Chapter 70: Betting on the Duel, Western Liang Soldiers

  Liu Zhang looked at Yuan Wei's indignant face and couldn't help but laugh: "Lord Yuan, haven't you gone mad? Can't this prove that Feng Fang is plotting a rebellion?"

  "You're the one who's got water in your brain! How can this prove that Feng Fang is rebelling?" Yuan Wei said disdainfully: "These few soldiers said that Commander Feng was dissatisfied with you, so he sent them to teach your soldiers a lesson. To be frank, this is just a conflict between you and Commander Feng, but you're accusing him of rebelling, isn't that going too far!"

  "Lord Yuan, I must remind you that the troops Feng Fang is leading are not mine! Liu Zhang said sternly: "Under the heavens, everything belongs to the king; within the borders of the land, everyone is the king's subject! All the troops in this world belong to the Son of Heaven, and I am also a minister of the Son of Heaven! If Feng Fang leads his men to attack me, that would indeed be a matter between him and me! But those soldiers are all from the Feathered Forest Army, which is the Son of Heaven's Imperial Guard. No matter who it is, if he dares to attack the Son of Heaven's Imperial Guard, that is treason! I say Feng Fang is committing treason, with evidence and according to the law, what fault can be found?"

  "Hmm..." Yuan Wei's voice trailed off, he hadn't expected Liu Zhang to make a move on the Imperial Guard, but there was nothing he could do about it. The Imperial Guard had been superior to other troops since Emperor Wu's time, and even if Feng Fang's troops were powerful, they were still under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Commandant.

  Liu Zhang glanced at Yuan Wei with the corner of his eye, saw that he had no reaction, and then said to Liu Hong: "Your Majesty, it seems that Mr. Yuan has nothing to say! I ask Your Majesty to punish Feng Fang for treason!"

  "Speaking of treason, I think Crown Prince Hou should also be punished!" Yuan Wei saw that Feng Fang's situation was irretrievable and immediately turned the gun around.

  "Oh?" Liu Zhang smiled and said: "Director Yuan, I think you also know the crime of false accusation! You are saying that I am plotting a rebellion with your glib tongue, if there is no solid evidence, I'm afraid it will be hard to convince people!"

  Yuan Wei coldly smiled and said: "Even if Feng Fang's attack on the Feathered Forest Army is considered treason, Guanjun Hou's unauthorized mobilization of a large army into the city, and his unauthorized mobilization of a large army to attack Feng Fang's residence, I'm afraid he can't escape blame either!"

  "Lord Yuan, when you don't understand the situation, please shut that stinky mouth of yours, it's making me sick!" Liu Zhang smiled and took out a tiger tally: "Firstly, my troops cannot be deployed without the Emperor's tiger tally. Secondly, I had already asked for the Emperor's permission before attacking Feng Fang. Thirdly, my troops were originally garrisoned in the capital, although they were temporarily relocated outside the capital for training purposes, but their right to guard the capital was not revoked. So, even if 20,000 men entered the city, it wouldn't be a big deal!"

  After hearing Liu Zhang's words, Yuan Wei understood that he had been plotted against by Liu Zhang and Liu Hong again. What made Yuan Wei most depressed was that he had originally wanted to take this opportunity to propose checking Liu Zhang's military training ability, but because of Liu Zhang's overbearing manner, his plan fell through.

  "Your Majesty! The martial prowess of Crown Prince Liu Zhang is truly extraordinary, I heard that he defeated Feng Fang's 20,000 troops with just 5,000 men. I suggest we also give him the 20,000 men to train!" He Jin suddenly stood up and suggested, catching Yuan Shao off guard.

  "Your Majesty, absolutely not!" Yuan Yi glared at He Jin fiercely, then spoke to Emperor Ling with great respect: "The Marquis of Guangyang is too young. Entrusting him with 20,000 soldiers already makes people uneasy. Now if we give him another 20,000, I fear he will be unable to handle it."

  He Jin stood up again in Yuan Shu's gaze that could kill people and said: "Since General Yuan is worried about the insufficient ability of Crown Prince Hou, why not find a team to compare with Crown Prince Hou. If Crown Prince Hou wins, then hand over Feng Fang's troops to him for management. If Crown Prince Hou loses, then ask him to rest for a while!"

  "Huh..." Yuan Yi was stunned again, he looked at He Jin in surprise, when did this butcher have such a high IQ?

  Liu Hong was also quite bored at ordinary times. He heard He Jin's suggestion and thought it was very good, so he asked Liu Zhang: "The general's suggestion, I wonder what the emperor thinks?"

  "Your Majesty, as a military general, I have no fear! In the past, I dared to lead 8,000 troops to launch a surprise attack on Wuhuan Mountain. How can I not dare to compete with others? I believe that under equal military strength, I am absolutely invincible in the Great Han!"

  "Brother, you're so bold!" Liu Hong laughed and said: "General, you and Yuan Wei go choose a team to compete with Guan Yunchang. If Guan Yunchang wins, I'll give him Feng Fang's troops. If he loses, then please ask him to take a break for a while! Is there anything else? If not, let's disperse! As for Feng Fang, since he dared to rebel, let's punish him according to the law!"

  Liu Hong left, and he ordered Zhang Rang to call Liu Zhang as well. Yuan Wei looked at the receding back of Liu Zhang, with a venomous gaze in his eyes. Unfortunately, Liu Zhang didn't care; he knew that Yuan Wei would eventually die an unjust death.

  "General, please stay!" Liu Zhang's figure disappeared from view, and Yuan Wei hastily turned around to call out to He Jin: "The general is wise as the ocean, I was just rude a moment ago."

  "Governor Yuan, you're being too serious! We were originally allies, and sometimes things happen suddenly, I couldn't just sit back and do nothing, so the plan had some changes. It's normal that Governor Yuan doesn't understand!" He Jin didn't mind Yuan Shao's rudeness, he proposed this suggestion, it was more like helping Liu Zhang seize military power rather than plotting against him. Only Yuan Shao still naively thought of Liu Zhang as a child. Through He Ling Shi, He Jin came to know that Liu Zhang was actually a fox in human skin, very cunning. Against such a person, what use were simple plots?

  Yuan Shao, as a member of the aristocratic family, naturally had his pride. If it weren't for He Jin still having some use value, he wouldn't have deigned to speak with him. Since he had made himself clear, he left with peace of mind. How could He Jin not know what Yuan Shao was thinking? He shook his head and returned to his residence. Of course, since they were going to compete with Liu Zhang, Dong Zhuo's side still needed to be notified. It was said that Liu Zhang had agreed to the competition, so Dong Zhuo excitedly dispatched his top general Hua Xiong, preparing to avenge their previous defeat!

  In Weiyang Palace, Liu Zhang was sitting face-to-face with the Emperor.

  "Are you sure about this, kid?!" Liu Hong couldn't help but worry a bit for Liu Zhang. In fact, he didn't believe in Liu Zhang's achievements on Wuhuan Mountain either, but the truth was that the Wuhuan had indeed been defeated. The merits of Liu Yan and his generals were not distinguished from those of Liu Zhang. But now, Liu Zhang wanted to compete with others in training soldiers, which made Liu Hong worry.

  "Imperial brother, why don't you believe me? I only used 5,000 soldiers to defeat Feng Fang's 20,000 men. Is there another powerful army in Luoyang?" Liu Zhang felt a bit helpless, thinking that Liu Hong had come to see him about something important, but instead he was worried about him.

  "I know you have some ability, but if you lose, won't my power be reduced again?" Liu Hong really didn't understand where Liu Zhang got such great confidence. Could it be that in Liu Zhang's eyes, the great Han generals were all useless?

  If Liu Zhang were to speak his mind, the Han generals are not useless, for example, Lu Zhi, Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun. Perhaps their martial arts skills are not great, but their military training level is absolutely good, even Zhang Wen is not an ordinary person. However, these people are all pro-monarchy party members, they don't have time to support Liu Zhang, how can they oppose him? As for the aristocratic families who always look down on the commoners, they don't know that heroes often come from humble origins.

  Liu Bei still didn't take it seriously, and Liu Hong felt quite helpless. After Liu Bei comforted him for a while, he still couldn't let go of his worries. In the end, Liu Hong was so frustrated that he kicked Liu Bei out of the palace gate and said, "If you can't win, then don't come into the palace! Just looking at you makes me angry!"

  In the peculiar gaze of a group of eunuchs and attendants, Liu Zhang rubbed his nose and left the imperial palace. However, Liu Zhang believed that unless Yuan Shao could bring in Ding Yuan from Bingzhou, he would have no chance of winning.

  It's not suitable to have a bloody battle during the Chinese New Year, as it's an auspicious day. If there's bloodshed on this day, people will think it's unlucky and may even be inauspicious for the whole year. Therefore, Liu Zhang and Yuan's gamble had to take place before the new year. This was also Yuan Wei's plan, which could reduce Liu Zhang's training time. However, Liu Zhang didn't care because the Imperial Guard was originally the elite of the court, what they lacked wasn't training but good command and coordination with their generals. Three months' time was enough for Liu Zhang to grasp this army.

  Three days later, in the western suburbs of Luoyang. Under Liu Hong's arrangement, Liu Zhang led 5,000 cavalrymen to confront Dong Zhuo's 5,000 Western Liang soldiers. Looking at the imposing Western Liang army, Liu Zhang suddenly smiled and said to Liu Hong: "Your Majesty, I request that the Western Liang soldiers of the Yuan family mount their warhorses!"

  "Western Liang soldiers?" Liu Hong looked at He Jin, only to see He Jin lower his head and say nothing. Liu Hong couldn't help but let out a cold snort: "Using the elite troops trained by the Emperor's brother to fight against each other, an army that hasn't even seen blood, you're getting more and more capable!"

  "Your Majesty! I request that the Western Liang troops mount their horses!" Liu Zhang suggested once more.

  Liu Hong looked at Liu Zhang with some incomprehension, but Liu Zhang's face was firm. In Liu Hong's view, Liu Zhang's troops had no chance of winning against Dong Zhuo's Western Liang soldiers. If they let the Western Liang soldiers mount their horses again, wouldn't that be courting defeat? But Liu Zhang didn't look like a fool; he shouldn't be doing something foolish!

  Seeing Liu Hong's puzzled eyes, Liu Zhang firmly said: "Your Majesty, believe in my brother!"

  "Good!" Since Liu Zhang wanted to play a big game, Liu Hong would accompany him in his madness. Liu Hong shouted loudly: "Yuan Wei, order the Western Liang soldiers to mount their horses!"

  "What?! Yuan Shao was at a loss, unsure whether to be joyful or shocked. He really couldn't understand Liu Zhang's mind. However, surrendering would definitely benefit the Western Liang soldiers. Yuan Shao didn't refuse, but Hua Xiong felt somewhat helpless. As a military general, he was straightforward and hated being taken advantage of to this extent. Hua Xiong felt ashamed, but since Dong Zhuo ordered him to listen to Yuan Shao, he couldn't disobey Dong Zhuo's command."

  Soon, the war horses of the Western Liang soldiers were all led out, but Liu Zhang did not take to the field. He let Zhang Ren command this battle. Liu Hong asked him why he didn't take to the field, and Liu Zhang's answer was that the Western Liang soldiers weren't worthy of his taking action. Liu Hong felt a bit dizzy after hearing this, while Yuan Wei sneered on the side, and He Jin kept his head down, not knowing what he was thinking.

  The drums on the school field were loud and clear, Zhang Ren led Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and Huang Xu to look coldly at the Western Liang soldiers. For those who had fought against the Wuhuan cavalry before, Dong Zhuo's Western Liang Iron Cavalry was really not worth looking at.