Great Han Empire

Chapter 583: Troubled Times Heroic Chapter Dangerous
Although Li Hong made up his mind not to send troops to suppress the rebellion, he had personally agreed to Yuan Shu's matter, and now that the check and balance of the four parties had gradually taken shape, if he delayed and refused, he might anger Yuan Shu and cause unnecessary troubles.In any case, Dong Zhuo is the one that Beijiang really needs to fight and suppress, while Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu are the ones Beijiang woos.The alliance between Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and Beijiang is not only directly related to the survival of Beijiang next year, but also how long the balance will last.The longer the check and balance is maintained, the better it will be for Northern Xinjiang.As long as Northern Xinjiang gets rid of the many crises and becomes stronger, it will be a breeze for the King Qin and the stability of the country.

Li Hong summoned Li Wei, Yu Peng, Yang Feng and others to discuss.

Li Hong tended to send troops to suppress the rebellion.

Due to the threat from northern Xinjiang and the rampant riots of ants in Heishan and Qingzhou, Yuan Shao, Han Fu and others were worried about defending the enemy on both sides, so they were forced to accept Li Hong's covenant, but this covenant was between Northern Xinjiang and Dong Dajun. covenant.In this way, Beijiang formed a three-party check and balance with Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shu on the one hand, and on the other hand formed a unilateral alliance with Dong Dajun.The practice and attitude of swaying and pleasing both sides in northern Xinjiang is not only a matter of unsteady and unclear positions, but also an attempt to exploit the contradictions of all parties to benefit from it.

Once this matter is known to Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shu, what kind of response they will make is unknown at present, but one thing is for sure, whether it is Dong Zhuo or Yuan Shu, they will definitely respond to this double-headed and self-interested approach in Beijiang. Very angry, the little trust between each other will disappear, and what is particularly worrying is whether the newly established tripartite check and balance will also be broken?
After Beijiang formed an alliance with Dong Dajun, in order to prevent Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shu from reacting violently, they also took corresponding countermeasures, mainly threatening and befriending Dong Zhuo and befriending Yuan Shu.Li Hong ordered to reduce the garrisons of Mengjin and Xiaopingjin, and recruited [-] troops back to Hedong, just to threaten Dong Zhuo, and sent Tian Chou to meet Yuan Shu in Nanyang, just to explain to Yuan Shu that Beijiang and Yuan Shao shook hands to make peace, and discussed with Yuan Shu in detail Mutual aid policy.

Beijiang can't convince Yuan Shu with a single mouth. There must be practical actions that Yuan Shu can see, and use them to prove that Beijiang keeps its promise and is willing to cooperate with Yuan Shu in good faith to check and balance.The closer Beijiang and Yuan Shu are, the greater the threat to Dong Zhuo, and the more powerful they are to suppress and support Dong Zhuo.How can Beijiang and Yuan Shu rebuild their mutual trust?That is to form an army with Yuan Shu and send troops to suppress the rebellion.Firstly, Beijiang fulfilled its original promise; secondly, it helped Yuan Shu gain merit and fame; thirdly, Beijiang could also gain the favor of Dong Dajun's various soldiers and horses, which would help the army go south to stabilize the country in the future; Put down the riots in Yanqing and Xusanzhou, and defend the country.

Li Wei, Yu Peng and others also agreed to send troops to suppress the rebellion.The military resources of the anti-insurgency army are provided by Yuan Shu, and Northern Xinjiang only needs to send people, and now that the situation in Gyeonggi has changed, there is no reason for Northern Xinjiang not to insist on not sending troops.At present, there are only 1 troops stationed in Luoyang in Northern Xinjiang. Except for those guarding the three passes of Mengjin, Xiaopingjin and Hulao, Northern Xinjiang can only send about 2000 to 3000 troops at most.If Beijiang is not willing to send even such a small number of people, it is really unreasonable.

Yang Feng, Sun Qin and others were unwilling to send troops.They still have the same reason. When the imperial court recruited the Yellow Turban Army, the first emperor and Li Hong promised that they would never recruit the Yellow Turban Army to fight the Yellow Turban Army.

Li Hong smiled and said: "Let's make a compromise. Let's send troops first, to win some face for Yuan Shu, so as not to tear the face of the two sides and hurt the harmony. After the army arrives on the battlefield, whether to fight, when to fight, how to fight, it's not right." Our own business. If you agree, I will write to Zhang Yan myself."

"Who leads the army?" Yang Feng asked, "If it's Yan Liang, I still disagree."

"What do you think?"

"In the past, the generals of the Yellow Turban Army definitely didn't want to go." Yang Feng said, "Those who fight will die, so we can't let them go. If Yan Hutou goes, it would be strange if he didn't fight. He has to make meritorious service."

"I plan to let Gao Lan and Gao Shun go, what do you think?" Li Hong asked.

Yang Feng and Sun Qin smiled at each other and nodded at the same time.

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Under July.

Liang Baiwu, Lin Xun, Li Yun, and Yang Chun returned to Hedong with an army of [-].The school lieutenant Wu Xiong led [-] soldiers to garrison Mengjin and Xiaopingjin.General Hu Lie Yan Liang personally led [-] soldiers to guard Hulao and Xingyang.

Wu Yi Zhonglang sent Gao Lan and Wu Meng Xiaowei Gao Shun to lead [-] troops to Zhongmou (mou), waiting to join Yuan Shu's army and prepare to go to Yanzhou and Xuzhou to suppress the rebellion.

After Chang'an received the news that the imperial court's counter-insurgency army was about to depart, the emperor immediately issued an imperial decree to reward the officers and men of the counter-insurgency army.

Yuan Shu respected the current emperor and did not recognize Dong Zhuo's ruling court. He claimed that he only joined forces with Li Hong, the Hussar general, to fight the rebellion, so there was not a single soldier from the Northern Army in this army.Dong Zhuo wanted to send troops, for no other reason than to force Yuan Shu to his side.Sending troops together with the Northern Army, that is, joining hands with Dong Zhuo to make peace with the enemy, if this is the case, Yuan Shu's reputation will be greatly damaged.Yuan Shu firmly disagreed with the northern army's participation in countering the rebellion. Although the emperor issued an imperial decree, Yuan Shu immediately declared that if the northern army left the customs, he would not go to counter the rebellion.Of course Dong Zhuo didn't want to lose such an opportunity to consume Yuan Shu and Li Hong's troops, so he had no choice but to dismiss this idea.

As Li Hong and Yuan Shu successively ordered the blockade of various main roads leading to Guanzhong, Guandong and Kanxi, Chang'an and Luoyang gradually fell into greater difficulties.In the name of the Son of Heaven, Dong Zhuo successively issued edicts to Li Hong and Yuan Shu, asking them to open the gates, but the two ignored them. Not only did they have no intention of canceling the blockade, but they strictly ordered the local governments to arrest anyone who used small money immediately, and would never tolerate it. .

The increasingly severe crisis in Gyeonggi and the constant threats from Li Hong and Yuan Shu made Dong Zhuo gradually lose his confidence in checks and balances. He had to find a way for his own survival.Dong Zhuo ordered Huangfu Hong and Dong Yue to take the initiative to attack Han Sui and Ma Teng. At the same time, they played the emperor and proposed to appease the rebels in Xiliang.The emperor agreed to Dong Zhuo's request, and decreed to worship Han Sui as a guerrilla general and Ma Teng as a partial general. Yang Qiu, Cheng Yi and other rebel leaders were also worshiped as school lieutenants and captains.Shangshu Liu Ai and Shizhong Zhongji immediately took the decree to Xiliang to appease them.

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In August of the first year of Chuping of the Han Dynasty (AD 190).

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At the beginning of August, Sun Jian, the Polu general who was stationed in Luyang, ordered Zhu Zhi, the captain of Zhixing, to lead [-] soldiers to Zhongmou.Now, as soon as Yuan Shu's army arrives, the counter-insurgency army can set off.

However, Yuan Shu received two pieces of news that made him furious.One is the alliance between Hussar General Li Hong and Yuan Shao, and the other is Liu Biao's sudden appearance in Xiangyang as the governor of Jingzhou.

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Yuan Shu originally thought that Li Hong was going to take advantage of the opportunity of the ant thieves' riot to attack Yuan Shao, but later he heard that half of the Northern Xinjiang army stationed in Luoyang had returned to Hedong, so he thought Li Hong had given up the plan of attacking.During this period, he also suspected that part of the Northern Xinjiang army returned to Hedong because Yuan Shao and Li Hong had reached some kind of covenant, but he thought that with Li Hong's character, he should not make such a breach of the covenant. Abandoned the tripartite covenant.

If Li Hong formed an alliance with Han Fu, he would accept it, but if Li Hong formed an alliance with the rebellious Yuan Shao of the Yuan Clan, he would not accept it.Hussar General What does this mean?Who is the head of the Yuan Clan?If Li Hong admits that I am the Patriarch of the Yuan Clan, why would he form an alliance with Yuan Shao?What is Yuan Shao? He is just a lowly servant of the Yuan Clan. What qualifications does he have to form an alliance with Beijiang alone?His so-called "inheritance" is bullshit. Who would admit that he "inherited" the world?Whose world will be ruled?Beijiang openly formed an alliance with a big Han rebel, which shows that the Hushi general recognized Yuan Shao's "inheritance system", that is to say, Li Hong not only abandoned the three-party check and balance, but also became a big Han rebel.

I can't send troops together with a big traitor to suppress the rebellion.Yuan Shu immediately ordered Ji Ling, who had already set off, to come back to me immediately, and we will not go to suppress the rebellion.

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Tian Chou hurried to Wancheng in Nanyang County to explain the matter to Yuan Shu.Yuan Shao has temporarily given up the order to inherit the system, and will not mention the matter of abolishing the current emperor and rebuilding the imperial line for the time being. He and Dong Dajun from all walks of life are now concentrating all their strength to put down the ant thief rebellion.Because of this, General Hussars shook hands with Dong Dajun and gave up the strategy of attacking Hanoi to capture and kill Yuan Shao.

Tian Chou said: "The general of the hussars shook hands with Dong Dajun to make peace, not to form an alliance with Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao is just a relative of the Yuan clan, a prefect of Bohai County in Jizhou. What qualifications and strength does he have to fight with the hussars?" The generals form an alliance? My lord, don’t misunderstand.”

Yuan Shu sneered, "So, the Hussar General doesn't think Yuan Shao is a traitor?"

Tian Chou replied calmly: "Since Yuan Shao and Dong Dajun have given up the so-called 'inheritance system', the rest is just King Qin's exorcism. In this way, they are indeed not my big man's rebellion."

"Give up? If he said give up, then give up? What is the edict of 'Cheng Zhi'? From then on, there will be no peace. In the future, anyone can raise the banner high, use the name of the Qing emperor to kill wantonly, and even crusade against the emperor. When they are unable to fight, they can lightly say that I was wrong, and then he will be fine. Piao Does the cavalry general want to do the same?"

Tian Chou looked at the excited Yuan Shu, smiled slightly and said, "My lord, don't forget that you were the one who attacked Luoyang two months ago."

Yuan Shu was speechless, he stared fiercely at Tian Chou, and a murderous look suddenly shot out from his eyes.

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Tian Chou did not continue to entangle with Yuan Shu on this matter. He told Yuan Shu that Dong Zhuo would definitely get rid of him in the future, and the country must be stable in the future. To achieve these two things, Beijiang had to fight hand in hand with the adults.These are facts, adults should see clearly.Based on the current situation of Yuan Shao and Dong Dajun, after the ant thief is pacified in the future, they will basically be finished. How can they have the strength to compete with Beijiang and adults?
Tian Chou persuaded Yuan Shu to keep his promise to the world and send troops to suppress the rebellion in order to gain merit and prestige.Then he and Yuan Shu talked about Beijiang's plan to buy grain in Jingzhou and Yuzhou after the autumn harvest in October.If this year's food prices skyrocket due to the ant thieves' riot, northern Xinjiang's finances will be even more difficult.Tian Chou hoped that Yuan Shu would pre-purchase a batch of grain for Northern Xinjiang at a suitable price in Jingzhou and Yuzhou, taking into account the difficulties in Northern Xinjiang and the need for the two sides to jointly revitalize the country in the future.

Yuan Shu was skeptical and couldn't make up his mind for a while, so he called Li Ye, Yang Hong, Xun Zheng, Yan Xiang and others to discuss.

Yang Hong and Yan Xiang think that Beijiang cannot be trusted, and Li Hong is a cunning and vicious leopard, so they must not be fooled again.He was the one who forced us to participate in the tripartite checks and balances, and now he is the one who voluntarily backed away from the alliance and turned his back on it. This kind of person is willing to do anything for his own self-interest in northern Xinjiang.Be cautious when sending troops to counter rebellion.If Li Hong takes the credit for suppressing the ant thief in the future, we will lose not only the army and food, but also the reputation of your lord and the Yuan Clan, and your lord will become the laughing stock of the world.Food can't be sold casually. This is a problem of raising tigers.

Li Ye and Xun Zheng believed that Li Hong had joined forces with Yuan Shao, and even if the three-party check and balance were broken, there would be no great loss for Li Hong and Yuan Shao. With the strength of the two of them, it was enough for the king to eradicate traitors and revive the country.On the contrary, we are weak, and we are at odds with Dong Zhuo. If we fall out with Li Hong, we will be alone and helpless and unable to gain a foothold, so now we have no choice but to join forces with Li Hong to resist Dong Zhuo.As for Yuan Shao's matter, we will talk about it in the future, as long as we maintain a close relationship with Li Hong, Yuan Shao will die sooner or later.We can first agree to buy food in Beijiang, otherwise how can we maintain a close relationship with Beijiang?There are still three months until the autumn harvest in October. If the situation is not good for us, we can go back on our word and sell less.

Just when the two sides were arguing endlessly, Kuai Yue, a powerful figure in Xiangyang, came.

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Kuai Yue knew Yuan Shu very well when he was working in the General's Mansion.When Yuan Shu heard that he was coming, he was very happy and greeted him out of the house.

Having not seen each other for more than a year, the two of them talked about the past, recalling the death of General He Jin and the current state of peril, they couldn't help feeling a lot of emotion and sighing.

"This time, I want to tell you something." Kuai Yue said with a smile, "Recently, the capital is unstable, and some suzerains in Jingzhou want to take advantage of this opportunity to make trouble. When holding a happy event, when suzerains from all over the world come to congratulate, kill them all."

"Oh?" Yuan Shu asked in surprise, "How many were killed? All of them?"

"Fifty-three, almost killed all the suzerains in the counties along the river." Kuai Yue said with a smile, "In this way, no one in the counties of Jingzhou would dare to plot evil."

"Brother Yidu is such a powerful method." Yuan Shu laughed, "You are not a prefect, and you have no imperial edict, yet you dare to kill 53 people in one go. Are you not afraid that the emperor will punish you for your crimes and punish your clan?"

"I was ordered by Lord Inspector." Kuai Yue stroked his beard and smiled, "I came to you today, and I was also ordered by Lord Inspector. I am now the Chief History Officer of the Inspector's Mansion in Jingzhou."

Yuan Shu laughed, "Wang Rui, the governor of Jingzhou, has been dead for a few months. Where did the governor come from? Brother Yidu, stop joking. A few days ago, I originally planned to let Yang Hong go to Hanshou to take the post of governor of Hanshou, so that he could be the new governor of the court. The appointed governor inspected the counties before taking office, but because of the fighting between Changsha and Wuling counties, so..."

"The current governor of Jingzhou is Liu Biao, brother Jing Sheng." Kuai Yue said calmly, "You don't know?"

Yuan Shu understood immediately, and his face darkened instantly, "I'm a child at the beginning, I'm too deceitful."

After Liu Biao escaped from the capital, he followed Yuan Shao all the time, and now he suddenly appeared in Xiangyang and became the governor of Jingzhou. Of course, this was a good thing Yuan Shao did.Yuan Benchu, your hand is too long. When I was not prepared, you even sent someone to stand behind me with a knife.Well, since you don't talk about brotherhood, don't blame me for being unfeeling.

"Brother Yidu, you should be very clear about the situation in front of you. Jingzhou is very important to me, and Yuan Shao and I are already in conflict. It is impossible for me to let Jingzhou fall into Yuan Shao's hands, let alone put an enemy behind me. "Yuan Shu said in a cold voice, "Brother Jing Sheng and I have been friends for many years, I don't want to turn against him, so please tell Brother Yidu to tell me when he goes back, either ask him to leave as soon as possible, or express our position, we are still friends. "

Kuai Yue took a closer look at Yuan Shu's angry expression, then shook his head and smiled, "Gaolu, since I came today, I have already explained the problem. Of course, everyone is still friends, otherwise, what am I doing here? Why would Brother Jing Sheng stand with a knife?" Raid you in the back?"

Yuan Shu frowned, squinted his eyes and looked at Kuai Yue, with suspicion on his face, "When did brother Jing Sheng arrive in Xiangyang? Why didn't he come to Wancheng to tell me before arriving in Xiangyang? What does he mean by being so sneaky? I will kill him?"

Kuai Yue explained with a smile.Liu Biao is quite familiar with the situation in Jingzhou. He knew that Jingzhou must be in chaos after the chaos in Gyeonggi and the death of Wang Rui. I, discuss ways to eradicate suzerain.If he arrives at your place first, the news that Jingzhou Inspector is about to take office will spread all over the counties immediately, and suzerains will be vigilant. At that time, it is impossible to kill suzerains without any precautions.That's why Brother Jing Sheng didn't come to Wancheng.

Cai Mao came up with the idea of ​​eradicating the suzerain.Cai Mao heard that brother Jing Sheng's wife passed away early and had been alone with the children for so many years, so he wanted to marry his younger sister to Jing Sheng, and use the opportunity of marriage to kill the suzerains.The Cai Clan is the number one clan in Xiangyang, and brother Jing Sheng is also a well-known party member and celebrity. The suzerain who received the invitation certainly felt it was a great honor, so they all rushed to Jiangzhou to congratulate him in person. They were totally unprepared. We have solved this stubborn disease in Jingzhou with little effort.

Brother Jing Sheng, me, Cai Clan, and your Yuan family have been friends for generations. We are sandwiched between you and Ben Chu, and it is very difficult, so we discussed for a long time after solving the disaster of the suzerain. In the end, I decided to support you and help you attack Luoyang.In any case, it is the most important thing for those of us who are ministers to fight against the king's traitors and save the country of the Han Dynasty.

Yuan Shu's anger gradually subsided, and he said slowly: "I want soldiers, money, and food. Brother Yidu, look..."

"Jingzhou's top priority now is to quell the Beiyu Rebellion in Nanjun, the dispute between Su Dai in Changsha and Cao Yin in Wuling." Kuai Yue said, "If these three counties are allowed to continue to suffer, Jingzhou is bound to be in chaos. My opinion is that we should try our best to quell the civil strife in the three counties first, and then gather the army to go north to help the road. What do you think?"

Yuan Shu bowed his hands in thanks.

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After Yuan Shu sent Kuai Yue away, he immediately discussed with Li Ye and others.

No one thought that Yuan Shao would be the first to send Liu Biao to occupy Jingzhou.Now that Liu Biao has received the full support of all the powerful families in Xiangyang, he has quelled the suzerain's misfortune, stabilized the situation in Jingzhou, and won the hearts of everyone in Jingzhou. At this time, he wants to send someone to lead Jingzhou It's too late.

Yuan Shu was very clear about the relationship between Liu Biao and Kuai Yue and Yuan Shao, and what Kuai Yue said today was totally unbelievable.Kuai Yuelai's purpose was actually to worry that after he got the news, he would send troops to attack Xiangyang when Liu Biao's foothold was not stable.

Yuan Shu said, although Liu Biao and Kuai Yue won't hit me for the time being, once they are full-fledged and their strength increases greatly, I will definitely be restrained and restrained by them.Of the seven counties in Jingzhou, I only occupy one county, and the strengths and weaknesses in the future are clear at a glance.Now I not only have a check and balance rope around my neck, but also hold a sharp knife behind my back. I think it is already very difficult to live with peace of mind.

Li Ye and others originally wanted to persuade Yuan Shu that Liu Biao and Kuai Yue are both contemporary celebrities, and they know what they should do and what they should not do. When they met each other, Liu Biao suddenly changed his mind and struck him from behind, which would surely kill Yuan Shu, so everyone thought about it for a long time, but no one said a word.

"What do you want to do, my lord?" Li Ye asked.

"Use this matter to send Tian Chou away first. Now, no matter whether it is sending troops to suppress the rebellion or selling grain, I can't agree to him." Yuan Shu said, "Assemble troops immediately, attack Xiangyang, and drive Liu Biao away as soon as possible."

"My lord is going to turn against Liu Biao and Kuai Yue?" Yang Hong asked in surprise.

"It's better to turn your face now than to be killed by them in the future." Yuan Shu sneered, "Yuan Benchu ​​is too much, the family wants to rob me, Luoyang wants to rob me, and now I even want to rob him of the place where he lives... "Yuan Shu cursed angrily, and then punched the table, "I'm going to kill him."

"My lord, the matter of suppressing the rebellion..." Xun Zheng hesitated to speak.Not participating in the counter-insurgency would have too much impact on Yuan Shu's reputation.

"I am the rear general, and Sun Jian is the general of Polu. He is controlled by me, so when he sends troops to suppress the rebellion, it is tantamount to my sending troops to suppress the rebellion." Yuan Shu waved his hand and said, "What's more, the food and salaries of the suppressing rebellion army are all provided by me and Master Kong. , isn’t it enough that I’ve done so much?”

"My lord, our money and food are limited. If we supply two battlefields at the same time, I'm afraid..." Yan Xiang said worriedly, "Is the attack on Xiangyang postponed for a while?"

"Currently there are rebellions in Nanjun, Changsha, and Wuling counties. We are forcing Xiangyang at this time. Liu Biao must not be able to take care of both ends. He has only one way to escape." Yuan Shu said resolutely, "Attack Xiangyang immediately. If we can't keep our home, what are we doing?" King? Get rid of what rape?"

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In mid-August, General Gao Lan of Wuyi Zhonglang, Gao Shun of Wumeng Colonel, and Zhu Zhi of Zhixing Commandery led [-] soldiers and horses into Yanzhou to suppress the rebellion.At the same time, Ji Ling and Qiao Rui led five thousand troops to attack Xiangyang.

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(End of this chapter)