On the first day of February in the second year of Chuping, news of the successive losses of Hangu Pass and Xin'an reached Mianchi. Dong Zhuo was unable to speak for a long time. He could not even curse. Finally, he only asked Chief Shi Liu Ai to send an order to attack the various ministries in Dayang. They all retreated to Mianchi and reorganized their troops. Even Niu Fu's troops in Dongyuan abandoned the city and went south.
Prime Minister Dong Zhuo has always been vigorous and resolute in his work, but when the generals returned to Mianchi, he went against his normal behavior and only entertained the generals with fine wine and delicious food, while he hid in the city, neither showing up to meet with the generals nor sending envoys to warn them. As for the generals, they were worried and had many thoughts.
On the early morning of the eighth day of the lunar month, generals above the lieutenant colonel level, whether they were Liang people who belonged to Dong Zhuo's old army, such as Niu Fu, or veteran generals who originally belonged to the imperial court, such as Zhu Jun, etc., suddenly received orders to pack their bags. , went outside the city to worship heaven and earth with the prime minister. All the generals did not dare to delay, so they hurriedly put on their clothes and armor, immediately rode out of the city, and followed the envoy to the east for fifteen miles, passing through Cypress Mountain, Meihua Mountain, and Chidi Mountain in succession, until they reached the foot of Shangde Mountain.
Shangde Mountain is not the highest mountain around Mianchi. There are majestic mountains towering to its east, west, south and north, which are far superior to them. However, it happens to be in a wilderness. Being on Shangde Mountain, overlooking the mountains in all directions, it is like the palm of the god. Lifting it up, the human body is in the palm of the hand, which makes people think of heaven and man.
When the generals reached the foot of the mountain, they discovered that there were stone steps built on the mountain. The stone steps were all made of flower stones. Each of the twenty-eight steps had a fold, making a total of twelve folds, which coincided with the stars and earthly branches. When they reached the top of the mountain, they saw an altar being held high on the mountain. A tripod with a three-legged round mouth and a thunder pattern and a phoenix head was located in Taichung. Behind the tripod was a high case with two memorial tablets. The one on the left was "Hou Huo Qubing, Champion of the Han Dynasty". The position on the right is the position of "Xiang Yu, the Overlord of Western Chu". Five-colored rocks are arranged on both sides of the tripod, forming a temple of heaven on the top of the mountain.
The Prime Minister then knelt down in front of the cauldron, holding Xiang Yu's sword in one hand and the Prime Minister's seal in the other, and prayed to the spiritual throne. The chief official, Liu Ai, stood aside, wearing a five-color sand robe and a crown that reached the sky. When he saw everyone gathered, he stepped forward, bowed and whispered to Dong Zhuo: "Prime Minister, the sacrifice ceremony can begin."
Dong Zhuo looked back at his generals, and then ordered: "Let's begin." He held a knife at each other by the altar, and ordered the old men on the left and right to sign for the sacrifices. They were a four-foot-tall white calf and a white calf. There were only white pheasants and three white dogs with five-color crests. He personally held a knife to bleed these sacrifices and presented them into the cauldron. Then he called the generals to anoint the base of the altar with five-color soil. Finally, Chief Shi Liu Ai presided over the ceremony and ordered everyone present to bow three times and kowtow to the tripod case.
Finally, Dong Zhuo held the blood-stained sword of Xiang Yu in one hand and the golden seal of the Han Dynasty Prime Minister in the other. He walked to the table, presented the two objects to the altar, turned around and glanced at the generals who had followed him for many years, and said slowly: "You know that this place is Where?"
Most of the generals under Dong Zhuo's command were rough men, and most of them knew nothing except tactics and famous military generals from the previous generation, so no one could answer. Yang Yi, a Hongnong native who knew the stories of his hometown, stepped forward to answer: "I have heard that , five hundred years ago, this was the old platform where King Qin Zhao met with King Zhao Huiwen."
During the Qin Dynasty, King Zhaoxiang attacked the State of Zhao, and the State of Zhao lost troops and territory, but finally defeated King Zhaoxiang. King Zhaoxiang then wanted to attack the weak Chu State, and decided to reconcile with the State of Zhao. …
King Zhao Huiwen was afraid of the Qin State and was unwilling to move forward. At this time, Lin Xiangru, the senior official of Zhao, said: "If the king does not go, it will show that the Zhao State is cowardly and weak." King Zhao heard that it would harm the national character, but he still endured his fear and went. He asked Lin Xiangru again: "I am really afraid, please sir, please go with me." So Lin Xiangru went with King Zhao.
Arriving at Demianchi, King Qin insulted King Zhao several times, and King Zhao was at a loss. The King of Qin asked the King of Zhao to play the harp, and Lin Xiangru stepped forward with his sword and forced the King of Qin to strike the fou. The King of Qin ordered the King of Zhao to cut off fifteen cities to Qin. Lin Xiangru yelled again and ordered the King of Qin to cut the capital to Zhao. This happened several times, although Although King Zhao was weak, he did not humiliate the state of Zhao in the end, and most successfully preserved King Zhao from returning eastward.
After hearing this reason, all the generals bowed their heads and remained silent. Only Dong Zhuo continued: "Now that Fan Chou is dead, Dong Yue and Hu Zhen are captured, and the western access road is blocked by Liu Bei and cannot be broken through, the situation I face is... It's more critical than King Zhao, but I don't know if there is anyone among you who can be like Lin Xiangru, who can not harm the face of our Liang army and protect my safety at the same time."
After hearing this, all the generals came forward one after another to express their loyalty. The Prime Minister did not comment, but turned to worship the altar again, and then said slowly:
"In addition to being the place where Qin and Zhao allied themselves, this place is also an ancient battlefield. After Wang Mang's rebellion, the Red Eyebrow Army returned east from Chang'an and encountered the Han Army here. General Feng Yi, the general who conquered the west, commanded and dispatched, and they were defeated. Chimei, Xinmang has been in chaos for more than ten years, and only then has the overall situation been established."
"Throughout the ages, there is no more invincible general who charges into battle than the Overlord and the Champion. Therefore, it is rumored in the world that they are both reincarnations of the gods of warriors. Now, as the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, I accidentally obtained Xiang Yu's sword, but was We are trapped in a corner by the east and the west, and we can only hope that these two gods will help us get through this."
The generals looked at each other and saw that each other was sweating profusely. Dong Huang stepped forward and said: "The Prime Minister's country has its own destiny. The Guandong group is small, does not know the destiny, and stubbornly resists. How can it be compared with the Prime Minister's country?"
Dong Zhuo waved his hand and signaled his nephew to retreat, and then slowly said to everyone: "I came here not to listen to your flattery. The situation is critical now. Sun Jian defeated Hangu and Xin'an, which are only twenty years away from here." Here, if he hadn't been marching continuously and needed a short rest, his army would have already invaded this place, and my great head would be hidden in the treasure house like Wang Mang's head!"
After Wang Mang's defeat, his body was cut into pieces, and even the tongue of his head was cut out. Later, Emperor Guangwu ordered that his head be dried and collected to show that traitors and traitors would not die a good death, and that the Han Dynasty would always have its destiny. Dong Zhuo used this to describe himself, which shows that he was extremely disappointed with his generals.
But he then said: "At this time of life and death, I hope that you will do your best and fight with me to the end. Now the only patients in the world are Sun Jian and Chen Chong. But if they get their heads, what will happen to the world?" Is that enough?" He paused slightly and categorically promised the generals: "Whoever can kill two people will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins, be granted the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households, be the Commander-in-Chief of the General Military Department of Henan, and will be the first to open the government with the Third Division!"
Everyone was in an uproar when they heard this.
The so-called Ten Thousand Households, looking at the former Han Dynasty and today, those who can be named have all contributed to the reconstruction of the Han Dynasty. In the early Han Dynasty, there were only two people, Xiao He and Cao Shen. However, in the past fifty years, the only person who could be granted the title of Ten Thousand Households was the former Taiwei Duan Jiong. For his contribution to the recovery of Liangzhou, he was granted the title of Marquis of Xinfeng County and was granted the title of Ten Thousand Households. The so-called Kaifu Yitong Sansi means that the status is equal to that of the Three Dukes, and the Commander-in-Chief of Henan General Military means that this person can become the most powerful figure in the court next to the Prime Minister. …
Henan Yin Zhujun sighed in his heart: "Dong Zhuo's life is in danger. Now he wants to boost his morale and has gone to such an extent. It seems that he is planning to make a last ditch effort, but I wonder how sure Wen Tai and Ting Jian are?"
Li Jue, Guo Si and others were deeply moved, thinking: "The Prime Minister has treated us with such kindness, why don't we dare to fight hard?" They also silently prayed to Huo Qubing: "We will follow the Prime Minister here. I have been fighting in Liangzhou for many years, and most of what I have seen is the legacy of General Huo. Please help me, General Huo, to achieve a prosperous military fortune!"
Lu Bu, the general of the Tiger Guard, looked at these cold people with cold eyes. Although his face was moved, he thought in his heart: "These cold dogs don't understand the general situation of the battle. They look down at me and others, and they actually want to wait for the three princes." Really disgusting?" He thought about Hu Zhen being captured again, and couldn't help but feel a little happy: "Hu Zhen, a stupid and narrow boy, is in the Jing people's camp, but he doesn't know what will happen to him."
But when Lu Bu finally thought about Guangcheng, Sun Jian's disdainful words towards him, and touched the scars on his face, he turned around and touched the knife on his waist, thinking: "If I meet this person again on the battlefield, I will treat him like a snowman." Shame on you, let the world know that I, Lu Fengxian, am the best in the world!"
Jia Xu, a native of Wuwei, was at the back, but he was worried: "The Prime Minister's plan to motivate the soldiers is a good strategy, but it is not as kind as the soldiers, and it shows that they are timid in fighting. The gains and losses in this are difficult to explain clearly. If Life and death are unpredictable, and no matter how great the reward is, it is nothing more than the moon floating in the well."
After the ceremony was over, Dong Zhuo said to the generals: "I have sent a message to Sun Jian that our army will meet with him here in ten days. You should go back and prepare."
Just as the crowd was about to disperse, they heard the sound of flapping wings in the air, and a stream of dust fell from the pine forest on one side. Everyone looked up and saw a black eagle slowly contracting its vibrating wings and resting its paws on the pine tree. This eagle seems to be completely unaware of the presence of the person on the altar under the forest. After it stabilizes itself, it looks proudly towards the east. At this moment, the bright clouds are breaking through, and the warm sun of early spring is shining on the clouds, bathing the black eagle in the spring light.
The captains in front of Dong Zhuo, such as Dong Huang, Zhang Ji and others, saw a large eagle falling in front of them. Without thinking, they drew out their arrows and bent their bows to shoot it. Liu Ai hurriedly stepped forward to dissuade them and said, "No! Since we set up an altar here to worship the gods, how can we set up our bows and shoot arrows here!"
Attendant Li Ru also said: "This sculpture is extraordinary. When we were offering sacrifices to warriors and generals, it actually fell on the side of the altar, and its eyes were like torches, arrogantly looking up at the scorching sun. Could it be that God knew that I was about to fight the bandits, so he made it clear? "
Prime Minister Dong Zhuo asked: "What does the sky show?"
Li Ru said with a smile: "The eagle glares at the east, which means 'use force in the east'. Heaven advises me to fight. If we fight, it will be a sign of victory!"
Dong Zhuo was overjoyed when he heard this. He ordered someone to fetch a golden bow, held it up with both hands, bowed to the black eagle and saluted: "If we get divine help and defeat the Jing thief, we will build the champion ancestral hall on the platform of Mianchi. Tens of thousands of households worship it and carve stone tablets to show the grace of the gods and the strength of our Liang soldiers!"
After that, he respectfully placed the golden bow under the altar. Just as he was about to say goodbye, he suddenly heard a sound of flapping wings. Everyone looked up and saw the big eagle spread its wings and flew towards Nantianchi Mountain.
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