kingnovel Chapter 711: Founding a Nation Again
Chapter 711: Founding a Nation Again
At the beginning of the fifth year of Chuping (193 AD), Zhang Lu of Hanzhong faced Huang Zhong's army, opened the gate of Hanzhong, and surrendered without a fight.
Afterwards, Huang Zhong led an army of 50,000, together with the troops from Hanzhong, to Yizhou.
At the same time, Taishi Ci and Guo Jia led their troops to Kuaiji County, while Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin led the navy to Kuaiji County by water.
Cao Cao urgently dispatched his newly trained navy to fight, but the Kuaiji navy was obviously no match for the Jingzhou navy and the Liaodong navy, and was quickly defeated.
Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Xun Yu and others tried to persuade Cao Cao to surrender.
Cao Cao had no choice but to send an envoy to Luoyang to express his willingness to surrender, but he still wanted to negotiate some conditions for himself.
On the other side, the imperial army was approaching, attacking Yizhou from the east and north, and Yizhou was suddenly in panic.
Liu Yan, the governor of Yizhou, was already seriously ill and was bedridden with not much time left. Although he wanted to rely on the natural barrier to establish his own regime, he was powerless. In the end, he hurriedly handed Yizhou to his son Liu Zhang and passed away.
Liu Zhang was a cowardly and suspicious person. He had just come to power and had no control over his civil and military officials. In addition, the lurking Flying Eagle Guards secretly instigated and spread rumors, which soon caused chaos in Yizhou.
Today, news came from the front that Bajun Governor Yan Yan was afraid of Huang Zhong and had surrendered. Tomorrow, news came back that Zhang Ren, Leng Bao and Deng had been bribed by the court...
For a time, the whole Yizhou was in panic.
Ordinary people didn't feel anything about this. Although Yizhou had always wanted to block the news so that the people of Yizhou didn't know what was happening outside, the Flying Eagle Guard had long been secretly spreading the word in Shu that the people under the rule of the court were well-fed and well-clothed, safe and prosperous, and that the soldiers under the command of the general had never harmed the people.
As a result, the soldiers had no will to fight, the people had no desire to fight, the rulers were suspicious, and the entire Yizhou had already lost half the battle before it even started to fight.
Immediately afterwards, with the advice of Ju Su and the intelligence support of the Flying Eagle Guard, Huang Zhong defeated all the enemies and captured cities and strongholds and entered Yizhou.
When Liu Zhang heard the news from the front, he was in a panic and fear all day long. Finally, he could not stand the pressure and ordered all the passes in the front to open and surrender.
In March of the fifth year of Chuping, Huang Zhong led his troops to capture the entire territory of Yizhou. Yizhou Governor Liu Zhang and his civil and military officials were sent to Luoyang to pay homage to the emperor.
Immediately afterwards, Cao Cao and his civil and military officials also set out for Luoyang to pay homage to the emperor.
In May of the fifth year of Chuping, Shi Xie, the governor of Jiaozhi, also set out for Luoyang to meet the emperor.
At this point, the world was initially settled, and the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty returned to the control of the imperial court.
It was at this time that a severe drought broke out in the three prefectures of Guanzhong. From April to June, not a drop of rain fell in the three prefectures.
In June, another earthquake occurred.
The ministers presented a memorial to the Emperor Liu Xie, asking him to leave the main hall and pray for rain.
At the same time, due to months of severe drought, all crops in many places died of drought. Even though many farmland water conservancy facilities had been built in various places long ago, the level of science and technology at that time was ultimately limited, and not many crops could be saved. In the summer harvest season, many places had no harvest.
For a time, rumors were spreading throughout the government and the country, and turmoil was about to break out again in various parts of the country.
It was at this time that General Lu Cheng dispatched a large army, both by land and sea, and transferred a large amount of grain from the five states of Qing, Ji, You, Bing and Xu to areas where the drought was severe. He also sent troops to appease the people so that they would not worry.
At the same time, North Korea and China dispatched troops to work with local garrisons to form drought, disaster and epidemic prevention departments to actively respond to and prevent various disasters.
For a moment, the people's hearts, which had been shaken by the natural disaster, immediately calmed down.
Of course, there were also some people with ulterior motives who secretly spread rumors, claiming that there were treacherous officials in the court who were controlling the government and disrupting the government, so that a great disaster would be sent down from heaven as a warning to the world.
It was at this time that Emperor Liu Xie issued an edict of repentance, saying that he had let down the people.
In July of the fifth year of Chuping, because the imperial court had prepared sufficient food and relief supplies in advance and actively responded to the locust plagues and plagues that might be caused by the drought, people everywhere had food at home, were not panicked, and the people's hearts were completely settled.
During this period, General Lu Cheng personally led his troops, took off his weapons and armor, and rushed to various disaster areas, either distributing food to the people in person or rushing to areas where epidemics broke out to treat the sick people.
Over the course of several months, Lu Cheng traveled all over the Central Plains and Guanzhong, making millions of people remember this hardworking general.
Throughout history, all dynasties have been subject to floods, disasters, earthquakes, and plagues, but there has never been a time like this one. The imperial court used the most positive attitude, the most powerful measures, and the most abundant supplies to protect millions of people and minimize the harm caused by this natural disaster to the people.
For a time, millions of people were grateful to General Lu Cheng. Everyone regarded him as a saint, and every family vied to build a shrine for the general.
At the end of July, Emperor Liu Xie once again announced to the world that he intended to abdicate the throne to General Lu Cheng, but Lu Cheng declined.
Afterwards, within a month, three imperial edicts were issued from all over the country. After three refusals and three declines, Lu Cheng finally accepted the abdication and conferred the title of Duke of Shanyang on Liu Xie.
At this point, the Han Dynasty, which lasted for nearly 400 years, through the Western and Eastern Han Dynasties, came to an end.
When determining the name of the country, Guo Jia, Xi Zhicai, Tian Feng, Ju Shou, Liu Ye, Man Chong and other civil officials argued endlessly. Some believed that since Lu Cheng came from Liaodong, the country could be named Yan.
But soon some people opposed it, believing that Yan State was too small and its national destiny was not good.
Later, someone proposed to name the country Qi, and someone else proposed to name the country Wei.
Seeing that everyone was arguing and unable to make a decision, Lu Cheng originally wanted to name the country "Qian", but then he remembered that this name had been used before, so he decided to change it this time.
But after thinking for a long time, Lu Cheng still couldn't decide which one to choose. Finally, he made the final decision: "Gentlemen, there is no need to discuss it anymore. Since it is difficult to come to a conclusion, why not name the country "Ming"! One day, one month, wherever the sun and the moon go, it is the Ming Dynasty!"
To be honest, Lu Cheng still has a good impression of the Ming Dynasty. After all, he first became the captain at the end of the Ming Dynasty. And the name of the country, Ming, is indeed domineering and loud.
After the country's name was decided, the reign title was directly set as "Yuanwu".
In the summer of the fifth year of Chuping, Lu Cheng ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, founding the Ming Dynasty with the reign title "Yuanwu".
Just when Lu Cheng ascended the throne, the drought that had lasted for several months suddenly stopped, and rain began to fall in Guanzhong and other parts of the Central Plains.
For a time, Lu Cheng's becoming emperor was a matter of course and destiny.
Even those ambitious people who were ready to make some moves calmed down.
At the same time, the three brothers Liu, Guan, and Zhang, who were far away overseas, and the Ma family were also sweeping across Japan, invincible...