The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 254: Saving People and Losing Land
"General Li and General Guo..."

The captain who was being questioned also looked confused.

He still doesn't know what he is doing.

He was originally a subordinate of Li Jue.

We had defended Taiyuan well before.

As a result, he suddenly led his troops south, saying that something unexpected had happened in the rear.

After arriving in Hedong, they went straight to Guo Si's camp.

This one is nothing.

Li Jue's troops and Guo Si's troops had been guarding Hedong together before, so they knew each other well and felt at ease seeing an acquaintance.

Who knew that they would end up fighting for no apparent reason?

All this made the captain a little confused, and he shook his head blankly in response to Niu Fu's questioning.

"Ugh!"

Niu Fu abandoned the captain and continued to send people to look for Li Jue and Guo Si among the defeated soldiers, but until midnight, there was still no trace of the two.

At this time, a soldier came to report the news: "General, someone saw with their own eyes that Generals Li Jue and Guo Si were both killed in the chaos?"

Niu Fu was distracted for a moment.

"Can you see it clearly?"

"It should be, otherwise we wouldn't have been unable to find the two of them."

Niu Fu was silent for a moment, and after discussing with Lu Bu, they decided to withdraw their troops from here.

When Liu Xie arrived at their camps, they had already retreated several miles and stationed their troops in the Jiang County area.

After hearing about the situation in the camp, Liu Xie went to the barracks to visit the soldiers in person.

When Liu Xie asked around in the camp, he discovered that many soldiers were still confused about the situation.

They don't know what they are fighting for.

I don't know where I am.

They didn't even know that Dong Zhuo had died of illness, and the emperor personally rushed to Hedong.

They only knew that they ran around in a daze and then suffered a defeat for no apparent reason...

Therefore, when many people saw the emperor's dragon flag, they were surprised and asked the people around them: "Have we escaped to Guanzhong?"

……

After Liu Xie made a round of inspection, he returned to the camp, while Lu Bu and Niu Fu sat on both sides.

"How did it become like this?"

……

Although the emperor's tone was not heavy, both of them felt as if they were about to suffocate.

"thump!"

Niu Fu fell to his knees and hit the ground with his head.

"Death penalty!"

"Not only did I fail to follow the Grand Tutor's instructions and secretly take away the military power of the other people, I also let Li Jue and Guo Si fight each other like this... Please punish me, Your Majesty!"

Liu Xie looked at Niu Fu who was kneeling on the ground and felt tired.

But this fatigue came quickly and went away quickly.

Liu Xie knew that he couldn't show any panic or fatigue at this moment.

The posthumous reputation of the Grand Master, the expectations of countless poor scholars, the loyalty of the scholars who still considered themselves as Han officials, and the confusion of the Xiliang soldiers...

"Liang Bi, hurry up, why are you talking like this?"

Admittedly,

If Niu Fu had really responded according to Dong Zhuo's last instructions, the situation would not have been as bad as it is now.

But if Niu Fu was really capable of taking charge, why would Dong Zhuo have to worry about having no successor?

Moreover, Dong Zhuo's death was too sudden. Even if Liu Xie was put in that position, he might not be able to do better than Niu Fu.

Don't regret what has already happened.

What really matters right now is the current situation.

Liu Xie helped Niu Fu up and tried his best to keep himself clear-headed.

"What happened in Li Jue and Guo Si's camp?"

"Most people don't know. They just say there seemed to be a riot in the middle of the camp... but because it was so intense, most of the people inside died. No one knows what happened."

Once the campfire breaks out, there will be complete chaos inside and outside.

If the starting point of the conflict really occurred directly between Li Jue and Guo Si, it is possible that no one would survive at the center, and naturally no one would know the truth.

But based on what Xu Rong and Niu Fu said, Liu Xie had some guesses about what happened.

"Li Jue, Guo Si..."

Liu Xie lowered his head and thought for a moment, then asked Lu Bu: "How many soldiers have you gathered?"

"Your Majesty, there are almost 10,000 people."

More than 10,000 people...

According to the chaotic situation on the battlefield at that time, nearly 10,000 soldiers were captured by Zhang He, and the rest were mostly killed in battle or missing.

Liu Xie clenched his fists, veins throbbing.

But after a while, he unclenched his fists again, and after trying to calm down, he ordered Niu Fu: "Go and explain to the soldiers that Generals Li Jue and Guo Si were attacked by Zhang He and died in battle!"

"No matter what, the two of them are still generals of the imperial court!"

Lu Bu and Niu Fu were shocked when they heard this.

Although no one knows what exactly happened at that time.

But considering Guo Si's request for "opening the government and taking the lead in the three divisions" when he met Niu Fu before, even a fool would know that there must be something fishy going on here.

It was either Guo Si or Li Jue.

One of them must have betrayed the court and the emperor.

But now they are all listed as loyal subjects, this...

"if not?"

"How about letting everyone in the world know that someone betrayed the Grand Master and the court right after he passed away? How about letting everyone in the world know that the brave and combative Xiliang army had internal strife and that the two pillar generals were both killed in battle?"

At this moment, Liu Xie only wanted to minimize all the impact and stabilize the morale of the army. "Now many soldiers don't understand what happened at all."

"If we tell them directly about the death of the Grand Tutor and the quarrel between Li Jue and Guo Si, will they be able to bear it?"

People all over the world are waiting to see the court make a fool of itself.

They all expected that once Dong Zhuo died, the imperial court would be like paper and could be easily pierced through.

But Liu Xie refused to fulfill their wish!

Even if the imperial court is now as fragile as thin paper, Liu Xie will gather it up and smash it hard on Yuan Shao's head!

Only then did Lu Bu and Niu Fu understand the emperor's meaning.

Especially Niu Fu.

Ever since Dong Zhuo's death, Niu Fu has been in a state of panic, running around like a headless fly.

Not until now that the emperor himself was in charge did Niu Fu finally feel at ease.

This kind of peace of mind is as if... Dong Zhuo is still there, and he can handle everything calmly.

When the sky falls, there is a tall person holding it up.

The emperor now is this tall man!

"In that case, let us draft an edict."

Seeing that Lu Bu and Niu Fu had no objection, Liu Xie verbally conveyed the imperial edict.

"Guo Si was posthumously awarded the title of Right General, and given the title of Marquis of Meiyang, with a fief of 1,000 households."

"Li Jue was posthumously conferred the title of Left General, and the title of Marquis of Chiyang, with a fief of 300 households."

"The rest of the victims were also posthumously conferred titles... No matter what, we cannot let the dispute between the two be exposed and affect the morale of the army."

Although Li Jue and Guo Si were posthumously honored at the same time, any discerning person could see that the emperor actually had his own standards in his heart.

The Han people respected the right and despised the left, so Guo Si was appointed as the right general and Li Jue as the left general.

As for the number of fiefs of the two, there was a huge difference, which showed that the emperor still held a grudge against Li Jue.

However, for the sake of the overall situation, Liu Xie was ultimately unwilling to expose his family's shameful deeds for the world to laugh at.

"The dispute between Li Jue and Guo Si was a case of turning a big matter into a small one and a small matter into nothing."

"Yuan Shao is coming at us aggressively right now, this is an inevitable event!"

Hedong is a relatively closed geographical area.

There are big rivers to the south and west.

Taihang Mountain and Wangwu Mountain in the east.

To the north are the Luliang Mountains.

Now that Chenguan has been lost, the barrier to the east of Hedong has been lost.

This means that the Hebei army can continuously pour into Hedong, echoing Yuan Shao's army still in Jiexiu, and attacking the imperial army from both sides.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to lead the troops to retake Chenguan Pass!"

Lu Bu, who had not said a word until now, spoke up at this moment, wanting to share the emperor's worries.

Liu Xie glanced at Lu Bu, but finally shook his head.

Lu Bu is brave.

If the battle was to be fought head-on on the plain, Liu Xie would definitely be confident in letting Lu Bu go to attack.

But now the task is to recapture the strategic pass that has been lost, which is obviously not something Lu Bu is good at.

Not to mention that Liu Xie already knew that the general guarding Chen Pass was Zhang He.

Liu Xie was very familiar with this man, one of the Four Pillars of Hebei and later one of the Five Elite Generals of Cao Wei.

With such a general guarding Chenguan, even if Lu Bu kowtowed until his head was broken and bleeding, he might not be able to retake the place from Zhang He.

In this case, it is better to conserve our strength and look for an opportunity to fight.

"Victory can be known, but cannot be achieved..."

Liu Xie muttered something to himself.

This was exactly the question Dong Zhuo used to test himself.

Victory can be planned but not forced.

Now that Chenguan has been lost, we can no longer seize victory by force.

"I remember that my answer was correct."

"In the past, those who were good at fighting first made themselves invincible, waiting for the enemy to be defeated. Invincibility lies in oneself, and victory lies in the enemy. Therefore, those who are good at fighting can make themselves invincible, but cannot make the enemy defeated!"

Thinking of the Grand Tutor's sincere advice, Liu Xie already knew what he should do.

First put yourself in an invincible position, and then seek victory on the battlefield.

But how can we make ourselves invincible right now?
Use your own strengths to intimidate the enemy's weaknesses!
"Lead the troops to retreat immediately and retreat to the Anyi area."

Liu Xie's words left Lu Bu and Niu Fu puzzled.

"Your Majesty, are you going to retreat to Anyi?"

Niu Fu couldn't believe it.

"Anyi is still nearly a hundred miles away from here! In between are the counties of Quwo and Wenxi. Are we going to leave them all to Yuan Shao?"

"Ah."

Liu Xie's voice was sonorous and powerful.

The land of Hedong has always been rich.

There must be countless money and grain in these counties, but Liu Xie still decided to give up these places.

"If you save people and lose land, everyone and land will survive; if you save land and lose people, everyone and land will be lost."

"If we stop Yuan Shao at every turn, even if all the imperial troops are killed, we will not be able to stop Yuan Shao's advance."

"Now that Yuan Shao has arrived with an army of 100,000, the war with him is no longer about the gains and losses of a city or a place."

"Give up these places that are not conducive to defense, and gather all our forces in Anyi and the plains. Only in this way can our Xiliang Iron Cavalry exert their greatest advantage!"

Liu Xie's voice was unquestionable.

Seeing this, Lu Bu and Niu Fu did not dare to disobey the emperor, so they went down to prepare.

After the two of them left, Liu Xie closed his eyes and thought for a while, and finally unfolded the paper and wrote a letter himself:

"Personally from General Xu Rong..."

(End of this chapter)