The six people who came to discuss peace were all well-known celebrities in the country. Yin Xiu, who was killed by Yuan Shu's order, also served as the prefect of Yingchuan. He once promoted Zhang Zhongfangzheng to the five senses, Zhongyao to the merit inspector, Xunyu to the chief secretary, Zhang Li to the chief clerk, Duyou to the thief, and Xunyou to the filial piety. , Guo Tu was the official, and it can be said that most of the younger generation of talents in Yingchuan were his former ministers. But now that he is facing a situation of death and disgrace, who could have expected it?
Chen Chong finally waved his sleeves and said: "Since we have sent our troops to Luo, we will not give up until you welcome His Majesty back." The princes then reported to Dong Zhuo: Within two months, there were 200,000 Shandong soldiers, worried and angry, and grateful to you. Yes, he will definitely face the national calamity! If he has the courage, he can bring all the troops from Shanxi to join us in hunting Han Valley!"
After saying this, Chen Chong did not wait for Yuan Shu's reaction, and ordered Han Rong and others to be sent out of the city, and followed him personally. When he got out of Yuan's Mansion and there were no more soldiers following him, Han Rong breathed a sigh of relief. He saved a bit of luck and asked Chen Chong again: "Ting Jian, the road is so sad that it can't pay attention to the situation. Is it true that we can't have a truce now?"
Chen Chong said bluntly to his uncle, who was a close friend of his family: "Mr. Yuan, how can we give up lightly if we are about to start a sword fight? If I really stop fighting and let blood flow for another hundred years, how will future generations view us? The matter is over and we will not die. endlessly."
Han Rong was greatly frustrated, so he talked to Chen Chong about the current situation in Chang'an. Dong Zhuo was on the front line, and the Chang'an court was all decided by the left general Dong Min. The clouds are rising, so the court is still stable. However, hundreds of thousands of Henan people were relocated to Jingzhao. Most of them were unable to survive and could only wander around begging for work. There were refugees everywhere along the way.
When asked when he would return, Han Rong said that he still needed to go to Jujube. In addition to negotiating peace with Yuan Shu, he was also responsible for negotiating peace with Yuan Shao. From this, it seemed that Dong Zhuo was planning to show weakness. While Chen Chong was still pondering Dong Zhuo's subsequent arrangements, Han Rong had already mounted his horse and bid farewell to Chen Chong.
Before returning to Yuan Mansion, Yin Xiu had been chopped up with more than a hundred knives, revealing two deep white ribs. Yin Xiu was nearly fifty years old and could not see his life anymore, but he was suffering so much. Chen Chong couldn't bear to see it, so he The swordsman who was sweating profusely said: "It doesn't have to be like this, just give it a try." He added: "I will talk to the hussar general myself." The swordsman breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, and simply opened a knife on Yin Xiu's neck. , Yin Xiu soon bled to death. The swordsman squatted on the ground to rest. After all, live beheading was very demanding on the swordsman, and he was sweating profusely from the cutting.
After letting Wei Yan and others collect the bones of Yin Xiu, Chen Chong went into the room to talk to Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu asked him, "How dare you protect Yin Xiu, a villain like him?"
Chen Chong only said: "Highway, this is not the time for revenge. The attack on Dong has not been completed, and the Han Dynasty is not at peace. After all, Yin Xiu is an important minister of the country. After killing him, how can he beheaded? Even if he has his own thoughts, he has to wait to attack the director. After it’s done.”
Although he felt that what Chen Chong said was reasonable, he was still unhappy after hearing it. Yuan Shu asked him: "In that case, when will the Northern Route Army prepare to take action? We are about to go to Luoyang. We cannot attack Hangu as you said. stop."
At this time, the timing was still a little early, and it would be at least a month before the river in Hedong was frozen. However, Chen Chong was interested in An Yuan Shu and said that preparations could begin. However, there were still three things to do. The first is to bluff at Jiguan and involve Dong Zhuo's troops; the second is to negotiate with Yuan Shao and others to prevent them from attacking the rear when entering the pass; the third is to contact Xiliang Han Sui and Ma Teng to confirm the time for sending troops . …
None of these three things was difficult. After joining forces with Yuan Shu, the Central Army expanded to 100,000 troops. Sun Jian led 30,000 troops to Gucheng. Yuan Shu personally led 30,000 troops in Luoyang. Chen Chong also led 20,000 troops in Luoyang. In order to coordinate, Wei You was ordered to take 20,000 troops, and he and Tian Kai were stationed in Jiguan. In order to increase his momentum, Wei You deliberately built more barracks and ordered his troops to retreat at night and come with flags in the daytime. The Liang people in Jiguan were so frightened that they abandoned Jiguan and withdrew to Shaoting. The scouts came to report that Shaoting's army had nearly 20,000 men, and the leading general seemed to be Nan Zhonglang General Niu Fu.
When contacting Yuan Shao and others, Chen Chong went there in person. Yuan Shao and others were at a loss. Only Zang Hong welcomed his arrival. Chen Chong made an oath to Yuan Shao in public, and rewrote the covenant with dog blood. He hoped that the two armies would work together to defeat Dong. If he only made this oath, both heaven and man would kill him! Afterwards, Chen Chong talked with all the princes one by one, and even Yuan Shao spent two days with him. He talked about the massacre of the Yuan family for Dong Zhuo, and invited Yuan Shao to worship in Luoyang. Yuan Shao reluctantly agreed, and Chen Chong saw him Duplicity, he simply lived in Suanzao and communicated with Luoyang through letters every day.
After going back and forth like this, the time soon came to the end of October. Han Sui learned about the current situation in Luoyang, and quickly asked a messenger to reply: "Liu Jun went to Puban, and Liangqi went to Huaili." Huaili is sixty miles away from Chang'an. , the implication is that the preparations are complete.
With everything in mind, Chen Chong immediately sent an envoy to send a letter to Jinyang. The letter did not contain much content. It was the code word that the two of them had already agreed on: "The white horse descends to Tongguan, and the west wind passes through Maoling."
After receiving the letter, Liu Bei made arrangements according to the original plan:
Fenwu General Gongsun Zan led an army of 15,000 men, assisted by Youzhou Biejia who was engaged in farming. Wuhuan Colonel Yan Gang and Zhenwei Colonel Shan Jing were the vanguard, and Yan Rou, Gongsun Yue and others were the backbone. They took the Luliang path directly. Kaban.
Bai Bo's general Guo Da led an army of 15,000 men. Xu Shu personally joined his army as an assistant. The other four commanders except Hu Cai stayed behind. Li Le, Yang Feng and Han Xian all went out with the army. They detoured to the county and came out of Diaoyin. Take Huayin directly.
Liu Bei, the general who conquered the west, led more than 20,000 troops, divided into three armies: the front, middle and rear. Dongping Colonel Zhang Fei and Helian Fanmo led the front army, and Liu Deran, the commander of the army and the commander of the army, led the rear army and army commander Ma Tian. Yu, Gongsun Fan, Meng Jian and others followed him into the Chinese army. This road is the closest to Dong Zhuo, so they have the largest number of troops. They will take Anyi first and then Dayang.
On the third day of November, the army finally reached Kadong, like thunder. Gongsun Zan moved first from Zhongyang. They brought ten days of dry food, left Zhongyang, went around the Tianshan Mountains, crossed Puzi and Beiqu, and arrived at Caisangjin on the seventh day of the eleventh month. After leaving a thousand people behind, he immediately left from Jiting Then it comes out and goes straight down to Fenyin along the Fen River.
At the same time in the valley, Liu Bei and his party flew across the river and across the mountains, and went down to Yong'an, Pingyang, and Linfen. On the ninth day of the eleventh month, the troops arrived at Anyi City. Wang Yi, the prefect of Hedong, was in the city. Although he obeyed Dong Zhuo, he was not related to Chen Chong. After making good friends, he also heard that Bingren's army was leaving Henan, so he did not fortify Bingzhou. Only then Liu Bei was able to gallop across Hedong, as if he was entering an uninhabited land.
Liu Bei personally rode his horse to Anyi and went to the city to call Wang Yi. Wang Yi went up to the city tower and said, "Although I have never met Mr. Liu, I have a long-term friendship with Mr. Chen. Now you lead your army out of the state and invade our territory without any reason. What is your intention?" Liu Bei looked up at the city tower and raised his hand. The first shout, every word is clear: "I lead the army to serve the king to fight against thieves, what do I need to do?"...
The sentence "The King of Qin begs for thieves" was loud and clear. Wang Yi had no face to answer, and the surroundings were in chaos. I just heard Liu Bei continue to promise in front of the city that as long as Wang Yi accompanied the army to attack Dong, the army would not kill anyone along the way, not take anything, and not disturb any people. With his promise, Wang Yi considered the situation and finally decided to open the door and surrender.
After entering the city, Liu Bei left three thousand soldiers to garrison, and sent the soldiers from Anyi County back to their hometowns. Those who insisted on staying behind were sent north to garrison Wenxi. Then he kept on changing the flag, and under the guise of Wang Yi's name, he walked through Wu Mountain and over the Dianzi Slope until he reached the foot of Dayang City. Wang Yi personally opened the gate of Dayang City and led 10,000 soldiers to settle in, while Liu Bei rode on the river and stepped on the strongholds. When the ice reached the north of Shaanxi County, the Shaanxi County magistrate looked at the flag in the distance and mistakenly thought it was Dong Zhuo's reinforcements from Hedong. He also opened the city for Liu Bei to settle in. Liu Bei successfully occupied Maojin on November 12th and continued to seize east and west. Dangerous.
At this time, Dong Zhuo was stationing troops in Mianchi, a hundred miles east. After the troops withdrew from Luoyang, he sent Dong Yue to guard Hangu Pass with ten thousand people, Hu Zhen to guard Xin'an with 20,000 people, Niu Fu to guard Dongyuan with 20,000 people, and he himself led 50,000 people to rest in Mianchi.
On the 14th, when he learned that Liu Bei had occupied Shaanxian and Dayang, Dong Zhuo was furious. He scolded him at the military meeting: "I treat Wang Yi with all my heart. Is this how he repays me?" At this point, He waved his hand and folded the arrow, and said solemnly to everyone: "I will not kill Wang Yi, but there is such a target!"
But how to deal with the enemy, everyone is at a loss. At this time, all the troops had rested for several months and most of them had regained their fighting strength. However, there was an extremely long and narrow mountain road between Mianchi and Shaanxian County. The two counties were only a hundred miles apart, but the trek was no less difficult than a thousand miles away. Liang people were also It is necessary to attack from a low position, and when the enemy is occupied by others, it will be rained down with arrows and rocks. Even if the enemy's army is several times larger, it will be difficult to defeat it quickly. What's more, Chen Chong and Yuan Shu's more than 100,000 troops are eyeing the east of Hangu Guan. The so-called dilemma, losing ground before and after, is the situation of the Liang people at this time.
At this time, Li Ru, the servant, offered a plan and said: "Liu Bei came from afar and crossed a county. He could not use many troops. Although it is difficult for our army to go west, we still have troops in Jingzhao. Hu Qizhong, Lang General Duan Xuan, has an army of 30,000. , Yulin Zhonglang general Yang Ding led an army of 20,000 people, each in Fufeng and Feng Yi. Why not order them to lead the army east, cross Puban, and defeat Liu Bei. Liu Bei was surrounded on all sides and could not hold out for a long time. The siege would be relieved. .”
This strategy was widely praised by everyone, but when Dong Zhuo's envoy walked to Huayin on a small road, he saw a white flag with a black background and red edges floating abruptly on the city wall. He also saw many soldiers dressed in yellow scarves coming and going. After observing and asking, they learned that The Baibo army in Xihe had captured the city. When they arrived in Jin, the envoy encountered refugees fleeing and heard that the Puban area had also been captured, and the banner of the Great Sima Liu Yu was flying.
To the west of Puban, there are only three hundred miles of fertile fields from Chang'an, and it takes two days to reach Guanzhong. Rumors spread all over Guanzhong, and people's hearts were flustered. Many officials in the court secretly sent envoys to Puban to provide Gongsun Zan with information and encourage him to attack directly. Chang'an.
The refugees who were led by Dong Zhuo to Guanzhong and had no place to settle down all told each other that the Great Sima warmed the common people and lived in peace in Youyan. He transformed the thieves into chaos with virtue, and everyone in the world wanted to return to him. We had nowhere to survive, so why not gather people to surrender? ? So around Chang'an, the refugees gathered together and supported each other, heading eastward into clouds.
Duan Xuan and Yang Ding received the order from the Prime Minister and did not dare to neglect, leaving only 10,000 soldiers to continue stationed in Chang'an. The remaining 40,000 soldiers went straight to Puban, but they had to stop before Jin Dynasty. To the west of Luoshui River, there are as many refugees as ant colonies under the city, and there are many frozen corpses on both sides of the road. The cold wind is like a knife, and crows are flying around. The epidemic is breeding rapidly, and the soldiers of Liang people are also suffering from symptoms of cough and high fever one after another. Duan Xuan After discussing with Yang Ding, we decided to take a break here first.
But at the same time, on November 26, Han Sui led 40,000 troops out of Longxi, conquered Qianxian and Yumi one after another, and on the 30th, he surrounded Chencang. Chencang ordered Liang Shuang to lead 500 troops to defend, but the strength of the troops The disparity is huge and it is feared that it will fall soon.
Continuous bad news reached Mianchi, and Dong Zhuo's army was in a state of confusion. Many people lamented: "In spring and summer, we crossed the river and swept away thousands of troops. How come we are in such a situation after half a year? Is it God's will to destroy me?" For example, Wu Kuang and others who defected to Dong Zhuo during the Luoyang coup also sent secret letters to Luoyang at this time. However, when Dong Zhuo captured the messenger, the Prime Minister was not polite and dragged these people to the front of the army and quartered their bodies.
The army has just stabilized for a while, but how to break the situation? Dong Zhuo couldn't make up his mind and was unwilling to fight to the death with Chen Chong. He rubbed Xiang Yu's sword day and night, thinking that if he was defeated like a mountain, he would kill himself like an overlord.
On the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, Li Ru made up his mind and admonished Dong Zhuo: "Prime Minister, our army is now in a desperate situation and has reached a situation where we are struggling to survive in death and chaos. Han Fei once said: Safety lies in right and wrong, not in force. Weak. Survival depends on reality and reality, not the numbers. We don’t really have the ability to distinguish between right and wrong, and that’s why we’re in this situation.”
Dong Zhuo said "Oh", dusted off his armor, and asked Li Ru expressionlessly: "Wen You, so you are recommended to me by someone?"
Li Ru knelt down and kowtowed three times, and then solemnly said: "I recommend Huangfu Song, the captain of the city gate, to be the captain of the Sili school and the general of chariots and cavalry, and the commander-in-chief of the general military in Guanzhong!"
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