Chapter 121 Dong...
None of the noble families and He Jin's old subordinates in Luoyang City, including He Miao who dreamed of becoming a general, took the royal majesty seriously. How could Dong Zhuo, who had been in Xiliang for a long time, be an exception?
He successively rejected Liu Hong's imperial edicts to appoint him as Shaofu and Qingzhou Mu, but he did not suffer any punishment for making this decision. This was enough for him to see the weak nature of the Han court.
And now, an opportunity has fallen in front of him.
The emperor passed away, the general forced the emperor to abdicate, the palace caught fire, and the prince fled. Every one of these events sounded unreal.
But it also seemed as if today's scene had been predicted several years ago!
So Dong Zhuo first had this opportunity, and under the general's call, he legitimately deployed his troops in Hedong, and then continued to advance to a position near Luoyang, and just in time he received such news...
This is the opportunity given by heaven!
As soon as he finished speaking about his decision to eliminate the bandits and protect the emperor, he heard Li Ru's approval of his decision.
"If you don't take what God has given you, you will suffer the consequences. General, since you understand this principle, there is really no need to hesitate. If Zhang Rang and his men want to flee with the prince and have no help, they must escape through Mangshan, which is closer to us. Please order the cavalry to go first, go straight to the northern pass of Mangshan, and then advance southward. Order the troops in the rear to carry more flags to strengthen their momentum and provide support."
Dong Zhuo clapped his hands and laughed, "As Wenyou said."
The Xiliang soldiers under his command had followed him in battle for a long time, and most of them had been tempered in the fierce battlefields like Liangzhou. After making a decision, they would move out much faster than ordinary troops.
Xu Rong, Guo Si and Niu Fu led the cavalry ahead, while he was in charge of the rear army's advance.
Niu Fu is his son-in-law, which is equivalent to his own family.
Although Xu Rong was not from Liangzhou, he was extremely good at fighting. Even though he was sent to Luoyang to assist Dong Min but was defeated by Qiao Yan, it did not affect the fact that he was a real fighter. With him around, if any battle occurred, the chances of victory were guaranteed.
As for Guo Si...
According to what Dong Zhuo said to Li Ru during the subsequent trip, Aduo was a horse thief, and if there was any urgent need for change in Mangshan, he would definitely react the fastest.
It would be most appropriate for these three to go together to find the whereabouts of Zhang Rang and the two princes.
This is the strength of his Xiliang Army!
He Jin limited him to bringing only 3,000 men, but when 2,000 cavalry and 1,000 infantry arrived in Hedong, it was not difficult for him to gather more men.
After the three men left with their 1,500 cavalrymen, the team that traveled with him actually still had more than 3,000 people.
He walked eastward and saw the red sun rising before his eyes. He whipped his horse and thought it was a good omen.
This is the time for Dong Zhuo to show his prowess!
Zhang Rang was still fleeing at this time.
He didn't know that after crossing the Beimang Mountain, he might not be able to cross the Yellow River to ensure peace or get reinforcements from Henei County, but would face such a Xiliang jackal.
What he didn't know was that during the turmoil in Luoyang that night, a group of pursuers who tried to chase him were first intercepted by Cao Cao, and then a part of them were intercepted by the Northern Army soldiers dispatched by Lu Zhi.
Minister Lu, who had not had the opportunity to hold military power for several years, personally held a long spear and sternly questioned Zhang Zhang and others who were confronting him, asking whether they had any intention of rebellion.
Lu Zhi was a famous scholar in the world. Every word he asked was hard to resist. Even though he did not have many soldiers and generals behind him, it gave people the illusion of facing thousands of troops.
Or perhaps it was because it had been several hours since the first fire was set in the Nan Palace in Luoyang. After the initial desire to avenge the general gradually subsided, they also realized a sense of guilt and fear.
Wu Kuang and Zhang Zhang looked at each other, then looked at Lu Zhi in front of them, and couldn't help but step back a distance.
After passing through these two obstructions, the only ones chasing after Zhang Rang and others were some soldiers under the command of the two brothers Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu.
If Jian Shuo had a little more talent in deploying troops, it would not be difficult for him to retreat calmly to the Yellow River.
However, with no way out and no information, they could only eat a small amount of wild fruits in the mountains and continue to move forward in an extremely hungry state.
Zhang Rang even thought he seemed to have heard the pursuers in the canyon behind him, but the scouts' reports clearly showed no one else.
What he was best at was just guessing Liu Hong's thoughts. To say that he was lazy was an understatement. At this moment, he felt like he was going to fall off the mountain path. If there hadn't been someone helping him, he would have almost lost his life because of such a ridiculous reason.
But after walking a little further north, he suddenly realized that the noise he had just heard did not seem to be an illusion.
Because of the echo in the mountain, a particularly clear shout reached his ears -
Eunuch, don't run away!
After a night of close combat, Zhang Rang was in a state of tension as he saw enemies everywhere. He looked back and saw that the men leading the troops to chase him were none other than Yan Liang and Gao Lan, two famous brave men in the capital who were under the command of Yuan Shao's Tiger Guards. He became even more panicked. 1
Jian Shuo was already exhausted, but both Zhang Rang and Jian Shuo knew that they had to either get through this difficult time together or die here, so they could only fight and retreat.
Jian Shuo gritted his teeth and said anxiously: "Let the Duke and the Prince go first, I will go and stop them!"
After all, he was promoted by Liu Hong to the position of captain of the upper army. He had offended some people because of this matter and it was more difficult for him to escape from this incident than anyone else.
It would be better for Zhang to let them cover his retreat. If they can survive, maybe there will be a chance to collect his bodies.
When he thought about it, he made a decision immediately.
But although he was a captain of an army, he often took orders from Liu Hong, which was very different from serious generals like Yan Liang and Gao Lan. Even if he mustered up some courage and led his troops here, he would never be a match for this general who had trained hard and was strong.
Before Zhang Rang walked far, he heard the voice that had previously shouted "Eunuch, don't run" now shouting another four words.
It means "Jian Shuo is dead."
Zhang Rang's heart immediately sank to the bottom.
When he saw the two princes who were still in a panic and didn't know what had happened, and the body of the late emperor who had not found rest after his death, he was even more sad.
In the current situation, he is afraid that his life is in danger...
Just when he was almost mechanically following the remaining dozens of riders and a hundred or so followers over the slope in front and had seen the Mengjin ferry outside Beimang Mountain in the distance, he saw a column of cavalry, more than a thousand men, coming towards him with great force.
These cavalrymen were still some distance away from him, and Zhang Rang was unable to tell who they belonged to in his haste. He only felt that they were being pursued by another group of troops.
However, Xu Rong recognized the identities of everyone on the hillside at a glance.
He had been to Luoyang and met Zhang Rang. The two young men who were under strict protection in the team had obvious clothing characteristics. They might be the two princes mentioned in the report by Dong Min's men!
But before he could report to Niu Fu and explain his identity to the other party, he saw Zhang Rang running towards the east, as if trying to avoid them. However, before he took a few steps, he was shot in the chest by an arrow from a distance. 2
The eunuch chief, who once sat on a high platform and held a position as important as the emperor's ministers, was unable to allow himself to be pulled back by anyone this time, but rolled directly down the hillside.
When Niu Fu sent people to check on his condition, no one knew whether he had died because of the arrow or because he fell from a high place and broke his neck.
Niu Fu didn't have time to think about the situation at this moment.
The prince who was still running down the hillside under the guidance of the eunuch, and the shouts and screams coming from behind them, were enough for him to roughly judge the situation at that moment.
He immediately ordered Xu Rong and Guo Si to stop the pursuing troops, while he himself rushed towards Liu Bian and Liu Xie.
Gao Lan and Yan Liang were already only half a step away from complete victory, but they never expected that someone would appear at this moment to intercept them!
That's not just any ordinary person!
The Xiliang soldiers on the opposite side, who were riding strong horses, did not hesitate at all because he claimed to be under the command of the Tiger Guard General. After rushing up the hillside and forming a battle formation, they rushed towards them.
Xu Rong acted extremely decisively.
Before they set out, Li Ru gave them instructions that if they encountered He Jin's followers, they could just display a state of confrontation.
After all, Dong Zhuo came to Hedong following He Jin's instructions, so he had to give the other party some face.
Even if the person is already dead, you still have to save face.
But if they are someone else's followers, then just give them a head-on blow, which will also let people know the capabilities of their Liangzhou Army!
Tiger Guards General?
Those are Yuan Shao’s subordinates!
They were obviously not within the scope of those who needed to be courteous as Li Ru had instructed.
Even if there were some negotiations afterwards, they were just General Dong's vanguard team. It would be completely reasonable if they took any extreme actions when protecting the future emperor!
The two sides' configurations from the team to the generals are extremely similar, but there is one biggest difference.
Xu Rong and Guo Si received the marching order near dawn and arrived at the foot of Mangshan Mountain after noon today.
Gao Lan and Yan Liang, on the other hand, had surrounded Nangong since yesterday afternoon along with Yuan Shao, He Jin and others, and had been engaged in a stalemate with Jian Shuo's team since the fire started.
After they rushed into the Beimang Mountain ahead of Lu Zhi, they circled in the mountain with Zhang Rang and others for half a night. Only now did they resume their normal mountain pursuit state.
This was almost a whole day of chasing and fighting, and even a brave general like Yan Liang couldn't help feeling extremely tired.
When he bent his bow and drew his arrow to shoot at Zhang Rang, he felt a little powerless because the bow he used was a heavy bow.
It was at this moment that the Xiliang Tiger Soldiers opposite him launched a cavalry charge in this flat terrain.
At the Luoyang Fighting Meeting a year and a half ago, Yan Liang was with Yuan Shao and had a chance encounter with Xu Rong.
He had also witnessed the fight between Xu Rong and Dian Wei at that time, and heard the General of the Central Army praise Xu Rong as a brave and brave warrior.
Now, in this cavalry charge that suddenly shortened the distance, he realized that it could not be considered a real fight, which definitely greatly limited Xu Rong's performance!
But what made him figure out the problem was his head being chopped off suddenly.
By the time Dong Zhuo led his troops here, the fighting here had already ended.
Yan Liang died at the hands of Xu Rong, but Gao Lan reacted quickly and immediately gathered his cavalry and retreated, thus saving his life from the hands of the Xiliang army.
Dong Zhuo listened to Niu Fu's report on the battle situation. After listening to the general idea, he walked towards the direction of the two little princes.
From the time he was forced out of the palace yesterday evening, to the time he fled to Beimang, to the time Dong Zhuo arrived, it was a complete day.
Among the two princes, even though Liu Bian was once raised in a Taoist's home, he was undoubtedly a pampered person and had never experienced such a torment.
If there hadn't been a few familiar eunuchs surrounding them and Guo Si bringing them dry food, they would have fainted by now.
Now Dong Zhuo, who was coming with the gait of a dragon and the gait of a tiger and had a very ferocious look, how could he not scare the two princes.
After Dong Zhuo said, "I am late in coming to your rescue," confirming that he was a friend and not an enemy, Liu Xie finally came to his senses and immediately replied, "Excuse me, General."
Dong Zhuo took a look at the two princes and had a rough idea of their personalities.
Because they came with few people, he immediately decided to lead the crowd to retreat to Pingyin County north of Mengjin, first settled the two princes, and then gathered everyone to discuss what to do next.
Li Ru arrived the latest. As soon as he entered the room, he bowed to Dong Zhuo and said, "General, good news."
As he spoke, he took out a piece of silk from his sleeve.
Dong Zhuo had received countless imperial edicts since he started to serve as an official, and he recognized it as an imperial decree at a glance.
"This is?"
"Just now I heard them say that the eunuch who accompanied them was a capable person beside the late emperor. Since he kidnapped the two princes and fled, it is impossible that he had no evidence. So I searched his body and found this thing in his underwear."
Li Ru smiled and said, "With this in hand, the general will have more confidence to march into Luoyang."
"This is the edict of the late emperor enthroning his youngest son Liu Xie as the emperor."
They had already learned from the cavalryman who had brought the news that the late emperor had indeed left this edict, and it had become a bargaining chip for Zhang Rang and He Jin to negotiate terms.
If He Jin was willing to let them go after Liu Bian ascended the throne, he would destroy the edict.
However, they originally thought that when Zhang Rang and others were forced to flee, the edict would most likely not be preserved. However, they did not expect that he not only carried it close to his body, but the place where he was shot by the arrow just happened to avoid the edict, causing no damage. At most, there was some blood stain on the corners.
Seeing Dong Zhuo signaling him to continue, Li Ru asked, "General, why do you think we were able to successfully camp in Pingyin and not encounter a second wave of attack before joining forces?"
Luoyang is located in the south of Mangshan Mountain. Even though Yan Liang died at the hands of Xu Rong, if the five schools of the Northern Army had dispatched more troops, Xu Rong, Niu Fu and others would not have lived so comfortably before Dong Zhuo came.
unless……
Dong Zhuo thought for a moment, "You mean, at this moment in Luoyang there should be two forces balancing each other."
"And these two forces correspond to the two camps that support the two princes to ascend to the throne." Li Ru continued, "General, which side do you think we should stand on?"
Just because of Yan Liang’s death, they are not yet classified as one side or the other.
On the contrary, in the current chaotic situation, their performance as soon as they arrived in Luoyang would only make people want to win them over.
However, others may feel that they are hesitating, but they themselves need to first establish their position and not really think that they are just a butcher's knife used by others.
And this position needs to be decided by Dong Zhuo himself.
Li Ru was his military advisor, and was only responsible for reminding him of the current situation.
In fact, what he said was not wrong.
At this time in Luoyang, Lu Zhi took over the five schools of the Northern Army with the edict of the late emperor. With no leader in the central government and even the imperial seal missing, the value of the edict in his hand increased significantly. This led to a stalemate with the people led by Yuan and He Miao.
Huan Dian, the General of the Imperial Guards who had once served in Yuan Wei's palace, chose to remain neutral because he respected Lu Zhi very much. Although Weiwei Yang Biao's wife was a daughter of Yuan, he also remained neutral because of his father's instructions.
Amid the checks and balances between the two sides, Dong Zhuo, who should have been ordered to hand over the two princes as soon as possible, only received an envoy in the evening to confirm the safety of the princes, as well as a messenger from Dong Min who reported the situation in Luoyang to him.
"Lu Zhi and Yuan Wei..." Dong Zhuo tapped the table in deep thought.
One of the two parties wanted to obey the will of the late emperor and restore the government as soon as possible, while the other party wanted to seek benefits for the aristocratic families.
Considering the fact that he held the imperial edict of succession in his hand, he should have chosen to cooperate with Lu Zhi directly.
But Lu Zhi and Huangfu Song had the same style, and Dong Zhuo had some psychological trauma from this. If he wanted more power, he obviously could not go beyond Lu Zhi, the regent.
Then cooperate with Yuan?
On the second day after he arrived in Pingyin, Yuan Shao had someone deliver a letter to him, saying that since he had received support from the Yuan family and the general, he should cherish the old times. Don't take Yan Liang's death seriously and just treat it as an accidental killing. I just hope he chooses a side soon.
Such an arrogant tone made him feel uncomfortable and speechless.
What's more, when he thought that Liu Xie's title was Dong Hou, he couldn't help but come up with the idea of replacing that Dong with this Dong.
He thought about it, and then called Li Ru to ask, "If I want to support Liu Xie, but don't want to be under Lu Zhi, what should I do?"
Li Ru seemed to have anticipated that Dong Zhuo would make such a choice, and replied: "Then I have two suggestions for you, General. First, pretend to increase our existing manpower and expand the scale of our camp. Second -"
"First, choose the Yuan family and support them on the condition that they swallow up He Jin's followers. When the time comes, immediately turn against them and support Dong Hou to take the throne. But before that, take away Lu Zhi's military power first."
Li Ru said meaningfully: "In this regard, these aristocratic families who have temporarily gained the upper hand will be more skilled than us."
This is exactly what it means to use the opponent's force to counter attack him.
Dong Zhuo gave him an approving look and made a decision immediately.
He first sent a letter to the Yuan family, in which he expressed some "guilt" for killing Yan Liang and defeating Yuan Shao's followers.
Of course, for these Xiliang people, who had just won a war, it was normal for them to show a bit of disrespect in their words.
Then, according to Li Ru's advice, he wrote in the letter that it would not be a problem for him to stand on Yuan's side, after all, they were all old friends.
But he had a condition.
Xiliang is a place that is too cold and harsh. He had rejected the invitation from the late emperor earlier and he felt a little regretful. Now he would rather be a general in the capital.
When Liu Bian ascended the throne, He Miao naturally became the general, and he wanted to take on the position of General of Cavalry under him.
Besides, his Liangzhou escort is much more capable than the useless people under He Miao. If they want to defeat Lu Zhi directly, they have to let him lead the troops first.
At this time, Yuan held four positions at the same time: Grand Tutor, Grand Coachman, Inspector of the Imperial Guards, and General of the Tiger Guards, and many of his disciples held important positions in the court. He never expected that Dong Zhuo would be acting in a perfunctory manner at this time, and immediately agreed to his conditions.
However, when Dong Zhuo controlled the troops of He Jin and He Miao, and with the help of Yuan, he defeated Lu Zhi and forced him to flee Luoyang.
"Dong Zhuo denounced in front of the hall that the ministers were unable to save the country from turmoil and rectify the country, causing the emperor to go into exile. This forced him to endure hardships and have a heart-to-heart talk with the ministers who conspired to rebel. Only today can he restore order..." Qiao Yan received this news as soon as he returned to Yanmen.
Putting aside the question of whether the term "sleeping on firewood and tasting gall" is correct or not, it is really difficult to comment on the behavior of this group of loyal Han officials in denouncing their ministers.
But think about the original history. Dong Zhuo protected the emperor in August, deposed and enthroned the emperor in September, and appointed himself prime minister in November. He had at least two or three months of buffer time. Now, it has only been ten days since he entered Luoyang. It is really... understandable that he wants to create a decent image for himself first.
After this scolding, Dong Zhuo immediately asked for the imperial edict that passed the throne to Liu Xie.
This immediate change of allegiance was like a stab in the back for Yuan Wei and others.
But even if they wanted to raise any objections at this time, it was too late.
The imperial edict in Dong Zhuo's hand was orthodox, and at least it could be used to convince the five schools of the Northern Army that were now under his command.
As for the troops and horses that originally belonged to He Jin, those who could be considered loyal to the general were all killed by Dong Zhuo during his process of gathering strength to facilitate his rise to power. The only ones left were those who were seeking wealth and fame.
Then there would be nothing wrong for them to follow Dong Zhuo who now holds the imperial edict.
In the face of sufficiently powerful military power, just like Liu Hong who was seriously ill before, he was unable to deprive He Jin of everything he had with just an imperial edict. At this time, Yuan Wei had no effective means to punish Dong Zhuo except to scold him for his inconsistency.
He was even called a traitor by Dong Zhuo.
It was also on the same day that Dong Zhuo openly proposed to make Liu Xie the emperor that General He Miao was killed by a chaos of swords.
Huan Dian and Yang Biao, who had previously maintained a neutral attitude, were still okay, but the two brothers Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu had no choice but to lead their people and flee to avoid following in He Miao's footsteps.
Dong Zhuo's move of taking advantage of the situation and then turning against it was undoubtedly a brilliant move.
He then quickly supported Liu Xie to take the throne, requested to be the Grand Marshal, transferred Yuzhou Mu Huang Wan back to Luoyang to be the Minister of Education, appointed Weiwei Yang Biao as the Minister of Works, investigated the old cases of Chen Fan and Dou Wu, restored their titles, promoted their descendants, and employed their party members. This can be regarded as an exceptionally beautiful combination of punches when the Yuan family intended to suppress him with their status and reputation. 3
Under such circumstances, Yuan Wei and others were completely unable to use their support to suppress Dong Zhuo.
Although the situation before entering the capital was different from the original one, under Li Ru's plan for Dong Zhuo, he still achieved the original results.
Perhaps the only difference is——
To the north of Luoyang, in the territory of Bingzhou across the Yellow River and Taihang Mountains, there is a lonely minister who is entrusted with the care of the emperor and is the descendant of a loyal and righteous man.
After Qiao Yan returned to Jinyang from Yanmen, she welcomed several waves of visitors from outside Bingzhou.
The first one is Zheng Tai, a famous scholar from Xingyang.
When He Jin accepted Yuan Shao's suggestion to recruit Dong Zhuo to the capital, he chose to resign and head north to Bingzhou.
The scenes he saw in Bingzhou along the way made him realize that the people in Luoyang might still underestimated Marquis Qiao!
This also made him choose to report directly to the provincial government without hesitation after receiving the news that He Jin had died and Dong Zhuo had been promoted to the position of Grand Marshal, intending to meet with the Governor of Bingzhou.
The other few people just happened to get together.
Liu Hong, the astronomer and mathematician who invented the Qianxiang calendar, came with Ma Jun and Bi Lan, like an airborne science gift package.
Qiao Yan was delighted by the arrival of these people, but at the same time he felt that it was too dangerous for Ma Lun to stay in Luoyang to protect those assistants!
Especially, at this time, the Yuan family was facing the situation of losing power!
Her position as Grand Historian was conferred by Liu Hong. Even if Dong Zhuo recognized the legitimacy of Liu Hong's edict of succession, it did not necessarily mean that he also recognized the position of Grand Historian.
It's too dangerous!
She couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat for Maren, and became more and more certain that she needed to choose the most appropriate time to send troops in order to save her.
This hidden worry was not shown on her face. Bao Hong, who happened to meet Ma Jun, Bi Lan and others on the road, saw Qiao Yan turn in his direction.
Because she had just returned from outside the Great Wall, her eyes seemed to contain a hint of the sharpness of fighting on the battlefield.
Bao Hong couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.
Without having time to think about how much Qiao Yan had changed in the past few years, Bao Hong immediately knelt down and held the imperial edict in his hand in front of Qiao Yan when he thought of Zhang Rang's request to him when Nangong was captured.
He seemed to be completely unaware that this was not a normal posture for reading an imperial edict, and he said loudly: "Marquis Qiao, please obey the late emperor's will and lead the army into the capital to protect the emperor!"
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