For the Eastern Han Empire, which was in decline, these days were destined to be a restless time.
First, the official Zuo Feng impeached Lu Zhi because he was afraid of the enemy and waited for heaven to punish him.
Wang Yun, the governor of Yuzhou, impeached Zhang Rang, a regular servant, on suspicion of colluding with the Yellow Turbans and acting as a Taiping Dao insider.
The patter of rainwater splashed on the ridge of the West Palace, flowed down the tiles, passed through the brackets, fell from the eaves, and hit the bluestone slabs, making a ticking sound.
Zhang Rang took off his hat, disheveled his hair, and knelt in front of the West Palace.
In the inner hall of the West Palace, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty unbuttoned the front of his clothes and lay on the wooden couch with his chest and abdomen exposed. He threw the impeachment memorial to the side and turned to Zhao Zhong and asked: "Is this a small matter worth going to war?
Where is Zhang Rang?"
Zhao Zhong had long been accustomed to the Han Ling Emperor's casualness in the harem, and said: "After I sent this memorial, I was kneeling outside. I said that I failed to discipline the guests and was guilty of Your Majesty. I have no face to see you."
"oh."
Liu Hong raised his eyebrows. Zhang Rang was a person he trusted. If there were other crimes in the past, it would be nothing more than a trivial matter and he would not bother to pursue it.
But this time, the matter seemed to be quite serious. He colluded with the rebels and subverted his throne. Although the memorial was delivered by Zhang Rang personally and was not intercepted in the middle, so the suspicion was much less, but this kind of thing is always inevitable with some suspicion and suspicion.
Zhang Jun, Feng Xu, Xu Feng... The hands of Taiping Dao dared to reach out even in the palace...
Liu Hong felt a little shuddered inexplicably, and looked at Zhao Zhong with a hint of suspicion. If all the people around him were infiltrated, then...
The emperor didn't speak, and the inner hall became much quieter.
Feeling the Emperor's sharp gaze, Zhao Zhong felt uneasy and vaguely sensed something was wrong. Based on the Emperor's favor towards them, if it were normal times, the Emperor would have let them in without hesitation.
"Where are the guests?"
Liu Hong suddenly asked.
Zhao Zhong trembled all over and bowed without hesitation: "You have to ask Zhang Rang about this."
"Let him in."
"only."
Zhao Zhong pulled the bell next to the wooden couch, and a maid came in from the door of the inner hall of the West Palace, walking in small steps and bowing over.
"Go and call Changshi Zhang in."
Zhao Zhong said.
The palace maid bent over and stepped back out.
After a while, Zhang Rang walked in with disheveled hair, knelt down in front of Liu Hong and cried: "Your Majesty."
Liu Hong said indifferently: "The time when Zhang Jun was accused, you said it was a false accusation. The time when Xu Feng was granted the title, you said it was Wang Fuhou Lan who did it. What about this time?"
Zhang Rang cried and said: "I am not strict with you, please punish me."
"What a lax servant."
Liu Hong sneered: "Can you escape the blame for your crime by saying lax discipline? Why don't you tell the truth about your relationship with Zhang Jiao?"
Zhang Rang fell to the ground and worshiped: "I have absolutely no connection with Zhang Jiao. If the emperor does not believe it, please send me to prison and use all my property as military expenses to destroy Zhang Jiao to show that I have nothing to do with Zhang Jiao."
Implicated."
This trick again?
Liu Hong frowned slightly. Zhang Rang also did the same thing last time about Zhang Jun. This was to clear the relationship between him and Zhang Jiao.
However, Zhang Rang, who valued wealth as much as his life, was able to hand over all his family property. Perhaps this also proved that he and Zhang Jiao did not have anything to do with each other.
What's more, he personally delivered the impeachment memorial this time.
only......
After all, there is substantial evidence this time, and his guests are indeed implicated. Although he doesn't want to admit it, if Zhang Rang is true...
Thinking of this, Liu Hong made up his mind and said: "In that case, you go and bring the man named Hou Xu, and I will interrogate him personally. If it is determined that he has nothing to do with you, I will apologize to you."
To be able to make Liu Hong say such things shows that he attaches great importance to him.
Zhang Rang's face changed greatly. He originally knew that the guests in his family believed in Taiping Dao. Because Zhang Jiao did give him a lot of gold and silver jewelry, asking him to cover the Taiping Dao missionary. These gold and silver jewelry were given to him by his guests.
of.
I originally thought that Zhang Jiao was just an ordinary Taoist in the mountains and preaching was not a big deal, so I happily accepted the bribe. Little did I know that he would cause such a big disturbance.
If we had known that Zhang Jiao would rebel, we would not have accepted bribes even if we borrowed Zhang Jiao's courage.
Where does the eunuch's power come from?
A letter of favor from the emperor.
Without the emperor, what's the use of more money?
Although Zhang Rang knew that he was not smart enough, he still understood this point.
Therefore, after the Yellow Turban Incident broke out, he immediately drove away the group of Yellow Turban believers and guests and asked them to leave Luoyang and go as far away as possible.
Originally, Zhang Rang even had the idea of executing those people, but after all, he collected so much money from them...
Although Zhang Rang is greedy, he has an excellent reputation.
Meng Tuo, a native of Fufeng and the father of the famous young man Meng Da, was originally just an ordinary rich man. He bribed Zhang Rang with a large amount of money and only asked Zhang Rang to respect him greatly.
Generally speaking, at Zhang Rang's level, other than the emperor, it is impossible for anyone else to treat him with respect.
What's more, Meng Tuo is not a high-ranking official, just a rich country man.
However, what was unexpected was that Zhang Rang actually agreed. When Meng Tuo came to visit, he went out to greet him. When he left, he went out to see him off in full view of everyone. His attitude was very respectful and satisfactory to him.
Meng Tuo's face.
In this way, Meng Tuo took advantage of Zhang Rang's power and easily became the governor of Liangzhou.
From this point of view, Zhang Rang has the potential to be a model businessman. If you come to me to buy something, as long as you can afford the price, you can buy anything, including my dignity, Zhang Rang.
Now that all the guests who believed in Taiping Dao below had been driven away by Zhang Rang, where could he go to find them?
However, he had to obey the emperor's order. Zhang Rang could only grit his teeth and said: "Hou Xu ran away after Zhang Jiao's incident. Please give me some time to find him."
"Then go look for it. If you don't find it, don't come back."
Liu Hong's tone was calm and indifferent.
He was born as a vassal king, not the son of the late emperor, so his succession to the throne was inherently unfair.
Normally, the ministers looked at him as if they were an outsider, as if they were the masters of the world. Liu Hong felt an inferiority complex inexplicably.
When he first came to power, he originally wanted to consolidate his imperial power with the help of eunuchs and take the power into his hands. Who knew that first Wang Fuhoulan would take over the power, and later Xu Feng would be granted the title of Yellow Turban Internal Affairs Officer.
If you can't even trust the eunuchs around you, then who else in the world can you trust?
……．
……．
Lu Zhi was taken back to Luoyang to face charges, and was replaced by a new Dong Zhuo.
When the emperor's guards who came to capture Lu Zhi put him in a prison car, Liu Bei almost went up to fight for his life waving his two-pronged sword.
Fortunately, Guan Yu still had sense and stopped him abruptly without making the situation serious.
In fact, after Liu Bei calmed down, he regretted his impulsiveness.
But he had to do it if he regretted it, even if it was just a show. Otherwise, how would the world view him?
After returning to his camp, Liu Bei said angrily: "How could the imperial court do this? Master Shijun is clearly not at fault, but he wants to be taken away."
Guan Yu said in a deep voice: "Brother, now is not the time to be angry. You should think about what to do now."
"Fourth brother has always had strategies. It would be great if he was here."
"I heard that Yuzhou has been pacified. Maybe the third and fourth brothers will follow General Huangfu and General Zhu northward in the near future."
"That's best."
Liu Bei nodded: "I wonder what kind of person this new General Dong Zhuo is."
Guan Yu thought for a while, "I heard about him when I was in Xie Liang. He was a powerful man from Xiliang and very prestigious among the Qiang people. He once followed Duke Ran Ming to defeat the Xiongnu Xianbei and the rebellious Qiang people. He served as the governor of Bingzhou and the governor of Hedong.
."
Xieliang County is located in Hedong County. Dong Zhuo once served as the governor of Hedong. He was Guan Yu's top local official and could be called the envoy. It was not surprising that Guan Yu knew him.
"It turned out to be a Xiliang general."
Liu Bei felt relieved.
Although the Sanmings of Xiliang have all passed away, their military exploits were outstanding and they shocked the world. However, Duke Ming was Zhang Huan. As Zhang Huan's general, Dong Zhuo's methods should not be much different.
However, just when they thought he was a powerful general, someone outside suddenly shouted: "Where is Liu Bei, Sima of the Northern Army?"
Liu Bei came out of the camp, and outside was a messenger with an unfamiliar face, riding a rare tall horse from Xiliang, holding the newly arrived Dongzhong Army General's command flag in his hand. Generally, with this command flag, the army can flow smoothly.
No hindrance.
Realizing that this was the command flag of the new general Dong Zhonglang, Liu Bei held it in his hand and said: "Be prepared."
"Dong Zhonglang will give you an order, ordering you to be the vanguard and prepare to set off."
"Set off?"
Liu Bei was shocked: "Where are you going?"
The ordering soldier uttered two words coldly: "Next song."
"Next song?"
Liu Bei was stunned: "Now that the army has surrounded Zhangjiao, why should we attack Xiaqu?"
"This is the general's order. If you have any questions, ask the general yourself."
The messenger turned around and rode away.
Liu Bei's face looked a little ugly. He originally thought that the new General Dong was a powerful figure, but he didn't expect that he would give random orders just after he took office.
Even if Liu Bei's current military ability is not strong, it can still be seen. Lu Zhi has been besieging Guangzong with his army for more than a month, and the siege equipment is almost completed. As long as he steps up his offensive, Guangzong will be defeated soon.
Capture Zhang Jiao alive.
Now we suddenly turn to attack Xiqu in the north and abandon Guangzong, which we have been besieging for so long. Isn't this giving up halfway and missing a good opportunity?
"Second brother, seeing that Guangzong is about to be defeated, Dong Zhuo actually asked us to attack Xiaqu. What does this mean?"
Liu Bei frowned, really unable to understand Dong Zhuo's approach.
Guan Yu was about to speak.
Dong Dong Dong Dong.
Suddenly there was a slight vibration under the feet, the sound came from far to near, as if it was shaking the whole earth.
Liu Bei and Guan Yu hurried out of their tents.
I saw a long and narrow black line coming like a tide on the plain in the distance, with dust swirling up all over the sky behind it.
When they got closer, people saw that it was actually a row of heavy cavalry covered in black armor, coming in a surging force as if they were going to crush everything in front of them into powder!