Chapter 14 Chapter 3 A Good Plan Difficult to Reveal a Hero's Helplessness (1)

Luoyang——the Yang of Luoshui, which means it is located by the Dongfang River of Luoshui. Luoyang City is one of the most famous capitals in history, also known as the Eastern Capital, corresponding to Chang'an City in Guanzhong.It is located in the Yiluo Basin in the northwest of what is now Henan Province.The altitude is about 1045 meters above sea level, facing south to control the Longmen of Yique, an important ancient military site.It is adjacent to Mang Mountain in the north, Hulao Pass in the east, and Hangu Pass in the west, which is the only pass to enter the Guanzhong Plain.Surrounded by mountains on all sides, the Yiluo Basin has a mild climate and abundant rainfall.

In 1122 BC, the Western Tribal Allied Forces led by King Wu of Zhou invaded Chaoge, the capital of the Shang Dynasty, destroying the Yin and Shang Dynasty, which had ruled the world for more than 600 years, and established the Western Zhou regime dominated by the family.Since the center of gravity of the new all-under-heaven regime is located in Haojing in the west, that is, near the current Chang'an City, in order to manage the remnants of the Yin and Shang dynasties scattered in the vast eastern half of the territory nearby, Zhou Gongdan and Zhaogong were specially ordered to be in the north of Luoshui. , Established Luoyang, the eastern capital, as the base of the Zhou Dynasty's eastern strategy.Since then, Zhou Gongdan, as the regent, often came here to meet the princes and deal with the world's government affairs.Luoyang City has become the center of Chinese politics and culture.

At the time of King Ping of Zhou, in order to avoid the chaos of Quanrong, he gave up Haojing and moved his capital to Luoyi (now Luoyang).The Zhou royal family that moved to the east was weak and weak, and survived in name only, but Luoyang, as the capital of the country, became more prosperous culturally and economically. More than a thousand years later, Liu Xiu, a descendant of the royal family of the Western Han Dynasty who was born in Nanyang, settled down the chaos caused by the last years of Wang Mang's new dynasty, and decided to move the capital to the economic power and water conservancy facilities based on the fact that Chang'an City had experienced wars and the streets were dilapidated. Luoyang is better than Guanzhong.Since the Luoyang city in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty was almost completely destroyed due to the war in the early years, it was decided to use the original city as the basis to rebuild the capital of the new government a little south of it, which is called the Eastern Han Dynasty in history.Liu Xiu was the first emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu.

The newly built Luoyang City is located between Mangshan Mountain and Luoshui River, with a terrain that is higher in the north and lower in the south.Nine miles long from north to south, six miles wide from east to west, and shaped like a rectangular structure, it is also known as "Nine-Six City." In Luoyang City, there are a total of 24 large streets running north-south and east-west, with willows and locust trees planted on both sides, and the "li" for living in the streets and the middle of the streets.The main street connects the main city gates, about 40 meters wide and 500 meters long.In the middle of the city, there is a special road for the emperor, called Yudao.On both sides of the Royal Road, there are long walls about one and a half meters high.According to the original state of Luoyang City, Emperor Wu of the Eastern Han Dynasty rebuilt the "Nangong", where the offices and residences are located.To the east of Nangong, there are Situ Mansion, Sikong Mansion and Taiwei Mansion.During the Ming Dynasty in the Eastern Han Dynasty, a "North Palace" was added to the northwest of the Nangong Palace, which was specially used for the emperor and the royal family's home.The North Palace has four gates with exactly the same name as the South Palace. There are four gates: Suzaku (South), Canglong (East), Baihu (West), and Xuanwu (North).For the safety of the emperor traveling between the two palaces every day, there are upper and lower floors between the two palaces, and the upper floor is the emperor's special passage.

The main hall of the North Palace is the Deyang Hall, where important celebrations are often held, and the emperor often meets important ministers in the Zhuque Que here.Deyang Hall is surrounded by eight palaces including Hande, Zhangtai, Tianlu and Xuanming.In the northeast corner of Luoyang City, there is Yong'an Palace. There are large warehouses and arsenals nearby, which are the storage centers for weapons and grains.Most of the city is a high-end residential area, specially for civil and military officials to live in.In particular, the Upper East Gate and Middle East Gate near the East City Wall, as well as Buguangli and Yongheli, are mostly large-scale mansions, and many powerful officials live here.

The entire city of Luoyang is composed of palaces, gardens, government offices and residences of high-ranking officials.The common people lived on the outer edge of the city.There are three main "cities" inside and outside the city of Luoyang. The Jinshi in the northwest of Nangong is the only residential area in the city, where some unofficial royal merchants and wealthy Shihao live.Mashi in the eastern suburbs and Nanshi in the southern suburbs are active areas for civilian residences and small and medium-sized shops. Due to the system of facing south from the north, in the 14th year of Jianwu, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, that is, in AD 38, the Pingcheng Gate on the south wall was re-established as the main gate of Luoyang City.There is an avenue at the gate of Nangong, which directly connects to Pingcheng Gate.Outside the gate of Pingcheng is Nanshi, and beside the avenue near the gate, there are two halls dedicated to sacrifice: the east is Piyong, which is a sacrificial hall for rites and education, and is a symbol of Confucianism's enlightenment to the world; The observatory used for astronomy and clouds is also a symbol of destiny. The most important scientific inventions in Chinese history during the Eastern Han Dynasty—Zhang Heng's armillary sphere and seismograph were installed here.

At that time, the population of Luoyang City, including the part outside the city, was about more than one million. In the first year of Emperor Guangxi of the Eastern Han Dynasty, that is, in 189 A.D., in the first ten days of August in the scorching heat, around Shen time in the afternoon, three cavalry generals came from the direction from the east gate of Luoyang City to the city.All three of them wore light military uniforms and rode forward slowly.The weather was very hot, and their vests were sweating, soaking the thin brocade official uniforms.The three of them walked to the intersection, and then turned to the north, apparently heading for the official residence of the powerful officials in Guangbuli in the northeast corner.

Among the three riders, the one who was at the front had a round face, big eyes, and short beard, and looked a little funny.Judging from his attire, he should be a senior general.Although he is only in his early thirties, he has obviously put on weight, making his hands and feet look stubby and powerful.From his majestic posture and piercing eyes, it can be seen that he has undergone strict martial arts training. The two people riding behind them looked alike, both tall and handsome, with a heroic appearance.The general on the left is wearing a light white war robe and has a slender and flowing beard, but his appearance is quite elegant, and he has the demeanor of a scholar.The general on the right is younger, wearing a maroon light battle robe, he looks a little nervous, with his right hand resting on his saber, looking left and right from time to time.It seemed that among the three, he was responsible for guarding the road.

At this time, the short and fat general in front frowned slightly, with a serious expression on his face, as if he was preoccupied. The general in white was also silent, obviously thinking about something.Suddenly, he raised his head and glanced at the short and fat general, then started his mount, took two steps, paralleled the short and fat general, turned sideways and said: "Cao Gong, I think today's meeting at the General's Mansion will be delayed until late at night." The chunky general turned around and put on a grimace with a smile on his face, which made his already funny face even more interesting.He said in a slightly disdainful tone: