Chapter 598: Peace and Courtesy for the Princes
How many princes came to support the king?
This is what everyone in the world wants to know, and it is also what Luo Xiao wants to know the most. He wants to know how many heroes of the Han Dynasty he can meet.
He believed that these princes who came to support the king would be the ones who would achieve great things after the collapse of the Han court.
As the man who broke the destiny of the Han Dynasty, Luo Xiao believed that these people should kowtow to him. After all, without him, it would be a dream for these people to achieve great things.
After these princes arrived around Xingyang, they began to hold alliance meetings. Naturally, there were historians on hand to record such a major event. They would record who participated in the meeting, how many soldiers they brought, and their words and deeds.
To be a loyal prince does not mean that anyone can be considered a prince just by bringing a few hundred people with him.
First, you need to have a reputation!
Those who have no reputation, even if they bring thousands of elite soldiers, have to sit in the back and follow a famous person.
This is not discrimination, but the King's Alliance is actually a kind of mutual political guarantee, which emphasizes political credibility.
Who would dare to guarantee someone who has no background and doesn't know each other?
If he does something wrong, will the princes along the way just kick him away?
Wouldn’t the remaining princes become a joke?
Famous ones such as Yinghou Luochuan are the undisputed leaders among the princes. No one can compete with him. Even if they are stronger than him, they still have to obey him.
Second, one must have strength, not just military force, but also an official position.
For example, Wushuang Hou Luo Kong, his reputation in Central Plains was not high, but along the way, not many people dared to stop him.
The tens of thousands of cavalrymen were one of the reasons, and his title of General of Cavalry was also a reason. Among all the generals in the world, there were no more than three who held higher official positions than him. This was called having both the title and the position.
After a quick calculation, the princes found that the number of people coming to support the king was terrifyingly large, a total of twenty-eight groups.
The first group was led by Ying Hou Luochuan, and included the five Jinling county marquises, namely Liu Hou Zhang An, Ying Hou Xiao Ding, Anyang Hou Han Li, and Huaiyin Hou Han Zhang. A total of five groups of marquises brought heroes and warriors from ten counties to come to support the king.
The sixth route, led by Wushuang Marquis and Valiant Cavalry General Luo Kong, has 30,000 cavalrymen. Except for Dong Zhuo, he is the strongest among the loyal princes.
Dong Zhuo's strength was due to the fact that Li Ru had long had a rebellious heart and had been built up according to the standards of rebellion. The worst outcome would be that he would control Liangzhou and Sili. His imaginary enemy for more than ten years was the Han court, so his strength was naturally extraordinary.
The seventh route, Marquis of Duxiang, General of Chariots and Cavalry Huangfu Song.
The eighth route, Xincheng Township Marquis, General Zhu Jun.
The ninth to the twenty-second routes are all composed of county governors, kings and ministers, and generals of various titles. Basically, they are the heads of a county with a salary of about 2,000 stones, or generals with large numbers of troops.
For example, Hongnong, Nanyang, Runan, Yingchuan, Sanfu, Jiujiang, Jiangxia, etc.; the Prime Minister of Jiaodong, the Prime Minister of Liang, the Prime Minister of Chu, etc.; the General of the White Horse, the General of the Protection of Wuhuan, etc.
These princes were either the sons of famous Confucian scholars in the country, or military men under the command of two thousand officials in border counties.
The Confucian classics were led by Yuan, Chen, Xun, Wang, Meng, Liu, Kong and others. Under the concept that a county was a country and a governor was the king, the governor was the easiest person to gather heroes.
Gongsun Zan was among them, and Liu Bei was under Gongsun Zan's command. After all, it was Gongsun Zan who gave Liu Bei the position of county magistrate, and he was not yet qualified to be a vassal prince.
Although Gongsun Zan's reputation was not high, his strength was considered strong among the princes. The three thousand elite White Horse Volunteers alone made Gongsun Zan stand out.
The men in Youzhou all have good horse riding skills. Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei gathered together heroes, not counting the world's elite White Horse Volunteers. Liu Bei recruited from Zhuo County and recruited 2,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry for Gongsun Zan. He also got several thousand soldiers himself, and his strength was very powerful.
These governors came from different directions, so they held separate alliances and relied on their family and personal reputation, as well as their own strength, to determine the rank of leader and follower.
In addition to the prefects, there were six inspectors, namely, Dong Zhuo, the Inspector of Liangzhou, Liu Yan, the Inspector of Youzhou, Liu Dai, the Inspector of Yuzhou, Lu Zhi, the Inspector of Yanzhou, Han Fu, the Inspector of Jizhou, Tao Qian, the Inspector of Xuzhou, and Ding Yuan, the Inspector of Bingzhou.
Each of the princes led his own troops. The cunning ones, such as Dong Zhuo, falsely claimed that he had 20,000 troops, but in fact he had 80,000 more troops behind him.
This almost emptied the entire Liangzhou family's assets. This practice of draining the pond to catch all the fish was because Li Ru planned to control Luoyang with absolute strength. If you were to say who among the countless people who came to support the king was the most rebellious, Li Ru would be second to none, and no one would be first, not even Dong Zhuo. Maybe until now, Dong Zhuo just wanted to be a powerful minister at the pinnacle of power. He himself did not expect that Li Ru wanted to push the Han Dynasty off the cliff.
On the surface, except for the court general Huangfu Song, the princes' military strength is said to be around 20,000 to 30,000. However, the gap in combat effectiveness is huge. Luo Kong's 30,000 Western Region Iron Cavalry is the undisputed leader. If the tactics are appropriate, there will be no problem in defeating five, let alone ten princes.
For a time, millions of troops were stationed and confronting each other on this narrow piece of land.
The princes were all full of confidence.
Although most of these million-strong troops were newly recruited soldiers, weren’t the Taiping Army also farmers?
Among this million-strong army, there are 150,000 most elite soldiers, of which Marquis Wushuang alone accounts for 30,000. If the soldiers wearing leather armor are included, there are probably 500,000 armored soldiers.
…
There was blood and corpses all over the ground. The tails of the arrows on the corpses no longer trembled. There were white bones and even colorful juices and pulps. Broken armor was everywhere. The smoke was gradually dissipating. The sound of horse hooves was running back and forth, checking whether there were any living people left on the battlefield. Almost all of these corpses were wearing the clothes of the Han army.
“That’s all!”
With a heavy blow of his sword, he chopped off the head of a general wearing fine armor, threw it away, and said lightly: "Pickle it with lime and send it to the princes who are loyal to the king."
…
The princes who came from Guandong formed two alliances, one led by Luo Zichuan, a role model for the world, and the other led by Yuan Benchu, a handsome man in the world.
The Yuan family became famous when their ancestor Yuan Can stopped Emperor Xiaoxuan's carriage and pleaded for his teacher. He eventually became a great scholar in the country. After more than a hundred years of development, he finally became the most powerful family in the world.
The Yuan family has reached the end of its path as a family of Confucian classics.
Yuan Shao became the leader of an alliance at the age of thirty, which fully demonstrated the foundation of the Yuan family's years of hard work. He said with high spirits: "The Qinwang Army has at least 150,000 elite soldiers who have fought hundreds of battles. How many elite soldiers does the Taiping Army have?
No more than fifty thousand!
With brave generals like clouds, wise counselors like rain, and millions of soldiers, how can we not win?
All the troops will march together to defeat the enemy and destroy the city in a matter of minutes!"
It wasn't that Yuan Shao was arrogant, but all the princes present thought so. As soon as they finished speaking, a scholar in a Confucian robe hurried in with a panicked look on his face and holding a box. After he walked in, he bowed and said in panic: "Mr. Benchu, my lords, I just received news that the prime minister of Jiaodong was killed in the battle. This is the head sent by the rebel army."
"What?"
Yuan Shao stood up and asked anxiously, "What happened?"
All the princes in the hall looked at the scholar in astonishment. The Prime Minister of Jiaodong, and all the princes along the way died before the war even started?
The scholar calmed down a little and replied, "Mr. Benchu, the prime minister of Jiaodong left the county where he was stationed and led a large army to the alliance. As a result, he encountered the Taiping Army on the way. The prime minister of Jiaodong fought desperately, but the enemy army was too brave.
According to the grassroots officers who escaped back, the government troops were suddenly ambushed and could only hear deafening shouts. The bandit leader had already broken into the enemy camp and went straight for the Prince of Jiaodong.
It was completely too late for them to rush for rescue. All the camps were separated and could not even protect themselves. The entire battle did not even last more than an incense stick of time, and 20,000 people had either been killed or fled.
The King of Jiaodong was killed without even being able to survive a single move."
This scholar did not understand war, but one could feel the tension just by listening to his story. There had always been many bandits in the Qingzhou area, and Wang Xiang of Jiaodong served as the prime minister in the country of Qingzhou. He was both civil and military.
But he was unable to escape even a single move from the bandit leader, and even though he was ambushed, he was completely defeated in just a stick of incense, and he couldn't even organize an effective counterattack.
All the princes in the hall who often fought, such as Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei, had frowned deeply. A warrior knows best whether a warrior is strong or not. The two looked at each other and saw the solemnity in each other's eyes.
Yuan Benchu did not understand war, but he suffered such a blow to morale right after the alliance meeting. Moreover, it was a disaster for a prince who came to meet him for the alliance. He could not sit idly by and do nothing out of both emotion and reason.
If Luo Zichuan had not suddenly appeared, he would have been a role model for the world. However, Yuan Benchu, the most handsome man in the world, should let the people of the world see why I, Yuan Benchu, can gain such a great reputation just by relying on a false name.
Thinking of this, Yuan Shao was furious and said in a loud voice: "My lords, it is unfortunate that the Prince of Jiaodong came to the meeting but was killed, but it is not unfortunate, he was loyal to the Han Dynasty and died a worthy death.
Aren't we gathered here from all over the country just to sacrifice our lives for the Han Dynasty with all our passion?
The Prince of Jiaodong has taken the lead, and the Taiping bandit army has won the first battle. Does that mean we can retreat at all?
Beat the drums to gather the generals and avenge the King of Jiaodong.
Serve Your Majesty loyally, suppress Taiping, and revive the Han Dynasty!
Isn’t it right now?”
Yuan Shao's voice was deafening, and his face was full of righteousness. Liu Xuande looked at the majestic Yuan Benchu in front of him and felt that he was a rare hero in the world. He couldn't help but shouted: "Mr. Benchu is so righteous!"
"Prince Benchu is so righteous!"
No matter what everyone was thinking, at this moment everyone in the hall said in unison, "Destroy Taiping and prosper the Han Dynasty."
————
The emperor issued an imperial edict, and the 28 princes came together to besiege Xingyang. There were a million soldiers and the momentum was shocking. It was a grand scene that had not been seen in the late Han Dynasty for a hundred years. Jiaolue was not panicked, but led his army to attack the prime minister of Jiaodong. He went out to offer incense, killed the prime minister of Jiaodong, and returned. The incense was not extinguished, and he was still reaching into his bag to take things. It was nothing more than this. - "Heroes of the Late Han Dynasty"
(End of this chapter)
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