Chapter 11: The Long River Sets the Sun, Verse 12

"Go and give the order, didn't you hear me?" Li Hong saw that Fu Gan was still standing motionless on the opposite side, and he was even more angry.

"Go ......"

"General......" Fu Gan suddenly fell to his knees and shouted sadly,

"General, if the court is in chaos, it is equivalent to the enemy's ** plan. After the rebellion occurred, you expected that Xiangyang would send envoys to the peace talks, one of them wanted to delay the time for us to go south to quell the rebellion, and the other planned to try to rescue Xun Yu and Zhang Zhao on the condition of the peace talks. But now it seems that they have a third purpose, that is, to drive a wedge between the forces of the DPRK and China, so that we can kill each other. Fu Gan was in a hurry, and his voice became hoarse,

"General, please calm down, the current situation in the court is still under our control, and there is no need to rush to take such drastic measures to fight back. We still have time, and we can come up with a better way to break the rebels' schemes. General, think about Dong Zhuo, think about his experience. Back then, if Dong Zhuo hadn't fallen for Yuan Kui's plan to revise the official school, if he hadn't fallen for Li Wei's plan to issue a decree, if he hadn't fallen for Wang Yun's plan to abolish the five-baht coin, how could he have become a minister of disaster to the country and be ruined? How could it be defeated so quickly and let the Xiliang army be wiped out? How can you still be broken and scattered after death? "Hear

The word "Dong Zhuo", Li Hong was shocked, and he couldn't help but shiver involuntarily, and a chill suddenly came from the vest.

"General, for so many years, you have been leading the army to conquer the world, basically just asking about political affairs, do you know how powerful the eldest princess is now? The imperial court now directly controls more than fifty counties, do you know how many Taishou and national ministers are loyal to the eldest princess? Last year, you wrote to the imperial court, thinking that many Beijing officials did not understand the actual situation of the county and made many mistakes in formulating and implementing new policies, and asked the eldest princess and the imperial court to transfer many assassins, taishou, and state ministers who had served in the prefecture and county for many years back to the capital and release the Beijing officials. Because of your performance, more than 20 officials of the Northern Xinjiang Department were transferred back to the capital by the eldest princess and the prime minister, do you know? Li Hong's face changed slightly, his anger gradually dissipated, and a sense of frustration slowly rose from the bottom of his heart.

"Look at today's situation, and then look back and think about the past......" Fu Gan shook his head helplessly,

"General, this battle in the court is bound to happen sooner or later. They are always calculating you and using every opportunity to weaken you. You have been fighting abroad all the year round, and you are negligent in the government, so you can't prevent it at all. ”

"How many counties do we actually control?" Li Hong beckoned to Fu Gan and motioned for him to stand up and speak.

"Fifteen counties, mainly those north of the Great Wall, and the other counties are all controlled by the eldest princess and the prime minister." Fu Gan said in a low voice,

"Especially in the county with sufficient wealth, almost all of its taishou and state ministers are cronies of the eldest princess. After the accident of Ding Li, Xu Ming, Zhu Wei, and Yang Yi this time, the general proposed to let Zhang Liao and other four generals serve in the state and county, why did they get the consent of the eldest princess and the prime minister? Herein lies the reason. The Shogun has lost control of the counties. Li Hong smiled bitterly, disheartened for a while.

Now the power of the people in northern Xinjiang in the court has been divided, and the power in the state and county has been squeezed out. If the court was in turmoil, and the prefectures and counties took advantage of the situation and refused to pay their financial contributions, Li Hong and his army would face a dilemma.

This is exactly the same as Yuan Kui's method of dealing with Dong Zhuo back then. However, because Dong Zhuo was too hasty and did not have time to control the prefecture and county, he could only look at the sky and sigh that there was nothing he could do, but he was negligent in taking precautions, so that the eldest princess and the prime minister seized the opportunity.

Think about how hard you are working for the great cause of Zhongxing wholeheartedly, and taking hundreds of thousands of soldiers to the bloody battlefield, but like Dong Zhuo, you are unknowingly going to the abyss of defeat.

How unfair the way of heaven is. The eldest princess has grown up, but because of the eldest princess's love for herself, she feels that she has always been so weak and needs her own care and help.

In fact, I have long known that there will be no result between the two, compared to the great cause of Zhongxing in the Han Dynasty, this kind of love between private individuals is nothing, it is just an illusory dream.

The eldest princess needs this kind of dream as emotional sustenance, but she needs the world even more, the society of the Han Dynasty, and the continuation and revitalization of Han Zuo.

"Why hasn't anyone reminded me?" Fu Gan saw that the general had calmed down, and secretly sighed,

"Lord Li Wei's goal is to control the internal and external dynasties, and he needs this result. And we are always on the battlefield and need a steady stream of financial support, so we are very slow to change in the court. At this time, unless Master Li Wei takes the initiative to tell us, it is difficult for us to infer the future development of the situation from these changes......" Li Hong was silent for a long time, then picked up Xu Rong's letter and looked at it carefully.

"What do you do?"

"Now the court and the court are blinded by the hope that the world will be unified, and I believe that after the news of this matter spreads, the call for peace between the government and the opposition is very loud. Not only will the state and county officials support the imperial court, but even many generals in the army will also support the imperial court. Fu Gan sighed,

"The Han Dynasty has been in turmoil for more than ten years, fought for more than ten years, and countless people have died, everyone is looking forward to peace, and no one wants to continue to fight, so if the general openly opposes Xiangyang's peace conditions at this moment, it will be an enemy of the entire imperial court and the entire Han Dynasty, and the result can be imagined." Li Hong narrowed his eyes slightly, and a smile suddenly appeared at the corner of his mouth,

"Well said, well said...... We immediately returned to Chang'an. Fu Gan's face was happy,

"The general has decided?"

"Why should I be charged with obstructing the prosperity of the Great Han?" Li Hong sneered,

"Since everyone wants me to leave the court, then I will leave and fulfill their wishes." Fu Gan was dumbfounded.

"Urgently tell Zhang Liao and Jiang Ji, let them collect evidence, and then hand over the evidence to Lord Yuan Yao, I will no longer interfere in this matter." On the eighth day of the third month, the general Li Hong returned to Chang'an, supported the decision of the eldest princess and the imperial court, and strongly demanded peace with Xiangyang, so as to make the world quickly stable and revitalize the Han dynasty.

The general's opinion shook the court, and almost all the ministers smelled a stream of blood in the general's excited cheers.

The next performance of the great general made everyone fall into extreme confusion. On the grounds that this year's Hexi War was related to the overall situation of Western Xinjiang, the general asked the Son of Heaven and the eldest princess to immediately rush to the Hexi battlefield and lead the army to recover the four counties of Hexi.

There was a deathly silence in the courtroom. The eldest princess and the ministers looked at Li Hong, who looked resolute, at a loss, not knowing what he was going to do.

"General, the matter of peace talks is far more important than the war in Hexi, you should stay ......" Prime Minister Cai Yong saw that the eldest princess lowered her head and didn't say a word, so she had to say something to dissuade her, but Li Hong interrupted him.

"My stay in Chang'an is not conducive to peace talks, and the reason is clear to everyone. But there is one thing I can solemnly swear......" Li Hong raised his right hand and said loudly,

"I swear by the spirit of the first emperor in heaven, I, Li Hong, obey all the will of the Son of Heaven and the court, even if the Son of Heaven and the court want my head, I will offer it with both hands, and I will never say anything." Li Hong's voice echoed in the main hall for a long time, deeply shaking the hearts of everyone in the hall.

The general's words couldn't be clearer. He is to surrender all his military powers. The eldest princess slowly stood up, and just wanted to speak, Li Hong preemptively played again,

"Your Highness, the minister went north to Hexi this time, and only took a group of the General's Mansion to engage in Peng's subordinates and a hundred personal guards, and the northern and southern armies still guarded Gyeonggi, and the Saiwai Iron Cavalry did not need to be recruited. With the 20,000 iron cavalry on the battlefield in Hexi, the minister can completely recover the four counties of Hexi. Please wait for good news, Your Highness. The eldest princess's delicate body trembled slightly, and a trace of pain flashed on her face.

"After the peace talks are successful and the world is unified, the minister is willing to defend Hexi for the Han Dynasty, and he is also willing to defend the desert for the Han Dynasty." Li Hong bowed and shouted,

"The minister is willing to go to the soup for the society, even if he is broken...... he will not give up" The eldest princess's heart trembled, and tears quietly poured out.

The ministers were dumbfounded. It seems that the general will not come back after leaving, which is too incredible, right?

After the dispersal of the dynasty, the general hurried back to Chang'an without saying a word to any of the ministers. The Great Sima Xu Rong, the Left Cavalry General Xian Yufu, the Guangluxun Zhang Yan, the Weiwei Lu Bu, the Great Si Nong Li Wei and others originally planned to catch up and ask, but the general had already run away without a trace.

On the ninth day of the first month of March, Li Hong did not wait for the eldest princess to give an order, led the crowd to leave Chang'an, went north out of Xiaoguan, waited for grain and grass in Beidi County, and was ready to go west to Wuwei at any time.

The court immediately fell into a panic. The eldest princess urgently summoned Prime Minister Cai Yong and other important ministers of the court to discuss countermeasures.

The general suddenly wanted to go to the Hexi battlefield at this moment, which was obviously related to the imperial court's acceptance of Xiangyang's peace plan, but no one could guess Li Hong's thoughts.

However, regardless of whether the general sincerely surrendered military power, the top priority of the imperial court was to ensure the stability of the court, the army, and the prefecture.

Only after the imperial court has full control of the generals and the army can it officially take back the military power in the hands of the generals.

Taifu Yang Biao mocked lukewarmly, how many times has the general interfered in court politics over the years? How many days did he stay in the court?

Now that Luoyang has been defeated, the world is going to be stable, and the court doesn't need him anymore, what is he still doing here?

Of course, I went back to the desert to herd sheep. I'm old, and I'm going home, so as not to get in the way here. The next day, he also returned to Chang'an.

After thinking twice and consulting the opinions of many ministers, the eldest princess did not deprive the general of his military power for the time being, nor did she agree to the general's arrival on the battlefield in Hexi, but asked him to wait for the grain and grass in Beidi County while inspecting the counties around Hetao, waiting for the next instruction of the imperial court.

In addition, the eldest princess also issued an edict that the ministers were strictly forbidden to leak the secrets of the court, so as not to shake the state and county and shake the morale of the army.

The Great Sima Xu Rong was ordered to meet with the generals in the court and sternly warned them that no one was allowed to intervene in the court battle without the general's order, otherwise they would be severely punished.

Da Honglu Yuan Yao hurriedly visited Taifu Yang Biao. After the general left Chang'an, the case of rebellion would definitely be transferred to the Tingwei Mansion for trial, but in this way, it would be a big trouble.

"The general said that he would help us, why did he go back on his word and suddenly leave it alone?" Yuan Yao asked dejectedly,

"Could it be that the general was really cornered by the eldest princess and the imperial court, and wanted to go away to the desert?"

"You kid, when are you going to get smarter?" Yang Biao affectionately reached out and slapped Yuan Yao's head, then stroked his long beard with his hand, and said with great emotion,

"More than ten years ago, when I first saw the general, he was still a captain and didn't understand anything. was locked up in Zhangyuetai by Emperor Xiaoling, and he didn't dare to go anywhere, but now ......" Yang Biao looked up to the sky and snorted,

"Now he is not only a leopard, but also the most cunning leopard in the world, powerful, powerful...... Emperor Xiaoling will be famous in the annals of history in the future, not because of his Wanjin Hall, but because he chose a famous minister of Zhongxing for the Han Dynasty. Yuan Yao was inexplicable.

"The general holds the military power in his hands, and everyone is afraid of it, and everyone wants to take back the military power in his hands, thinking that the general will not be threatened if he loses the military power. But everyone was wrong, the general's power was not because of the military power in his hands, but because of his illustrious exploits, his myth of invincibility, and his bravery that dominated the world. Yang Biao smiled so much that his eyes narrowed into a slit,

"Now that the general has handed over the military power, look at it, look at the eldest princess, look at the prime minister Cai Yong and them, and see which of them dares to reach out and take this military power? Who would dare to take it? Ha ha...... The general's move is high, it's amazing......" Yang Biao laughed,

"The general went to Hexi, but he didn't bring a single soldier, and the court was stupid and didn't know what to do. Don't you think it's funny to think that when they racked their brains to deal with the generals, when they tried their best to seize the generals' military power, they all looked like they were facing the enemy? If the general now stretches his neck to cut them, will they dare to cut them? Stupid, a bunch of stupid idiots. The lesson of Dong Zhuo's disaster has not been learned yet, and he wants to do it again. Fortunately, the general is not Dong Zhuo in the past, otherwise there would be a river of blood in the court now. Yuan Yao suddenly understood everything, and his admiration for Li Hong was incomprehensible.

No wonder his father forced him to defect to Hebei and join the general. Follow such a person to fight the world, the world is not in the bag, it is easy to get.

"The general is gone, the military power is handed over, and the court is stupid." Yang Biao wiped the tears from his laughter and said happily,

"What should the imperial court do now? Without the general, will Xiangyang honestly negotiate peace? The people of Xiangyang have been waiting for this day. As soon as they get the news, they will definitely make more demands, not only to establish a feudal domain, but also to restore the fifth-class title system, so as to provoke contradictions within the imperial court, and the army will soon be in chaos. There are many generals in the army who have made outstanding achievements, since you can be crowned king, can't I be crowned a duke and take a county? ”

"How many Yellow Turban generals are there in the Northern Xinjiang Army? Are they willing to be ministers in the same palace as Cao Cao? Willing to call Liu Bei a brother? Willing to shake hands with Yuan Tan and make peace? Let's see how many Hu generals are there in the Northern Xinjiang Iron Cavalry? Will they be at the mercy of the imperial court? Joke. I'm going to put my words here today, as long as the news of the general's departure from the court spreads throughout the desert, the Hu tribes will definitely rebel. The barbarians waited for this day when their hair turned gray, how could they miss the opportunity? ”

"It's messy, it's all messed up......" Yang Biao's face immediately changed again, and his smile was more ugly than crying,

"The great general's initiative to give up military power is more terrible than his military power. It's ridiculous that the eldest princess and the prime minister, as well as those self-righteous ministers, think that they can handle everything with their own strength, and they are ignorant...... I don't understand, and they don't want to think about it, why did Yuan Kui and Wang Yun lose when they were so strong? Yuan Yao's face changed greatly,

"Uncle, what should we do?"

"What else can I do?" Yang Biao looked up to the sky and sighed,

"If the eldest princess and the prime minister can wake up, immediately refuse to negotiate peace, and invite the general back, there is still a possibility that this matter can be saved, otherwise...... Forget it, let's shrink our heads and be human beings, we ourselves are in danger, what do we care about a lot? "In mid-March, a breakthrough was made in the peace talks, and the two sides reached agreement on many principles.

Cai Mao hurriedly wrote to Xiangyang, waiting for further instructions from Xiangyang, and at the same time, he asked the eldest princess to release Xun Yu and Zhang Zhao.

Although Zhang Zhao was not arrested, he was also imprisoned. Cai Mao said that if Chang'an and Xiangyang reached an agreement on all issues of principle, then the next step for the imperial court would definitely be to completely solve the problems of Xuzhou and Jiangdong.

Therefore, regardless of whether Xun Yu and Zhang Zhao are indeed guilty or not, they should be pardoned in order to improve relations with Cao Cao and Sun Quan.

As for Xin Ping, Xun Chen, and Xianrong, Cai Mao thought that they should be killed immediately, because the brothers Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi thought they were traitors and wanted to get their heads very much.

Killing them will help the imperial court to appease the Yuan brothers. The eldest princess agreed to Cai Mao's plea and ordered the Tingwei Mansion to conclude the case as quickly as possible.

Zhang Miao obviously did not want to miss the opportunity to attack Ying and Ru Shiren, and he tortured Xin Ping and the three to force them to name more complicity.

Ying and Rushi people are panicked, and the storm is about to come in the court. On March 24, Jiang Ji returned to Chang'an with some evidence of Zhang Chao's corruption and perversion of the law.

He handed these things to Yuan Yao, and then hurried north to Xiaoguan to meet with the general Li Hong. On March 26, Taifu Yang Biao, Taiwei Xun You, Dahonglu Yuan Yao, Guanglu Doctor Zhong Xuan, Taizhong Doctor Yang Qi and other ministers jointly signed a petition to impeach the former Chen Liutaishou Zhang Chao.

Because the evidence in this case is conclusive, the violation of the law is serious, and the scope of involvement is wide, the eldest princess was immediately alarmed. The eldest princess issued an order and ordered Zhang Liao, the assassin of Yanzhou, to escort Zhang Chao's three brothers and the criminal evidence to Beijing.

Ordered the cavalry general Wang Dang to capture Zhang Chao and his men, and escort them to Chang'an immediately. On the same day, the eldest princess issued an edict and ordered the cavalry general Wang Dang to hold the festival and supervise the military administration of Yingchuan.

On March 28, Zhang Miao, the court lieutenant, was ordered to recuse himself. The eldest princess ordered to worship the old minister Sima Fang as the court captain, and Bai Zhishu Yu Shi Xi was considered the court captain to try the case.

On the same day, Taifu Yang Biao, Da Honglu Yuan Yao, and Guanglu Da Zhong Xiang played again, asking the imperial court to revise the "Tian Law".

On March 30, Prime Minister Cai Yong made an appointment to meet with Li Wei, the chief farmer, to discuss the revision of "Tian Law", but the two had too many differences and broke up unhappily.

In early April, Zhang Chao's three brothers and a batch of evidence were escorted to Beijing. Xi Wei, who presided over the case, didn't say a word, and waited for the big punishment, and Zhang Chao's three brothers all confessed.

Soon, Zhang Chao and a group of Peng subordinates were also escorted to Chang'an. Xi was worried about being tortured, Zhang Chao refused to confess and committed suicide in prison.

Zhang Chao's death immediately angered Prime Minister Cai Yong, the imperial servant Kong Rong, Zongzheng Zang Hong and other young scholars. They played again and again, forcing the court commander Sima Fang to immediately close the cases of Ding Li, Xu Ming, and Zhu Wei.

The atmosphere in Chang'an City suddenly became tense. In mid-April, Xiangyang replied to the letter, and the brothers Yuan Tan and Yuan Xi demanded to keep the title and fief of the Xiangyang Son of Heaven, otherwise they would refuse to be appeased.

At the same time, Cao Cao of Xuzhou, Sun Quan of Jiangdong and Zhou Yu also played the Son of Heaven and made the same demands as the Yuan brothers.

Taifu Yang Biao, Da Sima Xu Rong, and Zuo Che General Xian Yufu and other ministers categorically opposed, and the court fell into a fierce debate.

In late April, all the generals of the Northern Xinjiang Army in Beijing headed by the Left Guard general Lu Yi jointly played a joint petition to resolutely oppose the rebellion of Cao Cao and other rebellions of the imperial court, and warned the imperial court that if this matter was mishandled, it would surely shake the morale of the army and the consequences would be serious.

The peace talks then reached an impasse. Jump to