At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

On September [-], Cai Yong, who had received a letter from Guo Peng, brought his family to Qiao County to join Guo Peng.

In April this year, after Emperor Ling passed away and Liu Bian ascended the throne, the world was pardoned. Cai Yong belonged to the pardoned group, so Cai Yong sneaked back to his hometown Chenliu County, where he had been away for more than ten years.

After he returned to his hometown in May, he wrote a letter to Guo Peng to explain the matter to him.

So this time he got the post of governor of Qingzhou. In order to protect Cai Yong from being forcibly recruited by Dong Zhuo to serve in the court, Guo Peng decided to go ahead of Dong Zhuo. He wrote a letter to Cai Yong, hoping to invite Cai Yong to come to Qingzhou.

He entrusted Cai Yong with the position of classical studies, and asked Cai Yong to take charge of the school administration in Qingzhou, revive the local palaces and schools in Qingzhou, revitalize the literature and Taoism, and cooperate with him in destroying the Yellow Turban Army.

Cai Yong was very happy to receive Guo Peng's letter, and saw what Guo Peng said about the current situation in the court. After careful consideration for a while, he decided to agree to Guo Peng.

Friends from my hometown felt that with Cai Yong's reputation, he could obtain a higher-level central position. Why did he go to Qingzhou to do classical studies?

It's hard for Cai Yong to say that Guo Peng disclosed to him in the letter some things about Yuan Kai and Dong Zhuo's power, which made him worry.

So he said that he had a very good relationship with Guo Peng, and he was happy to help Guo Peng develop culture and education in Qingzhou. He also said that Guo Peng understood him, and this was something he was really good at doing.

Cai Yong dragged his family to Guo Peng's army, which immediately caused quite a commotion. Cai Yong, a well-known domestic scholar, responded to Guo Peng's call. The Sichuan nobles were all shaken.

The past story of Guo Peng and Cai Yong was brought up again. Everyone praised Guo Peng and Cai Yong for their friendship.

"Cai Gong is willing to condescend to help, and Peng is very grateful."

Guo Peng touched Cai Yong's hand.

"The old man has nothing but fame. If this fame can help Zifeng, why would the old man not be happy? By your side, the old man also feels much safer."

Cai Yong smiled and squeezed Guo Peng's hand tightly.

As soon as Cai Yong came, the literati recruited by Guo Peng were very excited. They came to see Cai Yong one after another, and asked Cai Yong for advice. For a while, Cai Yong became a big star in Guo Peng's army.

Star power is very useful anytime.

So on September [-]th, Guo Peng officially led the army to set off, and a huge team of tens of thousands of people and tens of thousands of livestock and horses began to move, including soldiers, craftsmen, family members, servants and so on.

In order to show respect for Cai Yong, Guo Peng personally led the Chinese army to guard the frame of Cai Yong's family, his wife and son, and led the army all the way to the northeast.

After crossing the state of Lu and entering Taishan County, on September [-], Guo Peng led his army to Pingyang County, Taishan County, Bao Xin's hometown.

After arriving in Pingyang County, Guo Peng began to recruit soldiers with the support of Bao Xin, and Bao Xin also presented Guo Peng with a lot of food and fodder.

Guo Peng has enough wealth, he wants to expand the army some more.

The combat power of the Yellow Turban Army is not strong, but there are many people, various forces, and a wide range of influence. If the army is not large enough, even the elite will easily capsize in the gutter.

Guo Peng, who had fought against the Yellow Turban Army, knew the Yellow Turban Army very well, and Guo Peng of the Yellow Turban Army in Qingxu Land also had some understanding.

Because of the troubled times at the end of the Han Dynasty and the lack of power of officials, Qingxu Huangjin became more and more powerful, and was finally wiped out after Cao Cao became stronger.

The Qingzhou army is not a special and powerful army, but Cao Cao's confidant. If they can be wiped out, they will never be persuaded to surrender. If they can be broken up and reorganized, they will never be allowed to form their own forces.

Guo Peng thought about expanding part of the army, and then collecting some information, he could almost enter Qi and reach his new territory.

After that, the sea is wide and the fish leap, and the sky is high and the birds fly.

Once the preparations for many years are realized, it is impossible for Guo Peng to say that he is unhappy and not inflated.

But just a short time of happiness and expansion, Guo Peng regained his sanity.

He knows better than anyone else that if everyone was still playing political games within certain rules before, and everyone had some leeway and bottom line between each other, then this will not be the case in the future.

In troubled times, what is played is not a game, but fate.

Guo Peng has never thought that he has the advantage now and can destroy the world. There are many people who are stronger than him. not much.

He has developed the advantage of clairvoyance to the extreme, rushing in front of everyone, seizing the first opportunity, making use of strengths and avoiding weaknesses.

You are famous, you have background, you have a big family, you have old disciples, then I will act earlier than you.

All in all, the era of real chaos has arrived.

Chapter 196 Six Virtuous Dong Zhuo

For a long time, due to repeated droughts, marine invasions, and locust plagues in Qingzhou, coupled with the wanton encroachment of land by the great gentry, there were many refugees in Qingzhou, and there were many bandits.

Now that the Yellow Turban Army is here, the fragile balance collapses instantly, and the big tycoons of the great gentry have suffered a heavy blow. Many people choose to seek refuge in Xuzhou or Liaodong.

The local government protected the territory and defended itself, and those who couldn't keep it were occupied by the Yellow Turban Army, which caused the special situation that the counties became emperors and counties became kings. For Guo Peng, there was still a long way to go.

But that's fine too, with righteousness in hand, if you don't listen to me, I'll fuck you, and directly appoint my cronies to control the counties.

The counties and counties occupied by the Yellow Turban Army are even better. Although they are a little messy, they are taken back and directly used for farming, which is easier to control.

On the way forward, Zaozhi couldn't wait to tell Guo Peng that he would garrison the fields in Qingzhou to deal with the scourge of the Yellow Turbans and bandits, not just use soldiers and horses to conquer.

Guo Peng was quite clear about this, so after arriving in Pingyang, he sent people to Qingzhou to investigate the actual situation, and continued to reorganize the army to make the army more effective.

When he was in the army, some Taishan locals also came to seek refuge with him to seek a family background, among them was a man named Yu Ban Biao Wen Ze, who was recommended by Bao Xin.

Bao Xin said that Yu Jin would train troops and have the ability to lead the army, so he recommended Yu Jin to Guo Peng.

What a nice guy.

Guo Peng was very moved by Bao Xin's selfless spirit, and happily accepted Yu Jin, and then handed over the recruits recruited from Mount Tai to Yu Jin for training, and personally watched his military training skills.

I have to say that Bao Xin is quite accurate in judging people, and Yu Jin is indeed a person who is good at training soldiers. To some extent, Guo Peng felt that Yu Jin's appearance made up for his loss of not being able to get Gao Shun.

With Bao Xin's help, Guo Peng recruited more than 3000 recruits. Although there was still some distance from his goal, this was their home field, and Guo Peng was embarrassed to recruit too many soldiers.

Moreover, he has been eating the rations subsidized by Bao Xin these days, which has caused Bao Xin a lot of trouble, and even Guo is ashamed.

So on the first day of October, Guo Peng led his army into Linzi County of Qi State, intending to reach the core area of ​​his future rule.

Prior to this, Guo Peng learned about some situations in Qi State, including that the original prime minister abandoned his official position and fled because he was an accomplice of the eunuch, and the county magistrates of various places and the sheriffs of some other places also fled.

Guo Peng had to lament that General He's vigorous and vigorous eradication of eunuchs should at least be sympathetic to the fact that since the disaster of the party's imprisonment, most of the officials in various places have been served by eunuchs from the same party.

Killing them all in one breath, wouldn't these people be frightened and abandon their officials and flee?

Well, needless to say, Guo Peng directly listed Zaoyi as the Prime Minister of Qi.

Guo Peng directly let Zaozhi take the position of Prime Minister of Qi State, and let him lead the strategy of garrisoning fields and the preparation of refugees in Qi State.

First build Qi into your base camp, and then other things.

Guo Peng ambitiously started his Qingzhou strategy, and Dong Zhuo also started his own plan ambitiously.

To be honest, at the very beginning, Dong Zhuo felt that being a Sikong, leading a team of soldiers and horses to live freely in Luoyang City, would be the happiest thing, and it would also satisfy his long-cherished wish for many years.

But unexpectedly, Dong Zhuo's wish came to nothing. Yuan Kai asked him to discuss the abolition of the establishment, and he was stunned.

If Yuan Kai hadn't taught him what to do and how to say it, he really wouldn't be able to figure it out.

Later, it was Yuan Kui who suggested that he open a mansion in the name of Taiwei and recruit scholars as subordinate officials.

Yuan Kui probably wanted to control Dong Zhuo the same way he controlled He Jin, so that Dong Zhuo would be surrounded by scholars instead of his own people.

Dong Zhuo really didn't have any of his own people around him.

Dong Zhuo himself is literate and understands a lot of truths. He believes that governing the country requires scholars, not old men.

He thinks that his subordinates are all big bosses, and it is not bad to be a captain and lead a soldier. He can't read a lot of Chinese characters, and he really has no other abilities except fighting and killing people.

Except for Duan Yao, Lu Bu, Zhang Liao and a few literate people in Luoyang City, he really didn't appoint others. He only let them serve as school captains and lead troops outside Luoyang.

Dong Zhuo's modest behavior naturally won the favor of some scholars, and because Dong Zhuo was an old official of the Yuan family, many scholars took refuge in Dong Zhuo because of this name.

For example, Zhou Yan, Wu Qiong, former officials of the General's Mansion He Yong, Zheng Tai, etc., all took the initiative or hesitated to become Dong Zhuo's staff and work for him.

Under their suggestion, Dong Zhuo acted like a corporal and restrained his temper.

And according to their suggestions, I visited scholars and colleagues, chatted with them, and told them some of the insights I got from studying, and I really got praise from some famous scholars.

So Dong Zhuo gradually gained a good reputation in Luoyang.

Then, at the end of September, with the advice of his staff and the approval of Yuan Kai, Dong Zhuo joined forces with Situ Huangwan and Sikong Yang Biao to bring the silver to the court to write a letter, and staged a political show.

Rehabilitate the victims of the scourge of party imprisonment.

Chen Fan and Dou Wu, who were politically classified as traitors at the beginning, and many party members who were arrested and killed in the second party prison the following year, were all required to be rehabilitated.

Dong Zhuo said that they are innocent, they are good people who consider for the country and the people, and they should be rehabilitated.

The young Liu Xie was unable to govern himself, so Yuan Kui, the Taifu, replaced the young Liu Xie Zhun, restored the titles of Chen Fan and others, and promoted their descendants to officials.

Chen Yi, the son of Chen Fan, participated in Wang Fen's plot to depose Emperor Ling, and was promoted to an official.

Dou Fu, the grandson of Dou Wu, was promoted as Xiaolian by Guiyang County within the year, and entered the court as an official.

The sad wish of the scholars for many years has been fulfilled. They feel that they have finally won a complete victory in the battle with the Emperor Han and the eunuchs. This is the glory of all scholars.

As a result, the scholars began to enjoy the fruits of this political victory.

However, during this period, Dong Zhuo's fame and power gradually began to swell.

Yuan Kui wanted to support Dong Zhuo as the reliance for himself and the Yuan family's exclusive power, so he had to let Dong Zhuo gain a firm foothold in the capital and let everyone accept Dong Zhuo, so he did not hesitate to make his own suggestions and let Dong Zhuo use them.

Naturally, Yuan Kai also left behind, and let a group of scholars surround Dong Zhuo to win Dong Zhuo's trust, grasp Dong Zhuo's thoughts,

But Yuan Kai seems to have forgotten that we are all human beings, and people have desires and desires to climb up. Everyone is not Yuan Wei's retainers alone, and they listen to him whether they live or die. They also have their own ambitions and ambitions. political ideals.

Throughout September, Yuan Kai played political games with Dong Zhuo many times.

He asked Liu Xie to grant rewards to Dong Zhuo, but Dong Zhuo declined all of them. The above table transferred these rewards to other famous scholars and supporters, so Dong Zhuo's reputation became even greater.

When Dong Zhuo became more and more famous in the court, no one felt that it was not good to do so.

Someone proposed to Yuan Kai to limit Dong Zhuo's contacts with scholars and limit Dong Zhuo's power, saying that many officials in Shangshutai have begun to be friends with Dong Zhuo.

Yuan Wei didn't take it seriously. He was immersed in the joy of mastering great power and the joy of a successful coup, and he hadn't come back to it yet.

On Dong Zhuo's side, it seems that because of his great sense of accomplishment, he gradually developed some new ideas, and found that Yuan Wei was an obstacle for him to realize these new ideas.

He was still a little afraid of Yuan Kai, so he never dared to put forward some of his ideas, and his move was discovered by real careerists.

Chapter 197 Seven Dong Zhuo lost his fear of Yuan Kai

For Dong Zhuo, who has ideas and strength but lacks courage, the careerists are very distressed.

If you have ambition, you must put it into action. If you are timid, what kind of hero is it?

Do you still want to be in power?

For them, power is just a fruit of victory in a game, so they encouraged Dong Zhuo to do it boldly and realize his political ideals.

There is no doubt that Dong Zhuo also has his own political ideals. Dong Zhuo, who came from a humble background and suffered too much discrimination and oppression in the workplace, also has ideals in mind.

Just like many people who came from remote areas to seek employment in economically developed areas, Dong Zhuo received a lot of unequal treatment in the workplace of the Han Empire because of his origin.

Undoubtedly, in the workplace of power in the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty, the Guandong scholars were the most advantageous. Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, especially the scholars who were born in Yuzhou, were even more favored by heaven.

Dong Zhuo, who was born in Liangzhou from a poor family in Guanxi, was definitely raised by his stepmother.

Therefore, Dong Zhuo has his own political ideals and ambitions, and wants to change the power workplace ecology of the Han Empire.

However, the fear of Yuan Kai cannot be dispelled in a short while.

"But the Taifu is in charge of the Shangshutai, and everything must be approved by the Taifu. I can't make the decision myself. This is disrespectful to the Taifu."

Dong Zhuo expressed his doubts.

Careerists feel very distressed by this.

"Dong Gong is in charge of the military power in Luoyang. With the military power in hand, is there anything he can't do?"

Dong Zhuo was quite sober about this.

"Military power alone is not enough. The fourth generation and third prince of the Taifu have a great reputation. I am an old official of the Taifu. How can I be compared with the Taifu?"

The careerists are still heartbroken.

"Don't Mr. Dong know how far his reputation has reached?"

Dong Zhuo really didn't realize it.

But careerists have already realized.