Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 237: Meeting with the Princes, Abandoning Yuan and Joining Zhang (Part )
Linfen, Meeting Platform.

The three-story high platform was lined with flags of the five directions, with a white banner and a large flag in the middle.

Sacrificial objects such as pigs, cows, and white horses were placed on the incense table, and flames were burning fiercely in the bronze tripod.

On the three-story high platform, burly soldiers in bright armor, each holding a long spear or a halberd, stood along the earthen steps; a long horn was placed on the platform, and as the strong men blew the bugle, the sound was heavy and solemn.

Below the stage, tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry were arranged in a five-colored square formation. From afar, flags fluttered in the wind, and swords, spears, and halberds were everywhere, with murderous aura rising into the air.

Zhang Yu, wearing fish-scale gold-threaded armor, walked in front, followed by the generals behind. They solemnly climbed onto the high platform, and the venue looked solemn and dignified.

Zhang Yu first burned incense and offered talismans while bowing, then after the ceremony he stood up and read out a manifesto to punish the rebels.

"General Yuan Shu, Governor of Jingzhou; Zhang Yu, Colonel of Sili; General of Wei; Liu Yu, Governor of Youzhou; Lü Bu, General of Fenwei; Wang Hong, Right Fufeng; Zhang Yan, Governor of Changshan; Liu Bei, Prime Minister of Pingyuan; Zhang Yang, Governor of Shangdang; Guo Xuan, Governor of Hedong; Li Song, Governor of Taiyuan; Dong Cheng, Governor of Yingchuan; Zhong Yao, Governor of Yanmen... dare to present this letter to the gods."

"The Han dynasty was in misfortune, and the imperial power was lost. The country had already suffered from Dong Zhuo, and then from the disasters of Li Jue and Guo Si. The young ruler was kidnapped, and the loyal and good people were destitute. Chang'an was isolated, and it was unknown whether it was good or bad. ... Since the uprising, it has been three years, and the states and counties have been looking at each other, without any success in fighting, and have been fighting for their own private changes and doubting each other."

"In the past, the Zhou Dynasty declined, and the Quanrong invaded and killed the King of Zhou. The vassal states of Zheng, Qin, Jin, and Wei protected the emperor and managed Luoyi, thus creating the five hundred years of the Spring and Autumn Period. Now the enemy is in control of the government, and Yu and other states are afraid that the country will be lost, so they have gathered righteous soldiers, followed the example of the restoration of the Zhou Dynasty, and gathered the princes in Hedong to face the national crisis together."

"Duke Wu was a loyal supporter of the Zhou Dynasty. Duke Huan held the Keting Conference and Duke Wen made the Jiantu Alliance, which established the order of China. However, Yu and others were crude and incompetent. We are willing to follow the example of our ancestors, select the best and the most capable, and go straight to Chang'an, and swear to welcome the emperor to Luoyang."

Everyone chanted in unison: "All of us who are allies, working together as subjects, swear to welcome the emperor to Luoyang, support the Han Dynasty, and save the people. If we violate this oath, we will be punished by heaven and earth."

Then, tens of thousands of soldiers and generals recited in unison: "The Emperor of Heaven and Earth, the spirits of our ancestors, let us together punish the traitors and welcome the Son of Heaven!"

For a moment, all the birds flew away, the sounds shook the world, and it was awe-inspiring!

Zhang Yu held a sharp knife in his hand, cut his left palm, and dripped blood into the wine. After that, the wine vessels were rotated, and all the princes who attended the alliance dripped blood into them.

When swearing the blood oath, each person held a cup of blood wine in his hand, knelt facing the sky, and raised the wine above his head.

Liu Bei was in the crowd with tears in his eyes. He was born in a humble family, and now the Han Dynasty was in decline. As a descendant of the Liu family, he could finally serve it. Liu He was in tears. He returned to Youzhou by the emperor's order, and now he could finally obey the emperor's order to fight against the enemy and repay the emperor and his father's entrustment.

The leader, Zhang Yu, was righteous and loyal to the Han Dynasty. Although the Han Dynasty was in decline and might even be ended by someone, for Zhang Yu, it was a good thing that the Han Dynasty could not be destroyed by him, otherwise his image would be overturned by himself.

Amidst everyone's mixed emotions, Guo Tu threw the manifesto into the bronze tripod and burned it. After that, everyone took a sip of the wine and then poured it to the sky and the earth to warn the gods and the previous emperors of the Han Dynasty.

"The ceremony is over!"

As Guo Tu announced to everyone that the sacrificial ceremony was over, everyone's expressions relaxed a little.

"Now that the alliance has been concluded, all the troops should do their best to wait for the orders of the leader!"

Liu He attended the meeting on behalf of Liu Yu and said, "The general is far away in Nanyang, leading an army alone to fight against the bandits. Therefore, the northern army should be led by General Wei. The other generals have different forces, but from now on, you should not care about gains and losses, and you must obey General Wei's orders."

"promise!"

Most of the generals who participated in the alliance were under Zhang Yu's command, except for Liu Bei, Lu Bu, Dong Cheng, and Liu He, who had a high degree of independence. However, the number of soldiers in the four armies was small, so they had no other choice but to wait for Zhang Yu's orders. Therefore, in terms of the unity of the coalition, the coalition formed by Zhang Yu was much stronger than the Suanzao Alliance.

Zhang Yu stood on the high steps and said in a deep voice: "Those who have made contributions must be rewarded, and those who have committed crimes must be punished. The state has its own laws and the army has its own disciplines. Everyone should abide by them and not violate them!"

"I will obey the general's orders!"

"Good, now all the troops will go to Puban to set up camp and try to cross the river and defeat the bandits!"

"Yes!" everyone said in a deep voice.

Linfen to Puban is three or four hundred miles away. Zhang Yu led the army and spent six days to meet up with troops from various tribes along the way, and finally set up camp in Puban.

Not long after the big tent was set up, Zhang Yu heard that Dong Zhao was coming suddenly.

After handing over the military affairs to Lu Fan, Zhang Yu took time out to meet Dong Zhao who came from Jizhou.

Inside the big tent, Zhang Yu stood up to greet him and said with a smile, "I heard that Gongren was appointed as the governor of Weijun. Why did you come all the way here?"

Seeing Zhang Yu's enthusiasm, Dong Zhao sighed helplessly and said, "To be honest, I have nowhere to go, so I came to you. I wonder if you are willing to accept me?"

"Oh?" Zhang Yu's expression changed slightly, and he said in surprise: "Gong Ren is highly regarded by Yuan Shao, and now he has come to serve him. Could it be that he is implicated by Yu?"

"Please sit down first!"

At Zhang Yu's invitation, Dong Zhao sat on the chair and said, "It's not just because of you, my lord, but also because of the influence of my brother Dong Fang."

"what happened?"

When asked by Zhang Yu, Dong Zhao told the whole story truthfully.

Last year, shortly after Dong Zhao met Zhang Yu, Yuan Shao promoted Dong Zhao to the position of prefect of Wei County because of Dong Zhao's outstanding performance in Julu County.

After Dong Zhao was appointed as the prefect of Weijun, slanders against him began to emerge one after another. He was mainly attacked on two points. First, he had a past relationship with Zhang Yu and people were afraid that Dong Zhao would turn against him and join Zhang Yu. Second, Yuan Shao and Zhang Miao had a bad relationship, and Dong Zhao's younger brother Dong Fang worked for Zhang Miao.

Dong Zhao was able to foresee fortune and misfortune. He saw that his appointment as the prefect of Weijun would offend the interests of too many people, and Yuan Shao, influenced by slander, alienated and even excluded Dong Zhao. So Dong Zhao simply asked for his resignation from Yuan Shao in the name of going to the court to pay homage to the emperor.

Yuan Shao was worried that his plan to form an alliance with Gongsun Zan would be discovered by Dong Zhao and then leaked to Zhang Yu, so he readily agreed to Dong Zhao's request.

After leaving Yuan Shao, Dong Zhao analyzed the pros and cons and did not go south to serve Zhang Miao with his brother Dong Fang. Instead, he went directly west to Guanzhong, preparing to join Zhang Yu, with whom he had sworn an sworn blood alliance.

After Dong Zhao finished telling his story, he could not help but sigh and said, "What you said before is true. Yuan Shao is generous on the outside but jealous on the inside. Now, because of my relationship with you and my brother Dong Fang, he has listened to slander and excluded and alienated wise men!"

During Yuan Shao's conquest of Jizhou, Dong Zhao made many contributions to Yuan Shao. For example, when Gongsun Zan was fighting for Julu County, Dong Zhao personally appeased Yuan Shao's people; later, he served as the governor of Wei County and pacified the remnants of the Black Mountain bandits.

Therefore, Dong Zhao worked hard for Yuan Shao, but because of Dong Zhao's personal relationship, Yuan Shao chose to listen to slander, which really disappointed Dong Zhao. Dong Zhao had previously disagreed with Zhang Yu's judgment, but now Dong Zhao had to admire Zhang Yu's opinion.

Although Zhang Yu was proud of his correct judgment, his face remained calm and he said, "Wei County is the central government of Yuan Shao, and his followers, both civil and military officials, all live in Ye City. Yuan Shao is generous and kind to others, so if you rule Wei with strict laws, you will surely be feared by Yuan Shao's followers."

Dong Zhao was moved and asked, "How would you govern Taiyuan?"

Zhang Yu said without hesitation: "The reason for the unrest in our dynasty is the laxity of laws and discipline. Therefore, if we want to bring peace to the world, we must enforce strict laws and restore order in the counties and prefectures, so that evil tyrants dare not harm the people, and the people can work peacefully."

Zhang Yu and Zhong Yao were consistent in their attitudes towards cracking down on the powerful and enforcing strict laws. The only difference was that Zhong Yao hoped to replace the death penalty with corporal punishment. However, due to the disagreement among the clerks, Zhang Yu did not approve Zhong Yao's idea of replacing the death penalty with corporal punishment.

As for why Zhang Yu supported strict laws, the essence was that the lower limit of the people who were used to strict laws was relatively high, and once the punishment was reduced, everyone would be excited. If the law was relaxed, the lower limit would be low, and a slightly strict law would cause complaints from the people.

Of course, this is also very different from the ruler's thinking. In order to make his subordinates work for him, Yuan Shao rarely dealt with his subordinates' violations of laws and disciplines. Even if he dealt with them, he would probably let them go lightly.

Dong Zhao seemed to be thinking about something. He bowed and said, "I am willing to serve you, Your Excellency. I wonder if you are willing to take me in!"

"How dare you say you'll take me in!"

Zhang Yu hurriedly helped Dong Zhao up and laughed, "I have known Gongren for many years and I know that you are very talented. Talented people choose wise masters to serve. Now Gongren has abandoned Yuan Benchu and joined me, which is a blessing for me. From today on, I hope you will give me more advice and correct Yu's mistakes."

"Thank you very much for your courtesy!"

After some greetings, Zhang Yu asked, "Gongren has come from afar. I wonder how the Central Plains is doing now? I am going to meet with the alliance to fight against the enemy. I wonder what advice Gongren has for us?"

Dong Zhao hesitated for a moment and said, "In the first month, Yuan Shu sent troops to Fengqiu and ordered his general Liu Xiang to station at Kuangting, intending to plot against Yanzhou. Since Cao Cao had subdued the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou, he had gained more than 300,000 civilians and selected elite troops to strengthen his army. When Cao Cao learned that Yuan Shu had sent troops to Kuangting, he led his troops to attack him, and Liu Xiang was defeated and fled."

"Yuan Shu sent Sun Jian north to support Liu Xiang. Cao Cao led his troops south and sent people to ask Yuan Shao for help. The two Yuans will definitely fight over Yanzhou this year, and it is hard to know who will win."

After a pause, Dong Zhao said, "My Lord, I have seen Cao Mengde. Although he and Yuan Shao are from the same family, the situation will not last long. Although Cao Cao is weak now, he is a hero in the world. If you want to stop Yuan Shu or take Yuan Shao, Cao Cao can be your help. Therefore, when necessary, you can make friends with Cao Cao."

Dong Zhao said: "As for your meeting to fight the bandits, I think you can win the hearts of the ministers by raising troops to punish the tyrants and support the royal family. If you can defeat the bandits in one fell swoop, you will be able to shock the world and annex the prefectures and counties in Guanxi. However, after the success, we will move the capital to Luoyang, which I am afraid will be inconvenient for you to assist us."

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "When King Ping moved east, Zheng assisted the Zhou Dynasty. The King of Zhou thought that Duke Wu was disrespectful, so he sent troops to fight at Juge. The army was defeated, the King of Zhou's power declined, and the loyalty between the monarch and his subjects was severed."

"The emperor's move to Luoyang is like a child holding a beautiful jade. Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and Cao Cao all want to manage the government. If these three attack the emperor, the emperor's prestige will inevitably decline, and the court will only rely on me..."

The story of King Ping's eastward migration and the revival of the Han Dynasty was actually written in the scripts of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. It was only a matter of time before the Zhou royal family lost its authority. Zhang Yu welcomed the emperor to Luoyang in order to cause a melee among the princes of the Central Plains for the emperor.

(End of this chapter)