Chapter 255: Negotiation fails, then fight!

The tenth day of February, Luoyang.

At this time, the city of Luoyang was filled with smoke and chaos, like a purgatory on earth. The culprits who caused all this to happen were naturally the hundreds of thousands of soldiers under Dong Zhuo.

South Gate of Luoyang.

A well-equipped team of 100 men, carrying a "gold" flag, was negotiating with the captain of the city gate outside the city.

Liu Ping, courtesy name Zhongwu, is the third generation of the Wushang Liu family and the cousin of Jin Mao.

This time, Liu Ping went to Luoyang as an envoy to meet the emperor, or to meet Dong Zhuo.

The hundred guards were all personal soldiers. The murderous aura from them frightened the guards at the city gate so much that they dared not approach.

Liu Ping stood in front of the carriage with a calm expression, waiting for news.

But two hours passed and lunch was over, and still no one came to receive us.

Liu Ping knew that this was a show of force.

He stepped forward.

This ordinary behavior made the guards at the city gate silent. Rows of archers poked their heads out from the city wall, and the guards under the wall also drew their sharp spears.

The Shinbei's face was expressionless, as if he couldn't see.

Liu Ping's face darkened, and after bowing to the south, he angrily asked, "Dare the envoy of the governor of Yangzhou to stop us?"

"Are you not afraid of my lord's 300,000-man army?"

Dong Zhuo's army was not to be trifled with. At the command of the captain of the city gate, the archers drew their bows and arrows, and the guards stepped forward with their spears in hand.

Even with the tip of the gun pointed at his face, Liu Ping remained calm, looking up proudly and said, "Kill me if you dare!"

"By then, even if you escape outside the pass, my Lord will be able to kill you!"

At this time, a bright laugh came from the city, and a loud voice said: "What a boastful person!"

"If the governor of Yangzhou had this ability, why would he send a nobody like you as an envoy?"

"I'm afraid the army has already arrived and is heading straight for Luoyang!"

Liu Ping looked at the visitor, who was wearing an official uniform, a bronze seal and a black ribbon, and was of the same rank as him. This meant that the visitor was at least a middle-level official with a salary of more than 600 stones in Luoyang.

"Liu Ping, the envoy of Yangzhou, greets you."

Seeing this, the visitor did not dare to be rude, so he dismounted and bowed, saying, "Li Ru, the doctor, greets Envoy Liu."

The two of them instantly knew who their opponent was. Liu Ping was still a little nervous, but Li Ru was as steady as an old dog.

"Where is the Emperor?"

Liu Ping started to attack immediately: "My lord has important documents for your majesty to review."

Li Ru pretended to be surprised and asked, "Didn't the governor of Yangzhou come to ask for peace with my prime minister?"

"Ask for peace?" Liu Ping said contemptuously, "My lord is victorious in every battle, why should he ask for peace?"

Li Ru said indifferently: "If that's the case, please go back, and we'll see the truth on the battlefield."

Liu Ping realized that he had lost the first round of confrontation.

Take a deep breath and adjust your mindset.

It's normal for a country boy to be defeated by an old coin.

When coming, Jin Mao told Liu Ping that he should regard this experience as a training and not take it too seriously. It would be a great achievement if he could make his purpose clear and return safely.

But Liu Ping refused to believe in it and wanted to fight with Li Ru. Now he has finally behaved himself.

Liu Ping took out a stack of papers from the carriage, handed them to Li Ru and said, "This is my master's request. As long as Prime Minister Dong... agrees, we will both stop fighting."

Li Ru did not accept it, nor did he dare to accept it. Surprised, he extended his hand and invited him, "Please come into the city, the Prime Minister has prepared a banquet, you can talk to him in person."

Since the other party had surrendered, Li Ru didn't want to make things difficult for them and immediately changed his attitude.

It was the first time that Liu Ping met someone who was more shameless than him and yet could control himself.

He kept all this in mind and was determined to surpass Li Ru in the future and become a qualified envoy.

Li Ru only makes guest appearances occasionally and is not professional. This cannot be blamed on Liu Ping, but rather on the fact that Jin Mao has too little information, or does not attach importance to this aspect.

Enter Luoyang City.

What caught Liu Ping's eyes was not the bustling scene of people coming and going, but the closed doors of every household, as if it was the end of the world.

From time to time, you could see teams of soldiers breaking into houses, and in an instant, screams and crying were heard.

Liu Ping frowned subconsciously. It's not like he hadn't seen such tragic scenes in the world before, but he didn't expect the military discipline under Dong Zhuo was so lax. If it were Jin Mao's army, even eight hundred heads would not be enough to chop off.

Li Ru saw all of this, and he couldn't help but become even more wary of Jin Mao.

Even though he seems full of confidence when confronting Liu Ping, if Liu Ping really fights back, Li Ru will definitely be the loser.

Although Dong Zhuo's army suffered little damage and Sun Jian was killed, Dong Zhuo still learned that Jin Mao was continuously mobilizing troops.

It's so difficult to deal with tens of thousands of people. How can we fight if the number exceeds 100,000?

Even Xu Rong, who had withdrawn, said that the only way to defeat them was to use wits.

Even the most capable general under Dong Zhuo said so, so you can imagine how strong Jin Mao is.

Therefore, Dong Zhuo attached great importance to this exchange between the two sides.

Imperial Palace, Nangong.

Dong Zhuo entertained Liu Ping, the envoy from Jinmao, at a banquet here. Those present were all high-ranking officials with silver seals and blue ribbons, and whose ranks were above two thousand stones.

Liu Ping was very careful with this bronze seal with a black ribbon in the middle, fearing that he would bring shame to Jinmao.

It was precisely this kind of performance that made Dong Zhuo look down on him.

However, in response to Liu Ping's request, Dong Zhuo readily agreed, but only asked for a few more days.

How could such a big shot be so easy to talk to?
So Liu Ping made another small request.

"Yuzhou Governor Sun Jian died for his country. My lord wants to bury him with the rites of a noble prince. I ask the Prime Minister to approve this."

Logically speaking, Dong Zhuo had agreed to all the previous harsh conditions, so this small request was not excessive at all.

Unexpectedly, Dong Zhuo became furious and seemed ready to kill someone.

"Sun Jian?"

"Who is he?"

"He wanted to bury him with all the rites of a noble prince. I wish I could dig up his grave and whip his corpse!"

The banquet ended here, and both sides understood each other's bottom line.

Dong Zhuo has no bottom line and will delay as long as possible.

February twelve.

Liu Ping received an anonymous letter from a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty, which explained in detail Dong Zhuo's plan to move the capital and agreed to open the East Gate to let him pass at 3:00 p.m. tonight.

Liu Ping chose to believe what was said in the letter, but he didn't believe that there were such kind-hearted people, so he made two preparations.

Yin time the next day.

A riot broke out at the East Gate of Luoyang.

Liu Ping, the envoy of Yangzhou governor, fought his way out of Luoyang city with the help of a hundred of his personal guards, and many of the guards at the city gates were killed or wounded.

By the time Li Ru received the news and rushed over, Liu Ping had already disappeared.

But there was someone who arrived earlier than Li Ru.

Niu Fu!

This is Dong Zhuo's other son-in-law. Unlike Li Ru, Niu Fu commands a large number of troops and is deeply trusted by Dong Zhuo. He is the general defending Luoyang.

But the person Li Ru cares more about is Jia Xu who is beside Niu Fu!
I hope this matter has nothing to do with Jia Xu, otherwise, Li Ru will not be able to sleep well at night.

...

February 13th, Dagu Pass.

In order to avoid Dong Zhuo's cavalry, Liu Ping circled around Mount Song before finally escaping back to the base camp the next day.

Only thirty of the one hundred imperial guards were left.

Jinmao was heartbroken, but he couldn't blame Liu Ping.

Although he failed to complete his mission, the news he brought back was explosive enough, so he could be considered to have done a good job.

After all, Dong Zhuo didn't want to agree to any requests.

"It seems that it didn't hurt."

Looking back on this battle, Dong Zhuo lost less than 20,000 cavalry, plus more than 30,000 old, weak and disabled soldiers, which was less than a quarter of the base number of 200,000.

Can we fight again?

In this case, Jinmao will have to start the second round of major battle.

Siege of Luoyang!

At present, Dagu Pass has 30,000 troops stationed, Guangcheng Pass also has 30,000 new soldiers, and Luyang has 10,000 naval forces. It can be said that almost all the people that can be mobilized from the two states have arrived. The only problem is that there are not enough generals.

Jin Mao appreciated the talent of Zhu Zhi, an old general of Sun Jian who had just defected to him, and decided to train him to be a general.

But Jin Mao had no intention of employing loyal men like Han Dang and Zu Mao. It would be nothing more than wasting food to feed them for a few years.

However, the arrival of two unexpected people changed Jinmao's mind.

Sun Ce! Sun Quan!
The two brothers arrived that evening and Jin Mao met them personally.

Sun Quan is only ten years old this year, but he is much calmer than his brother Sun Ce, and his words and actions are very appropriate.

This made Jinmao even more wary.

Sun Ce was different. When he saw Sun Jian's body, his emotional breakdown and panic-stricken behavior made Jin Mao feel relieved.

"Dong Zhuo!"

"I am at odds with you!"

Sun Ce roared to the sky and vowed to avenge his father.

"Lord!"

Sun Ce, who had been unwilling to change his words before, is now very smooth.

"Please give me a cavalryman, and I will go get Dong Zhuo's head!"

To be honest, Jin Mao really wanted to see how powerful the explosive Sun Ce was, but it would not be a good idea to try it with his own troops.

Moreover, Sun Ce's call of "Lord" always feels too utilitarian.

So, Jin Mao comforted him, "My dear nephew, please accept my condolences. Don't worry, I will definitely avenge this!"

Sun Ce then bowed and thanked him: "Thank you, my lord."

Jin Mao waved his hand and said, "Someone come!"

"Send the two young masters down to rest."

Sun Ce came from Yizhou after Jin Mao sent someone to notify him, but Jin Mao had no idea how Sun Quan came.

After watching the two leave, Jin Mao also left the mourning hall and returned to the central military tent.

He has a more important meeting tonight.

the other side.

The two brothers Sun Ce and Sun Quan came to the tent to rest.

Regardless of the fact that there was no one outside, Sun Ce completely exploded and roared like a wounded beast.

"Lu Bu!"

"I will cut you into pieces with a thousand knives!"

"what!!"

Sun Quan, on the contrary, acted like an elder brother and watched Sun Ce go crazy very calmly.

It was not until Sun Ce drew his sword and wanted to kill Sun Quan that the latter reacted.

"Brother!"

A clear shout finally brought Sun Ce back to reality.

Sun Ce looked at the sword in his hand and his neck which was only one centimeter away from the peak, and two lines of hot tears rolled down his face.

With a clang, the sword fell to the ground.

Sun Ce hugged Sun Quan and burst into tears.

It seemed that the seventeen-year-old person was not him, but Sun Quan.

What is even more surprising is that Sun Quan actually knew how to appease Sun Ce.

There is nothing more wonderful than being young and mature.

After Sun Ce had vented his anger and calmed down, Sun Quan asked, "Brother, what should we do next?"

No matter how precocious Sun Quan was, he was still just a ten-year-old child after all. If he was still very smart, it would be impossible that he had achieved so little in history.

Sun Ce, who had calmed down, was quite smart. He patted Sun Quan's young shoulder and said, "Keep vigil for father first."

"After the burial, you can go back to Jiangling to study."

Sun Quan stared with his green eyes and asked, "What about you?"

Sun Ce's expression suddenly changed, and he said ferociously like a tiger ready to pounce at any time: "I want revenge!"

"Dong Zhuo! Lu Bu!"

"I want them dead!"

"die!!"

After taking two or three deep breaths, Sun Ce calmed down and said, "Don't worry, if you want to learn from a famous teacher, I will recommend you to the lord."

"Lord?" Sun Quan asked doubtfully, "Brother, do you really want to recognize the governor of Yangzhou as your lord?"

Sun Ce did not refute, but asked: "Then what good ideas do you have?"

Sun Quan shook his head and said, "I don't know."

"But my father was a great hero all his life, so does he want to see his descendants live under someone else's guise for the rest of their lives?"

Sun Ce knew this truth very well.

"You are still young and don't know a lot of things. I don't blame you."

Sun Ce warned: "Never underestimate the people of the world, especially the lord!"

Sun Quan looked at Sun Ce as if he were a stranger and said, "Brother, you have changed."

Sun Ce nodded and said, "Yes, of course I have changed."

Sun Quan whispered, "He has lost his heroic spirit."

Sun Ce was stunned for a second, then laughed and said, "Not now, but there will definitely be in the future."

Now Sun Ce himself is not even aware of the changes in himself.

The next day.

The two brothers who were keeping vigil for their father unexpectedly learned that their cousin Sun Ben and uncle Wu Jing were not dead, and they became bandits near Xuanyuan Pass with more than a thousand remnants.

The brothers Sun Ce and Sun Quan were very surprised.

What was even more surprising was that Jin Mao ordered Sun Ce to go to Songshan, find this force, and bring back detailed information about Xuanyuan Pass.

After discussions last night, Jinmao decided to first take over the southern four passes among the eight passes in Luoyang.

Dagu Pass and Guangcheng Pass are already in our hands, leaving Xuanyuan Pass and Yique Pass as the only ones that have yet to be taken.

Xuanyuan Pass is located in Songshan Mountain. It has a dangerous terrain and is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

At the same time, if its connection with the outside world is cut off, it will become isolated.

Jin Mao originally intended not to bother attacking here, but when he learned that there were still remnants of Sun Jian's army nearby, he sent Sun Ce to test the waters.

If it succeeds, it can be confirmed that Sun Ce has indeed reached a high level and can be reused.

It doesn’t matter if we lose, since the people who die are not our own.

As for Yique Pass, it is much easier.

Yique Pass guards the Yin River, to put it simply, it is a water pass.

Jinmao only needs to mobilize the navy and cooperate with the outside forces to easily take it down.

Among the eight passes in Luoyang, only Hangu Pass is difficult to conquer. Jin Mao was too lazy to go to the other three passes, such as Hulao Pass, Mengjin Pass and Xiaomengjin Pass.

These three passes are close to the Yellow River, at the northernmost part of Luoyang, and too far away.

After conquering Yique Pass and with the navy, Jin Mao will be able to sail upstream.

On land, two legs can't outrun four legs, but with naval ships, the Jinmao Army can be greatly enhanced in all aspects.

Don't say anything else.

Archers, crossbowmen, and slingshot battalions no longer have to run around and spend time building them. They can just open fire directly on the warships!
In addition, it also transports food, supplies, troops, support, etc.

These many benefits are enough to raise the combat effectiveness of the entire army to a higher level!

What can Dong Zhuo use to stop it?

February 15th.

Yique Pass was broken!
February 18th.

Xuanyuan Pass was broken!
February 20th.

Jinmao deployed troops outside Luoyang City, and a war was about to break out!
　I need to think about the subsequent plot, so I'll take a day off.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)