Chapter 238 Yuan Ji Dies
It was indeed surprising that Madam Lu, the mother of the third-generation successor of the Tianshi Dao and the one who was rumored to be valued by Liu Yan for her mastery of ghost arts, actually appeared in Hanzhong instead of in Chengdu as Qiao Yan had learned.
After returning to Chang'an, Li Ru told Qiao Yan all the information he had learned in Chengdu, which naturally included the information related to Mrs. Lu.
Liu Yan's various actions of believing in the mysterious arts, from Dong Fu in the early days to Madam Lu now, really made Qiao Yan feel a kind of... emotion that was hard to say whether it was funny or not.
This can probably be called a characteristic of the times at best.
When she looked at the woman in front of her, she always maintained an aloof and pure attitude, like a broken city that remained unmoved.
But I don't know if it's because Taoism today is far from being as complete a belief as it was in later generations. Qiao Yan felt that if she asked others whether they believed that she was a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty or that Madam Lu knew Taoism, everyone would definitely believe the former.
Having said that, Qiao Yan still asked, "May I ask if Madam has anything to say?"
Madam Lu looked at Qiao Yan and replied calmly, "A month ago, I divined for Liu Yizhou, and the divination said that a great disaster was coming. However, Liu Yizhou received an imperial edict appointing him as a general, and he said that the blessings outweighed the disasters, so he didn't believe me. What I saw when I went north today is indeed a disaster."
Qiao Yan pondered the meaning of Mrs. Lu's words and found them quite interesting.
It is likely that this Lady Lu mentioned the prophecy of the impending disaster to Liu Yan just before the imperial edict appointing her as the general arrived in Chengdu, because of the news that Zhang Lu was defeated by her.
According to the way this mother and son have always cooperated internally and externally, if Qiao Yan really intended to attack Yizhou at that time, it would really be in line with what she said to Liu Yan, and it would be a good way to further gain Liu Yan's trust.
But it happened that at this time, the enthronement letter from the Chang'an court arrived, but the only disaster was that the carriage built by Liu Yan and Dong Fu's former residence were both burned down.
This might make Liu Yan think that this was done by Madam Lu in order to make her prophecy come true.
In order to avoid being questioned by Liu Yan, Mrs. Lu simply came here under the pretext of visiting her son in Hanzhong.
Qiao Yan asked someone about the time when Madam Lu arrived here, and it turned out to be after the ceremony of enthroning the general. He suddenly understood.
She then asked, "If it is as Madam said, and you fell into my hands today, wouldn't that be considered a disaster?"
Mrs. Lu secretly complained in her heart, she could not have imagined that the attempt to avoid disaster would turn into a real disaster.
The advance towards Chang'an and the imperial decree to appoint the general were very short, even faster than the repeated attack on Zhang Lu and then pacification of Yizhou.
When she came to Hanzhong, she realized that her move to the north was not wise and might even arouse suspicion from Liu Yan. However, when she thought of the terrain of Hanzhong and Zhang Lu's established missionary team, she felt that if something really happened, it would be fine for her to stay in Hanzhong.
After all, the goals they wanted to achieve by pretending to be friendly with Liu Yan have been basically achieved.
Zhang Lu's son's behavior is unpredictable. After being driven back from Wudu County and failing to get Liu Yan's support for a counterattack, he might simply take Hanzhong for himself.
By that time, she would be an easy victim, so it would be better for her to come and meet up early.
She was an important figure in the Tianshi Dao, and relying on the Han Dynasty's philosophy of filial piety and brotherhood, Zhang Lu did not dare to disrespect her no matter what.
But what Mrs. Lu had never expected was that she had only been here for a short period of ten or twenty days and had already welcomed a group of such bad guests.
In Qiao Yan's rather playful gaze, it was not difficult for Mrs. Lu to hear the subtext in her words.
If she couldn't even predict this sudden arrival of an unexpected force, how could she have the power of gods and ghosts?
Then Qiao Yan asked, "Or is it that Madam is willing to sacrifice her own life to verify and prove her immortality? If we can witness this scene with our own eyes, it will be worth our trip to Yizhou."
Although she was depressed, Madam Lu's image management over the years allowed her to maintain a calm expression. She only replied, "The general is following the orders of the emperor and is favored by the fortune of Hanzhong. It is normal for him to deceive the heaven. I only know that disaster is coming, but I don't know where it will come from, so the general is one step ahead."
What I said...
Qiao Yan did not show any expression at this moment, but Mrs. Lu noticed that a scholar traveling with Qiao Yan showed some subtle emotions on his face.
It's really no wonder that he had this particular reaction.
When Xun You heard the saying "the fortune of Hanzhong is favored by Hanzhong", he couldn't help but think of the poisonous snake he sent into the hot pot. It was such a bizarre scene that made him doubt his life.
Just as he thought of this, he saw Qiao Yan gesture towards him, indicating that the two should go out and talk.
"It seems that this Madam Lu has a normal relationship with Zhang Lu. Otherwise, if my mother came to visit, considering the defense conditions of the cities in Hanzhong, the defenses of Mianyang and Nanzheng are more solid." Qiao Yan smiled and said, "We can't say that the place we are in now is called Chenggu, and this place is really solid."
She took a few steps and continued, "I was originally thinking that since Madam Lu is here, could she be used as a hostage to hold Zhang Lu hostage? But given the current situation, I'm afraid that won't work."
Xun You replied: "But Madam Lu's existence is not completely useless. At least... she gave you a reason to seize Hanzhong from Yizhou."
Some of the reasons sound ridiculous, but since the people of Yizhou believe in them, there is no harm in using them.
Moreover, from Xun You's point of view, since spring plowing is approaching and Guanzhong has become their key farming area, it would be better to include Hanzhong as well.
Although the area of several counties in the Hanzhong Plain is far smaller than that of Guanzhong, this area surrounded by mountains is much more open than the Huangshui Valley in Jincheng County, and the climate is much more suitable for planting than that in Liangzhou.
There is no way they would just send out troops to intimidate Liu Yan and then return. It would be the best thing if they could snatch this piece of fat meat from the other side's mouth.
Qiao Yan said: "In this case, I'll trouble the military advisor to take command."
Xun You was exhausted from following her over the mountains, and had rested for a long time before he officially entered Hanzhong and when he and his soldiers attacked Chenggu County. After planning the situation in Hanzhong, he said, "Please divide your troops into four teams, except for those who stay in Chenggu County..."
"One team entered the Mi Cang Mountains from Chenggu County and circled to the south of Nanzheng County, wearing the uniforms of the Yizhou Army."
"One team will advance eastward to Longting and cut off the connection between the Hanzhong Plain and the rest of Hanzhong County."
"One team will guard the pass between Micang Mountain and Daba Mountain, and make sure Liu Yan cannot interfere in this battle."
After pondering Xun You's arrangement, Qiao Yan replied, "I will follow the advice of the military advisor."
Liu Yan, who had no idea what was happening here, was still considering sending Liu Zhang to Chang'an a few days ago. It was only when Zhao Wei, Pang Xi and others persuaded him to wait and see what would happen that he temporarily gave up the idea.
Zhao Wei was from Yizhou, but Pang Xi was an important member of the Dongzhou scholars. It was rare for the two parties to reach a consensus on this matter, which made Liu Yan wonder if he was too hasty in showing goodwill. Perhaps it would be okay to wait a little longer.
But when he thought about his chariots and carriages that were burned for no reason, which had consumed countless amounts of precious wood to build, Liu Yan felt very sad.
If the expected result is not in his favor, he will have to suffer a second round of losses, which does not sound like good news.
At this moment, he felt that Yizhou's isolation from the outside world was, on the one hand, a geographical advantage for his separatist forces here, but on the other hand it also made the transmission of information extremely difficult.
At this particular moment, it actually becomes a disadvantage.
How would the envoys who returned to Chang'an say about him in front of the emperor?
How will the Chang'an court respond?
However, even if he used all his imagination, he would never have thought that because of this scene in Yizhou, he would actually help Qiao Yan become the Grand Marshal.
She was no longer in Guanzhong, but had already arrived in Hanzhong.
Of course, it was not just Liu Yan who did not expect this, but also Yuan Shao.
The news that the Shu Road was blocked by the mountains did not reach Liu Yan's ears, but it had already reached Guandong.
"Grand Sima... How could it be the Grand Sima!" Yuan Shao's face sank as he heard the news.
Yuan Shao had already gotten angry once when Qiao Yan brought Liu Yu back from Youzhou and welcomed him to the throne in Chang'an.
It was depressing enough that Gongsun Zan failed to kill Liu Yu cleanly and efficiently, and let him be rescued on Binhai Road. He still had to ask for a reward from the court in Yecheng.
However, after Liu Yu ascended the throne, Liu Bian's authority as the emperor was further weakened, forcing Yuan Shao to further intensify his efforts to win over surrounding forces.
At that time, Qiao Yan was the General of Cavalry and possessed the power to wield the imperial seal and establish a government office, which was not much worse than the title of General.
However, this behavior, which seemed very hypocritical to Yuan Shao, actually earned him a good reputation among the court officials in Yecheng.
In the eyes of these people, Qiao Yan's giving up the position of general to Liu Yan and her various actions in supporting Liu Yu's ascension to the throne made it easy to confirm her position as a Han minister. In this case, as long as you, Yuan Benchu, can defeat her and make Liu Bian the only orthodox Han emperor, wouldn't you be able to gain a capable and warlike Han general colleague?
Yuan Shao was almost choked by such a self-righteous statement.
But it makes sense. These court officials who came to Yecheng from Luoyang might not necessarily disagree with Qiao Yan. It was just that under the circumstances at the time, they did not dare to gamble on the success of her attack on Chang'an, and did not dare to put themselves under the threat of Dong Zhuo.
If Qiao Yan wins in the end, they can also make themselves Liu Yu's subjects.
It is absolutely impossible to get them to join in the scolding.
After Qiao Yan sent a New Year gift to Liu Bian, Yuan Shao felt that Qiao Yan was a good-for-nothing, especially good at being sarcastic and stabbing him in the back from a distance.
What he didn't expect was that before March of this year, Qiao Yan had already received another promotion.
He rose from the original General of Cavalry to the Grand Marshal, who was at the top of the powerful officials!
A Sima who is less than twenty years old!
"Shouldn't this be called usurpation?" Yuan Shao was indignant. "Just because you welcome the emperor, you are ranked above the three ministers. What kind of logic is that!"
Look at his own situation. After Yuan Shu broke with the court in Yecheng, he was the highest-ranking member of the Yuan family who supported Liu Bian's ascension to the throne. But even though he controlled Jizhou and Qingzhou, he had not yet taken the position of general.
Yuan Shao had been planning to choose an auspicious time after the change of the reign title in the first year of Yonghan to marry his youngest daughter born to his second wife, Madam Liu, to Liu Bian as the empress, so that he would naturally become the general.
But Chang'an gave him a surprise.
Qiao Yan directly became the Grand Marshal!
Ju Su looked at Yuan Shao's performance and knew that what he was asking at this time was probably not just one question: why Qiao Yan could be promoted to the position of Grand Marshal at such an absurd speed.
Instead, the question is, as a powerful minister who also supported the emperor to ascend the throne, why couldn't Yuan Shao make such a move?
But according to Ju Su, if Yuan Shao really did that, it would not be of any benefit to their current situation.
So he just replied: "If you ask the officials in Yecheng about this question, they will only tell you that if the position of the Grand Marshal is obtained in violation of etiquette, why do Lord Lu and General Huangfu in Chang'an have no objection to this matter?"
These people would not share the same hatred for the enemy with Qiao Yan just because Qiao Yan's position was higher than Yuan Shao's.
The only possibility that would make them stand in unison with Yuan Shao was that Qiao Yan would march to the city and threaten that as long as Ye City was captured, all the civil and military officials who supported Liu Bian would die with him.
But obviously Qiao Yan would not make such a stupid decision.
Last winter, she even asked Yang Xiu to bring cotton clothes to visit his old father in Yecheng. The visit of Princess Yang'an also made people believe that her respect for the Han royal family did not change because of her status.
If Yecheng was conquered by her, Liu Bian would probably have a good end, and they, the ministers, would be able to go to the other side and participate in the government again.
In January of this year, a batch of cotton cloth from Bingzhou was sent to Yecheng for sale, in response to the trend started by Princess Yang'an last year.
After the first copy of the Leping Monthly Report was given to Liu Bian by Qiao Yan as a year-end gift, and the second copy was given to Yang Biao by Yang Xiu, senior officials in Yecheng also inquired about the matter and even wanted to find channels to buy a copy.
To Ju Su, both of these were extremely dangerous signals.
The backwardness of military strength and agricultural grain production is not fatal. It is the gradual assimilation of the internal forces that will sooner or later lead to further unrest.
Ju Su could only be thankful that after a winter of recuperation, Yecheng's military armaments had been upgraded to a higher level, making their defenses in Taihang Mountains and Henei County much stronger than before.
The cultivated land areas of Qingzhou and Jizhou are also larger than those of Liangzhou and Bingzhou. After pacifying the internal rebellion, the gap can be gradually made up.
But the premise of all this is that Yuan Shao must first put aside some unnecessary competitive spirit and never blindly compete with Qiao Yan at this time.
Yuan Shao was depressed, but as the situation was really not going well, he temporarily withdrew the idea.
For the time being, he no longer had the extra energy to think about how to get promoted to the position of Grand Marshal without being criticized.
Because also in the middle and late February, something happened here that might not be important to the court in Yecheng, but was very important to Yuan Shao.
Yuan Ji, the eldest son of Yuan Feng and the elder brother of Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, died of illness.
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