Seeing Liu Yao so excited, Xu Shao hurriedly advised: "Your Excellency, please do not be impulsive. Zuo Rong has taken the position of Yuzhang Prefecture Governor, which is indeed a rebellion. But now that you are going south to quell the rebellion, what should we do with Wu Prefecture?"
"You know, Sun Ce is still lurking by the Danyang River!"
After hearing this, Liu Yao calmed down a little and sighed heavily, saying, "Gong Wei (Zhu Jun) entrusted his son to me. If I cannot avenge his son, how can I face Wen Wei in my grave?"
"I regret not listening to you, sir, but the murder of Wenming (Zhu Hao) must be avenged."
"Please help me, sir!"
After hearing this, Xu Shao shook his head and sighed, "Sir, this is difficult."
"Sun Ce is a fierce tiger from Jiangdong. There are only a few people in the world who can defeat him."
Xu Shao actually felt very uncomfortable. He naturally knew that Taishi Ci and Sun Ce had fought and ended in a draw some time ago.
If they could join forces with Guangling, they might be able to force Sun Ce to retreat. However, Xu Shao had previously stated that he was not optimistic about Taishi Ci. Wouldn't it be a slap in his own face if he said it again now?
Speaking of which, Xu Shao looked down on people like Taishi Ci who came from humble backgrounds. In fact, Zhu Jun also came from a poor background, which led to the fact that Xu Shao and Zhu Hao did not have a close relationship. Therefore, he only mentioned the previous incident of Zuo Rong casually, which did not arouse the vigilance of Liu Yao and Zhu Hao.
On the other hand, Xu Shao did not like people with extreme personalities. In his opinion, Yuan Xi, Yuan Shao's former second son, who was now adopted by Yuan Ji, was too decisive in doing things, much like Cao Cao, whom he had previously been reluctant to criticize.
Thinking of this, he said, "Envoy, it is better to wait and see how things develop before making a plan."
"Although Guangling is nominally on good terms with us, if we show signs of weakness, who knows if they will join forces with Sun Ce to deal with us and divide up Yangzhou?"
Liu Yao sighed, "That being said, leaving Yuzhang County alone is not a solution. Now that I have occupied Yangzhou, only Wu County is left. What if Zuo Rong takes the opportunity to collude with Yuan Shu and attack Wu County from Yuzhang?"
Xu Shao was also at a loss for words after hearing this, so he said, "Sir, please allow me to go back and think about it."
He went back and racked his brains for several nights, but he could not come up with a solution to the problem. Instead, he was exhausted and physically weak, and caught a cold.
At first Xu Shao did not take it seriously, but after a few days, his condition worsened and he became bedridden. Although he consulted doctors many times, his condition did not improve and it looked like he would not survive the month.
When Liu Yao learned about this, he became even more panicked. Ever since the incident with Zuo Rong, he had been at a loss as to what to do. As a result, Fan Neng and Zhang Ying, who were fighting against Sun Ce on the river, were also affected. Their morale was low, and they suffered several defeats in a row, making it even more impossible to withstand Sun Ce's offensive.
The spies sent by Chen Deng and Taishi Ci had already lurked in various places in Wu County and reported back the news they had obtained.
The two men met and looked at the secret reports. They looked at each other in surprise when they learned that Zuo Rong had killed Zhu Hao, Xu Shao was seriously ill, and the Jiangdong defenders had suffered a series of defeats.
They thought that Liu Yao could still hold out against Sun Ce for at least one or two years, but they did not expect that Zuo Rong would rebel. In addition, Xu Shao was seriously ill and about to die. Liu Yao was alone and his subordinates could not fight against Sun Ce. If this continued, the situation would be dangerous!
Taishi Ci thought about it again and again, then suddenly raised his head and said, "I'm afraid Xu Shao won't live for many days."
"If he dies, I would like to go to Wu County to pay my respects under the pretext of attending his funeral."
"First, let's see if we can help Liu Yao defeat Sun Ce. Second, let's go and see with our own eyes the people that the young master cares about. If they are suitable, we will find someone to bring them back to Guangling."
Chen Deng heard this and said, "I'm afraid Liu Yao is afraid of you, general, and may not agree."
Taishi Ci said calmly: "It doesn't matter. I will go alone. Liu Yao has tens of thousands of troops. Can he be afraid of me?"
Chen Deng was still a little worried. "General, you are responsible for the safety of Guangling. Now you are taking the risk alone. If something goes wrong, how will I explain it to the envoy?"
Taishi Ci smiled and said, "Ci is not good at domestic affairs, but the governor is good at both military and political affairs, so there is no need to be modest."
Chen Deng had no choice but to agree.
The news that Zuo Rong killed Zhu Hao soon spread throughout the world, causing quite a stir.
Because Zuo Rong was famous in Xuzhou and Jiangdong areas for his worship of Buddha, many Buddhists regarded him as the reincarnation of a great Buddhist.
Therefore, Xuzhou is also the area with the most popular Buddhist worship. The Taiping Dao, which previously dominated the mainstream, was suppressed due to the Yellow Turban Rebellion and then went underground. Since then, it has been suppressed by Buddhism and cannot raise its head.
Now that Zuo Rong had killed three of his peers in succession, all of whom were well-known gentry, the Taiping Dao alchemists secretly thought that their chance had come, and began to spread the news that Zuo Rong was the reincarnation of an ancient evil ghost, taking the opportunity to secretly attack the Buddhists in Xuzhou.
The monks in the Xuzhou temples naturally could not accept this and began to fight back. Buddhism was obviously better at debate than the Taiping Dao, and its entire theoretical system was extremely self-consistent. After several rounds of arguing, the Taiping Dao was at a disadvantage.
Buddhism kills the heart, Taoism kills the person, and when the Taiping Dao alchemists saw that they could not win, they started to take action.
The people of Xuzhou were tough and ferocious. Most of these alchemists had joined the Yellow Turbans in a rebellion and had really killed people with their swords. The debating monks were no match for them and were immediately put in a miserable state.
Then the monks became enlightened. They thought that as long as they did not hide the armor privately, they would not violate the Han law. So they took out swords, guns, sticks and clubs, and the two sides started fighting. The situation escalated.
This was beyond Chen Deng's expectations. He had no good solution for this kind of dispute. Now that he saw that the two sides were fighting more and more fiercely, he wanted to take measures to stop it.
But Chen Deng changed his mind, and while sending a letter to Yuan Xi, he only asked officials to post notices, speaking of the dispute over Taoism and warning against harming innocent people, otherwise they would be severely punished.
As soon as this notice came out, both sides understood that as long as the people were not harmed, the government would not intervene!
Then keep fighting!
The dispute between Taoism and Buddhism at that time was actually related to the extremely important issue of dominance. The Taiping Dao relied on the Yellow Turban Rebellion and was suppressed, but it was not eradicated by the Han court. The reason was that not only the gentry, but also the royal family and even the emperor were devout believers in Taoism.
This is also the reason why the Taiping Dao infiltrated the eunuchs around Emperor Ling of Han during the Yellow Turban Rebellion.
Emperor Liu Xie, who has temporarily established his capital in Anyi, also believes so, but it seems that nothing works in the face of the current predicament.
He raised his head and saw a dozen Baibo soldiers lying on the courtyard wall, laughing and playing, pointing at Empress Fu, Concubine Dong and other female relatives around him, and clenching their fists in their sleeves.
He concealed his anger and said to General Dong Cheng, "They went too far."
After hearing this, Dong Cheng ordered the palace maid to drive away the Baibo soldiers. However, after the palace maid said a few words, several Baibo soldiers jumped off the courtyard wall, pinned the palace maid to the ground and beat her up.
The wailing of the palace maids could be heard, and Liu Xie was shaking with anger. These Baibo Army soldiers, who came from bandits, didn't even take his status as the emperor seriously!
Li Jue and Guo Si at least gave him some face. The Baibo Army had no bottom line. His situation did not change at all!
At this time, a general walked into the yard, grabbed several Baibo soldiers and dragged them out. He was very strong, and the Baibo soldiers floundered on the ground and started cursing.
When they saw who was coming, they found out it was Xu Huang, a general under Yang Feng, who had just been granted the title of Marquis of Duting. They immediately swallowed back the curse that was about to come out of their mouths.
Xu Huang was born in the Baibo bandits and had much more seniority, so these soldiers dared not resist and had to be dragged out obediently.
Xu Huang shouted and cursed a few more times, and the soldiers on the wall reluctantly fled.
Liu Xie saw this and his expression eased a little. He said to Dong Cheng, "My dear, do you think this is okay?"
Dong Cheng was also helpless. He originally thought that Yang Feng obeyed his orders, but as soon as Li Lehu of the Baibo Army arrived, Yang Feng's power grew, and there was a tendency for him to be sidelined!
He was secretly swearing in his heart, thinking, Yang Feng, you dare to bully me, just because you were born a Baibo bandit!
Dong Cheng looked around to see if there were any outsiders, took two steps forward, and whispered, "It's not that there is no way."
"Yanzhou Mu Cao Mengde is loyal to the Han Dynasty, and he is a Taoist immortal who has descended to the earth. He will definitely be able to support the Han Dynasty and become a powerful assistant to the emperor!"
"If the emperor issues an edict and orders them to come and meet him, and he leads his army to Luoyang, those who are disrespectful to the emperor will be as useless as chickens and dogs!"
Liu Xie listened with great interest: "I remember him. He wanted to assassinate Dong Zhuo."
Dong Cheng's heart skipped a beat. "That's because he doesn't know the inside story, but his heart for the emperor is obvious."
Liu Xie listened, but did not comment. He said, "Cao's ancestor Cao Shen believed in Huang-Lao. During the reign of Emperor Huan, Cao Teng was ordered to participate in the compilation of Laozi Inscription and to practice Huang-Lao in the Zhulong Temple of the Northern Palace. At that time, everyone said that the Han Dynasty was exhausted and the Huang family should be established."
"Now if Cao Cao is a Taoist deity, what does he worship?"
"I have heard that Qiao Xuan once said to Cao Cao, 'The world is about to be in chaos, and the one who can keep the people safe is you, right?'"
"He can keep the people safe, but what about me?"
Dong Cheng's heart skipped a beat, cold sweat broke out, and he said hurriedly, "I really don't know."
Liu Xie chuckled and said, "I just said it casually, don't think too much about it."
"I also heard that the Youzhou governor Yuan Xianyi is also a Taoist immortal?"
Dong Cheng heard this and forced a smile, saying, "The Yuan family respects Meng's Yi, which is a Confucian school. Yuan Xi is obviously making up rumors, so don't take them seriously."
Liu Xie listened and nodded, saying: "Whether to respect Confucianism or Huang-Lao is not a problem. Whoever can save the world and me from danger is a loyal minister."
"In this case, I will issue a secret decree to Cao Cao."
Dong Cheng felt relieved after hearing this and immediately bowed to accept the order.
However, Liu Xie looked over Dong Cheng's shoulder at the sky outside the yard, thinking that too many lice would not bite people. The Han Dynasty was already so dilapidated, how could there be any truly loyal ministers?
If the house is about to collapse, would anyone be willing to live in it?
In the west city of Yuzhang County, Zhuge Xuan sighed, "I didn't expect Zhu Hao to die before me. It's really fate that plays tricks on me."
When Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou, Zhuge Xuan fled from Langya County with his family, took Yuan Shu's letter, and went to Yuzhang County to take up his post.
Although there were many twists and turns along the way and he was almost discovered by Cao's army, he finally escaped, headed south to Yangzhou, and successfully arrived in Yuzhang.
After Zhuge Xuan took office, the Eastern Han court appointed Zhu Hao to replace Zhuge Xuan as the prefect of Yuzhang. After Zhu Hao took office, he discovered that Yuan Shu had secretly appointed Zhuge Xuan, so he asked the Yangzhou governor Liu Yao to send troops to attack Zhuge Xuan together.
Zhuge Xuan was defeated by Zhu Hao and retreated to Xicheng, the border between Yuzhang and Changsha County of Jingzhou. But now he realized that Zhu Hao was killed by Zuo Rong, who was also a subordinate of Liu Yao!
While Zhuge Xuan was sighing, he was also glad in his heart, because he was beaten by Zhu Hao and was about to run away!
Seeing that Zhuge Xuan still had hope, Zhuge Liang on the side poured cold water on him and said, "Uncle, Zuo Rong is even more cruel than Zhu Hao. It is better for him to leave Yuzhang as soon as possible."