Han officials

Chapter 249 Since Zhe was born, why was Shao born?! [22]

Luoyang, Jinyong City.

Shi Sunrui was initially quite happy after successfully recapturing Hanoi County.

This time, Lü Bu finally displayed his prowess as a "flying general".

After crossing the Yellow River, they set off in the morning and arrived at Huai County, the seat of Hanoi Prefecture, in just one day.

Yufuluo's Southern Xiongnu cavalry was routed in less than half an hour under Lü Bu's fierce attack. As for Qu Yi, he did not disgrace the people of Liangzhou.

Unfortunately, his personal martial skills were lacking, and he was too arrogant, which allowed Lü Bu to seize the opportunity and kill him in battle.

Seeing that Zhang Yang, who had suffered two defeats and fled back to Huai County, had not even made a move, he surrendered without hesitation.

After all, his troops might not even be able to defeat mountain bandits, let alone contend with Lü Bu.

It turns out that Zhang Yang and Lü Bu were old acquaintances. Back when Ding Yuan was the governor of Bingzhou, Lü Bu was the chief clerk, while Zhang Yang and Zhang Liao were the martial arts officers. They each returned to their hometowns to recruit soldiers.

Even though Ding Yuan was later killed by Lü Bu, Zhang Yang and Lü Bu still had some affection for each other.

Of course, this is also related to Ding Yuan's poor character.

Otherwise, after Lü Bu killed Ding Yuan, not a single soldier from Bingzhou would have rebelled.

Even former subordinates of Ding Yuan, such as Zhang Yang and Zhang Liao, never considered avenging Ding Yuan.

Furthermore, in the original history, after Lü Bu fled Chang'an, he twice sought refuge under Zhang Yang's command, which shows the friendship between the two.

Therefore, when Zhang Yang took the initiative to surrender the city, Lü Bu did not make things difficult for him. Instead, he asked Shi Sunrui for an official position.

Shi Sunrui was not a rigid or stubborn person, so he recommended Zhang Yang as General of Valiant Might and kept him in Luoyang.

Seeing that he was living a more comfortable life after surrendering than he had in Hanoi, Zhang Yang, who had never been ambitious, accepted his fate.

Even Yufuluo, the wandering Xiongnu prince, was not spared by Shisunrui.

Since Shi Sunrui's qualification to hold the imperial staff and establish his own government was indeed personally granted by the emperor, he could be said to have a great sense of justice.

Therefore, Shi Sunrui, who was eager to strengthen the Han army in Luoyang, directly recommended Yufuluo as the Chanyu of the Southern Xiongnu and promised that as long as he assisted the Han army in recovering Chang'an and welcoming back the emperor, he would definitely help him return to the Southern Xiongnu royal court and regain power.

Upon hearing this, Yufuluo naturally could not obtain what he desired.

As a result, this group of Southern Xiongnu mercenaries who had wandered the Central Plains was taken under the command of Shi Sunrui.

It can be said that Lü Bu waged a very brilliant blitzkrieg in this recapture of Hanoi Commandery.

After capturing Hanoi County, Shi Sunrui finally breathed a sigh of relief.

With control of both Hanoi Commandery and Henan Province, he could finally be considered to have some ability to protect himself.

Even if the more than 100,000 Liangzhou troops occupying Chang'an were to march east again, Shi Sunrui would no longer be afraid.

But comparisons are always a problem. Shi Sunrui was just feeling happy about having a "flying general" like Lü Bu when he heard the news that Wei Zhe was wielding his sword at Langjuxu Mountain and drinking water from the North Sea.

So, Sun Rui, who had just been full of joy, quickly lost interest.

Well, Lu Bu is good, but in the end, he's not as desirable as Wei Zhe.

Shi Sunrui still feels regret for the emperor to this day.

If Wei Zhe had faced fewer obstacles when he attacked Dong Zhuo, and if the counties in Guandong had shown more loyalty, the emperor might have already broken free from the control of the Liangzhou army and returned to the old capital.

Even so, Wei Zhe still managed to recapture Luoyang, repair the tombs of the emperors, and save the books collected throughout history from fire and water.

Even after withdrawing his troops, he still invited Liu Yu to guard the emperor, which shows his great care and concern.

It can be said that Wei Zhe's every single act since entering officialdom has left people speechless.

Even Shi Sunrui felt a little sorry for Wei Zhe, thinking that if he had been born in a peaceful era, he would surely have become another Huo Qubing.

Unfortunately, the Han Dynasty is now crumbling, leaving him to struggle alone on the border.

In short, Wei Zhe is incredibly loyal, beyond words!

Thinking of this, Shi Sunrui instructed his son, Shi Sunmeng, with some regret:

"Prepare a generous gift to congratulate General Zuo on his further meritorious service to the Han Dynasty!" Upon hearing this, Lü Bu remained silent and simply walked out of the prefectural government office.

Sigh, what can you do when he's Wei Zhe's defeated foe?

He had been so arrogant before, but now, upon hearing about Wei Zhe's achievements, he was speechless.

There's nothing I can do, it's just too discouraging!
……

Compared to Lü Bu, Yuan Shao's feelings were much more complicated.

Fear, bewilderment, shock—Yuan Shao himself couldn't quite explain the various emotions he felt.

After a long while, a soft sigh finally came from the study:
"Since Zhe was born, why was Shao born!"

However, Yuan Shao quickly came to his senses and immediately ordered his men to deal with the maids in the room with a cold expression.

He then summoned Shen Pei, Xu You, and others to discuss countermeasures.

"Let's withdraw the troops!" Shen Pei said tactfully, "The opportunity has been lost, and further fighting is pointless."

This time, Guo Tu surprisingly didn't disagree with Shen Pei, and agreed, saying, "Rather than trying in vain, we should fight again another day."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shao frowned deeply, clearly unwilling to give up so easily, and turned to look at Xu You and Feng Ji.

Ke Fengji also looked worried and couldn't think of any good solutions for a while.

In retrospect, the unsuccessful campaign against Wei was a disaster sown by Yuan Shao himself.

Because he made too many compromises with the Ji Province gentry in order to become the governor of Ji Province, the autonomy of the local gentry was greatly enhanced.

This model seemed normal on ordinary days; in fact, the gentry would even take the initiative to help Yuan Shao maintain his territory and supply him with provisions.

Even many of Yuan Shao's troops were private soldiers and followers of the Ji Province gentry, which greatly reduced the cost of maintaining the army.

However, once a tough challenge is encountered, the drawbacks of this model become glaringly obvious.

For example, in this attack on the Hejian, Gaoyang, and Zhongshan kingdoms under the control of the Wei army, Wei Zhe was well prepared and mobilized a large number of troops to guard the front lines of the three kingdoms. As a result, Yuan Shao ordered the front lines to be plunged into a bitter battle.

The combination of a small number of local militia and a large number of garrison troops led the Wei army to not simply defend but to take the initiative in defense.

Sometimes, when they discovered loopholes in Yuan's army's lines, they would even launch a counterattack and occupy counties and prefectures in Ji Province.

After a while, the battlefield at the border of the three counties became a veritable meat grinder.

By this point, the Wei army's will to hold out was still barely intact, but the Yuan army in Ji Province was starting to falter.

In particular, the private armies of various aristocratic families in Ji Province have begun to desert one after another.

After all, even though Yuan Shao compromised with the gentry, he ultimately did not implement the "fief system" like Eastern Wu did.

In this situation, the loss would only be Yuan Shao's territory, and the gentry would naturally be unwilling to risk their own private troops.

Without the support of the Ji Province gentry, Yuan Shao's desire to launch a counterattack was clearly a pipe dream.

If he had been able to forcefully suppress the gentry of Ji Province, he wouldn't have needed to betray his promise and murder Han Fu to seize power.

Xu You was actually quite clear about this.

Seeing that Yuan Shao was still hesitant, Xu You immediately said bluntly, "The morale of the troops at the front is unstable, and the people within the province are in turmoil. It is indeed not advisable to continue the war. To quell external threats, we must first secure internal stability. Your Excellency should prioritize the overall situation!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shao felt a chill run down his spine.

Indeed, he must first appease the internal situation in Ji Province; otherwise, he won't even be able to hold onto his position as Governor of Ji Province, let alone launch a counterattack.

To put it bluntly, Yuan Shao was still used to the old-fashioned model of the gentry.

Under this political model, how could the fighting spirit of Yuan's army possibly match that of the garrison troops who were essentially granted land in disguise?

Otherwise, he wouldn't have lost to Cao Cao in the Battle of Guandu.

……

(End of this chapter)