In May of the third year of Yongjia.
Luoyang, although the Huns who invaded south from Bingzhou had been repelled at this time, the imperial capital Luoyang once again became safe.
However, due to the war, production throughout Luoyang was severely damaged.
Originally, the surrounding states were already too busy to take care of themselves and could not supply the hundreds of thousands of officials, soldiers and civilians in Luoyang City as they could in peacetime. Therefore, after the Huns retreated, a visible famine was waiting for the princes in Luoyang in the autumn.
Moreover, after the Huns' offensive retreated, Sima Yue, the Taifu King of Donghai who was stationed in Xingyang, started a new round of dispatching troops and generals, preparing to march to Luoyang to drive away Gou Xi from Luoyang City.
After experiencing several bitter battles with the Huns, Gou Xi already understood that although the Huns' intentions to invade Luoyang were thwarted these times, several fortresses and cities around Luoyang that defended Luojing had been lost. Judging from the current situation, it is probably only a matter of time before Luoyang is conquered by the Huns.
This time, they will face a new round of threats from King Sima Yue of the East China Sea, so Gou Xi, who has just taken control of Luoyang, decided to move with Emperor Sima Chi to a relatively safer place.
Not long ago, Sima Luo, the general who conquered the south and the governor of the four states of Jing, Hunan, Jiao, and Guang, died of illness in Xiangyang. His successor, Shan Jian, was a romantic celebrity who only knew how to drink and have fun all day long. Soon he The people of Jingzhou lost their hearts.
Gou Xi wanted to conquer Xiangyang in the name of the emperor. After all, Xiangyang was a famous waterway fortress, and with the counties of Nanxiang as its rear, although the population was far less than that of the Central Plains, it was relatively stable, and it was a place where Gou Xi could take a breather. Great place.
However, when Emperor Sima Chi of the Jin Dynasty learned that Gou Xi wanted to move south to Xiangyang, he immediately shook his head like a rattle and repeatedly expressed that as a dignified emperor, Sima Chi would never abandon his ancestral country and do anything. To do such a desperate thing would be an insult to the emperor's majesty.
After Sima Chi said these high-sounding words, he pretended to be calm on the surface, but in fact he looked at Gou Xi in a panic.
Sima Chi was the first emperor of a unified dynasty to be captured by the enemy in Chinese history. When Wang Mi Po Luoyang was about to capture him, he did not die in Sheji like Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty. Instead, he became a prisoner honestly and finally arrived. After the Xiongnu moved to Pingyang, the capital of the Han Dynasty, they also developed a "fellow acquaintance" with Liu Cong, the leader of the puppet Han Dynasty. {Liu Cong gave his wife Liu to Sima Chi as his wife}
Therefore, Sima Chi's righteous words in front of Gou Xi this time were simply because of his own thoughts.
It turned out that when he was controlled by Sima Yue, King of the East China Sea, Sima Chijue, as an emperor, actually had to rely on Sima Yue for everything. This feeling of being coerced by his subordinates made him angry.
When he sent out a few random letters to win over the officials of the state and county, and received a loyal reply from Gou Xi, Sima Chi felt that this was the best explanation of his destiny.
Gou Xi, the number one general under Sima Yue, actually betrayed Sima Yue and joined the army of his upright emperor.
At that time, Sima Chi felt that when Gou Xi helped him regain the country, he could get rid of thieves like Sima Yue who were monopolizing power and ruining the country, and then he could also do some great work in reviving the country.
However, when Gou Xi really led his army to control Luoyang and drove away Sima Yue's men, he suddenly discovered that Gou Xi, whom he had thought was a loyal and pure minister, was no less than Sima Yue. He took charge of military affairs in Luoyang and served as a guard in the palace. They were all served by General Gou Xi, who was harsh and harsh in governing the country by military law. He was autocratic and murderous even more than Sima Yue. Soon all the officials in Luoyang City were miserable. If it weren't for the Huns who were always outside Luoyang City. Youyou, I'm afraid they've already escaped.
Especially Emperor Sima Chi, who even felt a little regretful in the dead of night. He originally thought that Gou Xi was the Han general Chen Ping who helped the country, but he never expected that he turned out to be a powerful warrior comparable to Dong Zhuo.
Therefore, when Gou Xi proposed moving south to Jingzhou and Xiangyang, Sima Chi was completely unwilling and even forced himself to raise objections as the emperor.
All this is because Sima Chi knows that although he is now under the control of Gou Xi in Luoyang, there are still many officials, servants and palace people around him. If he goes south to Xiangyang, I am afraid that these people who are loyal to him will be scattered by Gou Xi. At that time, I am afraid that Sima Chi will be reduced to a lonely person who can strangle him by two small yellow sects.
And a more important reason is that Sima Yue, the king of the East China Sea who was stationed in Xingyang, expressed his grievances to the emperor Sima Chi through secret channels, and was willing to clarify the misunderstanding with the emperor and restore the original favor between the emperor and his ministers.
Sima Yue said that the reason why he took charge of the government was entirely because the world was in chaos and the emperor was still too young. As prime minister, Sima Yue was only sincerely sharing the emperor's worries. After all, the world of the Jin Dynasty belonged to the Sima family. Sima Yue No matter what Yue does as a member of the clan, he does it for the sake of the Hanoi Sima family for generations to come, which is absolutely different from ministers with foreign surnames like Gou Xi.
After receiving Sima Yue's repeated oaths, Sima Chi wondered whether he had really misunderstood the Taifu before. After all, although Sima Yue held the power of the court, every time he made a major decision, there would be a debate between the emperor and his ministers, and then he would Promulgated and implemented in the name of the emperor.
The Taifu was never as murderous and arbitrary as Gou Xi. You must know that Gou Xi issued orders several times. Sima Chi did not even know the contents of these orders and edicts from beginning to end. Sima Chi's servants were at fault, but Gou Xi, as a foreign minister, could Imposing punishment directly and all these things made Sima Chi feel that Gou Xi was far more hateful than Sima Yue.
Moreover, Sima Yue secretly sent a message to Emperor Sima Chi, saying that Gou Xi suggested that the Emperor move south to Xiangyang in order to deceive the people of Zhongzhou in the name of the Emperor and let them follow the Emperor to move south. When these people arrived in the Jingxiang area , Gou Xi will kill Emperor Sima Chi and usurp the throne. At that time, the more loyal Sima is, the more loyal King Qin will be, and he will be beyond his reach.
Sima Yue's secret envoy even stated conclusively that they had intercepted the correspondence between Gou Xi and Jingzhou officials. Among them, Liu Fan, the internal history of Shunyang, who was well-known in Jingzhou, had participated in Gou Xi's conspiracy.
Liu Fan is the son of Liu Hong, the former general of Zhennan and Jingzhou. Liu Hong was very effective in suppressing and recruiting the refugees in Jingxiang. Even after Liu Hong's death, hundreds of thousands of refugees in the Jingxiang area have always expressed their gratitude to Liu Hong. Because of his kindness, Liu Fan has a strong appeal among the refugees in Jingxiang area.
Amidst all this information, true and false, false and true, Sima Chi made up his mind and refused to leave Luoyang for even half a step.
General Gou Xi, who had always thought that the emperor was weak, saw that Emperor Sima Chi was actually willing to die rather than obey. Although he was unhappy, he did not really dare to do anything extraordinary.
However, under Gou Xi's cold and solemn eyes, the determination in the heart of the young emperor Sima Chi quickly dissipated.
In the end, Sima Chi expressed his promise that if Gou Xi really wanted to move south to Jingxiang, Sima Chi was willing to use the emperor's seal to support him, so that Gou Xi could fake the yellow ax and give Jiuxi to act on behalf of the emperor to guard Jingxiang.
After hearing Sima Chi's words, Gou Xi and all the officials and generals present were frightened.
Gou Xi even immediately knelt down with a salute and repeatedly shouted "death penalty, capital punishment".
Because in Sima Chi's almost frightening words, the fake yellow ax became the highest-level method of authorizing the king. With the power of the fake yellow axe, not only can he kill soldiers who violate military orders at will, but he can also go on expeditions on behalf of the monarch and have the power to kill generals.
Adding Jiuxi means adding nine kinds of ritual utensils. It is the nine kinds of utensils given by the emperor to princes and ministers with special honors. It is the expression of the highest courtesy.
Prior to this, the people who added Jiuxi included Wang Mang, Cao Cao, Sun Quan, Shi Xie, Sima Lun, Sima Jiong, etc. Among them, except Shi Xie, the others either succeeded in usurping the throne, or were in the process of usurping the throne. People on the road.
Therefore, when Sima Chi said these words, it was like putting Gou Xi on the fire. After all, Gou Xi couldn't compare with these seniors who added Jiuxi, not only in terms of fame, but even in the most basic strength. , if he really dares to accept the honor of being an emperor with nine tins and fake yellow axe, with his current strength, he will only have ten and a half days left to live.
When Taifu Sima Yue, who was in Xingyang, heard that Emperor Sima Chi of Luoyang had used such decisive words to forcibly cancel Gou Xi's plan to coerce the emperor to go south to Jingxiang, he couldn't help but feel happy. This showed that he had secretly contacted him several times before. The emperor has had an effect, which shows that Emperor Sima Chi has begun to believe what he said.
Sima Yue believed that as long as he continued to work hard to add more fuel to the fire, he could definitely bring the emperor back to his side. At that time, Gou Xike would become a pure duplicity and would no longer have the support to rely on the emperor to order Buchen. After that, he can slowly eliminate Gou Xi.
After Gou Xi is eliminated, he can continue to be in charge of an bg and continue to command Wang Jun of Youzhou, Zhang Gui of Liangzhou, Liu Fan of Jingxiang and others in the name of the emperor. Of course, Liu Yu of Qingzhou, who has always been a violator, belongs to People who cannot give orders are dangerous people who need to be eliminated.
At this time, Liu Yu, who had returned to Linzi, Qingzhou, did not know that he was already among the people who must be liquidated by Sima Yue, the Taifu of the Jin Dynasty. Liu Yu, who had no idea that a disaster might be imminent in the future, was immersed in the chaos at this time. In joy.
The reason why Liu Yu was happy was that since his father-in-law Wang Jun, the governor of Youzhou, sent troops south to Jizhou, the Youzhou army fought several times with Liu Ling's rebel army, forcing tens of thousands of people from Jizhou to move to Qingzhou.
This is probably the so-called self-cultivation of benevolence, and the foreigners from far away come to attach it.
Of course, these scholars and common people in Jizhou are definitely not distant barbarians. It can even be said that several of them have surnames that have led the trend of scholars in the Central Plains for hundreds of years.
Among them, a branch of the Hua family from Pingyuan County came to Qingzhou to defect to Liu Yu. This Pingyuan Hua family was a famous family in Hebei, and Hua Xin, a famous scholar in the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, was among them.
The name of the Hua scholar who came to Qingzhou to join Liu Yu this time was Hua Xiu. His sister was the late wife of Wang Jun, the governor of Youzhou, and the biological mother of Liu Yu's wife Wang Ze was this Hua family. So from a relationship point of view, this Hua Xiu He is Liu Qian's real uncle.
The reason why Hua Xiu came to seek refuge with his nephew and son-in-law Liu Yu, instead of seeking refuge with Wang Jun, the more powerful governor of Youzhou, was entirely because Wang Jun, a rotten old man, explained very well what it means to leave someone with tea. After the death of his wife Hua Shi, Wang Jun quickly remarried the Cui family of Qinghe. Wang Jun, who had already known his destiny to marry a teenage wife from a famous family, had long forgotten his dead wife.
Another thing is that just last year, Wang Jun and Hua's only son who was born and raised died of illness at a young age.
As a result, the bond that maintained the Wang family in Taiyuan and the Hua family in Pingyuan was completely gone. Hua Xiu, who was extremely smart and insightful, would not go to Youzhou to seek trouble.
Moreover, these aristocratic families migrate to seek refuge during wars, not just to visit relatives and just go to any place. They usually take into account factors such as in-laws, old friends, factions, strength, etc., and these powerful families will not leave all the eggs at all. Putting it in a basket usually means diversifying the investment. It is often very dangerous to entrust the fate of the entire family to one person. Only diversifying the investment and making each one his own is the best way to continue the bloodline and glory of the clan in the bloody and troubled times.
The most famous among them is probably the Zhuge family of Langya County in the late Han Dynasty. The three families of Han, Wei, and Wu were the highest examples of the decentralized development of large clans. Although the blood inheritance of several of them suffered a fatal blow, the glorious inheritance of the clan In terms of education and development, the Zhuge family was one of the most shining star families in the Three Kingdoms era.
Even during the Yongjia period when Liu Yu lived at this time, the glory and blood of the Zhuge family still existed. The most famous example is the current King of Langya. Sima Rui, who later founded the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was the nephew of the Langya Zhuge family.
Of course, if he were Niu Rui, he might have a different story.
Although he knew that his cheap uncle Hua Xiu was one of the many choices of the big family, Liu Yu was still very happy.
Because not long after they met, Hua Xiu said that he would introduce some old relatives and friends from Jizhou, Hebei Province to Liu Yu, so that Liu Yu could hire them at his discretion.
This made Liu Yu, who had been suffering from a lack of trustworthy administrative talents, overjoyed. He wanted to compare with the deep-rooted local tyrants in Qingzhou. These Hebei nobles who moved away from home were far more trustworthy and easier to control than them.
With the defection of these Hebei scholars, Liu Yu decided to use this to suppress the local tyrants in Qingzhou who had begun to emerge again.
Otherwise, Liu Yu has figured it out and is counting on his old brothers who are from the Donglai rebels and the handsome men who are from the refugees. I am afraid that within a few years, all of them will be bribed by these powerful men in Qingzhou. Win over.
Because Liu Yu had suddenly discovered that many of his generals had become the sons-in-law of powerful men in various prefectures and counties in Qingzhou, and of course some of them married their own children.
It was obvious that these old brothers who had to be trusted at first would become one of Qingzhou's powerful men in the future.
