Chapter 18 Chapter 3 A Good Plan Difficult to Reveal a Hero's Helplessness (5)

After that, Dong Zhong withdrew the Sili army from Luoyang, and only led a small number of guards to sit in the capital's official residence. At the beginning of May, according to Cao Cao's plan, General He Jinzuo invited the emperor to convene the three princes for a special court meeting, and the courtiers in charge of etiquette and law made a statement at the court: Empress Dowager Dong was the queen of Emperor Huan, and Emperor Huan was the lord of the palace from a foreign vassal. Therefore, Empress Dowager Dong was originally a vassal concubine, so it is not suitable to live in the palace for a long time.

The emperor approved the proposal, and He Jin forced the Empress Dowager Dong to move back to her hometown, Hejian, and immediately sent her out of the city.The Empress Dowager Dong was sent away before she could fully react. As soon as the Empress Dowager was forcibly sent away, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu brothers immediately mobilized their troops to attack the hussar general Dong Zhong who was guarding the mansion in the capital with only a few guards.Dong Zhongqi was still in the midst of anger and fear of being sent away by the Empress Dowager Dong, and when he was thinking of countermeasures, the imperial guards surrounded his mansion. Only then did he realize that it was all a conspiracy.However, it was already too late, resistance was even more impossible, and the lives of the whole family would be involved.Therefore, he voluntarily surrendered and demanded the pardon of his family.

Yuan Shao publicly agreed to pardon Dong Zhong's family, and Dong Zhong committed suicide in the back hall. This was a lightning-fast action, which enabled He Jin Group to completely destroy the evenly matched Dong Zhong Group in one day.And this is the plan of Cao Cao's ingenious strategy, He Jin greatly appreciated Cao Cao. Zhang Rang, Duan Gui and others saw that the power of the Empress Dowager Dong had collapsed, so they had no choice but to turn their heads to please the Empress Dowager He even more. Reorganize Jian Shuo's remnant group, and win over the Sili Army's Dong Zhongjun, in order to wait for an opportunity to retaliate.

He Jin, who was born as a butcher, had no choice but to massacre. In mid-June, despite the objections of his ministers, He Jin even poisoned the Empress Dowager Dong who was under house arrest in Hejian.Of course, this was a bit too much, and immediately caused extreme dissatisfaction among the ministers and legion leaders who were attached to the original relatives and sympathized with Dong's group. Zhang Rang, Duan Gui and others took this opportunity to spread rumors wantonly in order to stir up more people's dissatisfaction with He Jin.In this way, a rather large anti-He Jin coalition gradually gathered.

In July, Yuan Shao accidentally heard a rumor in the army that Zhang Rang, Duan Gui and others were plotting a coup. Although this was just a rumor, it aroused Yuan Shao's vigilance.Yuan Shao went to the General's Mansion and suggested to He Jin: "Zhang Rang, Duan Gui and others spread rumors, falsely accusing the general of killing the Empress Dowager by poisoning the Empress Dowager, and intending to usurp the throne. Now the civil and military officials are panicked, their attitudes are extremely unstable, and the court is in crisis, which may lead to catastrophe at any time. In the past, Dou Wu and Chen Fan wanted to kill the eunuchs, but the eunuchs spread rumors about Dou Wu's rebellion, which made the soldiers in the royal camp in the capital fearful, so they turned to support the eunuchs. Dou Wu and Chen Fan were finally defeated and killed. At present, our reputation and The power is enough to suppress the eunuchs, so it is better to take advantage of the situation to kill the eunuchs thoroughly and eradicate the root of the disaster, this is a heaven-sent opportunity that cannot be missed."

He Jin agreed with Yuan Shao's words, so he proposed to his sister, Empress Dowager He, to relieve the eunuch from commanding the imperial guards. However, Empress Dowager He has her own considerations. She is afraid that if this happens, the foreign ministers will be too powerful and will seriously threaten the inner palace.The emperor was still young, lacked autonomy, and was easy to be swayed. To balance the power of the inner palace and the government, the Empress Dowager He said: "It has been a tradition since Emperor Zhang that the eunuchs command the imperial guards. The ancestors ordered that they should not be destroyed casually."

He Jin had no choice but to leave the harem and report the situation to Yuan Shao.Yuan Shao shook his head and sighed. Zhang Rang, Duan Gui and others learned that He Jin wanted the Queen Mother to relieve the eunuch of the power to command the imperial army, so they decided to speed up their counterattack.On the one hand, they expressed their loyalty to Queen Mother He through He Miao and Lord Wuyang;The Empress Dowager was worried that foreign ministers would oppress the palace, so of course she believed the words of Zhang Rang and Duan Gui. As a result, Empress Dowager He gradually got close to Zhang Rang, Duan Gui and others, so that the power of eunuchs could make a comeback.

At this time, Grand Marshal Huang Fusong publicly expressed his respect and support for the imperial power, which caused most of the legions stationed in Sili District to sympathize with the inner court, and then tended to oppose He Jin's alliance. Rivalry. At the beginning of August, Yuan Shao assessed the strength of both sides and knew that the situation on his side was deteriorating, so he suggested that He Jin call up the legions stationed in the states and counties of the foreign domains, lead the troops into the capital, and forcibly remove the eunuch group's military power, so as to avoid future troubles.

He Jin also felt that the situation was serious, and immediately summoned civil and military officials from the imperial court who opposed the eunuch clique, as well as gentry from the Qing school, to discuss major issues in the official residence of the general Buguangli. The aforementioned Cao Cao, Cao Ren, and Cao Hong went to the palace in Buguangli to attend this secret meeting. At this time, there was an unusual tense atmosphere in the general's mansion. In addition to Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu brothers, chief secretary Chen Lin, Shi Yushi Zheng Tai, Huangmen servant Xun You, assistant Zuo Xiaowei Zhao Rong, Zuo Xiaowei Xia Jun, Zuo Xiaowei Chunyu Qiong and other ministers of civil and military affairs were present.The most striking thing is that the veteran general of the army, Lu Zhi, who is currently in Qingzhou, also came to the scene in person.

When Cao Cao's short and fat figure appeared in the conference hall, he did not attract special attention, because General He Jin was explaining the recent situation and their response plan to everyone with a slightly nervous expression. He Jin is short in stature, but he is a big fat man.He has a rough appearance, and his tone of voice and gestures are full of quack taste.He was originally a butcher in Luoyang City, and he gained power because his younger sister entered the palace. In the late Han Dynasty, he was a "heterogeneous" in the group of relatives dominated by the Nanyang family.However, He Jin is quite straightforward, generous with money, and has no official airs, so he is very supported by the nobles of the Qing school, and has become a powerful faction leading the anti-eunuch group as a general after Dou Wu who was martyred 20 years ago leader.

He Jin explained to the civil and military officials present at the meeting: "There are about 10,000 Imperial Guards in Luoyang City, and more than 1,000 Imperial Guards directly under the eunuchs in the inner court. Therefore, if the main task is to control Luoyang City , our side has an absolute advantage. However, there are more than 200,000 legions directly under the imperial court stationed in the Sili district outside Luoyang and Chang'an. These legions have different positions, so it is impossible to require them to remain neutral with imperial power. In order to promote the extermination The eunuch's plan, General Yuan and I intend to recruit other leaders of the military region to serve the king in order to achieve a great cause. For this reason, I have invited everyone here, and I want to hear your opinions on this matter."