Chapter 57 The third quarter Yan Wang

Of the counties in Hebei, Yuyang was the least affected by the war. After Peng Chong became the prefect of Yuyang, relying on the salt and iron resources of Yuyang, selling grain and accumulating treasures, Yuyang became more and more prosperous.So Peng Chong detained Hou Lanqing, his disciple, and sent troops to rebel. He called on the generals and led more than 20,000 people to attack Zhufu in Jicheng. He bribed the Xiongnu and invited them to make a marriage. The Xiongnu Shanyu was greedy for his profit and assisted Peng Chong with 7,000 cavalry. Zhu Fu never expected that Peng Chong would really dare to rebel. He made a small report that he was good at fighting, but he was an amateur in fighting. In desperation, he had to urgently ask Liu Xiu for help.Liu Xiu sent the guerrilla general Deng Long to help.Deng Long garrisoned Lunan, and Zhu Fu garrisoned Yongnu. After the deployment was completed, officials were sent to report to Liu Xiu.After hearing this, Liu Xiu said angrily: "How can the two battalions have the same power when they are hundreds of miles away from each other? Deng and Zhu will be defeated."

As expected by Liu Xiu, Peng Chong attacked Deng Long first, then used the main force to fight head-on, and then attacked with three thousand light cavalry. Deng Long was defeated.Zhu Fu was too far away to rush to help, so he had to retreat with his troops and return to defend Jicheng. Zhu Fu guarded Jicheng alone, knowing that he would not last long, so he had the audacity to ask Liu Xiu for help, and the lion opened his mouth, begging Liu Xiu to march by himself. Liu Xiu was very unhappy when he received Zhu Fu's book.The catastrophe you caused by yourself, you have no ability to clean up, but you want me, the emperor, to wipe your ass in person, how unreasonable!

There were many former disciples of Peng Chong in the court, and all of them had heavy soldiers in their hands. These people also secretly felt wronged for Peng Chong, thinking that it was Zhu Fu who had nothing to do, so they rebelled against Peng Chong.And Liu Xiu couldn't ignore the opinions of these people. More importantly, Liu Xiu's army is concentrated on the south bank of the Yellow River, and is devoting all its strength to the Central Plains, which has a higher strategic value. It feels that there are not enough troops. If it is necessary to deploy another army to attack Peng Chong, it will take time and It will even delay the precious fighter in front of us.And many of Liu Xiu's generals are Peng Chong's old troops, and the main force of the army is also from Hebei. The consequences were even more unimaginable.

Wars are sometimes so cruel, Liu Xiu can only see death and let Zhu Fu die on his own, sending an envoy to send an imperial edict to express spiritual support to Zhu Fuchun.The general meaning of the edict is: In the past, the red eyebrow army was domineering in Chang'an. I expected that there would be no food in the army, and it would return east, and it was right in my pocket.Now the old thief Peng Chong, I also predict that he will not last long, and will soon die at the hands of his own people, so you don't have to be afraid.I also have difficulties here. The military resources are not abundant, food and grass are scarce, and reinforcements may have to wait until next year's wheat is ripe.

With the cut off of foreign aid, Zhu Fu had no choice but to drink the bitter wine he brewed himself.Up to now, surrendering to Peng Chong is also death, and death in battle is also death. Since death is inevitable, it is better to die in battle, at least you can get the name of a loyal minister. Peng Chong besieged Jicheng, and Zhu Fu led his troops to defend it.The food in the city is exhausted, so people can only eat people.Zhu Fu has a beautiful concubine, who is the most beloved, but she doesn't want it anymore, she kills it for the soldiers to enjoy.Zhu Fu's wife, who was extremely jealous and fierce, was overjoyed to see her concubine killed, so she cooked the concubine's meat herself.

The morale in the city was declining day by day, Zhu Fu tried his best to encourage and encourage the soldiers to stick to it.The soldiers all hated Zhu Fu, and retorted: "What about those literati and celebrities you raised? Why don't you let them go into battle to kill the enemy?" Seeing the end of the mountain, luckily Shanggu prefect Geng Kuang sent his cavalry to rescue him. Zhu Fu took the opportunity to break out of the city and went south to Liangxiang. It was Zhu Fu who caused their brothers to die in battle, and it was Zhu Fu who caused them to eat the corpses of their own kind.

Seeing this situation, Zhu Fu knew that his subordinates were going to attack him soon, and that today was bound to be a bad day, so he hurriedly got off his horse and ran to his wife.The wife also saw that the situation was not good, and when she saw Zhu Fu rushing over, she didn't forget to take her to escape with her at the critical moment of life and death. She was so moved that she wanted to cry.Zhu Fu came in front of his wife, just as she was about to speak, Zhu Fu cut his knife deep into his wife's throat.His wife was bleeding like a fountain, and she fell to the ground immediately, looking at Zhu Fu with confusion and anger.Zhu Fu looked at his wife and said compassionately, "I did this for your own good, and I saved your reputation. No matter what, I will never let you be ruined by these beasts."

After Zhu Fu killed his wife, he didn't commit suicide. Instead, he fought hard to break through the siege, and he was lucky enough to kill a bloody road, and returned to Luoyang, where he pleaded guilty.Shangshu ordered Houba to write a letter to Liu Xiu, playing Zhufu to disturb Youzhou, to rebel against Peng Chong, to be a vain military adviser, to be defeated without shame, and not to die for the country, the crime should be killed.Although Liu Xiu hated Zhu Fu's frivolity and incompetence for causing so much trouble for the court, but after all, he was loyal and he was a beloved general of his own lineage, so he pardoned Zhu Fu but did not kill him, so he changed Zhu Fu to be the Zhijinwu.Zhi Jinwu ranks among the nine ministers, and Zhu Fu can be said to be a blessing in disguise, and instead of falling, he rises.

Peng Chong attacked Jicheng and proclaimed himself King of Yan. Geng Kuang, the prefect of Shanggu, also made great contributions to Liu Xiu, and his reward was also small.Peng Chong used this as an argument, counting Liu Xiu's meanness and ungratefulness, and sent envoys several times to invite Geng Kuang to rebel against him.Geng Kuang was different from Peng Chong, although his reward was small, but the eldest son Geng Yan was by Liu Xiu's side and was being reused, so he was unmoved, and Peng Chong's envoys came to kill one by one. Zhang Feng, the prefect of Zhuojun, was obsessed with alchemy. One day, a Taoist came to him and asked to see Zhang Feng, saying that he should be the son of heaven.Zhang Feng was taken aback, and asked, "What evidence do you have?" The Taoist smiled, and gave Zhang Feng a multicolored brocade pouch with a stone inside, which was tied to Zhang Feng's elbow, and said, "There is a jade seal in the stone. This is proof." Zhang Feng was overjoyed and rewarded the Taoist priests heavily, so in June of the third year of Jianwu (AD 27), he raised the county and turned against him, claiming to be the supreme general, and joining forces with Peng Chong.The situation in Youzhou became more and more chaotic.