Chapter 39 2. An ally that no one dares to be

Before the end of the year, Zhang Miao sent someone to notify Cao Cao to take his troops to Suanzao County in the north of the county, where a major operation was about to take place.Jiwu County and Suanzao County both belong to Chenliu County. One is in the southeast and the other is in the northwest. The distance between the two places is more than 300 miles.Suanzao is close to the Yellow River, and the north bank is Hanoi County, which belongs to the Sili Xiaowei Department. When Cao Cao led his troops to Suanzao, Zhang Miao had already arrived ahead of schedule.He introduced two people to Cao Cao, one was his younger brother Zhang Chao, the prefect of Guangling County of Xuzhou Governor's Department, and the other was Zang Hong, Zhang Chao's subordinate and the director of personnel of the county government (gongcao).

Zang Hong, Ziyuan, is also a native of Guangling County. He is "big in appearance and different from others."Later, when he relinquished his official position and returned home, Zhang Chao, the prefect, heard that he was very capable, so he invited him out to be the director of personnel affairs. Zang Hong persuaded Zhang Chao to raise an army. Zhang Chao thought it was reasonable, so he took Zang Hong to Chenliu County to discuss with his brother Zhang Miao, and they hit it off.Zhang Miao saw that although Zang Hong was only a meritorious officer, he had good knowledge and good eloquence, so he sent him as a representative to contact various powerful factions in the vicinity, and soon he met Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, Kong, the governor of Yuzhou, and the prefect of Dongjun. Qiao Mao, Yuan Yi, governor of Sanyang, and Bao Xin, chancellor of Jibei, reached a consensus, and they all agreed to join forces against Dong Zhuo.

Suanzao on the bank of the Yellow River was identified as the general headquarters of this joint uprising.Taking this as the center, all the powerful factions in the surrounding area are basically among them except Xuzhou Governor Tao Qian.Liu Dai is Yuan Shao's relative. Before Yuan Shao crossed the Yellow River north, he sent his wife Liu and three sons to him, which shows that the relationship is extraordinary.Yuan Yi is Yuan Shao's elder brother.Qiao Mao and Bao Xin have been introduced earlier.In addition to Zhang Miao and Cao Cao, these people are all closely related to Yuan Shao. Although Yuan Shao is not here, he seems to be the spiritual leader.

Cao Cao reminded Zhang Miao that on the eve of his departure from Luoyang, he had agreed with Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu to raise troops, and now they are about to rise together, so they cannot be missed. Zhang Miao told Cao Cao that he had sent people to Jizhou and Bohai County to contact Han Fu and Yuan Shao respectively. Yuan Shao could not come in Bohai County for the time being, but although Yuan Shao was not present in the alliance this time, everyone would still recommend Yuan Shao as the leader of the alliance.As for Yuan Shu, they were far away and the situation was unknown, so they couldn't wait for him.

Before long, people from all walks of life gathered in Suanzao one after another. Those who arrived successively were Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, Kong, the governor of Yuzhou, Zhang Miao, the governor of Chenliu, Qiao Mao, the governor of Dongjun, Zhang Chao, the governor of Guangling County. Far away, stay in place temporarily.Zhang Miao had someone temporarily build a large altar as a venue for the alliance. The alliance ceremony is about to be held, and there is a question before people: What is the legal basis for such an important event?How should the covenant be worded? This is a serious problem.Even if it is stated that it is not a rebellion, there must be a legal reason for large-scale military activities without the approval of the court, and it is best to have a legal procedure, so that righteous actions can become legal actions and the coalition forces can become legal organizations.While everyone was scratching their heads over this question, Qiao Mao mysteriously took out something to cheer up the spirits of those who were about to join the alliance.

What Qiao Mao took out was an open letter signed by the three lords of the current dynasty to the people of the world (the three lords moved the letter).In this letter, Sangong told the world that the villain Dong Zhuo coerced the monarchs and ministers, spied on the country, and ruled lawlessly. He hoped that the people of the world would follow Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu to raise righteous soldiers and go to the national calamity. This letter came at the right time, so everyone's actions became a righteous act in response to Sangong's call, eradicating national traitors, supporting the emperor, and having a legal cloak.

Although it was understood that the letter had come so sooner or later, there were still many who believed it to be genuine.After Dong Zhuo became prime minister, the three princes of the imperial court were Taiwei Huang Wan, Situ Yang Biao, Sikong Xun Shuang, and Taifu Yuan Kui, all party members. It is not impossible to say that they jointly signed this open letter. Moreover, Qiao Mao is not an outsider, he is a son of the late Taiwei Qiao Xuan, a descendant of a high-ranking official, and has close contacts with the upper class in Luoyang.It is also easier for people to believe that Qiao Mao took out this letter, so Zhang Miao and others distributed this letter everywhere.

This letter was indeed forged by Qiao Mao.His purpose was first to help the coalition army, and second, to take the opportunity to praise Yuan Shao, because he was one of the people who admired Yuan Shao the most.However, this guy only cared about one side, and didn't care whether the letter's influence would be detrimental to Huang Wan and others who were still in Dong Zhuo's hands. The issue of legality was resolved, and the grand alliance ceremony was held as scheduled. In the first month of the first year of Chuping (190) of Emperor Xiandi of the Han Dynasty, people from all walks of life set up a mandala in Suanzao and made an oath together.On the issue of who should read the oath, everyone gave way to each other again.The recognized boss Yuan Shao was not there, and the rest of the people "don't dare to be", and finally unanimously recommended Zang Hong to read it.So Zang Hong stepped onto the mandala and read the following famous oath:

"Unfortunately for the Han Dynasty, the emperor's order was lost. The traitor Dong Zhuo took the opportunity to create chaos, murdered the emperor, and harmed the people. We are very worried that he will destroy the entire country and overthrow the world. Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, Kong, the governor of Yuzhou, Zhang Miao, the prefect of Chenliu, Qiao Mao, the governor of Dongjun County, Zhang Chao, the governor of Guangling County, and others gathered together the volunteers from all over the world to face the national disaster. All those who join the alliance must work together, with the integrity that a courtier should have, even if they throw their heads and blood, they will never give up. .If he violates the covenant, not only will he die, but he will also be cut off from his children and grandchildren! The queen of heaven, the land of the ancestors, the gods of the ancestors, please witness together!"

The oath was written concisely and loudly, and Zang Hong read it "generously, weeping and weeping", which had great appeal. All the people present, whether they were generals or ordinary soldiers, were extremely excited and moved by the great sense of justice. . This oath only mentions two assassins and three eunuchs, without the name of Cao Cao, because he currently does not have a legal official title, so it is inconvenient to write it in. More importantly, he is still only regarded as a member of the Zhang Miao Group. Ministry, this is the real situation after Cao Cao raised his troops.The allied forces promoted Yuan Shao as the leader. Nominally, Zhang Miao was Yuan Shao's subordinate, and Cao Cao was Zhang Miao's subordinate. This situation will continue for a short period of time.

In the list of Suanzao Huimeng, the name of Tao Qian, governor of Xuzhou, was not seen.In the winter of the fifth year of Zhongping (188), he was appointed governor of Xuzhou, responsible for suppressing the Yellow Turban Army.After Tao Qian took office, he used Zangba, Sun Guan and others from Taishan County to quickly defeat the Yellow Turban Army in the territory.Later, with the assistance of locals Chen Deng, Mi Zhu, Zhang Zhao, etc., Tao Qian controlled most of Xuzhou, and he was the strongest among the eastern states and counties. But his political attitude was very ambiguous. He neither opposed the current emperor nor Dong Zhuo. Others cut off contact with the court, and Tao Qian still paid tribute on time.He deliberately distanced himself from the Suanzao coalition forces, because he believed that the coalition forces had no future.Of course, he did not openly be an enemy of the coalition forces, and held a neutral attitude. The news of the Suanzao League created a great shock. This is the first time someone has openly played the banner of resisting Dong Zhuo. The total number of this team is more than 100,000. It is stationed in the east of Luoyang, and the straight line distance from Luoyang is less than four hundred miles.Dong Zhuo, who is entrenched in Luoyang, cannot underestimate this. This was just the beginning, the powder magazine that had been accumulated for a long time was ignited in an instant, and a larger scale of resistance immediately spread from north to south.