Imperial mausoleums have been a symbol of the rise and fall of the royal family since ancient times. The thirteen emperors since Guangwu have built eleven mausoleums, five of which are in Mang Mountain, namely the original mausoleum of Emperor Guangwu, the Gongling mausoleum of Emperor An, the Xianling mausoleum of Emperor Shun, and the mausoleum of Chong Emperor Huailing and Emperor Ling's Wenling Mausoleum are all in decline now.
After visiting Wenling at night, Chen Chong felt sad. He first led three thousand soldiers to Wenling to repair the cemetery, and then sent people to check the other imperial tombs in Mang Mountain. As expected, they all destroyed the tombs for the Liang people to gain money. Even the original tomb of Emperor Guangwu could not survived. All the families who were guarding the tomb were moved away for Dong Zhuo. The gates and stele corridors were covered with cobwebs, dust was everywhere, and there were even foxes and wolves. The soldiers spent half a day in the original tomb, catching about ten of them first, and then killed twenty. Only when they came did they drive them out.
But when they were renovating the garden, the soldiers were quite worried, saying that the Han Dynasty was a home blessed by God. But now that even the ancestral mausoleums cannot be preserved, is this a sign that the Han Dynasty will die? Can we really succeed in fighting now?
Fortunately, Chen Chong's disciple Fu Qian also came to reminisce about the past and said to the soldiers: "Dong Zhuo relied on the power of the sword to harm the world. It is indeed worthy of hatred, but it is absurd to say that destiny destroys disasters and ignores the Han Dynasty. Dong Zhuo sent people What was taken was just property, what was destroyed was just bones, what does it have to do with the heaven, earth, mountains and rivers? Don’t you see that the twenty-eight generals are still here to protect the survival of our Han family?"
The twenty-eight generals he mentioned were the cypress trees in the original tomb. There is a Shinto from the mausoleum to the gate. On both sides of the Shinto, there were originally stone statues such as stone elephants and horses, as well as neat and lush cypress trees. Among them were twenty-eight cypress trees that towered into the clouds. When the people guarding the mausoleum looked at their positions, they found that they corresponded to the "twenty-eight constellations" in the sky. So it was said that these were the "Twenty-eight Generals of Yuntai" who followed the ancestors in the south and north and made great achievements in the war. . The soldiers looked up and saw that autumn was already deep, but the cypress trees were still green and green. The green waves were blown by the wind, and the branches swayed slightly, as if the ancestors were whispering to the descendants.
On September 12, all Liang people had evacuated Luoyang. But Sun Jian's army in the south had written back and said that when they first arrived at Guangcheng Pass, the later general Yuan Shu was very happy to hear the news of Dong Zhuo's withdrawal. He immediately left Li Min to guard Wancheng, rode to Guangcheng alone, and wanted to personally lead the army to Luoyang. Come.
Chen Chong expected this, so he did not rush to enter Luoyang first. Instead, he distributed food to various imperial mausoleums to recruit refugees, asking them to guard the imperial mausoleums according to the old system, and plan to stay here permanently. The generals in the army were very angry and complained to Chen Chong: "It was obviously us who scared off the Dong thieves, how could we hand over this great achievement to Yuan Shu for nothing?"
Chen Chong comforted them and said: "We didn't know the reason before and thought that the Dong thief was too timid to fight. But now that I have exchanged letters, we understand that Dong Zhuo did not dare to fight with us. It was General Sun who fought hard with the Dong thief in Guangcheng. The Liang people The losses were staggering and we were unable to do anything. Only then could we successfully build the bridge and take control of Beimang. Although we had clever plans, how could we covet the merits of heaven?"
On the morning of September 15th, Chen Chong moved his army to Yanshi and met Yuan Shu ten miles south of the Xianjie Mausoleum of Emperor Ming. Yuan Shu's army appeared on the horizon. The first thing he saw was his banner, which was swaying in the autumn wind. Then he saw several flags. The one in front was the Hussars flag, and the one behind was the Polu flag. , it took a while before we could clearly see the figure under the flag.
Without waiting for Yuan Shu to come over, Chen Chong whispered to the direct descendants behind him: "You can smile ugly, but you have to laugh." Then he led Wei Yan and the others to greet Yuan Shu. As soon as they arrived under his command, he He first said to Yuan Shu: "Looking at the cavalry in Luoyang is like looking at the rain from a dry field." He swallowed all Yuan Shu's teasing words in his throat, and then there was a burst of flattery. Yuan Shu was quite impressed, and it took him a long time to remember Sun Jian next to him. , said to Chen Chong: "Isn't this the result of me alone? Wentai is also good at fighting."
Sun Jian kept looking at Chen Chong from one side. At this time, Chen Chong looked over. Sun Jian rode in front of him and sighed with emotion: "Ting Jian, you have changed so much that I almost don't dare to recognize you." Chen Chong naturally talked to him. They hugged each other, and then said with a smile: "What? Wen Tai, am I getting old? I think you are still as heroic as before." There was no gap in the words.
Sun Jian originally wanted to chat with him, but when he saw Yuan Shu next to him, he couldn't help but shudder. He said instead, "You and I haven't seen each other for so long that I almost can't remember what you look like." Then he stopped talking and Yuan Shu was quite surprised. satisfy.
Yuan Shu and Chen Chong went to the middle route army again, and had a few hasty meetings with Generals You and Bing and Qingxu. He could no longer contain his joy of regaining the eastern capital, and repeatedly urged: "There are many things, and they are not as important as Luoyang. The spirits of our ancestors are in the sky, so we should leave as soon as possible." This was actually the voice of everyone, and immediately the armies from the north and the south lined up and marched slowly towards Luoyang.
At dusk that day, the army passed through Yangqu, Yuexiang, and gathered in Shixiang, and finally stopped on the outskirts of Luoyang. This was originally the most prosperous horse and millet market in Gyeonggi Province, but now it is deserted, with only empty ruins. Riding two miles ahead, the majestic Luoyang City is in sight. The East Gate is wide open, but There are some dark things hanging on the city gate that are blowing in the wind.
Yuan Shu took the lead and arrived at the door. He held his whip and smiled at those who came after him: "The person who revived Luo and rejuvenated the Han Dynasty in the world is Yuan Jiujiu of Runan!" Everyone was complimenting him again, but Han Dang suddenly said: "Why is there a head on this door?" Everyone looked up and saw that there was originally a wooden cage hung with ropes on the city gate. The wooden cage was three feet high and wide, and there were a dozen dried heads piled inside.
Sun Jian controlled the string and fired the arrow, and the rope broke in response. Everyone gathered next to the wooden cage. Chen Chong took one look and couldn't help but lose his countenance. He said to Yuan Shu who was on the side: "Gaolu, come here. I'm afraid this is a relative of the Jun family." He had already recognized the top head. There were so many As the day passed, the skin on his head had dried, but he could still vaguely see the outline of Grand Tutor Yuan Wei. He asked everyone to step back and let Yuan Shu identify it himself.
Yuan Shu hesitated when he heard the words, but he stepped forward and recognized the Tutor Yuan Kui, the Servant Yuan Ji, six relatives of the same generation, and five relatives of the next generation, the youngest of whom was only nine years old, among whom there were My own mother and brother. He looked miserable for a while, but finally ordered his subordinates to get a piece of golden silk cloth, cover the wooden cage, and carry him into the city without saying a word. The others followed him. He originally said that he would visit Luoyang again. I didn’t even mention it at all.
After entering Luoyang, Yuan Shu took the heads of his relatives back to live in Taifu's Mansion, while Chen Chong and Sun Jian led soldiers into the North and South Palaces respectively. The metropolis that used to be able to accommodate hundreds of thousands of people was now desolate and dilapidated. The North and South Palaces, which represented the dignity of the Han Dynasty, were even more damaged. There were not even many places to stay. Chen Chong asked the soldiers to hastily clean up a place where people could live. , he walked non-stop and led people to Kaiyang Gate in a hurry.
After a familiar road, when he arrived at the former site of Taixue, the bamboo forest was still quiet and quiet, but there were no students or doctors in front of him. Walking along the cobblestone path, weeds not only overflowed the corridors, but also filled the gaps between the stones in the square. Only the forty-six Xiping stone scriptures remained in the center of the square.
Chen Chong felt very relieved when he saw that there were not many gaps in the stone scripture and the handwriting was still clear. Then he walked back to his old house. The place just looked old. The door was full of dust, and a few fist-sized rats came out. The rest of the furniture and beds were still in good condition, probably because he didn't have any belongings. Taixue was under Liang Ren's sword. Escaped.
He and his subordinates tidied up and went to sleep at Taixue that night. However, the emotion of things being different and people being different still lingered in his mind. When Chen Chong recalled what he had seen and heard in the past few days, his emotions were so mixed that they finally turned into one thought: This discussion about Dong Dong , must succeed.
The next day, Yuan Shu ordered people to invite Chen Chong and others to Taifu's Mansion. When Chen Chong arrived, white flags were standing everywhere in Taifu's Mansion, beams were wrapped in plain cloth, the lobby was filled with coffins, and there was a faint fragrance of cypress. It turned out that in order to complete the body of his relative, Yuan Shu had his body made of cypress wood and placed in the coffin together with his head. Chen Chong saw that the table was covered with memorial tablets. Yuan Shu was wearing mourning clothes and kneeling on one side with a solemn expression.
Chen rushed forward and knelt down to worship three times, then went to each coffin and worshiped again. Yuan Shu did not expect that he was so complete in etiquette, and his expression became much kinder. He said to Chen Chong: "The traitor Dong massacred my whole family, and I will avenge him with this hatred, even if it goes up to the Nine Heavens and down to the Nine Netherworld!" When marching westward to Chang'an, I relied heavily on Ting Jian."
Chen Chong felt relieved again. As he was talking, someone suddenly came from outside the house to report that a group of people from Shanglinyuan came from the west. They claimed to be envoys from the imperial court and wanted to see the leader here. Now they have followed the sergeant to Yongmen to stop General Polu. Next, I came to ask the general of the hussars for his opinion.
When Yuan Shu heard this, he immediately sneered and said: "What do you call imperial envoys? They are just Dong Zhuo's eagles and doves. Let them come and see how they can revive the dead bones?"
After that, he sat on the table, put his hands on his knees, and closed his eyes without saying anything. However, Chen Chong could clearly feel his anger, so he couldn't say much, so he sat on the left side of the hall like Yuan Shu, thinking about what Dong Zhuo had sent. Intentions and candidates.
After waiting for half an hour, the soldiers gathered around six old men. Chen Chong recognized them as Dahonglu Han Rong, Zhijin Wu Hu Wuban, Shaofu Yinxiu, General Wu Xun, the great craftsman, and Yueqi Xiaowei Wang. Rose. They all wore court uniforms, crowns of virtue, holding staffs, and long shoes. Yuan Shu opened his eyes and looked at them, and couldn't help but sneer and said: "You are so majestic, are you coming to my place to attend court?"
Han Rong, the leader, saw the arrangement in the hall and immediately understood Yuan Shu's mood. The end of the peace talks was probably very bad. But he was a family friend of Chen Ji, and he also had many friendships with Chen Chong, so he looked at Chen Chong with a pleading look. Chen Chong shook his head slightly and said, "Dong Zhuo has sent all the princes here. If you have anything to say, just say it."
Yin Xiu persuaded him: "The prime minister sent us here to negotiate peace with you."
Yuan Shu sneered and said, "The Dong thieves are no match for my elite men, so they want to stop fighting and negotiate for peace. Is there anything so cheap in the world?"
As soon as these words came out, they gained the upper hand. The six envoys looked at each other, and Yin Xiu argued hard: "Why did the general say this? Can the world's situation be decided with a knife? The prime minister is entrusted by the emperor, and he is willing to cooperate with the general regardless of the discord. The Han Dynasty will be settled together, the war will be stopped, the internal and external parties will be harmonious, and the world will be at ease, all this depends on it. How can the general dethrone the official for personal reasons?"
Yuan Shu immediately stood up and said sternly to Sun Jian: "Cut him up!" Yin Xiu was about to resist, but was knocked unconscious by the soldier's palm. Sun Jian quickly took him out of the house, and there was a series of sounds of moving swords and axes.
Yuan Shu walked out of the case and said to Han Rong calmly: "Mr. Han, my mother, brother, uncles are all here. You and my family are family friends. I hope that Mr. Han will toast you with a drink here because of our decades of friendship."
Han Rong looked up at the mourning place in the hall. He was so full of words that he didn't dare to say anything, so he drank the glass of wine.
