The strongest devouring system in the Three Kingdoms

At this moment, Yuan Shao, who nominally controlled Luoyang, had a sudden thought. Although he had been defeated several times, if he could establish a relationship with Wang Yun now and bring Liu Bian back to Luoyang, wouldn't that be a great achievement? It would also help him regain his reputation among the scholars of the empire. At the same time, if he could remove Wang Yun from the power center of the imperial court, wouldn't he be able to use the emperor to command the other lords?

When Guo Tu made this suggestion, Yuan Shao was intrigued. He summoned all his strategists and generals to discuss the feasibility of the plan.

After more than an hour of debate, Yuan Shao finally reached a conclusion: to first enter Luoyang and seize the initiative.

So Yuan Shao, who had already given up on Luoyang, suddenly announced that he would return to Luoyang. Of course, he went there under the pretext of welcoming the emperor back to the capital. His purpose in going to Luoyang first was simply to repair the imperial palace so that the emperor would have a place to stay when he returned to the capital.

Once this reason was given, no one in the world could find a reason to oppose him. After all, everything Yuan Shao was doing was what a loyal subject should do. But was Yuan Shao a loyal subject of the imperial family? Obviously, everyone in the empire knew he wasn't! But they couldn't expose him, otherwise they would be slapping themselves in the face. Of course, some truly loyal subjects also began to act at this time, such as Lu Zhi. After receiving Wang Yun's request for help, Lu Zhi immediately gathered his 30,000 most elite troops and rushed to Luoyang and Chang'an to prepare to welcome the emperor. He only left 20,000 county and prefectural troops to garrison Bingzhou for Huangpu Song. Fortunately, the nomadic tribes of the grasslands had been frightened by Chen Er, and Bingzhou was not threatened from any direction except by Chen Er from the east. As for Chen Er, Lu Zhi believed that Chen Er would not take action against Bingzhou for the time being.

Just as the attention of all the warlords was drawn to the Chang'an Incident, Yuan Shu of Yu Province suddenly pulled off a major upset. Using the pretext that the Yang Province army had entered Yu Province without cause, Yuan Shu launched a fierce attack on Yang Province. While the world was focused on the Chang'an Incident, Yuan Shu launched the first real war of annexation among the warlords, a war of annexation without any personal grudges involved.

The Complete History of the Great Wei Empire records: "Starting from August 17th, 2188 in the Yellow Emperor's reign, when Yuan Shu, the governor of Yu Province, launched a war against Yang Province, the Han Empire truly entered the period of warlord chaos. Yuan Shu won this war, which laid the foundation for his arrogant ambition to declare himself emperor a year later. As a result, the majesty of the Han Empire's imperial family was completely shattered, and from then on, the Han Empire's imperial family became a completely dispensable existence."

"Yuan Shu, that spoiled brat, has finally made his move." When Chen Er heard the news that Yuan Shu had mobilized troops in Yangzhou, he was not surprised at all. In Chen Er's view, after losing the restraint of his elders, Yuan Shu's ambition deep in his heart had been exposed. More importantly, Yuan Shu did not have the forbearance of Yuan Shao. It was only a matter of time before Yuan Shu took the initiative to start a war. However, Chen Er did not expect that Yuan Shu in this world would only make his move now.

However, Yuan Shu is not a threat. Chen Er is patiently waiting for the day when this blockhead Yuan Shu will declare himself emperor.

The Yangzhou battle was quickly forgotten by everyone. Now the focus of the empire was on Chang'an, because after a period of chaos, the Xiliang army finally united under the efforts of a mysterious figure and Li Ru, and prepared to retake Chang'an, avenge Grand Tutor Ding Yuan, and kill the two traitors Dian Wei and Wang Yun!

"They're all traitors. In the end, whoever wins is the righteous one." After hearing the Xiliang army's slogan, Chen Er shook his head and said, "Where in this era are there any true traitors?"

"Perhaps that mysterious strategist is Jia Xu," Chen Er thought to himself. His intuition told him that the mysterious strategist who had united the Xiliang army again was Jia Xu, the cunning strategist who was good at self-preservation. As long as you show your face, there is a chance to find you! Chen Er called Li Zhong over and whispered a few words in his ear. Li Zhong nodded repeatedly and then left. No one knew what Chen Er had said, but judging from Li Zhong's expression, it must have been something very important, otherwise Li Zhong would not have had such a serious expression.

After more than a year of fighting, Dian Wei now only has a little over a thousand cavalrymen left under Ding Yuan's command, posing no real threat. The Xiliang cavalry, on the other hand, are counted in units of thousands. No matter how talented Dian Wei is in mounted combat or how strong he is in martial arts, he cannot defeat the overwhelmingly superior Xiliang cavalry.

The only thing Dian Wei and Wang Yun could rely on was the internal conflict and distrust among the various units of the Xiliang army at that time, coupled with Dian Wei's deterrent effect, which was enough to barely hold Chang'an.

However, Chang'an was short of food supplies. When Ding Yuan was still alive, the Xiliang army would transport food supplies to Chang'an. Now that Wang Yun controlled Chang'an, he had to solve the food supply problem himself. Most importantly, the Xiliang army looted Chang'an when they withdrew, making the people in the city even poorer.

"Grand Commandant, the people in the city are rioting again."

The Chang'an Commandant reported to Wang Yun, whose face was gloomy, but he dared not say anything about going forward to suppress the rebellion. After all, the people were the foundation of the rule, and without the people, even soldiers could not be conscripted.

"What's your plan?" Wang Yun asked the captain in front of him casually.

The captain shook his head and said, "The only way now is to feed these people. Otherwise, no matter how we try to persuade them, they won't listen."

Hearing the captain's words, Wang Yun shook his head in disappointment. He knew this method all too well, but the problem was that there really was no food left in Chang'an. Wang Yun wasn't a god; he couldn't just conjure up food out of thin air.

"My lord, if all else fails, we can only borrow grain from those aristocratic families," the captain said softly to Wang Yun.

“Those aristocratic families?” Wang Yun stared at the captain.

"Although some families in the city were also looted by the rebel troops from Xiliang, they must still have some surplus grain hidden away. There are also those powerful families that were not looted, such as the Chen family. These families must still have a lot of grain in their mansions."

Upon hearing the words of the captain before him, Wang Yun was somewhat tempted. As the captain of Chang'an, this captain must know more about the powerful families in Chang'an than he did. If the current crisis could be resolved, Wang Yun would not mind asking for help. Moreover, he was not asking for help for himself, but for the court. Did those powerful families dare to oppose the court?

Wang Yun said to the Commandant of Chang'an, "Go and find those aristocratic families and tell them it is my will that the court borrows grain. Whatever amount they take, the court will repay double after the rebellion is quelled."