Chaos of the Three Kingdoms Summons

Chapter 2772 Protector-General of Beiting, Reign Title Changed to Jian'an

On the walls of the imperial palace in Luoyang, 50-year-old Li Xiang gazed at the bustling city of Luoyang.

In that same year, the aging Emperor Li Xiang, at the age of 50, officially changed the era name to Jian'an.

The name Jian'an was chosen not only to commemorate the reign title of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, which was around the same time, but also to express Li Xiang's high hopes for the Jin Dynasty.

Therefore, in the year Li Xiang turned 50, Jian'an became the fourth reign title after Shenlong, Yuanshi, and Qianyuan.

Later historical records state that in the first year of Jian'an, the emperor was fifty years old and changed the era name to Jian'an. This name signifies the establishment of a lasting and stable state and the bringing of peace and prosperity to the people, as bright as the sun and moon. This marked the fourth era following Shenlong, Yuanshi, and Qianyuan, and all people looked up to him, singing praises of his sage rule.

In the years that followed, after the Jin army destroyed the Murong Khanate in the second Great Campaign beyond the Great Wall, Li Jing and Han Xin, along with Wei Qing and Li Guangbi, led two more expeditions beyond the Great Wall. Although they encountered minor setbacks like Meng Tian's, most of their campaigns ended in victory.

In particular, during the fourth battle beyond the Great Wall, Bai Hu and Huang Mei joined forces to kill Tao Tian, ​​a general of the Yuan Dynasty, and Li Cunxiao killed Tao Wu, which made them famous throughout the grasslands.

After the second campaign beyond the Great Wall, Li Mu's army, with the help of Han Xin, officially forced the Yuan Mongols out of the original sphere of influence of the Tuoba Wei.

Not long after, Yuan Zan, Yuan Xin, and Yuan Benxi led 20,000 herdsmen to surrender to the Han, and Li Xiang then enfeoffed Yuan Zan as the Marquis of Guisong.

In the same year, Xiao Yanyan's son, Li Song, was enfeoffed as the King of Wei. Although the title was Wei, it was not the same Wei as the previous one, but the Wei of the Tuoba Wei dynasty.

At the same time, the Beiting Protectorate was established, with Li Song, the Prince of Wei, holding the position of Grand Protector in name only, to manage all grassland areas north of Youzhou, including the part of the grassland that originally belonged to Tuoba Wei.

In other words, apart from the grasslands that originally belonged to the Tuoba Wei period, the Manchus were also under the jurisdiction of the Beiting Protectorate.

He also bestowed upon Aju, who had made outstanding military achievements, the title of Marquis of Zhuo and appointed him as the Deputy Grand Protector of the Beiting Protectorate.

In reality, Prince Wei, Li Song, was only granted the title remotely; when he could actually take office depended on Li Xiang's mood.

After all, Xiao Yanyan had three sons, and her eldest son had already been sent to South Asia, where he became one of the Ten Kings.

The second son died young.

Li Song, this is her youngest son, who is only ten years old now.

Therefore, Ashu was actually the highest-ranking official in the Beiting Governor's Office.

Yelü Deguang and Wang Baobao were appointed as deputy protectors to assist Ashu, who was the deputy chief protector, in managing affairs.

The court allowed the Beiting Protectorate to recruit some troops from the grasslands, allocate some from the northern army, and hire some from the Manchus in the east.

Clearly, this was an attempt and a test by Li Xiang to begin intervening in the internal affairs of the Qing Dynasty.

After four campaigns beyond the Great Wall, the Mongols had given up on the idea of ​​competing with the Jin Dynasty. They had also abandoned the grasslands near Bingzhou and Liangzhou, and their tribes were migrating north and west as a whole.

At the same time, although the Hulagu Khanate and the Batu Khanate were nominally two major khanates within the Mongol Empire, they had actually become independent in recent years.

Ögedei Khan was too harsh on Kublai Khan's lineage, which is why Hulagu and Batu Khan harbored resentment towards him.

It's not that they disagreed with the other side's approach of eliminating all traces of the enemy; it's simply the law of survival on the grasslands. If they were in the other side's position, they wouldn't have been as merciful as Ögedei.

However, they do not want to one day become part of the purge.

Influenced by this mindset, they clung tightly to their power, refusing to let go. Their power was their very foundation for survival.

Therefore, this situation of nominal affiliation but actual independence has been formed.

Therefore, by this point in time, none of the seven khanates that once dominated the Yuan-Mongol Empire at its peak remain. Three of the seven khanates were directly destroyed, one became completely independent, two were nominally affiliated but actually independent, and Ögedei Khan abolished his khanate after he came to power.

The Yuan Dynasty of today is no longer what it once was.

Furthermore, due to the weakness within the Yuan Dynasty, two years ago, after a major war outside the Great Wall, Helian Bobo, who belonged to the Yuan Dynasty, gradually developed his own ambitions.

They wanted to take advantage of the weakness of the Yuan Dynasty and try to establish independence like the Modu Khanate.

However, Helian Bobo overestimated his strength, and Ögedei Khan, who had just been defeated, wanted to use his head as a warning to others.

Therefore, he was not let off lightly as he had when the Modu Khanate gained independence, but instead faced a full-scale attack from Ögedei Khan.

After Khlebobo was defeated and captured, Ögedei Khan publicly dismembered him by five horses.

His followers, including Heleyoudi, Heleda, Helian Gui, Helian Aliluo, and Chigan Ali, were also executed.

However, this incident dealt another heavy blow to the Yuan Mongol Empire, which had suffered repeated defeats.

In addition, many years ago, under Cen Wenben's leadership, the plateau was split up again, resulting in a three-way division of power.

"The solitary peak has stood for fifty years, and the old fortress is now overgrown with autumn weeds."

Where swords and shoes have fallen, the mountains and rivers are in turmoil.

The old ministers' monument is covered in snow, and the new calendar rolls like a tide.

Alone, I stroke the cracked heavens; a long wind whips my robes.

At this moment, Emperor Li Xiang, who was already in his fifties, looked at the bustling city of Luoyang and thought of the countless corpses that had been left behind along the way. He couldn't help but speak out with emotion.

In recent years, he has seen too many old friends pass away.

As the saying goes, the mighty Yangtze River flows eastward, its waves washing away the heroes of the past!
The hardest thing for people to overcome is time!
Even Emperor Li Xiang, who was once in his prime, is now old and frail, not to mention his former ministers.

Over the years, he first saw off the death of his father-in-law, Changsun Sheng, and then the old ministers Di Renjie, Song Jing, Zhang Jianzhi, and Lin Xiangru, four veteran ministers who had once served in the Bingzhou faction.

In addition, even the oldest veterans in the military, such as Lian Po, Yang Ye, and Wang Jian, have passed away one after another.

After all, they were a whole generation older than the rest of the military, and were the first to succumb to the ravages of time.

Even that old man Jia Xu, after returning from his business trip to Liangzhou, underwent a complete change in mentality, and two years later, he passed away in sorrow.

I still remember Xue Rengui, Wei Qing, Yue Fei, and others who once rode alongside him, but now their hair is all white.

"Your Majesty, Emperor Xuan Ye of the Qing Dynasty has entered the capital, and Minister Fang has gone to greet him." Just as he was about to sigh on the palace wall, an old eunuch suddenly bent down and came up to report in a low voice.

Now, the old eunuchs who serve Li Xiang have been replaced.

The previous old eunuch, too, had not withstood the ravages of time.

Even Li Xiang's mindset is not as open-minded as it was in his youth. Perhaps he has begun to understand the later years of historical figures such as Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, and Emperor Taizong of Tang.

However, having come from the future, he knew that there was no such thing as immortality in this world.

"Understood. I will receive the Qing Emperor at the Linde Hall tomorrow!" Li Xiang nodded.