The World of Yellow Sky

Those were not rotten fish or shrimps, or mobs. Thousands of them were family soldiers who had followed Zhu Jun to conquer Jiaozhou, and there were also a large number of elite soldiers of the Han army.

There is also the fierce general Sun Jian, known as the Jiangdong Tiger, who was also under Zhu Jun's command at the time, but the Han army still could not escape the defeat.

Chapter 377 The End Is Coming

The hall of Houde is filled with the smell of medicine stones, and there seems to be a rotten smell in the hall.

Liu Hong was lying on the sickbed with a pale complexion, and there were several old eunuchs who seemed to be in their twilight years sitting kneeling beside the bed. Their faces were covered with wrinkles. These eunuchs were brought by Liu Hong from home. His old servant entered the palace clean, and came to serve Liu Hong specially.

Liu Hong no longer trusts Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong and others, although he has not dismissed Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong and others for the time being because of old feelings and various other circumstances.

Now when he was seriously ill, Jian Shuo was not around, and Liu Hong did not let Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong come to serve him, and even concealed his illness. Instead, he chose to let these old servants accompany him to take care of him. daily life.

Although Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong and others also wanted to take advantage of Jian Shuo's absence to regain the Holy Family, Liu Hong rejected them one by one.

Two old servants served Liu Hong and drank a bowl of soup. Liu Hong's complexion eased a little, and he asked the old servant to put some soft cushions under his body, and he half-lyed on the bed like this.

After Liu Hong finished drinking the decoction, he closed his eyes and rested his mind for a long time. He didn't know if he had fallen asleep, and it took a long time before he opened his eyes again.

"What's the situation in Jizhou? Where is the secret report from the embroidered messenger? Show me."

Liu Hong's voice seemed a little weak. Those "moth thieves" who had been silent for many years, gradually became a serious problem for the Han Empire.

The rebellion in Liangzhou, Youzhou, and Bingzhou, the resurgence of the Yellow Turban Army in the four prefectures, and the civil uprisings in the southern states and counties, the Han Empire became more and more turbulent, and the scope of its influence became higher and higher.

These things all involved Liu Hong's mood.

But at this time, Liu Hong's body finally couldn't hold on, his condition was deteriorating, and the condition that could be controlled suddenly worsened, and the doctors in the palace were helpless.

Liu Hong has been too indulgent these years, his body is already a little weak, but he didn't take medicine immediately at the beginning of his illness, and he waited until his condition got worse to start taking care of him, but it was already too late.

The main reason for the deterioration of the condition is the news of rebellion from all over the country.

"Otherwise, the country will look at it later and take a break."

The old servant beside the bed was a little hesitant. Although Liu Hong had already opened his mouth, he really didn't want to send the secret report to Liu Honghong for reading.

Every time Liu Hong read the secret letter, he would be very angry. It basically contained bad news from all over the place.

"It's okay, take it here."

The corner of Liu Hong's mouth was raised, and he smiled with difficulty, he knew that the old servant cared about him.

He has been the emperor for so many years. These old people who were originally brought from Hejian Kingdom, when Liu Hong met Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong and others, they have been left out in the cold, doing miscellaneous affairs in the palace. Relatively poor.

But when Liu Hong alienated Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong and others, and called them back into the Hall of Houde, these old servants still treated Liu Hong as they did in Hejian Kingdom before, as if Liu Hong was still their young prince. He clearly remembered his childhood and teenager habits.

Sometimes when Liu Hong recalled the past at Jiedu Pavilion, those old servants also remembered clearly and did not forget.

"The letter dyed red is a secret message from the embroidered messenger, and the letter in blue is Jian Shuo's private letter."

Liu Hong took the silk book from the old servant. When he took the silk book, he saw the old servant's wrinkled hands, and his eyes were slightly red.

The old servants who entered the palace were all about 40 years old at the time, and one of them had already died of old age in the palace. Now only three of them are still alive, but they are almost on the verge of death.

Liu Hong withdrew his gaze and unfolded the silk book in his hand.

The first thing written on the silk script is not about Jizhou, but about Liangzhou.

Tens of thousands of Liangzhou troops surrounded Chencang. Huangfusong and Dong Zhuo led their soldiers to support Chencang and stationed behind Chencang.

Although it has been more than [-] days since the Liangzhou army attacked Chencang, due to the firm defense of Chencang city and the hard work of the defenders, there is still no way to capture it for the time being.

Liu Hong smiled, this is good news.

The silk book also transcribed a passage of Huangfusong's words. Huangfusong roughly explained the situation facing the Liangzhou army, saying that the Liangzhou army had been attacking for many days and was already exhausted. Time will definitely defeat the Liangzhou army in Chencang.

After all, veteran officials like Huangfusong were reliable and loyal, and Liu Hong couldn't help but feel a little regretful. At the beginning, he listened to Zhao Zhong's words, took back Huangfusong's left chariot and cavalry general's seal, took away [-] households, and changed the title to Duxianghou, Shiyi Er thousand households.

According to the report of the Embroidered Clothes Envoy in these years, not only did Huang Fusong never slander him in private, but he also strictly implemented his imperial edicts and orders without any delay.

The second news is about the battle situation in Youzhou. The Wuhuan cavalry who passed through Juyongguan and harassed them have been repelled by Liu Yu, retreated to the pass, and stopped attacking.

Liu Yu wrote that the situation in Youzhou was stable, Zhang Ju had no more soldiers to use, and the main force was concentrated in the decisive battle with Gongsun Zan in the west of Liaoxi, and the land occupied by Zhang Ju was now empty.

Ask the emperor for an edict, asking whether to attack Zhang Ju's hinterland, or go south to cooperate with Jian Shuo to attack together.

After all, Liu Hong dispatched Liu Yu as Pingbei Zhonglang General, only to be in charge of the war in Youzhou. Without a military order, Liu Yu would never dare to go south to Jizhou. However, the changes in Jizhou also attracted Liu Yu's attention. All the way up.

Liu Hong pondered for a moment, and finally made up his mind.

"The imperial edict is to order Liu Yu to lead troops south to aid Jizhou soldiers and destroy the Yellow Turban rebels, but it is necessary to leave enough soldiers to defend Guangyang and Zhuojun. The wall can only be broken in an instant, although the Wuhuan cavalry and the 'moth thief' cavalry that attacked Juyongguan before did not exist, but they have to guard against it."

Liu Hong's eyes were serious. After the Battle of Zhending, he learned about a batch of strange siege weapons in the Yellow Turban Army through the Embroidered Clothes Messenger.

It can throw big stones, the range is several times longer than that of ordinary trebuchets, and it can throw larger stones, and it can no longer only be fixed on the city wall, but can be transported by manpower or horses and horses.

Basically, there are not many city walls that can block the devastation of that terrifying siege equipment.

Every time the Yellow Turban Army attacked the city, they would first bombard the city wall with that kind of catapult. When the wall collapsed, they would gather elite soldiers and rush into the city from the broken part of the city wall, so they could break through everywhere.

Its catapult cart, because of its precise mechanism, bounces stones, and the sound is like thunder, so the embroidered clothes envoy named it "thunderbolt cart".

"it is good!"

Liu Hong just glanced at the content behind the silk book, and couldn't help saying hello.

On the silk script, it was written the battle report from western Liaoning!

Gongsun Zan fought against Zhang Chun, Qiu Liju and others at Shimen. Gongsun Zan single-handedly defeated Zhang Chun and Qiu Liju's coalition forces and beheaded fifteen puppet Yan generals, totaling [-] levels. countless.

Zhang Chun's army was defeated, and Qiu Liju was also repulsed by Gongsun Zan. Zhang Chun panicked and fled all the way into Xianbei territory without even taking his wife and children with him.

When Gongsun Zan delivered the letter, he was on his way to lead his troops to pursue Zhang Ju.

Liu Hong was a little excited. This was a rare victory for such a long time.

"Send people to the Liaodong vassal state to find Gongsun Zan, and reward him for his merits, and Cheng Neng will teach him! Reward a thousand gold, and then send people to send [-] armor and various weapons to the Liaodong vassal state."

"What a Gongsun Zan, what a White Horse General."

Liu Hong praised.

The next thing is also good news. The Yellow Turban Army led by Guo Tai of Hedong County has been temporarily repelled by the troops led by Wang Yi and Yu Fuluo, the prefect of Hedong County.

Guo Taijun will no longer be able to threaten Hanoi County in a short time.

The Yellow Turban Army led by Yu Po in Hanoi County was also defeated by Ding Yuan, the governor of Bingzhou, and was repelled by Ding Yuan's troops.

The Han army in Hanoi County is actually in a state of being liberated. As long as you wait for a while, you can transfer the Bingzhou Han army that Ding Yuan trained in Hanoi to go north to support Jizhou.

Liu Hong glanced at the two old servants beside the bed with a smile, and said, "This Ding Yuan did not disappoint me."

"Ding Yuan was appointed as the governor of Bingzhou, but he did not choose the wrong person."

The old servant kneeling beside the bed saw the smile on Liu Hong's face, and echoed, "The country's vision has not deteriorated, unlike slaves and maidservants, who are already a little confused and can't see clearly." The sight in front of you."

"My servant remembers that before the rebellion in Changsha County, the country sent Sun Jian to the south, it seems that all the rebels in Changsha County have been wiped out, and the surrounding counties are very afraid of Sun Jian. When the rebels heard that Sun Wentai was coming, they all scattered. Now the south has settled down."

"This Sun Wentai is known as the Jiangdong Tiger, but he is quite brave. The talents recommended by Lu Shangshu are indeed not wrong."

Liu Hong felt a little happier when he heard the old servant's words.Just talking, but suddenly remembered the battle of Kuicheng, Xu An led the Yellow Turban army out of Tianjing Pass, beheaded Zhu Jun, and more than 1 Han troops were killed in Kuicheng.

Thinking of this, Liu Hong's mood changed slightly, and the smile disappeared from his face, and he felt as if a haze had shrouded his head.

The old servant saw Liu Hong's complexion darkened, and quickly shut his mouth. He also knew that he had said something wrong.

However, Liu Hong didn't pay much attention to it. After all, the matter had passed, and there was no way to undo the result.

But then, Liu Hong's complexion became more gloomy because he saw the situation in Jizhou.

Millions of Yellow Turbans from the four prefectures have gathered in Pingyuan City, and they have already begun to march northward, preparing to join forces with the main force of the Yellow Turbans of Anping State and Bingzhou, which is only separated by a county in Qinghe State.

And just a few days ago, Xu An had led the main force of the Bingzhou Yellow Turban Army to once again conquer Fucheng of Anping Kingdom located on the south bank of Zhangshui River, and is now advancing towards Tangyang City not far away.

Not surprisingly, Tangyang City must also be unable to stop the offensive of the Bingzhou Yellow Turban Army.

On the other side, King Wuhuanqiao's army spread across Qinghe Kingdom, Bohai County, and Pingyuan County in Qingzhou. They plundered everywhere, turning almost thousands of miles of land into terracotta, and swept through the three counties like locusts.

During this period of time, the reported news was either that the city was destroyed, or that the township Juting County was looted, and there was no good news from Jizhou.

Liu Hong put down the silk book in his hand and opened the letter from Jian Shuo.

Now the situation in Jizhou is relatively clear. The Yellow Turbans of the four states are preparing to set off towards Anping Kingdom, pass through Qinghe Kingdom and Anping Kingdom, then pass through the northern part of Julu County, Xiaquyang, and finally enter Changshan Kingdom, passing through Zhending—— The Puwu-Jingxingguan line enters the hinterland of Bingzhou.

Jian Shuo is currently stationed in Yingtao City, the prefecture of Julu County. He has assembled a total of 1000 troops, of which [-] are from the Xiyuan Forbidden Army, and the remaining [-] are from Wei County, Zhao State, Julu County, The four county soldiers in the south of Changshan Kingdom are located in the south of Anping Kingdom.

Gao Lan led the soldiers of the headquarters to guard the northern part of Hejian Kingdom, while Yan Liang and Wen Chou each led more than [-] soldiers from the county and retreated to the south, and retreated to Lecheng, the seat of Hejian Kingdom, which is just to the north of Anping Kingdom. not far away.

In other words, once a war breaks out in Anping, Yan Liang and Wen Chou can immediately lead their troops to support the war in Anping.

The soldiers of the prefectures in the northern part of Changshan Kingdom and Zhongshan Kingdom were also liberated after Liu Yu repelled Liu Shi's attack.

Jian Shuo arranged for [-] soldiers from the prefectures and nationalities of the two countries to attack the supply line of the Yellow Turban Army and occupy four cities when the Jizhou War broke out, making it impossible for the Yellow Turban Army to do its best.

In this way, the total number of troops that can be invested by the Jizhou Army has reached more than 3 people.

However, on the frontal battlefield, there are still only 8000 people.

But the only problem is that many of the national soldiers in Jizhou County have just been recruited, and their training is still lacking, so their combat power is relatively weak. Facing the main force of the Bingzhou Yellow Turban Army led by Xu An, they are still a little weak.

Although the imperial army's fighting strength is strong, the fighting strength of the units directly under Xu An's command has also been tested.

If the main force of the Han army is defeated, the entire Jizhou will fall into a state of corruption. Not only can the Yellow Turbans of the four states be transferred to Bingzhou safely, but what is even more frightening is that if the Han army is defeated, Zhang Jujun, who is being looted, may fall into a state of corruption. Slow down the time of retreat, and turn to Zhao Guo, Julu County and other places to plunder again.

Therefore, in this battle of Jizhou, the Han army must win, and it has to win, and Jizhou must be protected.

Liu Hong closed his eyes.

The strength of the Yellow Turban Army in Jizhou is indeed too strong. There are millions of Yellow Turban Army in the four states, as well as the main force of the Bingzhou Yellow Turban Army led by Xu An, and the catapult that throws rocks very far.

"Cough...cough..."

Liu Hong coughed a few times, and the cough involved his chest and lungs, and then his chest felt like it was burning.

The severe pain made Liu Hong's complexion paler, and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

The two old servants looked flustered, one of them stepped forward to help Liu Hong Shun, while the other stood up hurriedly, wanting to call the doctor in the court.

"do not go."

Liu Hong clutched his chest, resisting the pain, and stopped. .

"nation……"

The old servant could only stop when he heard Liu Hong's order.

"Now is an extremely critical time. We must not let the outer court know about my illness, otherwise all plots will be in vain."

Liu Hong squeezed the quilt tightly, trying to suppress the pain.

During this period of time, the embroidered clothes messenger has been helping Liu Hong to conceal his illness. In the past few months, Liu Hong has basically only held on to the court meeting once a month.

For the rest of the time, he was resting in Houde Hall. In order to make the people in the outer court think that Liu Hong was intoxicated, Liu Hong also arranged for a little eunuch who was similar in stature to wear his clothes and occasionally sit in Houde Hall. Walking outside for a while, he said that he did not have any disease.

Moreover, he also brought several former concubines into the Hall of Houde. Those concubines who spread the news were deeply trusted by Liu Hong. They also repaired the palace and built entertainment places, in order to make the outer court think that they had recovered. up.

After a long time, the painful expression disappeared from Liu Hong's face. Liu Hong slowly exhaled a foul breath, and with the help of the old servant beside him, he finally sat up straight.

As his body deteriorated day by day, Liu Hong had a premonition in his heart that he might leave this world within a few days.

Looking at the dark and gloomy Hall of Houde in front of him, Liu Hong felt as if a boulder was pressing on his heart, making it difficult to breathe.

He was a little terrified, why the big man who used to live in peace became like this, he knew that he couldn't die now, if he died of such an important can, it would be tantamount to an earthquake.

The Han Empire, which is still struggling to maintain, may really fall apart.

Liu Hong's face was dark, he had done many wrong things in his life, he was not a good emperor, he knew it very well.

But he didn't want to just ruin the country and society that his father had worked so hard to defeat.

The two sons are both young, and they have to wait until they are adults if they want to be in charge, but there are more variables during this period of time. start again.

Liu Hong knew that things might not go as he wished. Originally, he wanted to take it easy and use the power of the Embroidered Clothes Messenger to cut off the power of the He family and divide them up.

Then slowly improve Liu Xie's status, find Liu Bian's mistakes, and even guide Liu Bian to make mistakes, so as to prepare Liu Xie as the prince first.

But the heavens did not give special preferential treatment to Liu Hong, the emperor of a big man. He has no time.

fortunately……

Liu Hong put his hand into the quilt, and he held a small gold seal, which was the gold seal that ordered the embroidered clothes envoy.

He didn't leave nothing behind, he also left an incomparably sharp knife to the future emperor of the Han Dynasty, the emperor of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Hong's eyes were slightly cold, and his eyes flickered slightly.