Three Kingdoms: Ten Times Speed, Diao Chan Says I'm Too Fast

It was April.

As temperatures gradually warm up, everything begins to revive in early spring.

Since news of the Taiping Dao rebellion reached Luoyang in March, the whole country has been in turmoil.

After Liu Hong issued a series of decrees, the entire city of Luoyang was plunged into a state of war panic.

After He Jin was appointed Grand General, he led the Left and Right Imperial Guards to garrison outside Luoyang City to strengthen the city's defenses.

The eight gates of Luoyang are closed.

Huangfu Song, Dong Zhuo, and Zhu Jun were all sent to the capital to receive their titles.

Lu Zhi was appointed General of the Northern Army and led 20,000 troops north to Ji Province to suppress the rebellion.

Dong Zhuo was appointed General of the Eastern Central Army, leading 20,000 troops to join Lu Zhi in the north to suppress the rebellion in Ji Province.

Huangfu Song was appointed Left General of the Central Army and led 20,000 troops. Together with Zhu Jun, who was appointed Right General of the Central Army, they led 40,000 troops south to suppress the Taiping Dao rebels in the Yingchuan area.

Four armies, two directions.

Yuan Wei recommended Dong Zhuo and Zhu Jun, who each went their own way.

Yang Ci recommended Lu Zhi and Huangfu Song, who each went their own way.

Liu Hong also ordered the lifting of the ban on party members and the reinstatement of party members.

Furthermore, he distributed all the money and grain accumulated in Xiyuan over the years, and used all the horses he had accumulated to build a new army.

Everything seemed to be moving in a positive direction.

The four armies have been marching from Luoyang for more than half a month.

...........

As the weather warmed up, Liu Hong, who had been living in fear for over a month, made an unprecedented visit to Xiyuan today.

Sitting on the dragon carriage, looking at the once luxurious West Garden, adorned with the wealth accumulated over many years, now in ruins, Liu Hong, dressed in the dragon robe, felt a pang of heartache.

Billions of dollars.

He had saved up these billions of dollars over more than a decade.

Now it's all gone in one fell swoop.

Liu Hong, gripping the armrests of the imperial carriage, gritted his teeth in hatred.

However, there was nothing they could do.

"Go back to the palace."

Sitting on the dragon carriage, Liu Hong turned his head away, refusing to look at the desolate West Garden.

Several eunuchs carrying the imperial carriage turned around and carried it away into the distance with small, quick steps.

However, they had only taken a few steps.

Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong hurriedly walked towards Liu Hong.

Just a few steps away from Liu Hong, the two of them knelt down on the ground with a thud.

Upon seeing Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong in such a state, Liu Hong was instinctively startled.

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Disaster has struck!" Zhang Rang cried, his face contorted with grief, as if his mother had died.

Zhao Zhong, who was standing nearby, also nodded hurriedly: "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!"

"What's wrong now!" Liu Hong's face turned pale instantly.

Zhang Rang trembled as he raised himself and looked at Liu Hong, saying, "Your Majesty, the defeat report has arrived. The defeat report from the front has come."

"what?"

Startled, Liu Hong sat bolt upright in the imperial carriage: "What did you say?"

"Defeat report?"

Zhang Rang nodded and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, it's a report of defeat, more than a dozen reports of defeat."

Liu Hong's face instantly turned pale, as if he were about to collapse onto the imperial carriage.

"How could this be? How could this be?"

"Didn't I already send troops to suppress it? How come there are so many reports of defeats?"

"Tell me quickly, tell me quickly!" Liu Hong looked at Zhang Rang impatiently.

“Your Majesty…” Zhang Rang said in a trembling voice, “This old servant dares not lie, Your Majesty. The report of the defeat has just been sent to the palace.”

"Chu Gong, the prefect of Nanyang, was defeated and killed by Zhang Mancheng, the leader of the Yellow Turban rebels, and Wancheng was occupied."

"Zhao Qian, the governor of Runan Commandery, was killed by Peng Tuo, a Yellow Turban rebel."

"The Yingchuan area has been occupied by Bo Cai, the leader of the Yellow Turban rebels, and the rebels are about to reach Xingyang."

"The officials of Dong'e County in Dongjun Prefecture, who had allied with the Yellow Turban rebels, have been occupied by the Yellow Turban leader Bu Yi..."

"Liu Wei, the governor of Youzhou..."

"And Guo Xun, the prefect of Guangyang County, and others... were all killed by the Yellow Turban rebels."

Zhang Rang submitted a report in one go detailing the defeats in eight prefectures and thirteen counties.

As Liu Hong listened to the reports of defeat after defeat, he was completely dumbfounded, sitting on the dragon carriage.

"Where are the troops I... I dispatched?"

"Haven't I already dispatched Huangfu Song, Lu Zhi, Zhu Jun, and others to lead troops to suppress the rebellion?"

"Why haven't we heard from them? Why haven't they sent any support?" Liu Hong stared blankly at Zhang Rang.

With a mournful face, Zhang Rang pulled out a document from his sleeve and held it high with both hands, saying, "Your Majesty, Zhu Jun, the Right General of the Central Army, encountered the main force of the Yellow Turban rebels led by Bo Cai in the Yingchuan area and was defeated in one battle, fleeing all the way from Changshe."

"The Left General Huangfu Song was unable to arrive in time to provide reinforcements and was immediately surrounded by enemy troops at Changshe."

"These two reports of defeat were submitted by the two men, hoping that the court would send more troops to provide assistance."

"waste!"

No sooner had Zhang Rang finished speaking than Liu Hong roared in fury.

"They were defeated right after setting out on the battlefield, and they still have the nerve to send people to ask for help!"

"These are the good men recommended by those two old dogs, Yang Ci and Yuan Wei." Liu Hong said through gritted teeth, "Immediately, summon Yuan Wei, Yang Ci, and the others to the palace to see me."

"I want to ask them myself, is this the person they recommended?"

Liu Hong was so angry that he kept flung his sleeves.

The young eunuch carried the imperial carriage and immediately led Liu Hong toward the Jiade Hall.

Liu Hong turned and left.

Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong, who were kneeling on the ground, then stood up.

After getting up, Liu Hong patted the dust off his knees and then glanced at Zhao Zhong beside him.

The two looked at each other.

“Lord Zhao, this time we must persuade His Majesty to send Duan Yu to quell the rebellion,” Zhang Rang said. “Yuan Wei and Yang Ci will absolutely not let us go.”

“If we let them gain power, we might end up worse off than Wang Fu,” Zhang Rang said, squinting.

Zhao Zhong nodded hurriedly.

During this period, the party members who were reinstated submitted impeachment petitions to the two of them almost every day.

The two of them had secretly suppressed dozens of memorials.

But some of them would still be seen by the emperor.

Just two days ago, Xiang Xu and Zhang Jun, two party members who had previously been refuted, joined together with more than a dozen other party members to submit a petition.

They demanded that the Ten Attendants be beheaded before the world could be at peace.

In the past, Zhang Rang would have definitely tried to kill the two men in this situation.

But now, the persecution of the partisans has just ended, and the two of them jointly wrote to Liu Hong, hoping to execute these partisans who spread rumors and misled the public, but Liu Hong did not agree.

As for why, Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong both understood it in their hearts.

Now the emperor needs to rely on the partisans and the power of the gentry to eliminate the Taiping Dao.

So the two of them could only endure it.

What the two of them didn't expect was...

Not only were there partisans in the Luoyang court, but even the army suppressing the rebellion received memorials impeaching the two men.

Fu Xie, the military commander of the Hu army under Huangfu Song, the Left General of the Central Army, said that the disasters originated from external sources but all stemmed from internal ones.

This clearly means that the Ten Attendants were the root of the trouble.

If the situation continues to develop in this way, it is inevitable that the executioner's blade will eventually fall on their necks.

Therefore, Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong came up with a plan.

Since Yang Ci and Yuan Wei were able to recommend candidates to suppress the rebellion.

Then why can't they both nominate one as well?

If Yang Ci and Yuan Wei, the people you recommended, had all lost, but the people they recommended had won.

Wouldn't that eliminate their threat?

So Zhang Rang went to Zhao Zhongyi to discuss it.

They both thought of the same person.

Duan Yu!