"I can't see the willows on the Baling Plain, and they have passed all the hoof wheels. I am away from the Southern Chu and the late Western Qin. I have not gained fame and fortune, but I have gained new hair on my temples." [Linjiang Immortal]
On May 13th, the third year of Ping Dynasty in the early Han Dynasty, Ba Lingyuan.
According to Wang Yun's instructions, General Wei Lu Bu led an army composed of soldiers from Bingzhou and people from Liangzhou. A total of more than 30,000 people were stationed at Baling east of Chang'an to closely monitor the movements of Li Jue and other troops who were stationed in Shaanxi County.
Lu Bu originally wanted to move his army to Huayin or Hongnong County, so as to maintain pressure on Li Jue and defend nearby, so as not to use the hundreds of miles between Baling and Shaanxi County as a military buffer zone.
But Wang Yun's attitude is very resolute. Compared with the likes of Li Jue, he needs Lu Bu's troops to stay in Jingzhao to support him. In addition, the Liangzhou generals in various counties have heard rumors that Wang Yun wants to kill all Liangzhou.
Everyone changed the direction of the situation and defended themselves with troops. Therefore, Lu Bu had no choice but to garrison Ba Ling and hand over several counties between Baling and Shaanxian County to the semi-separated Liangzhou generals for garrison.
Nothing happened these days, so Zhonglang made an appointment with Hu Zhen and Yang Ding to go hunting on Balingyuan. They were both Liangzhou adults and local wealthy people. When Dong Zhuo died, he saw the opportunity early and honestly surrendered to Wang Yun. Wang
In order to appease their hearts, Yun still let them take charge of the army, and this time he accompanied Lu Bu to garrison in Baling.
Baling was originally located to the east of Chang'an. The terrain slopes from southeast to northwest. It is located high up and is convenient for soldiers and horses to maneuver. During the Western Han Dynasty, this place was where Changshui Xiaowei of the Northern Army stationed troops. It is an extremely important strategic location closest to the east of Chang'an.
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At this time, the people of Baling Plain were well-off, and the vegetation in the Jingyu Valley was lush. It was a good place for the army to be stationed and for the nobles to go hunting.
The two led dozens of soldiers, wearing light military uniforms, with bows and arrows on both sides of the saddle. The group rode on the horse plain during the day, shouting and shouting, letting out their cowardly spirit that was restrained in Chang'an.
, so unhappy.
They seemed to be aimless, running freely from the plains to the river, and then from the river to the mountains and forests. Each horse's buttocks were full of pheasants, hares and other prey.
In the mountains and forests, they deliberately headed towards untraveled places, and finally arrived at an unknown mountain stream, which was a tributary of the Bahe River. They dismounted their horses to rest next to the rapid mountain stream, and some ran to enjoy the shade under the trees and let the horses go by themselves.
When they went to drink water, some led their horses into the water to wash themselves, and some went to the woods to collect firewood and prepare to light a fire to roast the prey to satisfy their hunger.
It was mid-afternoon, the sun was gradually turning westward, and the light was still very harsh. However, it was still cool and pleasant in the forest by the water, only shaded by the leaves overhead.
Hu Zhen and Yang Ding deliberately distanced themselves from everyone. The two of them sat on a big rock facing each other. Hu Zhen knew that this place was not only far away from the military camp, but also well away from Lu Bu's eyes and ears. It was an excellent place for conspiracy.
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He said to Yang Ding: "Zhengxiu, you and I are in agreement, and we both serve under the Grand Master. In terms of friendship, there is no one in the court whom I can trust more than you. So I think it is necessary to say some words."
Tell you."
Yang Ding's expression was serious. He knew that Hu Zhen's city was deep. This time he specially invited him out for hunting, not just for fun. Seeing Hu Zhen's serious face at this time, he also cheered up: "Wen Cai,
If you have anything to say, just say it, why do you want to fiddle with us?"
"Okay! Then I'll say it." Hu Zhen looked at Yang Ding and touched the jade inlaid on the knife handle with his left hand as if unintentionally: "How do you think Wang Yun treats me?"
"Hmph! We and Wang Yun's group of Bingzhou people have always disliked each other. If the grand master had not died and we had no one to rely on, who would be willing to work under him." When Wang Yun was mentioned, Yang Ding said
He looked indignant: "It's not like you don't know his attitude towards us Liangzhou people. He wants to kill us all. Li Jue and the others begged for forgiveness, but he refused. Our brothers in Shaanxi County
You are asking me how Wang Yun will treat me when we are about to get a good ending."
Hu Zhen nodded with satisfaction and said: "You are right. Mr. Wang Yun looks down on us and regards our submission to the imperial court as succumbing to his power. Now he actually wants to make us Liangzhou people
It is simply a delusion to fight against Li Jue and his other military commanders! Let me ask you, are you willing to continue to be driven by cattle and horses under Wang Yun, or are you willing to come out with me to do a big thing, succeed the Grand Master, and let the imperial court continue to control it?
In the hands of us Liangzhou people."
Yang Ding was shocked and turned pale. He quickly turned back to look at the troops scattered around. Naturally, he had no doubt about the loyalty of these soldiers. He just had a guilty conscience. He was still subconsciously afraid that others would hear their conspiracy.
A hand stretched out and put on Yang Ding's shoulder, neither light nor heavy, squeezing Yang Ding's shoulder very affectionately. Hu Zhen said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, our whole process is from the west."
The one brought by Liang’s family is absolutely trustworthy. What do you think of what I just said?”
"What else can I do? Of course I'll follow you!" Yang Ding had been on the same side in Liangzhou anyway. At this time, he didn't know the faint murderous intention in Hu Zhen's words. He deliberately pretended to be excited and said
: "Brother, I don't know, but I have already had enough of being cowardly under Wang Yun. When leading troops under him, I can neither indulge the soldiers in looting nor drink and have fun. I live a hard life every day. How can I be as comfortable as Grand Master Dong is here?
?If you have any plans, feel free to tell me. Brothers are not very resourceful, and everything will depend on you."
Hu Zhen smiled coldly, slowly took back the hand on Yang Ding's shoulder, and moved the hand touching the handle of the knife to his lap.
He revealed his long-premeditated plan: "Now you and I combined can only have six thousand troops. If we want to rebel, it is far from enough. Xu Rong fought well, but he only obeyed the imperial edicts. We can't hope
Go up to him. Although Duan Xuan is from my hometown, his brother is Duan Taiwei. He prides himself on meritorious service to the country and refuses to associate with us. Recently, he has been confused by the emperor's edict to favor the relatives of famous ministers. Gao Gao
I am happy to be his Jianyi Zhonglang General, and I will not get involved in our important affairs."
Yang Ding followed the words and fell into deep thought. Hu Zhen continued: "So after thinking about it, the people around me are unreliable. We have to look further and make plans for Li Jue and the others. They have a lot of tricks up their sleeves."
The 40,000 elite soldiers left behind by General Lang will be able to get 100,000 soldiers by tying up the stragglers from various counties and conscripting young men along the way. In addition, we will serve as internal forces. When the time comes, they will defect in front of the formation and kill Lu Bu.
Why worry about failure?"
"But Li Zhiran and the others seem to be begging Wang Yun for pardon from the imperial court, and the emperor seems to have the intention of clemency. If the emperor is stronger and persuades Wang Yun to pardon Li Zhiran and others." Yang Ding said worriedly: "Then how will they listen to us?
So, do you want to rebel again?"
"So, this is what we are going to do now." Hu Zhen's eyes flashed, he lowered his voice, and said slightly proudly, pretending to be mysterious: "'Wang Yun should kill the people of Liangzhou', this is a rumor that has been popular in Guanzhong recently.
, have you ever heard of it?”
"What!" Yang Ding said in surprise: "Did you spread this? Why did you do this?"
"It's not for us!" Hu Zhen's face became ferocious due to excitement; "Just imagine, if Li Jue and his gang defeat Wang Yun and Lu Bu under our leadership, and take control of the court, by then relying on their military reputation and family background, Li Jue will
Who should the people of the state choose as the leader?”
"Me, us?" Yang Ding thought for a long time and finally came to an incredible result.
Hu Zhen said firmly: "That's natural. Li Jue is a scoundrel, Guo Si is a horse thief, and Fan Chou is incompetent. Which one of them can compare to us? By then we will have saved tens of thousands of soldiers with this plan.
The grace of life, Li Jue and others still don't obey us? Now all I need to do is spread the rumor that Wang Yun wants to kill all the people in Liangzhou, so that Li Jue knows that there is no hope of surrender, and then I can try to persuade him to rebel. It will be easy.
!”
Yang Ding stared at Hu Zhen and was speechless. He could not have imagined that Hu Zhen had hatched such a big conspiracy without telling him in just a few days. It was as unsettling as the first time he heard that Wang Yun had killed Dong.
He had no idea for a while and asked: "Then what should we do now?"
"Rumors have begun to spread. Recently, the Liangzhou generals in each county are afraid of the imperial court and have their own thoughts. I have also sent people to Shang County to contact Fan Chou and wait for the opportunity. Now I will send people to Li Jue."
Hu Zhen thought for a while and added: "As for what you just said about the emperor's intention to forgive, you can rest assured. When the grand master was here, the emperor had not done anything. Now that Wang Yun is in power, I don't think he is any weaker than the grand master.
, what the emperor wants to do, we have to wait for a few more years to decide."
Seeing that Hu Zhen looked down on the emperor so much, Yang Ding finally found an opportunity to lecture Hu Zhen. Otherwise, if he had been promoted by Hu Zhen'er all the time, wouldn't he be in the lower echelon in terms of seniority in the future?
"Don't underestimate the emperor!" Yang Ding recalled: "You have forgotten that on the day when the grand master died, Lu Bu and Gaishun both claimed to be under the imperial edict and asked us to submit to them. This is enough to illustrate the relationship between the emperor and Wang Yun.
If the emperor really wanted to confront Wang Yun and Wang Yun said no, but the emperor said yes, and used this to enhance his reputation, then pardoning Xu Rong and pardoning Cai Zhonglang would be one step.
Pardoning Li Jue is another matter. If we want to plan big things, we have to take the emperor into consideration."
As if he didn't expect Yang Ding to have such a thoughtful side, Hu Zhen couldn't help but take a high look. He was secretly wary, but now was a critical moment for the cooperation between the two parties, and there could be no suspicion.
Therefore, he looked as usual and said in deep thought: "That's right! Although the emperor is young, he must take it to heart. In this way, he pretended to be weak when the grand master was around. After the grand master's death, the king
Yun prides himself on being a loyal minister, so he intervenes in government affairs. He can be regarded as a person who understands the strength and weakness of the situation and knows the expediency."
"But don't worry, I have a plan to cause some trouble for this feuding monarch and his ministers." Hu Zhen said with a sinister smile.