December 187 AD.

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Cai Yong was imprisoned in Beisi Prison.

Just as Cai Yong was taken to Beisi Prison, Zhang Rang, Song Dian and other middle officials were urgently summoned by the emperor to the imperial study room to discuss countermeasures. When encountering major events that concern their own lives, the emperor still chose the middle officials as his most loyal helper without hesitation.

Zhao Zhong and Zhang Rang personally experienced two coups to kill the generals Liang Yi and Dou Wu. Among the officials, they were unattainable in terms of qualifications and reputation. Zhang Rang was also known for his outstanding talents, so if there were any major events, the officials followed the leaders of these two.

But the incident happened suddenly, and Zhang Rang was a little at a loss. He thought for a long time and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, if you want to enthrone Hou Dong as the crown prince, you must plan to kill the general, but this requires time to prepare. If we take action in a hurry, we may be controlled by the general."

The emperor sneered and said nothing.

Zhang Rang saw that the emperor had made up his mind, so he had no choice but to play again: "We have seen Cai Yong's memorial at present. As long as it is not leaked, He Jin will not be prepared, so..." He looked at the people in the room and suddenly said in a cold voice, "If you don't want to die, don't say it. If anyone says it, kill the nine clans."

Jian Shuo, who was standing behind the emperor, was startled when he saw Zhang Rang Leng Sen's gaze sweeping over him, and quickly lowered his head.

"Your Majesty, just in case, let's burn Cai Yong's memorial first."

The emperor nodded and glanced at Jian Shuo. Jian Shuo picked up the memorial on the desk and walked out of the imperial study room hurriedly.

"My dear, should you recruit the general Zhenbei to go south immediately?" the emperor said with a pair of short eyebrows.

Zhang Rang pondered for a while, shook his hand and said, "Your Majesty, the time has not come, don't alert the snake. Once He Jin dies, Luoyang will definitely be in chaos. At that time, the rescue we are going to deal with is the Northern Army and the gentry bureaucrats. Therefore, whenever His Majesty kills He Jin, let General Zhenbei go south. At this time, Your Majesty can secretly summon General Zhenbei to station troops in the Yellow River. As long as you order a decree, the army will arrive all at once."

"How to kill He Jin?" the emperor asked.

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General He Jin was preparing for a banquet for Mr. Cai, but suddenly received news of Cai Yong being arrested. He Jin was very surprised and asked what was going on. Wang Yun, who rushed back from Ma Riyi's mansion, said that Cai Yong submitted a memorial, probably scolding the Zhongguan and offending the emperor. "Now the ministers have rushed to the Beigong to plead for Cai Yong."

When the general heard this, he hurriedly ordered people to prepare horses, and he also wanted to go into the palace to plead with mercy. Halfway through the way, he wanted to ask He Yong (read yong) and see what He Yong said. Cai Yong was the emperor who traveled thousands of miles to invite him back, and he was the emperor's teacher. The emperor turned his face as soon as he met, which seemed a bit unreasonable.

When He Yong heard this, he was shocked and stuttered, "General, Your Majesty... Your Majesty is going to kill you. Come out of the city and leave the city."

He Jin was so shocked that he was scattered and stood next to He Yong's sickbed for a long time without moving.

"General, immediately send 800-mile fast cavalry to General Zhenbei, so that he can keep his promise and not destroy the entire Han Dynasty because of His Majesty's stupidity."

"Send people to Hanoi to urgently summon Yuan Shao back to Beijing and take charge of the General's Mansion."

"I urgently ordered Liu Biao, the Marquis of the Northern Army, to lead his troops to Pingyang to station."

"Secretly informed Wu Meng Duwei Ding Yuan and asked him to station troops in Pinggao to prevent sudden changes in the capital."

He Jin gasped quickly, sat on the couch slowly, and asked in a low voice: "Boqiu, Hanoi ant thief..."

"It's winter, why are you going to fight? The ant thief wants us to withdraw our troops." He Yong was excited and spoke loudly and anxiously, which touched the wound. He suddenly grinned his teeth, "I asked Liu Biao to come back, just to tell His Majesty that we already know what he wants to do, let him do it by himself."

"General, go to the Northern Army camp quickly." He Yong urged.

"Bo Qiu..." He Jin was frightened and looked at He Yong with fear.

He Yong cursed secretly and said angrily: "I will go with the general."

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Lu Zhi had been kneeling for more than an hour, and no matter how he begged, the emperor was indifferent. Of course, Lu Zhi did not dare to say that Jian Shuo had told him what Cai Yong had written in the memorial, which was undoubtedly adding fuel to the fire and forcing the emperor to kill more people. But now the emperor was confused by the official and decided to kill Cai Yong, kill He Jin, and abolish the legitimate and establish a illegitimate wife. How could he ignore the chaos in the country?

As long as the emperor can change his mind and not kill Cai Yong, fill in the window paper, and put the matter of abolishing the legitimate and establishing the illegitimate concubine in the water, Luoyang will not be in chaos. As long as Luoyang will not be in chaos, there will be hope for the northern border to be pacified. If the northern border is pacified, the country will gradually stabilize, and the Han Dynasty will have hope for revitalization.

Lu Zhi implicitly said this meaning dozens of times, but the emperor just refused to listen. He killed He Jin and determined the imperial throne. Even if he paid a price, he would admit it. He was considering the future of his royal family and the life of Xiao Donghou. Xiao Donghou is his hope in this life and his love in his life. He has lost one, and no one will be allowed to hurt his only one.

"Get up, go and tell the ministers, don't kneel outside anymore, go home." The emperor stood up and sighed, "Sir, is my teacher. How could I do this despicable thing unless I had to."

With Jian Shuo's support, Lu Zhi stood up staggeringly.

The emperor looked at his sad eyes and said painfully: "I like my teacher, but why can't the teacher understand me?" He suddenly punched the desk and shouted loudly, "Why no one understands my difficulties? Why?"

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In Ma Riyi's study, several of Cai Yong's close friends sat together, sighing and wandering.

"Yesterday, I shouldn't have told Bo Yi that I shouldn't have said that." Lu Zhi lowered his head and regretted it. "Why did I say so much to him? I've hurt him."

Zhang Wen patted his shoulder, comforted him for a few words, and whispered: "Zigan, there are no outsiders here. Tell us, what did Bo Yi write in the memorial?"

Lu Zhi said the whole story, and the people in the room were really dumbfounded and shocked.

"Did Bo Yi do it on purpose?" Ma Riyi said in despair, "He knew that the general's power was damaged, so he deliberately used this method to force the traitor to take action and fight the general to the death."

Everyone lowered their heads and said speechless. No matter what purpose Cai Yong wanted to offer the memorial, his life was gone and he really couldn't be saved.

Zhang Wen felt miserable, and stood up and walked back and forth in the house with his hands behind his back. Suddenly, he flashed his inspiration and looked at Huangfu Song and asked, "Yizhen, if General Zhenbei does not go south..."

"Bo Shen, General Zhenbei does not lead his troops to the south, how can His Majesty's safety be guaranteed?" Huangfu Song sighed.

"If General Zhenbei refused to go south, will His Majesty give up..."

"The arrow has been put on the string and has to be fired, it's too late." Lu Zhi shook his hand and said, "General He Jin has left the city this afternoon to the Northern Army camp, and the guard Liu Bo has supervised the Southern Army to strengthen the defense of the palace, and Guangluxun Liu Ting has also been ordered to enter the palace to serve the emperor."

Everyone was shocked.

"The news leaked?" Ma Riyi asked in panic.

"The officials are also responsible for their own lords, so it is normal for them to leak out." Huangfu Song said, "What should I do now?"

"The reason why the capital is in today's situation is that General Zhenbei is the initiator. If he had not forced the court to pass the salt and iron agreement, the general's power would not have suffered losses. The general's strength is intact, so how dare the traitor eunuch envoy to instigate the emperor to do such a disaster." Zhang Wen said, "But do you realize that what General Zhenbei is most unwilling to see at this time is the chaos in Luoyang. The chaos in Luoyang will cause concerns for the entire northern border. So, what did he think? Will he go south under the order? Who knows?"

Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi immediately understood what Zhang Wen meant.

"According to my understanding of Li Hong, he is the first and loyal Han Kingdom, and the second is His Majesty. Look at what he has done in Xiliang, Bingzhou, and Hedong in recent years? He may not surrender if he doesn't want to do." Zhang Wen suddenly thought of something, smiled and said slowly, "If Cai Yong is not dead, the memorial may not spread all over the world, and if General Zhenbei does not go south, His Majesty may not be determined to do it. What do you think?"

Lu Zhi jumped up and said loudly: "Immediately write to General Zhenbei. If Cai Yong dies, we will immediately support Your Majesty's deposed legitimate and established illegitimate sanctions, but the condition is that Your Majesty must abolish the proposal of reopening the salt and iron."

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"A group of dead eunuchs only care about their own lives and completely ignore the life and death of the country. There is no good thing." Situ Xuxiang cursed in the study, without any demeanor.

At this time, if the legitimate officials are abolished and the illegitimate officials are killed, He Jin will be killed. Even if it succeeds, the harm to the country will be obvious. As people like Xu Xiang and Fan Ling, the nature of scholars is still deeply rooted in their hearts. Although they have to establish good relations with the Chinese officials in order to get promoted and make money, they also hate the Chinese officials who are in trouble with the country. Seeing that the chaos in Luoyang is approaching, Xu Xiang, Cao Song and others are anxious and gather together to discuss countermeasures.

If the emperor and the central government win, not only will they be safe, but they will also be meritorious officials; but if the emperor and the central government lose, they will be finished, and He Jin will not let them go no matter what. If both sides suffer losses and die together, the clans and bureaucrats will immediately occupy the court, then their lives may be safe, but the career will come to an end.

Xu Xiang, Cao Song and Fan Ling were not optimistic about the emperor and the central government. At this time, the imperial throne was established, and there was no need to say that the matter was urged. It was just that His Majesty relied on to lead the general Li Hong to be the relied on. Who would not know what his Majesty is now in the position of Li Hong, the general whom he relied on.

Cao Cao said bluntly: "General Zhenbei is now dragged down by the rebellion of the Northern Xinjiang and the military farms in Bingzhou. His troops are scattered and he will definitely not send troops to the south. The general has just helped Li Hong get the imperial edict to reopen salt and iron. With Li Hong's loyalty and arrogance, he will definitely keep his promise and station his troops to defend himself. Without Li Hong's army as his backer, as long as his majesty takes action, he will be controlled by the general. At that time, we will die without a place to bury him. Your Majesty cannot see the situation clearly, because he is deeply trapped in it, but those stupid middle officials..."

Cao Cao shook his head repeatedly and said angrily: "The middle-level official will ruin the country, but the middle-level official will ruin the country."

Fan Ling sighed: "Has your Majesty already made up his mind to wait until the northern border is pacified before taking action? Why did Cai Yong change immediately as soon as he came back?"

"Mr. Cai is too rude. He pierced the window paper." Cao Song said helplessly, "Not only did he send his life away, he also implicated us and dragged down the Han Dynasty. This man is so confused. If he had known this, why would I buy this 100 million yuan for this Taiwei? I might as well take this money to go back to my hometown to retire."

"Brother Jugao, don't be discouraged." Xu Xiang advised, "We don't know what Li Hong's attitude towards Luoyang is yet, but Meng Dexian's speculation makes sense. He finally got the benefits of salt and iron, stabilized the situation in Luoyang, and of course he would not let his efforts turn into a bubble in a flash. Let's wait a little longer, the situation may change. You must know that this matter is very sudden, we are not prepared, nor the general is prepared, and everyone is caught off guard. Whoever loses and wins, it is unclear at this moment."

"Public assistant, go and ask Mr. Zi Jiang and ask him to see the celestial phenomena." Fan Ling suddenly said.

"Forget it, if I ask us to resign and go home on our own, would you like?" Xu Xiang said angrily, "You have to work hard on anything you do. The celestial phenomena are not constant. Sometimes, they will change with the development of the situation."

"Work hard? How to work hard? Is there any way for Brother Gongfu?" Fan Ling asked anxiously.

"As long as Cai Yong is not dead, there will be room for recovery." Xu Xiang frowned and said, "As soon as Cai Yong dies, the matter of abolishing the legitimate and appointing the illegitimate concubines will be spread immediately, and Your Majesty will immediately calm the hearts of the people by canonizing the prince. When it comes to killing Cai Yong, if the general has not yet responded, he will be very passive. But from the fact that the general quickly left the city and hid in the northern army camp today, he was not only caught off guard, but also a little anxious and wanted to fight to the death."

Cao Cao understood the truth and immediately said, "Mr. Situ means that he wants to save Cai Yong?"

"Yes. Without Cai Yong, His Majesty, he would have no excuse to abolish the legitimate and establish a illegitimate wife, and the general would not have a hasty blow. Luoyang then calmed down. Everyone should do whatever they should do."

Xu Xiang looked at Cao Cao, patted him on the back intimately, and smiled: "Nephew, are you sure about this?"

Cao Cao pondered for a while and said, "Our strength is definitely not enough. Yuan Shao is now Sima of the General's Mansion. I guess he will come back soon. When he comes back, I will go to find him immediately. Now, whether for Mr. Cai, for ourselves, or for the Han Dynasty, we must rescue Mr. Cai to calm the current crisis."

Cao Cao suddenly remembered something and asked, "Do you want to tell General Zhenbei what we think, just in case..."

"Yes, yes." Xu Xianglian said, "Brother Jugao, let us write a letter together to tell Li Hong about the situation in Luoyang in front of him, so that he will be at ease and not be as rude as Cai Yong, which will ruin national affairs."

Cao Cao thought for a while and said, "Did you drag General Zhenbei into the Mansion? Sima Li Wei of General Zhenbei is now in Luoyang. He still has a hundred black panther righteous thoughts in his hands, which is a very strong help."

This immediately reminded Xu Xiang, and he said loudly: "It's still a clever nephew. The aristocratic clans in Luoyang must want to save Cai Yong. If we take the lead in rescuing Cai Yong, we will not only improve relations with the General's Mansion and the aristocratic clans, but also gain a good reputation. OK, good, great."

He rubbed his hands excitedly, stood up and said, "Brother Jugao, go and contact Zhang Wen, Cui Lie, Huangfu Song, Lu Zhi, Zhu Jun, Ma Riyi and other adults. I'll go to Yuanshi and Yangshi's house for a walk. Mengde, it's not appropriate to go to the inn to find Li Wei immediately."

Fan Ling hesitated for a moment and asked, "Public Aid, that's the matter of killing Li Wei..."

"Forget it, forget it, why are you killing Li Wei at this time?" Xu Xiang smiled bitterly, "I will go there in person with Lord Zhu Jun, and tell him by the way that the engagement between the two families will be cancelled, so I'll do it well to the end."

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General Li Hong, the Zhenbei, personally ran to Fengling Ferry to welcome the Hedong Prefect Wang Han.

Wang Han smiled and said, "The general is not far from a hundred miles away to greet him. Are you planning?"

Li Hong bowed and smiled and said, "How dare I have any plans for adults? As long as the adults work day and night, don't scold me."

"You must scold me if you scold me." Wang Han said bluntly, "Why don't I scold me if you put the 200,000 Yellow Turban Army behind me? Do you want me to live a stable life?"

Li Hong held Wang Han's hand and laughed endlessly.

"There is an adult who sits in Hedong. Next spring, I will have no worries when I go north to Youzhou."

"Oh." Wang Han pointed at him and said in surprise, "The general is so brave. He dares to kill bloody corruption in order to go north to Youzhou. Do you want to kill all the bureaucrats of the Han Kingdom before going north?"

When they were in Luoyang, they often met with the emperor. They were very familiar with each other. After laughing at each other, Wang Han pointed to the entourage who came down from the boat one after another and said, "General, there is another acquaintance here. Look who it is?"

Li Hong looked behind him and suddenly felt happy and waved his hand and said, "Mr. Sang, it turns out to be Mr. Sang..."
To be continued...