Chapter 42 The fourth quarter set the capital in Luoyang

Let's say that Liu Xuan had a dismal curtain call and thus withdrew from the stage of history. As a transitional emperor, his mission has ended.And Liu Xiu, the true emperor of the real dragon, is creating his history step by step with the momentum of ruling the world. In June of the 25th AD, after Liu Xiu proclaimed himself emperor, considering that the whole territory of Hebei was basically pacified and there was no worries for the time being, he dispatched most of his troops, crossed the Yellow River, and began to advance into the Central Plains. At this time, Liu Xiu's strategic deployment mainly revolved around Luoyang City.

The first is to sweep the periphery of Luoyang. The two counties of Yingchuan and Runan in the east of Luoyang were separated by Liu Mao, the uncle of Liu Xiu, who was only 21 years old.Liu Xiu sent envoys to recruit Liu Mao. Liu Mao was young and energetic, and he boasted that he had more than 100,000 people under his command. He did not give Liu Xiu face and refused to follow. If you don't follow, then hit until you follow. In August of the same year, after dispatching Liu Xiu's army, he ordered Hushi General Jing Dan, Jianwei General Geng Yan, and Strong Crossbow General Chen Jun to attack Liu Mao.When the two armies fought, Liu Mao was defeated and had to surrender.Liu Xiu summoned Liu Mao into Hanoi, where he was named King of Zhongshan and stayed with him.Liu Mao's troops were assembled on the spot and put under the command of Geng Yan and others.

After surrendering Liu Mao, the biggest threat to the east is Liu Yong. Liu Yong, the eighth grandson of Liang Xiaowang Liu Wu (the second son of Han Wendi and the younger brother of Han Jingdi), whose father Liu Li was the last Liang king and was killed by Wang Mang.After Gengshi Emperor Liu Xuan ascended the throne, he reappointed Liu Yong as King of Liang, with Suiyang as his capital. According to the patriarchal system, Liu Yong's royal lineage is far superior to that of Liu Xuan and Liu Xiu.Liu Xuan and Liu Xiu were the successors of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, and Liu Yong was the successor of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty. In this respect, Liu Yong was at a disadvantage.However, Liu Mai, the fourth ancestor of Liu Xuan and Liu Xiu, was only a marquis, and even the marquis was gone in his grandfather's generation. Although he still had an official position, he had actually become a commoner. In this regard, Liu Yong has an absolute advantage.

Liu Yong relied on his noble blood, and he had a heart of disobedience for a long time.Gengshi Emperor Liu Xuan entered the capital of Chang'an, and there were political turmoil in all directions. Liu Yong took advantage of the situation and raised an army. With his second brother Liu Fang as the assistant general of the country and his third brother Liu Shaogong as the censor doctor, he recruited heroes, appointed generals, and captured Qiyin and Shanyin. , Pei, Chu, Huaiyang, Runan, where there are twenty-eight cities. Dong Xian, a native of Donghai, separatized Donghai County, and Zhang Bu occupied Qi. Liu Yong recruited two more people, and worshiped Dong Xian as the General of Yi Han and Zhang Bu as the Assistant General of Han.Since then, Liu Yong's forces have spanned Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Qingzhou, and Xuzhou, unifying the eastern part of the empire.

Regardless of the territory controlled or the population ruled, Liu Yong at this time can be said to be better than Liu Xiu.Therefore, Liu Xiu did not dare to go to war with Liu Yong rashly, but focused on defense, and ordered Geng Yan and Chen Jun to lead the army to station in Wushejin, fully guarding against possible attacks by Liu Yong. At this point, Liu Xiu was finally able to concentrate on attacking Luoyang. Since June of this year, Feng Yi has begun to surround Luoyang, but he has never been able to conquer it.In August of this year, Liu Xiu gathered all the troops that could be mobilized, led by Grand Sima Wu Han, Grand Sikong Wang Liang, Jianyi General Zhu You, Right General Wanxiu, Zhijinwu Jiafu, Xiaoqi General Liu Zhi, and Yang Hua. Ten generals led by General Jian Tan, General Jishe Hou Jin, Ji Zun, and Wang Ba joined Feng Yi in the siege battle to take Luoyang in one fell swoop.

Liu Xiu himself moved to Heyang City, across the river from Luoyang, and personally supervised the battle. Regarding Wu Hanrong's promotion to Da Sima, it is necessary to add something here. After Liu Xiu proclaimed himself emperor, in terms of personnel arrangements, the candidates for the Sangong (Da Sima, Da Situ, and Da Sikong) naturally attracted the most attention. Liu Xiu gave Deng Yu the position of Da Situ.Deng Yu made outstanding contributions, and Liu Xiu trusted him the most, and he was a classmate of the imperial school with Liu Xiu. It can be said that he deserved his name as the chief situ, and all the generals also admired him.

As for the position of Da Sikong, Liu Xiu gave it to Wang Liang, just because of a sentence in "Chifu Talisman": "Wang Liang's main guard is Xuanwu".Speaking of which, Wang Liang's reputation is not very big, and his contribution is not very big. Just because of a prophecy, he can be ranked among the three princes and above the generals.The generals were naturally unconvinced about this, but Liu Xiu insisted on his own opinion, and adding that Da Sikong was the last of the three princes after all, the generals could bear it after thinking about it. The chief Sima of the three lords, Liu Xiu intends to seal it to General Sun Xian of Pingdi, also because of the prophecy.Now all the generals exploded and protested openly.Da Sima has the most prestigious official position and is the number two person besides the emperor. In terms of prestige and merit, Sun Xian is worse than Wang Liang. When will it be his turn to be the Da Sima? !

The reaction of the generals was so strong that even though Liu Xiu was the emperor, he did not dare to go his own way.In desperation, he had no choice but to change dictatorship to democracy and order the generals to nominate suitable candidates.The generals elected Jing Dan and Wu Han. In terms of prestige, Jing Dan is the highest; in terms of merit, Wu Han is the greatest.And behind the two, each has a large number of supporters, who refuse to give in to each other. According to the old system of the Western Han Dynasty, the Grand Sima usually also served as the Hussar General. Liu Xiu then worshiped Wu Han as the Grand Sima and Jing Dan as the Hussar General. Only then did the disputes be resolved, and everyone was happy.

Back to the siege of Luoyang.To be honest, siege is not Liu Xiu's strong point.Previously in Hebei, Liu Xiu's troops did not leave any siege records to be proud of.The two famous cities in Hebei, Julu and Handan, were fought extremely hard by Liu Xiu, and they were not won by force in the end - Julu surrendered voluntarily, while Handan was due to a mutiny in the city. Liu Xiu's army is still struggling to deal with Julu and Handan, but Luoyang's city defense is farther above Julu and Handan. In addition, Luoyang defender Zhu Tuan still has an army of more than 100,000 people. Although Liu Xiu Almost all of its troops have been invested under the city of Luoyang, but they are still helpless.

It is easy to shake the mountains, but difficult to shake the city of Luoyang! It has always been taboo for military strategists to garrison large troops under Jiancheng.Fortunately, the periphery of Luoyang has long been cleared. In the foreseeable future, Luoyang will not have any reinforcements.Moreover, the supply of grain, grass and luggage was sufficient, and Kou Xun, the prefect of Hanoi who was relied on by Liu Xiuyi as Xiao He, lived up to expectations, and his logistical support was extremely strong. He made more than one million arrows, harvested four million dendrobiums of grain, and raised two thousand horses. Continuous supply to the army.

By October, there was still no progress in the siege, and it seemed unlikely that much progress would be made in the next few months.There is enough food in Luoyang City, enough to last for more than a year, so the next year will have to be spent in this damn Luoyang City? Unable to attack for a long time, there is no hope, and the morale of the army is getting lower and lower. Even the generals are secretly complaining about Liu Xiu in their hearts. At the beginning, when Li Yi was guarding Luoyang, he had already intended to surrender and offered Luoyang City for nothing. However, Liu Xiu was lucky and deliberately leaked Li Yi's letter of surrender, which caused Li Yi to be killed by Zhu Yu, and also caused them all to die today. Trapped under the city of Luoyang, making useless attacks all day long. So far, the best way is to persuade Zhu Yu to surrender and let Luoyang City fall without a fight. The best way, however, is also the least likely way to achieve it. All the generals knew that for Liu Xiu, attacking Luoyang was not only a public matter, but also a personal enmity.Zhu Tuan, who was guarding Luoyang, was the number one culprit who killed Liu Xiu's elder brother Liu Yan. Therefore, although persuading Zhu Tuan to surrender is the best plan at the moment, and even the only feasible plan, the generals can only pretend to be deaf and dumb, and no one dares to say anything first. Liu Xiu supervised the battle across the river. Seeing that the battle in Luoyang was stalemate and there was no progress for a long time, he was also anxious and called all the officials to discuss.All the officials were silent, but Ting Wei Cen Peng stood up and said loudly: "I have a word, dare to enter." Liu Xiudao: "Speak." Cen Peng said: "I used to be a school lieutenant under Zhu Tuan's command, and I am quite familiar with Zhu Tuan. Please allow your Majesty to go to Luoyang and persuade Zhu Tuan to surrender." When the ministers heard the words, their expressions changed.Cen Peng, oh Cen Peng, you dare to say that!You are asking Liu Xiu to spare his brother-killing enemy, not only forgiving him, but also treating him as a guest of honor. Don't you know the depth of the relationship between Liu Xiu and his elder brother Liu Yan?Don't you know Liu Xiu's gnashing hatred for Zhu Tuan? Liu Xiu was also slightly taken aback, and said in a deep voice, "Why did Tingwei make such a statement?" Cen Peng showed no fear, and said loudly: "I remember that when Li Yi died, His Majesty once said that His Majesty would never forgive Li Yi, but he could forgive Zhu Yu. I wonder if Your Majesty still remembers this?" Liu Xiu nodded and said, "I did say that." Cen Peng said again: "All the generals in front are loyal and know that Zhu Tuan killed His Majesty's elder brother, so they dare not propose to persuade him to surrender, lest His Majesty will be angry. Since he dared not persuade him to surrender, he had to attack by force. It lasted for several months and suffered heavy casualties, but Luoyang City remained unscathed. No move. I dare to think that although persuading Zhu Yu to surrender, although it violates the righteousness of revenge in the Spring and Autumn Period, it will benefit the world and contribute to the community." Liu Xiu's complexion changed, and he said, "Go ahead!" Cen Peng said again: "If Zhu Tuo surrenders, not only the lives of countless soldiers will be saved, but the famous city of Luoyang will also be preserved. If we blindly attack by force, the casualties may be even more severe. The lives of soldiers and soldiers, and the loss of the city will not be too sad! If Zhu Tuo sees that the city will be destroyed, In desperation, he followed the example of King Zhou who burned court songs, Xiang Yu burned Xianyang, and burned the city of Luoyang. It is a pity that the famous capital of a thousand years has been reduced to rubble and turned into rubble! May your majesty think twice." Liu Xiumo sighed, and said: "The generals only know how to figure out my thoughts, so they can be called petty loyalty. Ting Wei's heart is the world, so he is great loyalty!" So he ordered Cen Peng to go to Luoyang to persuade him to surrender. When Cen Peng arrived in Luoyang, he ordered the siege troops to retreat a hundred feet, rode his horse to the front of the city alone, and shouted Zhu Yu to answer.When Zhu Tuan climbed to the top of the wall, he was both surprised and delighted to see Cen Peng.When old people meet again, it is inevitable to exchange pleasantries for a while, not to mention greetings to each other's mother and the whole family. When the saliva settled down, Cen Peng cut straight to the point and said: "Cen is here, dare to ask Brother Zhu, who will be in the world today?" Zhu tuna didn't answer in silence at the top of the wall. Cen Peng said again: "Uncle Liu Wen was ordered by heaven to calm Yan and Zhao. There are all secluded and Hebei lands. The people return to their hearts and virtuous men gather. The overall situation of the world has been decided. Who can stop it? Liu Xuanye has been defeated. Brother Zhu is sticking to the lonely city. , and for whom are you defending? Now that the army is approaching the city, Luoyang will be destroyed sooner or later, why don’t Brother Zhu make his own plan and surrender according to God’s will?” Zhu Tuan replied: "Brother Cen has traveled a long way to give advice, and Zhu feels deeply. Zhu has two capital crimes: one is to harm the chief situ Liu Yan; the other is to prevent Liu Xiu from entering Hebei. With these two crimes, even if he surrenders, he will die Don't dare to surrender." Cen Peng heard it, and Zhu Yu kept saying that he didn't dare to surrender, which meant that he really wanted to surrender, and the key depended on the conditions Liu Xiu offered.Cen Peng didn't know Liu Xiu's trump card, so he didn't dare to promise rashly, so he hurried back to Heyang, and asked Liu Xiu face to face. Liu Xiu was overjoyed to hear that Zhu Tuan had surrendered his intention, and wrote a letter in his own hand, saying: Cen Peng took the book and didn't dare to delay for a moment. He rushed back to Luoyang and shot the book into the city. Zhu Tuan looked up to the sky and sighed while reading the book. The so-called "the river is here, I will not break my promise", said in "Shangshu·Tang Oath", the original text is: "Er Shang assists one person, and the punishment of heaven will be punished by heaven, and I will give you a big fortune! You will believe me, and I will not break my promise." It is the words of Shang Tang and Xia's oath.When Liu Xiu was in Chang'an Taixue, he was majoring in Shangshu, so this allusion is naturally at his fingertips. Zhu Tuan showed the book to all the generals under his command, saying: "This is the word of the emperor, the fate is really in the hands of Liu Xiu. I will surrender." The generals said: "Let the big Sima be the master." Zhu Tuan climbed to the city, put down a rope from the top of the city, and said to Cen Peng: "Brother Cen is sincere, you can take this rope up and meet me in the city." Without hesitation, Cen Peng grabbed the rope and was about to climb the city. .Seeing that Cen Peng dared to enter the city alone and put his life in his own hands, Zhu Yu had no doubts anymore, stopped Cen Peng, and said: "Test your ears, Brother Cen, please come back, Zhu is willing to surrender." Zhu Tuan was cautious by nature, and before leaving the city, he ordered the generals: "Stick to me. If I don't come back, you can lead the soldiers to break through and return to Yin Zun, the king of Yan." After finishing the order, he tied himself up and rode out of the city lightly , surrendered to Cen Peng. Cen Peng led Zhu Tuan and rushed to Heyang to meet Liu Xiu.Seeing Zhu Tuan coming alone, Liu Xiu knew what it meant, so she untied Zhu Tuan with her own hands, comforted her again and again, and asked Cen Peng to send Zhu Tuan back to Luoyang that night. After such a trip, Zhu Yu was finally completely at ease, and once he returned to Luoyang City, he opened the city gate and led his crowd to surrender. Cen Peng's persuasion to surrender Zhu Tuan spared Luoyang, a thousand-year-old capital, from the flames of war, and extended Luoyang's lifespan by nearly 200 years. However, like other capitals in China, Luoyang still failed to keep it.At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Dong Zhuo completely burned Luoyang City to ruins, and there were no relics within 200 miles. It was not until the Sui and Tang Dynasties that he regained his vitality. After Zhu Tuan had surrendered, Liu Xiu kept his promise and worshiped Zhu Tuan as General Pingdi and named him Marquis of Fugou, but he never reused him.Zhu Tuan's name has since disappeared from the annals of history, and he died quietly. The last time Zhu Tuan attracted the attention of historians was thousands of years after his death.In the Northern Song Dynasty, the tomb of Zhu Tuan was discovered in Jinxiang County, Jeju, and then excavated. There are many records in the notes of the Song Dynasty.To this day, the bones and treasures in the tomb have long since disappeared, but the stone walls of the portraits have survived for future generations to remember. On October 23, 25 A.D., in the Changle Palace in Chang'an, Gengshi Emperor Liu Xuan was shirtless, shivering and knelt at the foot of the steps, bowing his head to the red-browed army.And on the same day, Liu Xiu officially established his capital in Luoyang, and sat in the south palace in the south, meeting all the ministers, showing the respect of the emperor.