The city of Shexian County was alarmed by the shouts of killing, and the soldiers at the top of the city immediately went to report to the garrison.
The general guarding the city was Zhang Sheng, a high-ranking cadre general. Because the enemy came fiercely during the day, he commanded the battle at the top of the city for a whole day. After repelling the invading enemy troops several times, he stayed up until night and finally couldn't stand it any longer. He just lay down to rest.
I heard the soldiers coming to report.
Zhang Sheng had to cheer up and come to the city again. The grand scene outside the city during the day was still unforgettable to him. The Black Mountain Army and the Luoyang Army came like a tide from all directions, carrying ladders and violently attacking the city several times.
Although he successfully repelled the enemy with the solid city walls and complete defensive equipment, Zhang Sheng knew very well that it would be okay in a short time, but over time, he would not be able to hold on.
In the final analysis, Shexian County is just an ordinary county-level city, not the kind of canyon pass where one man is in charge and no one can open it.
Although the equipment in the city is complete, the city wall is not as high and thick as that of the county city. Now the enemy does not have many siege equipment, but it can still hold on. The longer time passes, and when the enemy equipment becomes more complete, it will be more difficult to resist.
So after learning that there was a riot outside the city, Zhang Sheng immediately rushed over to take a look. He saw countless torches shining outside the east city, like a fire dragon in the dark night, and the shouts of killing were soaring into the sky. Zhang Yan's military camp was originally densely packed.
It was a mess, and it seemed like someone was hacking and killing.
After a while, a fast horse galloped over from the gap in the northeast, ran to the city, and shouted to the city in pure Jizhou dialect: "We are the team of General Wu'an Guo. We have been ordered to come to support. Hurry up."
The city gate lets us in first."
Zhang Sheng quickly shouted: "Where is General Gao?"
"General Gao was far away and the army could not set off immediately. After he got the news, he was afraid that Shexian County would be damaged, so he asked General Guo to come to the rescue first. He will arrive soon. We have few troops and cannot fight. We will wait until General Gao arrives tomorrow.
Only then can the enemy be driven back."
Zhuge Liang had already conducted training on how to respond to possible questions, so the people in the city hardly showed any flaws.
"You are the only ones here to support me today?"
Zhang Sheng looked around and saw that the enemies in the east city had collapsed, perhaps because they were caught off guard and were attacked at night. "Guo Yuan's" troops had successfully fought in and were moving towards the city.
The people below the city shouted: "We are just the vanguard, resolving the siege of Shexian County for General Zhang. General Gao will arrive tomorrow at the latest."
"Report, General, the enemies outside other city gates are approaching here."
At this moment, a soldier reported to Zhang Sheng that enemies from the northwest and south of the city were already moving this way.
"Open the city gate!"
Upon hearing the news, Zhang Sheng no longer hesitated and immediately ordered the city gates to be opened.
The situation outside the city is already very urgent. Although the "Guo Yuan" army has dispersed the enemy troops outside the east city gate, Zhang Sheng knows that the enemy's main forces are in the south city and the north city. If the enemy's main force is surrounded, the reinforcements outside the city will
will be swallowed up.
Soon the city gate opened, and the "Guo Yuan" troops outside the city entered one after another. Zhang Sheng came to the bottom of the city to greet them. What made him feel a little strange was that these soldiers who came to help had red cloth scarves tied on their heads and shoulders.
"Where is General Guo?"
Zhang Sheng also knew Guo Yuan, so he went up to ask.
A strong man riding a horse and wearing armor emerged from the crowd. He raised his head under the black night, revealing his face hidden under his helmet, and grinned: "A certain family is here."
Zhang Sheng raised his eyes and looked confused. He didn't know this person, but before he could react, a white light flashed in front of him.
Whoosh!
A huge human head flew high into the air, and blood splattered three feet high.
"kill!"
Xu Huang raised the bright ring-headed sword in his hand high and shouted: "Those who surrender will avoid death!"
"Those who surrender will avoid death!"
Shocking roars erupted from the crowd.
The Bingzhou army near the city gate was immediately frightened.
"The general...the general is dead."
"They are the enemy."
"what to do."
"I surrender, surrender!"
This war started abruptly and ended even more abruptly.
When the defenders were beheaded and most of the soldiers in the city were tired and resting from fighting hard during the day, there was very little resistance that could be mustered.
Although a small number of people resisted, when the first person dropped their weapons and surrendered, a chain reaction quickly spread throughout the city.
Xu Huang and Zhuge Liang successfully entered the city and took control of Shexian County, the transportation artery of Fukouxing.
This place has always been a strategic point that Xu Huang wanted to attack. Historically, Cao Cao had no interest in She County because he had already occupied Hebei at that time.
The importance of Shexian County lies in the fact that it is located in the Taihang Mountains between Bingzhou and Jizhou. It is not a pass, but a city. If you hold it in your hand, it can connect Bingzhou and Jizhou.
After Cao Cao gets Hebei, he can directly send a large army to capture She County, then capture Lu County all the way, and attack Huguan into Bingzhou, so that he can take Bingzhou in his hands.
For Liu Bei, Shexian is an important strategic point. The significance is that Liu Bei has not captured the entire Jizhou. If he gets Shexian, he can send troops from Linlu Valley and attack Luxian in Bingzhou to the west.
To threaten Huguan, you can sneak attack Handan or Yecheng to the east.
So at this moment, Shexian County is of greater significance to Liu Bei. Because Liu Bei has already controlled the southern foothills of Baixing, and also has Shexian County at the northern foothills of Fukouxing, he can divide his troops into two groups and enter Gaoxing from Baixing.
Capital, which is later known as Jincheng, then went all the way north, passed Gaoping, Changzi, Tunliu, and finally attacked Huguan with the team from the direction of Shexian County.
The location of Huguan is an important pass leading from Shangdang to Taiyuan County in the north. Only by capturing Huguan can we go north to capture Yanmen and other places in Taiyuan. Therefore, in history, Cao Cao made a surprise attack on Huguan from Taihangxing, which is also Yangchang Ban.
It was because both Shexian and Baixing were occupied by the Black Mountain Army or high-ranking officials at that time, so he could not attack Bingzhou from Jizhou.
Now that the strategically important land of Shexian County is obtained, Fukouxing is half of it, and the Black Mountain Army in Linlu Valley has been designed to surrender by Chen Mu, so there is no need to consider the problem of Baixing and Fukouxing being impassable.
This meant that Yuan Shao and Gao Gan's retreat to Bingzhou was cut off, and its strategic significance was obviously greater than the defeat of Handan.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Therefore, even in the Battle of Handan, Yuan Shao chose to fake surrender and successfully repelled the Youzhou Army and lost Shexian County, which was far better than fighting
The retreating Youzhou Army and Liu Bei suffered even greater losses.
Just when Shexian County was captured, a court meeting was being held in Luoyang.
Yesterday, Liu Yu learned that Yuan Shao was dead and Yuan Jun had surrendered. He held an unprecedented banquet in the palace and entertained the three ministers. At the banquet, he wanted Liu Bei and Xian Yufu to step up their pace and capture Ye City as soon as possible and regain the entire city.
The whole territory of Jizhou.
In this way, coupled with his prestige in Youzhou, the entire Jizhou and Youzhou can be pacified. With Qingzhou as support, Guanzhong has also been recovered by Duan Xuan, and only the south and Yizhou are left in the Han Dynasty.
After receiving this good news, Liu Yu seemed to be ten years younger and beaming with joy. Early in the morning, he summoned the three ministers and nine ministers to start a court meeting to discuss the aftermath of Jizhou's recovery.
Chongde Hall in Nangong, as the main hall for discussion, is much larger than other palaces. Liu Yu sits on the main seat. Because of the special design of the palace, when he speaks, he makes the ministers present feel like Hong Zhong Da Lu.
They heard clearly.
Liu Yu looked at the many ministers in the audience, his brows were filled with joy, he glanced at Yang Biao, nodded slightly, and said to the ministers in the audience: "Everyone, there are two things to do in convening the meeting today. The first thing is
Attendant Qi Zhou, he has been with me since the time of Youzhou. He has been with me for many years and has worked hard with great achievements. I want to make him a general and make him a great craftsman. The original general will be a great craftsman, Yin Xiu, and he will be moved to a young manor. The original young man, Chen Mu,
, changed to Taifu of Qi State, what do you think?"
Not all of the three ministers and ministers were Liu Yu's cronies. Some wanted to be neutral, and some came to the position purely based on their qualifications. Just like when Dong Zhuo came to power, many ministers fawned over him. Whoever is in power will lean toward him. This is
It was an unavoidable problem, so Liu Yu just summoned a few core ministers to discuss the matter yesterday.
Yang Biao, Zhao Wen, Zhong Fu, and Shi Sun Rui had already understood what Liu Yu wanted to do. After hearing Liu Yu's words, Yang Biao first expressed his position: "Qi Zhou has indeed made a lot of contributions, and I have no objection.
"
"Seconded."
"Seconded."
Several people agreed. In fact, who the emperor wanted to depose or promote was a matter of just one sentence, but superficiality still had to be done.
Qi Zhou's qualifications are indeed not very good. It is definitely no problem to go to Jizhou and become the governor of Jizhou. But Liu Yu wants him to be the state pastor and carry the power banner of the entire Jizhou. The power of the state pastor and the power of the governor are in the sky and the earth.
, the two cannot be generalized.
Therefore, if you want to successfully transfer Qi Zhou to Jizhou, you must help him supplement his qualifications, which is commonly known as gold plating. Being a general and master craftsman under Jiu Qing is a good gold plating position.
He will be promoted to a master craftsman in two months, and when Jizhou is completely restored, he will be able to take up his post. At least his qualifications will be passable.
Moreover, Liu Yu's change in official position also had a meaning for the Qingzhou Group. Chen Mu, as one of the Nine Qings, was changed to the Grand Tutor of Qi State. His official rank did not drop because Chen Mu still retained the position of General Right, so
It is still two thousand stones in rank.
But others were driven from the court to other places, far away from the center, and their influence was much less.
So overall, this is a very politically savvy change.
Liu Yu was slowly taking control of power, and began to drive the forces of the Qingzhou Group towards Qingzhou, so that they could no longer extend their hands to the central government. At the same time, he controlled Jizhou and Youzhou, so that the imperial court would have soldiers and money bags, and there would be fewer
Dependence on Qingzhou.
Upon hearing the appointment, Qi Zhou quickly thanked him and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
The original general, Dajiang Yinxiu, was the prefect of Yingchuan before, but now he was promoted to Jiuqing, and he also stood up to thank him.
Unlike the small court meeting, only a few ministers were present at the big court meeting, including the three gongs and nine ministers, as well as the three ministers sitting alone, the censor Zhongcheng, the Sili Xiaowei should all be here, as well as Henan Yin, the deputy minister and some attendants
Zhong, Yilang, Shangshu and other staff officials of the emperor's ministers will also be present.
After Liu Yu made the appointment, Sima Fang, who was a political ally, immediately realized that this was the imperial court targeting the Qingzhou Group. He hesitated for a moment and stood up and said: "Your Majesty, Qi Shizhong moved to be a general and a master craftsman. I have no objection, but the young master Chen Zigui
He is a veteran of the three dynasties who has always worked hard to regain the Han Dynasty. He has made great contributions to the pacification of Jizhou this time. Even regardless of his merits and qualifications alone, he should not move to the left to become the Taifu of Qi."
"Yes, the Shaofu has served in three dynasties and was an important minister of Emperor Kangdi Tuogu. Moreover, the Shaofu has made great contributions to the pacification of Jizhou this time. If His Majesty relegates the Shaofu to the Shaofu, he may not be able to convince everyone."
"Yes, the young master has worked hard and made great achievements. Even if he cannot be promoted, he cannot be demoted. I would like to ask your majesty to take back my order."
"Your Majesty, please take back your order."
Suddenly, more than 20 mid-level officials at the bottom of the hall stood up to oppose Liu Yu's appointment.
Just kidding, many of these officials are attached to the Qingzhou Group. When Chen Mu brought the Manchu ministers back to Luoyang, a large number of official positions needed to be supplemented. Many people from the Qingzhou Group were recruited to the court. After so many years of operation, except for the three ministers,
In addition to Jiuqing, many middle and low-level officials are former disciples of the Qingzhou Group. Liu Yu wanted to squeeze Chen Mu out of the court, and there were naturally endless objections.
Liu Yu suddenly frowned and became unhappy, and said: "Chen Shaofu is indeed senior, but he is absent from the court all the year round and occupies the position of Jiuqing. How can he discuss important matters? And his brother Liu Bei is Qi.
King, he is the Grand Tutor of the State of Qi, so why not? I think that after all my hard work, Master Chen will understand me, so let’s do it like this."
"His Majesty......"
Sima Fang wanted to say something else, but Liu Yu had already waved his hand, indicating that he had made his decision and would not change it again.
Many officials continued to request, but Liu Yu was determined to do so and refused to agree.
In the end, Liu Yu became angry, coughed twice, and asked Xian Yuyin to send people to drive these officials out of the court. Suddenly the court was mostly empty, and then it became quiet.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Okay, let's talk about the second thing."
After Liu Yu coughed a few times, his face turned slightly flushed, and he said to everyone: "I believe everyone knows that Yuan Shao is dead and Jizhou has been completely restored. It is estimated that Yuan Shao's remaining party can be wiped out within a few months. I want to
We sent people to Jizhou to search for Emperor Zhang’s heirs, what do you think?”
"This is a natural principle, and I have no objection to it."
Yang Biao and others replied.
Liu Yu said: "Then let the Taiwei handle this matter personally. We must find an heir with both political integrity and talent."
"I respect the imperial edict."
Yang Biao replied that this was what Zi Qi had agreed upon.
There were only a few ministers that Liu Yu could trust. The selection of the emperor's heir was a top priority, so Yang Biao naturally had to do it himself.
After confirming these two things, Liu Yu nodded with satisfaction, Yang Biao went to choose the emperor's heir, and Qi Zhou went to serve as the shepherd of Jizhou. At that time, he would use Gongsun Zan's defeat as an excuse to usurp Gongsun Zan's position as the shepherd of Youzhou and let him
Xian Yufu was in charge.
In this way, his confidants would be in charge of Youzhou and Jizhou, and at the same time, he would slowly squeeze out the Liu Bei Group from the highest power center, so that he no longer had to worry about the Liu Bei Group coveting the throne.
In fact, as the central court has been dependent on the Qingzhou Group in recent years, Liu Yu is also very afraid that Liu Bei will actually usurp the throne. After all, Luoyang was in turmoil at that time, and except for the righteous name, he did not have a single soldier, and the salary of Manchu officials
They all need to be supplied by Qingzhou.
In the final analysis, it is because Liu Bei is not a descendant of Liu Xiu, so Liu Yu will never trust him when Liu Bei is so powerful.
Now that Yuan Shao has been defeated, he has more political means to control more land. As long as Youzhou and Jizhou are in his hands, he can fulfill his promise and hand over the throne to Emperor Zhang's heirs.
Finally, he lived up to the trust of his ancestor, Emperor Guangwu, and did not hand over the throne to other collateral clans.
Although Liu Yu was indebted to Liu Bei and Chen Mu in this matter. He relied on Qingzhou to make his fortune, but in the end he had to push them away from the center of power. However, the struggle for power is so cruel. Although Liu Yu is kind, he has to do this.
, at worst, I will compensate them in the future.
Liu Yu thought in his heart, with a kind smile on his face, and he felt a little more comfortable. After completing the two things he had to do today, he was about to announce the dismissal of the court.
At this moment, someone suddenly came outside the palace and shouted: "Your Majesty, there is an urgent message from the Chancellor's Desk."
"Come in."
Liu Yu replied.
The person who came was Shangshu Pushe, the deputy of Shangshu Ling. Zhong Yao was transferred to Huai County by Liu Yu to manage grain and grass. Now Shangshu Pushe is in charge of Shangshutai.
After the minister's servant came in, he cried sadly and said loudly: "Your Majesty is in trouble. King Qi and General Xianyu sent an urgent message. They fell into Yuan Shao's plan. Yuan Shao faked his death and surrendered. He defeated King Qi and General Xianyu. Now Jizhou
The situation is not good."
"What?"
Liu Yu turned pale with fright. Because he was too excited, he kept coughing. Attendant Zhongchang on the side quickly handed over a handkerchief.
After coughing suddenly, the handkerchief was stained with a few spots of bright red blood.