Chapter 128: It’s fun to get something for free, it’s always fun to get something for free
"How many enemies are there, and how many miles away are they from us?"

"Reporting to the general, the enemy general Sun Jian is leading his troops himself. They are about five miles away from our camp. There are about five thousand of them, including three hundred cavalrymen. They are all wearing armor and carrying good bows and arrows. Their riding skills are quite impressive. They should be an elite force."

After Xu Rong learned the intelligence, he also felt that Sun Jian was extraordinary: "Sun Wentai is said to be a descendant of Sun Wu and is proficient in military tactics. Now Sun Jian and Yuan Shu have formed an alliance and are coming with great momentum. This battle will be difficult."

Soon, Xu Rong assessed the situation and made a quick judgment. He ordered a general dressed in Hu costume beside him, "We have few soldiers, so we should not fight them head-on. The first priority now is to preserve Liang County. We should continue the previous harassment tactics and not let the enemy have a chance to breathe."

As the leader of Huangzhong Yicong, Zhi Hu Chier also obeyed Xu Rong's order at this moment, "Yes, General!"

For foreign mercenaries of the imperial dynasty like them, it was naturally a great opportunity to get food and wages without having to fight the enemy.

If Zhi Hu Chi'er had not valued his life, he would not have immediately defected after Niu Fu was killed by Duan Wei.

After hearing Xu Rong's order, the Huangzhong Yizong were very excited and began to implement Xu Rong's guerrilla tactics seriously. They made full use of the mobility of the cavalry and began to play the onion peeling tactics of "the enemy advances, we retreat, the enemy retreats, we advance" around the Sun-Yuan coalition.

When Sun Jian led his troops to attack, Xu Rong did not fight back and simply abandoned the camp and fled.

"This old man actually ran away!"

"What should we do now? Should we continue chasing?"

Sun Jian thought about it, his eyes spitting fire. He was so angry that he could not give up, so he gritted his teeth and said fiercely: "I will lead 300 cavalrymen to chase after him first, as bait, to entangle the old thief Xu Rong. When the time comes, you will follow closely behind, and we will attack the old thief from both inside and outside, and we will surely destroy him."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Pu immediately dissuaded him: "My lord, this cannot be done. The Huangzhong Yicong are brave and good at fighting. It is too dangerous to advance with such a light force!"

However, Sun Jian had made up his mind and would not listen to Cheng Pu's advice. Instead, he laughed loudly: "Haha, how can that old villain Xu Rong kill me? Don't worry, I will make Sun's name famous in this battle!"

Afterwards, Sun Jian confidently led 300 cavalrymen away from the main force and began to chase and kill Xu Rong at full speed.

"General, Sun Wentai is really so angry that he dares to lead hundreds of cavalrymen and break away from the main force. Why don't we turn back and find an opportunity to eat up his three hundred cavalrymen in one go?"

Zhi Huchier could not help but suggest that as mercenaries, Huangzhong Yicong would receive extra rewards for killing enemies in addition to a fixed monthly salary.

If you can kill or even capture the enemy general, it will be a great achievement!
Such good meat is delivered to your doorstep, you should seize it.

Therefore, Hu Chier was very tempted and wanted to make a profit from him.

But Xu Rong was a veteran general on the battlefield. He was well versed in military tactics and knew that victory in a battle depended on key points, rather than risking his life for a small gain and thus ruining the overall situation.

What he had to do now was to protect Liang County and maintain the front line, rather than taking the risk of getting entangled with Sun Jian.

Therefore, after listening to Zhi Hu Chi'er's suggestion, Xu Rong rejected it without hesitation, saying: "Sun Jian's subordinates are brave in battle, and the Southern Army is short of horses. These 300 cavalry must be the most powerful and elite force in the Sun-Yuan coalition army. It is a pipe dream to swallow them all in a short time."

In Xu Rong's opinion, Sun Jian's 300 cavalrymen were just a bait, and a poisonous one at that. If he couldn't bite it and was caught by Sun Jian's main force, there would be a danger of the entire army being wiped out.

Obviously, compared with an unwise person like Zhi Hu Chi'er, Xu Rong was more insightful and experienced. He saw through Sun Jian's strategy at a glance and was not fooled.

Sun Jian and his men chased after the enemy for a long time, but still didn't catch any hair, and he became more and more anxious.

"My lord, old Xu Rong is as cunning as a devil and refuses to take the bait. What should we do?"

For two whole days, more than 5,000 of them were taken for a stroll in the mountains by Xu Rong's 2,000 cavalrymen. They were almost going crazy and they were staggering every time they walked. If this continued, they would be exhausted and would not be able to fight!

What gave Sun Jian a headache was that the two thousand Huangzhong Yicong light cavalry under Xu Rong were as slippery as loaches, and they were provoking you all day long. You couldn't catch them, and you couldn't ignore them either. It really put the Sun-Yuan coalition forces in a dilemma and made things even more difficult.

For several days, the Sun-Yuan coalition's tactic of quickly capturing Liang County and heading straight for Luoyang failed, and the situation on the battlefield was forced into a stalemate between the two sides.

As for the elusive Xu Rong, except for the surprise attack at the beginning, he had been keeping a distance from the coalition forces. He wandered around with two thousand cavalrymen and refused to let Sun Jian touch him.

The highlight is that you can get something for free, and it will be fun all the time. From time to time, you can find the right opportunity to use the Thousand Year Killing move on Sun Jian's anus. The damage is not great, but it is really unbearable.

Every time he came when the coalition forces were making fire and cooking, sometimes he would come in waves in the middle of the night, making it difficult for the coalition forces to sleep well. As a result, many of them went into battle with dark circles under their eyes the next day. They were almost driven to neurasthenia by Xu Rong.

However, as Sun Jian waited, he found something wrong. The reinforcements he thought would not be sent actually came to kill him!
On the morning of the fourth day after the battle between the two sides, Xun You finally led the troops himself, with more than 20,000 Xiliang troops who had just been reorganized, and marched to the north bank of the Yi River in a mighty manner, confronting the Sun-Yuan coalition forces across the river.

Now, Sun Jian had no way to attack the city.

In the allied camp, Sun Jian found Yuan Shu and asked him directly, "You vowed before that Liang County was isolated and without help, why did Xun You come with reinforcements?"

Sun Jian felt that he had been fooled. The Yuan family of Runan boasted loudly and said that they could help delay the arrival of reinforcements, but a few Xun Yous had quietly marched in secret and arrived in front of him without anyone noticing.

However, Sun Jian was furious, and Yuan Shu was also very unhappy. He felt that he was being looked down upon by Sun Jian's fierce words, so he immediately lost his temper: "Sun Wentai, are you questioning me? If you had not failed to capture Liang County earlier, how could our army be attacked from all sides now?"

The two of them were at loggerheads, the atmosphere was tense, and it looked like they were about to start a fight.

Fortunately, Yuan Shu's chief officer Yang Hong saw the situation was not good and immediately came out to smooth things over, saying, "My lord, although Xun Gongda, Marquis of Wucheng, personally led the reinforcements, the number of people is not large, and our army still has the advantage in terms of manpower. Moreover, without Xun You guarding the capital, it has become an empty camp. I predict that changes will soon occur in Luoyang. By then, the Northern Army will be trapped both internally and externally, and this seemingly powerful army of 20,000 will collapse without a fight."

After hearing this, Sun Jian's anger dissipated a lot. He restrained his words and said in a low voice: "In this case, I will wait patiently."

After Sun Jian left the camp, Yuan Shu finally couldn't hold back and started to curse: "How dare a mere warrior put on airs in front of me? This man really deserves to be killed!"

Yang Hong was afraid that Yuan Shu would make trouble, so he had to continue to persuade him: "My lord, Sun Jian is a brave and brave man. He is still useful to us now. Why bother to argue with him? If my lord is ambitious, he should be open-minded. It is normal for a warrior to be a little crude."

"Hmph, let him go for now."

Yuan Shu readily accepted Yang Hong's advice.

As for deep down in his heart, he did bear a grudge against Sun Jian, but he felt that there was still a lot of time left, and it would not be too late to deal with Sun Jian after the matter was accomplished, so he did not take it personally.

Although Yuan Shu during this period was also arrogant and conceited, his basic IQ and vision were still online. Otherwise, he would not have been able to become a leading figure on par with Yuan Shao in the early days of the separatist rule of the princes, and he would not have been able to rule Huainan for seven years.

After this incident, although the conflict between Sun Jian and Yuan Shu was temporarily eased, the fierce dispute still caused an irreparable rift within the Sun-Yuan coalition, which already had its own thoughts.

After crossing the river, Xu Rong met with Xun You and said, "Minister Xun's hidden army is truly elusive, and his tactics are ruthless, and he has penetrated people's hearts to such an extent. With just a little trick, he has successfully sowed discord between Sun Jian and Yuan Shu, causing them to become alienated."

Xun You's move of luring the enemy with baiting was more brutal than a direct attack.

After all, Sun Jian and Yuan Shu, who have a common goal, are likely to choose to cooperate sincerely and work together when facing direct threats.

But he led his troops to stop on the other side of the river, neither attacking nor maintaining tremendous pressure on the Sun-Yuan coalition forces, which was enough to make both Sun Jian and Yuan Shu deeply anxious.

The more anxious a person is, the more likely he is to misjudge the situation.

It just so happened that Sun Jian and Yuan Shu were not people who could control their emotions well, and their hot temper made them fall directly into Xun You's calculations.

The two armies could no longer cooperate seamlessly, so it was naturally difficult to capture Liang County. They could only wait for the situation in Luoyang to change.

Sixty miles away is Luoyang City.

Dong Cheng went to the palace overnight to find Emperor Liu Xie. As soon as he entered the Quefei Palace, he knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, Xun Gongda and the 20,000 surrendered soldiers from Great Xiliang have already left the capital. This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Your Majesty should make a decision early."

Liu Xie, who was reading by candlelight at night, excitedly dropped the bamboo slips in his hand and stood up: "God is really helping me!"

Liu Xie was smart and sensible since childhood, so how could he be willing to wait until he reached adulthood to take power?
The tragic death of his brother Liu Bian made him desperate to control his own destiny, rather than continue to be a pawn in the hands of others. After all, pawns will often become abandoned pieces when necessary.

Liu Xie didn't want to be like his brother Liu Bian, who lived a miserable life and died in confusion.

After planning and analyzing for him by Dong Cheng and others, Liu Xie also believed that the only way to control his destiny and imperial power was to have powerful military force!

Therefore, Liu Xie needed a strong army to protect him. In this way, with the sword saint Wang Yue as his general, he could live safely to adulthood and then rule the country smoothly.

For this reason, they would not hesitate to attack Wang Jing and the Northern Army.

That’s right, Wang Jing was indeed his benefactor, who rescued him from Dong Zhuo.

But the emperor, as a purely political creature, cannot be swayed by personal feelings. Therefore, even though Liu Xie was very grateful to Wang Jing, he would never be polite when it came to taking action.

Didn’t Han Xin also build a huge kingdom for the empire back then?

But what was the final fate of Marquis Huaiyin?

Liu Xie and Dong Cheng did not know that their every move was actually under the control of Yuan Wei, and even the current situation was deliberately directed by Yuan Wei.

Although Liu Xie was intelligent, he was just a child after all. He naively believed that as long as he controlled the military power and possessed powerful military force, he could divide and win over the civil and military officials in the court.

He also regarded Wang Jing, the Marquis of Qi, who had a powerful army and was feared by the world, as a threat. He believed that if he did not kill Wang Jing, Liu Xie would not be able to sit firmly on the position of emperor.

"Uncle, the only two people I can trust right now are you and the Imperial Master. Even the Imperial Master doesn't know how to deal with Marquis Qi, so I can only rely on you."

Dong Cheng was very excited when he heard this, and he quickly expressed his loyalty to Liu Xie: "Your Majesty, the world is in turmoil now, and the world is not at peace. If you want to work hard to govern, you must have a strong army to succeed."

The former great general He Jin held all the military power in the world, and even Emperor Liu Hong was helpless against him.

Dong Cheng had longed for such scenery and grandeur.

So the first thing he had to do now was to instigate Liu Xie to take back Xiyuan, and then find a way to seize the military power from Wang Jing, hoping to control all eight battalions of the Northern Army in his own hands.

However, his previous attempt to attack Xiyuan was blocked by Xun You and failed.

As a result, Dong Cheng had to settle for the second best and planned to follow Wang Jing's example and recruit and train his own soldiers.

Although Liu Xie was extremely intelligent, he was only nine years old and had no political experience. He actually nodded and agreed to this suggestion: "Uncle, I will fully support the training of troops. You can go ahead and do it without worry."

"Your Majesty is wise!"

However, raising an army requires food, weapons, and armor, all of which cost money. Although the Dong family in Hejian was wealthy, they still could not afford the expenses of raising and training soldiers, so Dong Cheng immediately made another suggestion to Liu Xie: "Your Majesty, in order to raise military funds, please increase taxes."

"I'm afraid this is not appropriate?"

When Dong Cheng mentioned the issue of increasing taxes, Liu Xie was somewhat resistant.

Although he was young, Liu Xie still had some common sense when he became the emperor. He knew that emperors who imposed taxes would often be either scolded as incompetent rulers or tyrants.

But Dong Cheng argued: "Your Majesty, the current situation is very difficult. The treasury of the court has long been squandered by Dong Zhuo and Wang Jing. If we don't increase taxes, how can we recruit troops and suppress the rebellion?"

"A short pain is worse than a long one. I know Your Majesty loves the people like your own children, but you must know that if you hesitate, you will suffer chaos. Your Majesty should make a decision as soon as possible. Moreover, this move is also for the benefit of the people. Without a strong army to guard it, Luoyang will be in danger from day to day, and how can the people in the capital live a good life? Your Majesty, do you hope that the Dong Zhuo incident will happen again?"

As soon as Dong Zhuo was mentioned, Liu Xie immediately lost his composure.

During the period when the Western Liang Army ruled Luoyang, who was not deeply affected, from the nobles to the ordinary people?

Therefore, Dong Cheng's words forced Liu Xie to face up to the problem of the weak defense of Luoyang, and finally he had no choice but to agree to the proposal of increasing taxes.

Originally, when it comes to raising taxes, everyone will be taxed together.

But the aristocratic families are not easy to deal with, so Dong Cheng’s main tax targets can only be the common people.

Now, the lives of the people in Luoyang area, who were already having a hard time, became even more difficult and miserable. They were severely exploited by the imperial court for no reason.

Dong Cheng first set up checkpoints on major traffic arteries and levied heavy taxes on passing merchants and travelers, overturning the rules previously formulated by Wang Jing to promote the development of commercial trade in Luoyang.

Even after Dong Cheng, he sent people to the surrounding counties and towns to recruit soldiers and collect taxes. As the saying goes, every policy has a countermeasure. The emperor will not send hungry soldiers. A group of soldiers holding swords and going to the mountains and villages worked hard to recruit soldiers and collect taxes. Wouldn't they get some benefits for themselves?
Soon, the remaining food rations in many farmers' homes were snatched away, and they were even subjected to various forms of extortion because of forced conscription. Many people lost their families as a result.

Dong Cheng and his men treated the people like wolves and tigers and were extremely cruel.

However, when facing the wealthy and powerful families, they were polite and did not offend them in the slightest.

Therefore, even though the people were filled with resentment and complaints, Dong Cheng still gained a reputation as a "capable official", and many people praised his actions.

Soon, Dong Cheng quickly recruited soldiers and enlisted 20,000 local militiamen.

At this point, Dong Cheng completely grasped power and rose to the top, truly becoming one of the most powerful people in the empire. He was also appointed as General of Chariots and Cavalry by Liu Xie, and was able to establish a government and begin to build his power with justification.

Many young men from aristocratic families came to Dong Cheng because of his reputation and became his disciples and aides.

Among them were Wei Zhongdao, who was from the Wei family in Hedong, and his brothers Wei Ji and Wei Boju.

Although the Hedong Wei family had previously surrendered to Wang Jing, that's how aristocratic families are - they are fence-sitters and will lean to either side depending on the wind.

When Wei Ji heard the news that Wang Jing was "injured and critically ill", he immediately jumped to Dong Cheng's royalist camp and left the New Party faction.

In order to gain Dong Cheng's trust and please Emperor Liu Xie, Wei Ji even secretly "donated" a large amount of money and grain to Dong Cheng, so that he and his brother Wei Zhongdao could both obtain an official position.

Wei Boju was given the position of Zhonglang (Civil Sergeant), with a salary of 600 dan, while Wei Zhongdao was appointed Lingshi (Lingshi), with a salary of 200 dan.

However, although he had obtained an official position, Wei Zhongdao seemed to be in a bad mood these days. He was depressed and unhappy. He was already weak and became ill due to the depression.

Wei Boju saw this and couldn't help asking, "Are you in a bad mood?"

"Ah."

Wei Zhongdao responded casually and then remained silent again.

Although the two are brothers, there is a huge age difference between them. Wei Boju is already 35 years old and has long been married, had children and started a family.

However, Wei Zhongdao had just completed his coming-of-age ceremony, was over twenty years old, and had never married.

Wei Boju saw Wei Zhongdao's distracted expression and knew that his brother still couldn't forget the girl named Cai Zhaoji, so he sighed and said to him: "Hey, if you really like Miss Zhaoji, I will risk my reputation and personally ask for this marriage for you."

"really!"

Wei Zhongdao's originally lifeless expression changed instantly, as if he had suddenly come back to life.

(End of this chapter)