The winter time passed like this, and the time came to the second year of Yanxing in the Eastern Han Dynasty and the third year of Gengcang in the Qi Han Dynasty.
After recapturing Chenliu last year, General Liu Bei stayed in Guandong with the troops he had collected from You, Jing, and Yansan Prefectures, and continued to confront the Gengcang Army in Jiyin, with Guan Yu and Cao Cao temporarily in command. He led his troops back to Chang'an to report to the emperor the results of last year's battle and to commend some of those who had military merits.
One year later, although the Han army had achieved victory and had regained Chenliu County, overall, it had to be admitted that the Gengcang army was in a strong position and was by no means an opponent that could be defeated in a hurry. But for the Chang'an court, the two sides were as incompatible as fire and water. If he wanted to restore the prestige of the Han Dynasty, pacifying the Gengcang Army was Liu Bei's only choice at the moment.
Therefore, when Liu Bei returned to Chang'an and met with Chen Chong in his mansion, the first thing he did was to say that after debriefing, he would return to Bingzhou to reorganize the army. People have been cultivating for a year, and if they continue to cultivate until the end of summer this year, it will be time to leave Kanto again and participate in the national war!
Chen Chong did not object to this matter. After all, after the Heishan Army and the Gengcang Army joined forces, they had more than 300,000 available soldiers. Duan Yan broke through the chasm on the snowy night, annihilated nearly 40,000 enemies, and captured the enemy's puppet General Shi Cheng, the puppet governor of Chenliu, Qin Tai, and others. Although the morale of the Gengcang army was greatly damaged, it was not unbearable. If you want to quickly put down the Gengcang Army, you must mobilize more troops from Bingzhou.
However, Chen Chong believed that simply deploying troops was not enough. He had read the battle report and knew that the reason for the confrontation last year seemed to be because the Han army had few soldiers, but in the final analysis, it actually lay in Hebei. The Black Mountain Army marched east from Hebei and then went south to Yanzhou. As a result, Cao Cao was attacked on three sides and had no choice but to retreat.
The Han army did not dare to mobilize on a large scale because Hebei's attitude was ambiguous. If Yuan Shao rebelled and Yuan Shao rebelled, his troops would be overturned. Therefore, if you want to succeed, you must ensure that there will be no chaos in Jizhou.
Liu Bei heard Chen Chong's analysis and was very impressed. But what should we do?
After all, Yuan Shao has not rebelled yet. As early as October, he had sent an envoy to the court, saying that he would still deliver 400,000 hu of rice grain to the Eastern Expedition this year. If Yuan Shao is directly blamed, the reason is far-fetched, and the government and the public will inevitably argue that there is no need to accuse Yuan Shao; secondly, the court already has two major enemies, Yuan Shu and Linzi, and if it continues to be hostile to Yuan Shao, it will inevitably create too many enemies and have weak intentions; Third, Yuan Shao still has many old friends in Chang'an. If a war breaks out, it may destabilize the court.
After considering this, they actually had to continue to appease Yuan Shao. The only way to check and balance is to make a fuss about Youzhou. After all, since Yuan Shao has gained Jizhou, if he wants to become hegemonic, he must first imitate Guangwu, unify Hebei, and seize Youzhou. As long as Youzhou is not peaceful, Yuan Shao will not dare to conflict with the imperial court.
But the bad thing is that there is now disharmony in Youzhou, and there is a rift between Youzhou Mu Liu Yu and Jihou Gongsun Zan. Both sides wrote to each other almost at the same time, demanding that the other party be removed from office. Under such circumstances, if Yuan Shao really wants to capture Youzhou, it would be a perfect opportunity. Chen Chong believed that if he wanted to quickly stabilize the situation in Youzhou at this juncture, he must recruit one of Gongsun Zan and Liu Yu to return to the capital, so as not to cause a tragic disaster.
He thought for a long time and felt that this matter was important. Liu Yu was the leader of the clan and Gongsun Zan was Liu Bei's classmate. He could not make a decision easily, so he waited until this time to discuss the matter with him in detail. Chen Chong's opinion is that considering the overall situation, Liu Bei should be allowed to recall Gongsun Zan and Liu Yu should be allowed to arbitrate major affairs in Youzhou.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Liu Bei's face became extremely ugly. He remained silent for a while, lowered his eyebrows and told Chen Chong that on the way back, he had replied to Gongsun Zan's letter and planned to recall Liu Yu and let Gongsun Zan serve as the new Youzhou Mu.
Chen Chong couldn't help but change his expression when he heard this. He looked at Liu Bei for a while and knew that he still preferred Gongsun Zan, so he admonished him: "Although we have a deep friendship with each other as classmates, Xuande, you are the prime minister and minister, and you take national affairs as the most important thing. It has been agreed privately, but after all, it has not yet been reported to the emperor, so there is still room for maneuver."
Unexpectedly, Chen Chong tried to persuade him again and again, but Liu Bei remained unmoved. Finally, he carefully considered his words and retorted to Chen Chong, saying: "The purpose of Tingjian is to use Youyan to control Hebei. Youyan is bitter, cold, poor and weak, and it is in need of a general who is good at fighting." , can he compete with Yuan Shao. Although Liu Bo'an has a great reputation, he only knows how to recruit people. How can he lead a large army to defeat the enemy?"
Seeing that Liu Bei couldn't listen, Chen Chong was annoyed and said to Liu Bei: "Gongsun Bogui is indeed good at fighting, but how can Youzhou be a place where people who are good at fighting can be self-sufficient? In those days, who among Peng Chong and Lu Fang were not capable of conquering people who were good at fighting?" But Peng Chong was killed by his slaves, and Lu Fang's people deserted and fled to the Huns. This is a lesson learned from the past!
Gongsun Bogui's behavior was similar to that of the two of them. The last time he challenged Dong, he was at odds with Tian Chou and others. What should he do if he was allowed to take charge of Youzhou and still be at odds with the state capital? Liu Bo'an had a long-standing reputation among the northern barbarians. If he were removed from his post and allowed Wuhuan, Xianbei and other tribes to rebel against Yuan Shao, what would be the use of Gongsun Bogui's ability to fight again?
Xuande, this is not a child's play, it must not be acted out of temperament! "
Liu Bei also became angry when he heard this. He banged the table gum with one hand and argued loudly with Chen Chong: "In troubled times, it is appropriate to use heavy codes! How can I act based on temperament? Ting Jian, you only use reputation to hire people, but you don't want Liu Yu to be unstable. Bo Guixin There is a saying in it that Yuan Shao encouraged Liu Yu to proclaim himself emperor. Once Bogui is recalled and Liu Yu turns to Yuan Shao, what will happen to the big event?!"
Seeing that he was so ignorant, Chen Chong also raised his voice and said tit for tat: "How can you know a person by his heart but not by his deeds? The imperial court called for recruitment, and Liu Bo'an did everything he could. Last year, during the Eastern Expedition, Liu Bo'an still sent troops to help, and Gongsun Bo Where is Gui? When it comes to loyalty and treachery, Gongsun Zan is no better than Liu Yushi! You are going too far to speculate on the Minister of State and State with such heart-breaking words!"
"The Evil God"
At this point, the atmosphere between the two of them was extremely tense. Liu Bei stood up and said angrily: "So what if I punish my heart? How can we handle national affairs with benevolence as a woman! The courage of a hero is not bound by common sense!" Without speaking to Chen Chong, he walked out of the room, found the bedroom and went to bed. It was really an unhappy separation.
This incident had a great impact. Chen Chong and Liu Bei had been sworn friends for more than ten years, and this was the first time such a big difference occurred.
The next day, Zhang Fei came to discuss the matter with Chen Chong, saying that the friendship between brothers is the most important thing and nothing should be discussed. Chen Chong just smiled at Zhang Fei and said: "Yide, friendship is of course important, but who can be ruthless in the world? Love, now that we are in high positions, every word and action is related to the lives and deaths of millions of people. If Xuande makes a mistake at this time, it may not be easy to make up for it in the future."
As a result, the two sides still refused to give in, and the conflict lasted for several days, gradually spreading from the government to the government and the public, so that there were gradually rumors in Chang'an that the generals were at odds with each other. When things got to this point, neither of them could let the rumors continue, so they went to the court and asked the emperor to lead hundreds of officials to the north of the city to reward the three armies, while the people were allowed to watch the ceremony. During this period, everyone saw the two of them sitting on the same couch, walking side by side, talking and laughing without any care, and the discordant remarks gradually disappeared.
After the meeting, Liu Bei entered Chen Chong's house again and said to him: "Youzhou can't be delayed for a long time. Even if you and I can't give in, it must be settled, otherwise Youzhou will change over time."
"What are you going to do?"
Liu Bei then gathered the generals and generals from his shogunate and Sili Mansion together, and asked everyone: "There is trouble on the border today, and it is difficult to control it in Hebei. In terms of Zhenyi's ability to overcome chaos, do you think it should be Jihou? Da? Sima Jie?"
To this day, most of the shogunate members of Chen Chong and Liu Bei are comrades, and the others have also served in the army for many years. Naturally, they prefer Gongsun Zan, who is famous for his martial arts. In addition, Liu Bei himself has a knight-errant habit and has always disdained pure Confucian people. The atmosphere in his shogunate is naturally also The result is self-evident, most people support Gongsun Zan.
There were only three people who supported Liu Yu, namely Duan Xuan, Sima Fang, and Yang Xiu.
Chen Chong had already anticipated this outcome, but he was helpless. Although he did not agree with the appointment, he also agreed with Liu Bei's words that major matters must be resolved quickly, otherwise the longer it is delayed, the more likely it will be changed. But such a decision-making method made him feel quite absurd. Personnel appointments were not conducted during marches and wars. Ordinary people did not know their responsibilities and their strengths and weaknesses. How could there be any reason to make it public and ask for advice?
Now that things have come to this, he can only accept this ending.
The next day, Chen Chong wrote to the emperor, citing the current turmoil in the world and the swaying of the country, that he believed that there should be a post of Tianguan Tomb Supervisor in the court to calm people's hearts with a large number of ministers. However, Liu Yu, the Grand Sima Youzhou Shepherd, had outstanding merits and moral integrity, and had no one to leave him alone. Therefore, he expected the emperor to issue an edict to order Liu Yu to return to the capital, while Jihou Gongsun Zan temporarily took charge of Youzhou Shepherd.
On weekdays, when Chen Chong wrote to him, the emperor would not hesitate to do anything. He would only ask Chen Chong the reason afterwards, which can be said to be a sign of trust. But as soon as this book was written, the emperor hesitated for the first time. He called Chen Chong and asked, "Sir, do you really think so?"
Chen Chong was silent after hearing this. He looked at the emperor for the first time and found that he had grown very fast in one year. Although he was only fourteen years old, he was already six feet tall. He was now wearing black Confucian clothes, and his manners and conversation were elegant and calm. , with the majesty of the late emperor. Chen Chong remembered that the emperor would get married in Yuanfu next year.
He considered his words for a long time before saying to the emperor: "Your Majesty, governing a country is about taming human desires, and it is never perfect. The minister's appearance is a lie, but what he does is still based on the overall situation of the country after weighing it. It’s very important, and I hope your Majesty will agree.”
The emperor looked at Chen Chong and said slowly: "Sir, I have benefited a lot from your missionary work. Since the country is the most important thing, I will naturally agree."
Although the emperor's expression remained as usual, Chen Chong clearly felt that there was a slight gap between the emperor and himself.
On the sixteenth day of the first month of the second year of Yanxing, Chang'an issued an order to Liu Yu to return to Beijing. Liu Yu was furious when he received the imperial edict. He argued with the envoy first, but then neither accepted the imperial edict nor stayed in Youzhou. Instead, he immediately abandoned his post and went into seclusion in Guangning. Liu Yuping had always been very popular among the people. When he left, the staff left him like water, and for a while, there was a forest of seals in the state capital. Even Tian Chou, who was staying in Henan, didn't remember anything about it after hearing about it, and immediately abandoned his post and lived in seclusion.
But no matter what, after this incident, Gongsun Zan was able to carry out the pastoral work of Youzhou. In the eleven counties of Youzhou, except for the four counties of Liaodong, all the 100,000 people in Youzhou were under his command.
