Chapter 202: Playing both sides
Huangfu Song did not know all the circumstances and could not make a direct judgment as to whether the situation between Dong Zhuo and Li Jue in Chang'an would develop from one side putting the other under house arrest to a state of fighting between the two sides.
But he was sure of one thing—
When he was young, he accompanied his father Huangfu Jie in the battles of Yanmen. After being recommended as the governor of Beidi, he fought in Liangzhou. He was further valued because of the Yellow Turban Rebellion. He traveled between the Central Plains and Liangzhou, always leading by example and fulfilling his duties. He has never seemed to be idle and idling away his time like this!
Of course, it’s not entirely correct to say that we’re just wasting time.
When he was guarding Gaoping for Qiao Yan, he relied on the reputation he had accumulated in Anding County to assist in the governance of the people's livelihood in Liangzhou and the maintenance of order in the Huoshizhai military settlement.
The commercial market centered on Gaoping City gradually developed as Qiao Yan strictly implemented the Wuzhu coins in transactions and the lives of the people in Liangzhou returned to peace from the war.
Although Liangzhou's capital was Ji County in Hanyang, Gaoping was still the most convenient place in terms of transportation.
If some of Qiao Yan's actions and developments were not suitable for outsiders to see, and choosing Gaoping for development was far inferior to Wuwei and Jincheng, she should not have delegated power in Gaoping to others.
Fortunately, Huangfu Song can now be considered one of our own, and he has set a very good example of living in a high and peaceful place and enforcing the law impartially.
It’s just… According to the definition of a military general that Huangfu Song gave himself, he still felt a little uncomfortable all over.
You have to fight a few battles to stretch your muscles.
If Qiao Yan had not mentioned it first and Xu Shu had taken Chencang first, Huangfu Song would have wanted to challenge for a fight.
For now, let’s just consider the battle situation in Chang’an.
He replied: "This can explain why Li Ying, Fan Chou and others led the troops here."
If we ignore Dong Zhuo's corruption for the sake of power after entering Luoyang, and only look at the way he led troops in Liang Province, he would never have let someone like Li Ying be the main general in attacking Liang Province.
Having combat experience and a certain status is definitely not the same thing as being actually responsible for the mobilization of troops on this scale.
Even if Fan Chou were to be the main general, he would sound more reliable than Li Ying.
This really seems like something Li Jue would do.
Huangfu Song couldn't help feeling a little worried when he thought of this. Although Li Jue replaced Dong Zhuo in control of Chang'an affairs, it meant that the difficulty they would face in attacking Chang'an would be greatly reduced, but it also meant that before they arrived, the situation in Chang'an might be far more chaotic than they imagined.
Huangfu Song knew Li Jue's capabilities.
If he were to be in a high position, he might even do worse than Dong Zhuo.
And Dong Zhuo was not someone who would sit still and wait for death.
Amid the conflict between the two sides, it is hard to say whether the emperor and his ministers in Chang'an can remain safe and wait for their rescue.
But he also knew that there would be no benefit if he advanced rashly at this moment.
So he just said: "We will arrive at Chencang first, and when the army is on the march, let the scouts go to Chang'an to get more information."
Because Chencang and Shanggui were both in their hands, after solving the problem of the whereabouts of the Xiliang nobles and captives, the army's march southward was actually faster than the previous speed of Li Ying, Fan Chou and others.
It can be said that we quickly entered Guanzhong.
After arriving at Chencang, Qiao Yan met Xu Shu who had been waiting there.
He had already changed out of the Five Pecks of Rice Sect uniform that he had used as a disguise. But when talking about his two visits to Chencang, Qiao Yan couldn't help but sigh, "Sending food to stabilize Li Ying and others was necessary for the situation, but directly seizing Chencang was still a bit risky."
Xu Shu replied, "It's risky, but if we take Chencang early, you don't have to be on guard against the enemy when you advance into the Wei River Valley. This is good for keeping the soldiers energetic for battle."
After all, when Qiao Yan was traveling on this road, it would be difficult for Xu Shu to contact her quickly.
It's always better to have a definite answer first.
Qiao Yan then heard Xu Shu say, "Besides, when it comes to taking risks, who can compare to Mr. Wenhe?"
That's... quite true.
Since Qiao Yan successfully attacked Jincheng County last year, Jia Xu was nominally taken hostage by Yan Xing and sent to Chang'an.
Only a few of her confidants knew that he was undercover there.
Even Jia Mu, who was appointed by Qiao Yan as the embankment protection envoy, did not know that his father was going there to do something big. He thought that he got the opportunity to continue doing his work because Qiao Yan did not intend to implicate other people and made a statement.
With this idea in mind, he assisted Bi Lan in planning and supervising the construction of canals in Liangzhou, and he did his best.
If you want to deceive your opponent, you have to deceive your own people first. That's it.
Compared to Jia Mu's diligent work to prevent liquidation, what Jia Xu is doing is much more dangerous.
This is exactly why Qiao Yan wanted Yan Xing to go along as well.
Given Jia Xu's wit and expediency, it should not be difficult for him to call upon Yan Xing as his guard in this situation.
Jia Xu is responsible for thinking and Yan Xing is responsible for taking action. They are a perfect combination.
Moreover, before Jia Xu left Liangzhou for Chang'an, Qiao Yan had already told him in advance that if things were impossible, he should immediately abandon the plan and ensure his own safety first.
His goal of stirring up the situation in the south has been achieved, so this trip to Chang'an is not a loss.
It is not necessary to let Liu Xie transport according to the preset direction.
If it really doesn't work, just start the alternative plan.
I think Jia Xu himself will make a suitable choice.
Qiao Yan stood on the city wall of Chencang and looked towards the east.
Within Dong Zhuo's garrison area, which was bounded by Meiwu in the west and Huayin in the east, it was difficult for information to enter and leave, and she was unable to learn about the situation further away.
He just murmured, "Tell me, what is the current situation in Chang'an?"
Long before the troops sent by Li Jue to attack Liangzhou arrived in Chencang, Dong Bai, who left Chang'an through a tunnel, had already arrived in Meiwu.
Duan Wei, who was stationed in Meiwu, handed over his soldiers to Li Ying, and then received such shocking news from Dong Bai.
This doesn't sound fake!
After nearly five days of trekking, although Dong Bai had food with him and was walking on the main road of the Guanzhong Plain, when he appeared in front of Duan Wei, he still looked exhausted.
There was no need for Dong Bai to play such a joke on him.
Whether out of loyalty to Dong Zhuo or out of assessment of his ability, Duan Wei did not think that Li Jue had the ability to shoulder such a heavy responsibility.
In a sense, opponents and allies are very similar in their evaluation of strength.
So of course he had to choose Dong Zhuo.
But the time when he learned the news was actually a little late.
If there was a chance that he would know about this earlier, he could take advantage of the opportunity to capture him when the 5,000 soldiers were allocated to Li Ying.
Li Jue would not openly tell everyone that he would replace Dong Zhuo. At most, he would tell the soldiers who participated in the power seizure and some of Dong Zhuo's senior generals.
At least the lowest-level soldiers won’t know about this.
This gave Duan Wei room to maneuver.
But now the enemy has continued to advance in the direction of Chencang. If we rashly clash with them, not only will the probability of success be slim, it may even arouse vigilance in the capital.
Then we can only attack Chang'an directly.
Duan Wei said, "We must leave some troops to guard Meiwu to prevent the attack on Liangzhou from failing and allowing Qiao Yan to march in. I can still mobilize about a thousand soldiers."
Dong Bai didn't have much idea about this number, but Duan Wei gave her an answer: "Let's put it this way. The defenders of Chang'an are now under the command of Li Jue, and he must be on guard against us. So with the strong city walls, even if we attack them by surprise, we will need more than 5,000 people."
When Qiao Yan attacked Luoyang, he also led more than 10,000 people to attack the city.
No matter how empty Chang'an was, during the two years that Dong Zhuo was there, the basic fortifications and defenses were still complete.
If Dong Zhuo had not expected that there would be such a traitor among his subordinates, Li Jue would never have been able to succeed so easily.
But his words made Dong Bai feel nervous.
If she had known this earlier, she would have rushed over regardless of the danger.
She asked quickly, "Is it possible to mobilize 2,000 more people to take Chang'an first?"
Duan Wei replied: "Yes, but it can't be done from my side."
Meiwu was a defense specially reinforced by Dong Zhuo, which also meant that this place served as an extraordinary barrier to Chang'an.
From Yizhou, you can reach Meiwu via the Xiagu Road. From Liangzhou, you can go straight down the Wei River and reach this place via Chencang.
The situation is changing rapidly today, and we cannot have too high expectations of our allies.
Even Li Jue could betray Dong Zhuo, so Liu Yan, who was only given the title of Grand Marshal by Dong Zhuo, did not have to maintain friendly relations with him.
So he couldn't come out in full force.
"But there is one person who can help me with this first expedition." Duan Wei replied firmly, "General Zhang can do it."
The General Zhang here refers to Zhang Ji. 1
Duan Wei explained: "If Zhang Zidu had not been appointed by the prime minister, he might not have been able to regain his confidence by helping Liu Biao kill Sun Jian. The prime minister was indebted to him. In addition, Li Jue had clashed with him in his early years. If Li Jue was in power, it would not be good for him. I guess the fact that the prime minister was held hostage by Li Jue did not reach Zhang Ji's ears."
"Please rest here for a while, Lord Weiyang. I will send a letter to Shangluo where General Zhang is stationed. Once the two sides agree on the time of attack, we will definitely join forces to attack the capital to quell the threat posed by Li Jue."
Dong Bai could see that his grandfather's judgment of Duan Wei was correct. When the Dong family was losing power, Duan Wei did not add insult to injury, nor did he choose to wait and see.
He has taken a stand.
Contacting Zhang Ji to attack Chang'an together was indeed the best choice at this time.
She replied firmly, "I'll go with your messenger!"
Without waiting for Duan Wei to say anything to dissuade him, Dong Bai continued, "It would be most appropriate for me to go as well. Just like today, if another person came to deliver a letter to the general and revealed the situation in the capital, would you believe it?"
The answer is most likely no.
Seeing a thoughtful look on Duan Wei's face, Dong Bai said, "I don't think General Zhang will believe it either."
So there must be a messenger of sufficient weight!
In Dong Bai's opinion, compared with the previous situation of walking from Chang'an to Meiwu, now he can ride a horse from Meiwu to Shangluo, and he has attendants to accompany and protect him. This is the best situation.
What made her feel even more fortunate was that Dong Zhuo did not make a wrong choice in choosing Duan Wei as the target for help, and Duan Wei did not make a wrong judgment in choosing Zhang Ji as the supporter.
Not only did Zhang Ji have conflicts with Li Jue, but his nephew had previously fallen into the hands of Qiao Yan. Once Li Jue continued to control the situation in Chang'an, Zhang Ji would definitely be liquidated.
With this in mind, he had to send troops.
He calculated the marching time from Meiwu to Chang'an and his own, and said to Dong Bai: "Give me a day to organize the army and arrange various matters. I will send troops first and station them in the Lantian Valley area. Then you go and tell General Yu Duan that we will agree on a day to send troops at the same time, and we can probably arrive at the city of Chang'an together."
Dong Bai was overjoyed when he heard this.
With these two approaches working together, my grandparents and great-grandmother would all be saved.
When Li Ying and others sent troops from Chencang to Liangzhou on the other side, she also completed this meeting with Zhang Ji.
Then she followed Zhang Ji to Lantian Valley, and then went to Meiwu to inform Duan Wei and agreed on the time to set out for Chang'an.
This was just when Li Ying and others were about to walk out of the Wei River Valley and were attacked head-on by Qiao Yan.
Although everything was going smoothly, Dong Bai still felt a little uneasy in his heart.
This uneasiness might be due to the war situation in Liang Province, or it might be due to the hidden dangers that might arise if she quietly left Chang'an.
But now the situation is like this, she can only move on.
What she didn't know was that while she was running back and forth to reach an agreement on the cooperation plan between Duan Wei and Zhang Ji, a special visitor arrived in Chang'an City, where Dong Zhuo was imprisoned.
"What are you doing here?" Dong Zhuo looked at Jia Xu who came in.
Dong Zhuo obviously did not understand Jia Xu's choice more than Li Jue's betrayal of him.
Li Jue was a short-sighted man with a thirst for power. Having been under someone else's command for a long time, he suddenly got the opportunity to move to a higher position, so it was inevitable that he would become more evil.
But Jia Xu is a smart man, why would he choose a fool like Li Jue to assist him!
If Li Jue was really chosen, Jia Xu might as well take the opportunity to escape back to Liangzhou and inform Qiao Yan of the situation in Chang'an, letting her reap the benefits. Wouldn't it be possible to atone for his sins?
However, to Dong Zhuo's surprise, the reply he heard from Jia Xu was: "I am here to help the Prime Minister."
"Help me?" Dong Zhuo asked sarcastically, "If you hadn't given Li Jue advice, I don't believe he would have thought of using the emperor's name to attack me, nor would he have thought of using Wang Yun to achieve this goal."
Li Jue had some brains but not much, and such a suggestion could only have come from Jia Xu.
Being at a disadvantage allowed Dong Zhuo to think more clearly than ever before.
Facing Dong Zhuo's question, Jia Xu shook his head and calmly replied: "How can this not be helping the prime minister? Just like I knew that the prime minister sent Weiyang Jun as a messenger to send a message to Duan Zhongming, but I did not tell Li Jue about it, and even helped to cover it up."
Dong Zhuo's eyes changed.
Jia Xu's words directly exposed what Dong Bai had done.
Even if he did not tell Li Jue what he said, it was unexpected bad news for Dong Zhuo.
But he heard Jia Xu continue to say: "Li Jue said that this is to restore order, and it is not wrong. I am also restoring order for the prime minister in my own way, but I am doing this for the prime minister."
Seeing that Dong Zhuo's anger had subsided a little and was replaced by suspicion, Jia Xu said, "The Prime Minister missed the most suitable opportunity to attack Liang and Bing states. The opportunity is fleeting and will not wait for anyone, so the team attacking Liang state cannot win, but--"
"They can lure Qiao Yan to Guanzhong."
"From the perspective of Liangzhou, we first attacked the invading generals of Li Jue, and then learned that there was a change in Chang'an. Regardless of whether Qiao Yan acted prudently or not, he must march into Guanzhong as soon as possible."
“It’s a good thing for us.”
"Under the current situation, it is impossible for us to drive her out of Liangzhou and open up this retreat route again. We can only take the risk and try to drag her into the Guanzhong battlefield. If we don't do this, we can only wait until she has sufficient troops and food in a month or two and slowly advances into Guanzhong. By then, we will only have the middle and the worst strategies left."
Jia Xu said meaningfully: "If you want to make a play realistic, you have to deceive your own people first."
"..." Dong Zhuo didn't know where to start.
Even if he had deceived his own people, it would be too much if he deceived him too!
However, Jia Xu seemed to be able to guess what he was thinking at this moment, and said: "Prime Minister, you don't have to worry about this action undermining your dignity. Those who know about this matter just think that you made a wrong decision, and then you can turn the tide and defeat the enemy army."
"But in Chang'an, most people still don't know about this. To them, the Prime Minister is still sitting high in the Mingtang, and is the commander-in-chief of the Xiliang Army. How dare Li Jue compare with you?"
Dong Zhuo was silent for a long time before he asked, "But how can you be sure that Qiao Yan will choose to march quickly?"
Jia Xu replied: "Have you forgotten why she attacked Chang'an?"
Of course it was for Liu Xie.
It is hard to say how much trouble the army invading Liang Province can bring her, but one thing is that whether it is for the princes of Guandong or for Dong Zhuo, Qiao Yan’s goal is to rescue Liu Xie.
While the internal strife of the Xiliang army brings her opportunities, it may also result in the death of the emperor.
According to others' understanding, she dared not hesitate.
Jia Xu bowed to Dong Zhuo and said, "Prime Minister, don't worry. Although it is dangerous to defeat Li Jue first and then fight Qiao Yan, we can destroy them first and then rebuild them. Even if it is impossible, we can go to Luo to Wuguan and seize Jingzhou and Nanyang to stay temporarily, and there is still a way to retreat."
These words sounded so high-sounding that Dong Zhuo could not detect anything unusual on Jia Xu's gloomy expression.
He asked, "Why did you choose to tell me now?"
Jia Xu replied: "There is nothing to worry about in the chaos in Chang'an. The only thing to worry about is the prime minister's family. Therefore, I would like to ask the prime minister to give me an imperial decree so that I can escort Chi Yangjun and others to a safe place."
This is indeed Dong Zhuo's weak spot.
He didn't know if he would still trust Jia Xu after what happened, but every word he said now really hit the nail on the head.
He could only trust this man of extraordinary wisdom.
He said tiredly: "If you have a way, take my mother, daughter and nephew to hide in the tunnel. The spare key is here..."
When Jia Xu walked out of the side hall of Weiyang Palace, a barely visible smile appeared on his face.
With this deception, he was able to find a place to stay during the war and to gather hostages for Dong Zhuo's generals in the future.
It is almost time for him to retire.
Now, all that’s left is to add fuel to the fire for Li Jue!
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