Chapter 334: Sudden changes in Luoyang
Praise for stupidity increases fatigue, and piety and wisdom make you faint. -------------Thirty-eight Poems on Encounters by Chen Ziang of the Tang Dynasty
It is said that in the year 200 AD, the battle for the Central Plains overlord was originally the battle between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao at Guandu in official history. At this moment, due to the intervention of Chen Long, another trend took place. There were frequent wars in the north of the Yellow River. Gongsun Du in Liaodong, Liu Yu, Liu He and his son in western Liaoning, Gongsun Zan of Youzhou, Wen Chou and Yuan Tan of Jizhou were all strangled together, with each other winning and losing, and they could not fight for a long time. Tian Feng and Qu Yi supported their own troops in Cangzhou, and even secretly provided grain, grass and baggage to Tian Yu in Youzhou, making the war situation even more stalemate. Yuan Shaojun was originally stronger, but because of the ambiguous attitude of the Cangzhou defenders, he fell into a bitter battle.
South of the Yellow River, war is about to break out. Yanzhou Juancheng and Yanzhou Puyang were both quickly occupied by the Black Mountain Army. They established a strong stronghold along the Yellow River waterway deep into the Central Plains, and controlled the golden waterway of the Yellow River between Mengjin and Guandu, and Guandu and Baimajin. The results were brilliant, but they were defeated by Xu Huang and Man Chong unexpectedly attacked Mengjin and lost the entire transshipment ferry, causing huge losses. Fortunately, Puyang seized a lot of grain and grass, and with the cooperation of Chen Liu and Zhang Liao, they immediately temporarily replenished the front line, and the morale of the army was stabilized for the time being.
Xu Huang's army hurriedly fled into the Taihang Mountains. The only direction was to temporarily defect to Yuan Shao's Yecheng. The terrain of the Taihang Mountains is dangerous, with endless bird paths and ravines. The sun and moon are unknown in the mountains. Xu Huangjun killed all his horses to satisfy his hunger. Seeing that he was running out of food, he was in despair when he suddenly saw a man-made defensive castle appearing on the mountain pass in front of him. The war flag whistled, with a big Yuan character embroidered on it.
Xu Huang and Man Chong were overjoyed, as this was the only way to go. Man Chong was afraid that the troops would rush forward to the castle and cause misunderstanding, so he asked Xu Huang to lead the troops to rest on the spot, and he took a dozen people to the castle gable.
The guarding soldiers saw a few men wearing armor and holding weapons from a distance, and they immediately became vigilant. The mountains were guarded here, and the people who usually came in and out were poor hunters. They had never seen an army appear from this place.
There was a bang on the city wall, and a row of soldiers suddenly appeared. They opened their strong bows on the battlements, revealing a row of ferocious and shining arrows. Man Chong quickly threw away his weapons, raised his hands with a smile on his face and said: "Brothers in the city, please don't shoot arrows! I am Man Chong Man Boning, and I am a good friend of your chief secretary, Chen Lin! Brothers in the city, please do your best. Once we go to Yecheng, let us know and let Manbonint come to meet you!"
After hearing this, the soldier leader in the city dared to take the initiative and release the person. However, the soldier leader was a cautious man and shouted loudly: "Since you are a friend of Master Chen, please be patient and don't embarrass me. Wait." I will immediately send someone back to Yecheng to ask for instructions. It will take at least three days, or at most five days, and a letter will definitely come!"
After hearing this, Man Chong smiled bitterly. His troops did not even have enough food for one meal, let alone three days and five days. So he swallowed his anger and begged: "Commander of the soldiers! You send people quickly, don't delay! There are still 20,000 soldiers behind me, all of whom have come to defect to Yuan Gong. The food and grass along the way have been exhausted. Is there a way to mobilize a few more soldiers?" Daily food? When Master Chen comes, I will ask him to repay you double the amount!"
The soldier leader couldn't help rolling his eyes and taking a breath of cold air. The food and grass he had for 20,000 people was not enough to fill the gaps in their teeth. Besides, these are obviously Cao Cao's White Tiger Army. The enemy and friends are still unknown. How can one use his own food to support the enemy?
Man Chong didn't hear a reply for a long time, and knowing that he was being despised, he angrily led his people to set up a small military tent under the city to protect them from wind and rain, and planned to stay here for three to five days. Just as the military tent was set up, several people's stomachs began to growl at the same time. Several people searched their pockets and found not even half a cake crumb, so they had to carry bows and arrows on their backs and go to the mountains and fields in search of prey. When Xu Huang received the report, he had no choice but to order the camp to be stationed and send soldiers to look for food everywhere. The soldiers who were not firm-minded took the opportunity to flee one after another, and hundreds of them dispersed every day.
Not to mention that Xu Huang and Man Chong were starving in the mountains with their defeated troops, but Zhang Yan had already crossed the White Horse and reached Puyang City smoothly. Chen Long left 50,000 soldiers behind and asked him to defend closely and make good use of Guan Yu and Guan Yunchang. Zhang Yan took over the defense of Puyang one by one. Guan Yu also went to the city to meet the new commander. Chen Long saw that Guan Yu's expression was normal and he did not look down on Zhang Yan's performance. He temporarily put aside half of his worries and waited for the warship abandoned by Xu Huang to arrive. He immediately set off with the main force of 50,000 Black Mountain troops and 10,000 trapped troops.
The army crossed the Yellow River and marched directly to Dong'e County according to the planned route. Echoing Taishi Ciyuan, Wu Anguo and Zhang Niujiao also led 50,000 people out of Juancheng. The three-pronged army marched directly to Dong'a County, with a total strength of astonishing of 150,000 people.
Just when Chen Long made up his mind to fight a regular offensive and defensive battle with Cao Ren and Xun Yu, news suddenly came that Cao Cao was attacking on three routes in Qingzhou, day and night, and finally broke through Beihai. Kong Rong couldn't wait. Xuzhou Tao Qian The reinforcements came, but he himself was captured and had no choice but to surrender. Cao Cao always respected Kong Rong's reputation and appointed him as Dahonglu. Cao Cao's army quickly occupied most of Qingzhou, including Changyi and Donglai, and organized hundreds of thousands of troops, known as the New Qingzhou Army.
The rapid pacification of Qingzhou gave Xun Yu, Cao Ren and the Black Tiger Army guarding Rencheng great confidence. Lu Bu was in a stalemate with Le Jin and Li Dian who were defending the city. Lu Bu could not break the city he was defending, so he had to station troops to besiege the city and look for opportunities. Chen Long, Zhou Buyi, and Guo Jia were re-evaluating the war situation when suddenly another piece of news came that shocked the world.
In the early summer of 200 AD, Yuan Shu had been in Luoyang for almost ten years, holding the jade seal in his hand and playing with it all day long. Finally, he could not resist the temptation to become emperor and could not restrain his ambition to become emperor.
In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, when the heroes were divided among themselves, all the princes had a tacit agreement to abide by an iron-clad unspoken rule: they would never publicly become emperor. Even Cao Cao, who "held the emperor hostage to order the princes" in the official history, did not dare to think of becoming emperor.
However, Yuan Shu's ambitions were inflated, he just didn't believe in evil, and he wanted to live out his life as the emperor. In fact, Yuan Shu's power is obvious. He not only controls Luoyang and the capital, but also controls large areas of the six counties of Yuzhou and Yangzhou such as Runan and Shouchun. Even Sun Jian and Sun Ce and his son were once just his subordinates.
Yuan Shu always believed that the surname Yuan came from Chen, who was after Emperor Shun. It is destiny for a person named Yuan to be the emperor, not to mention that the jade seal is in his hands. He asked Zhang Kui from Hanoi for a fortune telling. Zhang Kui understood it and said that he was destined to be emperor. Yuan Shu was so excited that he immediately ascended the throne in Luoyang and wanted to make the world surrender in the name of the emperor.
Luoyang experienced a sudden change. As the saying goes, one stone stirred up a thousand waves. The news of the foolish man Yuan Shu proclaiming himself emperor spread, and the princes from all walks of life were not calm. Just as Chen Long's army crossed Dong'e County, a letter from Xun Yu and Xun Wenruo had already landed on Chen Long's desk along with the news that Yuan Shu had proclaimed himself emperor.
If you want to know what happens next, listen to the explanation next time.
