Chapter 118: Liu Hong's Funeral
"..." Budugen looked at Dian Wei and Zhao Yun in silence.
Qiao Yan's sudden visit really caught him off guard. Even though she was being polite and well-mannered at the moment, it didn't make him feel safe.
Compared to Lu Bu, Zhao Yun is still a young general, and looks much more gentle and steady, but Dian Wei is actually a burly and fierce man.
Just looking at the weight of the weapon in his hand, he doesn't look like an ordinary general.
But Budugen did not dare to underestimate Zhao Yun.
The fact that he could be compared by Qiao Yan with the people who attacked the camp last time showed that he was no ordinary talent under the command of the Bingzhou governor.
He quickly replied: "There is no need for a competition. If Qiao Bingzhou wants to defeat us, it will be a piece of cake. It is better to talk about the deal first."
As a Xianbei leader who was very knowledgeable, Budugen immediately took two steps at a time and walked to the front of the boxes.
Just now it was not so obvious from a distance, but now he noticed something unusual.
He picked up a piece of coal from one of the boxes, turned around and asked suspiciously, "If I heard correctly, what Qiao Hou said was defective coal?"
If this is a defective product, then what are these Xianbei people using?
You know, when fuel was scarce, they actually used cow dung as fuel!
Qiao Yan seemed not to notice the doubtful expression on Bu Dugen's face, and just calmly replied: "A new coal mine has been discovered in Yanmen, Bingzhou, and it is now being mined."
She didn't have to worry that Budugen would attack Yanmen because he knew this.
After being attacked twice, he would never make such an unwise move.
Yanmen's defense was also enough to keep him out.
She said casually, "If there weren't a shortage of manpower, we should have opened up more coal mines. But maybe next year, the quality of the defective products available for trading will be improved."
"Do you think this deal can be done?"
Qiao Yan's question interrupted Bu Dugen's reverie when he heard her say "shorthanded". He restrained his expression and quickly replied: "Yes! Why not?"
As long as he can help them spend the winter safely on the grassland, preserve their manpower, and ensure their leadership position over other branches, it won't be a problem if this Lord Qiao appears directly in his tent any day!
Of course, Qiao Yan is not that boring.
She just wanted to plant a seed in Budugen's heart first, and then trigger it at the right time.
It was also a good opportunity to take advantage of this trip north to add another batch of war horse resources to Bingzhou.
You know, her next opponent is Dong Zhuo from Liang Province!
The other side has no shortage of cavalry!
Almost at the same time that Qiao Yan was negotiating the deal and the early delivery of the annual tribute with Budugen, the former general of Xiliang, at the suggestion of Li Ru, had advanced another day's march towards Luoyang City.
This was certainly not the order given to them by He Jin. Because the troops were stationed too close, He Jin even sent Zhong Shao to stop them.
But Li Ru felt that this was a good position for Dong Zhuo to move forward at any time.
In the stalemate of Dong Zhuo's troops, time has quickly come -
April 11, the sixth year of Zhongping.
This seemed to be an ordinary day in the tense atmosphere in Luoyang in recent days.
But when the emperor, who had been bedridden for a long time, suddenly calmed down a little, everyone around him knew that this day had finally come.
He has reached the end of his life.
Liu Hong had someone help him to get up and walked to the window of the Jiade Hall. He found a place to sit and looked outside, his eyes resting on a spring flower in the courtyard.
It was not until a long time later that he asked, "Has Liu Youzhou set out on his journey?"
Seven days ago, the envoy who was traveling to Nanyang on horseback arrived at the official residence of the prefect Yang Xu. After reading out the news that he would be appointed as the Grand Marshal, he was led into the house and was shown his impoverished house.
In a wealthy county like Nanyang, he not only never accepted bribes from anyone in the county, but also never accumulated any extra wealth.
The significance of this display was self-evident. He did not have extra money to take up the position of Grand Marshal among the Three Dukes, nor did he have money to reward the eunuch who was responsible for announcing the imperial edict.
The news that Liu Hong was critically ill did not spread widely, and the eunuch still followed the usual rules and returned to the capital with the imperial edict.
If it were any other day, Liu Hong would have been angry, but he just said "It's fate", and issued a new order -
Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou, was appointed as the new Taiwei. He retained his position as the governor of Youzhou. He first returned to the court to report on his work for a few days, and then returned to Youzhou to stabilize the situation.
The Yuyang Rebellion has been quelled, and Liu Yu's temporary departure will not affect the overall situation, but he will undoubtedly serve as a support force for the royal clan.
Yang Xu, who refused the position of Grand Marshal, was changed to Grand Minister of Rites and was exempted from the gift money for taking office.
But an unexpected news reached the capital yesterday. Before Yang Xu had the chance to rush to the capital to take up his post, he had already died of illness in Nanyang.
Zhang Rang hesitated for a long time before telling Liu Hong the news.
After all, it was the death of an important official holding a 2,000-stone official rank, and the news could not be concealed from the higher-ups.
However, at this time when the road to succession was bumpy and he himself was about to die, he received such bad news again. Upon hearing the news, Liu Hong was in a coma for a long time.
Not until he regained consciousness did he issue an order praising Yang Xu's virtues and asking Taishan County to allocate funds to Taishan Yang family.
Then came today's question.
Zhao Zhong, who was attending on the other side, wanted to say that perhaps His Majesty was confused. It would take some time for the appointment edict to be delivered from here to Youzhou, and it would also take some time for Liu Yu to hand over the official positions to the prefects of each county. If he wanted to set off, it would take at least ten days, so how could he be on the way now?
But he saw that Liu Hong's eyes were unusually clear at this moment, and there was no sign of confusion at all.
When he looked at the blooming flower on the branch, there was clearly hope in his eyes.
What he asked was not whether Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou, was on the way, but whether the regent he had chosen for Liu Xie could successfully shoulder this responsibility.
Zhao Zhong choked up for a moment and replied, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, he has arrived to take up his post."
Liu Hong's fingertips moved and he didn't speak for a long time.
When Zhao Zhong and Zhang Rang were about to test his breath, he spoke again in a low voice: "It has been twenty-one years since I rose from the position of Jie Duting Marquis to this position of holding the country's sacred weapon. In the past twenty-one years, the Han Dynasty has been in turmoil many times, and locust plagues, cold weather, and epidemics have never ceased. When I die, how will the people comment on me?"
Emperor Xiaohuan fought with General Liang Ji, and he seized power from General Dou Wu. Because of the relationship between the royal family and the relatives of the emperor's wife, which was both wary of and cooperative with each other, he chose He Jin, who he thought was the safest. But now He Jin was surrounded by a group of people who wanted to kill eunuchs, and they stood on the opposite side of him because of the issue of succession.
He thought that Hongdu School could be his silent force against the aristocratic families, but it seemed like just a place for elegant calligraphy and painting.
Although the world is in chaos, it is not a loss, but people all over the world are full of resentment.
"His Majesty--"
"Time is not on my side..." Liu Hong waved his hand to signal the two of them not to say more, "Don't mention what happens after I die. I don't need to tell you what you two should do after I die. Once you succeed, immediately order Lord Lu to take charge of the military affairs in the capital."
Lu Zhi was highly respected and had the ability to command troops. He was loyal to the Han Dynasty. After the death of General He Jin, only Lu Zhi could make Liu Hong feel at ease and temporarily control the military power.
This was also the second regent he selected for Liu Xie.
I just hope that by the time Lu Zhi receives the news of the appointment, the situation in the capital will not have gotten out of control, and there will be no need to mobilize Qiao Yeshu's Bingzhou Army.
After hearing the promises of Zhao Zhong and Zhang Rang, as well as the news that Jian Shuo had already entered the imperial city, Liu Hong finally calmed down.
Even though he still had doubts at this moment as to whether these people he had entrusted with important tasks could achieve the scene he imagined, but at this moment, when everything would have to be carried out after his death, why should he add more trouble to himself?
His eyes were still on the flower on the branch until one of the petals was blown off the branch by the spring breeze, and his eyes slowly closed.
And then, it never opened again.
The tenth emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty finally fell into eternal sleep at this time.
He remained in this position as if he was asleep, but he could no longer utter a word.
It was not until a long time had passed that Zhang Rang dared to step forward to confirm that Liu Hong had indeed passed away.
The four words "I didn't care about you at that time" were the last words he left behind.
According to past emperor's death stories, the funeral bells in the imperial city should have been ringing by now, informing everyone in Luoyang that the emperor had passed away. However, Zhang Rang knew that this was definitely not the time for him to do such a thing.
He didn't even have time to howl for the emperor in front of him or for his own uncertain fate.
Because he has something more important to do!
He exchanged a glance with Zhao Zhong, who moved Liu Hong's body back to the bed, while he quickly contacted Jian Shuo, sealed the Nangong city gate, and deployed the guards brought into Nangong on the four sides of the palace city walls.
The wall of the imperial city itself is an important line of defense for Luoyang.
What was particularly special at this time was that only the emperor moved to the Southern Palace after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, while the Empress Dowager, the Queen, and the two princes all lived in the Northern Palace.
In order to prevent Liu Hong from being determined to depose the eldest son and enthrone the youngest son, who was even willing to break the rule that even a tiger would not eat its own cubs, He Jin, relying on the troops he controlled as the general, divided the guards of the North Palace almost equally with the palace guards to prevent Liu Bian's life from being threatened.
But maybe he didn't have to do such unnecessary things.
Even though Liu Hong felt that Liu Bian was cowardly and unable to shoulder the heavy responsibility of being emperor, he only wanted his youngest son Liu Xie to take the throne and never thought of letting the other of his only two sons be buried with him.
There was no such item in the secret orders received by Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong, Jian Shuo and others.
When He Jin led his men on horseback to the wall of Nangong, he saw that the Luoyang Nangong was guarded like an iron barrel.
Seeing that the half head that was vaguely sticking out from the top of the city belonged to Zhang Rang, He Jin sneered and asked, "What do you mean, Lord Rang?"
He couldn't help but want to laugh at the other person's stupidity.
From the news he had received, His Majesty's death was probably within one or two days. Even though the place was guarded tightly to prevent him from making any coercive or disrespectful moves, Liu Hong was able to successfully confirm and read out the edict.
But when you hold military power, some things are not that important!
Liu Bian still held the title of the eldest son.
Even though he might be criticized for leading troops to besiege the imperial city, as long as he could insist afterwards that the decree to establish Liu Xie as emperor held by Zhang Rang and others was a forgery and that His Majesty was too ill to draft a decree of succession, he could still successfully put Liu Bian on the throne.
Needless to say, if Liu Hong passed away, Empress He would naturally become the empress dowager. Now that the empress dowager also has the power to appoint a crown prince, Liu Bian's ascension to the throne will only become more legitimate.
At worst, He Jin would just give up this reputation and directly surround Nangong until the food there runs out, and that would force Zhang Rang to surrender!
If he were to defend the palace walls to the death now, he could only delay the outcome by a few days at most.
It's just a fight of a trapped beast!
He heard Zhang Rang ask on the city wall: "The emperor is still here, are you going to rebel against him?"
He Jin was able to speak eloquently and replied, "I dare not accept such a charge. I just wanted to save the emperor from danger because he was controlled by eunuchs like you."
There was no sound from the wall for a long time. After a while, He Jin heard Zhang Rang running up the wall again and said, "Your Majesty, please send for General Dong Chong to come in."
Before He Jin could say anything, Zhang Rang asked, "The general is only on guard against eunuchs like us, so he shouldn't be on guard against the general of the cavalry as well. If His Majesty wants to convey his will, do you want to stop him?"
This is quite reasonable to say.
However, Dong Zhong was not under the city wall at this time.
He Jin intuitively felt that Liu Hong wanted to find Dong Zhong, most likely because he still wanted to put Liu Xie on the throne and wanted to find Dong Zhong to support him.
But He Jin also felt that even if His Majesty had given Dong Zhong some instructions, the methods he used to deal with eunuchs such as Zhang Rang could also be used against Dong Zhong.
He has come, but can he still turn the tide?
He Jin looked behind him and saw that except for Zheng Tai who resigned, the rest of the people, even those who had previously opposed his mobilization of Dong Zhuo to the capital, now gathered behind him, giving him the greatest confidence to oppose the emperor's will.
This is really an advantage in my opinion.
Thinking of this, he waved his hand and signaled someone to send a message to Dong Zhong, asking him to come here.
Compared to He Jin who led the troops to surround the place with full preparation, Dong Zhong's official uniform seemed to have been put on by someone temporarily.
Although he was quite courageous, he also felt resentful towards His Majesty for sending him to the position of General of Cavalry.
He was not a fool, so how could he not see that the only purpose of this position was to allow Liu Hong to have others divide up the power of the general.
But when the forces surrounding He Jin had already taken shape, he, as a General of Cavalry, would not only not get much power, but would instead become a sitting duck in He Jin's eyes.
After hearing that he was summoned by the emperor again at this time, Dong Zhong looked at the city wall and couldn't help but think, "Your Majesty is trying to harm me."
But at this time he couldn't help but think that if He Jin successfully put Liu Bian on the throne, and if he launched a purge of the other side's foreign relatives, then he, Dong Zhong, would not survive no matter what.
In this case, it would be better to see if the emperor has any other ideas to help him and the prince overcome the current crisis.
If Liu Xie could ascend the throne, then Dong Zhong would definitely be the next general, and all his suffering would finally come to an end!
With this few hopes in mind, Dong Zhong stepped into the Nan Palace under the gaze of He Jin, and entered the Jiade Hall under the guidance of Zhang Rang.
In the palace where the chronically ill man lived, there was an indescribable gloomy atmosphere and a mixed smell of medicine. Dong Zhong even felt as if a huge rock was pressing down on his heart.
He looked towards the bed through the heavy curtains, and saw a vague figure lying on the bed in the inner room where a dim candle was lit.
But it was strange that, unlike the frequent choking and coughing he had seen before, the silence at this moment made him almost doubt whether there was really someone lying there.
He couldn't help but have a bad feeling in his heart.
Under normal circumstances, Liu Hong should have spoken at this time, but not only did he not speak, even his breathing seemed to have disappeared in the Jiade Hall.
Could it be that...
"Dong Piaoqi, this is the emperor's decree for you." At this time, Zhao Zhong held an imperial edict in front of Dong Zhong, interrupting his thoughts.
He took it hesitantly, and just as he was feeling a little confused and frightened, he turned into ecstasy after seeing the first two sentences of the imperial edict which indicated the intention to arrange for Liu Xie to become emperor.
Since His Majesty is determined to make the youngest son the emperor, there must be a corresponding method. However, when he looked back, he saw this sentence:
[I hope General Dong will put the country first and sacrifice his life as bait. If this is accomplished, your brother will become the general of my son Liu Xie. 】
Dong Zhong's pupils shrank.
But before he could make any move to resist, Jian Shuo, who had always been praised by Liu Hong for his bravery, had already come up from behind with a knife and axe in hand, and killed him with one blow.
The words he hadn't had time to say were stuck in his throat, and only the blood spurting from the severed head splashed onto the imperial edict.
Then he completely lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
His last thought in the blink of an eye was -
Your Majesty...why!
Why are you so cruel!
This was obviously not just the idea of the deceased Dong Zhong. Jian Shuo, who was holding a knife and axe in his hands, raised the butcher knife towards a court official for the first time, and his hands were almost shaking at this time.
But if they want to survive, they can only follow the plan made by His Majesty.
Jian Shuo was glared at by Zhang Rang, and he hurriedly stabbed Dong Zhong on the head again, took off his head, wrapped it in cloth, and followed Zhang Rang back to the palace.
He felt the bag in his hand was inexplicably hot, and only when he saw the team below the city wall did he regain some composure.
He Jin felt that he had won the game, and there was a hint of evil fun in his eyes as he looked at Gong Cheng.
Meeting such a gaze, Jian Shuo took a deep breath and threw the bag down.
He Jin was still waiting to see someone's dying struggle, but suddenly he saw a bloody bundle thrown down from the city wall and rolling straight in front of his horse's hooves.
Because the bundle was not tied very tightly, it loosened at this moment, revealing the head inside.
It was only dusk, but not yet dim, and He Jin could clearly see that the owner of the head was Dong Chong who had just entered Nangong!
The look of astonishment on the other person's face was frozen in the moment before his death, and there was obviously no possibility of falsification.
He Jin was startled and took two steps back on the horse he was riding. When he looked up at the city wall, there was a look of astonishment on his face.
He immediately shouted angrily: "Zhang Rang! What do you mean by this?"
Even though this seemed like good news for him, it was still too shocking!
He then heard a voice coming from behind the bunker on the city wall.
This voice seemed much weaker than before, filled with emotional fatigue.
Zhang Rang replied, "General He, there are hundreds of people in this palace who want to survive. Although I am a eunuch and have no descendants, I still have brothers and relatives who want to survive as well!"
He continued, "General, may I ask you a question? If you do as the people around you wish and completely eliminate the eunuchs, then they will no longer have to use you as a weapon. Will they still respect you so much?"
"General, don't listen to him..." Yuan Shao just opened his mouth but was interrupted by He Jin who raised his hand.
Zhang Rang, who was on the wall, said, "If you, the great general, still have the reputation of forcing the emperor to ascend the throne, wouldn't the scholars' words be more powerful than swords? Wouldn't they criticize you verbally and pensively until you are forced to step down?"
He Jin's brows twitched.
What Zhang Rang said was indeed what he was worried about.
It was only because these people were still very submissive to him, and the authority to dispatch the five schools of the Northern Army was still in the hands of He Jin, that he was able to temporarily suppress this worry, and made sending Liu Bian to the throne his number one priority at this time.
He listened to Zhang Rang's words and said, "I will not hide it from the general. The emperor has passed away. If the general does not believe this, you can send your followers to the Southern Palace to see the emperor's remains. The honors of several of us eunuchs depend on your majesty. At this time, we can only rely on turning to the general to save our lives."
"General Dong Zhong died in your Majesty's Jiade Hall. The reason for his execution is up to you, the general. Even if we hold the imperial edict for the prince to succeed the throne, we can hand it over to the general."
Zhang Rang couldn't help but pause for a moment when he spoke, as if he was trying his best to suppress his struggle for survival.
"We have already made swords for the general. If we are not tolerated by the general, we will have no choice but to be buried with the late emperor. But when I think that the general may follow in our footsteps, I have no regrets!"
"You don't need to sow discord at this time," He Jin concealed his inner hesitation, glanced at Dong Zhong's head again, and then looked back at the city wall. "Tell me what your conditions are. I am not against people who turn from darkness to light."
The two brothers Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao couldn't help but secretly say in their hearts that something was wrong.
It seemed that the butcher He Jin said something fair and impartial, but the two of them would definitely be able to tell whether he was actually persuaded by Zhang Rang or not.
Then I heard Zhang Rang say on the city wall: "General He, please send people into the city to see the remains of your majesty and the edict of the prince's ascension to the throne, and then take only 200 people and the two princes into the Nangong Palace City to support the prince's ascension to the throne, and then ask the new emperor to issue an edict to save our lives. At that time-"
"We will destroy all evidence that is unfavorable to the general and the prince, and from now on we will follow the general and the new emperor's lead!"
Zhang Rang spoke slowly and carefully, "May I ask, General, what do you think?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
