ebookland Chapter 210: The Father-Son Rivalry between Ding Yuan and Lu Bu
Chapter 210: The Father-Son Rivalry between Ding Yuan and Lu Bu
Chapter 210: The Father-Son Rivalry between Ding Yuan and Lu Bu
Deyang Hall, the rear hall.
There were three little guys lying on Liu Bian's couch.
The eldest son Liu Shao was able to turn over and was sitting quietly, while the other two little ones were lying on the side, fighting for small toys and whining from time to time.
Not far away, Liu Bian, Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi were sitting opposite each other.
On the small table in front of Liu Bian, there were a pile of memorials, but he didn't look at them. He smiled and said to the two people, "The copper mine discovered in Hedong is already being mined by the Household Department, and it is estimated that there will be at least 100 million coins every year. Money houses have been set up in Bingzhou and Yanzhou, and it is estimated that more than 300 million can be used every year. Although the salt tax has been suspended, the Household Department has a plan, and 200 million is the minimum per year. Shihou Paper also earns at least 100 million every year. Add the autumn grain and other taxes, and the annual revenue is 100 million, which is still more than in previous years."
Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi looked at each other, raised their hands and said, "Your Majesty is prepared for a rainy day, and we admire you."
Liu Bian waved his hand and said, "More than half of the autumn grain was embezzled. The Shangshutai is taking various major actions with the core of "clarifying the administration of officials". There will definitely be trouble, but it won't be a big deal. The two ministers should despise it strategically and pay attention to it tactically. There is no need to worry too much."
"We understand," Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi said again. They could all tell that Liu Bian was trying to appease them.
The court's actions were too big, and the capital was in an uproar. All kinds of fears and rumors were rampant. Not only the big figures in the Secretariat, the Six Ministries, and the Nine Ministers, but even their doorsteps were almost trampled down.
Liu Bian nodded secretly and said, "I have dealt with Xun You, Xun Yu, and Cai Yong. Recently, some people have been talking about the Yingchuan Party and said that I want to settle accounts with them. What do you two think?"
Huangfu Song's expression was cold and calm, without any strange expression, and he did not say anything.
Lu Zhi waited for a while, and when he saw that Huangfu Song did not speak, his face darkened and he said, "Your Majesty, I think that the guilty should be punished, and the innocent should be crowned. Some people presumptuously speculate on business, and their hearts are worthy of death."
Liu Bian smiled even more, stretched out his hand to pick up a memorial in front of him, opened it and glanced at it, and said: "Liu Biao has arrived in Jingzhou. The noble families and officials in Jingzhou are very supportive of him. He has now recovered Lujiang and Yuzhang counties and is in a stalemate with Yuan Shu in Jiangxia. It seems that the noble families and officials of Jingzhou are still loyal to the court."
Upon hearing this, Lu Zhi immediately raised his hand and said, "Your Majesty, Yuan Shu is too arrogant. He is fighting on three fronts and regards our court as having no one. I request that you send General Gongsun Zan to Lujiang to assist Envoy Liu."
Yuan Shu was fighting fiercely with Sun Jian in Jiujiang, advancing into Lujiang, and still advancing deep into Jiangdong. He was truly attacking on three fronts.
Liu Bian thought about the war situation in the south, his eyes were thoughtful, and he said, "Okay."
Lu Zhi agreed and then said, "Your Majesty, Ding Yuan has already arrived in Wujun. Sun Jian obeys orders, but Lu Bu is a bit unruly and it seems that there is a rift between father and son."
Liu Bian raised his eyebrows, sneered, and said, "Let them make trouble."
Huangfu Song looked at Liu Bian with a serious expression and said, "Your Majesty, Lü Bu was very brave. He fought with the rebel general Zhang He and was almost killed on his horse. We must not let him go."
Liu Bian laughed and said, "Don't worry, I have a way to deal with him. Let's talk about Jiangdong."
Seeing that Liu Bian did not take Lü Bu seriously, Lu Zhi paused and said, "Many noble families in Jiangdong have promoted Shi Xie to be the governor of Jiaozhou. They have gathered 80,000 troops and fought a fierce battle with Yuan Shu in Nanyang for half a month. There was no clear winner. Your Majesty, should you issue an edict to appoint Shi Xie as the governor of Jiaozhou?"
Liu Bian looked at him and said calmly, "It has been more than half a year since Yuan Shu went south, and I have only received one petition from Shi Xie requesting assistance. There has been no response from the governors of other counties. Not long ago, there were more than a dozen letters a day, all requesting merit for Shi Xie. Don't you think this is a bit strange?"
Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi both frowned and looked at each other, unable to answer.
Now among the governors, county magistrates, and military commanders in various parts of the Han Dynasty, who can guarantee that they are loyal to the court and do not have the slightest desire for independence?
Liu Bian did not expect them to answer. He put down the memorial in his hand and picked up another one. He had read them all before and just glanced at them. He said, "Liu Bei's suppression of bandits in Hanzhong has achieved some results. He asked the court for soldiers and food. What do you think of Lu Qing's family?"
Liu Bei was a student of Lu Zhi.
Lu Zhi thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, Hanzhong is strategically located. Since Liu Yan has sent troops into Jingzhou, Hanzhong must be defended. I would like to send 5,000 troops to him."
Liu Bian frowned.
It is not entirely true to say that Liu Bei was incompetent. If he was capable, he could not stand anywhere and was chased by others.
Almost the same as Cao Cao before him, he is capable and does bad things all the way.
After thinking it over again, Liu Bian said, "Okay, I will give him another chance. I will allocate 5,000 from Bingzhou and the Imperial Guards Camp to make a total of 10,000 for him. Your family will write a letter to him in your personal name, stating that defending Hanzhong is the top priority. If Hanzhong is lost, his head will be used as a substitute!"
Lu Zhi looked solemn, raised his hand and said, "I accept your order."
Liu Bian put down the first one, picked up the next one, looked at it and put it aside, then opened the next one, then raised his head and said, "What do you two ministers have to say about the matter in Jizhou?"
Starting around the summer harvest, the Black Mountain Army launched an unprecedented fierce attack on Jizhou. In addition to their connection with Yuan Shu, they were also out of fear of the demise of the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou and their coveting of Jizhou's salt administration.
In addition, Zhao Yun's act of stealing the house angered the Black Mountain Army. Now the Black Mountain Army is said to have 800,000 troops and is plundering Jizhou. Except for Julu, only a few places such as Bohai County are still holding on.
At this time, Julu was besieged by 300,000 Black Mountain troops. Ying Shao was holding out with 60,000 troops including Zhang Liao, Zhao Yun, Xiahou Dun, and the others. The situation was extremely critical.
But Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi were not panicked. Huangfu Song said, "Your Majesty, Wuhuan and Xianbei have already retreated. Liu Yu of Youzhou has already assembled his troops and is ready to march south to Jizhou. Huang Zhong of Bingzhou leads 10,000 troops and can enter Zhongshan at any time. Only Qingzhou is still unable to make any moves."
Qingzhou, Qingzhou Mu Zhu Jun and Wuwei General Cao Cao, the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou were either killed or surrendered by Cao Cao, but many of them still insisted on rebelling.
Zhu Jun and Cao Cao had to maintain high pressure on the one hand and appease the people's livelihood on the other. It can be said that they were completely busy and deeply involved.
Liu Bian nodded thoughtfully and said, "It's almost October. The Black Mountain Army is either going completely crazy or retreating. How does the Grand Marshal's Mansion judge?"
Lu Zhi glanced at Huangfu Song and said, "Your Majesty, the Grand Marshal's Office believes that there is no need to send troops for support for the time being."
Liu Bian was stunned and looked at the two of them.
In the past, he was the one who dragged his feet on purpose, but now, the Grand Marshal's Mansion has become calm instead?
Lu Zhi looked at Liu Bian, raised his hand, and explained, "Your Majesty, if we have ten times the number, we will surround them, if we have five times the number, we will attack them, if we have twice the number, we will fight them. There are 60,000 elite soldiers in Julu City, plus the young and strong who have poured in, there are more than 100,000. The Black Mountain Army is said to have 800,000 soldiers, but they can use less than 100,000. If we can hold the siege for several months, I think the court has nothing to worry about."
Liu Bian looked relieved and said, "I'll follow the Grand Marshal's wishes. Then, how is the bandit suppression going?"
Years ago, Liu Bian ordered the Grand Marshal's Office to formulate plans to suppress banditry, striving to completely eliminate the banditry in Bingzhou, Sili, and Yanzhou before the end of the year, in order to create a good environment for the "New Deal".
Huangfu Song said, "Your Majesty, the bandit problem in Bingzhou has been basically eliminated. In Sili, only Sanfu and Henei still have some chaos, which should be pacified before the end of the year. Yanzhou is a little complicated, so please give me more time."
The reason why it was difficult to eradicate the banditry in the Sanfu area was not only because of the rebellion of the Qiang people and the Yellow Turban Army, which had torn the Sanfu area to pieces, but also because of last year's earthquake, when many people who had no food to eat rose up and became bandits.
As for Henei, because it is close to Jizhou, the Black Mountain Army often raids and plunders, and many of the Black Mountain Army are entrenched in the mountains and forests.
Yanzhou was even more complicated. To the west was Henei County of Sili, to the north was Jizhou, to the south was Yuzhou, and to the east was Qingzhou. There was chaos on all sides, and it was difficult to remain unscathed.
Liu Bian knew the situation and nodded, saying, "Yanzhou can be tolerated, but Sili cannot. All the bandit rebellions must be quelled before the end of the year. If even Sili is in chaos, how can the rest of the world be set an example?"
"We obey your orders!" Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi raised their hands and said.
Liu Bian hummed, and flipped through the memorial in front of him. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Liu Shao crawling to the edge of the couch. He was startled and quickly got up and ran over to hug him. He also saw that the other two little guys had fallen asleep at some point, so he turned around and said to them, "Remove Dong Zhuo's Taiwei and send an order to him to station in Liang State."
Huangfu Song heard this and thought for a moment before saying, "Your Majesty, if this happens, Dong Zhuo will be behind Yuan Shao. I'm afraid they will start fighting."
"not necessarily,"
Liu Bian held Liu Shao in his arms, weighed him a little, and tried to coax him to sleep. He said, "Put some pressure on Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao. Don't let them get too comfortable."
Huangfu Song understood and raised his hand and said, "I accept your order."
Liu Bian nodded and said, "That's all for today. Let's make the necessary arrangements. There must not be any more chaos in Sili, Bingzhou, and Yanzhou."
These three places have almost reached the point of chaos that should have occurred. Now is the time to move from chaos to order, and stability must be achieved!
Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi stood up and raised their hands, saying, "I accept your order and will take my leave."
After the two men left, Liu Bian walked back and forth a few times holding the little guy, his eyes suddenly cold, and said: "Zuo Li is incompetent, far inferior to Huangfu Jianchang. Send a message to him and tell him to use his tricks!"
Pan Yin stepped forward calmly and said, "I obey your order."
Liu Bian waved his hand, held the little guy, and looked at the map of Jizhou on the wall.
He circled Julu with a red pen, making it extremely conspicuous.
"Is it possible that we can't hold on?" Liu Bian whispered to himself.
Almost all the Black Mountain troops were dispatched to capture cities in Jizhou, and Julu was besieged by hundreds of thousands of troops.
At the same time, Julu, Ximen.
Ying Shao stood on the top of the city wall, watching the Black Mountain Army retreating like a tide, his face as gloomy as water and his eyes full of worry.
Zhang Liao came up hurriedly and said, "Sir, it seems that Zhang Yan has appeared."
Ying Shao turned his head, his expression had become calm and at ease, and said lightly: "I know."
Zhang Liao looked solemn and said, "Sir, from what we can see so far, the number of people besieging Julu is probably only 500,000, and the number of young and strong men who can be used is more than 100,000!"
Ying Shao saw Zhao Yun and Xiahou Dun rushing over, and he came downstairs holding his sword, smiling and said: "The Black Mountain Army fought from summer harvest to autumn harvest, which took several months. There are hundreds of thousands of people, how much money and food do they need? Jizhou is in chaos this year, and the autumn harvest is not much. They can't plunder Youzhou, Bingzhou, and Qingzhou. How long do you think they can hold out?"
Zhang Liao's tense expression relaxed slightly when he heard this.
Zhao Yun and Xiahou Dun looked at each other, followed him and said, "Sir, our food and grass in the city will not last for more than a month."
There are 60,000 troops and more than 100,000 civilians in the city, and the daily consumption is huge.
Ying Shaolang laughed, strode down the tower, and said, "In another month, it will snow."
Zhang Liao, Zhao Yun, Xiahou Dun and others felt relieved, laughed, and raised their hands and said, "Your Excellency is wise."
Ying Shao walked in front, smiling without saying a word, but the look in his eyes became more and more intense.
At night, when it was pitch black, there was an inconspicuous courtyard.
There was no light in the whole courtyard, only a dim candle light in a small room at the back of the courtyard.
There were actually more than a dozen people sitting around this light.
The leader was Sun Kang, the head of the Julu Sun family. He was in his forties, with frosty eyebrows and a cold expression. He whispered, "You all know what happened. The government troops' food and grass in the city can't last more than half a month. And there are already a million Black Mountain troops outside the city. It's only a matter of time before Julu falls. You and I have to consider the clan."