Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 398 All targets the Xiongnu
The diviner may have been seeking revenge against Dong Yue, but the divination was indeed divinely accurate.

After all, the basic skill of every diviner is to use tortoise shells and coins for divination; they can cast any divination they want.

Dong Yue thought that the diviner was of low status and that it would be pointless to hit him.

However, for Niu Fu, the diviner was both his retainer and his friend.

Although Dong Yue was a relative of Empress Dowager Dong, what did he mean to Niu Fu?
It's like Liu Yan going to Liu Bei's house to beat up Zhuge Liang; Niu Fu doesn't think there's anything wrong with killing Dong Yue.

Empress Dowager Dong was naturally very dissatisfied with Dong Yue's death, so she ordered someone to reprimand Niu Fu—but she only dared to reprimand him, just to make a show of it and maintain the dignity of the Empress Dowager's family.

However, the problem is that, in Niu Fu's view, the "Dong" in Empress Dowager Dong's name refers to an "outer Dong".

Dong Zhuo and Empress Dowager Dong were not actually related. Although Empress Dowager Dong's family also shared the surname Dong, they were considered outsiders to Dong Zhuo's relatives.

To be honest, Empress Dowager Dong's relatives were just beggars; they hadn't done anything to help.

In Niu Fu's view, the "internal strife" was due to both Empress Dowager Dong and Wang Yun's intention to harm Dong Zhuo's relatives, and the fact that someone colluded with the Xiongnu to instigate internal strife.

Empress Dowager Dong's reprimand only angered Niu Fu, who then detained Empress Dowager Dong and all the officials, claiming he would first investigate whether any of the officials were traitors.

Niu Fugang learned the term "traitor" when he received a proclamation from Qingzhou while he was in Chenggao.

Although Niu Fu's political acumen was insufficient to grasp the significance of the Martyrs' Shrine, he found the "punish on sight" approach to traitors quite appealing.

Besides, how could any Han Chinese forget Huo Biaoyao...?

The imperial edict was a formal policy issued by the Ministry of Personnel in the name of the emperor, and the matter of the Martyrs' Shrine was the highest-level 'sacrificial ceremony' in the policy.

Killing traitors is acting on the emperor's orders, and Empress Dowager Dong's words have no effect.

As a result, Wang Yun and Wang Rou, the two main suspects, were surrounded by Niu Fu's army, and Dong Yue was also framed as a suspected traitor.

Wang Yun hid in Wang Rou's camp and dared not come out, so he had no choice but to ask Dong Min for help.

Dong Min was Dong Zhuo's younger brother and was considered Niu Fu's elder. He was the only person who could restrain Niu Fu at this time.

So Dong Min went to persuade Niu Fu: "Killing Dong Yue is fine, but if we fight the Empress Dowager because of this, I'm afraid the Minister of Works will also be in trouble... Now is indeed the best opportunity to go to Linzi to welcome the Emperor. Why should we ruin important matters because of Dong Yue?"

Dong Yue was a member of Empress Dowager Dong's clan, so Dong Min and Dong Huang naturally didn't care whether he lived or died.

However, Dong Min was not in a position to order Niu Fu to do anything; he could only persuade him through family ties.

If we compare him to Liu Bei, Dong Min is like Jian Yong, and Niu Fu is like Guan Yu. They are of similar status, but they manage different things.

Militarily, Niu Fu had decision-making power and only needed to obey Dong Zhuo's orders.

"Why should we follow Wang Yun's orders when we are doing things?"

Niu Fu said to Dong Min, "Father-in-law did not instruct us to escort the Empress Dowager to Linzi. If we offend Liu Bei, who will he retaliate against when he returns with his army? Father-in-law is not here. If we waste our troops and offend Liu Bei, what good will it do us even if we welcome back the Emperor?"

—Although Niu Fu's political wisdom is limited and he generally only considers immediate interests, now, these immediate interests are actually the right thing to do.

Wang Yun believed that Empress Dowager Dong and Dong Zhuo's relatives shared the common desire to welcome back Liu Xie, which was correct. Dong Min and Dong Huang were indeed willing to go to Linzi.

But if Dong Zhuo himself were here, Wang Yun certainly wouldn't have designed it this way...

Under normal circumstances, Niu Fu would indeed be willing to listen to Dong Min.

But the diviner's divination reminded Niu Fu that such an important matter as going to Linzi to welcome the emperor required a distinction between host and guest, inside and outside.

Who is the host and who is the guest?
Empress Dowager Dong was fooled by Wang Yun, and Dong Yue was also sent at Wang Yun's behest. Now, Wang Yun is in charge of this matter, and he has the pretext of Empress Dowager Dong taking over her grandson.

Unfortunately, Dong Zhuo was not there.

In Niu Fu's view, going to Linzi at this time was a form of coercion, which he understood as "external harm to internal forces," and was intended to coerce his own troops.

Wang Yun, Empress Dowager Dong's relatives, and various officials—these outsiders—wanted to use Dong Zhuo's troops to provoke Liu Bei.

Even if they could successfully welcome the emperor back, it would be Empress Dowager Dong's relatives and Wang Yun who would gain power.

When Liu Bei turned around, it was Dong Zhuo's troops who were getting beaten up, and Niu Fu was definitely the first to be beaten up... Dong Zhuo might even beat him up too.

The order was given by Empress Dowager Dong, the initiative was driven by Wang Yun, and the support of the officials was also from Wang Yun.

What will Niu Fu gain by taking this risk?
Niu Fu's interests depend on Dong Zhuo, but Dong Zhuo is not here now.

If you risk getting beaten up by Liu Bei but don't get any benefits, aren't you just being cannon fodder?
It wasn't that Niu Fu didn't want to welcome the emperor back, but rather that he shouldn't have gone to welcome the emperor under the direction of Empress Dowager Dong and Wang Yun.

Only Dong Zhuo could give orders to Niu Fu; Empress Dowager Dong was not effective.

The killing of Dong Yue was influenced by both superstitious factors and attitudes.

“That’s right! If Empress Dowager Dong goes to Linzi while Brother Zhong is away, wouldn’t we be doing all the work for someone else? We need to first take over the troops from each family and report this matter to Brother Zhong so that he can make the decision.”

Dong Min suddenly realized: "Wang Yun is a treacherous man. He instigated the Empress Dowager to go to Qingzhou to use us... The Xiongnu uprising must be related to the Wang family of Taiyuan. This villain should be executed!"

That's right. We can't be swayed by Empress Dowager Dong, nor can we be commanded by Wang Yun. Dong Zhuo is the real boss.

That's how many things are; a sudden event can remind someone who hadn't thought things through before, and then suddenly make them realize the truth.

Niu Fu may have just stumbled upon this by accident, and may not have truly thought it through.

But Dong Min now truly understands.

Wang Yun's plan was on the verge of collapse, but there was still a glimmer of hope.

Reporting back to Dong Zhuo will take time, so Niu Fu plans to lead the team back to Luoyang.

But Wang Yun insisted on not leaving, and a stalemate ensued.

Dong Min and Dong Huang entered Niu Fu's army, and the 15,000-strong force surrounded Wang Yun and Empress Dowager Dong.

On Wang Yun's side, Wang Rou, the Protector-General of the Xiongnu, only had three thousand men, which was certainly no match for Niu Fu in terms of sheer numbers.

However, with nearly 20,000 officials and their families and entourage, Niu Fu could not easily take action.

……

At the same time, Huangfu Song changed direction and slipped away to the west—he did not go to resist Guo Tai.

Huangfu Song was not the kind of selfless hero. He agreed to send troops to resist Guo Tai only to gather some manpower, and these manpower were only for him to use as a rearguard to save his own life.

Huangfu Song had 2,800 men under his command. Apart from his former subordinates of more than 700, the other 2,000 were recruited by the officials.

After leaving Luoyang through the Xia Gate, Huangfu Song left the two thousand men to be deployed north of Luoyang City and raised his own banner as General of Chariots and Cavalry in the defense zone.

Then, he took his son and his old subordinates westward across Hangu Pass and fled to his hometown in Beidi County.

Huangfu Li was still somewhat uneasy at the time: "Father, abandoning our comrades will likely leave us with a bad reputation after death..."

But Huangfu Song said, "My son, your life is my virtue. The White Wave Yellow Turbans will not let my Huangfu family go. If we do not leave, we will die here."

This is the truth. Huangfu Song didn't have any other schemes or want to take any risks. Any father would only think about his child's life.

Logically speaking, since Huangfu Song had led his elite troops away, Luoyang was practically undefended.

However, Huangfu Song's decision to leave the flags, ceremonial guards, and two thousand miscellaneous troops north of Luoyang City actually served a purpose.

The area around Luoyang is indeed populated, but there are not many ordinary people in Luoyang city itself. Most of them are retainers and servants of officials, who have already followed the officials to Gongxian.

Even people who have no connection with these officials would mostly run away when they saw a large number of officials leaving the city, since no one is stupid.

Yang Biao did accomplish some useful things in Luoyang. He organized the crowd and kept the city gates open to prevent the fleeing people from causing chaos.

The orderly commotion of opening all nine gates left Guo Tai, who was busy with grain production at Xiaopingjin, completely bewildered—scouts reported that tens of thousands of people had left the city, and they had even seen Huangfu Song's banner appear in the military camp north of Luoyang.

Guo Tai thought that Luoyang had been fully mobilized... After all, so many people were leaving the city in an orderly manner even before he had attacked Luoyang, which seemed to suggest that the Luoyang court was deliberately letting most people leave.

The fact that they didn't even close the door suggests that Luoyang is confident of victory.

I also heard that Huangfu Song has already left the city to meet the attack...

Guo Tai thought a major battle was about to begin, so he adopted a very cautious defensive posture and kept sending people to urge those who remained in Hedong, Hanoi and other places to cross the river to provide reinforcements.

Huangfu Song's reputation was indeed quite useful to the Yellow Turbans.

Although the White Wave Yellow Turbans hated Huangfu Song, they were also afraid of him.

Guo Tai cautiously retreated to the banks of the Yellow River to await reinforcements, intending to have the Xiongnu come to his aid.

……

At this time, on the north bank of Mengjin, in Heyang.

Yang Feng received Guo Tai's urging and was hesitating whether to cross the river.

Guo Tai did not discover that Yang Feng was secretly contacting Zhang Yan and Xu Huang. After all, he had only "failed" in Heishan, but at least Yang Feng appeared to be very obedient.

At this moment, a man dressed in white with a yellow turban suddenly found Yang Feng.

This is Zhang Yan, Zhang Baiqi.

Yang Feng knew Zhang Baiqi, but he almost didn't recognize him... Zhang Baiqi looked like a lowly soldier in the White Wave Army.

"Captain Yang, Minister Jia sent me here to deliver a message, intending to reward you with a great achievement."

Zhang Baiqi had previously lived in Heishan, was a native of Sili, and had spent a long time in Luoyang with Jia Xu, so he was familiar with the environment and the people there.

Upon receiving the letter and unfolding it, Yang Feng's expression suddenly tightened: "Mr. Wenhe intends to coerce Yufuluo's son? This matter is likely to be difficult to handle..."

Zhang Baiqi pointed to the letter: "Don't worry, I'm not asking you to go, and this doesn't need to succeed. Lieutenant Yang just needs to point out the location and relay military intelligence to Yufuluo. As long as I can get close to Yufuluo, the rest is my responsibility."

Yang Feng looked at the letter and nodded: "Okay... Does Mr. Wenhe have any other instructions?"

Zhang Baiqi nodded: "Yes. Please have some friction between Captain Yang and Yufuluo's clan, the Luandi clan... If Guo Tai of the Baibo Army pursues the matter, Captain Yang can quickly head west to Shanxian County, where Minister Jia and General Dong will protect him."

Yang Feng immediately compiled a military intelligence report based on Jia Xu's letter and had Zhang Baiqi deliver it to Yufuluo.

Yang Feng's role as an undercover agent was quite significant.

He knew what Guo Tai wanted, and he also knew what Hufro wanted.

The White Wave Yellow Turbans followed a bandit route, which involved constantly coercing the people, incorporating troops, and snowballing their influence until they destroyed the Han Dynasty.

The slogan "The Blue Heaven is dead, the Yellow Heaven shall rise" is no longer relevant today. The White Wave Army is, after all, the Yellow Turbans, and if they want to succeed, they can only fight their way to the end.

The White Wave Army and the Xiongnu were indeed able to cooperate in places like Bingzhou, Hedong, and Henan. In the short term, the two armies shared a common goal: to plunder and raid with the bandits.

However, the White Wave Army could grow stronger by influencing others, but the Xiongnu could not.

The Xiongnu could coerce the Han people, but they could not grow stronger as a result; instead, they would create a great burden for them.

Every Xiongnu person knows their own limitations; they cannot incite the common people—the common people of the Han Dynasty are more hostile to the Hu people than the nobles, and they are not easily fooled.

After acquiring Bingzhou, Hedong, and Henan, Guo Tai's demands from the Xiongnu were actually different.

If Guo Tai still wants the Xiongnu to cooperate with him, then he must control Fu Luo.

Yu Fulu will inevitably have new ideas and will no longer be coerced like Guo Tai.

When ideologies differ, that presents an opportunity to sow discord.

In this situation, if Guo Tai shows signs of trying to control Hufro and creates even a little friction, the attempt to sow discord will easily succeed.

……

Hufro actually had aspirations.

In the fifth year of Zhongping (188), due to the Southern Xiongnu repeatedly sending troops to help the Han Dynasty fight, the various tribes of the Southern Xiongnu were dissatisfied and feared that they would continue to recruit soldiers. So they launched a rebellion, killed Qiangqu Chanyu, and installed Xubuguduhou as the new Chanyu.

When Yufuluo went to the capital to meet Emperor Ling Liu Hong, he requested that the Han Dynasty send troops to help him restore his country. However, Emperor Ling was critically ill and there were many troubles in Luoyang, so Yufuluo's request could not be fulfilled.

Therefore, Yufuluo could only proclaim himself Chanyu and seek allies everywhere.

At that time, Yuan Shao was also using He Jin's name to recruit helpers everywhere. Yu Fuluo went to Yuan Shao to seek cooperation and, with Yuan Shao's help, asked to marry a woman from the imperial clan.

After that, Yufuluo had his son take a woman from the imperial clan as his mother and use a Han name, taking his mother's surname, which is Liu Bao.

Liu Bao was certainly not a member of the imperial clan; she was already eight years old at that time.

Making Liu Bao's surname Liu was actually pure opportunism. Liu Bao's original name was Luan Di Yi Wu Shi, where Luan Di was the surname and Yi Wu Shi was Bao.

Soon after, Liu Hong died, Yuan Shao wreaked havoc in Luoyang but was defeated, and the coalition he formed was quickly broken by Liu Bei.

Yufuluo did not go south to help Yuan Shao at that time because Xubuguduhou had also died, and the position of Xiongnu Chanyu was vacant. Yufuluo tried to return to his country to succeed to the throne, but was rejected by all the Xiongnu tribes.

The Xiongnu had many tribes, which were actually families, and their structure was very similar to that of the aristocratic families of the Han Dynasty.

Yufuluo surname Luandi is the clan name of the Chanyu.

In addition, there were surnames such as Huyan, Lan, Xubu, and Qiulin, plus the Luandi tribe. These five tribes were the core nobles of the Xiongnu, and their leaders were often called "Old King".

Yufuluo could only get the support of the Luandi tribe. None of the tribal kings called themselves Chanyu, but they also wouldn't let Yufuluo return to his country to become Chanyu, since they had killed Yufuluo's own father.

Moreover, without a Chanyu (ruler) above them and without anyone to restrain them, the local chieftains were more comfortable managing the Xiongnu on their own.

Yufuluo had no choice but to stay in the Hedong area to find allies again. This time, he approached Guo Tai of the Baibo Army.

Guo Tai also needed allies to cooperate in order to survive in Hedong, which prevented Yufuluo from being killed by the various Xiongnu tribes.

After Wang Yun entered the court, he recommended his cousin Wang Rou to serve as the Protector-General of the Xiongnu, which was of course also to recruit soldiers from the Xiongnu.

However, Wang Rou was unable to gain support from the various warlords. Only Yufuluo was willing to acquire another ally, so he colluded with the Taiyuan Wang family again.

With the support of the Taiyuan Wang clan and the Baibo army, Yufuluo successively subdued the various Xiongnu tribes in the past few years, killed four old kings one by one, and regained control of the Xiongnu.

But of course, there's a price to pay for receiving funding from others.

Successive military campaigns and internal strife left the Xiongnu impoverished, while the Wang clan of Taiyuan essentially controlled all of the Xiongnu's resources and commercial channels, and even dominated the actions of various Xiongnu tribes.

Subsequently, Dong Zhuo copied Liu Bei's approach, establishing military rule and imposing comprehensive taxation, raising the tax rate to 20%.

Niu Fu's troops were quite active in collecting taxes in Bingzhou, and the Wang family in Taiyuan was also taxed. The Bai Bo army dared not show their faces, and the extreme climate made it difficult for the Xiongnu people to survive.

—When Niu Fu's men were collecting taxes, they would naturally rob them as well, causing the Wang family considerable losses.

So the families put their minds together and joined forces to raise an army, driving Niu Fu's troops out of Bingzhou.

Upon receiving news from Bingzhou, Wang Yun planned to seize the opportunity to launch a major attack, instigating Empress Dowager Dong to go to Qingzhou to welcome the emperor.

However, Wang Rou could only control a limited number of Xiongnu troops, and the White Wave Army did not recognize Wang Yun.

Adding to the problem is the unreasonable and domineering Niu Fu, so Wang Yun can only place his hopes on Yu Fuluo.

To give Yufuluo even greater motivation, Wang Yun wrote in his letter: "I hope your department will defeat Niu Fu and take control of the capital region... If you welcome the emperor, you will serve as a public official in the court."

Huvro, who was in Hanoi at the time, received three letters with similar contents almost simultaneously.

(End of this chapter)