Han officials

Chapter 174: Han Gravekeeper [4.5K]

It is said that after the Battle of Mangshan, although Dong Zhuo was defeated and fled to Chang'an, he did not surrender.

He first left Dong Yue to garrison troops in Mianchi, Duan Wei to garrison troops in Huayin, and Niu Fu to garrison troops in Anyi. Then he ordered other generals to stay in various counties to prevent the Wei army from advancing further westward, while he himself retreated to Chang'an.

In addition, Dong Zhuo also built a city gate at the foot of Taihua Mountain (Huashan Mountain), after Fengling Ferry, at a key point on the ancient Xiaohan Road.

Because the Yellow River is blocked by the mountains after flowing through the twists and turns to the vicinity of Mount Hua, it has to make a sharp turn and flow eastward. Fenglingdu is located at the corner where the Yellow River turns east.

For this reason, after the city was built, one could often hear the river flowing south through the pass and hitting the mountains.

So the Chang'an court simply called it Tongguan.

Since then, Tongguan and Hanguguan have been located side by side, one in the west and one in the east, guarding the ancient Xiaohan Road.

After Wei Zhe learned about it, he did not press forward, but instead dispatched his generals to seize the opportunity to capture the eight passes of Luoyang.

In fact, the overall situation in Luoyang was basically determined after the Battle of Mangshan.

There was no need to attack the passes around Luoyang; as soon as they saw the Wei army approaching the city, they basically surrendered immediately.

As for the cities within the territory of Henan Yin, they were conquered with just a single order.

In this situation, how to properly deal with Henan Yin became Wei Zhe's first consideration.

After all, his roots were in Youzhou and Liaodong, so it was impossible for him to stay in Luoyang forever and confront Dong Zhuo.

After much deliberation, Wei Zhe decided to invite Liu Yu to Luoyang.

After all, Liu Yu's ability in domestic affairs was top-notch in the world, and it was just right for him to be used in the now almost abandoned Henan Yin position.

For this purpose, he personally wrote a letter to Liu Yu, explaining his thoughts and considerations in detail.

As luck would have it, Yuan Shao and Wei Zhe had the same idea this time.

……

That day, in Ji County, Youzhou.

Inside the governor's mansion, only Wei Zhe's old boss, the former Lelang prefect Zhang Qi, was sitting in the hall.

Since he was never reinstated after leaving his post, Zhang Qi could only serve as a clerk in Yuan Shao's court.

This time he was sent by Yuan Shao to Youzhou to persuade Liu Yu.

After a brief greeting, Zhang Qi stroked his beard and sighed:
"Since the death of the previous emperor, the empire has been in turmoil. The young emperor is young and weak, and unfortunately the throne was taken by treacherous ministers. He is nominally the young emperor, but he has no bloodline. The ministers and nobles, down from the ministers, all flatter and serve Zhuge Liang. How can we trust him again? Moreover, since the young emperor ascended the throne, many scholars have been executed. Can he face north again?"

"When Zixu was beaten at his grave, Confucius still said: 'When a man avenges his father, a minister punishes his enemies; the great principle is not to punish the culprit, but to punish the chief offender.'"

"Previously, Yuan Cheqi and Han Jizhou discussed the way to govern the country, hoping to see a ruler who would revive the country. But they should have stationed their troops at the key passes, and all of them would have been defeated and died in the west. If a sage ruler were established in the east, peace would be possible. What more could there be to doubt?"

"In the past, Emperor Guangwu was five generations removed from Prince Ding, and he was appointed Grand Marshal to govern Hebei. Geng Yan and Feng Yi persuaded him to take the title, and he eventually succeeded Gengshi. Now you are five generations removed from the former crown prince, and you are also the Grand Marshal to govern Youzhou. This is the same as Emperor Guangwu's."

"Your Excellency is virtuous and respected, and as the elder of the royal family, you should truly be the ruler of the world."

In order to increase his persuasiveness, Zhang Qi also gave sincere evidence:
"Furthermore, a few days ago, four stars met at the tail of the Ji, which is the prophecy that 'the gods will divide the world in Yan.' Also, a month ago, a man named Wang Ding from Jiyin found a jade seal with the inscription 'Yu will be the Son of Heaven.' Also, two days ago, it appeared during the day in Dai County."

"All of this is indicative of Heaven's will. Going against Heaven is unlucky. I hope you will consider this carefully!"

I have to admit that Wei Zhe's old leader is quite eloquent.

Anyone else would probably be moved by his words.

However, he happened to find Liu Yu, but Liu Yu was not moved by what he said, but became furious.

The gray-haired Liu Yu slammed the table and stood up, pointing his halberd at the enemy and angrily shouted:
"How dare you make such outrageous remarks! Where is your loyalty and filial piety?"

"Today the world is in turmoil, and the Lord is in disgrace. I have received the grace of the state, but the world is in turmoil, and I have not been able to devote my life to eliminating the national crisis. I always feel ashamed. However, you all hold your own prefectures and counties, and you should work together to support the young Lord and devote yourself to the king's affairs. How can you rashly plot rebellion and defame the ears of loyal ministers?"

What Liu Yu couldn't stand the most was that Yuan Shao and others talked nonsense about deposing and enthroning, which was one thing, but how could they just spread rumors and frame people at will?

At this point, Liu Yu was so angry that his veins popped out and his face turned red.

But even so, he still defended the emperor with a firm look in his eyes:

"The holy ruler is wise and intelligent, possessing the qualities of Zhou Cheng. The traitor Zhuo, taking advantage of the crisis and chaos, has subdued the officials. This is a minor disaster for the Han. The chaos has not yet subsided, and they are trying to stir it up again. Yet they claim that the current ruler is 'not of the same bloodline'. Isn't that a lie?"

"As for what you said about the scholars being executed, this was done by Zhuo, is it for the country?"

"The state has its own orthodoxy. Such remarks are not suitable for a minister to make!"

At this point, Liu Yu, with a frosty face, rebuked him bluntly, "Moreover, Yuan Benchu has been stationed in Henei for a long time, but he has not taken the trouble to punish the traitors and wash away the shame of his family. Instead, he is plotting to do this. This is truly ungentlemanly!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhang Qi choked and looked a little embarrassed.

After all, compared with the courageous Wei Zhe, the Yuan Shao brothers, who had a grudge against their family, were indeed a bit perfunctory.

Hit people without slapping their faces, and curse people without revealing shortcomings.

Zhang Qi never expected that Liu Yu, a loyal and honest elder, would be so unethical.

However, since Zhang Qi had to be loyal to the person who entrusted him with the task, he had no choice but to stay with Yuan Shao since he was now following him to make a living.

However, seeing that Liu Yu was resolute in his words and had no intention of accepting the advice, Zhang Qi could only retreat and persuade Liu Yu to take over the affairs of the Secretariat, accept the imperial decree and appoint him as regent for the time being.

However, Liu Yu still disagreed, and even threatened that if they continued to force him, he would flee to the Xiongnu and commit suicide.

No matter how qualified Liu Yu was to succeed the throne, the Han Dynasty would never allow a Xiongnu student to become emperor.

In desperation, Zhang Qi could only leave Youzhou in disgrace.

After all, if he stayed any longer, he was really worried that Liu Yu would kill him to make his intentions clear.

Shortly after Zhang Qi left, the news from Luoyang quickly reached Youzhou.

For a time, Youzhou was greatly shaken.

From the bureaucrats to the common people, everyone is proud of it!
The nobles respected him, the powerful admired him, and the heroes of Youzhou admired Wei Zhe even more.

He used to be the governor of Liaodong, but now he is the left general of the world!

Although he did not mobilize a single soldier, Wei Zhe had already won the hearts of the people in Youzhou.

In counties and prefectures across Youzhou, scholars and writers can be seen reciting "Mangshan Fu" passionately almost everywhere.

All I can say is that this burst of Cai Yong’s inspiration came at the right time.

He not only recorded Wei Zhe's achievements, but also made them widely known.

This is the case with articles that are passed down from generation to generation. Their spreadability and durability can even surpass the event itself.

For example, Chen Lin once said in his "Proclamation to Yuan Shao on Yuzhou":

Therefore, only with extraordinary people can extraordinary things happen, and only with extraordinary things can extraordinary achievements be achieved.

Luo Binwang also wrote in his "Exhortation to Xu Jingye to Punish Wu Zhao":

Look at the world today, who is the one who rules the world?
It is even like Chen Tang's words "Whoever offends the mighty Han will be punished, even though he is far away."

Some words and phrases are enough to transcend the passage of time, remain prosperous and ever-new, and can be called immortal!
Although Liu Yu was very angry with Zhang Qi before, he was delighted when he heard that Wei Zhe had recaptured Luoyang.

It was not until Wei Zhe's envoy came to pay a visit and presented Wei Zhe's letter that Liu Yu frowned.

It is said that this time Wei Zhe did not choose Xi Zhicai, Shi Yi and others who were familiar to Liu Yu, but instead appointed Ren Jun as the envoy.

In the hall of the governor's mansion, after Liu Yu had read the letter, Ren Jun said earnestly, "Luoyang has become a near-desolate ruin, with no one living within a hundred miles. The general often told us, 'No one in this world can save the governor of Henan except Liu Youzhou.' I hope Lord Liu will show mercy!"

However, although Liu Yu looked hesitant when he heard this, he still did not nod in agreement.

Ren Jun was struck by this and immediately stepped forward and whispered, "Now that Your Majesty has relocated the capital to Chang'an, the government has fallen into the hands of the thief Dong. General Zuo is worried that the incident with Prince Hongnong will happen again. So I personally think that if there are elders of the royal family in Luoyang, the thief Dong might be hesitant and dare not harm Your Majesty!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Liu Yu suddenly stood up, his expression becoming serious. He paced back and forth for a moment, then nodded and said, "Don't say any more. I'll go to Luoyang with you tomorrow!"

After saying this, he hurriedly left the table, obviously preparing to leave.

A moment later, in the backyard of the governor's mansion.

When Liu He learned of his father's decision, he was stunned.

"Going to Luoyang?"

Liu He couldn't help but ask, "Did Duke Wei of Wei also recommend you as the emperor?"

The child thought that his father was going to Luoyang to proclaim himself emperor.

When Liu Yu heard Liu He say this, his face suddenly turned dark.

If Liu He had not repeatedly argued that he had no intention of treason, Liu Yu would probably have enforced the family law.

It was only after being scolded by his father that Liu He learned the truth.

It turned out that Wei Zhe did not want to promote Liu Yu to be emperor, but to recommend him as the Inspector of the Imperial Guards.

Compared with Yuan Shao and others, Wei Zhe's suggestion does not sound like a good thing.

However, Liu Yu would rather be the Inspector of the Imperial Capital than be promoted to emperor by Yuan Shao and others.

Although he was a member of the royal family, he was a pure Confucian at heart and regarded the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues as the laws of nature.

Under such circumstances, unless the emperor abdicated personally out of his own will, Liu Yu would not have become emperor.

This is the way the world is. There are hypocrites with corrupt morals, but there are also pure Confucians with firm beliefs.

Although Liu He didn't quite understand these things, he still followed his father's arrangements.

So the next morning, Liu Yu and his family set off with 4,000 Youzhou cavalry.

……

On the other hand, when Liu Yu was traveling day and night to Luoyang, Cao Cao also finally set off.

But Cao Cao is still a little immature nowadays.

Although Chen Wen, the governor of Yangzhou, and Zhou Xin, the prefect of Danyang, gave him more than 4,000 Danyang warriors, Cao Cao was unable to handle them.

That’s right, Danyang is a place with dangerous mountains and strong people. They are good at martial arts and fighting, and have high morale and strength. It is indeed a place where first-class elite soldiers are trained.

But such brave Danyang elite soldiers naturally also have first-class pride.

At present, Cao Cao obviously does not have the ability to tame this unruly army.

Although these 4,000 Danyang soldiers were forced to leave with Cao Cao under the orders of the governor and the prefect, when Cao Cao led his troops to Longkang, the army suddenly mutinied, and most of the soldiers defected. Cao Cao even almost died in the mutiny.

In desperation, Cao Cao could only recruit more than a thousand soldiers in Jianping County again.

To be honest, the Longkang mutiny was an even greater blow to Cao Cao than the defeat at the Battle of Bianshui.

Because this shows that he not only has problems with arranging troops, but also has problems with the most basic marching, camping, and training new recruits.

Perhaps because of this, Cao Cao, who was too embarrassed to return to the Suanzao camp, chose to station in Henei County and surrender to Yuan Shao.

Interestingly, Wang Kuang, who returned to Mount Tai to recruit soldiers, also recruited 3,000 Taishan warriors. However, he did not plan to return to the Henei camp, but instead planned to go to the Suanzao camp to meet Zhang Miao.

I don’t know whether Yuan Shao felt humiliated or thought that Wang Kuang, the governor of Henei, was a hidden danger.

Anyway, Cao Cao, who had just arrived at the Henei camp, encountered the same problem as Sun Jian in the blink of an eye.

Therefore, in order to show his sincerity, Cao Cao had no choice but to attack Wang Kuang with his own troops and Yuan army soldiers under the pretext of revenge for Hu Muban, and finally succeeded in killing Wang Kuang, the governor of Henei!

I have to say that Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao are indeed from the same family. Their methods of recruiting followers are exactly the same.

But the actions of Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu set a very bad precedent for the world.

For a time, the Guandong Anti-Dong Alliance began to crumble.

Sure enough, not long after, Yanzhou Governor Liu Dai and Dongjun Prefect Qiao Mao became enemies.

As a result, Liu Dai actually sent people to kill Qiao Mao, and then appointed Wang Gong as the prefect of Dongjun.

After this incident happened, the so-called anti-Dong alliance was already dead in name only.

It was in this bustling scene that Liu Yu and his party arrived in Luoyang!

……

On the Jiyou day of the fifth month of summer, Sikong Xun Shuang passed away.

At this time, Dong Zhuo destroyed the five-zhu coins in Chang'an and minted smaller coins instead. From then on, money and currency became unusable.

At the same time, outside Luoyang City, Wei Zhe finally breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at Liu Yu and his entourage in the distance.

After Liu Yu got off the carriage, Wei Zhe smiled and said, "The people of Henan have longed for Lord Liu as if he were their parents. Now their wish has finally come true."

Although Liu Yu was a little tired, he still said modestly: "You are the adopted parents of the people here. How dare I accept such a high honor."

After the two exchanged a few pleasantries, Wei Zhe arranged for the troops led by Liu Yu, while preparing to take Liu Yu to Biguiyuan to stay.

However, unexpectedly, when Liu Yu heard this arrangement, he immediately shook his head and refused.

"This is the emperor's villa. How can a minister live here without permission? It's inappropriate, inappropriate!"

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhe shook his head and sighed, "I know what Mr. Liu said."

He then pointed to the desolate settlement outside Luoyang and said helplessly, "The entire city of Luoyang is on fire, and there's no one living within a 200-mile radius. Bigui Garden is the only habitable place."

As they spoke, they arrived outside Bigui Garden. Wei Zhe then pointed to the plaque in front of the gate and said, "Now that the Emperor has moved west to Chang'an, keeping this garden would be a waste of resources. Therefore, I have renamed this place Jinyong City and established it as the Luoyang Defense City. In the future, this place may become the seat of the Inspector of the Imperial Guard."

Although Luoyang City has become a ruin, it is a pity to leave this land in such a state of abandonment.

You have to know that in times of peace, the fertile land on the Heluo Plain supported countless people.

Besides, Luoyang City’s strategic location cannot be abandoned just like that.

Hearing Wei Zhe say this, Liu Yu pondered for a moment and then nodded.

After all, he was not a pedantic old-fashioned person, and Liu Yu understood the principle of expediency.

However, after the group settled in, Liu Yu, without even taking a break, asked, rather puzzledly, "General, now that you've recaptured Luoyang after the great victory at Mangshan, why don't you just wipe out the Dong thief, capture Chang'an, and welcome back the emperor?"

In fact, Liu Yu had been thinking about this problem on the way to Luoyang.

Because no matter how he looked at it, now was the best time, but Wei Zhe stopped at Hangu Pass after the great victory.

However, Wei Zhe sighed upon hearing this and remained silent, looking as if he had the will but not the ability!
Seeing Liu Yu's confusion, Xi Zhicai explained, "Grand Marshal, you may not know that Kong Yuzhou passed away a month ago. The Suanzao Camp, claiming Yuzhou was without a master, has not sent any food to us for a long time."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yu slammed the table and stood up, angrily scolding, "They are more likely to cause trouble than to accomplish anything. They are unworthy of being Han officials!"

But no matter how angry Liu Yu was, he could not change the fact that the anti-Dong alliance was falling apart.

In fact, not long after Liu Yu entered the territory of Henan Yin, the Guandong princes of the Suanzao Camp had already dispersed.

After all, the target is gone, and they will just be clowns if they stay and invite others to join.

Fortunately, Wei Zhe had made preparations and stored a batch of food in Ao Cang in advance, otherwise they would have run out of food.

However, even so, after handing over the eight passes of Luoyang to Liu Yu, Wei Zhe ordered a withdrawal.

As for whether Liu Yu could turn the tide and restore the Han Dynasty, it all depended on his luck...

(End of this chapter)