Chapter 9 Chasing the Central Plains Section 4 Yuan Yao fell to his knees and cried bitterly. For more than two months, he traveled thousands of miles with the fleet, and after many hardships, he finally arrived in Hebei.

The pain and worry that had been pent up in his heart for a long time left him haggard and exhausted. Seeing Li Hong at this time, he couldn't hold back any longer, and tears poured out in an instant.

Li Hong and Tian Chou sat quietly opposite Yuan Yao, allowing Yuan Yao to vent his long-standing sorrow.

Listening to this heartbreaking cry, an ominous premonition welled up in the hearts of the two of them. Yuan Yao's mood slowly stabilized, and his crying gradually stopped.

Tian Chou stood up and helped Yuan Yao up, and asked in a low voice, "When did you arrive in Hebei?" How do you know that the general is in Handan? ”

"Five days ago, I led a fleet to Bohai County, and then traveled day and night to Handan to meet Lord Guo Ce and ask him to forward the guilty form to the imperial court on behalf of my father." Yuan Yao, with Tian Chou's support, sat staggered opposite Li Hong, and said in a hoarse voice: "Lord Guo Ce said that my father and our Yuan family clan are both rebellious Han and guilty of rebellion, and he can't help us, let alone transfer it on his behalf. ”

"I begged bitterly and asked him to write to Jinyang urgently and tell the general about the escape of my clan relatives to Hebei. I said to Master Guo Ce that the general and my father have a deep friendship, and he will definitely save us, so please help us for the sake of the relationship between our two families for generations. There are still thousands of innocent lives on the seaside fleet in Bohai County, and you can't die without saving them. ”

"Lord Guo Ce thought about it for a long time, and whispered to me that your aunt is Lord Yang Biao's wife. Lord Yang Biao's cousins Yang Qi and Yang Yi are now in Handan, you can go and beg them and ask them to tell the general about your affairs urgently. Yang Valve's position in the court is now very important, even if the court blames it in the future, it is not a big deal. ”

"I know that Lord Guo Ce is afraid of getting into trouble, and the person who can promise to help contact Yang Valve is already very affectionate. I can't say anything more, so I have to wait patiently in the Assassin's Mansion. That night, Lord Yang Qi went to see me in the Assassin's Mansion and inquired in detail about the situation in Jianghuai. When I heard that Uncle Yuan Shao and my father had broken up, and that my father was enraged and bedridden, he immediately took me to Xingyuan. ”

"Lord Tian came to see me this morning, and I learned that the general was actually in Handan." Yuan Yao knelt on the ground again and again, kowtowing again and again,

"General, please save my father and our Yuan family." Li Hong sighed and asked softly: "Liu Chong is dead, Qicheng has been lost, and Shouchun is in danger, do you know all these things?" Yuan Yao nodded,

"I heard what Lord Tian said just now, I don't know how my father is doing now?"

"At present, I have not received the latest news from JAC." Li Hong waved his hand and said solemnly,

"You go back to Bohai County now, take my warrant to meet Lord Song Wen, the Taishou of Bohai, and ask him to properly settle your family and other entourage, and then you and Liu Ye hurried to Jinyang to meet the Son of Heaven and forward the petition on behalf of your father." Yuan Yao hesitated for a moment and asked worriedly, "General, will the Son of Heaven forgive the lives of my father and my clan's family?" Li Hong pondered for a long time, and said slowly: "I will immediately play the Son of Heaven and give an explanation for your father's reunification of the emperor, hoping it will be effective." In addition, I will write to Cai Yong, Cui Lie, Yuan Peng, Ding Gong, Chen Ji, Yang Biao, Xu Shao and other adults, asking them to contribute to your Yuan family in the court and try their best to exonerate them. But ......" Li Hong glanced at Yuan Yao, shook his head and sighed,

"Your father's re-establishment of the emperor and unification in Shouchun is too great, especially the crime of great rebellion, and it is too difficult to get the forgiveness of the Son of Heaven. The only thing I can do now is to keep your Yuan clan as much as possible. With your Yuan family's merits and status in this dynasty and the deep connections accumulated in the past hundred years, as long as you can persuade the eldest princess to re-establish the criminal law, your Yuan clan should be pardoned. Yuan Yao was frightened, his whole body was cold, and his thin body trembled involuntarily.

"General, my father said that only you can save our whole family, but you ......" Yuan Yao cried with a sad face, disappointed and afraid, and even a little resentful.

At this time, he was so desperate that he couldn't cry, and he was choked up for a while.

"I'm just the Great Sima General in the court." Li Hong helped Yuan Yao up and explained in a low voice,

"I must respect the Son of Heaven and obey the laws of the Great Han Dynasty, if I am like Dong Zhuo, like Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, or like your father, ignore the Son of Heaven and the imperial court, wantonly trample on the laws of the Great Han Dynasty, and do whatever I want, can this society still be revitalized? Can the world still be stable? Can Dahan regain its former glory? Yuan Yao couldn't listen at all,

"General, since you don't want to save us, please let me go back for the sake of the old feelings. My family and I went back to Shouchun. Li Hong calmly looked at Yuan Yao, who had lost his mind, and shook his head resolutely,

"Your father believed in me and entrusted his clan relatives to me before he died, how can I have a burden?" Li Hong reached out and patted Yuan Yao's back,

"As long as I live, you will not die." Yuan Yao was heartbroken,

"General, you're not saving my father?" Li Hong smiled bitterly and walked out of the tent.

"General......" Yuan Yao shouted sadly at Li Hong's back.

"Your father's heart is dead, and no one can save him." Li Hong left without looking back. After carefully discussing the news brought by Yuan Yao, generals such as Liyi and Zhang Yan, as well as officials from the two prefectures such as Jia Xu and Fu Gan, unanimously determined that under the condition that Yuan Shu fell ill and his military and political affairs were handled by his subordinates, various internal contradictions would inevitably erupt continuously, and division and defeat were inevitable.

Now Yuan Shu is terminally ill and may die at any time. As soon as Yuan Shu died, Cao Cao and Liu Bei could easily occupy Jianghuai.

At this time, it is impossible to expect Yuan Shu Chen Bing Huaishui to confront Cao Cao and Liu Bei for a long time.

The Great War in the Central Plains must begin immediately. Li Hong immediately wrote to Jinyang in a hurry, and played a series of changes in the situation caused by Yuan Shu's illness.

The Central Plains War will start in advance, and the imperial court is requested to immediately switch to a wartime state to provide the greatest guarantee for the Central Plains War.

Li Hong was in a hurry to write to Yan Liang and Wen Chou, and ordered the two to quickly capture Xingyang at all costs, threaten Luoyang, and attract Yuan Shao's troops to Henan as soon as possible.

Li Hongshu told Gao Ran and Lei Chong that once Yuan Shao led the army back to Henan, he must find ways to hold back the rebels in Baima and Puyang after the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army crossed the river to the south, and prevented them from rapidly supporting Dingtao and Changyi.

Li Hong sent 800 miles of fast cavalry, ordered Gao Shun and Zang Ba to launch an attack on Xuzhou in advance, and asked them to do everything in their power to enter the hinterland of Xuzhou and threaten the safety of Xuzhou.

The fast horse hurried to the plain Gaotang City. Li Hong told the Pingyuan County Taishou Youheng who stayed in Gaotang that after the fleet led by Wei Yan and Sima Yi arrived at Gaotang City, he immediately ordered them to move westward as quickly as possible, and rushed to the line of Cangting and Eping as fast as possible to erect the ship bridge.

"Urgent book Guo Ce, Ding Li, Zhen Yan, Xu Ming, Wei Zheng and other Jizhou officials." Li Hong looked at Jia Xu and said,

"Now I can tell them about the attack on the Central Plains. The Central Plains War required the requisition of more than one million people, and there was not much time left for them. ”

"I'll do it right away." Jia Xu said,

"At the beginning of the war, the grain, grass and ordnance had been loaded on the 1,500 large ships, and after the 100,000 troops crossed the river, the people only had to unload the grain, grass and ordnance on the ships and follow the army forward. Therefore, the top priority of the Jizhou government at present is to immediately recruit about 500,000 people and rush to the north bank of the Yellow River by the end of this month. ”

"These 500,000 people are mainly recruited from the southern counties of Jizhou, and they will be in time." Tian Chou said unhurriedly,

"Since the beginning of the year, the governments of Jizhou have begun to recruit people. Now these more than 300,000 people are heading north to Youzhou, and after the start of the Central Plains War, they will return in a hurry, meet the rest of the about 700,000 people, and transport the grain, grass and ordnance stored in Handan, Xindu, Ganling and other places to the Central Plains. Tian Chou frowned slightly, and said with a little worry,

"If the speed of the Jizhou Prefectures to recruit and dispatch the people is not fast enough, the armies on the battlefield in the Central Plains may be in danger of cutting off food and grass."

"Spring plowing and spring harvest are about to begin, and it is very difficult for the government to suddenly recruit a large number of people at this time." Jia Xu turned his head to look at Li Hong,

"General, you have to warn the court about this matter, and ask the court to strictly order the officials of the counties and countries in various places, and if there is any delay, they will be severely punished." Li Hong nodded, his finger engaged in Wang Chang,

"Playing the imperial court again, please make sure that the imperial court must order the governments to complete the recruitment of the people before the end of March." After the generals discussed in detail with Li Hong and others some details of the army's speeding up march on the basis of concealing its traces, Ko Yi and the others immediately prepared to take their leave and return to the army.

"Don't go yet." Li Hong motioned for everyone to sit down,

"I still have something to discuss with you."

"Does the General want to keep us drinking?" Koji Yi looked at the sky outside the tent and said with a smile,

"I haven't tasted alcohol for more than a year since the imperial court banned alcohol."

"Really?" Li Hong looked at him like him, and pretended to be serious and said,

"Then I'll send someone to investigate. After returning to Jinyang last time, I heard that you violated Prohibition the most. If you haven't been drinking in more than a year, someone must have maliciously slandered you. The generals burst into laughter.

Koji touched his beard very embarrassedly and laughed dryly.

"The purpose of the imperial court promulgating the prohibition of alcohol is to promote frugality and save food, and it does not stipulate that you are not allowed to drink alcohol." Li Hong said with a smile,

"On a festive day, it's okay to drink a little, but if you have nothing to do, you can hold a wine jar, go to the Hanging Urn Mountain and talk nonsense with a group of celebrities and sentient beings, saying that people still fight wine to win or lose, and they don't take the will of the court into account at all, of course the eldest princess will punish you."

"Hmph......" Koji snorted coldly in disbelief,

"I just had a fight with Kong Rong in Hanging Urn Mountain, what's the big deal? I lost a lot of money on that one, and the eldest princess not only punished me for three months, but also punished me for thinking about it at home for half a year. But Kong Wenju, who provoked trouble, drank and spoke harshly, didn't have a. It's not fair. ”

"Unfair?" Zhao Yun shook his head and smiled bitterly,

"Brother Yuntian, you beat Master Kong to lie at home for a month, and you are still aggrieved? To be honest, the eldest princess is too protective of you. Prime Minister Cai, Imperial Doctor Liu, and a group of ministers have impeached you three times and twice, forcing the eldest princess to demote you. If it weren't for the army coming out at the end of last year, the eldest princess took the opportunity to let you lead the army north, and it is estimated that the ministers in the court and the central government are still entangled with the eldest princess. Koji Yi glared at him,

"Old man Cai is old and deaf and confused. The incident in Hanging Urn Mountain was obviously Kong Wenju's fault. It was he who drew the sword first, and what did he say, I am very different from him, and he can cut me under the sword as well, and he is boundless. I rushed up and kicked him down the mountain with a sword. Koji Yi looked around at the generals, pointed to his nose and asked,

"Am I at fault about this? It was Kong Wenju who wanted to beat me, but he couldn't beat me. How can you blame me? The generals couldn't help but laugh wildly.

Koji Yi was very annoyed, and slapped his palm on the table,

"Laughing at what? What to laugh at? Am I at fault? After this battle, I returned to Jinyang, and I had to ask Kong Wenju for three months. Fu Gan's face flushed, trying his best to hold back a smile,

"Lord Koji, you can force Lord Kong to draw his sword in the Hanging Urn Mountain, it can be seen that Lord Koji's eloquence is far better than Lord Kong, who is known as the first mouth in Jinyang."

"Lord Koji is a famous family, he has been familiar with the scriptures since he was a child, and he is very good at Wen Taowu, and the lower officials admire and admire." Tian Chou also stood up and saluted again and again, looking like he was throwing himself to the ground.

Koji Yijian raised his eyebrows and said triumphantly: "It's simple to deal with Kong Wenju. He said that this thing is a deer, and you say that it is a horse, and if he is not convinced, you ask him, you say that this thing is a deer, what proof do you have? Of course, Kong Wenju has to find a witness. I have it too, I went to the camp of the Northern Army and shouted. Forty thousand soldiers shouted in unison, and the deer became a horse. Kong Wen was mad, and of course he wanted to draw his sword in anger. ”

"Haha......" The laughter in the big tent broke out and lasted for a long time.

"He's crazy, I'm crazier than him." Koji Yi stiffened his face, waved a pair of big hands, and said arrogantly,

"He despises me, and I despise him? I heard that You Heng of Pingyuan County is also very good-mouthed, and if you have the opportunity to meet him, I want to fix him well, I despise this kind of self-righteous bullshit the most. Everyone laughed for a while, and Ko Yi said to Li Hong: "General, you don't have any wine here, let's go back to the barracks." If you have something, you can tell me quickly, and we will leave when we are done. Li Hong wiped the tears from laughter and shook his head again and again,

"Well, well, in that case, I won't keep you, but one of you must stay and sit in charge."

"What?" Koji Yi and the generals looked at each other, confused for a moment.

"Where is the Great General going?" Jade asked in surprise.

"I'll go north tomorrow and join the Hun Iron Cavalry." Li Hong looked at everyone and said with a smile,

"What the reason is, I believe you all know it, I won't explain it anymore."

"You personally command the Hun iron cavalry?" Zhao Yun hesitated,

"Is this appropriate?"

"Not only the Hun iron cavalry, but also the other Hu iron cavalry that have been going south one after another are also under my personal command." Li Hong said,

"The ultimate goal of the Central Plains War is not to occupy the Central Plains, but to kill the rebels to the greatest extent and clear the way for the future to pacify the world, so this decisive battle is very important for the Han Dynasty, and there must be no mistakes."

"At present, it seems that the most difficult factor to determine is the Hu iron cavalry. In order to stabilize the military morale of the Hu iron cavalry and alleviate the hatred between the Han and Hu and the Hu tribes for generations, this iron cavalry can only be commanded by me personally. Li Hong waved his hand vigorously,

"As long as the iron rider is in hand, this battle will be won." The generals were silent. It is a great responsibility to sit in command of the entire Central Plains battlefield, especially in this life-and-death battle related to the rise and fall of the society, there are too many variables, and no one can grasp the chance to win, and once there is a mistake, the consequences are unimaginable.

"The general of the left guard, Xian Yufu, wants to sit in Youzhou to ensure the stability of the northern frontier, and he can't go south. Lord Xu Rong wants to sit in Jinyang, he not only has to command the overall situation, but also has to be responsible for the safety of Jinyang, and is responsible for the war in Hedong, Guanzhong, Guanxi and Western Xinjiang, and he can't go south. So......" He set his eyes on Koji Yi and Zhang Yan, and looked at their stern faces.

Koji suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly. The general raised this matter in front of the generals, which can be described as well-intentioned.

When the general came to the front line in person, in addition to worrying that the Hu iron cavalry would cause trouble, the most important thing was that he could not decide who to give the command of the front line.

He and Zhang Yan were the commanders of the left and right armies, and after the division was determined, the two armies were combined into one, and one person must be the commander of the army to command the decisive battle.

But the contradiction between himself and Zhang Yan has been going on for a long time, and the general is not at ease when he hands over the command of the front line to anyone.

Seven years ago, the general led an army to conquer Youzhou and let Zhang Yan stay in Jizhou. Because of his disagreement with Zhang Yan on military and political matters, the contradiction intensified for a while.

Since then, the two have been at odds. Considering the contradiction between himself and Zhang Yan, the general had no choice but to go to the front line to command.

When the general arrives at the front line of the Central Plains, he must leave one person to sit in charge of the Central Plains and command the battlefields in the Central Plains in a unified manner, and there is only one candidate for the command of the ape, and that is Zhang Yan.

At the beginning of the Central Plains War, the left and right armies marched together. The general commanded the army on the left and himself on the right.

At this time, whether he could obey Zhang Yan's orders became a problem for the general. In order to allow Bai Ji to accept Zhang Yan's order, the general put this matter that should have been decided by him on a public discussion occasion and forced himself to express his position in public.

Ko Yi looked at Zhang Yan opposite, his eyes were sharp and compelling. Zhang Yan looked directly at Lu Yi and was calm.

"General, let Feiyan sit in charge." Koji Yi looked at the worried eyes of the generals and smiled slightly,

"I follow Feiyan's orders." Li Hong was overjoyed in his heart, and the generals looked at each other and smiled.

"Good. Feiyan stayed behind to sit in charge. Li Hong said loudly,

"My brothers and I went to the Central Plains." Jump to