Han officials

Chapter 152 Calling Friends [1/2]

It is said that Cao Cao witnessed almost the entire coup on August 25th.

From the very beginning, Cao Cao disagreed with He Jin recruiting foreign troops into the capital, but he was unable to stop it.

Even though he was one of the eight commanders of Xiyuan, not all of his eight hundred soldiers would obey him.

So he could only watch as the brothers Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu attacked the palace and slaughtered all the eunuchs.

Cao Cao couldn't even stop the Yuan brothers, let alone Dong Zhuo.

From the time he proclaimed himself Grand Marshal, to the time he appointed himself Prime Minister, to the time he entered the court without bowing, and to the time he wore a sword and shoes when he entered the palace, it can be said that Cao Cao watched helplessly as Dong Zhuo grew stronger and stronger in Luoyang.

However, Cao Cao did not think that things were irreversible at first.

Although Dong Zhuo was domineering, he showed a communicative attitude after entering the capital.

For example, while Dong Zhuo appointed himself prime minister, he also compromised with the factions, appointing Minister of Rites Huang Wan as Grand Marshal, Minister of Works Yang Biao as Minister of Rites, and Minister of Rites Xun Shuang as Minister of Works. He also rehabilitated the faction leaders Chen Fan and Dou Wu, as well as many other faction members killed during the "Second Party Persecution," and promoted their descendants to official positions. Former officials of the Grand General's staff, such as He Yong and Zheng Tai, were also recruited by Dong Zhuo as his advisors.

Under the advice of his staff, Dong Zhuo completely adopted a friendly attitude towards scholars. He even put aside his past grudges against Yuan Shao and others who had clashed with him and abandoned their posts. He took the initiative to appoint Yuan Shao as the governor of Bohai, Bao Xin as the prime minister of Jibei, and Wang Kuang as the governor of Henei as a gesture of reconciliation.

It can be said that Dong Zhuo showed through his various actions that he had no intention of eating alone.

It has to be admitted that Dong Zhuo's performance after entering the capital was quite outstanding.

As a military general, his political acumen surpassed most of his peers.

From this appointment as one of the Three Dukes, it can be seen that he is not as rude and uncultured as rumored.

You should know that Yang Biao, one of the Three Dukes, was from the Hongnong Yang family, which had three dukes in four generations. Like the Runan Yuan family, they were representatives of the Guandong gentry. As long as Yang Biao was willing to form a political alliance with Dong Zhuo, he could greatly offset the influence of the Yuan family.

As for Huang Wan, he was an old party member of the same generation as Chen Fan and had a high reputation among the literati. Although he was imprisoned for nearly twenty years due to the Party Persecution, Huang Wan's popularity increased instead of decreased. That's why he was appointed as the governor of Qingzhou by the court on the first day of the last year of Guanghe.

By the way, it was Yang Ci, then the Grand Commandant and Yang Biao's father, who recommended Huang Wan to Liu Hong. This shows that Dong Zhuo's decision to appoint Huang Wan as the Grand Commandant and Yang Biao as the Minister of Rites was a well-considered one.

He wanted to unite the Hongnong Yang family to fight against the Runan Yuan family, so as to divide and disintegrate the resistance of the gentry.

As for Guanglu Xunshang's position as Sikong, it was undoubtedly a gesture of goodwill to the Yingchuan gentry.

To be honest, Dong Zhuo's attitude was quite sincere.

However, Dong Zhuo's plan was ultimately wishful thinking.

After all, the Guandong gentry have held power in the court for so many years that even the Guanxi gentry look down on them, not to mention him, a Guanxi military general and a member of the Xiliang Qiang clan.

So on the surface, the Luoyang nobles and Dong Zhuo were smiling, but in private they still resisted as before.

With many soldiers and generals, can you conquer and fight well?
Haha, so what? You still have to eat.

This is not because they are arrogant, but because they really have the ability to do so.

Not to mention Dong Zhuo, who had just entered Luoyang and had no roots in Guandong, even if the late emperor Liu Hong were to be resurrected, it would be difficult for him to raise food and grass without the cooperation of the Guandong gentry.

There is no way. The Kanto samurai have been running the business for many years and have their people from top to bottom.

It would be so easy for them to do bad things that even Liu Hong was helpless.

If not for this, Liu Hong would not have made money by selling official positions and titles.

As a result, less than a month after Dong Zhuo entered Luoyang, his army faced the dilemma of running out of food.

The Guandong gentry originally wanted to use this soft knife to make Dong Zhuo face reality and tame him again.

However, they did not know that Dong Zhuo was not a domestic dog, but a tiger or wolf.

Faced with the tricks of the Guandong gentry, Dong Zhuo chose to respond with the old method of the people of Liangzhou.

He first beat the Imperial Censor to death on the pretext that he had forgotten to unsheathe his sword when disturbing Long Zong's visit; then he sent troops to rob and kill Zhou Hui, the son of Grand Minister of Agriculture Zhou Zhong.

This was Dong Zhuo's last attempt to resolve the court disputes through political means.

Unfortunately, the arrogance of the Kanto samurai prevented them from taking this warning seriously.

After the burial of Empress Dowager He, Dong Zhuo saw that the food and grass were not being collected and his army was becoming increasingly unstable. He no longer hesitated and began to allow his soldiers to rob wealthy families in Luoyang and the surrounding areas, loot their property, and collect food and grass.

After all this tug-of-war, Dong Zhuo discovered that the Liangzhou people's old methods were still effective. Thus, the relationship between the Guandong nobles and Dong Zhuo was completely broken.

When the two sides cannot reach an agreement through negotiation, they can only resort to force.

The prefectures and counties throughout the world had not yet noticed this, but Cao Cao in Luoyang was aware of it.

When Dong Zhuo allowed his troops to plunder wealthy households and rob merchants, Cao Cao knew that chaos was coming. He quietly rode out of the capital alone and fled to Chenliu at night, without any attempt to assassinate Dong Zhuo with the Seven Star Blade.

However, Cao Cao did not choose to return to his hometown of Pei State, but instead went to Chenliu County nearby.

Because the current Chenliu prefect Zhang Miao is a close friend of Cao Cao, and Zhang Miao is one of the "Eight Chefs" of the party. He is known as "Zhang Mengzhuo, the strictest in the country" because of his generosity.

When Zhang Miao saw the dusty Cao Cao, he couldn't help but sigh, "Meng De, I haven't seen you for several months. How come you look so haggard?"

Cao Cao, however, disagreed. Instead, he laughed heartily and said, "A man of great virtue should be with the people of the world!"

I have to say that these two people are indeed close friends.

Because at this time Zhang Miao was also preparing to make trouble according to the advice of Gongcao Zang Hong.

So when they learned of Cao Cao's intention, the two sides almost hit it off and began to plan.

In addition to dragging his younger brother Zhang Chao, who was then the prefect of Guangling, into the conspiracy, Zhang Miao also wrote letters to Yuzhou Governor Kong Rong, Yanzhou Governor Liu Dai, and Dongjun Prefect Qiao Mao, inviting them to conspire together for great events.

Although Cao Cao had no official position at the moment, he spent all his family wealth to recruit 5,000 volunteers to station in Jiwu County, Chenliu Commandery. He also wrote a letter to his good friend, Bao Xin, the Prime Minister of Jibei, inviting him to join the uprising.

However, Cao Cao still felt a little uneasy just based on these.

You have to know that he had seen how fierce the troops from Liang Province and Bing Province under Dong Zhuo were.

So after some hard thought, Cao Cao finally remembered his former brother Wei Zhe.

Of course, Cao Cao no longer dares to treat Wei Zhe as his younger brother.

After all, Wei Zhe is doing much better than him now. Not only is he a marquis, but he is also promoted to the rank of Left General.

However, what is interesting is that when Wei Zhe opened the lacquer box and took out the secret letter, he saw that the cover clearly read "Letter from Cao Mengde to General Zhendong".

When he saw this line of words, Wei Zhe immediately smiled knowingly.

"Cao Mengde, you are so thoughtful!"

Wei Zhe laughed but calmly opened the secret letter, and saw lines of elegant handwriting appear before his eyes.

Your Excellency Duke Wei of Wei:
Cao Cao bowed his head and kowtowed again, gazing north at Chang'an, where smoke and dust obscured the sun. He recalled the days before Guangzong City, when you, holding your spear, stood at the banner gate, and a hundred thousand Yellow Turbans fled at the sight of their banners. Back then, Dong Zhuo was still imprisoned, awaiting his punishment. Who could have imagined that the jackal would turn against him, even putting the ancestral temple in jeopardy?

Now the Luoyang is in chaos, a white rainbow is shining through the palace, the thief Dong is a monkey in human clothing, and he has already shown his rebellious intentions.

You led the elite cavalry of Liaodong, destroyed the country and captured the king, and marched against the Dongyi people like a tiger. How could you be willing to bow down and serve this beast?
In my humble opinion, Zhuo's appointment of him as Left General was ostensibly a promotion, but in reality a delaying tactic. Han Xin once said, "When the cunning rabbit dies, the running dog is cooked." Now, while the cunning rabbit is still loose, the running dog has already been cooked! Didn't you see Ding Jianyang's bloodbath on Beimang, and Lü Fengxian's betrayal for fame?
Cao once observed the stars at night. The Purple Star was dim, but the Big Dipper had a ray of light, which should correspond to Liaodong.

If you can raise your arms, the people of Guandong will surely contribute food and drink to support the royal army and help the righteous cause.

Today, Zhang Mengzhuo of Chenliu is secretly forming alliances with loyalists and colluding with the far-flung factions; Qiao Yuanwei, the prefect of Dongjun, is already on the alert for battle; Cao Cao has also spent all his wealth to recruit 5,000 loyal warriors, but ultimately he needs a general as formidable as a dragon and a tiger. In the past, Zhou Yafu stationed himself at Xiliu, forcing the emperor to flee; Huo Qubing drank from the vast sea, forcing the Hu horses to flee south. Your majesty, who commands the northern frontier, how could you bear to see the Han crown and regalia fall to the ground, while Dong Zhuo usurps the throne?
The autumn frost has fallen, and the west wind is strong at Hulao Pass. I hope you will carefully consider the profound meaning of this.

If Meng does not abandon you, you can lead your troops to Chenliu. I will slaughter an ox and pour wine with you to defeat the Han rebels together!

I copied the calligraphy in a hurry and the ink stains my collar.

Respectfully paid by Cao Cao - September Gengyin, the first year of the Yonghan era

……

Inside the prefect's mansion, in the lobby.

After reading this secret letter, Wei Zhe suddenly smiled for some reason.

From the first year of Zhongping to the present, he has finally stood on the same starting line as these descendants of famous families.

The bitterness of this is truly untold to outsiders...

(End of this chapter)