June 187 AD.

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In the court, there was another fierce quarrel between the inner court and the outer court ministers over military affairs.

Since Cui Lie has already sat in the position of Taiwei, he certainly does not want to make any arrangements. Now the invasion of the Xianbei people has been repelled, and the Xianbei king and Lian were even cut off their heads by the two northern counties. The army of the Han Kingdom once again shocked the world. The Han Kingdom's government and the people were immersed in the joy of peace and prosperity. Although there were some rebellions in Xiliang and Bingzhou, under the suppression of the powerful army of the Han Kingdom, it would be a matter of time before the rebellion was suppressed. At this time, he, the Taiwei, could of course do it, not only do it, but also do it comfortably. Therefore, Cui Lie deviated from the normal state and actively asked the Shangshutai to return the military power to the Taiwei Mansion.

Considering the stability of the country, the sacred status and highest authority of the Han Dynasty, the three dukes and nine ministers and ministers wrote letters and advised the emperor, hoping that the emperor would comply with the will of the ancestors, understand the will of heaven, and repay the military power to the Taiwei as soon as possible to maintain the balance of power between the internal and external courts. In their opinion, the emperor's direct control of military power will lead to power imbalance, and the central officials around the emperor can take the opportunity to seize the national constitution. In this way, the central officials can not only control the state's authority, but also become more severe and harm the country and the people, but may also ruin the country and the country of the Han Dynasty.

General He Jin regretted now. If he had known that the emperor would take away the military power of the Taiwei Mansion, he would not have impeached Zhang Wen. After the Xianbei invasion and the Xiliang rebellion rebellion, Zhang Wen's position as Taiwei was no longer safe, so why should he be impatient to step on it? As a result, he not only offended Zhang Wen and a group of aristocratic bureaucrats, but also handed over the military power to the inner court. Who are the people who speak in the inner court? They are not all the Central Eunuchs who are against him. Although the emperor is now against those old people

The traitors did not trust them very much, but Jian Shuo and other small middle-level officials were even more terrifying. Who knows if there is a second Cao Teng here? The second Cao Jie? The middle-level official led by Cao Teng killed the general Liang Yi, and the middle-level official led by Cao Jie killed the general Dou Wu. So, who would assist the emperor in killing the old middle-level official led by Zhao Zhong and Zhang Rang and the small middle-level official led by Jian Shuo? Especially now that the military affairs are in charge of the Shangshuo, they can use the emperor to recruit troops to deal with themselves.

He Jin regretted it. He would rather control the military power in the hands of the Taiwei than fall into the inner court. He would rather fight openly and secretly with the Taiwei over the military power in the two palaces than make a revenge with the emperor and the central officials. Therefore, after careful discussion with a group of staff from the General's Mansion, he used the relationship between Ding Gong and Dong Chong to invite the Empress Dowager. He hoped that the Empress Dowager could convince the Emperor and return the power to the Taiwei Dowager.

But the hard work of the Outer Court and the General's Mansion turned into a bubble overnight.

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Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun rebelled.

In the middle of this month, Zhang Ju, the former prefect of Taishan, and Zhang Chun, the former prime minister of Zhongshan, gathered more than 100,000 people to rebel in Feiru County, Liaoxi County, Youzhou. This rebellion was different from the previous Zhangjiao and Zhang Niujiao in Jizhou and Bian Zhang in Xiliang. This time, the rebels openly established the court, established the emperor, and also called the country Dayan.

Zhang Ju, a native of Yuyang, was made the emperor by rebels, and the emperor of the Dayan Kingdom. Zhang Chun, a native of Yuyang, was named the prime minister of the Dayan Kingdom, General Mitian, and King Anding.

Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun were still in Youzhou. The counties and counties in Jizhou issued official documents, announced the people of the prefectures and counties, claiming that the Great Yan State would replace the Great Han State, and that Zhang Ju was the true dragon emperor, demanding that the son abdicate today and ordering the three dukes and nine ministers of the court to welcome Zhang Ju to Luoyang to take charge of state affairs.

At the same time, the Yellow Turbans active in the Taihang Mountains responded one after another. The leader of the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans Yang Feng led his army to attack Shangdang, Bairao and Qinggu led his army to attack Jizhou, and Yu Du led his army to attack Hanoi. For a time, the Yellow Turbans were still better than that of the past.

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The emperor was furious and roared like thunder in the court.

"Issuing an order, Issuing an order immediately, asking Li Hong to rush to Youzhou immediately to suppress the rebellion."

The joy of the ministers defeating the Xianbei people disappeared in an instant.

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In the Shangshu room, the candles were brightly lit.

The emperor stood in front of the huge map and was listening to Lu Zhi's explanation. The Grand Marshal Cui Lie, Situ Xu Xiang, Sikong Ding Gong, General He Jin, Zong Zheng Liu Yu and other ministers surrounded him.

"At present, the reinforcements of the Huwuwan Camp Qi Chou and Zhuo County Prefect Wang Ru have arrived in Jicheng, Guangyang County. Liu Zheng, the prefect of Youbeiping County, and He Yizheng, the prefect of Yuyang County, led his army to Lucheng, and along the Baoqiu River in Hunu City." Lu Zhi pointed to the map and introduced, "Youzhou Governor Yang Chunyang came to write that Youzhou is insufficient and it is estimated that it will be difficult to stop the rebels. He asked the court to send more reinforcements immediately."

"Where is Liaodong?" Liu Yu asked, "There are still thousands of border troops in Liaodong. They can recruit local Wuhuan people and jointly attack the rebels' nests in western Liaoning."

Huangfu Song picked up a volume of documents and smiled bitterly: "This is the news that Lord Yang, the governor of Youzhou, just delivered to him with an eight hundred-mile fast cavalry. All the Wuhuan people in the four counties of the vassal states of Youbeiping, western Liaodong, and Liaodong rebelled."

The silence in Shangshu's room was dumb and silent.

Liu Yu asked in panic: "How about Liaodong?"

"There is no accurate news, but according to the rebel prisoners who attacked the fox slaves, Liaodong County has fallen, the prefect Yang has finally been killed, and the border troops of Liaodong have also surrendered." Huangfu Song said, "Liu Shi, the prefect of Liaoxi, and Zhao Chengdu, the chief of the vassal state of Liaodong, participated in the rebellion. If these news is completely true, the rebels and the Wuwan people will have at least 200,000 people." He looked up at the panicked emperor and said, "From the minister's eyes, Jicheng cannot be defended."

The emperor snorted without saying a word.

"The Huwuwan Camp Captain Qi Chouqi has 5,000 cavalrymen, plus Yuyang, Youbeiping's border troops, Guangping and Zhuo County's county and state soldiers, Jicheng has only 20,000 people at most." Lu Zhi pondered for a long time and sighed, "Your Majesty, Jicheng cannot be defended."

"Youzhou's army is already small. In recent years, the Hu people frequently invaded, and the Yellow Turban Ant Thief rebelled twice. The war has never stopped. The soldiers suffered too much loss." Liu Yu said with heartache, "Because Youzhou is barren and taxes cannot be self-sufficient, and it is difficult to recruit and expand the army. Therefore, today's mistake is helpless."

Liu Yu calmed down his emotions a little and then said: "I think that although there are few soldiers in Jicheng, it should be no problem to stick to it for two or three months. For such a long time, we can completely draw troops from various prefectures and counties to support the north and quell the rebels."

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The emperor nodded and asked Huangfu Song: "My dear, have you sent the imperial edict to Li Hong?"

Huangfu Song shook his head and bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Zhang Yan occupied Jinyang, Yang Feng attacked Shangdang, the situation in Bingzhou is much more critical than Youzhou. It is not appropriate to recruit General Li to go north to Youzhou to suppress the rebellion."

The emperor was stunned, then stared at his little eyes and cursed angrily: "Huangfu Song, you are confused. There is the Great Yan Kingdom in Youzhou. What are you still saying to me here? The ant thief is about to attack Jizhou, do you know?"

Huangfu Song replied: "Your Majesty, I know, but the rebels of Zhang Yan and Yang Feng will have a greater threat to us. Once the two join forces to go south, they will work together with the Yu Du rebels in Hanoi to attack Hanoi and threaten the capital, and Kanto will inevitably be in chaos. Compared with the two, it is more important and urgent to pacify the rebels in Bingzhou."

When the emperor heard that Luoyang was in danger, he immediately gave up the idea of ​​recruiting Li Hong to Youzhou, and the expression on his face gradually calmed down.

"What should I do with the rebels in Youzhou? Where can I recruit reinforcements?"

"You can draw reinforcements from Jizhou immediately." Cui Lie said loudly, "Didn't Your Majesty give the Jizhou Governor Yang a 20,000 troops?"

"Master Taiwei, are you confused?" He Jin mocked, "Mr. Yang has only been in Jizhou for two months. Not to mention recruiting soldiers, even the disaster relief work has not ended yet. Where did the 20,000 soldiers come from?"

"Will it take a long time to recruit 20,000 soldiers in Jizhou with a population of millions?" Cui Lie said in disbelief, "Even if there are no 20,000 soldiers, what about the county and state soldiers of each county? There are always 10,000 or 20,000?"

"Li Hong took away 60,000 troops from Jizhou twice, where is there any army?" Xu Xiang sighed, "Although he took away all the soldiers who were ants thieves, Jizhou has suffered many wars in recent years, and there are probably not many soldiers from the county and state."

The emperor sighed and asked, "Why is the number of soldiers in a great Han country so small? Why don't the dead people replenish in time? The battles have not been completed in the past few years, why don't the states and counties in various places replenish their troops?"

The ministers looked at each other speechlessly.

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"Since the ants thieves have caused chaos, I have issued several orders to order all prefectures and counties to recruit soldiers from the county and state as appropriate. Why don't they listen?"

The Grand Chief Governor Wang Han wanted to say something but stopped. After thinking for a long time, he still couldn't hold it in. He bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this is because the states and counties are short of money. An ordinary county soldier with a monthly salary of three hu of grain, which is three hundred yuan, and ten thousand soldiers is three million yuan, which is three hundred yuan a year. In addition, the rations, clothing, salt, and weapons of this 10,000 soldiers, the army of this 10,000 people will cost about 50 million yuan in a year. A medium-sized county with a household of 50,000 yuan and a 200,000 yuan a year is best for taxes of only hundreds of millions of yuan. It is very good to be able to support two thousand soldiers. In recent years, many wars have been fought in various places, and the states and counties that do not fight have paid more taxes, so all states and counties lack money to support soldiers."

"Your Majesty, I take Youzhou as an example. Youzhou is poor and has not enough money to make ends meet. In the best years, its tax revenue is only 30 million yuan. Therefore, the imperial court has allocated 200 million yuan from the taxes in Hebei and Qingzhou to fill the use of Youzhou. Your Majesty, it is rare for Youzhou to have so many county and state soldiers now. I heard that many county and state soldiers in Youzhou do not receive military pay, just eat enough."

"What about the army on the other side? The military funds of the border and northern and southern armies are all expensed from your Grand Secretary. Why are there so few border soldiers in Youzhou?" the emperor asked dissatisfiedly.

"Your Majesty, under normal circumstances, there are 50,000 soldiers in the Northern Army and 20,000 in the Southern Army. Each of these 70,000 soldiers has a monthly salary of six hu of grain, and the annual military pay alone is more than 500 million yuan. In recent years, the tax has been greatly reduced, and last year it was only more than 2 billion yuan. Where can the imperial court have more money to support the border army?"

"I have fought a lot in recent years. In order to raise military funds, I have tried my best to borrow money from the royal family and wealthy people from all over the world to ask them to raise funds. I have also cut my official salary many times. I sold official positions in Xiyuan, sold Guannei, and used the private wealth of Shaofu and Wanjintang. Isn't that enough?" The emperor said angrily, "You tell me that you have no money every day, but I don't believe it. Where have you gone? Are you fed your own pockets?"

Wang Han was also angry. He worked hard for the Han Dynasty, and had no credit and hard work. Today, his Majesty suspected that he had enough money. He couldn't help but say loudly: "Your Majesty, that money is in the Wanjin Hall in Xiyuan. When did you go to the Grand Minister's Agriculture?"

The emperor blushed and his neck was thick, and he was so angry that he couldn't speak for a long time.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty." Cui Lie hurriedly pulled Wang Han behind him and said with a smile, "Mr. Wang has recently scolded Shi, the official from the government office who came to Beijing to ask for money from all over the country, and has forgotten no matter how he said it. Don't blame him."

The emperor had long disliked Wang Han. The old man had been entangled with him all day long and didn't say he wanted money, and he borrowed money but didn't pay it back. He dragged it back to the billions of money he had lent to the Grand Marshal for various excuses. He would not pay it back, and he could bear it for the time being, but the old man became even worse and went to the Empress Dowager Changle Palace to cheat the money, saying that he had called it. As a result, the Empress Dowager asked him for it, but he had no choice but to give up his love and get the money back from Wanjintang to the Empress Dowager, which made him lose a lot for no reason. He was worried that he would not have the opportunity to teach this old man a lesson.

"Take him down and put him in the Kitaji Prison."

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty..."

The ministers were panicked, knelt down and begged.

Not only did Wang Han not kneel down to apologize, he shouted in anger: "I would rather go to Beisi Prison than be the Grand Secretary's Farmer. I will go now."

He raised his legs and walked out. While walking, he shouted to the yellow door standing at the door: "Come and catch me, come and catch me, come and come..."

The emperor was so angry that his eyes were almost glaring out.

"Pull it down, pull it down for me..."

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The ministers were also shocked by Wang Han's rudeness and knelt on the ground one by one, not knowing what to say.

"All up, get up." The emperor waved his hand and said, "Why are you still kneeling? Can you do this?"

The emperor looked at Huangfu Song and asked, "How to solve the reinforcements?"

"Mr. Liu's advice is very good, and I think it is feasible. In recent years, Qingzhou, Xuzhou and Yanzhou have suffered less wars. There are still some county and state soldiers in each county. Your Majesty can issue an order to conscript the commanders of the three prefectures and counties to lead their troops north to support them." Huangfu Song replied.

"These three states are too far from Youzhou. When reinforcements arrive, youzhou will probably be lost long ago." The emperor said angrily, "There is no other way?"

Huangfu Song shook his head.

"Where is the Northern Army? The Northern Army in Luoyang can go north quickly." The emperor pointed at the general and said.

General He Jin said without hesitation: "I will gather the Northern Army and go north to suppress the rebellion immediately."

"Your Majesty, you must not. The safety of the capital is particularly important at this time. The Northern Army must not be mobilized." Lu Zhi was shocked and hurriedly stopped him, "It is still an edict to order all the Youzhou troops to stay in the city and wait for reinforcements."

"What if Jicheng is lost?" Liu Yu said heartbrokenly, "Sir, don't forget that there are still tens of thousands of Wuwan Iron Cavalry."

"Mr. Liu, at present, only General Li is the army that can be adjusted, but the situation in Bingzhou is much more critical than that in Youzhou. Bingzhou is closer to Luoyang..." Lu Zhi tried his best to explain.

"Mr. Lu means that Youzhou is optional?" Liu Yu was immediately angry.

"Mr. Liu, I know that you have been in Youzhou and have feelings for the northern border, but now the situation..."

"Don't say it." Liu Yu waved his hand to interrupt Lu Zhi's words, bowed to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to lead troops to Youzhou to quell the rebellion."

"Mr. Liu, don't worry." Huangfu Song said, "Your Majesty can order General Li to quell the rebellion as soon as possible, but no one can predict how long the Bingzhou war will take. As long as the Bingzhou war is over, General Li can lead his troops north to Youzhou. The matter of Youzhou is useless at present. Not only are we not enough troops, we must also consider what the Xianbei people want to do."

"Xianbei people?" Liu Yu was stunned, then suddenly found out and asked, "Does Lord Huangfu beware of Murong Feng taking advantage of the situation and taking the opportunity to attack Youzhou?"

"It's not that simple." Huangfu Song shook his head.

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"Rebellion is rebellion after all. Since they can form an alliance with the Wuhuan people, why can't they ask the Xianbei people for help?" Huangfu Song said worriedly, "Who are Zhang Ju and Zhang Chun? Just the remnants of the Yellow Turbans, who are tens of thousands of rebels? They are just refugees. Zhang Jiao's millions of troops and Zhang Niujiao's hundreds of thousands of people are still destroyed. They have learned from the past, why dare to repeat the same mistakes? They dare to call the emperor and the country accord?"

Huangfu Song looked at everyone in the room and said in a heavy tone: "Rebellion must have something to rely on, and it is not an ordinary reliance. We suspect that this reliance is Murong Feng."

The emperor and the ministers suddenly woke up and nodded frequently.

"Zhang Ju only has more than 100,000 people, and he dares to be the emperor." The emperor sneered, "Do I think he is a madman? What my dear said is somewhat reasonable."

"After Helian's death, we thought that the Xianbei would have civil strife, and the four Xianbei tribes would fight for the throne of Danhanshan Mountain, but what happened? The result was that Tuoba Feng rushed to Danhanshan Mountain with 50,000 cavalry. He agreed to Murong Feng's ten-year agreement without a single arrow. He was an idiot?" Lu Zhi followed Huangfu Song and said, "Ten years? Ten years later, Kuitou's wings had long been hard. After the wings were full, how could it be Qianman's turn to be the king? Whether Qianman could survive until then depends on whether Kuitou was happy or not."
Chapter completed!