The situation in Nanyang was under control.
However, the situation in Jizhou was not optimistic.
After Zhang Jiao's repeated defeats, he was seriously ill and bedridden. The Yellow Turban Army retreated into Guangzong City and held fast.
Guangzong City was also a big city. The walls were thick and easy to defend but difficult to attack. In addition, the countless resources looted by the Yellow Turban Army were in the city, which made it possible to hold Guangzong for a long time.
Lu Zhi was the master of Ma Rong, the great scholar, and Chen Qiu, the former marshal. He was well-versed in classics and history. He was very elegant and had a military strategy in mind. He could not bear to attack and harm the people. Therefore, he dug trenches around Guangzong City and began to build camps on the periphery, preparing to trap Guangzong's Yellow Turban Army. After many years, he finally forced Zhang Jiao to surrender.
The deputy general Zong Yuan was extremely opposed to this." General, the army is stationed in Jizhou and consumes a lot of grain every day. Coupled with the transportation back and forth, it's simply a waste of manpower and money. If we can't break through the city as soon as possible, I'm afraid the emperor will be dissatisfied.”
However, Lu Zhi insisted on his own opinion," Transferring grain and fodder will make the people suffer, but at least there won't be many casualties. Guangzong City was easy to defend but difficult to attack. If they attacked rashly, it was unknown whether they could break through, but the casualties would definitely be huge. If the emperor blames me, I will take responsibility.”
Zong Yuan and bitter remonstrance many times, Lu Zhi insisted on his own opinion.
Not long after, just as the clan members had expected, the Emperor Liu Hong saw that Yang Yu had defeated the Yingchuan Yellow Turban for more than a month, but there was still no movement from Jizhou, so he ordered Zuo Feng of the Little Yellow Clan to go and check.
Zuo Feng was a newcomer nurtured by Jian Shuo and the others. He was the best at pleasing Liu Hong and was also the most greedy.
After arriving at Guangzong, Zuo Feng did not even go to see what Lu Zhi's plan was. He directly said to Lu Zhi,"If Zhonglang General gives me some benefits, then this servant will naturally put in a good word for the emperor when I return. If Zhonglang General despises this servant, then this servant can only complain when I go back and tell the emperor about your neglect of military affairs and your tricks of raising bandits.”
Lu Zhi sneered,"Even if you can bewitch the emperor, you can't change the fact that you're a castrated dog!"”
These words were too vicious and stabbed Zuo Feng's pain. Thus, Zuo Feng was so angry that his face almost changed shape. He directly flicked his sleeves and left.
Not long after, Liu Hong really sent an imperial edict and sent people to Jizhou to capture Lu Zhi. The crime was to raise bandits and despise the emperor.
When the clan member saw this, he immediately dealt with it." The Yellow Turban bandits are currently trapped in Guangzong. Once they change their generals, the Yellow Turban army will probably charge out and continue to wreak havoc in Jizhou! Why not let Zhonglang atone for his sins and make contributions?”
However, this group of eunuchs reported to each other for warmth and showed no mercy at all.
Lu Zhi was also unyielding." Even if they framed me and put me to death, it won't change the fact that they castrated the dog!" Someone, put me into the prison carriage. I want to let the wealthy families along the way see how these castrated dogs harm people!”
Thus, there was really no room for negotiation.
Lu Zhi was imprisoned, but Dong Zhuo immediately sent people to bribe Jian Shuo, Zhang Rang, and the others with large sums of money, hoping to lead troops to Jizhou to suppress the bandits.
The Ten Generals lacked trusted aides in the army. Seeing Dong Zhuo lean towards him, they naturally liked him. So they took turns to whisper in Liu Hong's ear, so Liu Hong really appointed Dong Zhuo as the commander of the five elite soldiers of Jizhou.
When Dong Zhuo arrived at Jizhou, he brought along his own strategist, Li Ru.
Just as he was about to send troops to attack Guangzong, Li Ru revealed his sinister side."My lord, the Ten Attendants actually had such a great influence on the emperor. This matter has exceeded my expectations. "Since that's the case, I think the Han Dynasty will definitely fall into the hands of the eunuchs. Instead of waiting for that day, why don't we destroy the foundation of the Han Dynasty? Your Majesty will take the opportunity to rise up and take the initiative. Perhaps you can separate a region or even conquer the world!”
Dong Zhuo had long been disloyal, so he immediately let out a strange laugh like a jackal."Wenyou, then tell me, what should I do?”
"My lord, these five elite troops are well-equipped and are the foundation of success. Why don't we immediately rope in their generals and use the excuse that Guangzong is difficult to break as an excuse for us to occupy this place and rope in the people of Jizhou. There was a large population in Ji Prefecture. If they dealt with it properly, it would be enough to succeed!”
Dong Zhuo listened excitedly. Driven by his dream of becoming a tyrant, he listened to Li Ru's every word. He spent a lot of money to win over the generals in the army and befriended the local wealthy families.
However, Dong Zhuo was the general. Once his mind was not on attacking the Yellow Turban bandits, the soldiers below naturally relaxed.
Zhang Jiao's men saw the soldiers slacking off, so they took advantage of the night to break out and leave.
Dong Zhuo was drunk and could not supervise the battle. Thanks to the command of the deputy general and the member of the sect, who did not retreat in the face of danger, he was barely able to use the camp and trenches to kill the Yellow Turban army back.
In this battle, forty percent of the elite soldiers of the five schools had died, leaving less than thirty thousand.
The clan members tried to persuade Dong Zhuo many times to no avail.
He had also overheard Li Ru and Dong Zhuo's plot and knew that they harbored evil intentions. Thus, he immediately wrote a letter to the emperor to expose Dong Zhuo's wild ambitions! At the same time, he requested to release Lu Zhi and continue to lead the troops.
However, after the letter was sent to the court, Zhang Ran saw that the letter came from the Jizhou battlefield and immediately opened it without permission. When he saw it, he was scared out of his wits and quickly called the other eunuchs over.
"This Dong Zhuo, we wanted him to take command of the army and suppress He Jin with us so that He Jin would gradually lose his military power. I didn't expect this person to be so ambitious and want to overthrow the Great Han Dynasty! What should we do about this?"
"Dong Zhuo was recommended by us. If something happens to him, we can't get away with it! We can't let Tian Zi know about this letter, or we'll be punished together with him!”
Hence, the Ten Attendants quickly reached a consensus and burned the letter.
Fortunately, this clan member knew that the imperial court was controlled by the Ten Attendants of the Imperial Court, so he was more careful. When he asked for help from the imperial court, he also sent a letter to Huangfu Song.
Huangfu Song had been recuperating in Wancheng recently, and his injuries had greatly improved. After reading the letter from the sect member, he immediately flew into a rage."How dare Dong Zhuo do this! I will personally return to the capital and expose his crimes to the emperor!”
Zhu Rong's face was solemn." Lu Zhi has been arrested. I'm afraid you won't even be able to see the emperor when you go back. You'll be framed by the Ten Generals and directly sent to death row!" Moreover, at this juncture, the sect members had only heard about it but had no concrete evidence. If they rashly exposed this matter, Dong Zhuo might take the risk and directly rebel. At that time, it would not be good.”
"Then what should we do? Are we just going to let him do whatever he wants? On one hand, they allowed him to recruit and nurture his trusted aides, while on the other hand, they allowed Zhang Jiao to break out of the encirclement?”Huangfu Song was displeased.
Yang Yu thought for a while and suggested,""In my opinion, why don't we send our troops north and suppress Zhang Jiao? We can get some military merits and solve the crisis of Jizhou. Once the Yellow Turban Army was wiped out, the elite soldiers of the five schools would have to go back, and Dong Zhuo would naturally be stripped of his military power.”
Huangfu Song and Zhu Rong immediately agreed. On the same day, they ordered the army to gather and prepare to set off!
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