Chapter 142 Envoys from Both Sides
This sentence, "Five years have passed in a hurry, and we have fought together," is enough to clarify Huangfu Song's position.
And those who fought with him were not only Qiao Yan, but also Lu Zhi, Zhu Jun and others. It really reminds people of the scene in the seventh year of Guanghe.
It was precisely because of the existence of these people that this loyal minister, who was accustomed to obeying the emperor's orders and only making some adjustments on the battlefield, chose to wait a little longer and take a path to save the emperor.
Qiao Yan looked at the words in front of him and felt that he could vaguely see the decision and consideration that Huangfu Song put into writing these words.
These are the few remaining loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty...
She couldn't help but sigh for the other person in her heart.
But thinking that Huangfu Song might not have a day to fight her, and even if that day came, he must have seen that only with her could the people in these troubled times have the most stable life, she suppressed her sigh.
She calmed down and looked at Fu Gan again, saying, "Take a few days' rest. There is a very important thing you need to do in the plan to attack Liangzhou. If you still come to see me like this, I will hand it over to someone else."
Fu Gan's eyes lit up.
Qiao Yan did not ask him what Fu Xie's old boss thought when he saw him delivering the letter to Huangfu Song, nor did he ask him what he thought about seeing Ma Teng and Han Sui quickly unite in the crisis. He just said that he was entrusted with an important task in this battle, which made Fu Gan feel relieved.
He quickly bowed and said, "I will go and rest now. I will definitely come to see you in two days when I am ready."
When Qiao Yan said he would give him a new task, it wasn't really nonsense.
Two days later, she and Fu Gan went to meet Huchuquan, the second son of Qiangqu, the Chanyu of the Southern Xiongnu.
If the original historical development had been followed, the eldest son of Qiangqu, Yufuluo, would have died in battle in the second year of Xingping, which was six years later. Huhuxuan would have inherited the position of Chanyu of Southern Xiongnu and at the same time would have named Yufuluo's son Liu Bao as the Left Wise King.
Liu Yuan, the son of Liu Bao, was the founder of the Han Zhao regime. He later posthumously honored Liu Chan, the last emperor of Shu Han, with the name "brother's successor" in order to win more support from the Central Plains and the people's allegiance.
Compared with Liu Bao and Liu Yuan, a pair of extremely active and truly heroic father and son, Huochequan, the uncle and great-grandfather, seems to have little presence. The only thing worth mentioning is that he repeatedly surrendered and betrayed the Eastern Han Dynasty, and finally surrendered to Cao Cao after being badly beaten.
It's just that he has not yet taken over the position of Chanyu. Perhaps because Qiao Yan intimidated the Southern Xiongnu and plundered the Xianbei tribes, he completely established a terrifying image in the hearts of the Southern Xiongnu people. When he was called here, he clearly didn't dare to breathe.
While flipping through the report in his hand, Qiao Yan asked him casually, "Gongda and Fengxiao should have told you what you should do?"
Allowing some of the Southern Xiongnu tribes to settle in the waters of Luoyang and Ziwuling Mountains would not arouse Dong Zhuo's suspicion.
Why was the city where the Southern Xiongnu settled named Meiji City? It was because after Nantou surrendered to the Han Dynasty, they also began to engage in some farming work.
Besides being nomadic, they also farm.
Huochuquan replied: "I have informed you clearly."
For Huochequan, being able to become independent from Meiji City and work for the Bingzhou governor on the border between Bingzhou and Liangzhou was something he had never imagined before.
But he also suddenly realized that this was obviously a great opportunity for him to seek a path of development after his brother would inevitably inherit his father's position as Chanyu.
At this moment, he did not dare to have any idea of joining forces with the Qiang people to rebel against Bingzhou, for fear that he would follow in the footsteps of King Zuo Guli and be rewarded by Marquis Qiao with a wine glass that could not be lost.
Just thinking - it's always better to be able to survive independently!
"The land south of Qingyang, irrigated by the water from the Ziwu Ridge, is the one I hope you will make the best use of," Qiao Yan continued. "I have asked the old farmers in Bingzhou to go and survey the area. When you arrive with your people, you will first reclaim the land according to their plan and plant the first batch of winter wheat this winter. During this period, I will have people provide you with all the tools you need."
Huochuquan was about to say that he might not be able to understand it, but Qiao Yan pointed at Fu Gan beside him and said, "I will use him as your military advisor. If you have any questions, ask him. Besides, he is from Beidi County. If you have any friction with the Beidi Qiang people, follow Yancai's instructions."
When it comes to being a proper military advisor, Fu Gan's level is clearly not up to the mark. But after all, Huochequan was just an outpost she sent out to open a military settlement, so it was enough to have Fu Gan and his men to supervise it.
After Huochequan left, Qiao Yan instructed him to go back to Shangjun to seek Xun You's advice and to protect his own safety before signaling him to step down.
Come to think of it, since we have already started to use force against the Southern Xiongnu, the distance should not be too far for the Xianbei people to come to Yanmen to mine coal.
But don't rush.
It was already August when the plan to station the Southern Xiongnu at Ziwuling was finalized.
All relevant matters within Bingzhou have to be put on hold, and the next major focus will still be on the autumn harvest.
Even Lu Bu, Zhang Liao and others were transferred back to the provincial capital by her to further clarify the details of supervising agricultural affairs and military farming in Baidaochuan and Yanmen.
What she had never expected was that before these people were sent away, another unexpected visitor arrived in Bingzhou.
"Dong Zhuo has sent someone." Xi Zhicai came in from outside and found it a little funny when he said this.
Xun You's plan for Qiao Yan was to have the Southern Xiongnu settle down and farm at the foot of Ziwuling Mountain, straddling Bingzhou and Liangzhou. During this period, he would try to squeeze some benefits out of Dong Zhuo who was in Chang'an, at least a title that could suppress Ma Teng and Han Sui's former general and left general.
It is obvious that the Governor of Bingzhou cannot legitimately attack Liangzhou, Qiao Yan cannot set a precedent for this attack, and the position of Marquis of Leping as a county marquis does not allow him to do this.
According to the discussion between Xun You, Xi Zhicai and others, Qiao Yan had to at least submit a memorial to Liu Xie to explain his intentions as a minister before he could start planning this matter.
But before she could take any action, she just asked Huchuquan to lead his men to Ziwuling, but Dong Zhuo had already taken action.
Qiao Yan put down the pen in his hand and asked, "Does the person who came seem to be an old friend?"
Otherwise, why would Xi Zhicai behave like this?
He suppressed his laughter and replied, "Yes, it's an old friend, the one who gave the Red Hare to you, my Lord."
In Qiao Yan's opinion, Li Su is indeed very strong.
The last time she sent the Red Hare to invite her to meet, Niu Fu and Guo Si rushed directly into her well-prepared camp. It was not easy for this envoy to be entrusted with such an important task by Dong Zhuo and to be the envoy to Bingzhou this time.
Although the idea of sending Red Hare was not proposed by him, he was the one who actually did it. If he met someone who was more suspicious, he might have suspected whether he had shown any signs that might have revealed a loophole while delivering the letter.
At this moment, it is unclear whether to say that Dong Zhuo had no one to use after fleeing Luoyang, or that he had finally returned to the style of the Liangzhou warlords and could let bygones be bygones with his subordinates.
In short, in the end, the person standing in front of Qiao Yan was Li Su.
The look he gave Qiao Yan was inevitably somewhat complicated.
When the horses were delivered that day, although Dong Zhuo's men regarded Qiao Yan as a strong rival because of the eager welcome shown by the Hedong nobles to him, they never thought that Dong Zhuo, who had fought for thirty years, would actually fall at the hands of the Bingzhou governor.
If the last time he came to see the other party was for the purpose of deceiving him, then this time...
When Prime Minister Dong entrusted him with this task, it looked like he was really trying to win her over.
Who made the eight passes face off against three-way battles? Niu Fu and Xu Rong of Mengjin Pass and Xiaopingjin Pass died and surrendered respectively, Hu Zhen of Xuanmen Pass died together with the fierce general Hua Xiong, the defender of Taigu Pass Dong Yue died at the hands of Sun Jian, and Guo Si, who was recruited back to Luoyang, was cut off from his team by Sun Jian's cavalry entering the city, and faced this fierce general, and failed to save his life.
Dong Min, Dong Zhuo's younger brother, was guarding Nan Guo of Luoyang at that time and died. Zhang Ji's nephew Zhang Xiu fell into the hands of Qiao Yan.
This resulted in Dong Zhuo having only four generals left:
Duan Wei, Zhang Ji, Fan Chou, and Li Jue.
After Dong Zhuo was defeated, Zhang Ji protected him in his escape, Li Jue evacuated from Yique Pass, and Fan Chou evacuated from Huanyuan Pass. They managed to put together a team that could threaten the Guanzhong Plain, but before Dong Zhuo could recruit enough soldiers, his situation was still very dangerous.
Even though Lu Zhi, Huang Wan, Wang Yun and others traveled thousands of miles from Luoyang to Chang'an to safeguard the legitimacy of the royal decree left by the previous emperor, it did make Dong Zhuo feel a little more at ease.
Even if Ma Teng and Han Sui accepted his imperial edict, he still had to make sure that he still had external support to rely on.
None of this could change the fact that Dong Zhuo was making enemies everywhere at this time.
He could only try his best to do something to improve the situation.
Just as Qiao Yan and Xun You said, Duan Wei followed Dong Zhuo's orders to cultivate land in Huayin and guard the mouth of Luochuan River. Zhang Ji stationed troops in Gaoling. Fan Chou and Li Jue, one guarded Chang'an and the other stationed in Mei County to prevent the Xiliang rebels from attacking. While agreeing to the reward and alliance agreement he offered, he was thinking -
If Dong Zhuo could do such a thing as kidnapping the emperor and issuing orders, why couldn't the two of them do the same.
You should know that the "Sui" in Han Sui's name was changed because he was wanted by the Liangzhou government and his head was put on the table for sale.
His original name should be Han Yue.
If they could achieve their goal of clearing their names by flattering the emperor, Han Sui and Ma Teng would definitely be able to do it with their courage.
At this time, Dong Zhuo had not yet made the decision to build his own comfortable home in Meiwu to spend his remaining years in such a crisis. Instead, he ordered Li Jue to build a camp in Mei County in preparation for war.
After the defenses on these fronts were prepared, Dong Zhuo naturally received news from the court on the other side.
The Yuan family, which had three prime ministers for four generations, saw the death of all the previous generations of their leaders, and the eldest son Yuan Ji had to retire due to poor health. However, Yuan Shao was appointed as the governor of Qingzhou for his contribution in supporting the emperor. However, he did not stay in Qingzhou, but lived nearby in Yecheng, guarding the emperor. Afterwards, Yuan Shu took the position of General of Chariots and Cavalry and supervised the battle in Yangzhou to quell the rebellion.
As for Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, they also coveted the position of general that could be held by the foreign relative, but these could only be legitimate after Yuan's daughter married Liu Bian and became the queen. In addition, ministers such as Yang Biao and Fu Wan also moved to Yecheng. If they did not want to lose the support of these ministers, they could not rashly give themselves the title of the Three Dukes.
But this was already a huge provocation to Dong Zhuo!
Being able to suppress the former Runan Yuan family and even almost exterminate them was the thing that made Dong Zhuo most proud after he entered Luoyang and controlled the government.
But these people rescued Liu Bian, divided half of the power in the world, and rose to prominence with this merit, which was like a slap in the face to him.
Subsequently, pieces of news were delivered to Dong Zhuo via express horses.
For example, Sun Jian, who killed his brother Dong Min, was appointed as General Po Lu by the imperial court in addition to being the prefect of Changsha, and was tasked with pacifying the clan bandits in Jingzhou. If we talk about having a legitimate reason to fight, he could be considered to be competing with Liu Jingsheng, the governor of Jingzhou.
That general killed Cao Cao, who was under his command Hu Zhen, and was appointed as the governor of Dongjun by the eastern court, and was given the post of General Anhan. He brought the reputation of Wanhu in Luoyang to Dongjun to settle down, and his fame grew day by day.
That……
Don’t mention it, Dong Zhuo gets angry when he sees it.
And Yang Biao, who was stripped of his position as one of the Three Dukes by him, was promoted to Guanglu Dafu and saved his life because of his leniency. However, he was now appointed as Taiwei again!
He weighed the pros and cons and made a decision.
Three edicts were issued in the name of Liu Xie, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty.
One was to appoint Liu Biao, the governor of Jingzhou, as the governor of Jingzhou, so that he would be in charge of both military and government affairs of Jingzhou with the authority of the governor.
If Liu Biao accepted the commission, it would mean that he was on Dong Zhuo's side and would naturally help him solve Sun Jian's troubles.
Dong Zhuo thought that if there was a troublemaker like Sun Jian in his own territory, he would definitely try his best to remove him. Now that he has handed the title of eliminating the "thief" into Liu Biao's hands, he should not be so ignorant of the current situation.
The second edict was to leave Yizhou Governor Liu Yan in Luoyang as a hostage, and to send his eldest son back to Yizhou when Dong Zhuo and Liu Xie fled to Chang'an, and at the same time confer him the title of Grand Marshal.
According to Dong Zhuo, when he was in Luoyang, he appointed Liu Yu, the governor of Youzhou, as the Grand Marshal. However, when the fake emperor was established, this man should have reprimanded the fake emperor of Yecheng because he was given the title of a trusted minister by the previous emperor. However, he chose to surrender because the other party was closer to him.
So now Dong Zhuo gave the position of Grand Marshal to Liu Yan, hoping that he would set an example for the Han royal family.
Yizhou was a land of abundance isolated from the outside world, and even the only hostage who could make Liu Yan afraid to act rashly was sent back. How could he possibly have too much respect for Dong Zhuo?
But what Dong Zhuo wanted was not Liu Yan's respect.
Anyway, it is not easy for Chang'an to attack Yizhou, and it is also difficult for Yizhou to take it out. We should just keep to ourselves and not interfere with each other. You just need to acknowledge my legitimacy. In this way, among the Thirteen States of the Han Dynasty, there will be at least one more state that will worship Liu Xie as the emperor.
Dong Zhuo issued these first two edicts quite readily, but he hesitated for a long time on the third one.
However, Huangfu Song refused to return to the court. On the other hand, the court was full of talented people, which put him under great pressure. Qiao Yan seemed to need another three or two years to completely stabilize the situation in Bingzhou.
The governor of Bingzhou, who intends to fight the enemy and save the emperor, and is the culprit for his escape to the west, must be won over!
While she regarded him as a thief, she at least regarded Liu Xie as an emperor. So would she accept the commission given by Liu Xie in his name?
Li Su endured the tension of being watched by a bunch of people in the hall as if he were a bandit, and unfolded the imperial edict.
In this situation where the two courts called each other "pseudo-Han", Qiao Yan kept sitting at the top and listening to what he was going to read out instead of accepting the order seriously. Li Su could do nothing about her.
He would not forget that he was still in Bingzhou. Those brave generals who had forced the prime minister to flee that day usually fought against the Xiongnu and Xianbei people. It would be very easy to get rid of him.
Although he didn't know that Lu Bu was staring at him not to help Qiao Yan to boost his morale, but to wonder if the envoy could come up with another good horse of the same grade as Red Hare.
If Li Su knew what Lu Bu was thinking at this moment, he would be choked to death.
But reading this imperial edict was enough to make him feel suffocated.
Why would the Prime Minister bestow such a title upon the other party! Wouldn't this just encourage the other party's arrogance!
"According to the will of Heaven and the time, I accept this mandate"
"On August 13, the first year of the Guangxi reign... an imperial edict was issued to Qiao Yan, governor of Bingzhou."
"Considering that you have been a young and outstanding person, and have long been admired by your time, you have been awarded a title for your merits and appointed to an official position for your virtues. You have served Jinzhong and hidden your talents in the border areas, so that the imperial glory can be extended far and wide and the Yanran army can be strengthened, I hereby appoint you as General of the Cavalry..."
Before Li Su finished reading, a voice suddenly came from outside and shouted, "Sir, an envoy from Yecheng has arrived!"
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