Diqin Designer

Chapter 307: The Disaster of Dong Zhuo
Li Nian continued, "In peacetime, the provincial governors can rely on the central government to maintain their authority, but when the country is in turmoil, the central government's control over the local areas is greatly weakened, and the provincial governors naturally lose their authority."

"The provincial governors are backed by the imperial court. When the imperial court loses power, the governors who hold real power will certainly not take them seriously."

This model of the Eastern Han Dynasty was good in times of peace. It was beneficial for the central court to supervise and control the local areas, and it would not create many feudal emperors. After all, the Inspector only had supervisory power, but not the military administrative power of a state. Without the endorsement of the central court, he could not control the local governors.

But once the world falls into turmoil, the disadvantages become apparent. It is difficult for the governors who do not have military administrative power to exercise their supervisory power.

"After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, although the Eastern Han Dynasty was not destroyed, the country was in chaos. The prestige of the central government of the Eastern Han Dynasty was not as high as before, and the authority of the provincial governors was also weakened."

To put it bluntly, the provincial governors themselves have no real power and rely entirely on the support of the central government. If the central government can no longer support them, they will naturally be unable to stand up straight...

"Some people in later generations believed that Liu Yan's suggestion to 'abolish the historian and establish the pastor' was selfish and ill-intentioned, but in fact it was a choice made out of helplessness."

"Perhaps Liu Yan did have some selfish motives, but as a member of the Eastern Han royal family, he should want the Eastern Han Dynasty to continue to exist. He didn't want to let the Eastern Han Dynasty perish."

"'Abolish the governor and establish the governor' means abolishing the governor of a province and reinstating the governor of a province that was used in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The governor of a province is the highest military and administrative official in a province. In fact, he is the governor of a province who has been given real power."

The First Emperor said: "But doing so will make the governor of the state extremely powerful. If this continues for a long time, the princes will surely rise up and warlords will rule the country!"

Li Nian nodded and said, "That's true, but Liu Hong has no better choice. He can only do this first."

Looking back from later generations, we may think that some actions of historical figures were stupid, but if we analyze them carefully in their own time, we will find that they sometimes did not have much choice.

“At least by abolishing the Shi and establishing the governor, the chaos in the world can be stabilized and will not collapse in an instant. Moreover, if the governors of each state use more royal family members and important officials loyal to the Eastern Han Dynasty, even if the governors have different intentions in the future, there will be a chance that the meat will rot in the pot. Who knows, maybe one of the royal family members will be able to show his strength and pacify the world again, allowing the Eastern Han Dynasty to revive again!”

The First Emperor nodded, thinking that this should be the idea of ​​Liu Yan and Liu Hong. Theoretically speaking, this idea does have a chance of succeeding.

Li Nian changed the subject: "But unfortunately, things did not develop in this way. Instead, it became a chaos that affected tens of millions of people and spanned decades!"

The stories of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms are certainly exciting, but behind the excitement are countless bones. By the end of the Three Kingdoms, nine out of ten houses in the world were empty. How many people died?
"In April of the sixth year of Zhongping, Liu Hong passed away at the age of 34. He was posthumously named Emperor Xiaoling. This is not a good posthumous title. 'Ling' means that his reign was absurd."

"Liu Hong was also an Eastern Han emperor who died in his prime. He also left behind the same problems as his predecessors. For example, he did not train a good successor, and left behind a lot of problems such as the harem, relatives and eunuchs interfering in politics. His death was a complete failure, but after his death, the Eastern Han Dynasty became lively!"

That's not right. He just said that the eunuchs were able to interfere in politics because of the king, and all that power depended on Liu Hong. Now that Liu Hong is dead, the eunuchs should have lost their power and should have been eliminated by other forces. How could there still be eunuchs interfering in politics?

Moreover, the eunuchs interfering in politics mentioned in this statement should be the eunuchs during the reign of Liu Hong.

Meng Tian immediately asked: "Liu Hong is dead, how can the eunuchs still interfere in politics?"

Li Nian said, "Because they found a new master, Liu Hong's queen, and the last of the 'Six Queens', Empress Lingsi He, but her level is not very high. Her son is Emperor Shao of Han Liu Bian, the monarch of the Eastern Han Dynasty who ascended the throne after Liu Hong's death, and her brother is the general He Jin."

"Logically speaking, she and He Jin should have joined forces to control the government. Even if there were conflicts, they should have eliminated the foreign enemies first and then settled the scores. However, the actual situation was that she and He Jin had a falling out."

"She believed that Liu Hong was dead and her son was the emperor. He Jin was no longer her helper, but an obstacle to her ruling the country and monopolizing power. So she accepted the surrender of the Ten Eunuchs, hoping to use them to check and balance He Jin and the court officials."

"The Ten Eunuchs had lost their supporter Liu Hong and were in urgent need of a new one, so they surrendered to Empress Dowager He and bribed her mother and brother. Then the two sides put aside their past grudges and hit it off."

"He Jin's level is similar to that of his sister. After Liu Hong's death, He Jin thought he could seize power in the court, but he was blocked by his own sister. His sister even appointed eunuchs who had a grudge against him. How could He Jin tolerate this?"

"So, he adopted a strategy that was quite stupid in retrospect. At that time, although He Jin was a general, his troops were no match for Empress Dowager He and the Ten Attendants. So Yuan Shao, the lieutenant of the imperial court, suggested that since Luoyang was short of soldiers and generals, why not transfer troops from the local areas to the capital?"

The First Emperor said: "If the troops transferred to the capital are loyal to He Jin, this plan is indeed feasible. However, if the troops entering the capital have other intentions, it will cause great disaster! If Yuan Shao is not stupid and evil, then he has other plans. The troops transferred to the capital must be related to him."

Li Nian said: "Your Majesty is wise! It is unknown what Yuan Shao really wanted when he proposed this plan to He Jin, but the troops transferred to the capital are indeed related to him, or more precisely, to the Yuan family he was born into."

"Yuan Shao was born into the Yuan family of Runan, which was a top-ranking and prestigious family in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. They had held the position of the Three Dukes for four generations, and their students and former officials were all over the country. Their reputation was second only to that of the Eastern Han royal family, but the power of the Eastern Han royal family was uneven and could not be concentrated, so they were even inferior to the Yuan family."

"The person who suggested to He Jin that the troops be transferred to Luoyang was Dong Zhuo, the governor of Bingzhou. Dong Zhuo was also a former official of the Yuan family. Therefore, Yuan Shao believed that no matter what the result of Dong Zhuo's entry into the capital was for He Jin, it would not be bad for the Yuan family at all."

"Unfortunately, Yuan Shao was wrong. Dong Zhuo was no longer the pawn that relied on Yuan's forces. He was now a fierce tiger with sharp claws and teeth. Yuan's reins could no longer restrain him."

Li Nian believed that Yuan Shao allowed Dong Zhuo to come to Beijing not because he wanted to use Dong Zhuo to create chaos in the world and get rid of Yuan Ji as the conspiracy theorists believed, but simply because he did not expect that Dong Zhuo had a rebellious mind and did not want to be manipulated by the Yuan family, so he decided to go solo.

Yuan Shao certainly wanted to profit from it, but he did not think so far ahead. He probably thought that letting Dong Zhuo in would be beneficial to the Yuan family. However, Dong Zhuo did not play according to his wishes.

"He Jin agreed to Yuan Shao's plan and summoned Dong Zhuo, the governor of Bingzhou, to the capital. He used Dong Zhuo's elite troops to put pressure on Queen Mother He so that the eunuchs could be eliminated and he could control the government."

"However, He Jin's plan was not kept secret, and the plan to kill the eunuchs was leaked to the public, and the Ten Eunuchs knew about it. He Jin wanted to kill them and not give them any chance to live, so of course the Ten Eunuchs would resist. Even at this point, the victory was still in He Jin's hands. However, He Jin was not only not careful in his plan, but also quite arrogant. He thought that the overall situation was already decided and the Ten Eunuchs would have no chance of turning the tables, so he swaggered into the palace."

"This unexpected accident that was not supposed to happen happened. When He Jin entered the palace, he was ambushed and killed by the Ten Eunuchs!"

Meng Tian commented disdainfully: "He is careless and arrogant, and he deserves to die! Is he worthy of being a general of the Eastern Han Dynasty?" Li Nian smiled and said: "He Jin became a general mainly because of his status as a relative of the emperor, not because of his ability. When Yuan Shao suggested that Dong Zhuo and others enter the capital, many people actually reminded him that Dong Zhuo's entry into the capital might cause trouble, but He Jin was stubborn."

"But even if He Jin had not died, it would have been difficult to restrain Dong Zhuo, who was about to arrive. A few days after He Jin's death, Dong Zhuo led his army to Luoyang. Dong Zhuo was extremely ambitious and cruel. After arriving in Luoyang, he immediately gathered other troops to strengthen his own strength."

"The troops left behind by He Jin and his brother He Miao all obeyed Dong Zhuo's orders. Dong Zhuo also lured Lu Bu to kill Ding Yuan, who was also summoned to Luoyang by He Jin, and annexed his troops."

"This Lü Bu is also a famous person who has been passed down to later generations. He is known as 'Lü Bu among men, Red Hare among horses'. In terms of personal martial arts, he is considered the strongest general in the late Eastern Han Dynasty! Despite the evaluation of 'Lü Bu among men, Red Hare among horses', Lü Bu's reputation is not very good."

When they originally heard "Lü Bu among men, Red Hare among horses", Qin Shihuang and his two companions thought that this was an indomitable and extraordinary general, but they did not expect that he had a bad reputation. These three people became even more interested.

The First Emperor asked curiously, "Why does Lü Bu have a bad reputation?"

Li Nian smiled and said, "'Lü Bu among men, Red Hare among horses' has a second half called 'Fang Tian Hua Ji, specializing in stabbing my foster father'. Red Hare is Lü Bu's mount, and Fang Tian Hua Ji is Lü Bu's weapon. This man is good at martial arts, but in the eyes of many people, his character is not up to par."

"Because every time he joins a new club, he often brings the heads of his old club with him!"

This character is indeed worth considering. It would be fine if he just defected to a new employer, but he actually wanted to take the head of his old employer with him.

"Lü Bu was originally a general under Ding Yuan, who treated him very well. However, Lü Bu was seduced by Dong Zhuo. According to the novel, Dong Zhuo used the Red Hare to induce Lü Bu to betray Ding Yuan."

"Ding Yuan never thought that Lu Bu would kill him, and he was not prepared for Lu Bu. Lu Bu took advantage of his unpreparedness and killed Ding Yuan in one fell swoop, and presented his head to Dong Zhuo. In the novel, Ding Yuan was portrayed as Lu Bu's first adoptive father, and this was also the first time Lu Bu stabbed his adoptive father!"

"Specializing in stabbing adoptive fathers" must have stabbed several people, and Lu Bu killed Ding Yuan and defected to Dong Zhuo. Could it be that Dong Zhuo was also stabbed by Lu Bu, and in order to find another adoptive father?
Thinking of this, the three of them looked strange. As they thought, Li Nian said, "Lü Bu is tall and mighty, and has great martial arts skills. That's why he is called 'Lü Bu among men'. Dong Zhuo was delighted to see him and swore to be his son with him."

"Later, Dong Zhuo was also killed by Lu Bu. In the novel, Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo turned against each other because of a beauty trap set up by Prime Minister Wang Yun with his adopted daughter Diao Chan."

"Diao Chan is one of the four great beauties in ancient China. Each of the four beauties has a special story, namely, 'sinking fish', 'falling geese', 'blocking the moon' and 'shame on flowers'.

"'Sinking fish' refers to Xi Shi, the beautiful woman given by Gou Jian, King of Yue, to Fu Chai, King of Wu; 'falling wild geese' refers to Wang Zhaojun, who was sent by Emperor Yuan of the Western Han Dynasty to marry the Southern Xiongnu; 'closing the moon' refers to Diao Chan; and 'shy flowers' refers to Yang Yuhuan, the imperial concubine of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty."

"Among the four beauties, only Diao Chan has no definite record in history. She must have been made up by the author of the historical novel. However, there is a record of Lü Bu and Dong Zhuo's maid having an affair."

Although Diao Chan does not exist, the other three do. Unfortunately, one is in the past, and the other two are in the future. They are not in the Qin era and cannot be seen.

Li Nian brought the topic back to Dong Zhuo: "After gathering the troops of Ding Yuan and others, Dong Zhuo became the strongest in Luoyang. Seeing that the army in Luoyang was almost under his control, Dong Zhuo's ambition began to be exposed. He deposed Emperor Shao of Han, Liu Bian, and established Emperor Ling's other son, Liu Xie, as emperor. He also poisoned Empress Dowager He."

"Because he held a large number of troops, no one could do anything to Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo was extremely powerful. He stayed in the palace at night, raped princesses and palace maids, wantonly killed ministers and their families, and allowed his soldiers to plunder and rape women in Luoyang..."

Listening to Dong Zhuo's stories, the First Emperor raised his eyebrows and asked, "What about Yuan Shao, who suggested Dong Zhuo to enter the capital?"

Li Nian said: "Not long after Dong Zhuo entered Luoyang, Yuan Shao found that Dong Zhuo was out of the control of the Yuan family. If he continued to stay in Luoyang, he might be harmed by Dong Zhuo. So he fled early with another son of the Yuan family, Yuan Shu."

Meng Tian sneered, "He ran fast, but it's a pity that the people of Luoyang suffered!"

The culprit ran away, leaving behind a group of people who had done nothing wrong to suffer the disaster of Dong Zhuo. This world does not value longevity of good people, nor does it value that justice may be late but will never be absent.

Many times, it is actually “killing people and setting fires brings you a gold belt, while repairing bridges and roads leaves no corpses” and “good people often have a hard time having a good end, while bad people enjoy their old age.”

Li Nian said: "Due to Dong Zhuo's evil deeds in Luoyang, many people who were not in Luoyang recruited troops in various places, preparing to fight against Dong Zhuo and raising the banner of restoring Liu Bian's throne."

"Dong Zhuo did one thing under this situation. He poisoned Liu Bian to death. He thought that as long as Liu Bian was killed, these people would no longer have a banner. Little did he know that even without Liu Bian, these people would still rebel against him."

"So after Dong Zhuo killed Liu Bian, the anti-Dong movement did not subside. Instead, more people joined in. In the first year of Chuping, the states and counties in Guandong nominated Yuan Shao as the leader of the alliance and led the army to attack Dong Zhuo."

"Under such circumstances, Dong Zhuo also realized that he had provoked the wrath of heaven and people, and decided to do one thing - move the capital. The capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty was Luoyang, not Chang'an, the capital of the Western Han Dynasty, and Dong Zhuo planned to move from Luoyang to Chang'an to avoid the anti-Dong coalition forces. Chang'an was close to Liangzhou, and almost all of his elite troops were from Xiliang."

"When the capital was moved, Dong Zhuo still did nothing. In order to get the people of Luoyang to move to Chang'an, he burned down people's houses, making them homeless, and used the army to drive them away. He also burned down the palaces and government offices in Luoyang, and ordered Lu Bu to rob the tombs of emperors and ministers to obtain the treasures in the tombs."

Dong Zhuo was completely willful and reckless, doing whatever he wanted without caring about the consequences at all. As he continued to act like this, he no longer had a chance to regain the world.

But to hear Li Nian say that Dong Zhuo was killed by Lu Bu, who "specially stabbed his adoptive father", it means that the anti-Dong coalition forces were unable to do anything to Dong Zhuo.

However, this is not surprising. In the past, the coalition of six countries attacked Qin but still failed to defeat it. The more people participate, the stronger the power will not necessarily be. On the contrary, it may fail to accomplish anything because everyone in the alliance has their own selfish motives and cannot concentrate their strength together.

This is roughly what the anti-Dong coalition did.

(End of this chapter)