Dong Zhuo's chaotic government, the most criticized is to support the Han Emperor, the emperor is good you Dong Zhuo why abolish Chang Li young? Therefore, the legitimacy of Emperor Xian of Han was generally not recognized among the Kwantung princes represented by Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shao even tried to support Liu Yu, a highly respected patriarch.
After Dong Zhuo moved the capital to Chang'an, the imperial court sent five high-ranking officials, including Han Rong and Hu Muban, to the Kwantung to appease them. These people were the top warriors who cooperated with Dong Zhuo, and Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu did not hesitate to raise their butcher knives and execute them all, only Han Rong, who was extremely virtuous, saved his life and was only expelled. The Kwantung Qunxiong represented by Yuan Shao completely denied the legitimacy of the Chang'an imperial court under Dong Zhuo's control.
Dong Zhuo, a powerful minister at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Image source/Screenshot of the 94th edition of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms
After Dong Zhuo's death, the Liangzhou Wuren clique under his command, represented by Li Dai and Guo Feng, took control of the imperial court after the army entered Chang'an and executed Wang Yun and others, and also sent high-ranking officials to the Kwantung many times as ambassadors. At this time, these envoys and the authority of the Chang'an court behind them were widely recognized by warlords such as the Yuan brothers, Cao Cao, and Gongsun Zhan. For example, Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zhan fought in the dark, and the imperial court sent an envoy Zhao Qi to mediate, and the two sides accepted mediation and ceased hostilities for a long time. Few people have noticed that at this time, the people who controlled the imperial court were Li Dai, Guo Feng and other Liangzhou warriors who "could not do anything but fight and kill people and set fires" in our impression.
Then, why were Li Dai, Guo Feng, and others stronger than Dong Zhuo's political level, able to cooperate with the group of scholars who remained in the dprk to dissolve the second Kwantung anti-Liangzhou alliance without bloodshed, and let the Kwantung princes recognize the authority of the imperial court? After defusing the hostility with the Kwantung princes, why did it quickly lead to extinction?
Li Dai and Guo Feng rose to prominence in the chaotic Liangzhou mid-level warriors
In the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", everyone's impression of Dong Zhuo's camp is probably that the war mainly depends on Lü Bu, and the strategy mainly depends on Li Ru. In the main history, both Lü Bu and Li Ru had a rather limited position and role in Dong Zhuo's camp. Except for poisoning the deposed Emperor Shao of Han, Li Ru had almost no military and political deeds. So, what was the composition of the military generals in The Dong Zhuo camp in history?
The second person in Dong Zhuo's camp is undoubtedly his brother Dong Min. As early as when He Jin was killed by the Ten Constant Attendants, Dong Min held a military position in the capital Luoyang, and together with He Jin's confidant Wu Kuang, he attacked and killed He Jin's half-brother He Miao. He Miao changed his surname after his mother remarried to the He family, and has always been close to eunuchs. Dong Min paved the way for Dong Zhuo to control the situation in advance after he entered the capital, and was even given the title of General of the Left, and was killed after Dong Zhuo's death.
In addition to Dong Min, the five highest-ranking generals of the Dong Zhuo clique when they entered Beijing were Niu Fu, Dong Yue, Duan Sheng, Hu Yun, and Xu Rong.
Niu Fu was Dong Zhuo's son-in-law, there is no record of Dong Zhuo's son in history, Dong Zhuo stayed in the army on the periphery after moving west to Guanzhong, Niu Fu was the strongest, so his status was the highest among the Zhonglang generals. Dong Yue may be a distant relative of Dong Zhuo or simply the same surname.
Duan Xi was a member of the clan of Duan Xi, the first famous foreign general in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, who inherited part of Duan Xi's political legacy, and it was Duan Xi who recommended Dong Zhuo to the imperial court.
Hu Yi and another man named Yang Ding are referred to in the history books as "Lord Liangzhou", a member of the Liangzhou clan that joined Dong Zhuo's clique.
Xu Rong was the most famous of these people, because he had defeated Cao Cao and Sun Jian and almost killed them on the battlefield.
Xu Rong was not from Liangzhou, he was born in Liaodong, and held a high position among the Soldiers of Liangzhou, which was probably related to Duan Xi: Duan Xi, who was born in Liangzhou, rose all the way to the top after making meritorious contributions to the Xianbei people in Liaodong, and Xu Rong's early years were probably military talents excavated by Duan Xi in Liaodong and followed Duan Xi into the Liangzhou military system. As for Lü Bu, after throwing himself at Dong Zhuo, his official position was only that of a Zhonglang general, and when he went out on the expedition, he was once subject to the restraint of Hu Yun, who was also a Zhonglang general.
Lü Bu. Source/Screenshot of the 94th edition of Romance of the Three Kingdoms
After Dong Zhuo's death, Duan Sheng, Hu Yun, and Xu Rong all surrendered to the imperial court. Niu Fu and Dong Yue refused to surrender, and Niu Fu also defeated the imperial court's crusading army. But what happened next proved Niu Fu's incompetence: he first set fire to Dong Yue, then suspected that some of his men would kill him and ask the imperial court for credit, so he abandoned the army and absconded with his belongings and cronies. Niu Fu's eyes were also poisonous, and the selected cronies really killed him and absconded with the money.
At this point, the factor of instability seems to have been eliminated, and the troops of Niu Fu and Dong Yue, who initially refused to surrender, are now leaderless and ready to return to their hometowns. However, Jia Xu, a strategist in niu's auxiliary army, changed the course of history. He pointed out that now the Liangzhou soldiers can only grasp the initiative if they reorganize and march into Chang'an. In this way, Li Dai and Guo Feng were pushed to the forefront.
Li Dai and Guo Feng were previously just ordinary lieutenants in the Niu Auxiliary Army, but their reputation for good warfare had long spread among the Liangzhou Army. At the beginning, Sun Jian stared at Dong Zhuo and beat him fiercely, and also defeated Lü Bu, Dong Zhuo was quite troubled, and a man named Liu Ai once said to Dong Zhuo: "Sun Jian's use of troops is not as good as Li Dai and Guo Feng, and he was almost killed in battle when he went on an expedition to the Northwest Qiang people before, and there was nothing to be afraid of." It can be seen that in the eyes of the people of the time, the combat level of Li Dai and Guo Feng is very high. Dong Zhuo trusted Li Dai and once sent him as an emissary to discuss marriage with Sun Jian.
Before Dong Zhuo's death, Li Dai and Guo Feng had already proved themselves on the battlefield, and they defeated Zhu Juan, the main general of the Yellow Turban. Zhu Yan remained in the area around Luoyang, and was supported by the army and materials of Tao Qian and other local powerful factions. Dong Zhuo sent Niu Fu to suppress it, and Li Dai, Guo Feng, Zhang Ji, and others in Niu Fu's army performed well and defeated the famous general Zhu Juan. As Niu Fu abandoned the army and fled and was killed, Li Dai and Guo Feng, who were originally only middle-level warriors in the army, were generally elected by the army and went to the front.
Guo Feng once led his troops to defeat Lü Bu. Source/Screenshot of the new Three Kingdoms
Li Dai and Guo Feng led dong Zhuo's remnants to march towards Chang'an. The imperial court sent a crusading army, but Wang Yun and Lü Bu were at odds, and the commanders of the crusading army were Xu Rong and Hu Yun of the former Dong Zhuo's department. Hu Yun fell to the rebels, and Xu Rong was killed. The rebels eventually occupied Chang'an. Wang Yun was killed, Lü Bu fled, and liangzhou rebels burned in Chang'an.
By this time, the Liangzhou army that had avenged its late lord Dong Zhuo seemed to be only able to kill and destroy. Surprisingly, they then began to restore order in the Guanzhong region and increased the legitimacy of the imperial court.
Liangzhou warriors cooperated with the imperial court scholars to peacefully dissolve the Second Kwantung Alliance and re-establish authority. In the campaign led by Li Dai and Guo Feng to attack Chang'an, Tai Chang Zhongfu, Tai Shu Lu Kui, Dahong Qi Zhou Yi, Chengmen Colonel Cui Lie, and Yue Cavalry Lieutenant Wang Qi were killed in battle. However, after the destruction of the city, although the Liangzhou soldiers wantonly burned and looted, their retaliation for assassinating Dong Zhuo was very limited. In addition to the assassination of Dong's mastermind Wang Yun and his two close associates Song Yi and Wang Hong, only Huang Wan, a lieutenant who held military power and participated in the assassination of Dong, was arrested and killed. Sun Rui, another mastermind who assassinated Dong Zhuo, deteriorated after Dong Zhuo's death with the increasingly domineering Wang Yun, so he sent his family to Jingzhou and left himself in the imperial court. After the Liangzhou army broke the city, it didn't bother him, let alone kill him. Emperor Fusong, a military strongman who led the army to kill all the Dong Zhuo people, was not embarrassed and continued to hold important positions in the imperial court.
After killing Wang Yun and several other threatening people, the Liangzhou army announced amnesty in the name of Emperor Xian of Han, and the murder of Dong Zhuo was turned over. Wang Yun's old subordinate Zhao Jian (赵戬) collected his body for him and was not prosecuted for this, and Zhao Jian's uncle Zhao Qi (赵岐) was soon appointed ambassador to appease the princes of Kwantung. In contrast, after Wang Yun killed Dong Zhuo, Cai Wenji's father, the famous scholar Cai Yong, was executed simply because he sighed, and another famous scholar, Ding Yansi, was also executed because he was weighed by Dong Zhuo. These two celebrities did not follow Dong Zhuo's deeds of evil deeds, nor did they have a clear attitude of collecting Dong Zhuo's corpse. It can be said that although the Liangzhou soldiers killed a lot during the attack, they showed amazing restraint after entering the city. Li Guo, a few big old and rough soldiers, were able to appear restrained and politically wise after victory, which was related to the advice and restraint of Jia Xu, the mastermind of the Liangzhou Army.
After cleaning up Dong Zhuo's old case, the Liangzhou soldiers and the secretaries of state in the imperial court cooperated effectively. At this time, the main influential secretaries of state in the court included: Huang Fusong, a famous general who suppressed the Yellow Turban, Zhou Yu's cousin Zhou Zhong, Yang Biao, the father of Yang Xiu, a representative figure of the Yang clan of Hongnong and married to the Yuan family, Sun Rui, one of the masterminds of the assassination of Dong Zhuo, and the high-ranking Taifu Ma Riju and the servant Zhao Qi. After Dong Zhuo held the imperial court hostage and moved westward, the political influence and political resources of these people were greatly weakened, and they lost their first-mover advantage over the princes who had begun to divide the Kwantung. In order to maintain and expand its position and influence in the ensuing chaotic world, it was necessary for the imperial court to regain its authority. Therefore, the Liangzhou soldiers showed great restraint in the process of revenge for Dong Zhuo, and then the Gongqing Shifu and the Liangzhou military group committed to restoring the authority of the imperial court, and the imperial court in Chang'an began to operate normally.
Only two months after the Liangzhou soldiers invaded Chang'an, the imperial court sent Taifu Ma Ribao and Taifu Zhao Qi to comfort the world. Ma Riqiu marched south into Jingzhou, and Liu Biao, the assassin of Jingzhou, sent envoys to Chang'an to pay tribute and was promoted to Jingzhou Pastor. Later, Ma Riju entered the Yuan Shu Realm, but Yuan Shu, who already had an unintended heart, stole his runes and detained him to become a military master, so angry that he fell ill and died in the Yuan Shu Realm. Zhao Qi marched north into the hebei border, successfully promoting an armistice between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zhan, but was fooled by Yuan Shao on the issue of fengying Emperor Han to return to Luoyang without practical results. Later, Duan Xun, who was sent out by the imperial court to mediate the dispute between Liu Yu and Gongsun Zhan, was coerced by Gongsun Zhan and became his nominal authorizer to kill Liu Yu. In any case, compared to dong Zhuo's envoys to the Kwantung princes who were almost killed by Yuan Shao's brothers, the authority of the envoys of the imperial court this time was ostensibly respected. Compared with the imperial court in Dong Zhuo's time, which was generally regarded as a puppet regime, the Kwantung princes were now at least willing to recognize the legitimacy of the imperial court and use the imperial court to achieve their own goals.
One side overlord Yuan Shao. Source/Stills from the new Three Kingdoms
At the end of the year in which Li Dai and Guo Feng led the Liangzhou army to control Chang'an, Shi Taoqian of Xuzhou summoned a bunch of Taishou and State Ministers from Guandong and jointly elected Zhu Juan as a Taishi, under the banner of welcoming Tianzi and attacking the Liangzhou soldiers, and issued official documents to local governors to seek support. This was the second alliance in the Kwantung region against the Liangzhou Army after the anti-Dong Zhuo alliance. Due to the bad relationship between the Yuan brothers at that time, most of the Kwantung Qunxiong were in the melee. Most of the members involved in the Kwantung Alliance had less influence, and the more well-known ones were Kong Rong and Zheng Xuan, but these two people were not famous in history because of their military and political abilities, but because of their status as confucians and celebrities. This alliance can be described as thunderous and rainy, but it is still a challenge to the legitimacy of the Liangzhou Army led by Li Dai and Guo Feng.
Li Dai asked Jia Xu and Zhou Zhong for countermeasures, and the answer he got was very simple: Just draw a salary from the bottom of the cauldron and recruit Zhu Juan, the leader of the alliance and the famous general recommended by these people, into the dynasty. Zhu Juan had an independent armed force at this time, and there was also the support of Tao Qian and others, but on the one hand, Li Dai and Guo Feng defeated Dong Zhuo before he died, on the other hand, the strength and motives of Tao Qian and others were questionable. In contrast, the Liangzhou soldiers and the Gongqing scholar-doctor class on the Chang'an court temporarily cooperated happily, and the suggestion for recruiting him came from Zhou Zhong, and the famous general Emperor Fusong, who was equally famous as himself, also successively held important positions such as Taiwei, Guanglu Dafu, and Taichang. Zhu Juan thought that Li and Guo, the younger generations, would not do anything to themselves, so he resigned Tao Qian's recommendation and was summoned to the dprk.
When Tao Qian saw that the allies he was preparing to support directly entered the dynasty, he simply sent emissaries to meet Emperor Xian of Han and pay tribute, which was considered to be an acknowledgement of the Liangzhou Army's control over the imperial court. The imperial court also repaid Li with peach and promoted Tao Qian to Xuzhou Mu. In this way, Li Dai and Guo Feng achieved a goal that Dong Zhuo had not been able to achieve before his death: the main princes of the Kwantung had ostensibly acknowledged the Eastern Han court under the control of the Liangzhou Army, and the hostility between the Liangzhou Army and the Kwantung princes was temporarily over.
The Battle of Changpingguan led to the division and civil war between Dong Zhuo's old forces and Guo Feng
After ending their hostilities with the Kwantung Qunxiong in the east, Li Dai and Guo Feng encountered new troubles: Han Sui and Ma Teng in the west. Although Dong Zhuo's troops were mainly Liangzhou soldiers, the Eastern Han Court had long since lost control of Liangzhou itself. A large number of soldiers of the Han and Qiang tribes rebelled against the Han around the same time as the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and they abducted and supported some of the local Hao clans as leaders. After the game, Han Sui killed several other rebel leaders and became a large warlord with 100,000 troops, while Emperor Han Ling and He Jin were still alive. Later, the Liangzhou rebellion further expanded, and Ma Chao's father Ma Teng also joined the rebel army and became a force that competed with Han Sui. The rebels from Liangzhou briefly advanced into Chang'an in the last years of the Han Ling Emperor's reign, but were reluctantly repulsed near Chen Cang by Han forces led by Emperor Fusong and Dong Zhuo. Subsequently, the Han army counterattacked into Liangzhou under the leadership of Dong Zhuo, Sun Jian and others, but was defeated by the rebels, and Dong Zhuo's entire division with smaller losses was counted as meritorious service. Subsequently, Han Sui, Ma Teng, and others competed with each other for territory, and did not attack Guanzhong for a short time, but the imperial court was also powerless to prevent them from dividing liangzhou.
After Dong Zhuo moved the capital to Chang'an, he naturally wanted to gather these two Liangzhou compatriots to fight against the Kwantung princes. The two sides reached a preliminary cooperation intention, Han Sui and Ma Teng led troops to meet Dong Zhuo, and as a result, Dong Zhuo was assassinated on the road. After Li Dai and Guo Feng came to power, Feng Hansui was made the general of Zhenxi and Ma Teng the general of Zhenxi, and he also gave up some of the territory in Guanzhong, and even the county where Dong Zhuo intended to retire before his death was handed over to Ma Teng to garrison, which was only about a hundred kilometers away from Chang'an City.
By the beginning of 194 AD, it had been a year and a half since Li Dai and Guo Feng had captured Chang'an, and the situation in Guanzhong was generally stable during this period. However, Li Dai and Guo Feng, as warriors from humble origins, started with pure violence, and there were many people who did not obey them in their hearts. At this time, Ma Teng, who was stationed in Yi County, west of Chang'an, asked Li Dai for help, but Li Dai did not agree. Ma Teng, enraged, recruited troops to prepare for a military solution, and refused to mediate by the envoys of Emperor Xian of Han. After Han Sui arrived under the banner of mediation, he and Ma Teng allied with Li Dai, Guo Feng, and others.
Dong Zhuo loves Li Dai. Source/Stills from the new Three Kingdoms
During these hours of Ma Teng's garrison in Yu County, he had frequent contacts with the imperial court, so he developed a lot of internal responses. The Counselor Master Zhongshao and the Servant Ma Yu both secretly joined his camp. In addition, Liu Yan, the pastor of Yizhou, was deeply involved in the matter, and his two sons Liu Fan and Liu Shi joined Ma Teng's side. These inner beings should flee westward to the Right Wind Realm because of the revelation of the matter. At his son's request, Liu Yan sent an army of 5,000 men from Yizhou to be reinforced by a general named Sun Zhao. These people were responsible for protecting the rear of Han Sui and Ma Teng's army and did not participate in the war.
Han Sui and Ma Tengjun fought a decisive battle with Li Daifang at a place called Changpingguan. Li Dai himself remained in the imperial court, and the front-line generals were mainly his nephews Li Li, Guo Feng, and Fan Chou. Initially, Li Li's troops fought fiercely with Han Sui and Ma Teng's army, which was unfavorable. Fan Chou, who thought he was more qualified, was furious and made people say to Li Li: "Others want your uncle's head, do you dare not fight hard, thinking that I can't kill you?" In the end, Li, Guo, and Fan's three men broke the Han and Ma departments. Subsequently, they defeated and beheaded Zong Shao, Liu Fan, Liu Shi, and others, leaving Liu Yan with only one son, Liu Zhang, who was weak. On the way to the defeat of Han and Ma, Fan Chou, who was pursuing, had an old relationship with Han Sui, and he also knew the truth of poor Kou Mochai, so he and Han Sui talked very happily, and then stopped pursuing.
Initially, after Li Dai and Guo Feng entered Chang'an, Li Dai served as a che general and concurrently served as a lieutenant and a false festival, and like the three dukes of the imperial court, he had the treatment of setting up his own subordinates in the kaifu, and his status was obviously the highest. In contrast, Guo Feng served as the rear general, Fan Chou served as the right general, and Zhang Ji served as the general of Zhendong and was stationed outside, and the status was obviously worse. Judging from the fact that only Li Dai enjoyed the treatment of the three dukes, the Liangzhou soldiers also had considerable respect for the power of the imperial court and the secretary of state, which was the premise for them to cooperate with each other. However, the victory in the Battle of Changpingguan brought Li Dai and Guo Feng's martial arts to the peak, but it also made the balance of the situation change significantly.
The triumphant Guo Feng and Fan Chou obtained the qualification to open the palace, and after the opening of the house, Li, Guo, and Fan were overwhelmed and began to participate in the recommendation and election of officials, gradually eroding the power of the imperial court. Within the Liangzhou Army, the authority of Li Dai was generally recognized, and after Guo Feng and Fan Chou opened the palace, their status was comparable to That of Li Dai. At this point, the Liangzhou soldiers began to split within themselves, and their cooperation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of State also came to an end.
After the Battle of Changpingguan, there was no rain for several months, coupled with the attrition of the previous war, Guanzhong fell into famine, and even Chang'an saw people eat people, and Li Guo's peaceful days of cooperation with scholars and doctors for nearly two years in the early days of li guo's rise to power ended. But for the court, ministers, and people in Guanzhong, the nightmare had only just begun.
After Guo Feng and Fan Chou opened the palace, their power grew stronger and stronger. At the beginning of 195, the imperial court prepared to go on a crusade against the disobedient Kwantung princes such as Yuan Shu, who had seized Ma Ribao and stole the imperial court's runes. Initially, Li Dai was jealous that Guo Feng and Fan Chou would continue to grow their power, and wanted to establish good relations with the imperial court, so he decided to send Zhu Juan, who was serving as a general of the Hussars at this time, as the commander. However, Fan Chou proposed that he should become the commander of the Eastern Crusade Army, and asked Li Dai to add more subordinates to him. Li Dai had been taboo about Fan Chou for a long time, and Li Li, who had previously been threatened by Fan Chou to engage in military law because of his unfavorable combat, had always held a grudge in his heart, and repeatedly added oil and vinegar to Li Dai and said that Fan Chou and Han Sui had a very happy meeting. Li Dai eventually booby-trapped Fan Chou.
As soon as Fan Chou died, Guo Feng also panicked, and avoided accepting Li Dai's banquet from then on. Soon after, the two turned against each other and a civil war began. By this time, Li Dai, Guo Feng, and others had exposed their rough nature, completely abandoned any lofty political goals, and ignored the advice of Emperor Xian of Han or the previous mastermind Jia Xu, only seeking to eliminate the other side. Li Dai kidnapped Emperor Xian of Han, and Guo Feng kidnapped a large number of gongqing, and the armies of both sides wantonly set fire to and looted in Chang'an City and even in the imperial palace, killing and wounding, and eventually both sides were defeated, with tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians killed and wounded. The ministers of the Gongqing were killed and wounded, and the majesty of the imperial court was completely swept away. The Guanzhong area has completely become a hell on earth.
finale
Taking advantage of the opportunity of Li Dai and Guo Feng's indissoluble fighting and weakening their power, Emperor Xiandi of Han and some gongqing returned to the east, and were pursued and killed by several Liangzhou troops along the way, and most of the accompanying gongqing and soldiers were killed and wounded, but finally escaped from their clutches. Of course, the Han Xiandi and the secretaries fell into the hands of Cao Cao, which was the standard "only out of the tiger's mouth, and then into the wolf's den." ”
The last emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Xie, the Emperor of Han Xian. Source/Stills from the new Three Kingdoms
After losing the cooperation between Tianzi and his courtiers, losing his righteous title and imperial court official position, and losing most of his troops due to the civil war, Li Dai and Guo Feng went from being in control of the central government and planning to let Zhu Juan out of the Hangu Guandong Expedition to a weak third-rate warlord in less than two years. Because he was not deeply involved in the civil war, Zhang Ji, whose army was relatively well preserved, was killed in battle when he tried to invade Jingzhou, which was controlled by Liu Biao, and his nephew Zhang Xiu became Liu Biao's general. Guo Feng was soon killed by his men, and Li Dai supported it longer, and was eventually defeated and killed by Duan Sheng under the imperial court. Duan Simmer has been on the sidelines for many years after Dong Zhuo's death, content with daxing agriculture and border protection in Huayin, where he is stationed in Tun. In the end, the only people who were able to end well and get a good ending in the entire Dong Zhuo system were Jia Xu and Duan Sheng.
The Liangzhou clique was destroyed step by step, and the hopes of the Eastern Han court to re-establish its authority were completely shattered in the process, and in the end, the Han Xiandi Emperor could not maintain even the basic decency, and the courtiers died most of the time. Dong Zhuo's liangzhou army and the Eastern Han Dynasty eventually ended up in the same end.