Cao Cao's edict quickly reached Yuan Shao, who immediately took the civil and military personnel recruited by his subordinates and led 30,000 soldiers to leave the Bohai Sea to make an alliance with Cao Cao. The two agreed on getting rid of Dong Zhuo. Finally, it was agreed that Cao Cao would draft a proclamation to punish thieves and send it to all states and counties, gathering forces from all over the country.
The content of the memorandum is: I, Cao Cao, declare with the righteousness of the world that Dong Zhuo deceived the superiors and deceived the young emperor, openly deposed the young emperor, killed the king and destroyed the country, brought chaos to the entire palace, killed countless creatures, was as violent as a wolf, and was full of evil! Today, according to the secret edict of the Emperor, I recruit all the righteous men from all over the world to join in the crusade. I vow to eliminate this scourge for the country and bring order to the Han Dynasty. I hope that everyone can support me and raise up the righteous soldiers to crusade and save the people of Li from the fire. The message has been conveyed. Please You act as soon as possible.
Cao Cao's message soon spread to all states and counties across the country, and princes from all over the country raised troops to respond, so seventeen towns were established, namely: the first town, and the later general Yuan Shu, the prefect of Nanyang. In the second town, Han Fu, the governor of Jizhou. In the third town, Kong Min, the governor of Yuzhou. In the fourth town, Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou. In the fifth town, Wang Kuang, the prefect of Hanoi County. In the sixth town, Zhang Miao, the governor of Chenliu. In the seventh town, Qiao Mao, the governor of Dongjun. In the eighth town, Yuan Yi, the governor of Shanyang. In the ninth town, Bao Xin, Prime Minister of Jibei Province. In the tenth town, Kong Rong, the governor of Beihai. In the eleventh town, Zhang Chao, the prefect of Guangling. In the twelfth town, Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou. In the Thirteenth Town, Ma Teng, the governor of Xiliang. In the Fourteenth Town, Gongsun Zan, the governor of Peking. In the fifteenth town, Zhang Yang, the governor of Shangdang. In the 16th town, Sun Jian, the governor of Changsha, Marquis of Wucheng. In the seventeenth town, Yuan Shao, the Marquis of Qixiang and the governor of Bohai, lived. The number of these soldiers and horses varied. Some brought more than 30,000 people, while others only had 10,000 or 20,000 people. In short, the voices were loud, and each of them led civilians and military officers towards Luoyang.
Gongsun Zan, the prefect of Peking, commanded fifteen thousand elite troops, passed through Pingyuan County, Dezhou, and headed for the Luoyang Alliance gathering place. While walking, he suddenly saw a yellow flag among the mulberry trees in the distance. Several people were riding horses. Look carefully. It turned out to be Liu Bei, an old acquaintance.
Gongsun Zan was overjoyed and stepped forward and said, "Why are you here, my dear brother?"
Liu Bei said: "Thanks to you, brother, for recommending me as the magistrate of Pingyuan County. Today I heard that your army is going to Luoyang via my place. I am waiting here specially to invite your troops to take a rest in Pingyuan County, which I am in charge of."
Gongsun Zan saw two warriors standing behind Liu Bei. He knew at a glance that they were highly skilled in martial arts, so he pointed at them and said, "Who is behind you? They don't look like ordinary warriors."
Liu Bei introduced: "These two are my brothers, called Guan Yu and Zhang Fei."
Gongsun Zan asked: "Are they also the ones who joined you in defeating the Yellow Turban bandits?"
Liu Bei nodded and said, "Yes, it's just the two of them who contributed, otherwise I wouldn't have such great achievements."
Gongsun Zan asked again: "What positions do they hold now?"
Answer: "Guan Yu is a horse archer, Zhang Fei is an infantry archer, and I have a brother who is a high-ranking official in Luoyang City."
Gongsun Zan sighed: "Why are their positions so low? You really buried the heroes. I wonder who your other brother is?"
Liu Bei felt very proud and said with a smile: "My name is Yu Yi. He is my fourth brother. He accepted my order and lurked in Luoyang City. He was heavily involved in the previous plans to assassinate Dong Zhuo."
Gongsun Zan was not very familiar with Yu Yi, so he did not comment on it. However, he was not satisfied with Liu Bei's current state and suggested: "Now that Dong Zhuo is in trouble, all the princes in the world are fighting together and are all going to Luoyang. Dear brother, Wouldn't it be more meaningful to resign this county magistrate directly and let us go together to fight against the thieves and help the Han Dynasty?"
In fact, Liu Bei also received Cao Cao's appeal against thieves. In addition, he and Yu Yi had some disputes about establishing their own business in the early stage, so he agreed on the spot and said: "This is great!"
Liu Bei was actually a very ambitious man, but as a clan member of the Han Dynasty, he could never do anything openly unjust.
Zhang Fei stood up at this time and said: "Brother still blames me for this. When we were fighting against the Yellow Turban Thieves, we met Dong Zhuo. This man was quite rude. If you hadn't stopped me and killed him, I wouldn't be like this now." It’s a troublesome thing.”
Liu Bei smiled and said: "One moment is not the other. Besides, you are often impulsive. If I was killed in vain by you and there were no such consequences, would you say something else?"
Zhang Fei was speechless by Liu Bei's words. Guan Yu came out to smooth things over and said with a smile: "Third brother, now that things are like this, we'd better pack up our things and follow Gongsun Zan."
"Okay, I just happened to go see our fourth brother. It's been so long, but I don't know how he is now?" Zhang Fei looked very happy.
On the other hand, Liu Bei was a little melancholy, thinking that lurking around Dong Zhuo was a very dangerous thing, and Yu Yi would definitely not feel good about it. This was because this big brother was incompetent.
So Liu Bei just took Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and a small number of cavalry, and followed Gongsun Zan towards Luoyang City.
In less than a few days, all the princes were in place and arrived at the assembly point near Luoyang City. Cao Cao greeted them separately and made overall arrangements for everyone to set up camp in their respective villages. A total of more than 200 miles were connected. At the same time, he also They ordered people to slaughter cattle and horses, held a large banquet, and discussed together how to attack Luoyang.
Prefect Wang Kuang suggested: "Today we are all gathered together for the sake of national justice. We must determine a leader to lead us. Otherwise, we will be scattered and unconstrained. How can we march?"
Cao Cao naturally understood what this meant, and stood up and said: "Yuan Shao's family is the fourth generation and the third Duke. He has the most old people from the Han Dynasty in the family, and he is also a descendant of the Ming Dynasty Prime Minister. I think it is most appropriate to infer him as the leader of the alliance."
Yuan Shao felt very comfortable after being praised by Cao Cao. He also knew that the leader of the alliance had decided to sit down, but he still seemed to have to do something, so he quickly declined. However, everyone suggested that he be the leader of the alliance. It was really unavoidable. Can agree to this request.
On the second day, the leader's ceremony was carried out. A three-story high platform was built with soil, and then the flags of the five parties were planted. Some weapons were arranged on it, and the military symbols and general seals were arranged. Yuan Shao climbed up, arranged his clothes and accessories, Burning incense and praying to the sky, they shouted: "The Han Dynasty is unfortunate. The royal program has lost its rule. The Dong thieves took the opportunity to enter, disrupt the palace, and the people are displaced. We are afraid that the country will be lost because of this, so we gather the strength of the whole country to fight against the national disaster. All those in our alliance People, we must work together to ensure the integrity of our ministers, and do not have different ideas. If you betray this alliance, you will die a violent death without any descendants. The emperor, the queen, the earth, the ancestors and the gods will all witness together!"
After finishing speaking, he put a few drops of blood on the wine in the bowl and drank it all in one gulp. Others also drank with blood, because Yuan Shao's words felt very generous.
