After resting in Guangnian City for a few days, Lu Zhi's army set off, preparing to march north and attack Guangping County, eighty miles northeast of Guangping County.
Geographically, Chuzhang County is actually closer to Guangping County.
Guangping City is the seat of Guangping County, located on the border between Guangping County and Julu County, while Kuazhang County is directly below Guangping County. Mingshui River separates them in the middle, and the distance between the two sides is about fifty miles.
However, there is a disadvantage to advancing from Kuezhang County, that is, you need to cross a river. There is no bridge in Kuezhang, and if you want to cross the bridge, you have to take the pontoon bridge in Guangnian County, so you can only attack from Guangnian.
Lu Zhi has not been idle these two days. In order to deal with various people and pressures from all sides, he is almost exhausted and miserable.
After the army basically put down the rebellion in southern Jizhou, many celebrities in Jizhou and local officials gathered under him, such as the former Julu Governor Guo Dian, the former Jizhou Governor Li Shao, the new Anping Prime Minister Li Xie, and the Bohai Governor
Yang Xuan and more than ten people.
Some of them escaped during the Yellow Turban Rebellion; some were temporarily transferred after their original officials were killed during the Yellow Turban Rebellion; and some escaped with their lives after being rescued by Lu Zhi.
For example, Zhang Ze, the prefect of Wei County, was almost killed by the Yellow Turbans when he was guarding Yecheng. It was Lu Zhi who saved him.
As for those who did not come, they had either been killed, were on their way here, or had recovered under their own rule and returned to the place where they held their official posts to calm the people and resume production.
For example, Feng Xun, the prime minister of Ganling in the Qing Dynasty, was killed. The imperial court has ordered Liu Yu, the former governor of Youzhou, to serve as the new prime minister of Ganling. He is now rushing to Jizhou. There is also Li Zun, the prime minister of Hejian, who is currently a disciple of Guang Luxun Liu Kuan.
, after being killed by Zhang Jiao, the imperial court sent the new Prime Minister Chen Yan over.
Since Wei County had been recovered, Zhang Ze transported grain and grass in Wei County and acted as Lu Zhi's logistics.
The quarrel between the Yellow Turbans in Changshan County and Zhongshan Kingdom was not too serious, and Liu Bei cleaned up a small part of them. Sun Jin, the prefect, and Zang Min, the Prime Minister, are trying to calm the people's hearts.
The other officials gathered here at Lu Zhi had no place to go because their territory was occupied, so naturally they had no choice but to come to Lu Zhi and wait for their territory to be recovered.
Since the imperial court put a lot of pressure on them, they could only urge Lu Zhi to raise troops as soon as possible to pacify Jizhou.
In fact, thinking from Lu Zhi's perspective, he did not plan to attack Guangping so soon.
the reason is simple.
According to reports from the cavalry ambushing in Jize, soldiers and horses from Guangping have been leaving the north gate of Guangping at night for the past two days, and a steady stream of gold, silver, jewelry, grain and grass are being transported to Julu.
Judging from this move, Lu Zhi judged that Zhang Jiao was likely planning to abandon Guangping and escape to Julu.
This goes back to Lu Zhi's worries when he was in Handan more than ten days ago.
After defeating the Yellow Turbans of Wei County, Lu Zhi told the clan members that he was afraid that Zhang Jiao would escape back to Julu. After all, Guangping was easy to attack, but Julu was too difficult to fight and could easily develop into a protracted siege.
Fortunately, Lu Zhi had the foresight to respond in advance and ambush the cavalry early.
Guangnian County is only fifty miles away from Jize, and the cavalry is marching at full speed and can run back and forth in an hour, so the news can be easily passed on to Lu Zhi, allowing him to make a quick judgment based on the actual situation.
After understanding Zhang Jiao's plan, Lu Zhi had already considered using the cavalry to make a fuss. When Zhang Jiao's army withdrew from Guangping and headed towards Julu, the cavalry and infantry rushed out at the same time and fought with Zhang Jiao in the Jize field.
, then one battle can determine the outcome and wipe out all Zhang Jue's main forces.
However, he is not afraid of his opponents who are like gods, but he is afraid of his teammates who are like pigs. At this time, officials from all over the country came over to urge him to send troops as soon as possible. In addition, another troublesome thing was that King Liu Xu of Anping Kingdom was kidnapped by Zhang Jiao.
, when it came to the face of the imperial court, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty Liu Hong asked Lu Zhi to rescue Liu Xu, which made Lu Zhi feel like throwing a tantrum.
In fact, the Han Dynasty was a bit similar to the Ming Dynasty. They both had feudal systems, but it was different from the central financial difficulties caused by the crazy blood-sucking of local vassals at the end of the Ming Dynasty.
The vassal kings of the Han Dynasty firstly had very small fiefdoms, and secondly, had very little power. Thirdly, the number of vassal kings was also much smaller after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty used gold and gold to win titles.
In this way, the vassal kings of the Han Dynasty could not make any waves, and the court did not need to grant so much land and spend so much money to support a group of pigs every year.
Just because of this, the vassal kings in various places were very important in a political sense.
Once the world knew that the Liu family could not even save their descendants, it would be a huge blow to the Han Dynasty, so Liu Hongcai ordered Lu Zhi to rescue Liu Xu.
As for what to do with him after he is rescued, that is another matter.
In fact, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty never cared about Liu Xu's life or death. What he cared about was Liu Xu's title as the King of Anping Kingdom.
"Book of the Later Han" records that after Liu Xu was captured, he was as stingy as Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, and actually spent a large sum of money to redeem Liu Xu. After the redemption, Liu Xu was quickly killed on the charge of "treason and immorality"
Fall out and eliminate the Anping Kingdom.
This move looks a bit like taking off your pants and farting. Since you don't care about Liu Xu's life or death, why would you spend a fortune to redeem him?
In fact, this is a political means.
If people in the world know that the descendants of the Liu family and the dignified king of Anping were captured by rebels, and the court is unable to do anything about it, then where is the prestige of the court? The orthodoxy of the Han Dynasty will also be affected.
And if you can get Liu Xu back, you can immediately find an excuse to kill Liu Xu and get rid of the Anping Kingdom at the same time. This will strengthen the centralization of power, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.
Therefore, Liu Xu must come back safely. As long as he doesn't die in the hands of the Yellow Turban, everything will be fine.
This gave Lu Zhi a headache. His plan was to wipe out Zhang Jiao in Jize in one fell swoop. In this way, the situation would be decided and the Yellow Turbans would be eradicated.
Now a bunch of people came to beg him to send troops to attack Guangping as soon as possible, and the imperial court issued an order to let him rescue Liu Xu. They were all holding back, asking him to send troops as soon as possible, and at the same time asking him to rescue people, left and right.
It's really hard to deal with.
But it was hard for him to refuse.
Many people think that the Wei and Jin Dynasties were an era of clan politics, while the Eastern Han Dynasty was dominated by relatives and eunuchs. In fact, the clan system had gradually formed as early as the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the various clan families had already stood at the center of power.
Naturally, the first ones to bear the brunt were the Yuan family of Runan and the Yang family of Hongnong.
The four generations and three princes of these two families have disciples and old officials all over the world, and their relationship is complicated. Today's Taiwei Yang Ci and Situ Yuan Wei are members of these two aristocratic families.
In addition to these two families, there are also countless second-class families, such as the Wang family of Taiyuan, the Xun family of Yingchuan, the Sima family of Hanoi, the Chen family of Yingchuan, the Zhuge family of Langya, etc.
Once again, the four major families of Dongwu, Lu, Zhu, Gu, and Zhang also belong to powerful families.
The emergence of the clan system actually stems from the birth of many officials in a family, such as the Yuan family of Runan and the Yang family of Hongnong. In addition to occupying the high-ranking official positions of the Three Gongs and Nine Ministers, their sects also had countless junior and middle-level officials in the court, and they controlled
The more power a person has, the higher his reputation will be and his influence will naturally be the greatest.
The following families, the Xun family of Yingchuan, the Sima family of Hanoi, the Zhuge family of Langya, the Wang family of Taiyuan, and the Chen family of Yingchuan, are equivalent to the great gentry in a state, and their families must have several high-ranking officials worth more than two thousand dan.
Needless to say, the Xun family of Yingchuan, the Chen family of Yingchuan, the Sima family of Hanoi and the Zhuge family of Langya need not be mentioned in detail. Many people have never heard of the Wang family of Taiyuan, but when it comes to the rebellion against Lu Bu, everyone should know about Situ Wang Yun who killed Dong Zhuo.
, Wang Yun now serves as the governor of Yuzhou, and is working with Huangfu Song in Yingchuan to suppress the Yellow Turbans.
The four lowest-ranking Soochow families are equivalent to the noble clans of a county. The head of the family must serve as the prefect of a county. For example, Lu Xun's great-uncle Lu Kang was the prefect of Lujiang and controlled a place. From then on, he began to multiply.
live.
Therefore, from top to bottom, we can see the status of the families in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The first level is the country's powerful family. The top one is of course the Emperor Liu's family and the relatives and eunuchs who are attached to the Liu family, followed by the Yuan family of Runan and the Yang family of Hongnong.
The second level is the gatekeepers of a state. For example, the Xun family of Yingchuan started from Xun Yu's grandfather Xun Shu. The family has successively produced several senior officials with more than a thousand stones, including Xun Cui, Xun Shuang, Xun Pei and Xun Tan. Among them, Xun Shuang is even more important.
Sikong, one of the three official officials, has a prominent and deep-rooted reputation in Yingchuan.
There is also the Sima family in Hanoi. Starting from Sima Yi's great-great-grandfather Sima Jun, there were successively Sima Liang, Sima Jun, Sima Fang and other high-ranking officials with more than 2,000 dan. They had countless disciples and former officials in Hanoi, and they were also famous families.
In addition, the Wang family in Taiyuan has Wang Rou, the governor of Yanmen, Wang Ze, the governor of Daijun, and Wang Yun, the governor of Yuzhou. The Chen family in Yingchuan has Chen Shi, the magistrate of Taiqiu, Chen Ji, Dahonglu, and Chen Chen, the governor of Sikong.
Finally, the Langya Zhuge family, starting from Zhuge Liang's grandfather Zhuge Feng, includes Sili Colonel Zhuge Feng, Taishan County Chief Zhuge Gui and Yuzhang Prefect Zhuge Xuan.
However, in a few years the Langya Zhuge family would decline due to the conquests at the end of the Han Dynasty, and it would not rise again until Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Jin, and Zhuge Dan respectively held important official positions in Wei, Shu, and Wu.
The third class is like the four major families of Soochow, small clans in a county.
If we were to evaluate the nine-grade Zhongzheng system in the Eastern Han Dynasty, then the four major families of Soochow would be considered middle-grade at best, but not top-grade.
As for the land of a county.
Sorry, a big family in a county can only be considered a wealthy family, not a powerful family.
Although Lu Zhi also came from a famous family, the Fan Yang Lu family.
But the problem is, Lu Zhi himself is the founder of the Fanyang Lu family.
With Lu Zhi, there was the Fanyang Lu family.
This means that it is necessary to wait until Lu Zhi's death before his descendants can use his fame during his lifetime to become a wealthy family. However, Lu Zhi, who was born as a commoner, will not enjoy the benefits of being a wealthy family at all.
As the saying goes, there are people in the court who are good at serving as officials. The officials from all over Jizhou who surrounded Lu Zhi all had backgrounds.
Yang Xuan, the governor of Bohai, was a disciple of Zhang Wen, the chief minister, and was later recommended by Zhang Wen as Shangshu Pushe. Li Shao, the governor of Jizhou, was from the Yuan family. After the Yellow Turban was pacified, he was recommended by the Yuan family as the governor of Julu.
Li Xie, Prime Minister of Anping, was a powerful figure himself. His grandfather, Li He, was Sikong and Situ during the reign of Emperor An of the Han Dynasty. His father, Li Gu, was a Taiwei during the reign of Emperor Chong of the Han Dynasty. He had a prominent family background and a noble family background. Moreover, he was a famous celebrity, and he was the same as the Xun family of Yingchuan.
Jia Biao, the leader of the party's scourge, was well connected and had a good reputation.
Although Li Xie did not put pressure on Lu Zhi, having others here was a kind of pressure.
If you are messing around in the officialdom and don't know how to deal with the world, you will die one day without knowing how you will die.
Coupled with the order given by the emperor, Lu Zhi was in a dilemma and could not continue to implement his original plan.
Faced with many constraints, Lu Zhi had no choice but to overturn his previous ideas and formulate a new strategy after discussing with many officials and celebrities in Jizhou.
The army set off from the main road from Guangnian to Guangping and set up camp outside Guangping City. They put some pressure on Zhang Jiao and wrote a letter asking Zhang Jiao to negotiate the redemption of Liu Xu, the king of Anping Kingdom.
So after a few days of rest and wrangling, Lu Zhi's army set off on the journey again.