lcionline Chapter 689 Reactions from all parties
Chapter 689 Reactions from all parties
Zhao Yun attacked Changshan County, Taishi Ci attacked Zhongshan State, and Lu Cheng led 30,000 troops to march into Hejian State, preparing to fight against Yuan Shao's main force.
At the same time, Yuan Shao also mobilized all the troops in Bohai County and urgently recruited a group of soldiers. Together with a part of the troops obtained from Han Fu, a total of 100,000 troops went north to resist Lu Cheng.
Even so, facing the powerful Liaodong Army, Yuan Shao still feels unsure?
After all, Lu Cheng now occupies Youzhou and Bingzhou, and has more than 200,000 soldiers and horses under his command. He also has many brave generals and strategists, and his soldiers are well-trained and well-fed, and his morale is high.
On the other hand, although Yuan Shao also gathered 100,000 soldiers, most of them were civilians who had just picked up weapons and had not received proper training.
For Yuan Shao, perhaps the only thing he could show off was his family background of three generations of officials and his status as the leader of the alliance of princes.
However, in this chaotic world, when you have enough strength, reputation and origin can play a role of icing on the cake. When you are not strong enough, the so-called reputation and origin are all false and can play a very limited role.
Therefore, while Yuan Shao led his troops northward, he also sought help from various princes such as Kong Rong and Tao Qian in the name of the Yuan family, hoping that they could send troops to rescue.
At the same time, Dong Zhuo, who was far away in Chang'an, learned about the endless disputes among the various princes and began to enjoy a better life with more peace of mind.
However, Li Ru never let down his guard and always paid close attention to the situation outside the Great Wall, especially the movements of the Liaodong Army.
When Li Ru learned that Lu Cheng had taken over the entire Youzhou, half of Bingzhou, and was advancing into Jizhou, he advised Dong Zhuo: "Prime Minister, Lu Cheng of Liaodong is a great hero of the time, with great ambitions. Now that he has occupied two states, he is still not satisfied. We must guard against him."
"According to what Wenyou said, how should we prevent it?"
"At present, Lu Cheng is plotting to seize Jizhou, which will inevitably lead to conflicts with Yuan Shao and other princes. It is better to submit a petition to the emperor to appoint Yuan Shao as governor of Youzhou and Yuan Shu as governor of Jizhou. In this way, the two Yuan brothers will surely fight to the death with Lu Cheng. We can also appoint Cao Cao as governor of Bingzhou and lead Cao Cao to attack Lu Cheng.
As a result, the lands occupied by Lu Cheng were not recognized by the court in name. Then, in the name of the court, various princes were enfeoffed, except Lu Cheng.
The Yuan brothers and Cao Cao can contact their lords, and the lords of the world can fight against Lu Cheng together. Lu Cheng occupies two states and has more than 200,000 soldiers. He is strong and powerful, and it is not something that the lords of one road can contend with. If the lords of all roads fight against Lu Cheng together, no matter who wins or loses, both sides will suffer heavy losses, and we can reap the benefits. "
"This is a brilliant plan. I'll do as you say. And let Lu Cheng know how powerful we are."
"Prime Minister, if Lu Cheng is defeated and retreats to Jizhou, perhaps we can show him kindness and make him turn to us."
"What's the meaning of this statement?"
"We are firmly in Guanzhong, and can advance or defend. We can drive the tiger to devour the wolf, or let the wolves hurt the tiger. Only when the two sides maintain a constant conflict and both sides suffer losses, it will be in our best interest."
"I see. Let's do it this way."
At this time, Lu Cheng still didn't know that he was being plotted against by Li Ru who was far away in Chang'an. However, even if he knew, Lu Cheng didn't care.
Occupying such a large territory and having so many troops, Lu Cheng’s strength is not enough to fear even the coalition forces of the princes.
Of course, Li Ru didn't know at this time that there were also people in Chang'an City who were always planning to plot against Dong Zhuo.
Similarly, among all the princes and local aristocratic families in the world, who doesn't have his own calculations in these troubled times?
Just like the various princes, today they will form alliances for the sake of interests, and tomorrow they will fight each other to the death for the sake of interests.
If Lu Cheng wants to achieve hegemony, he must make enemies with all the princes and eliminate any enemy that stands in his way. Therefore, Lu Cheng does not need allies, and even when he is strong enough, it doesn't matter whether he has righteousness or not.
However, with Lu Cheng's current strength, it is enough to attract famous officials and advisers to come and assist him.
As the saying goes, a good bird chooses a tree to roost in, and a good minister chooses a master to serve.
Whether they are counselors or generals, they will choose to serve the lord they favor.
As soon as Lu Cheng led his troops into Hejian State, a messenger came to report: "Report, there is a general outside the tent, leading 3,000 soldiers to surrender. There is also a scholar accompanying him, who is outside the tent asking to see the lord."
"Oh? Bring them in quickly."
Not long after, Lu Cheng saw a familiar figure.
"Ju Su pays his respects to the governor. It has been a long time since we last met, and the governor is more elegant than ever."
"It turns out that Gongyu has arrived. Please take a seat. With Gongyu's help, Jizhou will be within my grasp."
"You are overpraising me, Your Excellency. Even without Ju Su, with your troops and brave generals, it would be easy to take Jizhou. Ju Su has come to introduce a good general to you. This is Zhang He from Hejian, courtesy name Junyi. He used to be a military commander under Han Fu, but he did not want to follow Han Fu to Yuan Shao, so he came to join you."
"I have long heard of the famous general Zhang Junyi in Hejian. Seeing him today, I can see that he has the demeanor of a great general."
"Zhang He has also heard of the prefect's great name for a long time, and is willing to follow him at his side."
"General Zhang, please stand up quickly!"
Zhang He was one of the Four Pillars of Hebei under Yuan Shao, one of the Five Elite Generals under Cao Cao, and the most powerful general in the late Cao Wei period. He fought countless battles in his life and had fought against many famous generals such as Zhang Liao, Zhao Yun, Pang De, Huang Zhong, Wei Yan, Zhang Fei, etc. His martial arts skills were not low.
Although Zhang He's early performance was not outstanding and he often lost battles, a closer look reveals that Zhang He is very smart and knows how to judge the situation. He would run away when he met an enemy he couldn't defeat, and he would not fight to the death. That's why he was able to escape safely after fighting with Huang Zhong, Zhao Yun and others.
Even if he really couldn't escape, he could still hold out against Zhang Fei for fifty rounds and then find another opportunity to escape.
At Changbanpo, Zhang He encountered Zhao Yun who was completely bloodthirsty. He fought with him for more than ten rounds. When he realized that the situation was not right, he turned around and left, putting his life first.
It was precisely because of this kind of cleverness that Zhang He lived until the late period of Cao Wei, and outlasted Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Huang Zhong, Zhao Yun and others, and eventually became a famous general in the late period of Cao Wei.
In the later period, when Zhuge Liang launched his first Northern Expedition, he let Ma Su garrison Jieting. It was Zhang He who cut off Ma Su's food supply and seized Jieting, leaving Zhuge Liang with no way to advance or retreat, and he had to retreat.
Later, during Zhuge Liang's fourth Northern Expedition, Sima Yi ignored Zhang He's advice and insisted on sending Zhang He to pursue Zhuge Liang, which led to Zhang He being ambushed by Zhuge Liang and died on Mumen Road.
As to whether Sima Yi did it intentionally, it is unknown.
Among the four pillars of Hebei who were valued by Yuan Shao, Yan Liang and Wen Chou were brave but could only be generals. Zhang He and Gao Lan were talented commanders but were not as valued as Yan Liang and Wen Chou.
Yuan Shao's use of people is also very interesting. He divides his subordinates into military generals and civil officials. For the military generals, Yuan Shao's requirement is that they don't have to think about anything, and they are not allowed to think about anything, even if they are defeated and run away.
For civil officials, it is basically useless to think about it, and it is useless to speak about it. Yuan Shao will only listen to you if your thoughts coincide with those of Yuan Shao.
With Zhang He and Ju Shou, Lu Cheng had 3,000 more soldiers and horses. He was not going to delay any more and led his troops straight into the city to find Yuan Shao's main force, preparing to annihilate Yuan Shao in one fell swoop and clear the biggest obstacle to taking over Jizhou...