Chapter 208 Jing Yi's Response
How could Liu Xie, who had just left the protection of his court officials, have imagined that the woodcutter in front of him was not a real woodcutter.
Even the fact that he thought Li Jue accidentally fell off a mountain while escaping with him was actually a fake one made up by others. Before he woke up, someone had already completed the production of this scene.
Otherwise, if he really fell like this, it seems unknown whether he could wake up.
All he saw was that the woodcutter was truly a kind-hearted man. After taking him back to treat his injuries, he asked his wife to cook a hot meal for him.
The food of the common people was indeed too rough for Liu Xie. After all, after Li Jue came to power, his treatment was slightly improved.
But for Liu Xie, who had experienced another period of displacement, such a hot meal was undoubtedly comparable to delicacies from land and sea.
Although he was precocious and intelligent, he was unable to spot any flaws when he saw the couple in front of him actually living in the mountains.
Naturally, he could not tell the difference between the environment where they originally lived and the Yizhou where they were after he inquired.
After he was taken in by this kind couple for three days because he could not remember his origins, he heard from the woodcutter couple's whispered conversation that they had a son who died young and looked somewhat like him.
It was at this time that Liu Xie suddenly came up with an extremely special idea.
If...if there was only one emperor in the Han Dynasty, would there no longer be these sources of disasters?
Dong Zhuo could no longer abuse his power in Chang'an and recruit soldiers and collect taxes in his name.
In this way, perhaps the chaos can be settled.
Anyway, the wounds on his face could not be healed according to folk medical standards. Unless someone had seen him in person and was very familiar with his appearance, it would be impossible to tell his identity.
Then it seems that it is not impossible for him to take the opportunity to stay here.
He can find a pair of adoptive parents!
Liu Xie may not necessarily want to be an emperor.
He knew very well that the position of emperor was passed down to him by Emperor Ling of Han with high expectations for him, and it was also his responsibility.
But when the timing did not allow it, and now it seemed as if there was a rope in front of him that could rescue him from the bottom of the well, he made his choice without hesitation.
He also gave himself a pseudonym.
Because his mother's surname was Wang and he had just come from Chang'an, he named himself Wang An.
This name probably sounds quite suitable for a country bumpkin.
For the time being, he will just be a village man.
Due to the mountainous separation between Yizhou and Sili, Liu Xie was unable to learn about the situation in Chang'an City so quickly.
The couple who acted as his parents would also strictly limit the information he could receive from the other side.
He would not know that while these people in Chang'an City were still searching for Liu Xie's whereabouts, on the one hand, Qiao Yan's inquiry in favor of supporting Liu Yu as the emperor was being transmitted towards Youzhou, and on the other hand, the news that Li Jue and Dong Zhuo were wiped out in the Guanzhong Plain but the emperor Liu Xie was lost was spreading to the surrounding areas.
The several states that were suspected to be Liu Xie's destination were apparently the first to receive this battle report.
The first are the two states closest to Wuguan.
Jingzhou and Yizhou.
The former Nanyang was the temporary residence originally chosen by Li Jue for himself, just like the choice made by Zhang Xiu in history.
The latter Hanzhong is another option, which is where the emperor's uniform points to.
Liu Yan and Liu Biao received the news almost at the same time, and unexpectedly made the same response.
After jumping up from their seats in shock, they snatched the message record from the messenger and almost suspected that there was something wrong with their ears.
They have always been paying close attention to the situation in Chang'an.
After all, that's where the emperor is.
For them, it is also necessary to have exchanges with the Chang'an court.
But this sudden change happened too quickly.
More than a month ago, Qiao Yan had just returned to Liangzhou from Bingzhou, and Chang'an had been exchanging letters with them.
But now the situation has changed.
No matter who believes that "speed is the essence of the military", it is impossible for them to be this fast!
Regardless of whether Liu Xie was lost or not, Qiao Yan had already done what she promised that year. She marched into Sili through the method of Liangzhou and captured Chang'an. This was the truth.
It is also true that none of the old ministers in Chang'an lost their lives as a result of this successful attack!
These two points alone are enough to make people shocked by this achievement.
She also lived up to the trust that Emperor Ling of Han placed in her during his lifetime.
The two who received the news, Liu Biao rode away from Jingzhou alone, relying on the Jingxiang family to gain a foothold in Jingzhou, while Liu Yan took the lead in proposing the idea of re-establishing the governor of the state, and ordered his confidants to control Hanzhong and completely cut off the external channels -
Among the heroes at the end of the Han Dynasty, although they could not be considered in the first echelon, they could at least be considered in the second echelon.
But they had only one common thought in their minds at this moment, how did she do it?
Especially after the follow-up news was delivered to them, it was impossible not to feel even more shocked.
The four Hanyang families joined forces with Dong Zhuo and Li Jue to lead 20,000 troops coming from Chang'an into Liangzhou, but they were met with a defensive counterattack by Qiao Yan in the Wei River Valley before Shanggui. Four thousand of the 20,000 were killed on the spot, and the rest were incorporated into her autumn harvest team.
Chencang and Sanguan in the direction of Wudu County had fallen into Qiao Yan's hands long before she led her troops out of the valley.
Meiwu, a strong city specially reinforced by Dong Zhuo, was forcibly breached just one day after her army laid siege to the city.
The two forces fighting each other in Chang'an City were quickly pacified with the arrival of Qiao Yan's cavalry.
Dong Zhuo was killed and Li Jue fled.
These eight simple-sounding words marked the end of the battle to march into Sili.
Each step sounds indescribably bizarre.
But she actually did it!
Even though we know that since the campaign against Dong Zhuo... no, since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Qiao Yan has had his own way of coping with the development of the war, and he has always done things that make people think it is impossible, hearing this news now still makes people feel dazed.
They have to ask themselves, if it were them, could they do this?
Liu Biao and Cai Mao, Kuai Yue and others in front of him looked at each other and gave a silent reply.
cannot.
But they suddenly realized something more terrifying. What they should care more about now is not whether they can complete the attack on Chang'an by putting themselves in Qiao Yan's situation, but putting themselves in Dong Zhuo's position.
In other words, if they were the one being attacked by Qiao Yan, would they be able to withstand the attack?
Although continuous fighting is too deadly for any army, if it is really necessary, it can be done by relying on the accumulation of grain in the Guanzhong Plain after the autumn harvest.
It was precisely because Li Jue took Liu Xie away and fled that she had a reason to attack in order to find Liu Xie's whereabouts more conveniently.
In subsequent news, Zhao Yun, under Qiao Yan's command, not only captured Yan Xing, but also stationed the troops under his command in Wuguan.
This is a way of stationing troops that makes it easier to search for Liu Xie's whereabouts among the surrounding mountains.
It is also a way to attack Jingzhou and Nanyang at any time.
On the other hand, Xu Shu, who had been farming in a small area in Wudu County, quietly captured Zhang Lu's men and occupied Sanguan. He then went straight to Chencang under the guise of Tianshi Dao. However, there was no guarantee that he would not turn around and capture Zhang Lu himself in order to seize the pass to attack Hanzhong.
Both Liu Biao and Liu Yan are dangerous.
It is only natural to put yourself in the position of Qiao Yan's enemy and think about their current situation.
"I think the Lord has to write a memorial to Chang'an." Kuai Yue said solemnly.
Although they had never made any substantial promises to Dong Zhuo, and only "cooperated" with him under the banner of respecting the little emperor in Chang'an City, if you trace it back to the root cause, they had never had any substantial conflicts with Qiao Yan.
But judging from the results achieved by the alliance with Dong Zhuo, Sun Jian's death was always inevitable.
If Qiao Yan had not marched into Chang'an so quickly, and if they had waited until the gains from pacifying the clan bandits in Jingzhou were completely transformed into internal armed forces, perhaps they would not have had to be so panicked.
However, at this time, they had not even taken Changsha County controlled by Zhu Jun, and the war in Chang'an had already ended.
The situation is beyond our control, we can only show weakness first.
Fortunately, they still have something to talk about.
Kuai Yue suggested: "Please do not mention Sun Jian in this memorial, not even a single word!"
This was said with great seriousness.
Although, they could characterize the fact that Sun Jian used Dong Zhuo's power to defeat Sun Jian as violating the rules in Jingzhou.
Based on his previous act of killing the prefect of Nanyang and the conflict between him and Liu Biao, he inferred that Liu Biao's actions were counterattacks made when he was forced to do so.
But the premise of all this is that Qiao Yan is not biased in his attitude towards Sun Jian and Liu Biao.
But that's not the case.
Even Sun Ce's official position was conferred upon Qiao Yan's request.
The closeness of the relationship is self-evident.
So instead of doing anything to excuse themselves and absolve themselves of guilt, which would most likely cause Qiao Yan's dissatisfaction, it would be better to state clearly in this memorial what are the benefits of keeping Jingzhou in its current state.
For example, they had no idea of Jingzhou being independent from the imperial court. The reason why Liu Biao was able to get the position of governor of Jingzhou in the beginning was because he was valued by Emperor Ling of Han. He could unify his political stance with Qiao Yan.
Secondly, Liu Biao had been deceived by Dong Zhuo and thought that they could help each other, but now looking back, Dong Zhuo and other Xiliang rebels were just using Jingzhou as a retreat route with the intention of occupying and establishing their own regime.
In this sense, Liu Biao could never be considered an ally of them.
After Liu Biao showed this attitude, unless Li Jue was too stupid, he would not have come to Liu Biao for surrender.
Thirdly, since they were looking for someone, it would be natural for them to rely on the powerful families in Jingzhou. It would be more reasonable to do so without alerting the enemy. It would be better to let him handle the task of finding someone in Jingzhou.
Afterwards, Liu Biao had to express his admiration and gratitude to Qiao Yan for taking Chang'an in the tone of a relative of the Han Dynasty, and call her a loyal minister who maintained the dignity of the Han Dynasty.
Finally, Liu Biao had to add this sentence.
Regardless of whether Liu Xie could be found in a short period of time, and regardless of whether the capital should be maintained in Chang'an or moved back to Luoyang, the sacrifices to the Han ancestral temple could not be interrupted, and there would inevitably be a shortage of manpower. Therefore, he sent his eldest son Liu Qi to Chang'an to assist Qiao Yan in the cleanup work.
This title sounds nice, but in essence, it is just sending a hostage to Chang'an City.
Outsiders would not know that Liu Biao did not like his eldest son so much, but Liu Qi could not be considered a useless person. According to etiquette and law, he was Liu Biao's eldest son.
After this series of combined punches, Liu Biao made his position and advantages clear.
Under such circumstances, if Qiao Yan still wanted to hold him accountable and launch an invasion, he would be somewhat unsustainable.
Liu Biao's decisiveness was definitely not bad. After Kuai Yue put forward a series of responses, he completed the letter to Chang'an without hesitation.
Liu Yan was not idle either.
At the same time, he wrote to Zhang Lu, asking him to guard the pass between Wudu County and Hanzhong County to prevent any changes.
On the one hand, he announced to the outside world that he would temporarily block the pass between Hanzhong County and other places in Yizhou to prevent Li Jue from escaping to further south if he came towards Yizhou.
In fact, Hanzhong was used as a barrier to prevent attacks from troops and horses coming from Chang'an.
Compared with Liu Yan's approach, Liu Biao's proper approach of advancing and retreating is obviously more decent.
But both of them were almost terribly scared.
Yuan Shu, who was a little further away, was not in much better condition.
How could Yuan Shu not panic?
You have to know that he had just taken over the position of Governor of Yuzhou from Dong Zhuo, and had not been proud of it for a few days before he received the news that Chang'an was captured by Qiao Yan.
Not to mention recruiting talented people to Yingchuan, during this period of time, he couldn't even use his title as governor to denounce Liu Bei.
In just three or four days... he fell directly from the peak to the valley.
According to the time calculated by his subordinates, the person who sent him the imperial edict was not even Dong Zhuo, but Li Jue, who had seized power from Dong Zhuo at that time.
Yuan Shu had to scold Li Jue severely.
Of course, he couldn't scold Li Jue for giving him the title of Governor of Yuzhou.
If he really said that, doesn't it mean that he himself feels unworthy of the title?
This point cannot be said to be final.
If he had to criticize someone, he had to criticize Li Jue for his action of marching into Liang Province during the autumn harvest, which really ignored the people's livelihood and made him the worst traitor in the world.
Of course, what he was thinking in his mind was, how stupid a person must be to be able to turn an attack of 20,000 people with the help of an insider into such a mess, not only without damaging Qiao Yan's forces, but instead allowing her to take the opportunity to counterattack Chang'an?
"Those are 20,000 people, not 20,000 pigs!" Yuan Shu paced back and forth in the room.
Yuan Huan glanced towards Yuan Shu.
Born into the good upbringing of the Yuan family of Chen County, he did not dare to say it at this time. If Yuan Shu were to suddenly produce 20,000 pigs, it might be a little difficult, and there was no need to say that Li Jue was not a good person at this time.
This is simply because Qiao Yan’s level is too high.
He lowered his eyes and concentrated on thinking about the current situation. Suddenly, Yuan Shu turned to him and asked, "Yao Qing, what do you think we should do?"
Yuan Shu couldn't help feeling a sense of crisis because Li Jue might bring the little emperor to his side.
After Qiao Yan took over Sili, she directly connected Liangzhou, Bingzhou and Guanzhong into a whole, which made it not difficult for her to go east through Luoyang to Yuzhou.
No matter how arrogant he was, he knew that the current situation would not bring him much benefit.
There is Liu Bei in front, Qiao Yan behind, Cao Cao in the north, Liu Biao and Sun Ce in the south. What kind of weird situation is this!
Yuan Huan calmly replied, "Your Excellency does not need to rush to respond. Just wait and see how Yuan Benchu will react."
Yuan Shu was stunned when he heard this, but he soon realized that what Yuan Huan said was not wrong.
As a descendant of the Yuan family of Runan, he had a control group.
All along, the conflict between Yuan Shao and Qiao Yan has been much more serious than that between him and Qiao Yan.
It's the same even in the current situation.
In that case, he just needs to do things that are more in line with Qiao Yan's interests than Yuan Benchu does!
Yuan Shu's intelligence finally came online. He quickly ordered, "Quick! Send someone to Jizhou to get information!"
He wanted to see Yuan Shao's reaction to decide his course of action!
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