Liu Xie raised his head and took a deep breath. Although his situation hadn't changed in the slightest, he was no longer the ignorant self of a few years ago.
The news of Guo Si's secret order for the convoy to return was privately reported to Liu Xie. In other words, most people were still in the dark, and there was still a chance to salvage the situation!
Liu Xie would absolutely not return to Chang'an. Guo Si, it seemed, had already realized this along the way, and he was gradually being isolated by Liu Xie!
Currently, Yang Ding, Yang Feng, Dong Cheng, and even Zhang Ji were all gradually leaning towards Liu Xie. Although Guo Si was nominally the leader of the group, he left no room for maneuver in his actions and was beginning to be abandoned by more and more people.
In fact, the only one who truly aligned with Guo Si was his former comrade, Li Jue. Although the two had fallen out at the beginning of the year, leading to the devastation of Chang'an, they realized after much back and forth that others were even less reliable!
Therefore, Guo Si's secret order for the convoy to return west might very well be with the intention of joining forces with Li Jue again. Liu Xie had just escaped the tiger's den of Chang'an; how could he willingly return?
He had to change the current situation dominated by Guo Si and find a way to continue returning to Luoyang!
Liu Xie sent trusted aides to find reliable ministers, conveying his oral instructions. Finally, Liu Xie announced to everyone that he would host a banquet for the ministers that evening.
After the news spread, the civil and military officials all understood that something was bound to happen.
Many people felt both joy and worry. They were joyful because, in recent days, Liu Xie had demonstrated an astonishing ability to control the situation. At his age, he was doing far better than most of his ancestors.
However, some clear-headed ministers also had concerns. Liu Xie's personality was too unyielding. Although he didn't show it on the surface, he was extremely ambitious in his heart and was unwilling to compromise, often fighting to the death with those who pressured him.
The banquet proceeded as scheduled. During the banquet, Guo Si, holding a wine cup, half-threatened and half-persuaded that the convoy should not continue eastward.
Facing Liu Xie, he raised his head and stated, "Your Majesty, the road ahead is dangerous; we cannot go any further."
Liu Xie leaned forward slightly: "What makes you say that, General?"
Guo Si had already prepared his explanation and said, "Your Majesty, ahead lies Sili, which is now caught in war. If we continue west, we will be affected by the flames of war, endangering Your Majesty's life."
Liu Xie feigned surprise: "Oh? I heard that Jizhou and Yanzhou are embroiled in endless battles. How is it that Sili is also fighting?"
"What exactly is going on?"
Guo Si didn't expect Liu Xie to play dumb, and his expression darkened.
Since you don't appreciate my kindness, don't blame me for being blunt!
He raised his head and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, the rebel Lu Bu first started a rebellion in Yanzhou, occupying a commandery. Now, he has invaded Sili, heading north into Henei and approaching Luoyang from the west!"
"If Your Majesty returns to Luoyang, that rebel Lu will surely endanger Your Majesty's life!"
Liu Xie's expression remained unchanged, but his heart gradually turned cold.
That was the Marquis Wen whom I personally appointed, the one you forced away!
And Situ Wang Yun was also killed by you!
Although Liu Xie had been held hostage and exploited by powerful ministers since his ascension to the throne, in Liu Xie's view, Li Jue and Guo Si were undoubtedly the worst of the lot, far worse than Wang Yun and Dong Zhuo.
No matter what, Dong Zhuo still used the late Emperor Ling's decree as an excuse to depose Liu Bian and support Liu Xie's ascension to the throne.
And although Wang Yun and Lu Bu were not entirely compatible, they were willing to relinquish power. Just when Liu Xie thought that as he grew older, he could gradually seize power and restore the glory of the Great Han, Li Jue, Guo Si, and Fan Chou led troops to attack Chang'an, shattering Liu Xie's beautiful dream once again.
They drove away Lu Bu, killed Wang Yun, and completely controlled the Han court, returning everything to square one.
Now, Liu Xie saw Guo Si using Lu Bu as an excuse again, threatening him with impunity, but Liu Xie couldn't openly express his views on this.
He raised his head and surveyed the civil and military officials below the hall. Most of them lowered their heads and remained silent.
Wang Yun's administrative abilities were problematic, and he had offended many people, which led to many officials watching the excitement when he was killed. Some of the officials below the hall had even participated in the event and naturally wouldn't speak.
And some others, although they wanted to speak frankly, were afraid of Guo Si and also acted like ostriches.
Seeing everyone silent, Guo Si was feeling smug when someone stood up.
He said loudly: "The late Situ Wang Yun and the late Sili Commandant Huang Wan were meritorious to the country; allow them to be buried with the honors they deserve!"
Everyone was shocked and raised their heads, only to see that the speaker was Shi Sunrui, the Commandant of the Guards and Minister of the Imperial Secretariat!
Shi Sunrui, from Pingling County, Youfufeng, inherited his family's business at a young age and was knowledgeable in everything. He started his career as a Lieutenant of Eagles and Falcons, and was later promoted to Commandant of the Capital Guards and Grand Master of Guanglu.
During the Chuping era, he was appointed Minister of the Imperial Secretariat and joined forces with Situ Wang Yun and General of the Household Lu Bu to kill Dong Zhuo.
Because Wang Yun monopolized the credit for subduing Dong Zhuo, Shi Sunrui avoided retaliation when Luoyang was captured by Li Jue and Guo Si and was able to escape.
But he had long become a thorn in Guo Si's side. He was upright and fearless, and now, in a court where everyone was silent, he resolutely stood up again.
While the civil and military officials secretly admired his courage, they also held their breath. Guo Si had troops in his hands, and with just one order, Shi Sunrui would be beheaded!
Sure enough, Guo Si revealed a fierce look, slammed his hand down, and said coldly, "Two rebels, what need is there to overturn their verdicts? Do you want to follow after them?"
Shi Sunrui also glared angrily: "Do you want to repeat what happened in Luoyang?"
Guo Si was furious and gripped the hilt of his sword. The guards behind him also stepped forward.
Shi Sunrui, however, did not retreat but advanced, taking two steps forward and glaring at Guo Si.
Guo Si hesitated. In recent years, he had been guided by his strategist Jia Xu and had become somewhat smarter. He was no longer the Liang Province military general who only knew how to chop off heads.
Killing Shi Sunrui was easy, but it would inevitably arouse the resentment of the civil and military officials and the Han Emperor. More importantly, it would give Yang Feng, Zhang Ji, and others who had been eyeing him an excuse.
He pressed down on the hilt of his sword, snorted coldly, and turned to leave in large strides.
Although he would not personally take action and kill Shi Sunrui in court, he had plenty of ways to do it behind the scenes.
Seeing Guo Si leave, the civil and military officials all breathed a sigh of relief. They knew that Guo Si was vengeful, and their gazes towards Shi Sunrui were filled with pity, knowing that he would have a difficult time.
Shi Sunrui, however, slowly looked around at the officials, his gaze calm, as if saying, 'All of you here are so pathetic!'
Liu Xie also did not dare to look directly at Shi Sunrui's gaze. He slightly turned his face away, his heart extremely complicated. Was it worth it to harm Shi Sunrui like this?
Yuan Xi did not know what was happening in the Han court thousands of miles away, but in his plan, he would inevitably intersect with the Han court on his path forward sooner or later.
Of course, this was conditional.
Capture Yi Jing, occupy You Province, and then defeat the Black Mountain bandits, opening up the Taihang Mountain passage from Zhuo Commandery to Henei.
Yuan Xi didn't know if he could do it in a year, and could only proceed step by step for the time being.
Currently, the most important thing was, of course, to attack Yi Jing and defeat Gongsun Zan.
He looked at the vaguely visible outline of Yi Jing city in the distance. From several miles outside the city walls to the hills beneath Yuan Xi's feet, stretching for more than ten miles, were the Yuan army's camps spread all over the mountains.
He jumped off his horse, and Sun Li came up to lead the horse away.
Yuan Xi led Guo Jia, Zhao Yun, and Taishi Ci into the camp. The generals inside stood solemnly, and sitting at the head was none other than Yuan Shao.
This time, Yuan Shao personally led a large army to sit in town outside Yi Jing City!
Yuan Xi glanced around and found that except for Yuan Shang, who was stationed in Ye City, and a few strategists and generals, almost everyone else had arrived.
Yuan Tan, Ju Shou, Tian Feng, Shen Pei, Guo Tu, Chunyu Qiong, Wen Chou, Zhang He...
This was an all-out effort, to accomplish everything in one battle!
Yuan Xi strode forward and bowed, saying, "Yuan Xi, the governor of Zhuo Commandery, leads two hundred cavalry and three thousand infantry, arriving on time according to orders!"
Yuan Shao nodded and pointed to an empty seat. Yuan Xi saw this and led Guo Jia and the other two to stand still.
Yuan Shao said to Yuan Tan, "Tell Xianyi about the current situation."
Yuan Tan said, "After my father and I joined forces and arrived the day before yesterday, the two sides fought, and Gongsun Zan's army was defeated and retreated into the city to defend it."
"Now the craftsmen are assembling siege equipment, preparing to attack the city in the next few days."
"Currently, the dispute among everyone is whether to surround the city without attacking, waiting for reinforcements to come and eliminate them."
"Or to seize the time to attack the city and capture Yi Jing before the reinforcements arrive."
Yuan Xi was stunned. Did Gongsun Zan still have reinforcements?
Yuan Tan seemed to see Yuan Xi's thoughts and said, "We received news that Zhang Yan of the Black Mountain bandits has dispatched an army of 100,000, preparing to rescue Yi Jing in three routes."
Yuan Xi was shocked. He had just left, and the Black Mountain bandits had moved?
Moreover, if there really were 100,000 people, even if only 30,000 of them were soldiers, the pressure on Yi Jing would be considerable.
He suddenly thought that if these 100,000 people were scattered, the Black Mountain bandits would collapse, and wouldn't the Taihang Mountain passage be empty?
He immediately banished this thought from his mind. One couldn't get fat with just one bite. Zhang Yan wasn't an ordinary person either. He had fought with Yuan Shao's army for several years and hadn't been wiped out, so he was still very capable.
Ju Shou said, "Calculating the distance of the Black Mountain bandits to Yi Jing, if we can take Yi Jing with all our strength before Zhang Yan's army arrives, we will have at most about a month."
"In that case, we will have to abandon all the towns along the way."
"If we divide our troops to defend and block the Black Mountain bandits from exiting the Taihang Mountains, we will have to separate our troops and set off now to intercept them."
"In that case, we will not be able to attack the city with all our strength. If Yi Jing cannot be taken and the Black Mountain bandits cannot be defended, we will return without success."
After hearing this, everyone discussed it, expressing their opinions, but after a full hour, they still didn't come to any conclusion.
Yuan Xi knew that although the Battle of Yi Jing was almost an open-book test for him, there was a big difference between anticipation and actual operation. The history of later generations and the direction of this world could not be completely the same. If there were slight mistakes, the results might be very different.
The focus of everyone's dispute was whether they could capture Yi Jing by attacking with all their strength.
Although Yuan Shao claimed to have an army of 100,000, Gongsun Zan also had tens of thousands of people in the city. Defending the city with all their strength, coupled with abundant food and grass, it was indeed difficult to capture.
Unless there was a variable.
Yuan Xi didn't care anymore. He only had one goal now: to capture Yi Jing as soon as possible.
He said, "We must find a way to lure their main force out of the city to eliminate them before we can attack the city."
Everyone thought that this made sense, but the key was, how would the other party come out?
Yuan Xi said in a deep voice, "The early stage will definitely be a war of attrition. The key point is a few days before the Black Mountain bandits are about to arrive."
He said his idea, and everyone shook their heads at first, thinking that this idea was too risky!
Yuan Xi said, "If we don't divide our troops to resist the Black Mountain bandits, if the two sides meet, our army will inevitably suffer."
Tian Feng said, "Even if the son's plan succeeds and our army attacks the city, those hundreds of watchtowers will not be easy to capture, and it may take another month."
Yuan Xi said something else, and everyone's eyes lit up. This method did sound feasible!
Ju Shou was surprised. He had privately suggested this method to Yuan Shao, but he didn't expect Yuan Xi to think of it too!
He said, "But a few days is too short. If the Black Mountain bandits speed up their march, they will block us in the city, making it difficult to advance or retreat."
Yuan Xi said, "So someone needs to hold them back, but not too far, just a few days' journey away."
After hearing this, the strategists felt that this idea was feasible. Yuan Xi finally said, "Of course, this is just a last resort. Maybe the city will be breached before that?"
After hearing this, Yuan Shao showed a smile on his face: "What Xianyi said makes the most sense. If we don't fight a battle first, who knows what will happen?"
"We will start attacking the city the day after tomorrow!"