Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 284 The Han Dynasty will perish!
In June, Yuan Shao sent 30,000 troops to besiege Huguan Pass. Hao Zhao led several thousand troops to defend it. Yuan Shao attacked the pass for more than ten days but failed to capture it. Li Song led the Yunzhong Army to march at full speed and joined Cheng Pu's troops at Tunliu. The two armies had a total of nearly 10,000 people.

Because the soldiers in Yunzhong had traveled thousands of miles to fight, they were exhausted. Cheng Pu was worried that it would be difficult to lift the siege. Therefore, on the grounds that Yuan Shao's troops were numerous and energetic, he suggested that Li Song station his troops in a dangerous place outside the siege, and wait for Zhang Yu's army to reach Shangdang before lifting the siege of Huguan.

Li Song thought otherwise, saying that the way of military strategy is to attack the enemy with strength when the enemy is weak, and to attack the enemy with weakness when the enemy is strong. Now Yuan Shao's army has suffered a setback at Huguan, and has been unable to break through the strong city for a long time. Moreover, he does not know the number of reinforcements, and if he sees the reinforcements coming to relieve the siege, he will be suspicious. Therefore, it is better to send troops to bluff and send reinforcements, and raise the flags to scare Yuan Shao.

Then, seeing Cheng Pu's concerns, Li Song said that if the rescue failed, he would be punished alone. Cheng Pu's rank was lower than Li Song's, and seeing Li Song's arbitrary opinion, he had no choice but to follow his lead.

On the way from Tunliu to Huguan, Li Song ordered his men to raise flags and build more stoves to create the impression that tens of thousands of troops were coming to help. As Li Song expected, Yuan Shao saw that the Bingzhou army was coming quickly and with such a large force that they intended to lift the siege of Huguan, and he became suspicious, fearing that most of the Bingzhou army would arrive.

Yuan Shao was suspicious and discussed military affairs with his advisers.

Ju Su suspected that Zhang Yu had just withdrawn from Youzhou, and his main force should be on the way. At present, the reinforcements might not be led by Zhang Yu, so he suggested that Yuan Shao might as well wait and see. However, Xu You believed that the Bingzhou army dared to set up camp around, which showed that they had their own support. Perhaps Zhang Yu's army was on the way and would reach Shangdang soon.

Considering that the Huguan Pass defended by Hao Zhao was so strong that it would not be broken in a few days, Yuan Shao weighed the pros and cons and left a general to garrison Maocheng on Fukou Pass, and then personally led his troops to withdraw to Xindu.

In July, after Yuan Shao withdrew from Hukou Pass, Chunyu Qiong and Zhang He withdrew their troops from Xiuwu due to the reinforcement of Shiyi and Yuan Shao's withdrawal, and returned to Chaoge County, and drove away Liu Ai, the county governor appointed by the court.

During the more than one year of battle in Hebei, Yuan Shao took back Bohai County from Gongsun Zan, defeated Zhang Yan and seized most of the counties and towns in Changshan, and snatched Chaoge County from the imperial court. He manipulated the situation to gain every advantage and almost unified the entire Jizhou.

At the same time, Zhang Yu led his troops back to Jinyang to supervise the military situation in Shangdang, and intended not to return to Anyi.

In the prefecture, Zhang Yu handed the report on Li Song's army to his attendants for review, and said with a smile: "He was able to break the siege of Huguan with a small number of troops. Bo Song has a good plan in mind!"

"Your Excellency is good at assessing the situation and knows that Yuan Shao cannot break through Huguan. But Li Song was able to drive Yuan Shao away. I admire you very much!" Guo Tu flattered.

Zhang Yu smiled and shook his head, saying, "Yuan Shao used cunning tactics to occupy Jizhou. He defeated Gongsun at Jieqiao because he relied on Qu Yi's ability. Therefore, although Yuan Shao had a large number of soldiers and horses, they were not well-trained."

"Now Yuan Shao is besieging Kong Rong in the east, supporting Gongsun in the north, and taking Henei in the south. How can he have the energy to conquer Shangdang? Hao Zhao is a fierce warrior, and Huguan has been repaired by me. If Hao Zhao holds the strong city, Yuan Shao will not be able to break it without a long siege!"

When withdrawing troops from Youzhou, many people were worried that Shangdang would be destroyed by Yuan Shao, but Zhang Yu only sent Li Song south to provide assistance, and he no longer worried about Shangdang.

As for why Zhang Yu was not worried, in addition to Hao Zhao's outstanding ability, more importantly, Zhang Yu saw that Yuan Shao's troops were hasty, or Yuan Shao had no intention of fighting a decisive battle with Zhang Yu now. Since he had no intention of fighting a decisive battle, once Yuan Shao was frustrated at Huguan and met with Bingzhou reinforcements, Yuan Shao would most likely withdraw his troops.

Why did Zhang Yu judge that Yuan Shao had no intention of fighting a decisive battle with him? First, Yuan Shao had just conquered Beihai, and his troops were not only exhausted, but Qingzhou had also been roughly governed. Second, although Yuan Shao led his troops to attack Shangdang directly, his troops were divided into many routes and he did not have the manpower to fight a decisive battle.

"Sir, our soldiers have been on the march for half a year and have traveled thousands of miles, so they are very tired. Now that General Li has driven Yuan Shao away, I wonder if you have any orders for them?" Xu Huang asked with a bow.

Zhang Yu hesitated for a moment and said, "Gongming can lead the troops back to Hedong to rest for a while, and I will lead the cavalry to patrol the northern frontier."

"Is there no need for me to lead the army with you?" Xu Huang said.

"No need!"

Zhang Yu said, "You lead the army back to Hedong. If anyone asks me when I will return to Anyi, I will say I will be back before winter. If we need to send troops to suppress the bandits, you will wait for the dispatch from the Cavalry Office."

"As ordered!"

If Yuan Shao had not sent troops to Bingzhou, Zhang Yu would have returned to Jin from Daishuo. But now that Yuan Shao had withdrawn his troops, Zhang Yu had to take time to go north to Daishuo. First, to inspect the Hu tribe in Daishuo, and second, to make room for Lü Fan to punish Wang Hong.

If Zhang Yu was in Anyi, once Wang Hong got into trouble, it was estimated that not only Wang Ji would come to find him, but also Wang Hong's disciples would come to find Zhang Yu. At that time, it would be inappropriate for Zhang Yu to show up, so it would be better for him to hide in Daishuo and control the progress of the matter by commanding Lu Fan and Zhong Yao.

Immediately afterwards, after Zhang Yu arranged the military and political affairs, he asked everyone except Jia Xu to leave.

After everyone had left the hall, Jia Xu tactfully asked, "What instructions do you have, my Lord?"

Zhang Yu handed the letter on the table to Jia Xu and said, "According to the report from the Cavalry Department, Zhu Jun stationed troops in Huxian and Hongnong counties in the name of seeking food in Hongnong. Yuan Chang and Bo Hou were afraid that Zhu Jun intended to take advantage of Yuan Shao's military deployment in Shangdang to send troops to secretly attack Guanzhong, so they sent Shi Yi to station troops in Fenglingdu..."

In order to confirm whether Zhu Jun intended to spy on Guanzhong, Zhong Yao wrote to Dong Cheng to inquire about the situation after Zhu Jun retreated to Shan County. After Dong Cheng's inquiry, he finally confirmed that Zhu Jun not only intended to take Guanzhong, but was also instructed by Liu Xie. Jia Xu stood in the hall, reading Zhang Yu's letter, and asked: "Do you think the court wants to secretly take Guanzhong?"

"Seeing Zhu Jun withdraw his troops and Dong Cheng's reply in a letter, I can't help but believe it!"

Zhang Yu paced back and forth and said, "I once forced the emperor to divide Guanzhong into Yongzhou. Now that the emperor has moved east, and seeing the chaotic situation in Guandong, it is inevitable that he will think of taking Guanzhong from the west."

Jia Xu put the letter away and said, "The Han Dynasty is in decline, but its benevolence still exists. If you move the emperor to Luoyang in the east, the court will be able to cause harm outside; if you welcome the emperor to the Jin Palace, the court will cause trouble inside."

Zhang Yu looked at Jia Xu and said, "That being said, I want to eliminate the disaster. Does Wenhe have any good ideas?"

Jia Xu stroked his beard and thought deeply, and said: "Although your majesty is now in charge of the government, the person who records the affairs of the Shangshu is Zhu Jun. Zhu Jun has foresight, is loyal and diligent to the Han Dynasty, and is the backbone of the current court. Therefore, if you want to make it difficult for the court to cause trouble, it is better to alienate your majesty and Zhu Jun!"

"What's the plan?" Zhang Yu asked.

Jia Xu thought for a moment and said, "Since the decline of the Han Dynasty, many people have been domineering and in power. Since the death of the previous emperor, He Jin, Dong Zhuo, Li Jue and others have taken turns in power, causing the emperor's majesty to disappear. Now that Your Majesty is in power, you must learn from past events."

"So why don't you spread rumors in Luoyang, saying that Zhu Jun wants to take charge of the government alone and now uses you as external support. Therefore, the reason why Zhu Jun did not take Guanzhong is not because he can't, but because he doesn't want to!"

"I'm afraid the rumors will not convince the emperor?" Zhang Yu said.

Jia Xu smiled and said, "There is no tiger in the market, but if three people say there is a tiger, then there must be a tiger in the market. Although the emperor is young and intelligent, he is young and inexperienced. Under the rumors, the emperor will be suspicious. When the emperor and his ministers fight, one of them will be injured. If Zhu Jun cannot win the trust of the emperor, the court will be in trouble!"

Zhang Yu nodded, and was quite satisfied with Jia Xu's plan to sow discord. If Liu Xie and Zhu Jun had a conflict, the court would be caught up in political struggles, and there would be no more operations to spy on Guanzhong in the short term.

However, Zhang Yu was still unwilling to give up. After Wang Hong secretly supplied grain and grass to the court and the court secretly plotted to seize Guanzhong, he wanted to get rid of the nominal control of the Han Dynasty. It seemed that it was time for Yuan Shu to appear and let Yuan Shu solve the problem of the Han Dynasty for him.

Zhang Yu stopped and asked, "I want to let Yuan Shu become the emperor. Does Wenhe have any strategy to teach me?"

Hearing this, Jia Xu's face changed. He didn't understand why Zhang Yu suddenly wanted to give the throne to Yuan Shu. It should be known that given Yuan Shu's current situation, if he let Yuan Shu control the throne, wouldn't Yuan Shu be even more difficult to control?

"Yuan Shu is occupying the Yangtze River, and the three states of Jing, Yang, and Yu are all under his control. If Yuan Shu is allowed to become the emperor, it will be difficult for you to stop him!"

Jia Xu's face was solemn. He bowed and asked, "I dare to ask you, Your Excellency, why do you want to give the throne to Yuan Shu?"

Zhang Yu's expression remained unchanged. He said lightly, "Yuan Shu thinks he comes from a noble family, so he has long wanted to be emperor. If he gets the emperor now, he will abolish the Han Dynasty, abdicate, and call himself emperor."

"How do you know that Yuan Shu will become emperor?" Jia Xu questioned.

Zhang Yu was not angry about Jia Xu's doubts. After all, if he hadn't known that Yuan Shu was obsessed with becoming emperor, he would have found it hard to believe.

Historically, Yuan Shu rashly proclaimed himself emperor not because of the instigation of others, but purely out of his inner drive. If it was the former, Zhang Yu would have feared the butterfly effect and would never have given up the throne to Yuan Shu. But Yuan Shu's desire to become emperor was purely driven by his inner drive, and this was also the reason why Zhang Yu dared to give up the throne to Yuan Shu.

"When Sun Jian defeated many heroes and fought against Dong Zhuo, he conquered Luoyang and found the imperial seal in the palace well. Sun Jian wanted to keep it secret, but someone told Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu had coveted the imperial seal in Sun Jian's hand for a long time, but was unable to take it by force due to his status." Zhang Yu pretended to be mysterious and said, "And Yuan Shu has a spy by his side. He wrote to say that Yuan Shu wanted to be emperor day and night."

Jia Xu's expression changed again. This time, he was not surprised by the secret, but was shocked that Zhang Yu had planted a spy beside Yuan Shu.

Now Jia Xu understood why Zhang Yu kept only him behind. It turned out that he wanted to discuss with him the plan of destroying Han.

According to Zhang Yu, if Yuan Shu really forced the Han emperor to abdicate to him, the Han Dynasty would not have the etiquette and laws to rule the world, and the infamy of the fall of the Han Dynasty would be borne by Yuan Shu alone.

Because the Han Dynasty was destroyed at that time, Zhang Yu not only did not have to be bound by the Han Emperor, he could even declare himself king openly, or win the hearts of the people under the banner of revenge for the Han Dynasty.

Thinking of this, Jia Xu glanced at Zhang Yu, and couldn't help but marvel at the strategy Zhang Yu had come up with!
As Jia Xu said before, although the Han Dynasty was in decline, there were still many people loyal to the Han Dynasty. If Yuan Shu abolished the Han Dynasty, wouldn't that make Yuan Shu bear the blame for destroying the Han Dynasty? And given the situation under Yuan Shu's rule, I'm afraid there will be many people who will rebel because of Yuan Shu's claim to be emperor~
(End of this chapter)