Huainan, Jiujiang County, Shouchun County.
This city located on the south bank of the Huaihe River is now the ruling center of most of Yangzhou and half of Yuzhou. Soon it will become the capital of the "Zhong" Dynasty!
And the future emperor of the Zhong family, Yuan Shu, was in a great situation during this period! In the fourth year of Chuping's reign, he lost his general Sun Jian and was attacked by Liu Biao and Cao Cao. He was defeated again and again, and lost his hometown of Nanyang. In Yanzhou, he was defeated by Cao Cao, who had just conquered the Qingzhou soldiers and had a strong army. He was beaten violently, suffered heavy losses, and was chased all the way. He fled to Huainan in a hurry.
At that time, everyone thought that Yuan Shu was dead! Even Chen Yu, the Yangzhou shepherd appointed by Yuan Shu himself, felt that Yuan Shu was doomed, so he chose to betray. Yuan Shu became a bereaved dog for a while, and had to settle in Shouchun, a large county in Jiujiang County.
But soon after Yuan Shu entered Shouchun, his fortune turned!
First, Sun Jian's nephew Sun Bi returned, and then Sun Bi took Sun Jian's old troops to help Yuan Shu conquer the rest of Jiujiang County and the northern part of Danyang County. At the same time, Yuan Shu sent Sun Jian's descendant Sun Xiang to fight back Runan, the Yuan family's hometown in Runan, and Cao Cao's hometown Peiguo was also partially taken back by Yuan Shu who had freed up his hands. Later, Sun Jian's son Sun Ce grew up again. He first conquered Lujiang County for Yuan Shu, and then opened up territory for Yuan Shu on the south bank of the Yangtze River. Now he has helped Yuan Shu conquer Danyang County, which was captured by Liu Yao, and also captured Wu County and Kuaiji County.
Not long ago, Yuan Shu teamed up with Lu Bu to trick Liu Bei, who occupied Xuzhou after Tao Qian's death, and captured Guangling County in one fell swoop. A few days ago, Yuan Shu sent Ji Ling as his general and led 30,000 troops to attack the northern part of Pei State controlled by Liu Bei. They should be able to win a complete victory soon!
Now Yuan Shu's territory is much larger, and he already owns seven counties and one country, including Jiujiang, Danyang, Lujiang, Wu, Kuaiji, Guangling, Runan, and Peiguo!
Although the number of prefectures and states is not as great as that of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, the prefectures and states controlled by Yuan Shu are very large. In terms of territory, he is the largest prince in the world today, occupying at least one-third of the world.
However, Yuan Shu, who has such a vast territory and a great situation, is a little unsatisfied... that is, there are many people who oppose him and not many people who support him as emperor! This is the result of soliciting opinions within his own group!
None of his own people support him becoming emperor... This makes Yuan Shu a little bit off guard! This group of people who eat the Yuan family's meal is really shameful. Except for those people named Sun, the others can't be beaten, and they can't cheat. They will run away when they meet someone named Cao. It would take Liu Bei to beat him. He spent a lot of military rations to bribe Lu Bu to defect, but now he doesn't support his progress to become emperor! I really don’t know what the use is of raising these losers?
Just when Yuan Shu was a little discouraged and thinking about whether to push back the idea of becoming emperor, Shouchun unexpectedly came to Shouchun with two very different persuaders, who were swallowed up by Liu Xie's "Liu Banxian" The troops, Yang Feng and Han Xian, were almost completely polished.
When the two of them ran to Runan County, there were only two to three hundred people left under their command. Sun Xiang, the governor of Runan sent by Yuan Shu, saw the two of them in such a state of desolation and listened to their nonsense. He did not believe that they were generals or cavalrymen at all. The general thought they were liars, and was about to behead them, but Yuan Shu found out about it from some source, and ordered Sun Xiang to escort the two men to Shouchun for questioning.
Sun Xiang then put Yang Feng and Han Xian, who were scared to death, into a prison car and took them to Shouchun, Yuan Shu's lair. However, after arriving in Shouchun, Yang Feng and Han Xian did not go straight to the execution ground to be beheaded. Instead, after being cleaned up, they were taken to the lobby of Yuan Shu's General Zuo's Mansion to let Yuan Gongluo have fun - pretending to be generals and Che. The liars who came to Yuan Shu to tell stories were quite rare. It would be a pity to kill them directly. It would be better to listen to their stories first and then kill them.
Yuan Shu's General Zuo's Mansion was newly built, and the decoration was quite over-the-top. The lobby was almost the same as the main hall of an imperial palace! Yuan Shu did not wear the court clothes of the Han Dynasty, but was dressed as a celebrity, kneeling and sitting behind a large table. When Yang Feng and Han Xian were brought up, he was playing with the seals and scepters of Yang and Han.
"Hey, this general's seal is made quite real... and the scepter is quite real. You two are really good at being liars!"
Yang Feng and Han Xian knew that the person speaking must be Yuan Shu, and also knew that this was their last chance. If they didn't seize it, they would lose their heads, so they hurriedly complained about their injustice.
"General Zuo, we are not liars. I am really the cavalry general Yang Feng, and he is really the general Han Siam..."
"General Zuo, we were tricked into what we are now by the Little Emperor and Cao Mengde!"
Yuan Shu put down the seal in his hand, looked at the two of them with interest, and asked with a smile: "Tell me how the little emperor tricked you two? We agreed to leave you two intact bodies!"
"General Zuo... that little emperor, he said that he had a dream about Emperor Gao, and he had to teach him three volumes of heavenly books, and he had mastered the magic of counting, summoning heavenly stones, and bringing people back to life!"
"General Zuo, you have to trust us!"
"Hahaha..." Yuan Shu laughed and encouraged the two of them: "Keep editing!"
The other officials of the Yuan family in the lobby of General Zuo's Mansion saw the old man laughing so hard that they all laughed together. The entire lobby was filled with a happy atmosphere. Only Yang Feng and Han Xian were so anxious that they almost cried. .
"General Zuo, we really didn't make it up. The emperor can really do calculations, summon heavenly stones, and have the magic to bring the dead back to life...otherwise General Zuo and I wouldn't have been defeated by the emperor in Luyang." !”
"Yes, yes...the emperor calculated that Zhang Ji would die in Rangcheng in mid-August! He also calculated that Guo Fan would die next year and Li Jue would exterminate the clan the year after that. Now Zhang Ji's death has come true!"
"Ha ha ha ha......"
The two of them still laughed loudly.
Yang Feng and Han Xian were really anxious. If they continued like this, their heads would be chopped off. So Yang Feng yelled: "Yuan Gongli, are you plotting to become emperor? The little emperor has already calculated that you will become emperor next year and become the enemy of the Han Dynasty!"
Han Xian gritted his teeth and stamped his feet, and also shouted: "The emperor publicly said in the Yang'an Palace in Luoyang that General Zuo was going to overthrow and proclaim himself emperor. Wei Wei Zhou Jiamou still didn't believe it, so he invited you to Huainan as an envoy to advise you to report to the imperial court. Pay tribute to show your loyalty. The young emperor asked Zhou Weiwei to go to Xiangyang to meet Liu Jingzhou first, and then come to Shouchun to meet General Zuo... Counting the days, he should be here too, right?"
When Yang Feng and Han Xian told Liu Xie that Yuan Shu would soon overstep his authority and proclaim himself emperor, the lobby of Yuan Shu's Zuo General's Mansion fell silent.
The group of people under Yuan Shu's tent originally came to watch the fun, but now they are a little unsure... The little emperor has figured out that Yuan Gongli is going to proclaim himself emperor. Is it because Yuan Gong himself is not colluding with these two people in front of him? Did the liar make it up together?
Yuan Shu was also a little confused about the situation. He suspected that the "fancy persuasion" in front of him was a big job organized by Sun Xiang, the prefect of Runan! But is this Sun Xiang's own intention, or the Jiangdong Sun family's position?
Under Yuan Shu's command, the Sun family's status can no longer be described as being of great importance, but rather "one third of Yuan Shu's, and two of Sun's"! Sun Xiang was the prefect of Runan, Sun Ce was the prefect of Kuaiji, Sun Bi was the prefect of Danyang, and Sun Jian's old tribe. Zhu Zhi, who took orders from Sun Ce, was the prefect of Wu County and Sun Ce's maternal uncle Wu Jing was the prefect of Guangling.
In other words, among the seven counties and one country under Yuan Shu's name, the Sun family directly or indirectly controls five counties! Among them, the two major counties of Wu and Kuaiji are still under Sun Ce's firm control, and Yuan Shu cannot take them away at all! Although Sun Bi, the captain of Danyang County, was summoned to Shouchun by Yuan Shu, and the prefect was replaced by Yuan Yin, a member of Yuan Shu's tribe, the troops stationed in Danyang were still Sun's old troops, and Yuan Yin, a literati, had no control over Sun's old troops. s method.
Therefore, if the Sun family can sincerely support Yuan Shu in becoming emperor, then Yuan Shu's emperor will be stable!
In addition, the Zhou family of Shu County, who has a close relationship with Sun Ce, the young master of the Sun family, seems to be involved... It would be great if Zhou Zhong, Zhou Shang, and Zhou Yu also support Yuan Shu!
Thinking of this, Yuan Shu glanced around the hall and did not see Zhou Shang, the former governor of Danyang. So he asked the people around him: "Why didn't Zhou Bomou come?"
Yuan Shu's General Zuo's Chief of Staff Shi Yanghong immediately reported: "General Zuo, Zhou Bomou took leave and returned to Shu County three days ago, saying that he wanted to welcome Zhou Weiwei from Jingzhou."
"Oh?" Yuan Shu was stunned, "Zhou Jiamou really wants to come to Shouchun to persuade me to pay tribute to the court? Could it be..."
Yang Hong said: "When Zhou Bomou asked for leave, he did not say that Zhou Weiwei was on a mission to Shouchun. Maybe he just..."
"General Zuo, Weiwei Zhou is the angel of the court!"
"General Zuo, as long as Zhou Weiwei comes to Shouchun, you will know whether we are true or false!"
Yang Feng and Han Xian grasped at straws and started shouting immediately. No one under Yuan Shu knew the two leaders of Bai Bo and Huang Turban, but Zhou Zhong must know them!
As long as Zhou Zhong comes, it will be proved that they are the real general Han Xian and the chariot general Yang Feng, so Yuan Shu will not kill them.
Upon hearing this, Yuan Shu felt that he had to meet Zhou Zhong! He didn't care about the life or death of Yang Feng and Han Xian. But he couldn't help but care about the attitude of the Zhou family in Shu County towards his becoming emperor, and the prophecy of the little emperor who was good at plotting and calculating about his becoming emperor.
Maybe the little emperor really received a book from Emperor Gao in his dream and learned the skills of pinching and calculating?
If Yuan Shu's appointment as emperor was the destiny calculated by the little emperor according to the heavenly book, then he should obey nature and obey the people!
Thinking of this, Yuan Shu immediately said to Yang Hong: "Yang Changshi, you go to Shu County immediately! Regardless of whether Zhou Jiamou has the royal order or not, please invite him to Shouchun to see him!"
As soon as Yang Hong heard this, he knew that something bad might be going on... The prophecy that the little emperor was so crazy about was probably really an excuse for Yuan Gongli to commit suicide and proclaim himself emperor!
If he doesn't proclaim himself emperor, he can just go around. If he really does proclaim himself emperor, Jiangdong Sunlang, who has already controlled Wu and Kuaiji counties, and still maintains great influence in Danyang County, will immediately leave Yuan Shu's camp!
Isn't Sun Ce unhappy with the idea of dividing the three counties of Jiangdong by himself? Why are you working as a lackey for Yuan Shu?
However, Yang Hong did not dare to disobey Yuan Shu's order. After all, there was nothing wrong with going to Shu County in Lujiang County to greet the imperial envoys, right? If he didn't go, it would be justifiable for Yuan Shu to accuse him!
These days, Yuan Shu has killed many of his ministers who opposed his claim to be emperor!
