After Peng Chong rebelled, he conquered Zhang Bu in the south and the Xiongnu in the north, and he was defeated in Youzhou.
Zhang Bu in the south gave Peng Chong a certain amount of support, and the Xiongnu in the north were bribed by Peng Chong to send tens of thousands of Xiongnu troops to assist Peng Chong, hoping to help him capture Youzhou in one fell swoop.
After receiving reinforcements from the Huns, Peng Chong's morale became stronger. In addition, Peng Chong successively won over the Fuping rebel army and won the Suo rebel army. Zhang Feng, the prefect of Zhuojun, also launched Liu Xiu's rebellion and responded to Peng Chong. This made
Peng Chong's strength doubled.
In the ensuing battle, Peng Chong led his troops and defeated Youzhou Mu Zhufu who was stationed in Jixian in one fell swoop, and successfully occupied Jixian.
After that, Peng Chong proclaimed himself King of Yan in Ji County and established his capital in Ji. This is the current situation in Youzhou.
At the court that day, Liu Xiu did not immediately talk about how to quell Peng Chong's rebellion. Instead, he first took out a memorial from Zhu Fu and handed it to the ministers for circulation. Generally speaking, Zhu Fu's memorial was an important response to
Liu Xiu's complaint was only expressed tactfully and not sharply, but it can also be seen that Zhu Fu was very angry when he wrote this memorial.
Zhu Fu was dissatisfied that Liu Xiu dismissed a captain in Youzhou.
After Liu Xiu came to power, he appointed imperial envoys on a large scale and then sent envoys to local areas to supervise local officials.
If any local official receives a salary from the court but does nothing, the imperial envoy will be impeached. If any local official fails to do things well and governs poorly, the imperial envoy will be impeached. If any local official enriches himself and accepts bribes, the imperial envoy will be impeached.
The envoy must be impeached.
In short, if the imperial envoy sees someone he doesn't like, he can slap a crime or fault on his head, and then he can be impeached.
Since all the imperial envoys were selected, approved, and appointed by Liu Xiu, Liu Xiu attached great importance to the emissaries' submissions. Once he received the imperial emissary's impeachment notice, he would issue an order to reprimand him at the least, or dismiss him from office at the most serious, or even issue a ban.
Those who go to jail.
This time, the imperial envoy Shangshu impeached a captain in Youzhou, and Liu Xiu issued an order to remove him from office.
When Zhu Fu learned about this, he was furious. He was Youzhou Mu, and he didn't know what was going on. One of his subordinate officials was dismissed.
Moreover, the person who was dismissed was not a minor official, but a captain, a senior official who was in charge of the military affairs of a county and whose status was second only to the prefect.
Zhu Fu immediately wrote a memorial to Liu Xiu. In the memorial, Zhu Fu criticized the policy adopted by Liu Xiu.
The imperial envoy is not a big official, with a salary of only a few hundred dan, while the captain's salary is more than 2,000 dan. An official with a salary of a few hundred dan can easily dismiss an official with a salary of several thousand dan. Isn't this a joke?
What's more, the imperial envoy is a human being, and he has selfish motives. Who can guarantee that there will be no subjective factors in the impeachment of the imperial envoy, and there will be no unjust, false, or wrongful convictions?
Your Majesty does not investigate or interrogate, but only listens to the envoy's words, and dismisses high-ranking local officials at will. If this continues, it will lead to countless unjust and wrongful convictions.
If this situation continues, then all local officials will be in danger in the future, and everyone will try their best to please the imperial envoy. Where will there be officials who are dedicated to the people and serious about governance?
The words of Zhu Fu's memorial were not so sharp, but the general meaning was this. After reading it, Liu Xiu did feel that Zhu Fu's rebuke of him was justified, and that there was indeed something wrong with his own policies.
Liu Xiu was not a person who wanted to save face and refused to admit his mistakes. He deliberately brought Zhu Fu's memorial to the court and showed it to all the officials in the court to ask their opinions.
Zhu Fu has very obvious advantages and disadvantages. In terms of his personal character, he is petty, narrow-minded, and extremely vindictive. If someone offends him, he will hold the grudge against him for the rest of his life. As long as he has the opportunity, he will do everything possible to give him a break.
It turns out that Peng Chong was forced to rebel by Zhu Fu's repeated traps.
But when it comes to governance, Zhu Fu is really a wise minister. When Liu Xiu made mistakes, he dared to speak out and correct them. Many of the policies he proposed were also adopted and implemented by Liu Xiu.
For the Jianwu court, Zhu Fu really made a lot of contributions.
After the ministers circulated Zhu Fu's memorial, many people were secretly grinning. Even though Zhu Fu's words were very soft, he was ultimately blaming His Majesty for his faults and his wrong policies. There are not many memorials like this.
I dare to write.
Seeing that everyone had finished circulating it, Liu Xiu asked: "What do you think of Zhuzhou Mu's memorial?"
All the ministers looked at each other in confusion, but no one said anything. After waiting for a while, Fu Zhan took the lead in lifting the wat board and said: "Your Majesty, I think that the Zhuzhou pastor's words are reasonable. It is beneficial for the imperial envoy to inspect the place on behalf of the emperor, but there are also some disadvantages.
The disadvantage, as Zhu Zhoumu said, is that it can easily lead to unjust, false and wrongful convictions, so please be aware of it!"
Song Hong then said: "The policy of inspections implemented by your Majesty's imperial envoys, I think, can greatly deter and supervise local officials. However, the power of the imperial envoys should also be limited. Officials impeached by the imperial envoys must go through the process."
During the interrogation, only one side of the story of the imperial emissary will be believed, and the three governments must conduct a joint trial to check each other and confirm that they are correct before they can be convicted. If the impeachment of the imperial emissary is fraudulent, the imperial emissary should also be severely punished."
Liu Xiu nodded while listening, feeling that Song Hong's words were very reasonable. He looked around at the rest of the people and said, "What do you think?"
"What Song Sikong said is absolutely true!"
"Song Sikong's words are very good! Wei Chen seconded his opinion!" "Wei Chen seconded his opinion!"
Seeing that no one raised any objections, Liu Xiu said: "I did not think carefully about selecting imperial envoys to inspect places. Now Shu Yuan pointed out the shortcomings, which also made me feel enlightened. Loyal ministers dare to tell the truth
It is admonished that all ministers should follow suit."
The imperial envoy was inspecting the inspection, and it was clear that there were such big drawbacks, but Zhu Fu was the only one who dared to go to Shu and give direct advice. Liu Xiu was also igniting the ministers in the hall with his words. Generals like Wu Han and Jia Fu didn't feel anything.
Fu Zhan, Song Hong and other civil servants, on the other hand, blushed and saluted forward one after another, saying: "I will remember your Majesty's teachings!"
As soon as the matter came to an end, Geng Yan raised the wat board and said loudly: "Your Majesty, I am here to start the memorial!"
Liu Xiu waved his hand and said, "If you have anything to say, Bo Zhao, please tell me."
Geng Yan said: "Your Majesty, I am willing to lead the troops to attack the rebel Peng Chong and quell the chaos in Youzhou!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Han stepped out of the queue, raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I will pacify the Peng thieves. I am willing to go!"
Deng Yu and Gai Yan also came out one after another to ask Liu Xiu for military service.
Liu Xiu looked at the people who were asking for battle, smiled slightly, and said: "Earlier, when the Red Eyebrow was first decided, Bo Zhao had already asked me for a tassel. He wanted to go to Youzhou and pacify Peng Chong. Now that the Red Eyebrow has been decided, I should also join him.
Fulfill the original promise.”
As he spoke, his eyes fell on Geng Yan and said: "General Jianwei!"
"Wei Chen is here!" Geng Yan bowed his hands and saluted.
"General Jianyi!"
"The minister is here!" Zhu You stepped out of the queue and stepped in to salute.
"General Han Zhong!"
"The humble minister is here!" Wang Chang stepped out and stepped in to salute.
Liu Xiu said: "Geng Yan is the chief general, Zhu You, and Wang Chang are the deputy generals. They command an army of 100,000 and go to Youzhou to attack Peng Chong!"
"I obey the order!" Geng Yan, Zhu You, and Wang Chang all responded in unison with joy on their faces.
Liu Xiu said: "In this battle, you and others must not only pacify the rebels, pacify the Fuping rebel army, and seize the rebel army, but also expel the Huns. How can we allow the Huns to trample on the territory of our great Han Dynasty?!"
Geng Yan, Zhu You, and Wang Chang saluted again and said loudly: "Your Majesty, don't worry, I will fulfill my mission!"
Peng Chong had been struggling in Youzhou for a long time, and Liu Xiu had almost always adopted a laissez-faire attitude toward Youzhou. It wasn't that Liu Xiu didn't want to take care of it, but that he didn't take any action to take care of it. Peng Chong chose the time for his rebellion very well. At that time, the soldiers and horses under Liu Xiu were engaged in the Western Expedition, the Southern Expedition and the Eastern Expedition at the same time. Fighting on three fronts, there was really no extra force to quell Peng Chong. Now that the Western Expedition and the Eastern Expedition have ended, Liu Xiu is finally free. Deal with Peng Chong, a personal thorn in his side.
Not long after, Geng Yan led an army of 100,000 troops and marched north to Youzhou. At the same time, Fulong sent an envoy to Yanzhou to persuade Zhang Bu to surrender.
Peng Chong and Zhang Bu have reached an alliance. If Fulong can successfully persuade Zhang Bu to surrender, it will be a big blow to Peng Chong's power.
The news that Geng Yan led an army of 100,000 to the north soon reached Youzhou. Peng Chong was shocked when he learned about it. Even though he beat Zhu Fu to the point where he was unable to fight back in Youzhou, Geng Yan was not Zhu Fu.
Zhu Fu was more inclined to be a civil servant, but Geng Yan was a real military general, and a famous general who was brave and good at fighting. Geng Yan commanded an army of 100,000 to go north, and Peng Chong really didn't dare to go head-to-head with him.
He sent an envoy overnight to the Xiongnu to meet with the Xiongnu Chanyu and request the Xiongnu to send troops for reinforcements. Previously, the Xiongnu had sent reinforcements to Peng Chong with more than 10,000 troops, but in the face of Geng Yan's 100,000-strong army, Peng Chong felt that there was only one Tens of thousands of Xiongnu horsemen were not enough.
Peng Chong searched a lot in Youzhou and sent many gold, silver, jewelry and beautiful women to the Xiongnu Chanyu. Now these gifts are working. The Xiongnu Chanyu received Peng Chong's envoy. After listening to the envoy's request, the Xiongnu Chanyu Without much thought, Yu sent two Xiongnu kings commanding tens of thousands of troops to reinforce Peng Chong.
When the envoy returned to Jixian and listened to the envoy's report about the Xiongnu Chanyu's reinforcements for his side, Peng Chong was overjoyed and sighed repeatedly: "The great thing has come true! The great thing has come true!"
Now that he had tens of thousands of Xiongnu troops to reinforce him, he no longer had to fear Geng Yan.
Peng Chong sent his younger brother Peng Chun to join the Xiongnu army, and made an agreement with the two Xiongnu kings that two groups of his own troops would attack the Han army together. Attacking from both sides, Geng Yan would be defeated.
The two Xiongnu kings had no objections, accepted Peng Chong's request, and temporarily handed over the command of the Xiongnu army to Peng Chun. In accordance with the agreement between him and his brother, Peng Chun prepared to launch a two-pronged pincer attack on Geng Yan's army.
As a result, Peng Chun had not encountered Geng Yan's army yet, but when he was marching through Shanggu County, he was informed of the military situation by Shanggu Prefect Geng Kuang. Geng Kuang immediately summoned the county officials to discuss the matter.
Most of the county officials advised Geng Kuang that he should not act rashly. There were tens of thousands of Xiongnu troops, and the thousands of troops in Shanggu County were no match for them.
Geng Shu did not agree with the opinions of the officials. Now Peng Chong colluded with the Huns and wanted to implement a double-attack tactic against Geng Yan's tribe. Once Peng Chong's tactics were successfully implemented, Geng Yan's tribe would be extremely passive. If not done well, they would be killed.
Peng Chong teamed up with the Huns and defeated them in one fell swoop.
If Geng Yan is defeated, what will happen next? As the saying goes, it is easy to ask the gods to send them away, but it is difficult to send them away. Why did the Huns send so many soldiers and horses to reinforce Peng Chong?
To put it bluntly, the Huns are man-made for Youzhou! After Geng Yan’s defeat, all counties in Youzhou will fall. By then, Youzhou will still be the Youzhou of the Han people, but will become the Youzhou of the Huns.
Therefore, now is the moment of life and death for Youzhou! We must not allow Peng Chong to successfully implement the tactics of attacking from both sides. We must annihilate the Huns army passing by Shanggu County.
After Geng Shu finished speaking, all the county officials present were dumbfounded and frightened. First, the situation Geng Shu said was really possible. Second, thousands of county troops on our side wanted to annihilate them.