Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 222: The monarch is ruthless and not a human being!

May 27th, Anyi Dazhai.

It was late at night, in the middle of summer, but the weather was not good and rain was falling sparsely on the felt tent.

"Hey!"

The horse's hooves trampled in the mud, making a dull sound, and the splashing mud and water wet the fur on the horse's legs.

"Who is coming?"

Seeing that the cavalry was about to enter the camp directly, the soldiers wearing straw raincoats stepped forward with spears to intercept them and asked.

"call"

The cavalryman pulled the reins and reported: "Chang'an has urgent military information and needs to be reported to you, my Lord."

As he spoke, the cavalryman took out the seal from his bosom and handed it to the gate guard for inspection.

"Please come in!" Seeing that the seal was correct, the guard immediately let the cavalry into the camp.

The cavalry entered the camp in a hurry, not caring about the water on the ground, and went towards the big tent.

"who?"

"The military situation in Chang'an needs to be reported to the Central Account."

"please!"

Inside the big tent, Lü Fan, who was on night duty, saw the wet rider and asked, "What's the urgent matter today?"

"Reporting to the commander-in-chief, there is an urgent military situation in Chang'an. Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou, Zhang Ji and others have surrounded Chang'an. Now Lu Bu has sent three horses to Puyang to ask for help a day. We hope our army can send troops to Guanzhong to attack the rebels together with him from inside and outside." said Hou Qi.

Lu Fan was not panicked, but asked: "How is the defense of Chang'an City?"

The scout said, "According to what the scouts said, there are more than 10,000 soldiers and horses in Chang'an, and all the troops of the nobles and officials are defending the city. Moreover, the city of Chang'an is strong, and there are several months of food stored inside. However, it is said that the enemy army has more than 100,000 people and is surrounding Chang'an on all sides."

"Among them, Lü Bu once left the city and fought against Guo Si alone. During the battle, although Lü Bu stabbed Guo Si with his spear, Guo Si's troops came to rescue him, so Lü Bu had to withdraw his troops back to the city."

"it is good!"

Lu Fan already knew what was going on, and said, "We have been traveling for a long time, and it is very hard. Let's change into clean clothes and find a stoker to get some wine and meat to fill our stomachs."

"Thank you, General!"

Lü Fan paced with his hands behind his back, as if he was thinking about something. After a while, Lü Fan made a decision and ordered, "Please invite Guo Gongze and Li Bosong to the central tent to discuss matters. There is urgent military information!"

"promise!"

Not long after, Guo Tu and Li Song came in, wearing straw raincoats and looking sleepy.

Seeing that Zhang Yu was not in the tent, Li Song asked, "Where is the Lord?"

Lu Fan hesitated for a moment, then said truthfully, "The military situation has not yet been reported to you, my Lord. I am still hesitating."

"Why didn't you inform the Lord?" Guo Tu asked puzzledly.

Seeing Guo Tu was about to go look for Zhang Yu, Lu Fan grabbed Guo Tu's hand and said, "To be honest, the military situation right now is that Chang'an is asking for help."

Guo Tu stopped and asked, "Ziheng is unwilling to send troops to rescue Chang'an?"

Lu Fan shook his head and said, "It's not that I don't want to, but if we save Chang'an now, I'm afraid it will do more harm than good to you, Your Majesty."

Li Song looked gloomy and said, "Ziheng may have saved Chang'an. Wang Yun, as the emperor, would order you to send troops to assist Han, putting our army in a dilemma."

"Of course!"

Lu Fan paced back and forth, saying, "Your Excellency often talks about reviving the world and your ambition to assist the Han Dynasty. But now the Han Dynasty is in decline and we can no longer assist it. If you want to assist the Han Dynasty, you must wipe out all the heroes in the world. By then, the world will be stable, so how will Your Excellency cope with it?"

"So in Fan's opinion, it is better to wait and see Chang'an fall, and then let you send troops to fight the enemy. By then, Guanzhong and the three prefectures will belong to you. If you use troops now, it will be a waste of troops and horses, and the court will only benefit."

Guo Tu stroked his beard and nodded, saying: "I wanted to welcome the emperor to Jincheng before, but considering Wang Yun, I can't welcome the emperor to Jincheng for the time being. Unless Wang Yun..."

"Unless Wang Yun dies!"

Lu Fan and Guo Tu were reluctant to speak out, but Li Song didn't care and pointed out the situation directly.

Li Song looked at Lu Fan and asked bluntly, "Ziheng is afraid that the prince will get to know the news and wants to send troops to rescue Chang'an?"

"I'm worried!"

Lu Fan asked: "Although you are a man of great strategy, I am afraid that I am trapped by friendship and loyalty, so I cannot make a decision. I have invited you two here to advise you to be cautious."

As they spoke, Lu Fan and Guo Tu looked at Li Song together. It was obvious that they understood that Li Song had a closer relationship with Zhang Yu. If they wanted to persuade Zhang Yu not to send troops, they would probably have to rely on Li Song to do so.

Li Song did not hesitate, put on his hat, and said: "Your Excellency's tent is still several dozen steps away from the central tent, remember not to get wet by the heavy rain."

After saying that, Li Song left the tent first, and Lu Fan and Guo Tu followed quickly.

Inside the tent, Zhang Yu, who was sleeping soundly, was awakened by his servants.

"My lord, General Li and Lords Guo and Lu are waiting outside the tent. They said they have something important to report!" Zhang Yu said with sleepy eyes, "Call them in!"

"promise!"

Zhang Yu forced himself to stay sleepy, sat up from the couch, picked up the kettle on the stove and poured himself a cup of warm water.

"Your Majesty!"

Zhang Yu drank some warm water and sobered up a little. He looked at the three people who took off their bamboo hats and said, "What's the important matter today?"

"My lord, this is about the military situation in Chang'an," Li Song said.

"sit!"

Zhang Yu invited the three to sit down and asked, "Hu Zhen and Yang Zheng rebelled, causing Xu Rong's defeat and death. As far as time is concerned, the rebels from Guanxi have already reached the city of Chang'an. Our army has just surrendered to Niu Fu's troops. If we want to go out, we need to leave some people to comfort the surrendered soldiers."

Li Song considered it for a while and said, "Sir, I think it is not appropriate to send troops now!"

"Why?"

"The counties of Hedong have just been conquered, and Niu Fu's troops have just surrendered. The land of Hedong is unstable, so how can we rashly advance westward? If the surrendered soldiers rebel and cut off our retreat, I'm afraid the army will be in danger!"

Li Song said: "Besides, our army's food and supplies are transported from Taiyuan, a thousand miles away, and it is inconvenient to supply them now."

Zhang Yu pondered for a moment and said, "Among the surrendered soldiers, three people, Dong Cheng, Yang Feng, and Han Xian, can be used. Hu Chier and Wang Fang are from Liangzhou, so we still need to be on guard. Therefore, we can transfer troops from Henei to Hedong to protect Hu Chier and Wang Fang's troops."

"As for food and grain, although Taiyuan is a thousand miles away from Hedong, the Fen River runs through the two counties, and boats can carry food to Hedong to supply the troops on the western expedition. Moreover, if the troops enter Guanzhong, they can take the food and grass in Guanzhong for themselves."

Guo Tu glanced at Li Song, cupped his hands and said, "The enemy has more than 100,000 soldiers and their morale is high. Our army is relatively small, so we should not clash with them."

Zhang Yu shook his head and said, "Although the enemy has a large number of soldiers, most of them are scattered soldiers. If Chang'an cannot be conquered for a long time, the enemy's morale will be low. At that time, we may be able to force them to retreat."

Seeing Zhang Yu repeatedly refute their opinions, Lu Fan could no longer sit still and asked sternly, "After your troops enter Guanzhong, how will you manage your relationship with Minister Wang?"

"What do you mean, Ziheng?" Zhang Yu asked after a moment of silence.

"Fan has no other intentions, but I hope you will think carefully about the current situation."

Lü Fan said: "The Han Dynasty is in decline and it is difficult to support it. Your Excellency wants to support the Han Dynasty, but I wonder how you will deal with it when the world is restored and pacified."

Seeing Lü Fan's frank words, Li Song had no intention of covering up and said, "Your Excellency has sent troops to relieve the siege of Chang'an. From now on, Situ Wang will be in charge of the government. How will Your Excellency treat it?"

"It is not easy to gather tens of thousands of soldiers in Bingzhou. Your Excellency is leading the elite troops to fight against the rebels. If you can lift the siege of Guanzhong, I wonder if you can conquer Sanfu?" Li Song said, "If you can't conquer Sanfu, and the soldiers and horses have suffered heavy casualties, won't it be a benefit for the court?"

Guo Tu said: "The situation is clear now. In my humble opinion, you should wait until the rebels break through Chang'an and the imperial court is in dire straits before leading troops to the west to quell the rebellion. Or you can gather troops from Guandong to defeat the rebels from Guanxi and achieve what Yuan Shao and Zhu Jun failed to achieve!"

Seeing the three men's fierce persuasion, Zhang Yu sighed and asked, "I have received great kindness from the Wang family. If I do not help the king now, I will be betraying his kindness. Moreover, if I station troops in Hedong and ignore the help from Chang'an, how will the people of the world treat me if they know?"

"Confused!"

Hearing this, Lü Fan jumped up and down in a hurry, saying, "Sir, in the past, Gaozu's wife was captured by Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu repeatedly forced Gaozu to surrender on the pretext of cooking and killing Taigong, but Gaozu said he wanted a share of the spoils. At that time, Gaozu was seen as disloyal and unfilial; twenty years later, Gaozu founded the Han Dynasty; and today, Gaozu is respected by the world."

"Fan Shi asks you, sir, if you want to be Emperor Gaozu, or Xiang Yu, or Han Xin?"

Zhang Yu was playing with the water cup in his hand, feeling a little hesitant. To be honest, from an emotional point of view, for the sake of his father-in-law's safety and Wang's favor in promoting him, he needed to send troops to rescue him; from a rational point of view, the three people's opinions were correct, after all, Wang Yun would hinder his hegemony.

Seeing Zhang Yu was hesitant to speak, Lu Fan shook his sleeves and sighed, saying: "My lord, if we can conquer the three prefectures of Guanzhong and annex Bashu and Lianglong, then the strong Qin will destroy the six kingdoms. The situation of Emperor Gaozu's eastward struggle for the world is already established. Who in the world can stop it?"

"I hope you will think twice!" Guo Tu said hesitantly.

Li Song reached out and held Zhang Yu's hand, and said in a deep voice: "To accomplish great things, one does not need to be concerned with trivial matters. Your Excellency has often warned me of this. How can I be limited by trivial matters now?"

Hearing this, Zhang Yu let out a long sigh. He now understood what the noble man in his previous life had said about Liu Bang. Liu Bang did not consider himself, and everything he did was almost entirely based on the interests of his own group. That was why Liu Bang was able to win the hearts of the people, while Xiang Yu was deserted by his relatives and friends.

Leaders are never individuals, but representatives of group interests. Once they think too much about themselves, they will inevitably fail. Whoever wakes up early in this matter will gain the upper hand in the political struggle.

Zhang Yu made up his mind, raised his head and looked at the three people, and asked: "How could I not know the pros and cons? I just couldn't help because of friendship. Now I am worried about the big things, so I should put aside the small things and think about the big things. I wonder what you can teach me?"

Seeing Zhang Yu was convinced, Guo Tu said, "Your Excellency's concern is that outsiders may criticize you for not helping the dying. So you might as well send troops to Puban to cross the river first, and then tell the rebels in Guanxi that we want to cross the Weishui River. When the rebels hear the news, they will camp on the south side of the Weishui River. It will be difficult for you to save Chang'an by then. It's not that you don't want to save it, but that you are blocked by the enemy."

Li Song volunteered, saying, "I am willing to lead 5,000 soldiers as the vanguard, and you will lead the troops as the rear."

"Can!"

Zhang Yu said without hesitation: "Tomorrow, Bo Song will lead 5,000 soldiers as the vanguard to cross Pubanjin and set up camp. We will then act according to the situation."

"promise!"

Lu Fan said: "Your Excellency can also use the excuse that these are the first surrendered soldiers to come and personally monitor them."

"it is good!"

Zhang Yu looked around at the three people in the tent and said with emotion: "I know your sincere hearts. Now I have no words to express it. I will use water instead of wine to toast you three."

"May you carry out your great cause and establish the foundation of our great ancestor!"

　Three o'clock has arrived

　　
　
(End of this chapter)