General Yang Xiu took the lead in attacking, and was heartbroken at the court meeting, accusing the court of reacting too slowly and tolerating traitors. When Cao Cao invaded Jingzhou and occupied Wu County, the court did not stop it in time, but just issued several edicts without any pain. Now Yuan Tan followed his example and became more and more powerful, and actually invaded Sili and deliberately provoked a war.

If the court does not denounce Yuan Tan in time and the general will start a war in anger, Shandong will be in danger, the court will be in danger, and the Han Dynasty will be in danger.

As soon as Cao Cao invaded Jingzhou, why didn’t the general fight back in the Three Gorges, but instead sent troops to siege Shangyong. It was not easy for the Three Gorges to attack, was it easy for Shangyong? As a result, Huang Zhong had been sending troops for almost a year, and not only failed to take Shangyong, but even Fangling was not solved. Is it because the general made a mistake in making a decision or Huang Zhong was incompetent? Speaking of Luoyang, Yuan Tan invaded Sili, and Lu Su was defeated step by step. Can such a person be the governor of Luoyang?

There was a sound of ridicule in the court. Everyone knew that quarrels in the court were all false, and the victory or defeat on the battlefield was the key point. Cao Cao occupied Wu County, and Sun Ce was unable to retake it, and his offensive in Hanzhong was unable to make progress. Zhou Yu sent troops to Wuling at the beginning of the year. Half a year passed, and he was still stranded in Wuling. I don’t know when he would actually enter Yizhou. If fighting in the jungle was indeed not easy, then now Lu Su gave up Luoyang is enough to illustrate the problem: Sun Ce’s front line is too long, his troops are scattered, and he is not attacking in any direction, and his defense is worrying.

In other words, the more than a year of war has proved their previous conjecture: Sun Ce is not invincible. Since this is the case, the more fierce the General General Yang Xiu shouted, the more guilty Sun Ce is and the more anxious he is, the more the court needs to pay attention.

Yang Xiu scoffed and denounced the official for not distinguishing right from wrong and being accomplices. He was sharp and no one could match the court, but he could not solve any practical problems. Everyone knew that the problem that could not be solved on the battlefield was very unlikely to turn the tables in the court, and no matter how nice it was, it would be useless.

The focus of the debate finally involved one question: Should the court move back to Luoyang?

This time, Yang Xiu and the Liangzhou faction became allies. Yang Xiu opposed the court's move back to Luoyang, because Luoyang had become ruins and was occupied by Yuan Tan. Who was Yuan Tan? He was the son of the rebel Yuan Shao. The court was generous and he was punished by Yuan Shao alone, and Yuan Tan was not held responsible. However, Yuan Tan was Yuan Shao's son after all, and there were a group of party members around him. Will the court move back to Luoyang, which was controlled by him, and wouldn't it be a sheep entering the tiger's mouth and take the initiative to be a puppet? When Yuan Shao was alive, he forged an edict. If the emperor returned to Luoyang, Yuan Tan would definitely hold the emperor hostage and execute the edict on his behalf?

The Liangzhou faction also opposed the emperor's move back to Luoyang, and the reason was even more great. Chang'an was originally the capital of the Han Dynasty. The prophecy said that the destiny of the Han Dynasty had ended. He suffered the Red Eyebrows. Emperor Guangwu had to move the capital to Luoyang, and for this reason he changed Luoyang to Luoyang. Facts have proved that the name change could not solve the problem of Luoyang, so the Han Dynasty suffered this disaster. Now that he has moved back to Guanzhong, and the military farming has been successful, the court has hope of reviving the court, why should he move back to Luoyang?

Maybe it was because Yang Xiu and others made sense, or maybe it was because in order to take care of Yang Xiu's face, the emperor rejected the proposal to move the capital back to Luoyang.

Someone immediately proposed that although Luoyang was abolished, it was the old capital and it still needed to strengthen supervision. Sun Ce controlled the eight states, but did not control the Sili. It was unreasonable for Lu Su to occupy Luoyang as the governor of the King of Wu. Yuan Tan was the governor of Jizhou and was not suitable for restraining Hanoi and Henan. It would be legitimate to let Yuan Tan take over the Sili lieutenant, which would be legitimate.

Yang Xiu strongly opposed it, but the opposition was ineffective. The court originally intended to support Yuan Tan and Sun Ce in confrontation, but Lu Su retreated too easily. Although Yuan Tan occupied Luoyang, he had no actual military achievements. He had no choice but to be appointed as the king of the secretly agreed, so he could only add a Sili lieutenant to show encouragement. It would not be too late to be appointed as the king when Yuan Tan achieved greater military achievements.

The debate became more and more intense, but it could not affect the government affairs. The court quickly issued an edict, appointing Yuan Tan as the left chariot and cavalry general and the captain of the Si Li.

——

When the edict was issued, Jia Xu was the first to worry about.

Hedong and Hongnong were all Sili, and Yuan Tan was the Sili lieutenant, so he had the right to interfere in Hedong and Hongnong's military and political affairs, adjust officials, and arrange close friends. The court did this, obviously beating Jia Xu and others, so that they would not be passive and slacking off, otherwise they might directly let Yuan Tan control the two counties next time.

Hedong is a salt and iron production area, and it is the county with the strongest economic strength in Jia Xu. Of course, Jia Xu refused to let go. He immediately sent a letter to Yuan Tan, to celebrate, and to ask Yuan Tan for his next action, and to express his willingness to support Yuan Tan's battle.

After receiving the imperial edict from the court, Yuan Tan retreated to a dilemma. He could understand the meaning of the court. If he wanted to be king, it was not enough to take down an empty city in Luoyang. He also needed to earnestly achieve his military achievements and prove that he had the ability to act as a court hawk. He had few choices, and continued to attack and completely drove Lu Su out of Henan was most in line with the court's expectations, but it was too risky for him. First, Yique Pass was easy to defend but difficult to attack, second, the front line was too long and logistics supply was difficult, and third, Jia Xu and Dong Yue were on his side, so he could not feel at ease.

Ju Su gave Yuan Tan an idea: temporarily stabilize the Luoyang front and launch an attack in the direction of the plain. Compared with Henan, fighting in the plain has several benefits: one is that local operations are less logistical pressure; the other is that Qingzhou is far away from Xiangyang, which makes Sun Ce inconvenient for reinforcements; the third is that Cao Ang is more reliable than Jia Xu, and it is unlikely that he will stab him suddenly.

Yuan Tan felt it was reasonable, so he immediately wrote to the court, recommending the former prefect of Henoi Zhang Yang as the general of Zhendong, and the emperor of Henan, and moved to Luoyang. He returned to Jizhou, prepared food and grass, and attacked Qingzhou.

Zhang Yang is from Yunzhong and has a good relationship with Lu Bu. Henan Yin is of course more noble than the prefect of Hanoi. Yuan Tan recommended Zhang Yang as Henan Yin. Not only did he promote Zhang Yang to be the official, he also sold face to Lu Bu, but he naturally drove Zhang Yang out of Hanoi County. It was a win-win situation.

The court had almost no hesitation and quickly agreed to Yuan Tan's request.

Yuan Tan immediately withdrew from Luoyang, went down the river, and rushed back to Jizhou. The autumn harvest was approaching, and he wanted to ensure that Jizhou was safe, prepared money and food, and attack Qingzhou. The gains and losses of Henan were of little significance to him. He was not interested in working for the court, but Pingyuan was a real benefit at his mouth. He really wanted to win.

——

July, Xiangyang, Jinghu.

Sun Ce sat on the pavilion in the lake, holding a fishing rod in his hand, and chatted with Mr. Shuijing Sima Hui without a word.

During the struggle between several sides, the summer of the fourth year of Jian'an passed unconsciously. As the weather turned cooler and the autumn harvest was approaching, a harsh winter was getting closer.

Huang Zhong and Zhou Yu heard news one after another. After several months of adaptation, they were ready to attack and waited for the weather to cooler. The situation in Hanzhong was fine. After Huang Zhong forced himself to surrender to Fangling, he stayed in Fangling for rest and did not even reveal the news. So Xu You of Shangyong still didn't know that Fangling had fallen and was still trying to send people to inquire about Fangling's news. The situation in Wuling was a bit complicated. He Qi set up camp in Hutou Mountain, luring tens of thousands of barbarians to Qinglangtan from all directions, intending to block He Qi and reappear the story of defeating Ma Yuan that year. He didn't know that he was falling into Zhou Yu's plan. Zhou Yu mobilized his men and waited for the troops to be in place after the autumn harvest to defeat these elite barbarians in one fell swoop.

After these two wars, Huang Zhong and Zhou Yu would advance quickly. Sun Ce didn't know how much they could fight and could not deduce the military plan. The model was too rough, and the gap between the optimistic results and the pessimistic results was so big that it was unbelievable.

Before approving their combat plan, Sun Ce came to Jinghu to fish and calm down.

Sima Hui was about 10 years younger than Pang Degong and was in his prime, but he had no interest in entering the officialdom, and he was even unwilling to enter Xiangyang Academy to be a idler. He stayed in Jinghu, and except for a limited number of people including his master Pang Degong, most people refused to receive him when they came. They often asked for illness to thank guests and read freely alone.

Through Pang Degong, Sun Ce knew that Sima Hui's interest was not an official. After a polite invitation, he never asked Sima Hui to come out of the mountain again. He did not deliberately visit Sima Hui when he came to Jinghu. He would chat for two days when he met. Even if he couldn't meet, sometimes the two of them looked across the lake, and Sun Ce just raised his hand to signal and said hello, and did not take the initiative to disturb Sima Hui's courtyard.

He became Sima Hui's friend and was very good at talking about it.

The two of them talked about each other in a world without any purpose or scope. They can not only talk about the scenery in front of them, but also talk about the political situation in Chang'an. Sometimes they also evaluate the new works of Liu He and Sun Kuang, especially Liu He. Liu He has no serious tasks. She likes to draw. After learning from Cai Yong and Cai Yan, she has greatly increased her painting skills. Last year, she drew a scroll of life for the people of Xiangyang. She not only received praise from the emperor, but also received favor from many bookstores. Some bookstores paid to buy her paintings and asked her to illustrate new calligraphy and paintings. Liu He's painting skills are not as good as Cai Yan, but her status as the eldest princess is too attractive, and she has a lot of free time. The number of works is far from comparable to Cai Yan, so she has earned a lot of fame.

After reading a few illustrations of Liu He's paintings, Sima Hui was very interested in this eldest princess who was of noble origin but not rich at all. She had a happy chat with Sun Ce. He gave Liu He a comment: Returning to simplicity and truth is a Taoist beauty, especially Zhuangzi.

Sun Ce knew that Sima Hui was between Confucianism and Taoism, and he highly praised Taoist thoughts. However, he had a fair impression of Taoism, and always felt that Taoism was only suitable for personal character and had limited positive impact on politics and economy, especially Zhuangzi. Is it so good to draw the tail in the painting? It is kingly way not to borrow rice from others. Whether Liu He's paintings are in line with the wonderful Taoism is not important, what is important is that she can support herself now with this craft.

"I am very happy that she can do what she likes and support herself. I don't care whether it is in line with Taoism. Let it go." Sun Ce mentioned the fishing rod, but the hook was empty. Not only did he not catch fish, but he even disappeared. Sun Ce smacked his lips. "The fish in Jinghu are getting more and more cunning."

Sima Hui smiled and said, "Let it go naturally, it is the beauty of Taoism. The king has no way of saying it, but has way of saying it in his heart."

Sun Ce laughed. "Sir, this comment is ambiguous and it is heard by others. Wouldn't I become a foolish monarch?"

"Does the king care?" Sima Hui asked back.

Sun Ce thought for a while. "It must be false to say that you don't care at all. It may be limited to how much you care. In the face of life and death, having a way or not is actually not that important. I think that living in every way is Tao, whether it is an individual or a country or a person or a country. If you don't admit this, it's all nonsense."

Sima Hui laughed and was about to speak when a young man walked along the corridor. He glanced at him and couldn't help but praise: "This young man has the shape of a dragon and a phoenix, and he will definitely be a hero in the future."

Sun Ce turned his head and glanced at Sima Hui in surprise.
Chapter completed!