Chapter 143 The Beginning of Change
() Since the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the central government's control over local areas has gradually relaxed. Especially after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the local governors and governors armed with troops saw the weakness of the imperial court, and took the opportunity to get rid of the imperial constraints.
Local governments operate independently. Although on the surface it still appears to be a unified national power, in fact it is not far from disintegration.
Of course, the root cause of all this cannot be attributed to the Yellow Turban Rebellion, because even if Zhang Jiao and others did not lead the Yellow Turban uprising to sweep the world, the central government would eventually lose control completely when the court and the local landscape were at odds with each other, and they
The emergence of , only intensified the development of all this.
The real reason lies in the Han Dynasty's own system, which is the state pastoral system and the clan system. The state pastoral system was only really adopted by local governments at the end of the Han Dynasty. It made it easier for the government to manage local areas, but it had some disadvantages.
It is a profound drawback that the military power, political power and financial power of a state are all placed in the hands of one person. This person becomes the true emperor of the state. Who would be willing to return the power if they get this power?
Imperial court?
As for the clan system, it has a far-reaching influence. The family clan system has completely solidified the upper and lower classes. People in such a small circle will always be in power. They will naturally be loyal to the state official who controls their career path.
Over time, the central government gradually lost its control over local forces. In the end, it had no choice but to stay away from the officials and the people.
But even so, the most local forces can do is to brag behind closed doors, and it is still difficult to pose a big threat to the court. It is just self-appointment and removal of officials. However, the death of Emperor Ling, the eunuch rebellion, and after Dong Zhuo led his troops into Luoyang
A series of changes, but once again dealt a heavy blow to the relationship that was about to collapse!
It turns out that when you have troops in your hands, you can be so proud after entering Luoyang that you can make all the officials of the dynasty bow their heads and obey orders. Dong Zhuo's experience made many people who had not been disobedient see a possibility, and it also made them
Some people were confused. Then, Dong Zhuo actually deposed the emperor. As a minister of the Han family, he forcibly deposed the emperor and installed another emperor as the emperor. This shock really stunned everyone, and then they made the final move on the royal family.
Any sense of awe was gone.
Many people deeply hate why they did not think of bringing troops into Luoyang like Dong Zhuo before? If they had also brought troops into Luoyang City at that time, maybe they would be the ones showing off in the capital today! This idea made more people
The people were unsatisfied with the status quo, and at the same time they were very jealous of Dong Zhuo. They just lacked a leader to lead them to launch an army against Luoyang with a legitimate reason.
And at this moment, the leader that everyone wanted to see appeared, and this person was Yuan Shao!
After Yuan Shao fled Luoyang because he was afraid of Dong Zhuo's persecution, Yuan Shao traveled to many places and finally settled in Jizhou. From the beginning, he wanted to attack Dong Zhuo in the name of the court and the emperor. However, at this time, Jizhou
But it was not within his power to make the decision. The governor Han Fu did not dare to have a big conflict with the Xiliang army, so he only treated Yuan Shao with courtesy and refused to give him military power.
But Han Fu underestimated Yuan Shao's ability and the Yuan family's strong appeal in the officialdom. More than a month later, he got the support of Qiao Mao, the governor of Dongjun, and other governors of Jizhou's subordinate counties, and defeated Han Fu in one fell swoop.
He took away his military power. At this time, the news of Dong Zhuo's dethronement finally spread all over the world.
Yuan Shao knew that this was a good opportunity to send troops to attack Dong, so he mobilized all the troops in Jizhou, told the world at the same time, listed Dong Zhuo's various crimes, and sent troops to Luoyang. And his move really won the support of many local forces.
Kong Wei, the governor of Yuzhou, Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, Zhang Miao, the governor of Chenliu, Zhang Chao, the governor of Guangling, Qiao Mao, the governor of Dongjun, Yuan Yi, the governor of Shanyang, Bao Xin, the prime minister of Jibei, and other people from all walks of life rose up one after another, and at the same time they pointed their troops.
Luoyang.
Suddenly, nearly 100,000 troops from several prefectures and counties in Guandong all marched to Luoyang, with such great momentum that no one could defeat them.
It is also a great irony that when the world was disturbed by the Yellow Turban Rebellion, these heavily armed Mu Shou did not attack with all their strength. When the center of Luoyang was disturbed by eunuchs and the emperor had to flee all night, these local forces even sat in silence.
Watching on the wall. But this time, after discovering the benefits that raising troops into Luoyang would bring, these people rushed to raise troops again. They didn't know whether to say they were loyal to the imperial court or disloyal?
A massive alliance was formed to challenge Dong Zhuo. They took Yuan Shao as their leader and pledged their blood as an alliance. They would eliminate Dong Zhuo and bring peace to the world. After the news reached Luoyang, Dong Zhuo was not too scared, but rather angry: "Humph,
Do these ignorant clowns think they can undermine my foundation by raising such a banner? They underestimate our Xiliang elite soldiers too much!"
"Lord, although the strength of their armies is far inferior to that of our Xiliang elite, once they are united, their strength cannot be underestimated. Moreover, the several reasons mentioned by these people are also good at confusing people's hearts. If we don't deal with it,
If so, I'm afraid that if people's support is against us, we will be in a disadvantageous situation. Please make preparations in advance, my lord!" Li Ru was not as optimistic as Dong Zhuo and hurriedly stepped forward to persuade.
On this day, because he learned that Yuan Shao and others had launched an army to attack him, Dong Zhuo once again summoned all the capable people under his command. This time, even Lu Bu, who had recently surrendered, was among them. After all, in terms of bravery, Dong Zhuo's command was also
There is really no one who can compare with him, so Dong Zhuo also hopes to take him for his own use.
After listening to Li Ru's persuasion, Dong Zhuo calmed down a little and looked at everyone: "Then how do you think we should deal with it? Should we send troops to attack, or should we hold on to a few key points and slowly wear them down?"
"As the saying goes, if the name is not right, the words will not be right. The most important thing for us is to issue an edict that is consistent with them." Ma Yue immediately stepped forward and said. This is a moment that affects his wealth and life, so naturally he will not fail to contribute.
He said: "Now that the emperor is in our hands, as long as the emperor's order states that they are all rebels, the number of people in the world who will support them will be greatly reduced." Using the emperor to command the princes is not Cao Cao's patent.
.
"Wonderful! This method can indeed fight against those coalition forces in name. At the same time, we must send troops as soon as possible to occupy the key passes leading to Luoyang to prevent them from marching in." Li Que also put forward his own point of view.
"There is another point that we have to deal with carefully, and that is the possible collaborators in Luoyang City." Li Ru also raised his concerns: "Although the lord now controls the entire Luoyang City, all the officials seem to be submissive.
, but no one dares to say that there is no collusion among them with Yuan Shao and others, especially Taifu Yuan Wei and the people of the Yuan family, they must be on guard!"
It was a good thing that he didn't mention Yuan Wei. When he mentioned this person, Dong Zhuo's whole face turned black: "This Yuan Wei has always been obedient to someone, and now his nephew of the Yuan family is openly hostile to the imperial court. This time No one can be left here. Send my order to arrest all the members of the Yuan family from Yuan Wei on down, waiting to be dealt with! Also, strengthen patrols in Luoyang City, and arrest all suspicious persons!"
"Yes!" Guo Fan, who is now responsible for the defense of the entire Luoyang City, immediately accepted the order.
"One more thing, I also hope that my lord can make plans early..." Seeing that everyone had almost finished talking, Li Ru went to the prelude in a low voice and said: "The deposed King Hongnong is still here. I'm afraid that Yuan Shao and his people will take advantage of it." He said something."
"What do you mean..." A fierce look flashed in Dong Zhuo's eyes, and he immediately turned his gaze to Ma Yue: "Zhong Ling, I have entrusted this matter to you. You must handle the matter properly. No, It’s better to leave trouble in the future!”
When Ma Yue heard this, he couldn't help but shudder. Although he still had the memory of future generations and didn't have much respect for the emperor, he didn't want to bear such a heavy crime - regicide below. This crime was enough to make it difficult for him to achieve anything in his life. But now that Dong Zhuo had given him an order, what reason did he have to refuse?
Suddenly, Ma Yue thought of a way: "My lord, I have something to say, please listen to it for a while."
"But it doesn't matter."
"I thought it was not the time to kill King Hongnong yet." Ma Yue's words surprised everyone around him, and everyone turned their attention to him. He took a deep breath before continuing: "Although today The emperor is young, but at this time of repeated accidents, we cannot guarantee that there are no people in the court who want to use the emperor's name to make enemies of the lord. If the emperor is taken advantage of by others again, we will be passive. Or in the future, As the emperor grows up, I am afraid he will also be dissatisfied with his lord. I think it is better to keep King Hongnong to contain the emperor and let him know that he is not the only one who can call himself emperor, so that he can continue to be used by his lord in the future. "
"Huh?" Dong Zhuo and everyone couldn't help but nod after hearing Ma Yue's words. This was indeed a reasonable reason to keep King Hongnong. After a while, Dong Zhuo nodded: "In that case, let's keep him for a while. But if something goes wrong and this person must be removed, the matter will be left to you, Zhong Ling, to handle."
"Yes, I am determined to live up to my lord's trust!" Ma Yue agreed hastily, at least the matter was avoided for now.
Luoyang City soon fell into another panic and turmoil, because the news of the Kwantung Allied Forces' revolt had spread everywhere, and the people were worried that they would be hit by the eunuch rebellion again. They had just settled down not long ago.
Chapter completed!