Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 366 I said the King of Han can worship the ancestral temple
Many of the envoys sent by Yang Feng, in addition to encountering setbacks with Han King Liu Bei, also lost their lives to the disloyal Huo Qubing.

The greatest harvest was from Zhang Ji, the General of Chariots and Cavalry and the Prefect of Hongnong.

Zhang Ji was originally very wary of Liu Bei and knew that there would be no peace talks between the Han Dynasty and the Liang Province army.

Therefore, he had been preparing for war and paying attention to Luoyang. Although he heard that Liu Xuande was leading his army to attack Hedong, he was preparing to pass through the counties of Anyi, Yishi, Jie, and then to Puban, in order to spy on Guanzhong.

Although he was relieved that he did not follow the river to attack Dayang County and Shan County, which blocked the water and land waterways, and then go straight to Hongnong County, he was also clearly aware of the fact that if one loses the other, the other will be in danger. Once Liu Bei took over all the twenty counties in Hedong, not only would Guanzhong lose its barrier.

Zhang Ji will be surrounded by enemies on three sides. At that time, there is Hedong County in the north, Henan Yin in the east, and Nanyang County in the south.

If the Han army cut off his retreat, he would be trapped in a state of despair. After Yang Fengdao made his intention known, Zhang Ji decided to send troops to help without hesitation. After spending a few moments with his wife, he decisively bid farewell to his newlywed wife and ordered his nephew Zhang Xiu to station troops in Shan County to protect Hongnong.

He personally led the Liangzhou army across the Maojin Ferry, took a small road northward across the mountains, and quickly rushed to Anyi for assistance.

Zhang Ji never dreamed that he would rely on the close ties between the two countries and use the mountains and rivers to block the enemy, making it difficult to break through and forcing Liu Xuande to return empty-handed.

Unexpectedly, Yang Feng, Li Jue's old general, wanted to borrow his troops, forcing the King of Han to twist his nose and still let him serve as the governor of Hedong.

If the terms were agreed upon, they would be able to immediately kill their fellow Liangzhou soldiers.

Fortunately, Liu Bei did not agree to Yang Feng’s request, otherwise Zhang Ji would never have returned.

Zhang Ji, who had no idea that he had been on the brink of death several times, led his troops across the Maojin Ferry. He climbed up to a height to look at the soldiers who were marching too slowly. He could not help but frown and urged them, "At this rate, how long will it take to reach Anyi? Saving lives here is like putting out a fire. Pass on my military order. Except for weapons, armor, arrows, and food, no horse in the army can carry more than 15 kilograms of cargo."

"The rest of the supplies will be placed halfway until the Qingzhou army is defeated. All the lost items will be replaced with money for the soldiers!"

The messenger soldiers immediately took orders and beat drums to inform the entire army.

After dropping the heavy objects, Zhang Ji saw that the pace of the Liangzhou soldiers had obviously quickened. He stroked his beard and nodded, and said with satisfaction: "If our army is as brave as it was in the past, even if the enemy is more numerous and we are fewer, we will still dare to advance bravely and fight. Why should we be afraid of the Qingzhou army?!"

“What to do! What to do!!”

Zhang Ji sighed slightly and turned his head to look westward towards Chang'an. At this moment, he, Yang Feng and the Huns alone might not be able to successfully stop Liu Xuande's bloody troops in Anyi.

If no reinforcements came from Guanzhong, their food and grass would probably be exhausted after the enemy besieged them for half a year.

"Grand Marshal, General of the Cavalry, please don't let people down."

Zhang Ji sighed deeply and silently prayed for Li Jue and Guo Si in Chang'an, hoping that they could look at current affairs and not harbor any delusion of surrendering to Liu Bei, otherwise everyone would be dead.

It's a bit funny to say, because Henei and Henan were recovered by Liu Bei early on, the rewards and imperial edicts that the Liangzhou court wanted to use to win over the princes of Guandong could not be delivered to the various states and counties in Guandong.

Therefore, they could only digest the problem internally, resulting in Guanzhong being almost everywhere with generals, or being granted the title of marquis, such as Duxiang Hou, Xiang Hou, Duting Hou, Ting Hou. These titles were everywhere at a glance.

Perhaps they heard what Zhang Ji was thinking. When Guanzhong learned that the King of Han led his army to conquer Hedong, whether it was the three dukes and nine ministers in the court, or the emperor, the queen, the noble ladies and maids, or the generals and soldiers of Liangzhou, as well as Li Jue, Guo Si and many other princes, all of them were shocked. Although they had different identities, they all had concerns in their hearts at this moment, and couldn't help wondering what would happen to them if Liu Bei broke through Guanzhong.

The first to be frightened were Li Jue, Guo Si and others, followed by Emperor Liu Xie and Empress Fu Shou, and then all the ministers in the hall.

Some were worried about being killed in a defeat, some were concerned about being killed in the chaos, and some were afraid that the Liangzhou bandits would become desperate and allow the crude warriors to start a killing spree in Chang'an, resulting in rivers of blood and dead bodies lying side by side.

Therefore, the ministers in the court reported illness to the emperor one after another and hid in their homes. They prepared food, blocked the doors with mud, and stayed indoors all day long.

Only some ministers close to the emperor, such as Taiwei Yang Biao, Fuguo General Fu Wan, Wei General Dong Cheng, Zongzheng Liu Ai, Shizhong Ji, and Shizhong Yang Xiu, had not yet sealed their own families and went to court all day to discuss countermeasures with Liu.

Liu Xie felt a little relieved. After the discussion every day, he would return to the palace and couldn't help but admire the Queen and Concubine Dong from the bottom of his heart: "The Grand Commandant, the General of the Auxiliary State, and the General of the Guard are all loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty. If I had used them earlier and not listened to the advice of the princes, I wouldn't have the worries today."

However, no matter how much they discussed it, they could not find a way to quietly bypass the more than a thousand guards sent by Li Jue and Guo Si to guard the palace, and successfully escape from the palace with the emperor and the empress.

Unless the generals of Liang Province start an internal rebellion first, there will be an opportunity to escape.

"If this is the case, I am afraid I will never have a chance to escape from the hands of these two thieves in this lifetime!"

Liu Xie glanced outside the palace. Even though he was extremely angry, he could only speak in a low voice for fear that his voice would be heard.

Who else in history has been able to achieve what he did?

Even Liu He, the Marquis of Haihun, would not be intimidated by Huo Guang like this!
When Liu Xie thought of this, he felt more sad and couldn't stop crying. Since he became the emperor, he has not had a peaceful day for more than a month. He was either awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of fighting, or had the blood of loyal ministers splattered on his robes, or heard the screams and shouts of the palace servants, but was unable to do anything.

Among the emperors in ancient times, only Qin II, Hu Hai, could be compared with him.

Thinking of this, Liu Xie could not help but whisper to his ministers, "The Han Dynasty has declined to this point, and the Hejian family is to blame. If the King of Han has made contributions to the ancestral temple and the country, what does it matter if I give up the throne?"

"The emperor is not mine. If the Liu clan had not sacrificed their lives to rise up, the Han Dynasty would have been usurped by others long ago. The Yuan clan of Runan privately carved seals and appointed officials, and used the emperor's decree to reward Wuhuan and Xianbei. The scholars of the world have all seen it. The Han Dynasty has been passed down for more than 400 years, and it must not perish in the hands of the unfilial descendant Liu Xie."

"If I really perish in the chaos of the army, after you and your ministers have successfully escaped, you must go to Sili and take my oral order to order the King of Han to establish the great throne, so as to defeat the princes and revive the Han Dynasty. Then I can rest in peace in my grave... and kneel before Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Shizu."

"Otherwise I will be crying all day long. Under the nine oceans, there is indeed deep hatred."

Liu Xie looked up at the sky outside and couldn't help crying.

Upon hearing this, Yang Biao, Fu Wan, Dong Cheng, Liu Ai, Zhong Ji, and Yang Xiu fell to their knees, covering their faces with their sleeves and weeping bitterly.

It is our incompetence that has caused the emperor to fall into the hands of the Liangzhou bandits, and to be in fear of war all day long.

(End of this chapter)