, today's court is Dong Zhuo's court, not the court of the Great Han. I don't want to serve such a bloody and brutal man like Dong Zhuo. The establishment of the Doctor of Ancient Text Classics was originally a trivial matter. But the bloody killing of this barbarian immediately turned into a major disaster for the whole country. How can such a person govern the country? He thought that his sword was sharper than our pens, and that Confucian scholars who studied modern classics gave him Frightened, what does this kind of fool know? Even if the Hussar General goes south to help him stabilize the situation this time, he will be infamous forever."

"It is precisely because Dong Zhuo is a warrior, a bloody and brutal man who endangered the survival of the country, that we have to stay all the more. Is it possible that only force can save the big man from falling?"

"Forcing will only speed up the defeat of my great man." Xun Yu shook his head and said, "I don't want to stay, and I don't want to see the loss of life. I have to escape. After I return home, I will move south with my tribe to escape Disasters of war. Yingchuan is the land of the Four Wars, there must be war disasters, I must rush back immediately to save the clan."

Xun Shuang pondered for a long time, nodded slowly and said: "That's fine, the family really needs someone like you to go back and make up their minds, otherwise something will happen."

"Uncle, I want to leave Luoyang with my family, please help me, uncle."

Xun Yu's wife is the daughter of Tang Heng, a servant of the Central Committee.Xun Yu's father, Xun Yu, was one of the Eight Dragons of the Xun Clan. When he was the Prime Minister of Jinan, he met Tang Heng, the Minister of the Central Committee. Xun Yu, who was two years old at the time, wanted to make a baby kiss.Xun Yu was afraid of Tang Heng's power, so he had no choice but to agree. He thought that his reputation was over, and it was not a glorious thing to cling to a traitor, and he also harmed his son.What Xun Yu didn't expect was that Xun Yu was extremely talented when he was young. When He Yong saw him, he immediately praised him as "the talent of Wang Zuo", so Xun Yu became famous in Yingchuan.With a big reputation, people will say yes to everything, not to mention that Tang Heng died early and his family was in decline, so this matter is not worth mentioning.

Xun Shuang said in embarrassment: "Why can't you wait? Why did you have to leave Beijing at this time? Dong Zhuo now hates the bureaucrats who left Beijing very much, saying that these people are rebels. If he is angry and sends people on the way..."

"Uncle, after the next year, the Hussar General will go south to Beijing. At that time, the war will be raging, and I'm afraid no one will be able to leave." Xun Yu frowned and said worriedly, "I heard that the big cockroach Han Rong Your Excellency has already persuaded Dong Zhuo to let his son go to his hometown to serve as the county magistrate, and take care of the family members by the way. His Excellency Sima Fang, the secretary of the censor Zhongcheng, is also wooing Li Ru, the order of the doctor, hoping that he can get him a warrant of Dong Zhuo , asked his son Sima Lang to return home quickly and move his clan. Sima’s family is in Wen County, where the two armies fought. If the clan stayed there, it would be a dead end. Our Xun family is in Yingyang (now Xuchang, Henan), where we must fight Therefore, this matter should be done sooner than later, I have to go home quickly, and there is no further delay."

===

The next day, Xun Shuang found Dong Zhuo in person, and said bluntly, that this battle will definitely be fought, and I am grateful for the kindness of Lord Xiangguo, so it is impossible for me to leave Beijing, but I have to consider my clan and family in Yingyang .My family doesn't know that war is about to happen in my hometown, so I'm going to send a nephew back to move the clan.

Dong Zhuo readily agreed.Recently, Tai Fu Yuan Kui, Tai Wei Huang Wan and Situ Yang Biao were either against him, or they were passive and sabotage. Yang Biao simply did not go to court, and many ministers were either sick or at home with a sad face Doing nothing, the state affairs are basically maintained by Xun Shuang, Chen Ji, Ma Rixun, Ding Gong and others.Dong Zhuo is very grateful that they can still put state affairs first at this time, so they generally respond to requests.

Dong Zhuo said, "Brother Ciming, your nephew's grandson Huangmen servant Xun You has to teach the emperor every day, and he can't leave. I think you should let your nephew keep the palace and order Xun You to go home."

Xun Yu was changed to Kang Fu Ling (now south of Jining City, Shandong Province), and he left Beijing to take up his post today.In fact, this is convenient for him to leave Beijing with his family, whether to take office or not is his own business.

Xun Shuang left happily, but Sima Fang tremblingly ran to Dong Zhuo to plead for his son.Although Sima Lang has no official position, but because of his father's relationship, he can't leave Beijing privately, but Sima Lang is young and energetic, so he just wants to go out of the city to go home in a big way, but he was caught.

Sima Lang is about 20 years old, tall and strong, and looks older than his actual age.When he was 12 years old, the invigilator thought he had cheated and falsely reported his age when he took the Tongzilang test.Dong Zhuo looked at him with a haughty look, and couldn't help but think of his dead son.Dong Zhuo said to him, you were the same age as my dead son, and he was as tall and strong as you.Sima Lang stared at the roof and ignored him at all.Dong Zhuo didn't take it seriously, and asked, why did you run away?Why did you betray me?Sima Lang said, if I don't go home immediately to move the clan, my clan will lose their lives.Now that the world is in turmoil and the flames of war are imminent, the people cannot live and work in peace and contentment, and they are wandering around. Can adults stop it with severe punishment?Sima Lang also advised Dong Zhuo to think carefully about these matters, and to think more about the lives of the common people, so that he might become a prominent figure like Yi Yin and Duke Zhou.

Dong Zhuo expressed his understanding and did not punish him, but asked Sima Fang to take him home.A few days later, Li Ru quietly gave Sima Fang a warrant from Dong Zhuo, and Sima Lang returned to Wen County without hindrance.

=

He Yong, Xun You, Zhou Yu, Zheng Tai, Hua Xin and others bid farewell to Xun Yu at the Shili Changting Pavilion.

He Yong said in a low voice: "You Ruo (Xun Chen) is waiting for you in Yingyang, you must be careful along the way, and you must hand over the things to him intact." Xun Yu understood and nodded repeatedly.

"I have a few friends outside the Hulao Pass. After leaving the Hulao, they will escort you to Yingyang."

=

On the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, Zhu Jun, the right general, returned to Luoyang. On this day, Dong Zhuo, who had returned from the imperial court, was assassinated.

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(End of this chapter)