Chapter 126: The Princes Attack Guo
With the support of the aristocratic families, Yuan Shao issued a letter of surrender to the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty, calling on heroes from all over the world to jointly attack the general.
In Chen Lin's writing, Guo Hao was an unforgivable criminal who had committed adultery with his harem. Yuan Shao only started the rebellion after he obtained the secret decree from Empress Dowager He.
With the support of the aristocratic families , the number of princes in the Suanzao League was much larger than the original eighteen princes.
In the Central Plains, princes from all over the country responded to Yuan Shao's call to purge the emperor's side and punish the traitor Guo Fei. They blatantly expanded their power, and undercurrents surged across the world.
The momentum was so great that except for Luoyang and Liangzhou, the entire Central Plains was filled with an atmosphere of turmoil and Guo Hao even became a public enemy.
"Bang!"
After returning to Luoyang, Guo Hao smashed the table in front of him with one palm and was furious at Chen Lin's attack.
He finally understood what it meant to curse someone without using any dirty words. After reading the whole article, one felt that not killing Guo Hao would not be enough to express his gratitude to the world.
The ministers and people of Luoyang were all in danger for a while, fearing that Guo Hao would go crazy.
"Damn aristocratic family! Damn Chen Lin!" Guo Hao roared with a vicious face, and the generals under his command clasped their fists and requested to send troops.
"This Chen Lin's article is really abominable."
While agreeing with Guo Hao, Jia Xu looked amazed. He didn't expect Chen Lin to be so good at making up stories.
Things that didn't happen were made to sound very real. He felt his blood boiling when he read about the story of Guo Fei sleeping on the dragon bed and the debauched harem.
Guo Hao looked at Jia Xu with dissatisfaction. How could he not see that Jia Xu was perfunctory?
Jia Xu quickly cleared his throat and gave some advice to Guo Hao.
"My lord, there are probably many ministers in Luoyang City who are in contact ."
Guo Hao was a little depressed: "Damn it, it seems that I was too easy on these ministers before! I treated them so well, but they still wanted to cling to the thighs of the aristocratic families!"
"Now the princes outside the pass are coming aggressively, we must prepare early, but we have the strategic advantage of Hulao Pass, we can use this strong pass to defeat the princes and then achieve our goal in one battle."
Jia Xu simply pointed out their advantage: with Hulao Pass there, the princes outside the pass could not get in.
"Have Mr. Dong and his men already reached Hulao Pass?"
"We have deployed our troops at Hulao Pass, and General Gao Shun, General Xu Rong, and General Qu Yi are all on standby at Hulao Pass."
"That's good. With them around, we won't lose Hulao Pass!" Guo Hao nodded with satisfaction. There was no problem with the abilities of Xu Rong and others. Moreover, they brought with them the elite troops from the five Beigong schools. Hulao Pass would not be lost for a while.
"Zichuan, how are you?" After Guo Hao had an idea in his mind, he looked at Chen Xi who was listless on the other side.
" The aftereffects have made me so sleepy!" Chen Xi propped his head on the table and said with a look of despair.
"I think you just want to be lazy again! I saw you go to a brothel yesterday!" Jia Xu quickly slapped his face. He really saw Chen Xi go to a brothel.
"I ran away secretly yesterday, how could you possibly see me?" Chen Xi was furious. He ran away early yesterday, how could Jia Xu possibly see me?
"I..." Jia Xu was speechless. Of course he ran away too, otherwise how could he see Chen Xi in the brothel.
"You two behave yourself. The princes outside the Great Wall are still here. Don't be so careless." Guo Hao had a headache.
Jia Xu used to be such a good tool, working hard from morning till night, but now he sneaks away every day.
Let’s not even mention the other Chen Xi, the one who can turn slacking into a purple characteristic. He should be thankful that he can come to work.
The plan that Chen Xi had rushed out along the way was perfect. After seeing it, Jia Xu immediately handed over all the government administration work to Chen Xi. Anyway, he felt inferior to him.
Jia Xu simply didn't understand what was going on in Chen Xi's brain. Apart from other things, he could understand the management aspect, but he couldn't even understand other things such as economic plans.
Jia Xu now controls the Shadow Guards to keep an eye on intelligence every day, then drinks tea and goes to brothels. His daily life is so happy.
However, Jia Xu has been keeping an eye on Chen Xi more and more recently. He doesn't understand how it is possible that Chen Xi can skip work early every day to visit brothels and still complete his daily tasks when he has to do the same job for several days and nights.
"As for the militiamen under the command of the princes outside the Great Wall, even if they are brave generals, what can they do? They are nothing but grass!" Jia Xu waved his hands and did not take the so-called princes outside the Great Wall seriously at all.
It’s no wonder that Chen Xi and Jia Xu relaxed, since Huangfu Song gave them some so-called military common sense.
The coalition forces of the princes outside the Great Wall, which they had originally regarded as a formidable enemy, became a joke.
Militia, regular soldiers, elite troops, royal guards, and military soul.
The direct combat casualty ratio among the five levels of troops is almost one to five.
And the difference is more than three levels, which means it is basically invincible.
There are now nearly 80,000 troops stationed in Hulao, including two military soul corps, three imperial guard corps, and the rest are all elite corps.
Moreover, Ma Teng also asked Ma Chao and Pang De to bring 30,000 Qiang auxiliary troops from Liang Province. Although their fighting capacity was poor, they were still better than civilian laborers.
If the Qiang people in Liangzhou had not made another unusual move, Ma Teng would have wanted to bring tens of thousands more Qiang people to help in the battle. Although he was entrusted with an important task by Guo Hao, no one in their family had been granted a title of nobility. He was trying his best to restore the glory of the Ma family , so naturally he had to get close to Guo Hao.
How could the militia temporarily mobilized by the princes outside the Great Wall to expand their military forces be a match for the generals at Hulao Pass?
It is strange to say that Hulao Pass is now guarded by Dong Zhuo and his men, which is basically the same as the original plot.
The difference is that this time Dong Zhuo has no worries and can devote all his energy to dealing with the princes outside the Great Wall.
"Should we defeat them one by one before the princes unite?" Guo Hao said after thinking for a while.
He was still a little worried and wanted to minimize the risk.
"No, our goal is to make them all run out of our territory, and then completely crush their ambitions in one battle. It is easy to defeat them one by one, but it is inevitable that we will be dragged into the quagmire of war."
Chen Xi directly rejected Guo Hao's idea. Everyone knew that it would be easier to defeat the enemies one by one, but defeating the coalition forces outside the Great Wall was not their goal at all.
If a few troublesome characters were allowed to escape, the Thirteen States of the Han Dynasty would have no need to develop, and they would just have to suppress bandits every day. When they were pushed to the limit, these princes would use vicious schemes such as burning and flooding, and the Han Dynasty would be turned into a mess . Not to mention fighting for hegemony abroad, even governance would be a difficult task.
"Well, that's right. The matters in Wen and Luoyang are left to you. Zichuan will go to Hulao with me." Guo Hao sighed helplessly.
"Why? I don't want to go to Hulao Pass!" Chen Xi looked desperate. He didn't want to go to the front line. He wanted to slack off and take it easy.
"Your little plan has already dealt a heavy blow to these scholars. If you continue to bring them along, they will go crazy."
Guo Hao had no choice. Everyone was working, but you, Chen Xi, were the only one drinking tea and eating snacks every day, and even running away early from time to time.
Just run away, the mission has been accomplished anyway. But if it goes on for so long, the other people in the Government Affairs Office will probably get sick, so it’s better to take him away and let the scholars in the Government Affairs Office relax.
"Okay, come with me!" Guo Hao carried Chen Xi away directly, completely ignoring Chen Xi's struggle.
Jia Xu smiled and was not worried about the safety of Guo Hao and Chen Xi at all. With Dian Wei and Zhao Yun as bodyguards, it was impossible for anyone in Luoyang to do anything bad to them.
As for the princes outside the Great Wall, he had prepared some great gifts for them.
Sometimes, the most unoriginal strategies are the most effective.
"The seeds that were planted at that time should have sprouted by now!"
Jia Xu couldn't help but laugh sinisterly as he thought about it.
…
"The Suanzao Alliance? Should we go?" Zhang Su, one of the former captains of the Eight Schools of Xiyuan, turned around and asked his good friend Wei Bi.
"Go, why not? That's the best stage!" As a member of the Wei family, Wei Bi knew a little about the news.
The aristocratic families intend to muddy the waters, so it would be their best option to fish in troubled waters.
"Let's go and meet the heroes of the world. I'm sure all the players will not miss this event!" Wei Bi was looking forward to it. Last time, in order to gain a foothold in the Wei family, he was busy for a long time and completely missed the selection of the eight schools in Xiyuan.
"I really don't want to confront that man!" Zhang Su felt a headache when he thought of Guo Hao. Wei Bi had never seen Guo Hao, but he had.
They are all players, but Guo Hao is far ahead of them, Lu Bu, Zhao Yun, Dian Wei...
Guo Hao owns the largest territory, the largest army, the greatest power, and the best generals. These four bests alone are enough to make his scalp tingle.
Similar conversations were taking place all over the world. As the most iconic event in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, how could players miss this feast?
Unlike the Yellow Turban Rebellion, when they could only follow the princes and take advantage of the situation, this time, although they are still weak, they already have the foundation to compete with the princes.
Wei Kuo, Bai Wushang, Li Changsheng, Guo Ye... There is not a single player who was driven out of Luoyang by Guo Hao who does not intend to participate.
They were also confident that the coalition forces could muster hundreds of first-rate generals and dozens of counselors, and they could not imagine how they could lose with such a lineup.
…
Xuzhou City, Liu Bei’s forces.
"Brother, are we going to pick sour jujubes too?" Zhang Fei couldn't help but ask as he looked at his elder brother.
"I have to go. I have to go!" Liu Bei sighed.
"Brother, don't we know who Pengju is? It's obvious that Yuan Benchu has bad intentions!" Zhang Fei couldn't accept it. Others didn't know what Guo Hao was like, but how could they not know him?
Moreover, Guo Hao was really good to them. He recommended them to Xuzhou, which is such a good place. Now they have to confront Guo Hao head-on, which Zhang Fei finds a little unacceptable.
Guan Yu on the side remained silent, but his opinion was the same as Zhang Fei's.
Since they knew what Guo Hao was like, Yuan Shao's surrender letter was clearly a slander. Moreover, everyone could see what Yuan Shao was thinking from his attitude of taking advantage of the chaos to expand. They were people loyal to the Han Dynasty, so how could they join Yuan Shao in rebelling?
"Second brother, third brother, go and get ready. Trust your eldest brother!" Liu Bei glanced at the civil and military officials in the hall and could only force Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to go down and organize the troops.
"Yes!" Guan Yu and Zhang Fei looked at Liu Bei and accepted the order to go down and organize the army.
Liu Bei was not a fool. Zhang Fei could see that Yuan Shao's so-called clearing of the court was actually rebellion. How could he not see it?
Liu Yan and other relatives of the Han royal family were sitting on the Diaoyutai, and each of them wanted to be the local emperor in their own territory, and had no interest in conquering.
But Liu Bei was a passionate man, so how could he help others rebel against the Han Dynasty?
If Guo Hao hadn't asked Wang Yue to send a letter over, he would not have gone to the Suanzao Alliance and would have gone directly to Hulao to help Guo Hao.
"Hey, Pengju, you really gave me a big problem!"
"Forget it, backstab me if you want. If I can use my reputation to bring peace to the world, then I, Liu Xuande, will not regret dying!"
Liu Bei secretly made up his mind and began to issue orders to his civil and military officials.
After a few days in Xuzhou, he had already felt the resistance from the aristocratic families, which was something he had never imagined before.
Originally, it was thought that the Yellow Turbans were the cause of the unrest in the world. Later, when Zhang Jue died and the Yellow Turbans were suppressed, it was discovered that this was not the case at all and the unrest continued.
They also thought it was caused by the eunuchs and relatives of the emperor's wife. Later, when Zhang Rang and He Jin died, they found that it was not the case and the unrest still did not stop.
It was not until he came to Xuzhou and planned to create a pure land for himself that he discovered that the chaos in the world was decided by the aristocratic families.
The political struggle, which was no less boring than that on the battlefield, exhausted him. If he had not met a scholar named Xu Shu on the way, he would have long ago sidelined the aristocratic family in Xuzhou.
That old fellow Tao Qian seemed to be on good terms with him on the surface, but he was actually doing bad things behind his back and restricting him everywhere.
"Except for Yunchang, Yide, Xu Shu, Jian Yong, Chen Dao, and Sun Qian, I'm afraid even the Mi brothers can't be trusted."
Liu Bei looked at the civil and military officials in the hall, but his heart was cold as ice. For the first time, he realized that supporting the Han Dynasty was not as easy as he had imagined.
"Pengju, don't let me down!"
Thinking of the young man who was like the sun, Liu Bei couldn't help but place his hopes on Guo Hao. He really felt powerless. The aristocratic families in Xuzhou were like a net that had bound him to Xuzhou. If he did not send troops to respond to Yuan Shao, I was afraid that someone would come to replace him.
This is exactly why Jia Xu left Liu Bei in Xuzhou. Only by letting Liu Bei truly feel the harm of the aristocratic families could he truly understand what Guo Hao did.
Otherwise, how could Jia Xu let Liu Bei go? A grassroots royal relative like Liu Bei should naturally stand in the same camp with them.
It is precisely because of Liu Bei’s special status that the princes’ alliance would definitely not refuse Liu Bei’s participation.
After all, other royal relatives do not have the time to participate in the alliance. Liu Bei's joining will allow the coalition forces to occupy the moral high ground.
The last time, the Qiang rebellion was put down directly by the backstabbing of Pang De and Ma Teng in Liang Province. Jia Xu did not think it was old-fashioned at all when the same strategy was used again.
Moreover, the obstacle that Jia Xu had planted was not just Liu Bei. The alliance of princes seemed to be united in hatred of the enemy, but it was hard to say what kind of princes were mixed among them.
Sometimes, loyal people turning against the enemy, or the enemy turning against the loyal people, can have unexpected effects, right?
