Wan Sheng's army formed a military formation and slowly moved towards the enemy in the north.
After realizing that a large number of enemy troops were running towards them, Gao Gan actually ordered not to continue to pursue the Youzhou Army, but to readjust the team instead.
This is a common sense that even an ordinary general with extremely low commanding ability will know - when his army is in a state of disarray, it will immediately collapse once it is attacked by the enemy in a group.
From the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the end of Qin and the Han Dynasty, there has never been an example of a situation where the enemy's formation was scattered and the enemy turned defeat into victory. Even the battle of Kunyang with 420,000 people was still defeated by Liu Xiu.
The fierce attack directly led to the defeat of more than 400,000 troops.
Therefore, the high-ranking cadres quickly changed the way of attack, mobilized the troops in front, ordered the leaders of Xiutu to restrain their cavalry, and then circled around to outflank the troops. The front army formed a formation and slowly approached Zhang Liao's troops, preparing to annihilate Zhang Liao.
.
At this time, if Zhang Liao chooses to go head-to-head with senior officials here, there is a high probability that a generation of famous generals will fall here. Because his frontal troops are more than twice as many as his Wansheng Army, and there are nearly 20,000 outflanking cavalry on the left and right.
force.
With proper tactics and a large number of people, Zhang Liao's troops had only more than 10,000 people. Even if they fought to the death, it was impossible to defeat them. So seeing that the strategic goal had been achieved and the Youzhou army had been rescued, Chen Mu immediately ordered a retreat.
"Retreat slowly!"
The messengers rushed to the headquarters of each battalion in formation to issue orders. Wan Shengjun was well-trained and immediately changed from the rear team to the front team, trotting all the way and began to evacuate to the rear camp.
The front team continued to maintain a state of alert, slowly retreating, and only started to turn around and run when the distance behind them was widened.
After all, Gao Gan's troops were larger in number, and it was not easy to move in as quickly as the Wan Sheng Army. Therefore, he just sent out his light cavalry to unleash a few waves of arrows, causing hundreds of thousands of casualties, all the way to Zhang Liao's camp.
That's why we didn't continue the pursuit.
At the same time, soldiers from Yuan Shao's city also came out and joined with senior cadres. About 70,000 troops attacked Zhang Liao's camp like a tide. The war started quickly, with wave after wave of offensives.
However, Qianzhao, Gao Shun, Zhang Fei and Liu Bei's troops were all on the outskirts of Handan City. As soon as the war started, Liu Bei had already sent people to ask for help from various ministries, but Zhang Liao's troops arrived first because they were the closest.
Therefore, not long after Yuan Jun attacked Zhang Liao's camp, Liu Bei's reinforcements also arrived one after another. Since Yuan Shao still had more than 20,000 people in the city, the strength of the two sides was very close. Liu Bei's army was still in Liang Qi's south due to Zang Ba's troops.
County, so the total military strength is less than 60,000, with only more than 50,000 troops.
70,000 vs. 50,000, and if you still have the upper hand, normally you should be able to win a big victory. If a master like Han Xin and Bai Qi were to lead the army, it would be difficult to take advantage of Zhang Liao's siege.
, came to encircle the point for reinforcements, and wiped out all 50,000 Liu Bei's troops here.
It is a pity that the senior cadre was not Han Xin Baiqi. He was not smart enough to take full advantage of this advantage. Therefore, with the support of the peripheral troops, Zhang Liao's troops attacked to open a gap, successfully continued to evacuate, and escaped from the encirclement.
Liu Bei's army used Gao Shun's troops as the front army, led Zhao's troops, Zhang Fei's troops, and Liu Bei's troops to support each other. They watched each other's troops and horses. Even Xiutu's cavalry was intercepted by Zhang Fei's Qingzhou cavalry. The two sides were at Handan.
Several waves of small-scale tentative attacks were carried out outside the city, and the overwhelming rain of arrows and crossbows covered the entire battlefield.
But it was limited to this. After discovering that the main force of the Qingzhou Army was coming to help, the senior officials were hesitant to issue an order for a full-scale attack. After reporting it to Yuan Shao, both Yuan Shao and Liu Hui were hesitant, and in the end they had no choice but to
Leaving behind more than two thousand corpses, they slowly retreated and entered the city of Handan.
Yuan's army suffered little losses, and the Qingzhou army's losses were also small. Except for Zhang Liao's troops who suffered casualties of one or two thousand at the beginning, in the previous waves of exploratory attacks, the Qianzhao and Liu Bei's troops suffered more than two thousand casualties.
The battle loss ratio is 2 to 1, which is barely acceptable.
Everyone knows the reason why Yuan Shao did not dare to attack. In the final analysis, although Liu Bei's army only has 50,000 troops, it has all the elites. If we really put it together, there is a high probability that Liu Bei will be six and Yuan Shao will be four. It is not yet known who will win.
And the most important thing is that Yuan Shao only has these few troops left, and there are still some remaining troops in Yecheng. His soldiers and high-ranking officials are fighting here, and there is still a large Luoyang army there, and
Qingzhou can continue to send follow-up troops into Jizhou. On the other hand, Yuan Shao has lost most of the land in Jizhou, and it is already difficult to recruit more soldiers.
Therefore, in order to preserve his strength, he had to make such a choice. This was a helpless move. If it were Yuan Shao who was rich and wealthy two years ago, it would not matter even if 70,000 people died together with others, but now Yuan Shao is in despair.
The Battle of the Boundary Bridge left him severely weakened and unable to do anything.
That night, just after Yuan Shao used the trick of cheating death to defeat the Youzhou Army and Liu Bei Army, in the Luoyang Palace, the news that Yuan Shao was dead and that the rest of his troops were preparing to surrender came belatedly. It was more than 300 kilometers from Luoyang to Handan, even if they had to hurry up.
, it also takes two days to travel to deliver the memorial.
In the Jiade Hall of the West Palace, after entering autumn, the weather is getting colder day by day. Several big trees outside the Jiade Hall have withered leaves and turned yellow. When the autumn wind blows, fallen leaves are everywhere in the palace, so that the few remaining palace maids and eunuchs cannot
Don't work overtime to clean each palace.
The original Yutang Hall of the West Palace was the favorite place of Emperor Xiaokang of the Han Dynasty because it had floor heating. However, more than ten years later, the floor heating was left unmaintained and deteriorated long ago. Most of the ancient anti-rust techniques used paint or oil.
It has been maintained and operated for 180 years without any problems. Unfortunately, after Dong Zhuo's rebellion, no one repaired the palace, let alone heated the floors.
Therefore, after losing the floor heating, Luoyang, as a basin, the already damp weather became even more bitter. The cold wind blew in the huge palace, and the howling wind poured in, making the empty palace very cold. Even the Huben troops standing guard
He and Habayashi Wei couldn't stand it anymore, so they hid indoors one by one, burning charcoal to keep warm.
Liu Yu was wearing cotton clothes, kneeling on the main seat above the main hall of the Jiade Hall, concentrating on the official documents. Next to him was a charcoal basin filled with charcoal. Because there was too much charcoal, a fire started and the flames kept spreading.
The movement reflects the vicissitudes of Liu's white hair on his temples and his wrinkled forehead.
"Ahem!"
After coughing twice, Liu Yu seemed to notice that the surroundings were getting warmer and warmer. Liu Yu turned his head and glanced, his brows suddenly furrowed, and he scolded softly: "Zi Yan, why are you burning so much charcoal?"
When Qi Zhou was in Youzhou, Liu Yu was in charge, and he could be said to be his mastermind. He made great contributions to Liu Yu's efforts to pacify Youzhou. Now that Liu Yugui is the emperor, he needs some close friends, so he will send Xian Yufu, Xian Yuyin, and Qi Zhou.
Zhou and others were all summoned to the palace. Xian Yufu returned to Youzhou to lead the army. Xian Yuyin served as the general of the Suwei Zhonglang. Qi Zhou served as the servant and stayed with him as a staff officer.
Upon hearing Liu Yu's question, Qi Zhou replied: "I felt that it was too cold, so I burned more. Please punish me."
Liu Yu opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything. He finally sighed and said with a wry smile: "I know Ziyan saw that I have been coughing for the past two days and was afraid that my old illness from last winter would relapse, so he wanted to help me get rid of the cold. But the people in the city
And countless people in the world are suffering from hunger and cold, how can I enjoy it with peace of mind?"
Qi Zhou said: "Your Majesty naturally loves the people as his son, but your Majesty's body is of concern to the world. Only when your Majesty is well can the country restore peace. If there is something wrong with your Majesty's body, then who will care about the people of the world?"
I have to say that Qi Zhou's words were very skillful. He knew that Liu Yu would definitely be unhappy if he said that he was burning the fire more because of Liu Yu, so he simply said that he was cold. He also said that Liu Yu's body was very important.
If Liu Yu fell ill, no one in the world would care about him anymore, leaving Liu Yu unable to say anything to refute him.
After smiling bitterly for a moment, Liu Yu pointed at him, shook his head and said helplessly: "You, you, are still as sharp as you were in Youzhou. But it was only with your sharp teeth that you were able to help me convince so many tribal leaders to surrender to the imperial court.
Forget it, let it be up to you, sooner or later the palace's expenses this year will be completely wiped out by you."
Qi Zhou said with a smile: "When Your Majesty recovers Jizhou, it will be enough to rebuild the Beigong with the wealth of Jizhou. How much fire can be made by burning this little charcoal?"
"Jizhou?"
Liu Yu was reminded by him, and suddenly remembered something, and said to Qi Zhou: "By the way, Yuan Shao's time is running out in Jizhou. Only Handan and Yecheng are left, and they will be wiped out sooner or later. I need a trustworthy person to go to Jizhou.
, you can become the shepherd of Jizhou, I have no children, so I have to help me go to Jizhou to select the emperor’s heir.”
"ah?"
Qi Zhou was surprised and said: "Your Majesty, this is the shepherd of Jizhou. I am afraid that I am not qualified for the job regardless of my qualifications or prestige."
The position of state pastor is high and powerful, and not just anyone can hold it. At that time, Wang Fen was one of the eight chefs who were famous all over the world, and he was just a governor. During the period of Emperor Xiaokang of the Han Dynasty, except for Huangfu Song who briefly served as Jizhou pastor, he was also the governor of Jizhou.
Only Huang Wan, who had held the positions of Shaofu, Taipu and other nine ministers, and Liu Yan, who had served as Zongzheng, had served as pastors of Yuzhou and Yizhou.
In other words, if you want to be a state pastor, you must be in the position of Jiuqing. Of course, some people may say that since ordinary people cannot be a state pastor, why are so many princes in the world serving as state pastors? Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Sun Jiantao
Qian and Liu Biao were all state pastors, and none of them had ever been a high-ranking official in the Nine Ministers.
However, Liu Bei's prefecture came from saving the life of Empress Dowager Dong, while Cao Cao and Sun Jian's prefecture came from their meritorious service in challenging Dong and bringing the Manchu ministers back to Luoyang. In order to appease the heroes, Liu Yu, Yang Biao and others
Gave Cao Cao and Sun Jian the position of state pastor.
As for Tao Qian and Liu Biao, they were just the governor of Xuzhou and the governor of Jingzhou at the beginning. Because the imperial court sent envoys to pay tribute, they were promoted to state pastors.
The most important thing is that they were veteran ministers with relatively high reputations at the time. The Luoyang court thought that they were loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty, and hoped that they could govern Xuzhou and Jingzhou well and help the court put down the rebellion. Who would have thought that they also had ambitions?
And Yuan Shu was not even a governor. He was the governor of Changsha at first, and later he was promoted to general of the left when he was fighting against Dong. He had no jurisdiction over Jingzhou, Yangzhou, Yuzhou and other places, and he only relied on force to seize them. Yuan Shao was even more outrageous.
The title of Jizhou Mu under Wang Fen's pseudo-emperor regime was not granted by the imperial court at all, but through an informal way.
Therefore, in addition to these reasons, other princes in the prefectures and counties are all governors, such as Yangzhou governor Chen Wen and Liu Yao, Yuzhou governor Kong Niao, Yanzhou governor Liu Dai, Bingzhou governor Ding Yuan, etc. These people were in the Han Dynasty
At the end of the day, he was the governor and was not qualified to hold the position of state pastor.
Now that the situation in the imperial court has stabilized, most of Jizhou is about to be recovered. As the richest state capital in the world, the position of Jizhou Mu is a top priority. Not only must he be able to take on the responsibility, but he must also be loyal to the imperial court and cannot be swayed from side to side.
Wall grass and others.
Therefore, Liu Yu has also discussed several times with the Sangong and Jiuqing in recent days, hoping to find someone to go, but it is not easy to find someone who has both ability and qualifications and prestige.
Unless one of the Nine Qings is allowed to go, Liu Yu's power in the court is only so small now. If he goes, one of them will be missing. Important ministers like Yang Biao, Zhao Wenzhongfu, etc. will definitely not be able to go. Some of the Nine Qings are either not qualified or prestigious enough.
, some are either lacking in ability, and some are simply not from Liu Yu’s inner circle. The only one who can go is Shi Sunrui.
But Sun Rui, a scholar, has just entered the core circle of high-level officials. In the future, he will be a candidate for the three ministers. If he is transferred to Jizhou, the position of Jiuqing will have to be moved. There are countless Liu Bei's party members in the dynasty. If there is another Liu Bei party member, Liu Bei will
His power in the court will increase to a higher level, so Liu Yu can't do anything to the Jiuqing who are loyal to him.
After seeing Qi Zhou today, Liu Yu remembered that Qi Zhou's ability and loyalty were definitely sufficient. The only thing he lacked was his prestige and qualifications. Qi Zhou heard that Liu Yu wanted him to be the shepherd of Jizhou, which was naturally a big deal.
While trusting and moved, he also expressed his concerns, lack of qualifications and prestige.
After hearing his words, Liu Yu thought for a while and said slowly: "Zi Yan has been in the imperial court for several years and has been promoted all the way. It is true that his qualifications are still junior. However, although his qualifications are insufficient, he can still find ways to make up for it. He will move in tomorrow
I will be a great craftsman and stay for a month or two, and then the Manchus will discuss it."
To be directly promoted from a servant to a state pastor is definitely not qualified, but to be a master craftsman is second only to Jiuqing, and if it is decided by the court meeting, it will be barely enough. It is like being directly promoted from a county yamen servant to a county yamen servant.
It is definitely unrealistic to make an order, but if the government officer is promoted to county captain first, and then from county captain to county magistrate, so that it is more step-by-step, at least it will be acceptable on the surface.
After receiving Liu Yu's promise, Qi Zhou was overjoyed and said: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
"His Majesty!"
At this moment, a young man suddenly came in from outside the door.
Liu Yu asked: "What's wrong?"
Xiaohuangmen shouted in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, an official document came from the Chancellery just now, and General Xianyu reported it, saying that Yuan Shao died of illness, and Yuan Jun is ready to surrender to General Xianyu!"
"What?"
Liu Yu stood up in a flash, and the cotton-padded clothes on his body fell down. He asked in disbelief: "Is this serious?"
Xiao Huangmen held the memorial in both hands and stepped forward quickly and said: "Your Majesty, please take a look."
Liu Yu took the memorial, opened it and quickly glanced at it. His originally sickly face suddenly turned red, his breathing became rapid, and his eyes seemed to be blooming with bright light.
Seeing his excited look, Qi Zhou immediately knew it was true and asked, "Your Majesty, has General Xianyu confirmed it?"
"Hahahahaha."
Liu Yu closed the memorial with a big smile. He looked ten years younger. He couldn't help but walked around excitedly on the table. As he walked, he said: "Fu Guo has sent people to the city to have a look. It's confirmed."
, Yuan Shao is dead and Jizhou has returned to the imperial court. This is a great joy!"
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, congratulations to Your Majesty."
Qi Zhou was also very excited and quickly knelt down to congratulate Liu Yu. At this moment, the emperor and his ministers seemed to have returned to the past, but they were even happier than when they conquered Youzhou.
Jizhou was pacified, and at least half of the Han world was pacified!