Many things happened in March of the first year of Chuping.
Wang Kuang, the prefect of Hanoi, abandoned the city and led his 20,000-strong army across the Yellow River and withdrew to Suanzao to join the coalition forces.
The jujube coalition army has nearly 240,000 troops.
Ke Bineng led his army to capture Huai County, and the entire territory of Hanoi entered Liu Xiang's pocket. The Anping army's defense line advanced to Huai County, and was no longer to the west, where it was difficult to defend.
Zhang He moved 300,000 people to the seven counties on the north bank of the Yellow River to the west of Huai County and east to Jiguan in two months to enrich the northern part of Bingzhou. A group of large gentry families fled along the river to Yanzhou, but the Anping army did not intercept them.
Cao Cao raided Tan County, Tao Qian's family was killed, and Xuzhou fell into the hands of Yuan Shao. He raised 60,000 troops and came to the Jujube Alliance. The leader of the Kwantung Allied Forces was finally in place.
The two Yuan brothers all raised troops, which completely aroused Dong Zhuo's anger against the Yuan family in Runan. Yuan Wei, who had moved to Chang'an, and his family of more than 30 people were all executed.
The Yuan family in Runan split, and Yuan Shu's power increased greatly. Liu Biao increased his troops in Xiangyang and moved his headquarters to Xiangyang. His intention to recapture Nanyang was undoubtedly revealed, and Jingzhou Nanjun and Nanyang County were completely separated.
Apart from his reputation, Yuan Shao did not receive many practical benefits. Instead, he had to supply more than 200,000 jujubes to the coalition army, which was extremely difficult.
Xuzhou's burden has increased and people's hearts are unstable.
The arrival of Yuan Shao made Dong Zhuo feel more pressure and accelerated the relocation again.
In early April, millions of people moved away, and two hundred miles around Luoyang, south of the Yellow River, was burned.
He left Dong Yue to garrison Mianchi, Duan Xuan to garrison Huayin, Niu Fu to garrison Anyi, and then he set off to return to Chang'an.
The Kwantung Allied Forces were sitting back and did not fight. Cao Cao raised his troops and pursued them straight into the ruins of Luoyang. As a result, their supplies were cut off and the entire army mutinied. Only about 500 people were willing to accompany them. Frustrated, they withdrew their troops and turned back. From then on, they never spoke of crusade against the national traitors.
This month can be said to be a watershed for the Kwantung Allied Forces' crusade against Dong Zhuo.
Fatty Dong returned to Chang'an Sanfu, felt at peace, and prepared to counterattack the Guandong people.
The friction among the coalition forces stationed in Jujube has intensified. With the reduction of military rations, various ministries have begun to think carefully.
In fact, Liu Xiang is under the greatest pressure now. Dong Zhuo escaped, and he is the one facing the coalition forces. No one is sure whether the Kwantung people will go north, and the Yellow River defense line is becoming more vigilant.
Liu Xiang once again gathered his staff to discuss countermeasures.
In fact, we just got together a few days ago to discuss the issue of Shangshu and Zhongshu. Everyone agreed that it should not be established. Although he has the power to open the government and record the affairs of the Shangshu, it does not mean that a central institution such as the Shangshu Desk can be openly established.
Transgression is tantamount to conspiracy.
The Kwantung Allied Forces are not far away, so we can't give people any evidence.
The establishment of a Menxia Province, which has never been used by predecessors, is used to manage private property. It is beyond reproach. Forget about Shangshu and Zhongshu, it is better to appoint governors to govern the civil affairs of the three states.
The plan to implement the three-province system has been temporarily shelved.
This time the problem was more serious. Xun Yu, Ju Shu, Tian Feng, Yuan Huan and others pondered for a long time, thinking about the next move of the Kwantung Allied Forces and how to deal with it.
Dong Zhuo retreated too simply, which was somewhat beyond their expectations.
Cui Yi was a little impatient with the silence of this group of people, so he stood up and asked for orders: "My Lord, I am willing to lead Xiaoqi across the river, go to the south and beat them up, teach them a lesson, and let everyone know that our army is not easy to mess with!"
Liu Xiang was noncommittal. He wanted to listen to his subordinates' suggestions and could not reveal his own thoughts at the beginning.
The straight-tempered Tian Feng retorted: "The jujube coalition has nearly 250,000 people, and it is known to the outside world as 500,000. Yuzhou and Jingzhou also have their allies, with a force of 200,000. Are you going to lead the troops and rush over to die? You must not be forceful.
beat."
Cui Yi was angry, glanced at Tian Feng, and said disdainfully: "You know nothing. When you rush forward in armor and riding gear, there are chickens and dogs on the opposite side. There are many people who are useless!"
As soon as these words came out, Tian Feng's anger surged.
Seeing that a quarrel was about to break out, Liu Xiang quickly stopped it. He slapped the report and reprimanded loudly: "Shut up, everyone. We are discussing ways to deal with Henan. Is this the time to quarrel? Next time, each person will receive three whips.
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In fact, although Tian Feng's words didn't sound nice, Cui Yi's attitude was a bit too much. However, Liu Xiang needed Cui Yi to give a military voice, so he made peace with each other and made fifty big moves. It was considered a small matter.
favored him.
The two surrendered and confessed.
Yuan Huan saw this and advised him: "My lord, let's calm down for now. Don't let the two of you get angry. Let's express our opinions. Don't hurt the harmony. If we fight among ourselves before the enemy arrives, won't it make people laugh?"
Tian Feng is talented and upright, but his words are really unpleasant.
Cui Yi has an easy temper, and no one is used to it.
If these two people really quarrel, Cui Yi probably won't be able to quarrel with Tian Feng, and Tian Feng will definitely not be able to defeat Cui Yi.
After resolving a dispute, we continued to discuss ways to deal with the coalition forces.
Jushu further said: "The coalition forces each have their own ideas, and they can use counterintuitive tactics to provoke fights between the various armies, but they will definitely be unable to go north."
"What's the plan?"
Jushou explained in detail: "Qiao Mao was originally the governor of Yanzhou, but he was transferred to the post of governor of Dongjun when He Jin called him to Luo. He had a unclear handover with Liu Dai, who took over, and withheld a lot of tax money privately. The two had old grudges.
A few days ago, Qiao Mao sent troops to plunder Chenliu again, and had a grudge with Zhang Miao, the governor of Chenliu. Zhang Chao, the governor of Guangling, was Zhang Miao's younger brother. If he could arouse the hatred of these people, Qiao Mao would definitely die.
.And once Qiao Mao dies, everyone in the coalition will be in danger, and they will not be far away from falling apart."
The principle is this. We have the direction, but how to implement it?
"How to provoke hatred among several people?" Liu Xiang continued to ask.
"Send a small group of troops to cross the Yellow River south and plunder Yanzhou under the banner of Dongjun. Liu Dai, Zhang Miao and others will not be able to bear it."
The coalition forces were short of food, and Qiao Mao had a history of plundering places before. This strategy followed the trend and was not difficult to implement, so he did it.
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Liu Xiang immediately ordered: "Send orders to Guan Yu and Zhang Liao to secretly send a small group of troops to sneak into the south bank, disguise themselves as Dongjun soldiers, and plunder Wubao and the manor in the countryside of Yanzhou. If they encounter the troops of the Jujube Alliance, they must not fight with them."
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After Ju Shou proposed a counterintuitive plan, Xun Yu also put forward his own suggestion: to send an envoy to Yuan Shao.
"Although Dong Zhuo has retreated, the threat is still there. I predict that Yuan Benchu has little intention to expedition to the north of Jizhou. Duke Ming only needs to send an envoy to express his support for Yuan Shao's crusade against the national traitors, praise his righteousness, highlight his reputation, and put him on a high ground.
I will definitely be able to tie up his hands and feet, so that he will not dare to destroy his reputation of begging for thieves. In this way, Jizhou will be safe."
Xun Yu confidently came up with a moral kidnapping idea.
This is a good idea. Yuan Shao's Xuzhou is quite far away from Jizhou. For him, attacking Jizhou will not bring much benefit. On the contrary, it will destroy the reputation of his alliance leader and the gain will not be worth the loss.
It only requires a few compliments, and it’s free of charge.
"Who does Wen Ruo think it would be best to send as an envoy?"
"My brother Youruo is good at speaking, so he can take on this position."
Xun Chen was a member of the general's army and was in the lobby at this time. After hearing this, he stood up and asked for orders: "To inform Duke Ming, I am willing to send the jujube envoy to persuade Yuan Shao that the two families will be on good terms so that he can attack the national traitors with peace of mind."
He said this with sincerity, as if he really wanted to make good friends with the Kwantung Allied Forces and let Yuan Shao feel at ease to fight against thieves.
Liu Xiang opened his mouth to test: "If Yuan Shao asks for an alliance, how should he respond? If the coalition forces ask for arms and food, how should they respond?"
"As a member of the royal family, General Hussar must avoid being suspected of plotting to seize the throne. Without His Majesty's order, he cannot raise troops, and can only serve as a deterrent. The day before yesterday, he heard that Dong's thieves had robbed the imperial mausoleum. He was filled with righteous indignation. He was unable to raise troops, so he could only wait for the execution of the leader Yuan.
He wanted to kill the traitors in the country, so he sent me here to express his feelings as a friend and ask the coalition forces to deal with the thieves with peace of mind."
Xun Chen expressed his excuse for non-alignment, and then said: "As for the request for supplies, the coalition forces have not moved, and the general of the Hussars is dissatisfied. When will he fight with the Dong thieves? It will not be too late to ask for supplies."
What he said was reasonable and well-founded. Liu Xiang felt that if he were Yuan Shao, he would have to believe it. He was embarrassed to ask for supplies now. As for after fighting Dong Zhuo, there would be no threat of heading north to Jizhou. Who would care about Yuan Shao?
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"Okay, my friend, if you have sharp words, I will leave this matter to you. I will wait for good news."
Xun Chen took the Fu Jie and sent out the jujube envoy with his guards.
Xun Yu made another suggestion: repair the Yellow River embankment.
The lower reaches of the Yellow River often flood and occupy the land in Hebei. The river embankments must be repaired. This is something that must be done every year.
However, Xun Yu proposed building the embankment specifically for Yuan Shao to show that our army did not want to be an enemy and to stabilize the mentality of the coalition forces.
And while the embankment was being built, beacon towers were built along the coast, and a beacon early warning system was established to once again strengthen the Yellow River defense line.
This is equivalent to telling others clearly that I don't want to go south to fight, but if anyone comes to fight me, they will definitely lose all their teeth.
Liu Xiang decided to repair it, and to make a major repair.
After the spring plowing in April, a large number of civilians will be recruited to strengthen the river embankment on the north bank. It is best to prevent the land in Henan from being flooded during the autumn floods.