After Wang Rui and Zhang Zi were killed, the news spread to Luoyang. Prime Minister Dong Zhuo was just happy about the news of the great victory over Bianshui, but when he heard that Yuan Shu had gathered 100,000 soldiers in Nanyang, he couldn't help but feel a headache. He sighed and said: "The thieves in the world are really like the grass that grows when the wind blows. As soon as Yuan Shao retreats, Yuan Shu comes again. They can't stop killing them all, and they can't stop stealing the grass."
Cai Yong, the general of Wuguanlang, stepped forward to offer his advice and said: "If Dong Gong were to kill all the traitors in the world, they would of course be inexhaustible. However, their hearts are not pure, their Taoism is not correct, and they all have ambitions to become kings and hegemons." , Wang Rui and Zhang Zi were originally members of Yuan Shao's party, and now he was killed by Yuan Shu and Sun Jian, which is clear evidence. Now that the governor of Jingzhou is vacant, it is better to send a famous member of the clan to succeed him. If Yuan Shu competes with him, he will not dare to march northward with his entire army. , if Yuan Shu does not dare to strive for profit, he will take advantage of him, and the disaster in the south will not be a concern."
Although Dong Zhuo learned that Chen Chong was also involved in the rebellion against Dong, Cai Yong's planning for him and the deployment of people made him often feel that his horizons were opened and he was convinced. The smooth progress of moving the capital was inseparable from Cai Yong's support. The huge gentry clan There were only a few people in the high sect who were willing to really serve him, so he still trusted Cai Yong. Hearing the song and knowing its elegant meaning, he asked, "It's Liu Biao who said what Mr. Cai said."
So Liu Biao of Shanyang was appointed as the governor of Jingzhou. After Liu Biao accepted the appointment, he was overjoyed and said to his eldest son Liu Qi: "The world is in chaos. I am going to Jingzhou. Although I am going to a dangerous place, it is just like the ancestors who went to Hebei to recruit heroes and serve. If you please the people, even if you cannot become an emperor, you can still become the overlord of one place." After receiving the imperial edict with the seal and ribbon, he immediately moved his family south to Jingzhou.
At that time, Yuan Shu garrisoned in Luyang, aggressively recruited bandits from various counties in Jingzhou, made his own seals and ribbons, and commended as many as seventeen school captains, each with thousands of men. He also commended Su Dai as the governor of Changsha, and Sun Jian as the general of Polu. Jingzhou was frightened by Yuan Shu's momentum and turned to follow Yuan Shu as the leader.
When Yuan Shu heard that Liu Biao had been appointed as the governor of Jingzhou, he felt troubled for a while. He neither dared to kill him nor wanted him to take office, so he ordered his soldiers to intercept Liu Biao's convoy and prevent him from leaving Luyang, placing him under disguised house arrest. After the arrangements were made, Yuan Shu surrendered again. In the dispute over the governor of Yuzhou, in order to control the two states.
Liu Biao knew that time waits for no one. He considered the profit and loss, so he left his family in Luyang. He kept his name anonymously, took only the imperial edict with seals and ribbons, dressed in a black military uniform and a bamboo hat, dressed as a ranger, and rode south from Ye County alone, day and night. Passing through Nanyang County, he passed through Xiangyang without entering. Instead, he entered Yicheng first to plan how to recapture Jingzhou.
Liu Biao acted extremely secretly about this matter, and Yuan Shu was completely unaware of it, because the battle for Yuzhou was entering a critical juncture.
Since the Battle of Bianshui, Yuan Shao's coalition forces retreated to Suanzao. In this battle, the coalition forces lost nearly 30,000 people, and most of the casualties were elite knights. This made the coalition forces greatly fear Dong's army, and they no longer wanted to advance and win. Instead, the princes They blamed each other and vented their anger on Cao Cao, saying that his plan was not good enough and that the light army advanced rashly to achieve this great defeat.
Cao Cao couldn't bear the disturbance, so he simply left the coalition and went to Yangzhou to recruit soldiers. Later, the princes argued that Kong Niao, the governor of Yuzhou, missed the deadline and did not advance or retreat with the army, which led to this defeat. Otherwise, how could he have won the victory with nearly 200,000 people? What? Then he turned to complain about Kong Min, and there were many discussions and slanders.
The leader of the alliance, Yuan Shao, said nothing during the whole process and allowed the princes to criticize him.
As a result, there was a rift between Kong Ni and the coalition forces, so he immediately led his troops back to Yangdi, Yingchuan, and announced his withdrawal from the challenge against Dong. Yuan Shu thought that this was a good opportunity to win over Kong Ni, so he sent Chang Nu to visit Kong Ni. Kong Ni learned that Yuan Shu
He came to recruit him, but he dismissed him and laughed and said: "Although I am at odds with Yuan Benchu, who is Yuan Jiujiu, and he also wants to recruit me? How can he lead the Qingliu to fight against Dong even if he hangs out with the bandit Lao Ge all day long?
?"
When Yuan Shu heard this, he was very angry and tore up all the documents that he was preparing to recommend Kong Ni as the commander of the Sili school. That night, he summoned an assassin in his tent and said to him: "If I can get Kong Ni's head, I can do it."
I wish you five hundred gold."
The assassin was brought by Yuan Shu from Hu Ben's army. He was famous as Cheng Hu. He was originally from Yangzhai, Yingchuan. He knew the environment of the city well and was good at cutting throats and killing people, so he was entrusted with this important task by Yuan Shu.
On April 16, Cheng Hu transformed himself into a refugee from Henan and fled into Yangzhai City. He spent two days squatting in front of the county mansion to beg, observing the time when Kong Ni entered and exited the mansion, and secretly sneaked into the mansion with a hook during the curfew, spending two days.
After figuring out the layout of Kong Min's mansion, he went out of the city and sent a letter to Yuan Shu, informing him that he planned to take action on April 25.
That night, he hid a fine iron knife in his arms. Dressed in black and with a black scarf around his mouth, he climbed over the wall from the wooden ladder and went out in the dark. He walked all the way to the corner of the county house, where a century-old locust tree stretched out its branches.
Leave the house.
But there were dark clouds that night, and there was no moonlight. He threw the hook several times but failed to hook it up. He had to light a fire to see, and then climbed over the wall. It was early summer, and there were a few hooks on the branches.
A warbler was perched, but when people climbed up the wall, there was no sound, and not a single warbler woke up.
He crept like a cat on the eaves of the wall, passed seven or eight wing rooms, and went straight to Kong Ni's bedroom. There was a clear pond dug in front of Kong Ni's house, which was easy to identify. Kong Ni had just had a chat with his concubine before and was tired.
The weather was very hot, but he found it difficult to fall asleep by tossing and turning in bed, so he opened the window and let the cool breeze blow onto the bed, then fell asleep.
This time, Narito didn't even have to bother to open the door. Narito went inside and heard his snoring. He suddenly felt calm. He took a knife in one hand and a linen cloth in the other. He covered the mouths and noses of the two people on the bed, one by one, and soon
Both of them were completely dead. It was not until Cangtou knocked on the door to clean the house at dawn that they realized that their bodies were also completely cold.
As a result, Yangzhai was in chaos, and there was chaos inside and outside the city.
At this time, Li Min marched in with 20,000 infantry, surrounded Yangzhai that night, and declared to take over the Yingchuan Prefecture in the name of Yuan Shu. The prefecture was leaderless, and the former Yingchuan prefect Xu Yuan could not take the responsibility, so the prefecture had no choice but to surrender.
Yuan Shu then recommended Sun Jian to serve as the governor of Yuzhou, Li Min as the governor of Yingchuan, and Shu Zhongying as the governor of Runan. He also recruited the remaining Yellow Turbans from all over Yuzhou in the name of the imperial court. How to do it, brothers Heman and others came to respond, but within ten days
, Yuan Shu sent a message to decide on Yuzhou, and the army was expanded to nearly 60,000 in the account. It was really a big show.
Yuan Shu was taught by his own strategy, and he controlled the territory of two states. He proudly pressed Sun Jian and said: "Wentai, now Yuan Shao has been defeated in Bianshui, the world is disappointed, and the only ones who can challenge Dong Qin are you and me.
, attracted the attention of the whole world. Although Dong Zhuo has Yong and Si, I also control Jing and Henan. Dong Zhuo has more than a million households. The common people in Guanzhong hope that Wang Shi will pass through. I wonder when you can go north to challenge Dong?"
When Sun Jian met Yuan Shu, he praised him and said that Dong Zhuo was not worth a cent. But now when it comes to military matters, he is more serious. He analyzed Yuan Shu and said that today's soldiers are filthy and do not know military orders, let alone one hundred thousand.
Even if there are millions of people, they cannot be regarded as one of the Liang people. The Battle of Bianshui is a precedent. He needs to train his army and fight, order the three armies to carry out orders, and understand the drum formation, and only then can the Northern Expedition be successful.<
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Hearing Sun Jian's remarks, Yuan Shu was greatly disappointed, but Sun Jian was not trying to shirk the blame. He was indeed training his soldiers day and night in Luyang. When Sun Jian first came, the army was so powerful that it filled the mountains and fields. Yuan Shu thought he was a mighty army. However, in early May, Yuan Shu came to Lu again.
During the military parade in Yangyang, the troops were very different. Although there were occasional noises during the military parade, the soldiers of the three armies were mostly solemn. They stood in strict military posture and fought like a long forest. Yuan Shu was riding among them, feeling full of murderous intent. His expression
He couldn't help but feel changed. After dismounting, he sincerely admired Sun Jian: "I am short-sighted and do not know military affairs, so I leave everything in the army to Wentai."
News of the successive defeats of Yuan Shao's coalition forces in Hanoi gradually spread from the north. Yuan Shu became more and more complacent. He had been unable to compete with Yuan Shao since he was a child. Yuan Shao was always the leader in his clan. At this time, Yuan Shao's performance was so disappointing that it became clear that he was not Yuan Shao.
Yuan Shu's ability. Thinking that he has an army of famous generals and countless money, food and military resources, Yuan Shu seems to have seen the scene where he is the leader in the fight against Dong Zhong and enters Xijing first.
He completely forgot about Liu Biao.
On the fourth day of the fifth lunar month, a thief came to Luyang. He wore a canvas robe, half-bare arms, and carried three long knives in his waist. At first glance, he was a Jiang thief unique to Jingzhou. He held high the seal of the school captain.
Kneel down in front of the camp and ask to see Yuan Shu. This seal is made of coarse silver, with the word "Xiaowei" written in official script below. This seal does not have exquisite patterns like official seals, and it seems to be a private imitation. p>
But the guard did not dare to neglect him when he saw it, because he knew that this seal was made by Yuan Shu in Wancheng and distributed it in large quantities in Jingzhou. He hurriedly led the Jiang thief to Yuan Shu. At this time, Yuan Shu was talking with Chang
The slave was playing chess, holding a bunch of chips in his hand, and he was about to take it all. Suddenly, a person came and disturbed his interest. The reason was inexplicable. While eating the candied fruit, he asked curiously: "What can a Jiang thief do?".
When the Jiang thief saw Yuan Shu, he immediately knelt down and cried bitterly. He told him directly that in the past ten days or so, great changes had taken place in Jingzhou. His leader Ji Jin was invited by Liu Biao last month, but he was attacked and killed by Liu Biao at the banquet.
The crowd dispersed, and Yuan Shu was asked to lead the army to avenge the leader.
Yuan Shu was shocked when he heard this and hurriedly asked him for details.
It turns out that after Liu Biaodan rode into Yicheng, he obeyed the Yicheng order with an imperial edict, and then secretly contacted the Cai family of Xiangyang and the Kuai family of Zhonglu. These two families were large families in Nanjun, covering an area of 10,000 acres and having nearly 10,000 customers. Cai Mao, the leader of the two families,
Discussed with brothers Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue: "Although Yuan Shu comes from a high family, he has no celebrity status. He recruits clan traitors and despises scholars. Sun Jian killed an important minister of the country, but he actually entrusted him with an important task. He is worthy of being crowned as a monkey."
After all, we can't rely on it. But after Liu Jing was promoted to the clan, he was also known as the Eight Masters. He rode into Jing alone, which can be said to be an angry bullfight. We help him appease Jing Xiang, which is naturally far better than Yuan Shu's rule."
So both tribes attached themselves to Liu Biao and secretly communicated with all the tribes in Jingzhou. Liu Biao also reciprocated the favor and promoted Cai Mao to be a special agent, Kuai Yue to be in charge of governance, Kuai Liang to be chief administrator, and he married Cai's daughter as his head wife.
On April 21st, in the name of offering money to make good friends, Kuai Yue lured the fifteen thieves to the middle house for a banquet. During the banquet, Kuai Yue arranged a knife and axe-hand in a side room. The banquet was in full swing, so he threw a glass.
As an order, all the bandit commanders at the banquet were led by owl leaders, and all the bandits commanders were also attacked by Cai Mao's troops. Those who were captured and surrendered survived, and those who refused to surrender died.
On the 23rd, the head of the deceased was built as a palace under the city by Pang Ji of Xiangyang. Kuai Yue entered the city again and told the Jiangxia thieves Zhang Hu and Chen Sheng who had surrendered to the city. The two thieves had never seen such a scene. They immediately shouldered the bush and asked to surrender. Liu Biao was able to enter Xiangyang City, and then he issued a proclamation to the prefectures and counties, saying that anyone who colluded with the clan traitors would be killed immediately. When the county magistrates and magistrates in Jingzhou saw this thunderbolt method, their legs rustled, and they became a habit of fleeing, so Liu Biao appointed him
All the high-ranking clans in Jingzhou were officials. The Jiang bandit in front of him pretended to surrender. Seeing that Liu Biao was busy with government affairs, he escaped from Xiangyang's blockade and arrived in Luyang to convey the news.
When Yuan Shu learned the whole story, he was furious, his forehead was about to burn, and he couldn't even chew the candied fruit in his mouth. He hurriedly sent people to hunt down Liu Biao's family, hoping to use them as hostages to force Liu Biao. Unexpectedly, Liu Qi was good at human relations, and this month
I came to settle things with the guards and left Luyang ten days ago, taking a detour through Mianshui River and taking a boat to meet my father.
In this drama of challenging Dong, the world thought that the princes would sing the majestic "Made by Heaven" together, but unexpectedly the north sang the worried "North Gate", and the south sang "Blue Fly" which confuses the four kingdoms. In the end
When will anyone cheer up?
On the sixth day of May, Guan Yu refused Yuan Shao's solicitation and went south to Luyang.