Three Kingdoms Eschatology

The basis for saying that "holding the emperor to command the princes" has greatly helped Cao Cao's success is actually only the subjective words of literati in the past dynasties.

The illogical "logic" of these literati is, you see, Cao Cao won the battle of Guandu and established the Cao Wei Empire, Yuan Shao was defeated, and his family was destroyed.But Cao Cao chose to hold the emperor, but Yuan Shao did not.This naturally proves that "holding the emperor to order the princes" is a correct decision.

However, the historical facts give the opposite proof. Because Cao Cao held Liu Xie in his hands, Xu Du made successive mutiny attempts.In the end, it also led to a break between the pro-Cao and pro-Liu factions within the Cao Wei camp, and Cao Cao finally killed Xun Yu.

Even after Cao Cao's death, his son Cao Pi had to spend a lot of thought, under the scolding of the people all over the world, to play a show of abdication in order to be at ease.

At this time, Jia Xu asked again: "There is just one more thing that Jia Xu doesn't understand. Why does my lord advocate moving the capital to Nanyang Wancheng?"

Feng Yu was silent for a while, and patiently explained to Jia Xu:

"Because the emperor is in Nanyang, he can guarantee that he will not be coerced by others. The emperor who is held hostage has almost no effect on the princes. But the emperor who is not held hostage can limit the princes' wanton behavior to a certain extent. Some people want to use the Han Dynasty This influential signboard will make the princes stop fighting and rest their troops, and let the world rest and recuperate."

Jia Xu's face, which was originally a playful smile, suddenly turned serious, and he cupped his hands and said to Feng Yu, "My lord's great wisdom, Xu has already understood it. It's really a blessing for me to have such a famous master as my lord."

Regardless of the original world or this era of the present world, despite the collapse of the court, the majesty of the Han Dynasty has long since ceased to exist.But the Han Dynasty still had a huge influence.The princes are no longer under the control of the imperial court, but the gentry literati who work for the princes still have many hearts for the Han Dynasty.

If the Han Dynasty was held hostage by others, the feudal lords could ignore the imperial court on the grounds that "the name is a Han official, but he is actually a Han traitor, the imperial court is controlled by the Han traitor, and the edict of the emperor is a coercive edict".

But if the Han Dynasty was independent, they would have no such reason. If they did not give the Han Dynasty any face at all, their own power foundation would also be shaken.

The above is the whole reason why Feng Yu refused to "coerce the emperor to order the princes", but he also wanted to promote the Han court's southward relocation to Nanyang Wancheng.

……

Early summer in April of the third year of Chuping.The Nanyang Plain is already slightly hot.Suddenly, a large group of soldiers and horses poured out from the gate of Wancheng, heading northeast.

This team was unusually long, and there were still a large number of luggage vehicles escorted in the team, and it was only completed from early morning to near noon.Accompanied by the team, they drove out of the city.In the city, the cries of life and death shook the heavens and the earth.Because many of the soldiers in the team are newly recruited strong men.

The team moved across the wilderness like a long snake, and from time to time joined troops from camps outside the city.The whole line grew bigger and longer.

A few rangers followed the team from a distance. They were Feng Yujun's scouts who were in charge of monitoring Wancheng.Two gray homing pigeons have been released by them.In addition, one or two people have disguised themselves as civilians and entered Wancheng to inquire about the situation.

Sure enough, as Feng Yu expected, Yuan Shu withdrew from Wancheng under the pressing force of Liu Biao's army.In fact, he also withdrew from Luyang, completely abandoning the entire Nanyang County.

In Wancheng and Luyang, except for some hidden youths and food, Yuan Shu scoured everything and took everything away.

Yuan Shu intends to move the main force to Fengqiu in Chenliu, hoping to use this as a fulcrum to occupy the entire Chenliu County, connect the north and south with Yingchuan and Runan under the rule, and then plot the entire Yanzhou and Yuzhou.

About three hours later, a group of war cavalry rushed from the west of Wancheng, about five hundred in number.It was Hua Xiong who led a battalion of tigers and leopards.

It's just that these tiger and leopard horses didn't wear a Zhajia scarf, which is to reduce weight and speed up the horse.Accompanied by the sound of galloping iron hooves, they poured into Wancheng and quickly took over the city.

After more than an hour, when the sun was setting, a large number of soldiers and horses appeared on the horizon to the south of Wancheng.The sound of drums and horns is also clearly audible.Not long after, they also came to the gate of Wancheng, which was closed with four gates.

This is the Wenpin Department of Liu Biaojun. Wenpin rode his horse out of the army formation and set up an arbor to watch the city.It was discovered that what the scouts reported earlier was true, Wancheng had been preemptively occupied by Feng Yujun.

Wenpin thumped his feet and said, "Damn it, I'm a step late!" But Wenpin still didn't give up, and ordered the soldiers to shout to the top of the wall.Ask the general to come out and talk.After a while, Hua Xiong appeared at the top of the city.

After the two signed up for each other, Wen Pin shouted: "General Hua, your master claims to stand in the world with faith, but why did you break your faith and come to participate in the excitement of Nanyang?"

Hua Xiong replied in a rough voice: "General Wenpin, after you returned to Jingzhou, you asked your lord for an agreement between our two families. Take a good look at it. There was never a clause that my lord could not occupy the east city of Mianshui. ? This Wancheng was not taken from your family, but Yuan Shu gave it up by himself."

"But this Yuan Shu was chased away by our Jingzhou army..."

"so what?"

"Ah... um... this..." Wen Pin blushed and his neck thickened. He clearly felt that he was right, but he couldn't explain why, and his tongue fell open.

Seeing his embarrassment, Hua Xiong thought it was funny, he laughed a few times, and then said: "General Wenpin, don't think that Jingzhou has suffered a disadvantage, because this Wancheng is not what our Zhuyang Kingdom wants to occupy. But my lord is stationed first by the order of the emperor, and this city will soon become the capital of the Han court!"

"Ah!?" Wenpin was taken aback when he heard this, and asked in disbelief, "Is this true?"

"How can this kind of thing be a joke, of course it is true."

Wenpin didn't speak any more, and immediately led his troops to retreat to Xinye. He wanted to report the news to Liu Biao as soon as possible.

Chapter 127

In April of the third year of Chuping, on the road from Chang'an to Shangluo via Lantian Shangluo, there was an endless flow of people, horse teams, and motorcades.

Among them were Feng Yujun's soldiers who were retreating back to Zhuyang, refugees, and hundreds of officials who were moving to Wancheng.The same is true on the two valley roads of Xiegu and Ziwugu.

Chang'an City did not become an empty city, it was used by Feng Yu as a military town.Feng Yu left an infantry battalion, a battalion of tiger and leopard cavalry, and a battalion of Qingqi Feiyu to guard the city for a long time.In addition, [-] households were recruited from the refugees in Guanzhong to settle in Chang'an. Except for one soldier from each household, they were exempted from all food, tax and labor.Wei Feng stayed in Chang'an for the time being.

With the influx of refugees from Guanzhong Sanfu and Liangzhou, the population of the three counties and one country under Feng Yu's rule increased sharply.Feng Yu expanded the population of the Zhuyang City system to more than 13 people, using up all the population accommodation cards.

Because of the grain tax guarantee from other counties, Feng Yu no longer needs to ensure that the grain output will have a surplus after consumption every year as before.This means he can increase the system's military-to-civilian ratio.

The system army was expanded by him to four full regiments and several independent battalions.There are more than [-] troops in total, and this is not counting special forces such as giant ape soldiers, Viking soldiers, and river sailors.

Four legions, except for the original Xu Rong and Zhao Yun legions.Added Huaxiong Legion and Zhang Liao Legion.Gao Shun led an independent camp organized into ten teams.

With Feng Yu's great support, Wancheng has been refurbished to a new look, but there is no large-scale construction and construction of palaces.The new imperial palace was only requisitioned and expanded by requisitioning the courtyards of two adjacent mansions in Wancheng.

Only two halls were expanded in front of the courtyard to serve as court halls.Although the New Palace is not as magnificent as the Forbidden City in Luoyang, Chang'an, it is still enough for Liu Xie and the harem concubines and eunuchs to live in.

Huangfusong, Zhu Jun, and Yang Biao's new army of [-] Yulin, led by the three of them, has taken over from Feng Yujun and entered Wancheng.Their equipment has also taken on a new look, all provided free of charge by Zhuyang Workshop.Of course, what they used was not Feng Yujun's standard equipment, but the swords, shields, spears, bows and crossbows that were common in the Han army back then.

Although Yuan Shu took away a large number of young men from Wancheng, Feng Yu moved in a large number of refugees from Guanzhong to supplement them.A large number of grain fields outside the city were looked after again.

A straight road appeared in the wilderness between Dankou and Wancheng. It connected with a section of the army transport official road newly built by Yuan Shu before, leading directly to Wancheng.

In this way, when necessary.The Feng Yu cavalry stationed in Dankou and the infantry on the troop carrier can rush to the rescue of Wancheng two hundred miles away in only two and a half hours.

The third day of May in the third year of Chuping.Emperor Liu Xie officially moved his capital to Wancheng, and held a grand ceremony for the emperor to enter the city.

Four thousand Yulin troops lined up from outside the city to the gate of the palace, guarding both sides of the street.More than a thousand feather forest guards, stepping left and riding right, guarded the emperor Che Yu and marched slowly towards the city, followed by the guard of honor of the officials.

When they marched near the city gate, the people kneeling on both sides of the street began to shout long live.

At this time, Liu Xie, who was in the car, was silent.He had just realized what it was like to be a real emperor.It's just that he is still young and still needs the guardianship of ministers. He needs to wait at least three years if he wants to be in charge.

……

Jingzhou, Jiangling City.In the middle of the summer night, the weather is still sweltering, and the noise of cicadas and frogs outdoors is disturbing.

Although the two maidservants behind him kept fanning, Liu Biao, who was sitting on the floor mat indoors, was still extremely hot.He ordered people to turn off most of the lights, and then he grabbed a cattail fan and fanned it fiercely.

Feng Yubing entered Chang'an, punished the two thieves Li and Guo, and assisted the Han Dynasty to move their capital to Wancheng, shaking the princes of the world.But the one who touched him the most was Liu Biao, the shepherd of Jingzhou.Because of Nanyang, Wancheng originally belonged to Jingzhou in the division of Dahan.He is too close to the emperor and the court now!

Liu Biao's young and beautiful wife, Mrs. Cai, stepped into the hall. Although the lights were dim, she still noticed Liu Biao's anxious expression.She immediately moved her lotus steps lightly and leaned over.

"Husband, why are you so anxious?"

Seeing that it was Mrs. Cai who came, Liu Biao quickly made room for Mrs. Cai to sit down.Fangcai said: "What else can happen? It's not something that kid Feng Yu provoked. Tell me what's going on in this kid's mind? He even invited the emperor to his door!"

Mrs. Cai smiled slightly, and then said: "It turns out that the envoy is worried about this matter. My concubine's father also mentioned this matter. This is indeed a problem. If the emperor announces you to come to see you in the future, will you go or not?" Even if you want to transfer you to another place, will you obey the order or refuse?"

Hearing this, Liu Biao sat up straight.His face became serious, and he changed the tone of the conversation just now, and said: "As Madam said, you don't have to worry about these things in previous years. You can completely cut off the road, and the emperor is coerced by thieves and other reasons. .But now those reasons are gone. And..."

Speaking of this, Liu Biao suddenly stopped speaking.After thinking for a while, he said: "And you know that XX is different from other vassals, especially Feng Yu. XX rode into Jingzhou alone back then, and it was in your Cai family, Kuai family, Huang family, etc. With the help of your family, you have gained a firm foothold in Jingzhou. And why are you willing to help me? Aside from her reputation among the gentry, it’s not because she holds a letter of appointment from the imperial court..."

Cai suddenly interrupted Liu Biao and said, "Husband, I already understand what you mean. You are different from Feng Yu. Feng Yu's foundation was built by himself bit by bit. His disrespect for the Han Dynasty has no effect on him. But your foundation is the several big noble families in Jingzhou. They still respect the Han family, if you do not give the Han family face too much, you may shake your own foundation."

Liu Biao flattered, "Madam is smart."

The Cai family gave him a blank look, and continued: "But you are a family with the Cai family now, don't compare the Cai family with other big families in the future."

Liu Biao hurriedly explained: "Oh, my husband was impatient for a while, and I said something wrong just now, and it was definitely not sincere. Forgive me, madam, forgive me, madam."

Cai continued to speak calmly: "Actually, my concubine's father has already made an idea about this, and he planned to explain it to the envoy during the hall meeting tomorrow."

When Liu Biao heard it, he suddenly became energetic and said, "Oh, Mr. Cai has a solution? Don't wait for tomorrow's discussion, Madam will tell someone to listen now."

Cai said sternly: "The envoy should take the initiative to attack. Send envoys to Wancheng, lower their posture and actively report to the imperial court the military situation and people's situation in Jingzhou. You must convince the imperial court that you can't do without the envoy. The second is to express an attitude to the imperial court, that is, You will respect the Han Dynasty forever, on the premise that the Han Dynasty will not interfere in Jingzhou's internal affairs. We will give the Han Dynasty face, but the Han Dynasty must also give us face, and the two sides must reach this kind of tacit agreement."

Liu Biao bowed his head and thought about it carefully, then nodded approvingly, and then asked, "Then who should we send?"

"I don't know about this concubine, you will find an assistant at the hall meeting tomorrow."

Chapter 128 The Calamity of Mount Tai

In May of the third year of Chuping, on a mountain road in Taishan County, a long convoy was running.Most of them were wagons hauling baggage.There are hundreds of soldiers guarding both sides of the team.

In one of the most luxurious and spacious cars, two beautiful women were serving the famous sixty-year-old man, rubbing his back and shoulders for him.The old man opened his drowsy eyes and asked in a low voice, "Where are we now?"

Naturally, his two concubines didn't know, one of them opened the curtain of the carriage and asked quietly, "Second Young Master, where are we?"

A rider following the carriage stepped forward quickly, and said to the carriage: "My lord, my concubine. We have arrived in Huaxian County, Taishan County. This is the territory of Yanzhou. I believe that the elder brother has arranged for it not far ahead. Soldiers and horses will meet us."

The old man stuck his head out of the carriage and said, "That's good. There have always been a lot of robbers and bandits in the Langya area of ​​Mount Tai. The old man has all his wealth by his side, and he has always been worried. Seeing my son Cao Cao will make me feel at ease."

This old man is Cao Song, the father of Cao Cao. When Dong Zhuo caused chaos in Luoyang, the capital city, he took refuge in Langya County, Xuzhou with the tens of thousands of family fortunes he had amassed throughout his life.

Now Cao Cao has used his funding to recruit troops and has made a name for himself in Yanzhou.So he is going to return to Yanzhou with these wealth.After all, there's nowhere safer to be on your own son's turf.

Just as Cao Song finished speaking, the driver suddenly stopped his horse with a groan.Cao Song and his second son Cao De shouted at the same time: "What's going on?"

The driver hurriedly explained: "For some reason, the vehicle in front stopped suddenly."

At this time, one of Cao Song's concubines suddenly screamed loudly.It turned out that a bright knife tip protruded from Cao Song's mouth, dripping blood continuously.

The point of the knife retracted leisurely, and Cao De fell from the horse's back to the ground, spitting blood.Behind him was a cavalry soldier of the Xuzhou Army holding a blood-dripping steel knife in his forehand, smiling strangely at the inside of the car.

Cao Song was dumbfounded. When his two wives and concubines screamed loudly, the surrounding area was already full of killing sounds.Only then did Cao Song come to his senses: "Tao Qian, Tao Qian is going to harm this old man!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a spear pierced the coachman's chest, and the coachman lay straight on his back in the carriage with a thud, blood spurted several feet high from his chest, dyeing Cao Song's robe bright red.

Screams and wailing, and women's screams came one after another, and another voice shouted: "Don't let one go, lest the news leak out!" This was the voice of Zhang Kai, the Xuzhou general who escorted Cao Song.

After a while, all the screams and wailing disappeared.The woman's screams also turned into cries.Cao Song's servants and coachmen were all killed, leaving only his wives and concubines. Zhang Kai rode his horse to Cao Song's chariot.

Cao Song pointed at Zhang Kai with trembling fingers and said, "You... you, Tao Qian instructed you to do this."

Zhang Kai sneered and said, "What kind of a dog is he. This general has been under his command for a long time. Now that I have the fat and anointing of the people that you, an old dog, can collect, I can recruit soldiers and buy horses, and seek wealth."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Kai stabbed Cao Song with his cavalry spear. He stabbed several times before giving up. Cao Song's body fell to the ground with his eyes wide open.Zhang Kai laughed wildly and jumped off the horse, throwing the corpses of Cao Song and the coachman out of the carriage one by one.

Cao Song's concubines screamed again, and Zhang Kai grabbed one of them and tore open Luo Shan's dress.The rest of the soldiers also screamed wildly, and rushed towards Cao Song's female relatives on the other chariots...

About two hours later, Xia Houyuan, who was waiting in the county seat of Hua County, did not see Cao Song coming, and the scouts sent outside the city to investigate did not see Cao Song and the others, feeling that something was wrong.So he personally led people along the way to find it.

Xia Houyuan, who had experienced many battles, was also shocked by the tragic scene in front of him.The road and both sides of the road are full of corpses in disorder, and the bodies of many female victims show that they were tortured and killed after being raped.

After a while, Cao Jun soldiers grabbed a shivering man from the bushes.After asking, I found out that he was Cao Song's servant.When the incident happened, he just ran to the bushes on the side of the road to relieve himself and escaped unharmed.At the same time, he also witnessed the whole incident.

This kind of looting for money and life is a common thing in this troubled world.It's just that the target of the harm this time is the father of Cao Cao, a newly rising hero in the Central Plains.Even so, no one expected that it would set off a bloodbath that can be left in the history books.

After Cao Cao learned of this, he ignored the begging of Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou, and publicly stated that he would attack Xuzhou to avenge his father and brother.Tao Qian had no choice but to ask the princes from all over the world for help. Of course, he sent envoys to cry to the court that had just moved to Nanyang Wancheng.

……

In the mansion of the Marquis of Zhuyang City, Cai Yong took over his grandson from Cai Yan, looking at it lovingly.

"Father only went to Wancheng court hall for a few days, why did he come back from Wancheng again? Is it just to see his grandson?" Cai Yan asked with a smile.

After the imperial court moved its capital to Wancheng, Cai Yong returned to his post.He believes that at present, the Han court is free from the hands of thieves, and no one dominates the court, which looks like a revival.He is naturally duty-bound to take on the responsibility of helping the Han Dynasty.

"Hi. Of course it's not just for personal matters. Sometime back in Zhuyang, I had something to discuss with my son-in-law." As he said this, Feng Yu just stepped into the hall.

Feng Yu Gongli asked: "Master Yuezhang, what business do you want to discuss with a certain minister?"

Cai Yong returned the child to Cai Yan, then pulled Feng Yu to sit down on the table, and then said: "My son-in-law, do you know about the murder of Xuzhou's former Taiwei Cao Song by Xuzhou soldiers?"

"It turned out that Yue Zhang came here for this matter. Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou, has sent someone to send a letter asking for help, asking Liangzhou to send troops to rescue Xuzhou."

Cai Yong said again: "He also sent envoys to report the matter to the court. He said that Zhang Kai, one of his subordinates, had harmed Cao Song privately. He had executed Zhang Kai and made amends to Cao Cao. But Cao Cao still refused to let him go. This is an excuse to attack Xuzhou. He said it was Cao Cao's name for revenge, but it was actually just to annex his Xuzhou."

"Then Cao Cao also sent someone to report this matter to the court."

"Here we come. Cao Cao's envoy claimed that this incident was planned by Tao Qian, in order to cooperate with the rebel Yuan Shu to attack Chenliu in Yuzhou. He asked the imperial court to issue an edict to question Tao Qian and issue a crusade."

When Cai Yong said this, he asked: "Which one of them is telling the truth? What does your son-in-law think about this? How should the court respond to them?"

Feng Yu pondered for a moment and said: "How Cao Song died, who is the mastermind is not important anymore. The important thing is that Cao Cao will indeed take this opportunity to seek Xuzhou. But he can't swallow such a big Xuzhou, so he will kill the people of Xuzhou ...not to vent anger, but to attack Xuzhou's strength."

"You mean Cao Cao will slaughter the city in Xuzhou?"

"Exactly, if he fails to achieve his strategic goals, this will happen. So the court should do its best to prevent this now."

Chapter 129 Meeting Zhuge Xuan by chance

Cai Yong was shocked when he heard Feng Yu's words.Quickly asked: "The existing soldiers and generals of the imperial court can protect themselves. What methods can we use to stop Cao Cao from slaughtering Xuzhou?"

"Of course the imperial court itself does not have the strength to take care of this matter directly. As long as the emperor issues an edict ordering Tao Qian to hand over the head of the culprit to Cao Cao and make compensation, at the same time order Cao Cao not to attack Xuzhou without authorization to avenge his personal revenge."

"What if Cao Cao doesn't obey the emperor's edict?"

Feng Yu replied with a smile: "If Cao Cao does not obey the edict, the court will have nothing to do with him. But in this way, he will put himself in a disadvantageous position, which will be more conducive to other princes to prevent him from attacking Xuzhou. To a certain extent, he dispelled his idea of ​​massacring Xuzhou."

Cai Yong nodded and said: "Tomorrow I will return to Wandu, and after discussing with the princes of the court, I will present this matter to the Holy Majesty together."