Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 293 The Master's Open Scheme
After the Guandong coalition dispersed, Lü Bu and Guo Si were summoned back to Luoyang by Dong Zhuo in preparation for launching an attack on Xizhou.

Han Sui and Ma Teng's rebel army is already besieging Chencang. Dong Zhuo must send all his troops because his family is in Mei County, which is only a hundred miles away from Chencang. If he doesn't go there soon, his family will be gone.

Liu Bei also sent Zhao Yun back to Luoyang and commended the generals for their achievements.

Liu Bei was always fair in awarding military merits. Lü Bu successively defeated Yuan Shao's chariot formation and Wei Zi, and then decisively defeated the Guandong coalition outside Hulao Pass. He was credited with the greatest merit and was appointed as the Left General of the Household and Marquis of Duxiang.

Lu Bu may still be somewhat dissatisfied with this reward, but he didn't say much. After all, his original position was not high, and now he had been promoted several levels higher than his original position.

Liu Bei did not deduct anyone's credit. Lü Bu being granted the title of Marquis of a Township directly, bypassing the title of Marquis of a Pavilion, was already an exception, and it was worthy of his military achievements.

For his merits in defeating Bao Tao and capturing Ao Cang, Xu Huang was appointed by Liu Bei as Colonel of the Vanguard and Marquis of Duting. As a result, his troops were incorporated into Liu Bei's central army.

Of course, to show that he was not trying to take Yang Feng's man, Liu Bei also appointed Yang Feng as a General of the Central Army.

Zhang Yan was appointed as General Fengyi.

Sending troops would certainly have its advantages.

Zhang Yan's title of General Fengyi was actually an honorary title, not a permanent general position, but this honorary title had a great practical effect - as long as one had the title of general, one had the right to open fire independently and could directly send troops to suppress the rebellion based on the actual situation.

Yuan Shao entered the Taihang Mountains, and Liu Bei ordered Zhang Yan and Yang Feng to find and kill him as soon as possible.

Liu Bei himself did not return to the capital; he still had to incorporate surrendered soldiers, reorganize his troops, and continue to pursue Yuan Shao and other prominent figures from Guandong who had defected to the enemy.

Since Liu Bei didn't know where Yuan Shao was, he had no choice but to pursue Zhang Miao, the true organizer of the Guandong Coalition.

a few days later.

Dong Zhuo led his army to Youfufeng and has now passed through Hangu Pass.

Lu Bu, Xia Mou, Wu Kuang, the troops from the capital region, and the troops from Hedong all followed Dong Zhuo on his campaign. Dong Zhuo knew the strength of the Liangzhou rebels and dared not be negligent in the slightest.

Liu Bei led his army to Dongjun to prevent the Guandong coalition from rising again.

Dong Zhuo left Dong Min in charge of the Imperial Guards, and Liu Bei also sent Zhao Yun back to control Luoyang.

There were not many troops in or around Luoyang City, and things seemed to have returned to a state of stability and peace.

Meanwhile, rumors spread among scholars in Guandong reached Luoyang.

Meanwhile, news also reached Luoyang from Jingzhou—it is said that Wang Rui, the governor of Jingzhou, died of fear of punishment after learning of Yuan Shao's defeat.

This was reported by Sun Jian, the governor of Changsha, to the imperial court... He also said that Wang Rui originally intended to join Yuan Shao in rebellion, but Sun Wentai "discovered the traitor's plot in time" and quickly led his troops to stop him.

It is also said that Wang Rui was initially resisting, but after learning of the collapse of the Kwantung Allied Forces, he committed suicide by swallowing gold.

This one-sided account is, of course, not very reliable...

After Sun Jian quelled the rebellion of Qu Xing in Changsha, Zhou Chao, Guo Shi, and others launched uprisings in the Lingling and Guiyang areas. Sun Jian crossed the prefectures to Lingling and Guiyang to quell the rebellion, but subsequently clashed with Wang Rui, the governor of Jingzhou, over military achievements and the division of spoils.

Wang Rui said that Sun Jian's campaign across prefectures violated regulations, and he wanted Sun Jian to share the credit for annihilating Zhou Chao and Guo Shi.

Sun Jian, of course, refused.

Just then, Liu Bei issued a proclamation to attack Yuan Shao, and Sun Jian accepted the proclamation and raised an army to "punish the rebel," but first sent Cheng Pu with laborers to Hanshou.

Hanshou, also known as Suoxian, was the seat of Jingzhou at that time. It was also the Hanshou mentioned in Guan Yu's title of "Marquis of Hanshou". Guan Yu's title was Marquis of the Central Pavilion of Hanshou County.

When Wang Rui learned that soldiers and laborers had arrived, he went up to the tower to observe and sent someone to inquire about the soldiers' intentions.

Cheng Pu said, “Our troops wish to follow the imperial edict to suppress the rebellion, but we have been working hard for the past two years and lack military supplies. We have come here to ask Your Excellency to grant us some grain and money so that we can send troops to suppress the rebellion.”

Wang Rui also accepted Liu Bei's proclamation. He himself did not intend to send troops, but after hearing what Cheng Pu said, he did not think much of it and ordered the warehouse to be opened, letting Cheng Pu lead the laborers in to retrieve the grain.

When Cheng Pu led the 'laborers' into Hanshou, Wang Rui discovered Sun Jian among them and exclaimed in surprise, "How could Lord Sun be here?"

Sun Jian laughed and said, "I have come here on the orders of the imperial court to take the head of Prefect Wang."

Wang Rui was furious: "What crime have I committed?!"

Sun Jian replied, "I do not know what crime you have committed, but since you have not sent troops, you must be colluding with Yuan Shao... You have a lot of gold and silver in your treasury, yet you still want to compete with me for credit. Then please, Lord Wang, consume more gold and silver, so that you may become a ghost with a belly full of wealth..."

He then threatened Wang Rui with a knife, forcing him to scrape off gold dust, which Wang Rui then swallowed and died.

……

……

Luoyang Baijun Residence.

"...Does Zishi intend to take this opportunity to cause Liu Bei and Dong Zhuo to lose power? But Liu Bei has just won a great victory, and Dong Zhuo has Lü Bu's help. If they lead their troops back to the capital..." Wang Yun was having a secret talk with Liu Biao, Shi Sunrui, and Ma Ridi.

Liu Biao is currently the Minister of the Imperial Clan, and previously he succeeded Zou Jing as the Commander of the Northern Army.

Shi Sunrui was a Captain of the Eagle Banner, and Ma Ridi was a Captain of the Archer's Sound. Both belonged to the Northern Army. When the incident occurred in Luoyang, they were both observing and acting as opportunists.

Most of the Northern Army's troops had been taken away by Dong Zhuo, but he did not take the various captains with him—Dong Zhuo had originally planned to replace these key military positions with his own people.

Liu Bei was actually replacing the Luoyang city defense and security officials with Qian Zhao, Zhao Yun, and others.

Currently, Qian Zhao's main position is Attendant-in-Ordinary and Seal Officer, concurrently serving as Commandant of Luoyang. He is currently in charge of the Six Ministries of Luoyang.

After He Miao's death, the six commanders of Luoyang had been incorporated into various armies. At this time, Qian Zhao was not leading He Miao's remnants, but his old acquaintances—after Luoyang was pacified, Qian Zhao found Zou Jing's old troops from Liu Biao, about seven hundred men.

In other words, Dong Zhuo took over the troops of Shi Sunrui and Ma Ridi, while Qian Zhao took over Liu Biao's troops.

Shi Sunrui and others were naturally dissatisfied, but since they had previously acted as opportunists, this was an inevitable outcome.

"Dong Zhuo's plan to pacify Xizhou will inevitably be a protracted process, and he will not easily return to his homeland before it is secured."

Wang Yun said, “Liu Bei’s campaign against Yuan Shao failed to achieve complete victory, and he will not easily return to his capital. Otherwise, his military might will not be established, and the prefectures and counties will not be afraid of him. At this time, he is also full of bad reputation. If he cannot achieve a great victory or behead the chief villain, the prefectures and counties of the world will not obey his orders. Now is our best opportunity.”

"At this moment, Luoyang has few soldiers. If we can form alliances with the prefectures and counties outside and befriend the Empress Dowager inside, and take advantage of the vacancies in the officials' offices to recruit famous scholars to serve in Luoyang... and gather a large following, we can amass several thousand men. As long as we can control the central government and make the Empress Dowager and His Majesty follow our wishes, we can rectify the court."

"We can act in Dong Zhuo's name, and even if Liu Bei returns with his army in the future, we can use this to incite Liu Bei and Dong Zhuo to fight each other..."

"Moreover... the Empress Dowager also had this intention... to recruit famous scholars to serve as officials in order to stabilize the positions of the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. This was something that both the Empress Dowager and Dong Zhuo wanted to do."

Wang Yun's plan is indeed very feasible.

However, Liu Biao felt the risk was too great: "What if this fails? Although Liu Bei is a kind and benevolent man, he is also capable of killing..."

Liu Biao was, after all, a member of the imperial clan and the head of the clan, so of course he was unwilling to take any risks.

“Jing Sheng, this matter is nothing more than a power struggle. It is both a common practice of the court and a regular occurrence in the imperial court. We have no intention of harming Liu Bei's life... and we have not broken any rules.”

"Moreover, this was the Empress Dowager's will; we were merely following orders... Jing Sheng, your troops were also forcibly seized by Liu Bei's men. Do you still think Liu Bei will value you?"

“If Jing Sheng is unwilling to do this, he should ask to go out on his own. The governor of Jingzhou, Wang Rui, has died and someone is needed to fill the vacancy.”

Wang Yun said in a low voice, "We were going to establish connections with other prefectures and counties anyway. If Jing Sheng goes to Jingzhou to take up his post, it will be a good way out if our plans fail."

Liu Biao sighed and remained silent.

He didn't want any more chaos, but Wang Yun was right. Liu Bei and Dong Zhuo would never give anyone more military power. Rather than being manipulated in Luoyang, it was indeed better to ask to go out on his own.

Wang Yun did not break any rules; this was just a common case of forming factions to fight for power, and he did not intend to kill anyone.

……

The following day, Empress Dowager Dong promoted Wang Yun to temporarily serve as the Attendant Gentleman of the Ministry of Works.

This was actually the secretary-general of Dong Zhuo's mansion.

After Dong Zhuo and Liu Bei purged half of the officials, the court is indeed facing many vacancies. Dong Zhuo's relatives alone cannot fill all the positions, and Liu Bei cannot bring people over from Qingzhou in the short term.

Liu Bei and Dong Zhuo were both temporarily away from Luoyang. Empress Dowager Dong instructed Wang Yun to recommend some capable scholars to serve as officials in the court, and these officials were recommended in Dong Zhuo's name.

This kind of courting is something every new emperor does upon taking the throne. Moreover, recommending someone in Dong Zhuo's name is tantamount to letting Dong Zhuo bestow favors and act as the recommender, which benefits both Dong Zhuo and Empress Dowager Dong.

Therefore, Dong Min was also happy to see this happen.

Qian Zhao naturally opposed this, but he didn't have many reasons to oppose it—there were indeed many vacancies in the court, and he couldn't just stop people from making recommendations, could he?

Jia Xu, who was temporarily acting as Minister, was also in a dilemma, because this was not a conspiracy, but an open act of doing things according to the existing rules, and it was a legitimate matter, so he could not stop it.

Although Jia Xu and Qian Zhao disagreed, so the official seal couldn't be affixed and the court couldn't grant the official position, the Empress Dowager still managed to pull some strings in the court...

She did not fall out with Jia Xu and Qian Zhao, who represented Liu Bei. Instead, she recruited scholars through the Imperial Guard, the Office of the Attendant-in-Ordinary, and the Office of the Yellow Gate, which was equivalent to the emperor and empress dowager selecting good families to serve as officials. They were not given official positions but were recruited as candidates for official positions, and the Ministry of Personnel had no jurisdiction over them.

The scholars recruited by Wang Yun were almost all famous figures from Guandong.

For example, Xun Shuang of the famous Xun family of Yingchuan was the head of the "Eight Dragons of the Xun Family".

For example, Cai Yong, a famous scholar from Chenliu, was exiled to Wuyuan by Yang Qiu and Liu He ten years ago, and now he has been recalled.

There were also notable figures from Jiangxia, such as Huang Wan.

(End of this chapter)