Great Han Empire

Chapter 580: Troubled Times Heroic Chapter Dangerous
July of the first year of Chuping (190) of the Han Dynasty.

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On the sixth day of July, Longshan.

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When the morning sun sprinkled golden light all over the mountains, Longshan slowly opened his lazy eyes and yawned long. Suddenly, the majestic war drums and loud horns sounded at the same time, and the cheerful and dense voices suddenly After the news spread all over the mountain, Longshan was startled, and hurriedly put away the thin and hazy mist covering his body, revealing a beautiful and tall figure.

Longquan is crowded with people and is very lively.

Holding Xiaoyu and Fengxue on her arms, the princess hurried to the carriage, and excitedly shouted to Cai Yan who was following behind: "Wen Ji, hurry up, hurry up, we are leaving."

Cai Yan pursed her lips and said with a smile: "Your Highness, the general and your lords haven't left the palace yet, what's the rush?"

The princess immediately turned her head to look at Wei Duan who was standing nearby, and said in a low voice: "Master Wei, hurry up, hurry up."

Wei Duan smiled and bowed away.

"Where are the two wives of General Tiger Head? Why haven't you seen them yet?" The princess approached the carriage, looking around and asked.

Xiao Yu replied softly: "Your Highness, Lord Yan's two wives got into another carriage, and they..."

"Hurry up, hurry up..." the princess smiled, "It takes a long time to get to Jinyang from here, so it would be nice for everyone to sit together and chat."

The graceful Xiao Lan appeared in everyone's sight.

The princess greeted her with a happy cheer, "Lord Zhu Shanshan is late."

Xiao Lan saluted respectfully, and said with a smile: "Your Highness, when Sister Xiaoyu came to Mr. Wang's house to ask for a date, she should have set the date for welcoming the bride as today."

"Why?" asked the princess curiously.

"Your Highness won't be able to see Pang Da's marriage until three days later, are you in a hurry?"

Feng Xue and Cai Yan covered their mouths and snickered, the princess' fair face flushed slightly.Xiao Yu couldn't help but said happily: "Master Xu Shaoxu personally predicted the date of welcoming the bride, so I dare not decide it casually."

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In the big tent, officials from various prefectures in northern Xinjiang gathered together, laughing and laughing.

Li Wei, Zhu Mu, Yang Feng, Sun Qin, and Hua Xiong from Hushi General's Mansion, Xu Rong, Zhang Baiqi, and Xie Ming from Hedong, Qu Yi, Wen Chou, and Zhang He from Jinzhong, Zhang Yan and Zhao Jian from Changshan , Zhao Yun from Shangjun, Zuo Yan, Tang Fang, and Wei Jun (beard) from outside the Great Wall, Yan Rou and Li Su from Shanggu, Yan Wuwei and Jiang Wu from Damo, Liu Bao, Liu Ming, and She Moci from among the kings of the Hu clan , Lu Pofeng, Li Kuangfeng, these people are rarely seen in different places, and some of them have not heard from each other for more than a year. It is of course a great joy to be able to reunite in Longshan this time.

Yan Wuwei and Jiang Wu were the last to rush to Longshan. They thought that there was a major conquest in northern Xinjiang, so they traveled non-stop, day and night, and lost weight.When they arrived at Longshan, Li Hong's words made them dumbfounded.Li Hong said, who said there was going to be a war?Brother Yuxing (Xian Yufu) told you?I invite you to come, there is nothing else but to drink wedding wine.Pound is getting married.

Yan Wuwei smiled bitterly and said: "General, then you should also say hello, so that we can have a clear mind. We were so anxious that we drove five horses each for more than 3000 miles at a stretch, and we were almost exhausted."

Li Hong explained with a smile.Because the current situation is changing again and again, it is becoming more and more unfavorable to Beijiang, and Beijiang has to continuously revise its countermeasures.Now Beijiang plans to form a three-party check and balance with Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shu in Gyeonggi, and form an alliance with Yuan Shao and Han Fu outside Gyeonggi, and there is only one purpose for doing so, that is to get food from Jizhou, Yuzhou and Jingzhou .

This strategy was proposed by Li Wei, and it was very difficult to realize. Later, we discussed it for a long time, and finally Tian Chou drew up a specific implementation strategy.Tian Chou suggested to use the sudden transfer and frequent gathering of important officials in northern Xinjiang to create the illusion that the war is imminent, thus forcing Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao to respond in our favor.

At present, Dong Zhuo thinks that we are going to attack Chang'an, and has a tense relationship with us, while Yuan Shu is getting closer and closer to us due to the situation.I heard that his long history Li Ye will come to Jinyang soon, obviously he wants to get some promise from me.Now the three parties are in a very delicate state, and there is a vague possibility that Beijiang and Yuan Shu will join forces to check and balance Dong Zhuo, and this is exactly the effect we want.I can't let Dong Zhuo regain his strength and endanger the country again.

Because we successfully created the illusion of a desperate fight, and some of our generals had a special relationship with the Yellow Turban Army in Montenegro, Yuan Shao and Han Fu were worried that we would attack Jizhou, so they had to back down.Zheng Yan wrote back that he and Chen Lin would arrive in Jinyang soon, and the alliance was a sure thing.

In this way, the check and balance of the four parties was finally barely successful.This check and balance is centered on Luoyang, using the blockade of Guanzhong to gradually weaken Dong Zhuo's strength, and firmly suppressing him in Guanzhong; using Dong Zhuo's threat and the split of the Yuan Clan, and weakening Yuan Shu's strength, firmly control him In the area of ​​Yuzhou and Nanyang; taking advantage of the ant rebellion in Hebei, Qingzhou, Qingzhou and Xuzhou and the gradual easing of the crisis in our northern Xinjiang, we weakened and restrained Yuan Shao and Han Fu, gradually attacked and split up Dong Dajun, and killed them all silently.In the future, when the country is stable and the time is ripe, we will enter Chang'an to kill Dong Zhuo, the king of Qin first, and then rejuvenate the country.

This time we took advantage of the opportunity of Pang De's marriage to summon the officials of Northern Xinjiang to Jinyang one after another, and frequently mobilized the troops of various ministries.

"You have five riders alone, rushing back desperately, making the atmosphere of the imminent battle more and more intense, which is very good." Li Hong said with a smile, "If I tell you, the two of you come to Jinyang to have fun. , drinking, are you two still rushing so desperately? I’m afraid you’re still on the road now, aren’t you?”

Not many people know about this matter. Li Hong told them to strictly keep the secrets. If some government officials, powerful businessmen and merchants make side attacks, you should pretend to be mysterious and hesitate. You must spread the news that Northern Xinjiang is ready and can launch an attack at any time. .

It has been more than half a month since Liu Bao and other five people arrived in Longshan. Accompanied by Zhu Mu, Qianzhao and others, they traveled everywhere. The aristocrats invited them to their homes, and they lived a good life, but they were not at ease, and still don't know what Li Hong invited them to do.Is it really like what the princess said, just invite them to come and play?Seeing that more and more officials from northern Xinjiang have returned to Longshan recently, Liu Bao and others feel heavy in their hearts. Behind these laughter and laughter, there are actually huge murderous intentions hidden. The seemingly quiet and beautiful Longshan is actually full of wind and clouds. The movement and the rain are about to come, and the feeling of the imminent war is getting closer and more real.

Li Hong saw Wei Duan and Ji Feng walking into the big tent together, and knew that the princess was urging her again, so he stood up and asked loudly, "Is everything here? When we are all here, we will follow the princess to Jinyang."

Liu Bao, Liu Ming, and Zhao Yun walked out with big strides while chatting and laughing.After leaving the big tent, Liu Ming looked up at the crowded crowd and the sky full of banners, and couldn't help but sighed: "Ling Ming (Pang De) got married, and there is such a big scene. It's really amazing. The general came to congratulate you personally. That's all, now even the princess has to go in person, it's so grand." Then he looked at Zhao Yun and asked with a smile, "When will Zilong get married? We will come back when you get married, and it will definitely be more lively than today."

Zhao Yun waved his hand and smiled, "This is Ling Ming's blessing, and it's a once-in-a-lifetime event in Northern Xinjiang. No one else even thinks about it."

Liu Bao's eyes were filled with suspicion, he hesitated for a moment, and asked in a low voice, "Zilong, is there going to be a war in northern Xinjiang?"

Zhao Yun smiled without saying a word.

Liu Ming patted him on the shoulder and complained dissatisfiedly: "Zilong, we can't talk about it either? Just reveal a little bit, we won't talk nonsense."

Zhao Yun sighed: "It's not that you don't know the current situation in northern Xinjiang. How will this battle be fought? I know what you are worried about. Don't worry, the two brothers. The general will never recruit cavalry from the desert tribes at this time, let alone easily Give up the desert."

Liu Bao and Liu Ming looked at each other, more suspicious.

"Zilong, we were hit by a disaster last year. Although we received relief from the general, the situation is still very bad. This snowstorm is too big. I encountered such a big snowstorm once when I was a child. Because too many livestock died, there are not many people. We won’t be able to turn over in a year.” Liu Bao said as he walked, “When the opportunity is right, please tell the general again that Da Mo urgently needs to recuperate.”

Zhao Yun nodded, put his arms around their shoulders and said, "We are all brothers, trust me."

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In the afternoon, the princess's car arrived in Jinyang.Zhao Qi, Wang Yi, Xu Shao, Yang Qi and other Jinyang officials went out of the city to meet them.

After Li Hong entered the city, accompanied by Wang Rou and others, he immediately rushed to Jinyang City.The big city is full of people coming and going, bustling, very lively.

Jinyang City is located in the west of the city, [-] steps away, with many buildings and heavy houses, it is already quite large.After more than three years of reconstruction, the big city of Jinyang has gradually recovered, but it is still far from being prosperous.It has become a custom for Li Hong to visit every time he enters the city.There are also three cities in Jinyang, East, South, and Middle, but the scale is much smaller.Yang Zhi, the order of Jinyang, said that since the imperial court promulgated the ban in the second half of last year, the number of merchants in Jinyang has increased rapidly, and the four cities have been overcrowded, especially the big city of Jinyang, which is full of merchants.

"Although there have been many disaster victims and refugees in the past two years, Jinyang has not been greatly impacted due to the great appeasement and guidance of the northern Xinjiang governments, so the city has developed rapidly." Wang Rou said, "If the victims are allowed to As soon as refugees flooded in, the big city became ruins overnight. The big city in Anyi, Hedong was looted by refugees this year, and it barely opened until last month, and it opened every ten days, with great vitality Hurt."

"How many days does Jinyang City open now?"

"From the second half of last year, because merchants fled to Jinyang to avoid disasters, the market has developed rapidly. Master Xu Shao responded to the request of many merchants and ordered it to open every three days. If there are festive days, the market will continue to open. Days."

Li Hong smiled and said, "Why not open the market every day? This way we can collect more tax money."

Wang Rou explained: "Materials are scarce, and the people are poor. One has no goods to sell, and the other has no money to buy. What's the use of opening the market every day?"

Li Hong thought of all the embarrassments in northern Xinjiang, and the smile on his face gradually faded.

Merchants and common people in the big city watched a group of people rushing forward and huddled together.Due to the great reputation of Jinyang City, the officials from Northern Xinjiang would come to visit Jinyang, so the people here have long been used to it.When celebrities and senior officials like Zhao Qi and Xu Shao came to the big city, they caused a sensation at the beginning, but after seeing more people, they didn’t think it was surprising. After seeing them, they stood up and bowed, and then they did what they should do. No one was watching and booing.

Few people know Li Hong.People in the big city saw that only the Patriarch of the Royal Clan, Wang Rou, Jinyang and Yang Zhi, accompanied him, and thought that this must not be a high-ranking official.The high officials with more than two thousand stones came, and Hu Tian Zhonglang accompanied Mr. Zhao Qi and the prefect Xu Shao in person.Since he is not a high-ranking official, everyone took a look and went to work on their own.A Hu merchant who bought leather mattresses even raised his hand and said, "My lord, do you want to buy deerskin mattresses?"

Li Hong looked at the bald and bearded businessman, turned around and asked Yang Zhi, "Master Yang, is that from Karasuma or from Xianbei?"

Yang Zhi glanced at it and replied, "That's from the Western Regions, Wusun from the Western Regions."

Li Hongda was surprised, "From the Western Regions? No wonder I don't think he looks like a Karasuma or Xianbei. This man speaks very fluently. He has been a man for many years?"

"This man used to do business in Luoyang and Chang'an, and he even bought a house and property in Luoyang." Yang Zhi said, "As soon as the order was promulgated, he immediately fled to Chang'an and wanted to go back to the Western Regions. He was worried that he would be killed on the way, so he turned around and fled to Jinyang."

Li Hong nodded repeatedly as he walked, "Are there many Hu merchants here?"

"In the past few years, many people have come here one after another, including people from the Western Regions, Qiang people, Xianbei people, Huns, Wuwan people, Dingling people, and Fuyu people."

A middle-aged man came over with a bag of corn on his back.Li Hong stepped forward to stop him, and asked him how much a hu (hu) of corn was with a pleasant face.Seeing that Li Hong was wearing a leather armor, the man knew that he was an officer, so he hurriedly knelt down and said, "My lord, one hundred cents a dendrobium."

Looking at the back of the middle-aged man leaving in a hurry, Li Hong said to Wang Rou very gratefully: "The food price can come down, thanks to Mr. Wang, Mr. Linghu and many powerful families in Jinzhong."

Wang Rou smiled wryly: "Your Excellency, how do you know our sufferings? Although we have exhausted all our warehouses and transported a large amount of grain from Jizhou through our relatives and friends, and severely knocked down the price of grain, we have taken over with the Hedong Clan because of this." resentment."

Li Hong knew about this.Under the pressure of Zhao Qi, Xu Shao, Yang Qi and others, the Jinzhong Clan has helped Beijiang a lot this time. They tried their best to reduce the price of grain from [-] yuan per dendrobium to [-] yuan within a month. Yihu, but the practice of the Jinzhong Clan has seriously hurt the interests of the Hedong Clan, and the two sides have become enemies.Wei Gu of the Hedong Guard Clan, Xu Ling, Qu Zhong and others decided not to go to Longshan for this reason.

The geographical advantage of the Jinzhong family is too obvious.Jinyang is the military and political center of northern Xinjiang, and the prominent figures in northern Xinjiang are basically concentrated here.In addition, recently the Wang Clan, Linghu Clan, and Guo Clan have taken the initiative to show their favor to the generals in northern Xinjiang. Wife, the influence of the Jinzhong clan in northern Xinjiang is even greater.

Li Hong wanted to suppress Jinzhong's elites, so he never expressed his position on this matter.He looked at Wang Rou's exaggeratedly distressed face, and smiled slightly: "Master Liu Yu lowered the price of grain in Youzhou to [-] cents a dendrobium. If we can do the same, the Hedong clan will vomit blood."

(One dendrobium is one stone.)
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(End of this chapter)