Three Kingdoms: Fusion of Entries, Change of Destiny

Chapter 156 The Tragic Emperor and the Miserable People of Guanzhong

Yang Feng contacted Han Xian, Li Le, Hu Cai and Qu Bei, the leaders of the White Wave Army, through secret envoys. The three allied forces, numbering several thousand cavalry, quickly marched south.

Ultimately, with their help, the emperor successfully repelled Zhang Ji, Li Jue, Guo Si, and others, and was able to cross the Yellow River safely.

Both the White Wave Army and the Xiongnu who came to reinforce them gained enormous benefits.

Several leaders of the White Wave Army were promoted and given titles.

Han Xian, in particular, was appointed governor of Bingzhou, which made Yang Feng, who was originally a bandit from the White Waves, green with envy.

Qu Bei, as the Right Wise King of the Southern Xiongnu, received formal recognition from the emperor and was allowed to garrison in the Hedong region.

It has to be said that this move was a classic case of inviting a wolf into the house!

Once the emperor had crossed the Yellow River, the Xiongnu withdrew their troops.

Emperor Liu Xie of Han needed Han Xian, Li Le, and other White Wave bandits to escort his carriage to Luoyang, so he persuaded them to stay by his side.

Han Xian and the others heeded the advice and stayed by the emperor's side to continue escorting him as he moved east.

The White Wave Army suddenly seized power, but their bandit nature remained unchanged.

Some of the surviving officials, if they offended them in the slightest, would be beaten indiscriminately in front of Emperor Liu Xie.

Furthermore, the Bai Bo army even recommended their own troops and forced Liu Xie to appoint them as colonels.

At this time, the emperor of the Han Dynasty had neither soldiers nor generals under his command.

They didn't even dare to provoke the White Wave bandits; their situation was arguably even worse than when they were with Li Jue.

At the very least, Li Jue would not allow Liu Xie to appoint one of his soldiers as a colonel.

During the crossing of the river, many of the people accompanying the emperor were captured or even slaughtered by the army of Li Jue, Guo Si, and Zhang Ji before they could cross.

Many officials and nobles were killed or wounded, countless palace maids were captured, and the emperor's carriages, horses, and baggage were all lost.

Fortunately, Zhang Yang, the governor of Hanoi, delivered provisions in time and led his troops, along with Yang Feng and others, to escort Emperor Xian to Anyi City, the former capital of Hedong Commandery, which served as a temporary capital.

When they arrived at Anyi, Emperor Xian only had a handful of close advisors left, including Grand Commandant Yang Biao and Grand Master of the Palace Han Rong, and had to rely on the White Wave Army.

The three generals of Bai Bo had different titles, but all were "Four Expeditions" generals. They were granted the authority to act as generals and establish their own governments along with Zhang Yang, and jointly governed the court with Yang Feng and Dong Cheng.

Emperor Xian sent Han Rong back to Hongnong to negotiate with Li Jue and others, and rescued the captured palace women, officials, and several imperial carriages. Only then did the court begin to recover somewhat.

Zhang Yang wanted to continue escorting Emperor Xian to Luoyang, but the generals refused, so he had to return to Hanoi alone.

However, Dong Zhao, who accompanied him to Hedong, stayed behind and was appointed as an advisor.

……

Let's say,

Cai Yan and Li Ru, who used the alias Li You, traveled north. Their goal was to detour through Hedong to Hanoi and then return to their hometown, Yu County, Chenliu Prefecture.

However, not long after they crossed the Yellow River, Emperor Xian and his entourage also crossed the Yellow River.

After crossing the Yellow River, the Southern Xiongnu Qubei tribe had other ideas and led their army away from the escorting party for the emperor.

After leaving the emperor's entourage, they began to plunder wealth and people indiscriminately along the Yellow River, leaving devastation in their wake.

On this day, Cai Yan and Li Ru were struggling forward when they suddenly heard a series of booming sounds coming from behind them.

Upon hearing it, Li Ru knew it was the sound of cavalry hooves.

He looked back and saw that dust was rising in the distance, obscuring the sun, indicating that a large cavalry force was galloping toward them.

Li Ru hurriedly pulled Cai Yan and hid in a grove of trees by the roadside.

Although the grove was not large, it could only serve as a temporary hiding place, and they prayed that they would not be discovered by the Xiongnu.

Cai Yan's face was pale, and her eyes were filled with fear.

Li Ru gently comforted him, "Young master, don't be afraid. You Dang will risk his life to protect you."

Fortunately, the Southern Xiongnu cavalry were just passing through, galloping past the grove where the two were hiding without giving it a second glance. Only after seeing the Xiongnu pass did Cai Yan breathe a sigh of relief and slump to the ground.

Li Ru cautiously peeked out, and only after confirming that the enemy was far away did he help Cai Yan up and continue on his way.

There were countless such thrilling moments along the way.

They often had no choice but to traverse the mountains and forests, hiding from the eyes and ears of the chaotic army.

Sometimes, to avoid a chaotic army, they had to take a detour of several miles.

When they finally stepped into the territory of Hanoi County, it was already June. It had taken them four months to travel this distance!
Although Hanoi District was also affected by the war, the situation was relatively more stable compared to Ha Dong.

As Cai Yan gazed at the unfamiliar yet temporarily safe land before her, a glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes. She knew she was one step closer to returning home.

……

On the other side, after receiving the secret edict to come to the aid of the emperor, Cao Cao immediately began to prepare his troops and horses, ready to march west to aid the emperor and welcome him back.

Historically, in the second year of the Chuping era (195 AD), Cao Cao was still fighting to the death with Lü Bu, who had stolen his hometown, in Yanzhou.

At that time, Lü Bu occupied Chenliu, Dongjun and other places, and Cao Cao could not pass through them at all, so there was no question of him coming to the aid of the emperor.

In fact, the emperor's initial secret edict to support the emperor was not sent to Cao Cao, but to Lü Bu.

After all, it was Lü Bu who assisted Wang Yun in killing Dong Zhuo, giving the emperor a brief glimmer of hope, and the emperor had a natural affinity for Lü Bu.

But Lü Bu and Cao Cao had already fought to the bitter end, so they couldn't possibly send troops to defend the emperor. They could only send envoys to explain their loyalty and helplessness to the emperor.

Only after Cao Cao defeated Lü Bu and reclaimed Chenliu and other places could he go west to welcome the emperor.

By then, the emperor had arrived in Luoyang, and it was already the first year of Jian'an (196 AD).

During that period, the emperor, officials, and figures such as Dong Cheng, Yang Feng, and Han Xian all stayed in Anyi and made it their temporary capital.

It was in Anyi that Emperor Xian held a grand sacrificial ceremony, renamed Xingping to Jian'an, and granted a general amnesty.

However, it's different now.

With the flapping of Cao Yan's wings, the course of history began to change.

Cao Cao had defeated Lü Bu early on and gained control of the entire Yan Province, which gave him the opportunity to go ahead and welcome the emperor.

However, just as Cao Cao was preparing to set out on his campaign, news suddenly came back from the front lines from the Eagle Guard.

After arriving in Anyi, the emperor's journey was temporarily suspended because Yang Feng, Han Xian and others forbade him to continue eastward.

Inviting a god is easy, but sending him away is difficult.

After tasting the sweetness of power, Han Xian and others also wanted to keep the emperor by their side so they could experience the life of Prime Minister Dong.

Compared with the historical timeline, although the current emperor's eastward relocation has been slightly brought forward, the overall situation has not changed much.

If things had gone according to plan, they should have waited until Xingping was renamed Jian'an before continuing north, detouring through Wenxi via Jiguan, and then heading to Luoyang, because the grain supplies in Hedong were exhausted.

However, in mid-June of the second year of the Chuping era, Zhao Qi, who had been sent as an envoy to Yanzhou, returned.

"Your Majesty!" Upon seeing Liu Xie, Zhao Qi immediately grabbed the emperor's robe and said with tears streaming down his face, "I went to Yanzhou alone and almost didn't make it back!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Xie was greatly alarmed and exclaimed, "Could it be that Cao Cao intends to harm you?"

Zhao Qi was taken aback upon hearing this, realizing that his words had been misleading and had caused Liu Xie to misunderstand.

So he quickly explained, "It's not Caozhou and Yanzhou... it's the bandits along the way and the famine!"

Zhao Qi wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve and continued, "In Jingzhou and Nanyang, and Yuzhou and Yingchuan, the land is scorched for thousands of miles, and the people are fighting to eat each other!"

"When I passed by a temple, I was almost captured and boiled alive by a group of people!"

"They boiled and ate them?!" the eunuch exclaimed, his eyes wide. "They...they actually ate people?!"

"Speaking of which, it has been quite a long time since I've eaten meat..."

(End of this chapter)