Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 303 A single move affects the whole body
In February, the court chose to send envoys to appease Zhang Yang and Chunyu Qiong respectively in response to the incidents caused by them, ignoring Yuan Shao's accusation that Zhang Yu wanted to seize the emperor, and also ignoring Zhang Yu's accusation that Yuan Shao seized food and robbed the emperor.

When the court thought that the matter would be over, explosive news came from Nanyang. Grand Marshal Yuan Shu sent his general Chang Nu as the vanguard to Xuanyuan Pass to station troops to protect the emperor, on the grounds that Yuan Shao stationed troops in Chaoge and intended to kidnap the emperor.

After sending Chang Nu to lead the troops, Yuan Shu secretly summoned 50,000 soldiers from Yu and Jing provinces under his command, falsely claiming that there were 100,000 troops, in order to welcome the emperor to Wancheng.

Soon, the news that Grand Marshal Yuan Shu sent troops to protect the emperor spread from Jingzhou to the capital, and even to Luoyang, Anyi, and Xindu, shocking the world.

"Your Majesty, something is wrong!"

The attendant hurried into the palace and reported to Liu Xie, who was studying "Zuo Zhuan" with Yang Biao.

"Why are you so panicked?"

Liu Xie had been personally managing state affairs for a year and was beginning to look like an emperor. Seeing his attendants' panic, he could not help but scold them.

"Your Majesty, Situ!"

The attendant panted and said, "The Grand Marshal issued a letter to denounce Yuan Shao, saying that when the heroes fought against Dong, Yuan Shao deliberately deposed the emperor and conspired with Han Fu to support Liu Yu. Now he is kidnapping the emperor, so in order to protect the emperor, he led the troops to the capital to garrison and drive out the thieves for Your Majesty. Now the Grand Marshal has raised an army of 100,000 and sent Chang Nu as the vanguard. The army will march from Nanyang and may reach the capital soon."

"How dare the Grand Marshal enter the capital without an imperial edict?"

Hearing this, Liu Xie could not remain calm. He paced back and forth in sorrow and said, "How could I not know what Yuan Shao did in the past? The reason why I did not pursue him was out of consideration for the general situation of the world. Now Yuan Shu has raised an army of 100,000, saying that he is driving Yuan Shao away for me. However, in my opinion, Yuan Shu is targeting me!"

Although Liu Xie was young, he had experienced a lot and gradually understood many political rules. Although Yuan Shao was not respectful, he could even be said to be rebellious. But in order to maintain the balance of the situation, Liu Xie had to face Yuan Shao to restrain Zhang Yu. Now that Yuan Shao was restrained, Yuan Shu sent a large number of troops to Luoyang on the grounds that Yuan Shao had kidnapped the emperor, so he said that Yuan Shu used troops for the country, but Liu Xie did not believe it at all.

"Your Majesty, you must send someone with a seal to rush to Yuan Shu's army and order them not to advance. If Yuan Shu's troops are allowed to reach the capital, it will be harmful to the court rather than beneficial." Yang Biao said with a serious expression, "Yuan Shu and I are close friends. I would like to write a letter and have the envoy give it to Yuan Shu to inquire about his intentions."

"It's not just that!"

Liang Shao said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, in order to stabilize the situation, you may as well send someone to inform Zhang Yu and Yuan Shao that Yuan Shu has no edict to the capital. Zhang Yu has the merit of supporting the two, and he knows that Yuan Shu has his eyes on the capital, so he will raise troops to the east; and Yuan Shao has a grudge against Yuan Shu, and he knows that Yuan Shu is sending troops to attack him, so he will lead his troops to the south."

"If we let Zhang Yu and Yuan Shao lead their troops into the capital, the situation may be unpredictable," Liu Xie said with a frown.

"otherwise!"

Liang Shao said: "Since Yuan Shu has sent out a large army, how can he stop because of an imperial edict or a letter? In order to prevent Yuan Shu from endangering the court, we must use troops to control him. Currently, the only two people who have strong troops and can check Yuan Shu are Zhang Yu and Yuan Shao. If Your Majesty wants to let Generals Dong and Liu guard the capital, the two generals have few troops and may not be able to check Yuan Shu."

"Your Majesty, what Minister Liang said is not without reason. It would be best to urgently summon Zhang Yu and Yuan Shao to lead their troops to the capital!"

Suddenly, Shisun Rui came out of nowhere and walked into the hall quickly. He interrupted Liang Shao and said, "When Dong Zhuo entered the capital, he was able to dominate the court because he controlled the troops. Now Yuan Shu has a strong army and cannot be controlled without foreign aid."

"Can we just order Zhang Yu to come to the capital in response to the imperial edict?" Liu Xie asked.

Compared with Yuan Shao, who had a long history of bad deeds, Zhang Yu's words and deeds were at least respectful to the Han Dynasty. Moreover, Zhang Yu had made great contributions in defeating Li Jue and welcoming the Han Dynasty to move east. If Zhang Yu were to go east now, he might be able to check and balance Yuan Shu.

"Yuan Shao has stationed troops in Chaoge for a long time. Now that he sees Yuan Shu sending troops, how can Yuan Shao be willing? Shu Rui, be frank, but your Majesty's edict is difficult to command Yuan Shao. Even if your Majesty does not issue an edict, Yuan Shao will still raise troops to the capital." Shisun Rui said.

"it is good!"

Liu Xie pounded his palm with his fist and said in a deep voice: "Then send envoys to Zhang Yu and Yuan Shao, and order them to lead troops to the capital to prepare for Yuan Shu's illegal behavior."

"The Inspector of the Imperial Capital Feng Fang has an old relationship with Zhang Yu, so he can be sent as an envoy to Zhang Yu; the Minister of the Imperial Household Zhang Jin has an old relationship with Yuan Shao, so he can be sent as an envoy to Yuan Shao." Yang Biao suggested.

"it is good!"

"As you say!"

Not to mention that Liu Xie was worried about Yuan Shu's sudden dispatch of troops to the capital, but now Zhang Yu was happy about Yuan Shu's dispatch of troops.

"Wenhe!"

Zhang Yu strolled around the Lanting Pavilion with his hands behind his back, and said with a smile: "The court sent an envoy to mediate the conflict between me and Yuan Shao. I thought it would be difficult to implement. However, I didn't expect that Yuan Shu had his own intention to welcome the emperor. Now he has sent troops to the capital to welcome the emperor in Wan. Our plan will be successful!"

Jia Xu stroked his beard and smiled, saying, "Yuan Shu is arrogant by nature. Sun Jian knows that he wants to usurp the throne, so he offered the imperial seal in exchange for troops. If we welcome the emperor, Yuan Shu will become even more arrogant, and he may not be far from usurping the throne."

After a pause, Jia Xu said worriedly, "I am afraid that Yuan Shu will know that the Han Dynasty cannot be destroyed suddenly, and will respect the emperor but not usurp the throne. This will be a great enemy for you, my lord."

Zhang Yu waved his hand and said confidently: "I have known Yuan Gonglu for many years. He is not a man who is good at forbearance. Moreover, Sun Jian's letter shows that Yuan Gonglu has the intention of usurping the throne. Letting a tiger out of the mountain for the imperial seal will gain little but lose much!" Although Zhang Yu planned to let Yuan Shu take over, he was inevitably worried because of the different situation. Sun Jian's thank-you letter confirmed Zhang Yu's idea of letting Yuan Shu take over. As he thought before, although the situation has changed a lot, Yuan Shu's ambition to become emperor has not changed, so Yuan Shu can take over.

"Your Excellency is wise!"

"The last years of the Qin Dynasty were chaotic, with tyranny and violence that harmed the people, leading to the collapse of the country. The Han Dynasty is not as tyrannical as the Qin Dynasty. Your Excellency has responded to the call of the times with divine power, restored the laws and laws, and welcomed the emperor to move east, calling it the restoration of the dynasty. If your Excellency replaces the Han Dynasty, you will be slandered by scholars."

Jia Xu, who was accompanying Zhang Yu, said with a smile, "If Yuan Shu aspires to become emperor, no loyal Han warriors will follow him. But if you raise an army to punish the disloyal, many will follow you and you will be able to win the hearts of the people in the world!"

"Wenhe really has the abilities of being both kind and peaceful!" Zhang Yu praised.

Zhang Yu had more and more advisers and civil officials under his command. Zhang Yu consulted with different people according to their expertise. For example, Jia Xu was a low-key person who was good at general planning, so Zhang Yu often communicated with Jia Xu about the general situation; Xun You was an introvert who was good at military strategy, so Zhang Yu entrusted military affairs to Xun You.

As for Guo Tu, since he had followed Zhang Yu for a long time and had some ability in judging people's hearts, Zhang Yu let Guo Tu do his confidant work for him and be responsible for sending and receiving intelligence.

Jia Xu smiled, cupped his hands and said, "This time Yuan Shu sent troops to the capital, the emperor and the ministers will be terrified. And out of worry, they may send envoys to order you and Yuan Shao to send troops to check Yuan Shu. I wonder what countermeasures you have?"

Zhang Yu thought for a moment and said, "I want to decline and sit back and watch, letting Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao fight it out. What do you think?"

Jia Xu shook his head and said, "Your Majesty is in danger, but you are shirking your responsibilities and waiting to see what happens. I'm afraid you will lose the support of the people!"

"What about Wenhe's opinion?"

"Xu thinks you should pretend to be sick and rest. If the emperor sends an envoy to order you to send troops, you can let Xu Huang lead the troops to Henei and march slowly along the way to deliberately spread the news so that Yuan Shao will know the news in advance." Jia Xu said, "Your Excellency can wait and see. If necessary, let Xu Huang station troops on the river to secretly help Yuan Shu welcome the emperor."

Zhang Yu nodded slightly and said, "Dong Cheng is an old general of mine. If I write a letter to him now, maybe he can stop Yuan Shao."

After a pause, Zhang Yu asked, "I have no intention of intervening in the fight between the two Yuans. Now that I am going to attack Longyou, I wonder if Wenhe has any good ideas?"

Jia Xu thought for a moment and smiled, saying: "The generals in Longyou are scattered. Although there are many people, it is difficult for them to work together. Therefore, if you want to defeat Longyou, you need to confront them. After a long time, you will be able to come up with a strategy to defeat the enemy. Now that the troops have not moved, it is difficult for Xu to talk about the strategy to defeat the enemy."

Zhang Yu stopped and said, "Let's plan the strategy for sending troops first. We will use the force after the winter wheat harvest and sufficient food and grass. As for the affairs of Guandong, we should remain unchanged in the face of ever-changing situations."

"Your Excellency is wise!"

Not to mention that Zhang Yu wanted to pretend to be sick to avoid being sent to the capital, but now Yuan Shao was the last to know the news that Yuan Shu was sending troops to the capital.

In the hall, Yuan Shao looked solemn and asked, "Yuan Shu suddenly raised an army in the name of attacking me. His intention is now in Luoyang, directly targeting the emperor. I want to send troops to the capital to stop Yuan Shu from welcoming the emperor. What do you think?"

"Xindu is more than a thousand miles away from Luoyang. Yuan Shu's troops have already moved, but yours has not. The enemy is fast and we are slow." Tian Feng said, "In my opinion, you should order your elite cavalry to march south day and night and send people as messengers to persuade the emperor to cross the river and temporarily avoid Yuan Shu's front. If Yuan Shu is allowed to reach the capital first, he will definitely capture the emperor."

"What if the emperor has no intention of moving north to Xindu?" Yuan Shao asked.

"We will temporarily live in Xiuwu, Henei. Xiuwu is the junction of Henei and Chaoge." Ju Su said, "I would rather protect the emperor in Henei with Zhang Yu than let Yuan Shu succeed."

"Protecting the emperor together with Zhang Yu?" Yuan Shao asked with a frown.

"It's just a temporary measure!"

Ju Su saw that Yuan Shao had misunderstood his meaning, so he quickly explained, "Yuan Shu's arrival in the capital will surely cause the court to panic, so to reassure the emperor, you might as well ask the emperor to cross the river and seek food in Henei. Henei is a place where you and Zhang Yu are friends, so Zhang Yu cannot monopolize it. The emperor may be worried about the situation and follow his lead."

"When Yuan Shu withdraws his troops, the imperial court can move back to Luoyang, or welcome the emperor to Xindu."

For Yuan Shao, compared to the emperor being welcomed by Yuan Shu or welcoming the emperor himself, he could accept the emperor temporarily staying in Luoyang or Henei more.

"Mingsir, we cannot delay this matter any longer. We need to make a decision soon."

Seeing Yuan Shao weighing the pros and cons, Tian Feng couldn't help but look anxious and said, "The most important thing now is not to welcome the emperor, but to prevent Yuan Shu from succeeding. If Yuan Shu gets the emperor and uses him to control the princes, the situation in the Central Plains will be against you, sir."

Hearing this, Yuan Shao relaxed his brows and said, "What Yuan Hao said makes sense. Let Yan Liang lead 3,000 elite cavalry south to join Chunyu Qiong and bring my memorial to Your Majesty, asking the Emperor to temporarily avoid the war in Henei."

"Gong Yu is the Protector General of the Army. You are to gather the troops and march south as soon as possible."

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)