Han officials

Chapter 6 Political and Military Warfare

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the sun was at its hottest.

However, after finishing his meal, Wei Zhe still rode out of the camp and came to a small hill to look into the distance.

The Guangzong City in front was still motionless like a turtle, as if it had not noticed the coming reinforcements. The silence was chilling.

"Brother, I'm afraid this battle will be difficult!"

Even though Taishi Ci was in high spirits, he couldn't help but sigh when he looked at Guangzong City in front of him.

You must know that Lu Zhi was a potential general, and Dong Zhuo was also a powerful general from Liang Province, but both of them encountered setbacks here.

However, Wei Zhe couldn't help but sigh when he heard this, "We have to fight even if it's not easy. Otherwise, if we change the coach, more people will die."

Although Huangfu Song had not made any move yet, Wei Zhe could already smell a strong smell of blood.

After all, with the precedents of Lu Zhi and Dong Zhuo, Huangfu Song had no other choice.

But then again, Wei Zhe is not the only one who has the same idea.

For example, Fu Xie, after carefully observing the defense of Guangzong City, returned to the camp with a serious expression.

Not long after, a memorial was escorted to Luoyang by a messenger.

In order to avoid being held back by eunuchs at a critical moment like Lu Zhi, he decided to strike first.

……

"I have heard that all disasters in the world originate from without, but all arise from within. Therefore, when Yu Shun ascended to the throne, he first executed the Four Evils and then appointed Sixteen Ministers. This shows that if evil men are not removed, good men have no chance to advance... I was commissioned to fight the evil, and since arriving in Yingchuan, I have been victorious in every battle. Although the Yellow Turbans have been suppressed, the cause of their conflict was internal... The eunuchs' manipulation of power has deepened the worries of loyal ministers."

"A filial son is suspicious because of his repeated visits, and a tiger in the market is deceived by three men. If Your Majesty does not investigate the matter thoroughly, I fear that Bai Qi will be executed again at Duyou, and the loyal ministers who have served the emperor faithfully will have no place to express their loyalty. If Your Majesty investigates the four crimes of Yu Shun and punishes the slanderers with exile and death, all nations will know that evil ministers will be punished..."

"What a courageous Fu Nanrong! He's so brave!"

Inside the Shangshutai, even before he finished reading Fu Xie's "Petition to Execute the Eunuchs," the Imperial Guards Zhen Ju couldn't help but praise him enthusiastically, "Fu Nanrong's actions are truly worthy of the style of an ancient gentleman!"

Upon hearing this, the Shangshu Ling Yang Ci couldn't help but stroke his beard and nodded, agreeing deeply with it.

Since his father and grandfather were both three dukes, Yang Ci knew better than anyone else how harmful the eunuchs were.

Yang Ci couldn't help but look at Guanglu Xun Liu Kuan beside him and said with emotion: "Wen Rao, your disciple is really impressive!"

You have to know that Lu Zhi is still in prison, and Fu Nanrong actually dared to submit such a letter of remonstration!
Such courage is extraordinary!
However, it would have been fine if this had not been mentioned. As soon as the good teaching was mentioned, Liu Kuan sighed.

As a descendant of King Chengyang Xiao of the former Han Dynasty, Liu Kuan was also a member of the royal family, but he was very knowledgeable.

In the first year of Jianning (168 AD), he served as a lecturer in Huaguang Hall with Yang Ci and Zhang Ji, teaching the emperor.

But as everyone has seen, the current emperor is clever, but he has no compassion at all. Not only did he brazenly launch the Party Ban, but he also openly sold official positions and titles, treating the people of the world as nothing.

Therefore, Liu Kuan has actually been regretting for not teaching the emperor well over the years.

You have to know that he served as Taiwei twice and was also the Minister of the Imperial Clan, and he no longer had any aspirations in his official career.

Now what Liu Kuan is most concerned about is that the emperor can turn back from his wrong path and revive the Han Dynasty.

However, after reading Fu Nanrong's letter of remonstration, Grand Marshal Yuan Wei couldn't help but frown and shook his head, "Alas, it's still too rash. We have to defend him a little, otherwise the palace may not let it go."

Hearing him say this, Yang Ci couldn't help but nodded.

You should know that the Yuan family of Runan is even more powerful than his family, and all four generations of them have been the Three Dukes.

Yuan Wei's generation was even more prominent, with his brother Yuan Feng and him both being Three Dukes. However, last year, an earthquake in Jingzhao caused Yuan Feng to be dismissed as Sikong due to the disaster, and Zhang Ji, the Minister of Rites, was appointed Sikong.

Of course, after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Sikong Zhang Ji was also dismissed and replaced by Minister of Agriculture Zhang Wen.

When he was young, Sikong Zhang Wen was promoted by Cao Cao's grandfather, the eunuch Cao Teng.

From a certain perspective, this is the time when the Guangzong Han army is at its strongest, no matter in which aspect.

Putting aside Huangfu Song, who came from a family of generals, the rest of the generals were not easy to deal with either.

Guanglu Xun Liu Kuan was Fu Nanrong's teacher, and there was more than one big boss behind Cao Cao, the Cavalry Commander.

Moreover, Sikong Zhang Wen was Zhu Jun's sponsor.

Zong Yuan, the Lieutenant General for the Protection of the Wuhuan, was a former student of Yang Ci, the Minister of the Chancellery. Although Zong Yuan was not personally promoted by Yang Ci, his father and grandfather had both served as Grand Marshals, and Yang Ci had accumulated countless connections.

As a result of all these factors, Huangfu Song's situation was much better than Dong Zhuo's.

……

Then, as expected.

When Fu Xie's letter of remonstration was delivered, the eunuchs Zhao Zhong and Zhang Rang were furious and wanted to punish him.

However, when the two men slandered Fu Nanrong in front of the emperor, the eunuchs Yuan She and Lu Qiang stood by to comfort and defend him, causing the emperor to think that Fu Nanrong was a rare and loyal minister.

As a result, Huangfu Song had enough room to maneuver and implement his own strategy.

By the way, the eunuch Lu Qiang was the one who suggested to the emperor to grant amnesty to the rebels after the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

The eunuch Yuan She was of the same clan as Yuan Wei and was the greatest helper of the Runan Yuan family in the palace.

This is also why the upright people in the world were poisoned by the Party for decades, but the Yuan family was still prominent in the court.

……

The next day, at the Han army camp in Guangzong.

After learning the news from Luoyang, Huangfu Song privately expressed his gratitude to Fu Xie. After all, without Fu Xie's risky letter, his next move would have been difficult.

To express his gratitude, Huangfu Song originally wanted to write a letter to recommend Fu Xie as the captain of the Tiger Guards.

After all, the rank of a Tiger Guard Captain was equivalent to that of a 2,000-stone official, which just broke the upper limit of mid-level officials. With this experience, it would be much easier for Fu Xie to become a prefect of a county in the future.

But what made Huangfu Song helpless was that Fu Xie refused without hesitation and said that he was just speaking impartially and not to protect Huangfu Song.

Huangfu Song had no choice but to give up when he saw this, but he still allocated an additional 2,000 volunteers to Fu Xie.

It is said that when Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun mobilized five schools of the Northern Army, Sanhe cavalry, and more than 40,000 elite volunteers to go to Yingchuan County to quell the rebellion, Lu Zhi was also ordered to mobilize troops from all counties in the world to march north to fight Zhang Jue. For example, the 5,000 Liangzhou infantry and cavalry under Dong Zhuo participated in the war in the name of Hedong County soldiers. After all, Dong Zhuo was recruited from his post as the prefect of Hedong to quell the rebellion.

Therefore, the Han army camp in Guangzong was now quite large. In addition to the 20,000 troops Huangfu Song had recently brought, there were also 30,000 elite troops from various counties left by Lu Zhi, and 5,000 infantry and cavalry led by Cavalry Commander Cao Cao. Adding up all the odds and ends, there were already nearly 50,000 Han troops here.

To unite so many troops, Huangfu Song naturally had to reorganize them. At least at the critical moment, he could let his trusted confidants lead the troops.

Don't underestimate the tactic of "nepotism". If used well, it can sometimes be of great use.

Then a situation occurred that Wei Zhe had never expected...

(End of this chapter)