Chapter 54: Takehito

From the moment Yuan Xi entered, Chen Gong, who had been incredibly calm, lost his composure for the first time.

He stared intently at Yuan Xi, as if trying to read something from his face.

Seeing that he was gradually gaining control of the situation, Yuan Xi pressed on, "I want to know, Chen Liu's Grand Administrator Zhang Mengzhuo (Zhang Miao) and Cao Cao have always been close friends. Cao Cao once said he could entrust his wife to him. Why does Grand Administrator Zhang also want to rebel?"

These words caused Chen Gong and Lü Bu to become even more uneasy.

They thought this matter was highly confidential, known only to a few people, yet someone had guessed it so accurately!

If he truly possessed the art of observing the stars, that would be one thing, but if there was a spy among them, that would be the most terrifying!

Compared to Chen Gong, Lü Bu was the first to regain his composure.

He clenched his fists, causing the chair beneath him to creak, and said in a deep voice, "You better be able to convince me."

"Otherwise, no one will leave here today."

Qu Yi snorted coldly, his back arched, like a beast ready to pounce and devour, poised to attack Lü Bu at any moment.

The aura of the two men was so oppressive that Wu Zhao unconsciously shrank back behind Yuan Xi.

Just as Wu Zhao thought the two were about to fight, Lü Bu and Qu Yi simultaneously burst into laughter, their hands clasped tightly together.

"Marquis Wen!"

"Dezhou!"

Chen Gong stared in disbelief at the two men. How could the tense atmosphere suddenly change like that?

Lü Bu pulled Qu Yi over and said to Chen Gong, "This is Qu Dezhou, who led eight hundred vanguard troops and slaughtered thousands of White Horse Volunteers at Jieqiao."

"I used to be under Yuan Shao with him. We were kindred spirits and shared a few drinks. I didn't expect him to still be alive."

The fact that Yuan Shao had set up an ambush to kill Qu Yi was already well known.

Upon hearing this, Chen Gong immediately stood up respectfully and bowed, "I have long admired the General's name. It is an honor to meet you today."

A look of disappointment appeared on Qu Yi's face, "Thank you for your praise, sir, but the events of that year are in the past. I am now half a cripple."

Chen Gong quickly comforted him, "Not at all, General's might is undiminished. With the General's assistance, why worry about the success of our great undertaking?"

Only then did a weight lift from his heart. If it really was Qu Yi, then at least nothing major would go wrong today!

Qu Yi had been betrayed by Yuan Shao, and Cao Cao was Yuan Shao's staunch ally, so the two sides would definitely be irreconcilable!

Lü Bu's face showed anger, "After Dezhou was framed by Yuan Shao, I was also suspected by him for my meritorious service in defeating Zhang Yan of the Black Mountain bandits, and he sent people to assassinate me."

"Fortunately, I was perceptive and left in advance, otherwise my fate would have been the same as Dezhou's."

"These aristocratic families are suspicious of us generals from Bing and Liang, and discard us after they have used us. They deserve to die!"

At this time, a saying was circulating privately in the court and among the people.

The generals of Bing and Liang bring chaos to the world.

Dong Zhuo, Wang Yun, Li Jue, Guo Si, Ding Yuan, Lü Bu, Zhang Yang, and Qu Yi, all those who have influenced the world's situation in recent years are generals from Bing and Liang.

The reason for this is that the generals of Bing and Liang control military power and possess a large number of private soldiers.

The origin of this matter can be traced back to Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, or even Wang Mang before him.

Wang Mang spent a long time biding his time, cultivating his reputation among the aristocratic families. People from the aristocratic families spread his name, and in the end, his prestige among the people even surpassed that of the emperor, so Wang Mang naturally usurped the throne.

However, Wang Mang began to act recklessly, comprehensively promoting reforms, restoring the Western Zhou royal land system, prohibiting the buying and selling of slaves, and changing the tax system and currency system, all of which were aimed at strengthening the emperor's central power.

These measures greatly harmed the interests of the aristocratic families who were large landowners.

You must know that Wang Mang rose to power by relying on the aristocratic families!

Seeing that Wang Mang was ungrateful to the aristocratic families, the Han imperial clan and other aristocratic families supported peasant uprisings everywhere, one of which was Liu Xiu's Chunling army.

In just a few years, Liu Xiu pacified the world and established the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Liu Xiu's experience was indeed legendary, but it was also inseparable from the support of powerful families behind him.

However, after Liu Xiu ascended the throne, he did the same thing as Wang Mang, sidelining the aristocratic families, kicking away the Hebei aristocratic families who had supported him, and abolishing Guo Shengtong was one such measure.

Therefore, Yuan Shao's desire to seize Ji Province first was also a reasonable choice, after all, the Eastern Han imperial family had long offended the Hebei aristocratic families.

The imperial power wanted to use the aristocratic families to govern the world, but also wanted to suppress the aristocratic families, while the aristocratic families also coveted the imperial power, wanting to seize the greatest benefits, while also having to rely on the imperial power.

The two were in such a complex symbiotic relationship, constantly calculating against each other, yet coexisting awkwardly.

After Liu Xiu ascended the throne, he learned from the lessons of the Western Han Dynasty's powerful Three Dukes. All administrative power was vested in the Inner Court, and the emperor directly commanded the Shangshu Terrace, successfully sidelining the Three Dukes. At the same time, he learned from the lesson that peasant uprisings had the background of aristocratic families and county soldiers, so he abolished the county soldiers and only retained the border county troops.

Therefore, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, the regular army consisted only of the Kyoto troops centered on the Northern and Southern Armies, and the border defense troops mainly composed of the annexed Hu people, that is, the Bing and Liang troops.

At the time, this measure seemed to effectively prevent peasant uprisings, but it also had drawbacks, namely, the border troops became too powerful, and the Hu people, led by the Xiongnu, gradually became the elite of the army, known as the Protectorate Qiang Hu.

"Biography of Dou Rong in the Book of the Later Han"—After that, the Xiongnu punished Yi and rarely invaded again, and the Protectorate Qiang Hu were all shocked and attached to them. Refugees from An Ding, Bei Di, and Shang Jun who avoided famine returned to them in an endless stream.

However, there are always advantages and disadvantages. The Southern and Northern Xiongnu, who were defeated by the Western Han Dynasty, took this opportunity to recuperate, and their population gradually increased, reaching millions. Together with the even more powerful Xianbei and Wuhuan, the number of foreigners was already several million.

You must know that after the cruel wars at the end of the Han Dynasty, the total population in the Three Kingdoms period was only ten million!

And the Three Kingdoms were constantly fighting, greatly weakening their vitality. With this ebb and flow, how could there not be chaos a hundred years later?

Yuan Xi naturally knew this history. Although he could understand Lü Bu's complaints, he had to admire the fact that Yuan Shao and other aristocratic families did have some foresight.

At this time, no matter what the purpose of the aristocratic families in the world, suppressing the power of the Bing and Liang generals might be a lucky accident, because the Five Hu invasion of China really happened a hundred years later.

After Yuan Xi traveled to this era, he directly contacted the top aristocratic families like Yuan Shao, and only then did he understand how complex the political situation of the world was, and could not be explained by a few words or the likes and dislikes of one or two people.

From the current point of view, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, which of these people who can break through in times of life and death are simple characters?

Yuan Xi's greatest respect for them was that in this chaotic and difficult world, they tried their best to survive and tried every means to bite off a piece of meat from them.

Yuan Xi sat up straight and said, "I have also heard about Marquis Wen's matter. Since everyone now has a common enemy, it will be much easier to talk."

"I believe that Mr. Gongren (Dong Zhao) has said everything that should be said in his heart. It is reasonable for the two of you not to believe me."

"To show my sincerity, I can tell you some of the things I saw while observing the stars."

"Cao Cao will attack Xu Province within a month."

"Tao Qian, the governor of Xu Province, will die within three months."

"After Tao Qian's death, Liu Bei will receive the support of the aristocratic families and obtain Xu Province."

As soon as these words came out, Lü Bu and Chen Gong were even more shocked.

If it was the first sentence, it would not be surprising that the two could roughly guess Cao Cao's movements because they had already colluded with Zhang Miao.

The latter two sentences were simply unbelievable!