Chapter 118: The Princes' Struggle against Dong In the first year of Chuping in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were sour dates in Chenliu. The flags blocked the sky and the spears and swords were like a forest. The eighteen princes gathered here to discuss the major plan. Yuan Shu, the prefect of Nanyang, Han Fu, the governor of Jizhou, Kong Rong, the governor of Yuzhou, Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, Wang Kuang, the prefect of Henei, Zhang Miao, the prefect of Chenliu, Yuan Yi, the prefect of Shanyang, Bao Xin, the prime minister of Jibei, Kong Rong, the prefect of Beihai, Zhang Chao, the prefect of Guangling, Zhang Yang, the prefect of Shangdang, Sun Jian, the prefect of Changsha, Yuan Shao, the prefect of Bohai, Cao Cao, the captain of cavalry, Gongsun Zan, the prefect of Beidi, Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou, Liu Bei, the prime minister of Liang, and Tian Ze, the prefect of Youzhou, all kinds of heroes appeared on the scene and the event was grand. I don’t know if it’s fate. Tian Ze became the governor of Youzhou, and also accepted Ma Teng. Gongsun Zan was secretly sent to Xiliang by Tian Ze and became the governor of Beidi, replacing Ma Teng's original position as a vassal. Because of Tian Ze's secret operation, Liu Bei actually did quite well in the Central Plains. He became the prime minister of Liang State in Yuzhou and joined the ranks of princes. The governor of Dongjun, Qiao Mao, who was supposed to attend the alliance, was hated by Dong Zhuo because of Tian Ze's rush to Luoyang. He was killed and his troops were also annexed, so he missed this event. Liu Yu, who was secretly recommended by Tian Ze as the governor of Jizhou, was summoned to Luoyang when Dong Zhuo just came to power because Dong Zhuo was very afraid of him. Dong Zhuo also quickly appointed Han Fu as the governor of Jizhou.
This action made Tian Zedu extremely puzzled. You know, Han Fu was Yuan's disciple and former official. Why would Dong Zhuo do such a thing to aid the enemy? But in this way, Han Fu still joined the ranks of princes. After many twists and turns, there are still eighteen princes. However, Tian Ze did not know the details of these princes before, and was shocked after learning a little about them. Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and Yuan Yi were all descendants of the Yuan family, three brothers. Han Fu was a former official of the Yuan family. Zhang Miao and Bao Xin were good friends of Yuan Shao, and Zhang Chao was Zhang Miao's brother. Zhang Yang and Wang Kuang were Yuan Shao's younger brothers. Even Cao Cao at that time was Yuan Shao's younger brother. Among the eighteen princes, a small half were from the Yuan family, and more than half were Yuan Shao's confidants. This does not include people like Kong Jun, who was recommended by Zhou Bi together with Yuan Shao and had an unclear relationship behind him. After listening to Guo Jia and Xun You talk about the backgrounds and positions of these people, Tian Ze was stunned. "No wonder." Tian Ze pursed his lips slightly, with a hint of helplessness in his eyes. Born in the Yuan family, sent the most troops, had strong abilities, and a very high reputation. In addition, with such a terrifying network of relationships, who else could be the leader of the alliance if not Yuan Shao? The slightly different thing is that since Liu Yu was recruited away by Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao no longer mentioned the matter of making Liu Yu the emperor. Yuan Shao felt very complicated about Tian Ze's arrival, and murderous intent emerged in his heart from time to time. Although he is now only the governor of Bohai and Jizhou is still in the hands of Han Fu, he has long regarded it as his own. What prestige could Han Fu, a newly appointed governor of a state by Dong Zhuo, have? Most of the people in Jizhou were former officials of the Yuan family and his people. The Yuan family wanted to follow the path of Huo Guang and Wang Mang. Although they were reaped the benefits by Dong Zhuo, they had plenty of cunning means to regain the fruits of victory.
But Yuan Shao didn't think so. Now the initiative was in his hands, and he wanted to follow the path of Guangwu. It controls the Yellow River in the south, blocks the borders of Yan and Dai in the north, and combines the forces of the Rong and Di peoples, then heads south to fight for the world. Long before the campaign against Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao had revealed his ideas to his younger brother Cao Cao. First he occupied Jizhou, then he dominated Hebei, and finally he unified the world. In fact, Yuan Shao had already started planning the first step of this road and was confident that he could complete it. But there was a problem with the second step, because to the north of Jizhou, there was a very powerful force, Tian Ze. For Yuan Shao, Tian Ze was the first powerful enemy standing in his way. But the time was not right yet, and Yuan Shao also wanted to use Tian Ze's power to take over Jizhou. Dong Zhuo first appointed Han Fu as the governor of Jizhou, and then appointed Yuan Shao as the prefect of Bohai. This move was extremely clever and to some extent hit Yuan Shao's weak spot. First of all, when Dong Zhuo recruited scholars, he naturally had the idea of gathering some of them to work for him. Secondly, Han Fu was ambitious but had little ability. Having him replace Liu Yu would undoubtedly greatly reduce the local threat. Moreover, because they are airborne and have no roots in the local area, they will inevitably try to control the local military and political power, which will cause the local area to fall into internal friction. Others, such as Yuzhou Governor Kong Zhu, Jingzhou Governor Liu Biao, Qingzhou Governor Jiao He, etc., all had similar ideas and were very successful. Finally, Dong Zhuo saw that Han Fu, an old official of the Yuan family, had the same attitude towards the Yuan family as he did. Having Han Fu as Yuan Shao's immediate superior was a great restriction for Yuan Shao, and it completely disgusted Yuan Shao. On the surface, his immediate superior is a family member, but in reality, the two sides are not on good terms with each other. How should Yuan Shao deal with this superior who supports him on the surface but stabs him in the back secretly? A head-on knockdown isn't a big deal, but your reputation will be ruined. To him, Han Fu was both his superior and an old family official. As long as Han Fu did not do anything to offend him openly, Yuan Shao would not be able to stand on his moral high ground. As for the problems in transporting grain and grass, it was because of bandits causing trouble. Can you blame them? Yuan Shao, why don't you just go get the grain yourself? But does Yuan Shao dare? Han Fu was the governor of Jizhou. In theory, Yuan Shao should obey his orders, including but not limited to attending the banquet alone. If they were far away, they could say that the general was not subject to the orders of the emperor, or that the road was blocked by bandits. But if they were close, Han Fu could directly hold a Hongmen Banquet or give up military power over a cup of wine. What could Yuan Shao do? So Yuan Shao could only find a way to force Han Fu to give up his throne. But to do so, the prerequisite is to have an enemy powerful enough to fool Han Fu. Judging from the abilities and positions of the surrounding princes, Tian Ze is the best candidate. So Yuan Shao could only suppress the murderous intent in his heart. Tian Ze must be eliminated, but not now. …… The eighteen princes had a total of nearly 300,000 people, and their scale was quite intimidating. But only they themselves know how much water there is in it. After all the princes gathered, Cao Cao and Wang Kuang, two of Yuan Shao's younger brothers, began to sing the same tune and nominated Yuan Shao as the leader of the alliance. Yuan Shao followed the procedure and repeatedly declined, and only after everyone's persuasion did he reluctantly agree.
The next day, they built a three-story platform, burned incense, bowed again, and swore an oath of blood. After stepping down from the altar, the princes helped Yuan Shao to sit in the tent, and they sat in two rows according to their rank and age. As the initiator, Cao Cao set the tone first. Now that the leader of the alliance has been decided, he must wait for unified orders. At this time, after Yuan Shao led his army into the palace and exterminated the eunuch party, he once again reached the peak of his life. His heroic spirit made people feel submissive. With an upright posture and a firm gaze, he exuded a powerful aura in his every move. With just a few words, he overawed all the princes with his aura, and they all said, "We will obey your orders." Even Tian Ze couldn't help but sigh that being handsome really had advantages in this era, just like Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan and himself. After Yuan Shao became the leader of the alliance, his first order was to hand over the power of managing the grain and fodder of the princes to Yuan Shu. Tian Ze, who had been watching coldly, glanced at Yuan Shu, who was slightly indignant but proud. Complex emotions such as pity, sigh, and regret flashed in his eyes. Yuan Shu is still a loyal and honest man! Although this Skeleton King in the late Han Dynasty was bad, his badness was simple and straightforward, and he was always on the road of taking the blame and making sacrifices. As the strongest prince for a long period of time in the late Han Dynasty, he even surpassed Yuan Shao, but he has always been selflessly helping others. He would rather die than lay a solid foundation for the establishment of Cao Wei, Sun Wu and Shu Han. The best person to move the late Han Dynasty is none other than the Skeleton King. It can be said that Yuan Shu made great contributions to the Three Kingdoms. Needless to say, Sun Wu, Sun Jian and Sun Ce were both subordinates of Yuan Shu, and it was the soldiers given to Sun Ce by Yuan Shu that enabled him to take over Jiangdong. Although he exchanged the imperial seal for it, Sun Ce was a subordinate of Yuan Shu, so shouldn't the imperial seal belong to Yuan Shu? He didn't rob it, but exchanged soldiers for Sun Ce. It was too real. It was also obvious to Cao Wei that Yuan Shu not only helped Cao Cao train his troops, gave him territories, and attracted firepower many times. He also proclaimed himself emperor, helping Cao Cao further undermine the reputation of the Han Dynasty, establish the banner of orthodoxy, and paved the way for the establishment of Cao Wei. By the way, he also presented him with the imperial seal. How thoughtful of him. Even Liu Bei had the opportunity to escape from Cao Cao only because Yuan Shu wanted to go north to join Yuan Shao. Moreover, after the Battle of Chibi, when Liu Bei was weak and in danger of being annexed by Eastern Wu, Yuan Shu, who had been dead for nearly ten years, gave him another valuable legacy. His old subordinate Lei Xu took Yuan Shu's tens of thousands of elite troops and took the initiative to surrender to Liu Bei, showing his selflessness. Yuan Shu's life is touching and lamentable. He lives up to the name of chivalry and can be regarded as the most selfless and dedicated prince. How could Tian Ze not admire such a person? It’s just a pity that this guy’s territory is not next to his own. Tian Ze also wants to get along well with such a loyal friend. (End of this chapter)