At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

Page 334

The confrontation between the two sides has changed from a verbal confrontation to a physical confrontation, completely separated, and the nature has deteriorated sharply.

Pang Xi wanted to find out the truth with all his heart, and he wanted to kill Wang Shang.

The people of Yizhou were indignant, and confronted Pang Xi, and the two sides fought each other, and Liu Zhang's court would never have a peaceful day.

Wang Shang was arrested and handed over to Fazheng, who was born in Dongzhou, for strict trial.

Knowing this, the people in Yizhou were furious. Yizhou officials recommended by Wang Shang, Chen Shi from Anhan, Gong Yang, Zhao Min, and Li Jing from Dianjiang, Wang Dan from Langzhong, and Meng Biao from Jiangzhou, all came forward one after another. Ming grievances for Wang Shang.

They gathered a large number of Yizhou local officials, generals, and scholars to speak to Liu Zhang, which put great pressure on Liu Zhang.

Therefore, in order to appease the anger of Yizhou people, Liu Zhang had to send Zhang Su, a native of Yizhou and an official beside Liu Zhang, to interrogate Wang Shang.

On the other hand, under the lead of Pang Xi, the Dongzhou generals and scholars and officials also confronted the Yizhou people in an all-round way. What you said and what you said also put pressure on Liu Zhang.

Liu Zhang was tossed like Zhu Bajie looking in the mirror.

Chapter 605. 610 Four Why bother to come here to be the King of Hanzhong in this troublesome son!

No one cared about Liu Zhang's grievances, and the battle between the Dongzhou faction and the Yizhou faction broke out for the second time after Zhao Wei's death.

In this battle, Liu Zhang's opinion is actually very important.

After all, he is the king of Hanzhong, the king, and the leader. Everyone has their own little ninety-nine, but Liu Zhang is not a puppet. When two factions are fighting, Liu Zhang's opinion is very important.

Pang Xi originally had military prestige and military power, but this time the Northern Expedition was delayed, and the army was not completely free of complaints, and Pang Xi was severely criticized.

That's why he was eager to find the culprit from the Yizhou locals, so as to make up for his own shortcomings.

But this is not easy.

Wang Shang refused to let go, and Liu Zhang could not lose the support of Dongzhou people. Of course, he would not allow Wang Shang to speak. Wang Shang himself knew that he could not speak, so he refused to speak.

Fazheng wanted to use torture to extract a confession, but Zhang Su intervened. Zhang Su's intervention prevented Fazheng from fully exerting himself, and he was unable to make progress.

As a result, the conflict between Yizhou people and Dongzhou people became more intense. The officials and generals of both sides were full of gunpowder when they met, and the situation in Hanzhong was very bad.

Both sides began to work hard on Liu Zhang, looking for a breakthrough in Liu Zhang, hoping that Liu Zhang could give them a little help and bring the opponent's power to the bottom in one breath.

As far as Liu Zhang is concerned, when facing Dongzhou people, he still felt a little guilty.

Because the Northern Expedition failed, he was essentially nodding his head and doing tricks.

Pang Xi's attitude of biting to death and not letting go made Liu Zhang, who wanted to let this matter go, feel very uncomfortable. He always felt that Pang Xi was targeting him, and when he got rid of Yizhou people, he was thinking To get rid of him, he even plans to be the next Zhao Wei.

If you say that Liu Zhang is guilty of being a thief, he has done bad things, and he is afraid that others will find out. He is afraid that Wang Shang will not be able to keep the secret, so he tells it all at once, making him ashamed to face others.

Feeling that something is being held in his hands is very bad. Liu Zhang felt that he had to do something to keep this secret, otherwise his status would be lost.

Wang Shang must die, and those who know about it must also die.

Uneasy, Liu Zhang made such a decision.

So at the beginning of the first month of the sixth year of Xingping, Liu Zhang held a banquet in Hanzhong for all the ministers. When no one noticed, he sent someone to sneak into the prison and strangled Wang Shang to death. Then he hanged himself illusion.

It wasn't until the second day after the banquet that everyone regained their senses that they realized that Wang Shang was dead, and he had hanged himself.

The scholars in Yizhou were inexplicably sad and angry, and pointed their finger at Fazheng and Pang Xi, saying that they tortured Wang Shang to death, and now they still want to deceive everyone that Wang Shang committed suicide by hanging himself.

Of course Fa Zheng and Pang Xi denied that they did it. They also wanted to get the truth from Wang Shang in order to expand the scope of the struggle and wipe out the power of the Yizhou faction in one go. How could it be possible to kill Wang Shang?

But the Yizhou scholars ran to Liu Zhang and cried in groups, Liu Zhang was secretly happy, and then Liu Zhang immediately followed the people's will, regardless of March 21 or [-], he directly lost Fazheng's position.

He ordered Fazheng to be thrown into the prison for interrogation, and he must ask the truth about Wang Shang's death. He also ordered Pang Xi not to leave the house and stay at home to reflect on his mistakes.

The situation has changed. From Wang Shang's trial to Fazheng's capture and trial, it has only been more than a month. The wind direction of this political struggle has gradually changed.

Having lost Fazheng's plan, Pang Xi felt uneasy.

At this time, there were some other scholars around him, such as Cheng Ji, so Pang Xi asked Cheng Ji what he should do in this situation.

Cheng Ji persuaded Pang Xi to admit his mistakes to Liu Zhang, saying that what Pang Xi had done before was really too much. Judging from his action of drawing his sword to kill Wang Shang, he was indeed the most suspicious. Cheng Ji also suspected Pang Xi Did you really send someone to do it in private?

Pang Xi widened his eyes and said innocently that he really didn't do it himself.

"I also want to ask Wang Shang to punish his accomplices severely. How could he kill Wang Shang? If Zhang Su hadn't been obstructing me, I would have ordered Xiaozhi to torture me, but those Yizhou people always blocked me. It's really hateful, at this point, why does Ji Ran still doubt me? It doesn't do me any good if Wang Shang dies before being convicted."

Cheng Ji said that it was not that he wanted to suspect Pang Xi, but that Pang Xi was too suspicious.

Pang Xi felt even more uneasy, feeling that it would be impossible to continue like this. Cheng Ji just asked him to write a letter to Liu Zhang to admit his mistake, but he didn't think he had done anything wrong.

"If I really did something wrong, it's fine if I admit it, but what did I do wrong?"

"The general should admit his mistake about the disrespect in front of the palace, so as to make the king happy, and then explain that he didn't do anything to murder Wang Shang, saying that he will definitely find out the truth of the matter and clear himself up. Only in this way can the situation be reversed. .”

Pang Xi felt that what Cheng Ji said was reasonable, so he wrote a letter to Liu Zhang, confessed his mistake to Liu Zhang, and then expressed his heart.

Liu Zhang was quite happy to see the first half of the confession, but when he took it and saw that Wang Shang's death would be investigated later, his face collapsed.

How does this work?

If he really finds out that the murderer is me, how should I deal with myself?

A ruler who murders his own generals and courtiers?

Liu Zhang realized that he had done a stupid thing before, and now in order to make up for this stupid thing, he had to do more things to make up for it, and these things became bigger and bigger, and if something bad showed his feet, it might be impossible to deal with it.

But if you don't do it, you won't even have a chance to clean it up.

Liu Zhang began to feel that Pang Xi's obsession with all kinds of things was annoying and aimed at him. He was very uneasy, so he wrote back to Pang Xi.

He said that he was very satisfied with Pang Xi's attitude of admitting his mistakes. Regarding Wang Shang's affairs, he hoped that Pang Xi would not participate any more. Now that the dead people have happened, it has caused discord among the officials. Is Pang Xi going to continue to do this? ?

After receiving the reply, Pang Xi felt very strange, so he wrote to Liu Zhang again, telling Liu Zhang that this matter was really important.

If the mastermind behind the scenes is not found out and severely punished, these people will stand up and hold back during the Northern Expedition in the future, and the possibility of Liu Zhang wanting to become emperor in Chang'an will be gone.

To be a ghost emperor?

Liu Zhang is feeling physically and mentally uncomfortable now, and he is afraid that what he has done will be discovered, and that his current status as the king of Hanzhong will be threatened, and he will be a ghost emperor!

He even felt that he shouldn't have come to Hanzhong. Letting Pang Xi enter Hanzhong was a huge mistake, a huge mistake!

How good it would be to stay in Sichuan honestly, and let Zhang Lu resist Guo Peng and save himself from disaster!

Why bother to come here to be the King of Hanzhong of this Laoshizi!

Liu Zhang regretted not being at the beginning, he regretted that he was deceived by lard at that time, and wanted to go further.

But now the situation has reached such a point that it is hard to get over the water. After thinking about it, Liu Zhang feels uneasy in his heart, and feels that there is only one way that can be used.

He found Wu Yi, the elder brother of his own brother Liu Mao's wife.

Wu Yi was from Chenliu County, Yanzhou, and his uncle Wu Kuang was a subordinate of General He Jin.

When Liu Yan moved to Yizhou, Wu Yi brought his whole family to Shu with Liu Yan because his father had a good relationship with Liu Yan. He was one of the representatives of the Dongzhou faction who entered Shu with Liu Yan as his base.

However, Wu Yi kept a low profile. Although the Wu family had great status under Liu Yan and Liu Zhang, Wu Yi himself did not compete with Pang Xi, so Pang Xi's status and power had always been above Wu Yi's.

Chapter 606. 610 five Wu Yi feels very distressed

This time during the Northern Expedition, Wu Yi and his clan brother Wu Ban also went out with the army and made military exploits together.

Although he failed in the end, he still received certain rewards because of his performance on the battlefield.

Compared with Pang Xi, who has an arrogant personality and loves power and ostentation, Wu Yi's personal cultivation is obviously far superior to Pang Xi's.

He doesn't fight much, treats people with gentleness and courtesy, and is cautious in everything, so Liu Zhang likes Wu Yi more, and he is usually very close to Wu Yi.

This time, facing such a situation, Liu Zhang couldn't think of any other way, so he could only make up his mind to kill Pang Xi.

If you can't solve the problem, then get rid of the person who raised the problem, then there will be no problem, and the problem will be solved naturally, right?

Liu Zhang feels that his IQ has occupied the high ground in his life.

But Dongzhou people are Liu Zhang's basic base, and Liu Zhang himself knows that he can't lose Dongzhou people, and he can't lose the support of Dongzhou people for Pang Xi, otherwise this position is just as unstable, and he will be as constrained as Liu Biao, which doesn't suit him. Interests.

The Dongzhou faction must exist and must maintain a certain strength. It cannot be weakened or overly strong, so Liu Zhang decided to support a representative who can succeed Pang Xi to lead the Dongzhou faction.

Wu Yi, who has a gentle personality, is the best candidate.

He has military exploits, family background, seniority, is related to Liu Zhang, and has a good personality.

After Liu Zhang made his decision, he called Wu Yi over and said that he wanted to discuss important matters with Wu Yi in private.

Wu Yi felt strange, but he came to meet Liu Zhang honestly. Liu Zhang took Wu Yi to talk secretly in his study and expressed his thoughts.

"Pang Xi was so arrogant that he drew his saber at the top of the hall. On the surface, he wanted to deal with Wang Shang, but in fact he wanted to murder Gu. Now that Wang Shang is dead, how can Gu not consider my own life? Ziyuan, your father and Gu My late father was a best friend, and our two families are family friends, in this situation, besides you, who else can Gu rely on?"

Liu Zhang held Wu Yi's hand while wiping his tears, and told his purpose while crying.

Wu Yi was taken aback. Only then did he realize that Liu Zhang wanted to use his own strength to kill Pang Xi, and then let himself be the representative of the Dongzhou faction to stabilize the Dongzhou faction, so as to resolve the political crisis this time.

Speaking of which, Wu Yi also saw the political crisis this time and was anxious in his heart.

The gap between Dongzhou people and Yizhou people is getting bigger and bigger, almost showing a state of tearing, and the situation that has just stabilized has become turbulent, which is very dangerous.

But at this time, Wang Shang died inexplicably, and there were many doubts in it, too many things were unclear.

Wu Yi actually had some bold guesses, but he didn't want to confirm them, let alone pursue them. He knew how to measure.

Wu Yi knew that this state could not continue, otherwise, if the situation got out of hand, with Pang Xi's character, it would be hard to say that there would be no disaster.

Once there is a military disaster and there is chaos in Hanzhong, Guo Peng, who is in Guanzhong, will sit idly by.

Wu Yi also went to meet Pang Xi before, hoping that Pang Xi would not make such a big fuss. Now that the Northern Expedition has failed and the country has suffered damage, it is time to focus on development.

If internal turmoil continues at this time, and it is Guo Peng who will benefit, isn't Hanzhong in jeopardy?

Pang Xi does not think so. Pang Xi said that before dealing with external enemies, we must first deal with the internal enemies. The external areas are visible, but the internal enemies are invisible. Therefore, the internal enemies are more dangerous, because they do not know when they will attack. Do things that endanger the overall situation.

Since being forced to retreat this time, Wu Yi also knew the danger of the internal enemy, and it was because of this that he could not support Pang Xi in launching a fierce political struggle, but Pang Xi refused to listen, and the two broke up unhappy.

Wu Yi felt very distressed.

Liu Zhang's thoughts exceeded his imagination, and Pang Xi lost control again. Once Pang Xi really lost control, how bad will the situation be?

Seeing Liu Zhang crying bitterly, Wu Yi was very entangled, so he went home and told the matter to his brother Wu Ban, wanting to discuss it with Wu Ban.

Wu Ban is different from Wu Yi. Wu Yi is relatively low-key, while Wu Ban is relatively high-profile. He is bold and chivalrous. He is famous at that time and has a certain status among the generals of Dongzhou.

Now when he heard that Liu Zhang had the idea of ​​getting rid of Pang Xi, after a brief surprise, he was very supportive.

"Pang Xi was insolent and didn't know how to restrain himself. He held a knife in front of the hall and lost his manners. Now it has caused a catastrophe. It is hard to end. Your Majesty has the idea of ​​getting rid of him. Isn't this your brother's chance?"

Wu Ban said: "My brother and I entered Shu together with Pang Xi. In terms of origin and family background, we are not inferior to Pang. Why do we let Pang be superior to us?"

What Wu Ban said made Wu Yi think a little bit. After thinking about it again and again, Wu Yi felt that the long-term pain is worse than the short-term pain. The Yizhou people lost a Wang Shang, and they were already burning with anger. Seeing that the conflict was about to erupt in all directions, and People from Dongzhou are desperate. If they can't do something at this time, there will be no chance for reconciliation.

After all, Yizhou people are numerous and powerful, occupying most of the land and property. If there is a stalemate, it will do the greatest harm to Liu Zhang, and it may not be good for Dongzhou people.

After much deliberation, Wu Yi decided to follow Liu Zhang's order, find an opportunity to kill Pang Xi and his cronies, replace Pang Xi with the Wu family, stabilize the situation in central Shu, and end the confrontation.

Liu Zhang was very happy, and decided to appoint Wu Yi as the prefect of Hanzhong after the victory of the operation, add the title of Zhenbei General, and Wu Ban as a General to Rebel, in order to reward Wu Yi and Wu Ban for their actions.

They began to make intensive preparations for the plan to kill Pang Xi, and organized a Hongmen banquet with trusted guards and retainers, intending to kill Pang Xi at the banquet.

The relationship between Pang Xi and the Wu family is actually not bad. They are both generals of Dongzhou, and they still keep pace with each other in major affairs. It is also normal for each other to entertain and drink with each other, which is not unusual.

The plan was determined very smoothly, how to kill Pang Xi, how to kill his cronies, how to quickly take over Pang Xi's military power, stabilize Pang Xi's followers, get rid of Pang Xi's diehard loyalists and family, etc., a series of eradication All future plans have been decided.

Getting rid of Pang Xi then became an established fact, but Pang Xi himself knew nothing about it.

But having said that, perhaps it was God's will. Pang Xi had a young man named Deng Zhi under his command. He was from Xinye in Jingzhou. After the Xinye Deng family, he was a descendant of Deng Yu, one of the founding heroes of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The Deng family in Xinye was once prominent in the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty. The daughter of the Deng family entered the dynasty for the second time, and the relatives of the Deng family were very powerful. Later, after Emperor Huan's abolition of the queen, the Deng family gradually declined.

Deng Zhi was born in poverty, with no family background but no family resources. He couldn't find a way out in Jingzhou, so he had to go to Shu to make a living, but he couldn't get any appointment, so he had to go to Pang Xi, who liked to support scholars, to make a living.

Pang Xi is not a very good person, but he really likes to raise scholars. Some of the scholars he raises are more or less capable, and they often advise Pang Xi. Cheng Ji and Fazheng are two of them. Deng Zhi is not valued because he is young. , just a dry meal.

Having said that, Deng Zhi had great ambitions, studied hard to improve his knowledge, and wanted to be famous. When Pang Xi led the army to the Northern Expedition, Deng Zhi followed as a disciple with a sword and became a personal guard. He watched the real battlefield up close. I lamented the subsequent failures and hated those who dragged me down.

But now the situation has changed suddenly, Deng Zhi has no place to play, so he can only continue to study, eat rice, and feel melancholy.

Suddenly one day, Wang An, a fellow villager from Xinye County like Deng Zhi, came to Deng Zhi quietly, told Deng Zhi that something important was about to happen, and asked him to go out for a while with an excuse these days, and then come to him when the matter settled down. He will help Deng Zhi, introduce Deng Zhi to Wu Yi, and keep him safe.