Chapter 26 5. The New Army of the Empire

Cao Cao's position as captain was part of Emperor Ling's plan to form a new army.After the baptism of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Emperor Ling believed that nothing is more important than being strong in force. In the eyes of Generals He Jin and Yuan Shao, this plan was an opportunity, so they paid enough attention from the very beginning, with the purpose of inserting people they trusted to control this new force. In Yuan Shao's view, although Cao Cao is a descendant of the eunuch, judging from his consistent words and deeds, he has completely broken with the eunuch camp and is a completely reliable comrade.

The emperor's military expansion plan is getting bigger and bigger, He Jin told Yuan Shao that he must find more people to enter the ranks of senior generals.Yuan Shao originally wanted to recommend Xu You, Zhang Miao and others, but considering that their qualifications were still relatively young, they were not familiar with the outside world, and they were too close to him, which would easily arouse the vigilance of others, so he recommended some other people to the general, including Bao Hong, Zhao Rong, Feng Fang, Xia Mou, Chun Yuqiong.Bao Hong was a general of the Northern Army and served as the captain of the Tunqi Camp, one of the five battalions of the Northern Army. Joan is an admonishing doctor.These people are all in touch with Yuan Shao and the "Friends of Running", and they are all "our own people".

With the help of Yuan Shao and others, General He Jin's power expanded rapidly.Regarding this, Emperor Ling became a little vigilant, and subtle changes occurred in his attitude towards the Queen's family. Lingdi's biological mother, Empress Dowager Dong, became more and more dissatisfied with this butcher-born daughter-in-law.In terms of eunuchs, there were also signs of a struggle for power. After Zhang Rang got married to Empress He's family, he became more powerful, and Cao Jie was obviously on Zhang Rang's side. When the relationship between the emperor and the general's family changed subtly, Xiao Huangmen Jian Shuo and others firmly supported the emperor. They began to speak ill of the general in front of the emperor and supported the queen mother against the queen.

Emperor Ling placed high hopes on Jian Shuo, a tall and burly eunuch, and at the same time was thinking about how to arrange the leadership of the new army in the future. Forming a new army is really not Lingdi and Jian Shuo's forte. They must cooperate with General He Jin on this issue. Lingdi can't veto all the personnel lists proposed by He Jin, otherwise the matter will go to waste.The headquarters of the New Army is located in the West Garden, the back garden of Emperor Ling. Here is the Wanjin Hall, a small treasury built by Emperor Ling several years ago. In order to distinguish it from the traditional southern and northern armies, this team is called "Xiyuan Army ".

There were eight divisions (eight battalions) under the new corps. Emperor Ling accepted He Jin's suggestion and appointed Bao Hong, Zhao Rong, Feng Fang, Xia Mou, Chun Yuqiong and others as division commanders (school lieutenants). There are Cao Cao, who invested in the formation of the new army in advance, and Yuan Shao, who was strongly recommended by He Jin.Regarding the last candidate, He Jin and Yuan Shao couldn't believe their ears after Emperor Ling said it. The person Emperor Ling will appoint is the eunuch Jian Shuo.Not only that, Emperor Ling also stated that Jian Shuo is the commander-in-chief of the new army, and the other seven division commanders must accept his leadership.

There is no precedent for an eunuch directly serving as a military post, and Jian Shuo's political stance is very suspicious.He Jin heard from his younger sister that this person circled around Empress Dowager Dong all day long and didn't pay attention to her.He Jin would never agree to hand over the command of the new army to him.But Emperor Ling is also very straightforward. If you don't accept this condition, everyone don't do it and find someone else. Seeing the stalemate, Yuan Shao quietly told He Jin: Acceptable. Yuan Shao's calculation is that even if Jian Shuo is the commander in name, he only accounts for one-eighth, and the real power is still in the hands of his own people, so he is afraid of what he will do.

In August of the fifth year of Zhongping (188), the long-awaited candidates for the new army generals were finally announced.Specifically: Lieutenant Jian Shuo of the upper military school, Yuan Shao of the middle military school, Bao Hong of the lower military school, Cao Cao of the Dian military school, Zhao Rong of the left school of the auxiliary army, Feng Fang of the right school of the auxiliary army, Xia Mou of the left school, and Chun Yuqiong of the right school. For this result, He Jin expressed his satisfaction. The emperor sent a dog, and I will release a pack of wolves for you.

Thanks to the cooperation of General He Jin, the formation of the new army went smoothly, and each battalion stepped up their recruitment and equipment of weapons, and then began training. Two months later, a grand military parade was organized by Ping Optimist outside the Shangxi Gate in Luoyang.In order to make the ceremony grand and lively, the relevant departments rushed to build a high platform as the main parade platform, and an attic was also built on the platform, with a total height of more than ten feet.Not far from the main military parade, a small military parade was built, nine feet high.

On October 16, Lingdi Liu Hong personally boarded the main military parade platform and stood under the attic on the platform. He was dressed in military uniform and called himself the "Supreme General".On the small parade platform not far away is He Jin, the commander-in-chief (general) of the national armed forces who is also in military uniform.At the beginning of the military parade, Emperor Ling stepped down from the parade platform, stepped on the horse with a protective skirt, and inspected tens of thousands of soldiers lined up neatly.Emperor Ling galloped on his horse, circled the arena for three weeks, and then handed over the saber, which symbolized command power, to He Jin.

Such a scene has rarely been seen in recent years. In the case of the remnants of the Yellow Turbans who are still rebelling, holding a grand military parade can strengthen the country's prestige and make the conspirators terrified in Emperor Ling's view. Emperor Ling returned to the main parade platform after the parade, and the excitement still persisted. When he turned around, he found Gai Xun, a guest invited to watch the parade, standing beside him.As a well-known general who fought in Western Qiang, Emperor Ling wanted to know whether today's ceremony was powerful enough, so he asked Gai Xun what he thought of the ceremony.

Gai Xun, styled Yuangu, was born in Guangzhi County, Dunhuang County, Liangzhou Governor's Department. He was born in a family and made great achievements in fighting the Qiang people. The emperor is in high spirits, Gai Xun should say something that makes the emperor feel comfortable.Who knew that Mr. Gai was not enlightened, he said: "I heard that the wise kings in ancient times only showed their kindness and did not show off their strength. Now that bandits are concentrated in the frontiers, but showing their strength in the capital, how effective will it be?" Master Gai didn't give face, Lingdi was not angry because he thought what Master Ge said was reasonable. In fact, Emperor Ling couldn't fully express what was in his heart. Whether it was the Qiang people or the Yellow Turban Army, they were enemies from a distance, but the enemies nearby were even more terrifying.Although you are the son of heaven and have everything, but if you lose control of power, you will become a fish on someone else's chopping board. There are too few capable people like Gai Xun around me. Although eunuchs are obedient and reliable, they lack ability and reputation.Thinking of this, Emperor Ling couldn't help shivering, and he looked back at Jian Shuo beside him. Lingdi thought: Can the wish in his heart finally come true with this person he has painstakingly cultivated?