Saibei west wind hunting horses, the south of the Yangtze River autumn rain is picturesque.

In late autumn, when the wind swept through the north again, the two banks of the Yangtze River ushered in a belated rainy season.

The autumn rain is continuous, and the hazy smoke and rain shrouds the land of Huainan, and there is no sunlight for half a month, which is cold and humid.

Shouchun City in the rain and fog is extraordinarily quiet, the huge Zhong Palace is quiet and lonely, there is no human figure in the garden corridor, only a few palace porches stand under more than a hundred armor soldiers.

The young and immature Zhong Dynasty did not have the slightest sign of vigor, but was gloomy, which was quite a sign of decay before aging.

At the beginning, when Emperor Liu Xie of the Han Dynasty died violently and there was no owner in the world, Yuan Shu of Huainan took the lead in calling the emperor, thinking that a call to ascend would inevitably gather from the followers, and a hundred responses would be answered, and the heroes would tie their hands and reign in the world. However, the truth was far from being as smooth as Yuan Shu imagined, but it backfired, instead of ushering in the scene of the heroes joining in, it prompted the princes of the towns to join hands again and jointly send troops to encircle and suppress.

At the beginning of the war, Liu Biao of Jingzhou led a large army of land and water to attack, posing a great threat to Yuan Shu, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it was a great chaos. However, the Jingzhou army was only a flash in the pan, and after several months of fruitless rapid attack led by Liu Biao, he quietly withdrew in the name of Jingnan to quell the rebellion. Just when Yuan Shu breathed a deep sigh of relief, Jiangdong Sun Ce stabbed him hard behind him, which caught Yuan Shu off guard and almost lost Lujiang County. Subsequently, Yuan Shu mobilized a large army to besiege Sun Ce, forcing Sun Ce to retreat while fighting, temporarily retreating to Jiangdong, and waiting for an opportunity to fight again.

With the retreat of Liu Biao and Sun Ce, the Huainan battlefield entered a short truce, which made Yuan Shu mistakenly believe that the crisis had passed. I can finally breathe a sigh of relief and sit on the throne in peace. Unexpectedly, Xuzhou Lu Bu, who had already been a minister to him before, suddenly turned against him. Undeclared war, led the Xuzhou army to attack Yuzhou, defeated Yuzhou Assassin Shi Guogong, and then Lu Bu's army attacked the city all the way, invincible, and the soldiers pointed directly at Jiujiang Shouchun.

I heard that Lu Bu rebelled and rebelled. Yuan Shu was annoyed and angry, and immediately led a large army to suppress Lü Bu, and fought with Lü Bu's army on both sides of the Huai River. But there were many defeats and few victories, so he had no choice but to retreat to the south bank and resist one after another. It was at this time that Jiangdong Sun Ce made a comeback. Troops were sent to Lujiang again. Sneak attack on Yuan's rear and form a distant echo with the army of Lu Bu in Huaibei, flanking Yuan Shu.

In terms of the number of soldiers and horses alone, Yuan Shu has more than 200,000 troops, and even if he is one enemy and two enemies, he will not fall behind. However, this is not the case. In the face of the northern and southern attacks of Lu Bu, the tiger of Bingzhou, and Sun Ce, the little overlord of Jiangdong, the army under Yuan Shu fought on two fronts, fighting tigers in the north and driving wolves in the south. You will not lose your city or land. But he never expected that the northern tiger would lose again and again. The south drove the wolf and also lost consecutive battles, causing Yuan Shu's army to lose troops and retreat, and Yuan Shu himself became a frightened bird, and returned to Jiujiang without hesitation, and retreated in the "imperial capital" Shouchun City, panicking all day long.

Since ascending the throne and becoming emperor, in just one year and five months, Emperor Yuan Shu of the Zhong family has lost most of Yuzhou and Yangzhou, and the only few counties are still full of hungry people, and bandits and thieves are numerous. Today, Yuan Shu is already declining, day by day, the trend of decay is irreversible, the young Zhong regime is crumbling, and now it is just a remnant.

In October of the third year of Jian'an, when the north was about to usher in the first snow since the beginning of winter, Huainan was shrouded in continuous autumn rains, which was extremely cold and wet. In the autumn rain, Yuan Shu, who was cowering in Shouchun City, was a house leak and suffered overnight rain, and the disaster was not a one-way street. After the generals Chen Lan and Lei Bo rebelled and looted grain and grass and fled into the mountains and forests, the hearts of Yuan Shu's subordinates were fluctuating, and the morale of the army was weakened.

The Zhong regime has not yet been completely defeated, but everyone under Yuan Shu's command does not seem to be optimistic about him, one by one, they are not doing their jobs, they are perfunctory, and they are sneaky, they are all seeking a way back for themselves, and they are unwilling to follow Yuan Shu to be defeated together. This is almost a fact that is not public, even if no one reports to Yuan Shu, he can still see the thoughts of his subordinate Wu.

However, Yuan Shu knew that there were not a few people with different intentions among his subordinates, but he had to pretend not to know. Every day, I watch these two-minded courtiers on the surface and behind the scenes, but they are powerless and helpless.

This is because, at this time of crisis, it is impossible for Yuan Shu to kill all the courtiers with two ambitions, and many things have to rely on their efforts. If they were all killed without asking any questions, not only would they not be able to restore the decaying situation, but would only exacerbate the defeat, and then lead to the collapse of the Zhong clan in an instant, and he Yuan Shu was most likely murdered by his subordinates and died. After all, since ancient times, it has been common for dogs to jump off the wall in a hurry, and this is the situation Yuan Shu is facing now.

?????? Shouchun City, the main hall of the imperial palace.

The autumn rain was falling, and Yuan Shu, who had white sideburns, stood under the corridor of the hall in a dragon robe, staring at a few lines of raindrops in front of him in a daze. Occasionally, I looked up at the glazed tiles of the eaves that were several zhang high, and watched the rainwater that fell on the tiles gather into a string, falling straight down, falling into the small pits on both sides of the jade steps, smashing the water droplets in all directions, crystal clear, and it was very beautiful.

In Yuan Shu's memory, the last time he watched the rain on the eaves so seriously was when he was six years old. At that time, he was already remembering, and he was full of curiosity about many natural phenomena and was extremely active. But when it rains, he can't go out to play, so he wants to find out where the water comes from, but standing in the yard he can't see where the rain comes from, and the only place where he can clearly see the rain is under the eaves.

Time flies, like a white horse passing through a gap, more than 50 years have passed in a blink of an eye.

For more than fifty years, he had not paid attention to the rain, and all his thoughts were devoted to power struggles, expansion of power, and enjoyment of wine. For nearly 30 years, every rainy season, he has been drinking and having fun in the house, singing and dancing, lying in the arms of beautiful women, drunk and dreaming of death, and never watched the rain without distraction like in his childhood.

However, today, after more than 50 years, the exhausted Yuan Shu suddenly had a whim, and Gu Zi paced to the palace gate to quietly watch the scene of the autumn rain. I watched the rows of water droplets like white lines fall under the eaves. Splashing crystal clear water, Yuan Shu's heart was unprecedentedly calm, and there was a faint sense of comfort. reminded him of the innocent scene of watching the rain in his childhood, and then recalled some fragmented fragments, and the scene of himself and his brother Yuan Shao playing and frolicking together came to mind.

was originally a half-brother who went through an innocent and romantic childhood together, but with the growth of age and the temptation of fame and fortune, the brothers went further and further apart. It's going to be fire and water. After more than 30 years of ups and downs, the former pair of brothers have now entered the age of sixtieth year, dying of old age. But in the twilight of his life, he was tricked by fate again. came to the same road again, and became a pair of difficult brothers, both of whom were the target of the Yuan Alliance's crusade.

There seems to be a providence in the dark, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, who are both descendants of the Yuan family. After decades of open and secret fighting, the same fate was ushered in. Now. Both brothers are under siege and facing the destruction of their families. I don't know if Yuan Shao of Jizhou has this kind of consciousness at this moment, but when Yuan Shu watched the water droplets under the eaves falling continuously, he suddenly thought that he and his brother Yuan Shao were facing the same crisis, and they were in danger.

Suddenly, Yuan Shu felt a lot of emotion, mixed feelings, and couldn't help but worry about the current situation of his brother Yuan Shao.

"I heard that Youzhou has been occupied by Li Li. Wuhuan and Xianbei barbarians were also wiped out by Li Wenchang? Yuan Shu's body did not move, and he suddenly asked.

At this moment, it was Yan Xiang and Ji Ling who accompanied Yuan Shu to watch the rain. However, their identities are no longer the original strategists and leading generals, but Situ and generals. However, at present, the Zhong regime is in jeopardy, Situ Yanxiang and the general Ji Ling consciously return to their former positions, not only the two of them, but also other Wenchen generals under Yuan Shu's account have also returned to their posts, and they no longer dare to steal high positions, otherwise sooner or later they will become the martyrs of the Zhong Emperor Yuan Shu.

At present, the only person in Shouchun City who has not changed his identity is Yuan Shu. No matter how the situation changes, as long as he is not dead and does not abdicate, he will still be the emperor of the Zhong regime, the supreme emperor. The country is broken, and the situation of wives and concubines returning to others has not yet fallen on Yuan Shu's head, at least for now, the Zhong regime is still there, and the imperial capital Shouchun has not yet been captured by the crusading army.

Hearing Yuan Shu's inquiry, Yan Xiang bowed down and replied, "Your Majesty, the rumors are true. In the winter of last year, the general Li Li had forced Gongsun Zan to surrender and obtained more than 100,000 Youzhou troops. In April and May of this year, the great general Li Li led his army to two decisive battles with the barbarian army, which is now the battle of Lulongsai and the battle of White Wolf Mountain, which are now popular all over the world. Li Li led the army to win successive battles, and won two decisive battles successively, thus annihilating the barbarian elite in one fell swoop, and then capturing all its tribesmen, completely pacifying the border troubles in Youzhou. As he spoke, Yan Xiang's tone was sincere, and he seemed to be full of awe of Xiliang Li Li, and he opened his mouth and closed his mouth, but because of Yuan Shu's face, he called Li Li's name.

Yuan Shu's expression moved slightly after hearing this, his brows jumped violently, his eyes narrowed into a slit, and a thick panicked color flashed under his eyes. Fortunately, he had his back to Yan Xiang and Ji Ling, so that the two of them could not see the change in his expression.

"Li Li, this guy is amazing!" With a light sigh, Yuan Shu turned around and walked into the palace gate, walked on the empty hall without hurry, and sighed: "This time Li Wenchang pacified Youzhou, presumably his prestige is better than in the past, and the soldiers are getting stronger and stronger, like the sun in the sky!" ”

Yan Xiang and Ji Ling followed behind Yuan Shu, and Yan Xiang said, "That's true. Li Li can fight well and is well-known in the world, and this victory in Youzhou is just icing on the cake for him. In the battle of Youzhou, it was his subordinates who became famous. ”

Yuan Shu was stunned when he heard this, turned his head to look at Yan Xiang, and then at Ji Ling, and said with disappointment: "Li Li's command has a large number of capable people, which really worries me!" According to the detailed report, Li Li has returned to Luoyang, and will lead his army south in the near future? ”

"This ??????" Yan Xiang looked surprised, hesitated for a moment, and then whispered with a sad face: "I'm afraid that Li Li's army is on the way to Jiujiang at this time, and it will be there in a few days??????"

———————— ——————————— to be continued (to be continued......

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