Chapter 12 The Banner is not rolled up in the first month of the twenty-fourth section, Xiangyang. A few years ago, Jian Yong and Zhuge Liang from Yizhou, Zhou Yu and Zhang Hong from Jiangdong, and Cao Pi and Xun Yu from Xuzhou rushed to Xiangyang to discuss the plan.

Judging from the situation between the north and the south, the south ushered in an excellent opportunity for the Northern Expedition, which was also an important reason for sending envoys to Xiangyang.

After Li Hong fell ill in the north, he was worried about losing his authority, so he immediately married the eldest princess, and invited Zhang Yan, Li Wei and other cronies to Jinyang, let Xu Rong sit in the western Xinjiang, let Zhao Yun sit in Guanzhong, and firmly control the government with Jinyang as the power center, and at the same time let Yu Shi and Fu Gan hijack Xiao Tianzi to go south to conquer, trying to divert Chang'an's attention and cover up his true face of usurping Sheji.

But the people of Chang'an have bright eyes, and they will never fall for Li Hong's plan to let him succeed in his plot to usurp Sheji, and the signs of chaos in the north have appeared.

At this moment, as long as we can find ways to reach a tacit understanding with the people of Chang'an, and then defeat the Northern Xinjiang Army on the battlefield of Nanyang, inflict heavy damage on Li Hong, and let him lose the support of the little Tianzi and lose the hearts of the people, then the army will move north, and the period of recovering Sheji is just around the corner.

Liu Biao believes that Li Hong's usurpation of Sheji is getting faster and faster, and he not only forcibly married the eldest princess to control the imperial power, but also impatiently proposed

The policy of "aiding the Tao into Confucianism" intends to revive orthodox Confucianism for himself

"Mandated by Heaven" to seize the Han Sheji to find a theoretical basis and deceive the people of the world. What he did was exactly the same as Wang Mang back then, and the new policies he implemented were not much different from Wang Mang's reform.

As long as we take advantage of the situation to launch an attack on the north and pose a strong threat to the north, all kinds of contradictions in the north will inevitably intensify, and the north will be in chaos, and we will be able to successfully recover the Central Plains, conquer Luoyang and Guanzhong, kill Hebei, and drive Li Hong to the desert.

In order to achieve this goal, Liu Biao, Cai Mao and others in Xiangyang came up with a detailed attack plan.

On the battlefield of Nanyang, relying on Kuailiang and 60,000 troops and sufficient grain and grass to hold Wancheng, the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army was dragged in Nanyang, so that they fell into a protracted battle and consumed their money and food to the greatest extent.

In recent years, rebellions have arisen in the northern frontier, and Li Hong led the army to kill from the west to the north and then to the east of Liaodong, which has hollowed out the wealth of the Chang'an court, which is also the fundamental reason why Li Hong can't wait to implement the restructuring under the unstable situation in the north, because they need a lot of money and food to support the army's adult expeditions.

The present North is like a scarred, exhausted, hungry and dying tiger, which may still look vicious, but in fact it is vulnerable.

Li Hongqiang married the eldest princess and moved the center of power to Jinyang, which was a countermeasure he had to take because he was worried that the situation would get out of control and the chaos in the north.

As for letting Xiao Tianzi personally govern and let Xiao Tianzi drive the expedition in person, it is just a clumsy trick by Li Hong to cover up people's eyes and ears and vainly try to deceive the people of the world to cover up his usurpation.

In September, the Northern Xinjiang Army had just suffered a crushing defeat on the battlefield of Nanyang, and in November, he made a comeback despite the discouragement of the army and the contradictions between the government and the opposition.

His purpose is very simple, if he wins the war, he can stabilize the situation, he can temporarily stop the expedition, and he can turn all his energy to the court and to stabilize the overall situation in the north.

We can't give him this opportunity, we have to drag him all the time to fight, turn the Nanyang battlefield into a stalemate, completely crush his wishful thinking, let the north fall into a bigger crisis, and let the crisis come to the brink of breaking out sooner.

But this was not enough, it was not enough to give Li Hong a fatal blow, so Liu Biao proposed a strategy of containing the middle and attacking on both wings.

The stalemate on the Nanyang battlefield in the middle road can at least drag down the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army by more than 100,000, so on the Qingyan battlefield on the east road and the Longnan battlefield on the west road, the strength of the Northern Xinjiang Army is not much.

In the past two years, Li Hong has pacified the northwest and the desert by force, and the iron cavalry army in his hand is all stationed on the front line of the Great Wall, and now the troops on the battlefields in the south are all the troops that the northern Xinjiang army can recruit, and Li Hong has no more reinforcements, which is the perfect opportunity for the southern coalition forces to break through from the battlefields on both flanks.

Liu Biao suggested that Cao Cao in Xuzhou and Zhou Yu in Jiangdong gather all their forces to attack Yanzhou, while Sun Quan gathered all the naval divisions in Jiangdong to go north by sea to attack Qingzhou and contain the northern Xinjiang army in Qingzhou, so as to respond to Cao Cao and Zhou Yu's attack on Yanzhou.

At the same time, Liu Bei of Yizhou gathered the armies of Bashu and Hanzhong, attacked Longnan all the way to contain it, attracted the attention of the Northern Xinjiang army, and took the road from Hanzhong all the way to kill Guanzhong.

After the success of attacking Guanzhong from the Baochuan Road, Chang'an must draw troops from the Longnan battlefield to reinforce, and at this moment the Bashu army took the opportunity to capture Longnan, through Chencang, and once again entered Guanzhong.

The situation in Guanzhong is precarious, and the gate lords of Chang'an will definitely respond in groups, and it is very likely that the land of Sanfu will be successfully recovered.

If Guanzhong is in danger, if Yanzhou is in a hurry, the stalemate on the battlefield in Nanyang is bound to be difficult to maintain, and the Northern Xinjiang Army will definitely retreat, and the preferred direction is Luoyang, so that Yuzhou can be successfully recovered.

The three battlefields in the south were once again connected, and the armies of all walks of life could support and respond to each other, and attack Luoyang at the same time.

Whether Luoyang can be conquered or not, the key is not a decisive battle by force, but whether there will be chaos in the north. Under the attack of our three-way army in the crisis-ridden north, it was difficult to sustain the financial endowment, and the contradictions that had accumulated for many years were bound to break out, and rebellions broke out one after another.

This is also the reason why he moved the center of power back to Jinyang, he lost his self-confidence, and he was already thinking about a comeback after defeat.

This leopard that once swept the way is old, and he no longer has the courage to move forward in the past, let alone the invincible spirit of the former blockers.

Li Hong's defeat was just around the corner, and he, like Dong Zhuo, finally embarked on the road of destruction.

After many days of discussion, Liu Biao's attack strategy was basically agreed upon by all parties. On the fifteenth day of the first month, Zhou Yu and others said goodbye and left, and the Son of Heaven and Liu Biao and other Xiangyang ministers of civil and military affairs sent each other to the Shili Long Pavilion.

On the way back to the city, Cai Mao and Liu Biao rode in the same car, and he was worried about the battle situation, believing that Cao Cao, Sun Quan, Liu Bei and others might not obey the holy decree and make an appointment to send troops.

"Each family has its own interests, and it is obviously impossible to expect them to do their best to revitalize the society." Liu Biao said calmly,

"But the current situation is very favorable to us, if we can take this opportunity to defeat Li Hong, or drive Li Hong back to Hebei, and maintain the situation of confrontation between the north and the south, the families are still very willing."

"Actually, I don't expect Cao Cao and Zhou Yu to hit the Yellow River in one go, nor do I expect Liu Bei to conquer Guanzhong, and I don't expect Sun Quan to command the sailors to enter Qingzhou. I only hope that Cao Cao and Zhou Yu can work together to garrison Jianghuai and drag the troops of Qingyan and Yuzhou on the battlefield on the east road, and I only hope that Liu Bei can threaten Guanzhong, intensify the contradictions in Chang'an as much as possible, and make Chang'an chaotic, I only hope that Sun Quan will not be treacherous and turn against each other at this time. If he can put the overall situation first and maintain stability on the north and south banks of the Yangtze River, I will be grateful. Cai Mao sighed,

"What these three can really count on is Liu Bei. Liu Bei's foothold in Bashu is not stable, he is respectful to Xiangyang, and he has always kept his promise to manage Yizhou with Jingzhou, and also reused Huang Zhong, Li Yan, Zhuge Liang and other Jingzhou civil and military officials. If he can do his best to enter Guanzhong, it will quickly change the situation in the north, which will be very beneficial for us to go north to recover the Central Plains. ”

"Xuande has the difficulties of Xuande." Liu Biao shook his head and said with a wry smile,

He first killed Zhao Wei and offended a large group of Bashu clans, Pang Yi, Yan Yan and others were angry, and simply took refuge in Chang'an. Then he forced Liu Zhang away, and offended almost all the Gaomen clans and Dongzhou scholars (Liuyu scholars) in Bashu. At this time, he was able to win over a group of Bashu people to stabilize the situation in Yizhou, which was already commendable. I didn't accept Xuande's resignation and let Liu Qi go west, because I was worried that our mutual suspicion would lead to the deterioration of the situation in Bashu. At this moment, if Xuande commanded the armies of Bashu and Hanzhong to launch a large-scale northern expedition, who would dare to guarantee that Bashu would not be chaotic? Who dares to guarantee that Yizhou's army will not defect? Cai Mao's face was disappointed, and he looked depressed,

"In this way, if we want to stabilize the situation between the north and the south this time, it depends entirely on whether the north is in chaos and destroys the Great Wall."

"Yes, Li Hong, Li Wei, Zhang Yan and others have made stupid moves, which has exacerbated the contradictions between the various forces in the north, and it is difficult to be undefeated." Liu Biao said,

"We can only sit on the sidelines and see if we can pick up a bargain, as for the big march, it is just a bluff." Cai Mao hesitated for a moment and asked in a low voice, "I heard that Li Hong is sending envoys to Xuzhou and Jiangdong. Sun Quan is in a safe corner, has the risk of the Yangtze River, and has the capital to bargain, he will definitely step on two boats and benefit from both sides. But Cao Cao can't do it, Cao Cao has had a hard time in the past few years, Li Hong in the north, Sun Quan in the south, and Yuan Tan in the middle has repeatedly been unable to get along with him. Now that Yuan Tan has fled to Jiangdong, Zhou Yu has taken the opportunity to occupy Lujiang, forcing him to have a headache, if Sun Quan and Zhou Yu take the opportunity...... "Cai Mao wants to speak and stops.

"Are you worried that he will take refuge in Li Hong in a fit of rage?" Liu Biao thought for a moment and said,

"He has too deep a grudge with Li Hong, and his hatred with the Yellow Turban Army is even deeper, even if Li Hong doesn't kill him, Zhang Yan and Yang Feng will never spare him. If he had taken refuge in Li Hong, he would have died faster. I'm not worried about his defection, but about his head wind. Recently he had been getting sicker, and his head stroke had tormented him to death, and if he died suddenly, it would be all over......"

"Cao Cao is dead, Sun Quan and Zhou Yu will rob Xuzhou immediately." Cai Mao's face changed suddenly,

"At this moment, the north is too busy to take care of itself and cannot afford to go south, how can they miss such a good opportunity?"

"Yes, Hua Tuo and Zhang Ji were snatched away by Li Hong, although Zuo Ci of Lujiang was caught by Cao Cao, but he fled in a blink of an eye, Hua Tuo's two disciples Wu Pu and Li Dang are also nowhere to be heard, and now only a few disciples of Zhang Ji in the south can barely be regarded as masters. But I heard Cao Pi say that they could only barely stabilize Cao Cao's condition and reduce some pain for him, and they couldn't stabilize his condition like Hua Tuo and Zhang Ji, so what I was most worried about at the moment was what to do if Cao Cao died suddenly......" Cai Mao couldn't help but shiver.

"You will send someone to ......Chang'an immediately," Liu Biao leaned on the seat of the car and thought for a while and said,

"Regardless of whether Cao Cao dies or not, and no matter what happens on the battlefield on the East Road, as long as Chang'an is in chaos, the north will be in danger, and we will have a chance to defeat the Northern Xinjiang Army on the battlefield of Nanyang. If the battle of Nanyang is won, even if Li Hong has the talent of heaven, he will not be able to save the situation of confrontation between the north and the south. ”

"But he still has Li Wei, this person is too powerful." Cai Mao said,

"Even if Li Hong is dead, with the strength of Xu Rong and Zhang Yan, coupled with Li Wei's talent in the world, he can still hold on to Hebei and become the biggest obstacle to our pacification of the world."

"Kill him." Liu Biao said sharply,

"Kill Li Wei at all costs, if this person is not removed, it will be difficult for the society to be safe."

"Good. I immediately asked Wang Wei to go to Chang'an to seek refuge with his brother Wang Kai, and let Ma Jian and Zhang Yun sneak to Chang'an with the assassins. ”

"Send the best warriors in the Jingxiang area to Chang'an, send ten batches if one group is not enough, and if one hundred is not enough, one thousand people, and be sure to kill Li Wei." Liu Biao waved his hand vigorously and made a gesture of cutting off his head,

"As long as Li Wei is killed, Chang'an will definitely be in chaos, and the confrontation between the north and the south can be achieved." On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, Xiao Tianzi came to the front line and commanded the army to attack Yuyang.

Yushi, Wang Dang, Yan Liang, Yu Poison, Wu Xiong, Peng Lie, Liao Lei, Liang Baiwu and others led an army of 100,000 to launch a fierce attack on Yuyang.

On the eighteenth day of the first month, the Han army conquered Yuyang. On the twentieth day of the first month, the army moved to Nieyang. The main force of Nieyang City broke through overnight under the command of Ma Liang.

The Son of Heaven ordered him to break through the siege, and ordered Yan Liang to lead an army of 20,000 to cover up and kill him, forcing him to flee to Wancheng.

On the twenty-first day of the first month, the army conquered Neyang. On the twenty-second day of the first month, the Han army surrounded Wancheng on all sides. On the same day, Liu Qi and Cai Mao led an army of 40,000 to the north to rescue.

Yan Liang immediately led an army of 10,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 iron cavalry troops on the front line of Xinye and Chaoyang to block the reinforcements in the direction of Xiangyang.

New Year's Day, Chang'an. The favorable situation on the battlefield in Nanyang not only did not ease the tense situation in Chang'an, but on the contrary intensified the contradictions in Chang'an.

At the end of the year, the price of grain began to soar, from 100 yuan to 200 yuan. After the New Year, the momentum of the rise in grain prices became even more rapid, like a tiger out of the cage, out of control, in a short period of time, it even rose to 500 yuan a hundred.

Guanzhong, Luoyang, Jizhou, Qingzhou, Yanzhou, Yuzhou and other major grain-producing prefectures and counties have money to buy grain.

The price of grain rose, and the wealthy people in various places immediately stopped sending grain to the border counties to seek titles, but hoarded grain to be sold.

The border counties were already short of food, the people needed relief, and the army needed grain and grass, but now that the food sent to the border counties is low, the crisis is coming.

If this situation does not improve, it will be difficult to maintain stability in the border counties in a few months' time.

Prefectures and counties in various places were in a hurry, and the music flew to Chang'an like snowflakes. In order to suppress grain prices, the hussar general Zhao Yunzuo invited the Son of Heaven to open a warehouse to release grain.

Although the opening of warehouses and the release of grain can curb the rise in grain prices to a certain extent, when there is money and cannot buy grain, the grain from the official warehouses can be released, and the front-line military rations cannot be guaranteed.

For this reason, Zhao Yun suggested that the Son of Heaven should postpone the attack on Wancheng and open a warehouse to release grain first. If we do not open warehouses and release grain, and allow grain prices to skyrocket, the harm to the people will be too great, and the people will be emotional, and the situation in various localities will become more and more tense.

The sharp rise in grain prices has triggered a crazy increase in the prices of other types of materials, but fortunately, salt and iron are currently government-run, and the stability of salt and iron prices has alleviated the panic and anger of the people to a certain extent.

Now the Son of Heaven is anxious to attack Wancheng and occupy Nanyang, while Zhao Yun is eager to stabilize the price of grain and calm the panic of the people everywhere, and the contradiction between Xingtai and Chang'an has suddenly intensified.

Dozens of ministers, including Taifu Liu He, Imperial Historian Xun You, Taichangqing Xu Jing, Taifuqing Cui Yan, Tingweiqing Chen Qun, Zong Zhengqing Zhang Fan, and other ministers, jointly issued a petition to demand the abolition of the five-baht coin, the recasting of large coins, and the increase in the issuance of coins to alleviate the current crisis, and then purchase grain to maintain the needs of the Nanyang battlefield and help the Son of Heaven win the Nanyang War as soon as possible.

Hussar generals Zhao Yun, Shang Shu Ling Tian Chou, Guangluxun Zhang He, Wei Weiqing Yang Feng, Dasi Nongqing Tian Yu, Shaofu Qing Yu Peng, Si Li Xiao Lieutenant Zhang Liao and other ministers opposed it, Wu Zhu Qian is the foundation of the stability of Sheji, if Wu Zhu Qian is abolished, the world is bound to be in chaos, they suggested that the Son of Heaven consider withdrawing troops from Nanyang.

At present, the army swept through Nanyang, and conquered Yuyang and Nieyang, basically achieved the goal of establishing prestige in the first battle planned before the war, and the army could be withdrawn, and there was no need to fall into a siege and hard battle, which made the situation more critical.

The Son of Heaven immediately replied, agreeing to open a warehouse to release grain, but rejected the proposal to withdraw the army, and ordered Zhao Yun to find ways to send grain and grass to the front line, and if the Nanyang Battle was delayed, he would be severely punished.

Zhao Yun was helpless, and wrote to Jinyang, asking the Prime Minister and the Taiwei to return to Chang'an immediately to preside over the overall situation, and to supervise the Great Sima Xu Rong to return to the court to take charge.

Lord Taiwei refused to return to Chang'an on the grounds of physical discomfort, but Prime Minister Li Wei ignored it at all, and united two masters and celebrities of Confucianism and Taoism such as Fuwan, Xiangkai, Xu Shao, Wang Jian, Wang Ze, and Guo Yun in Jinyang, and annotated the study of "Yi" with the words of "Laozi" and "Zhuangzi", and openly raised it

The banner of "aiding Confucianism and improving Confucianism". At the same time, the Taixue, University Hall and Confucianism in Chang'an, Luoyang, Handan and other places, as well as the famous scholars and scholars of scripture in various places, also raised it

Under the banner of "improving scriptures", he resolutely opposed aiding Confucianism and confronted Jinyang head-on. In February, Zhao Yun ordered all prefectures and counties to open warehouses and release grain, and severely crack down on big hoarders and big money merchants.

On the same day, Zhao Yun ordered that taxes and payments could be replaced by grain and millet and other physical goods, so as to reduce the exploitation of the common people by wealthy merchants.

The common people can report to the government the rich businessmen who took the opportunity to make a fortune in the country, and the whistleblower will be rewarded, while the businessmen and rich people who openly resist the decree will confiscate their family wealth and be exiled to the border lands.

Taifu Liu He, Imperial Historian Xun You and other ministers strongly opposed it, and hurriedly played the stage to impeach Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun was unmoved, and sent 27 patrol envoys to various places to supervise the handling, if it was found that there were state and county officials who took the opportunity to bend the law for bribes and twist the law for personal gain, there was no need to show the court, and they would be killed on the spot.

The government and the opposition were in turmoil, and everyone was in danger. The impeachment recitals received by Xingtai were piled up, but the Son of Heaven stayed on the battlefield all day long, ignoring them.

Taifu Liu He, Zong Zhengqing Zhang Fan, and Guanglu Doctor Yang Qi rushed to Jinyang day and night to ask the eldest princess to come forward to suppress them.

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