OBS Chapter 179 Yuan Wei's message to the garrison commander leaks secrets
Chapter 179 Yuan Wei's message to the garrison commander leaks secrets
Inside the Prime Minister's residence, Dong Zhuo quickly notified Li Ru to come and discuss the matter, and Li Ru arrived shortly thereafter. Dong Zhuo first showed Li Ru the intelligence, then, with a hint of complaint, said, "Didn't you say that as long as Luoyang could be held, the rear would be secure? Now our escape route has been blocked!" Li Ru quickly grasped the crux of the matter and analyzed, "In a situation like this, there must be an insider. Otherwise, with the enemy still holding off the warlords outside Hulao Pass and their forces so depleted, how could the information have leaked, allowing Liu Yan to exploit this opportunity?" Dong Zhuo responded, "Ever since the Battle of Hulao Pass, Luoyang has been surrounded like an iron barrel. It's impossible for this information to be easily transmitted." Li Ru said he needed to investigate further. Dong Zhuo then said worriedly, "We have to save Chang'an now. There have been some discordant voices in the court since we started fighting Dong Zhuo, but we are too busy with the war to bother with them. If Chang'an falls, our retreat will be cut off. We will be trapped in Luoyang and will be defeated sooner or later." Li Ru also expressed deep concern and said to Dong Zhuo, "It seems that Chang'an must not be lost. We need to send capable generals to open up the road from Luoyang to Chang'an and then to Xiliang so that we can advance." We can retreat and defend." Dong Zhuo said: "Now Hulao Pass still needs troops, and Chang'an and Luoyang still need to be defended. Well, if it doesn't work, let Li Jue and Guo Si go back to support Chang'an. As for here, it's almost the same to leave the defense of Xingyang in Luoyang to Duan Wei and Zhang Ji. They are all capable of the same thing. After all, Li Jue has ruled the Feixiong Army for many years, and the prestige of the Feixiong Army is still there. "Li Ru originally wanted to propose whether to send troops from Longxi as well. In this way, if the two sides work together, Luoyang will surely be pacified quickly, not to mention if the troops from Longxi are not successful.
If the Longxi campaign proved unsuccessful, Ma Chao would undoubtedly launch a counterattack. With Ma Chao's exceptional military prowess, capturing Chang'an and opening up the entire route would be a piece of cake. However, Li Ru's proposal was decisively rejected by Dong Zhuo. Firstly, Dong Zhuo felt ashamed to return home for reinforcements when his advance was unsuccessful; it would be a disgrace to him. Secondly, Dong Zhuo intended to leave Longxi County to Dong Bai, and he didn't want him to worry about it. Li Ru smacked his lips. Faced with Dong Zhuo's resolute stance, he had no choice but to proceed as Dong Zhuo suggested.
Zhang Ping, the defender of Luoyang, was originally a rogue from Longxi County, having spent his early years wandering the streets. Later, as Dong Zhuo began to rise, he joined Dong Zhuo's forces and served in his army, though his experience was unremarkable. Perhaps it was divine intervention that allowed him to follow Dong Zhuo for many years, fighting alongside him in numerous battles without suffering any significant casualties. He slowly built up his experience and made it to the point where Dong Zhuo came to garrison the area. By following Dong Zhuo's advance into Luoyang, and with the success of the Western Liang army, he gradually rose to the rank of captain, and eventually became the defender of the Luoyang city gates.
Zhang Ping had actually been quite content when he served as a captain under Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo's military discipline was lax, and Zhang Ping, relying on his position as captain, acted tyrannically, believing his life to be quite comfortable. Who could have imagined that Dong Zhuo would rise from a mere border general to Prime Minister in just a year or two, transforming himself into a top figure in the Han Dynasty? After becoming the garrison commander of Luoyang, Zhang Ping, relying on his position as garrison commander, often had his soldiers extort bribes from soldiers and other personnel entering and leaving the city, and he would occasionally flirt with attractive women, leading a very comfortable life.
However, with the start of the Battle of Hulao Pass, the gates of Luoyang were heavily guarded, and his "spring" finally arrived. All the powerful and wealthy businessmen who wanted to leave the city had to pass through him, and he generously accepted bribes to open the door for them. But what made him happiest was undoubtedly meeting Yuan Wei's family general. This guy treated him with sincerity, and he was willing to give him gold, silver, treasures, fine wine and beautiful women. Zhang Ping couldn't help but sigh that his early years had been wasted. Now was the day he deserved to live, drinking wine every day, counting gold, silver and treasures, and sleeping with beauties he had never dared to think about before.
It was a bitterly cold day, and Zhang Ping was nestled on the city wall, warming himself by the fire and sipping wine. Feeling bored, he contemplated returning to play with his newly acquired beauty. First, soldiers rushed in with a warning of emergency, then Dong Zhuo's personal guards left the city. Zhang Ping sensed something was amiss. After inspecting the guards' seals, he approached them, saying, "Brother, where are you going on business in this cold weather?" Unaware of Dong Zhuo's intentions, the guard replied, "There's an emergency in Chang'an, and the Prime Minister is furious. Now, they want me to pass on a message to Generals Li Jue and Guo Si." With that, he rode away hastily. Zhang Ping ignored it and returned to the city gate to continue drinking.
This Yuan Wei's retainer now frequently approached Zhang Ping to try to get close and gather information. After passing on information, Yuan Wei kept a close eye on the situation in Luoyang, fearing any missed opportunity. He gifted this retainer with unlimited wealth and beauties, asking him to win over Zhang Ping in the hope of obtaining information. The retainer, carrying fine wine and a package of high-end meats from the restaurant, arrived at the city gate to drink with Zhang Ping, trying to get close and find out if there was anything unusual. Zhang Ping, unsuspecting, casually remarked, "Hey, I don't know what's going on. It's freezing cold, and the fighting has broken out in Chang'an again. Just now, Prime Minister Dong's personal guards were delivering a message to Generals Li Jue and Guo Si, likely requesting their assistance." Upon hearing this, the retainer lost interest in continuing the conversation with Zhang Ping. He offered a few perfunctory words and hurriedly returned the message to Yuan Wei.
Yuan Wei had been in a state of anxiety ever since delivering the message. After receiving the news from his family generals, he analyzed the situation and realized that it had changed significantly. Chang'an was now in chaos, the situation was in turmoil, and it was unexpectedly necessary to deploy troops from Luoyang to support Chang'an and relieve its siege. Yuan Wei thought that since they were sending troops to Xingyang, even if it wasn't led by Generals Li Jue and Guo Si themselves, some troops would definitely be withdrawn from Luoyang. This would undoubtedly weaken the forces in Xingyang, who were currently trapped outside Hulao Pass and at a loss. Once this news reached the coalition forces, they could simply divide their forces to attack Xingyang and break through Xuanmen Pass, thus bypassing Hulao Pass and advancing directly to Luoyang.
Yuan Wei was overjoyed at this thought. He quickly summoned his retainer and gave him careful instructions, demanding that he accurately convey this crucial information to the coalition forces. He then eagerly anticipated a reversal of the tide of battle. The retainer approached Zhang Ping's city gate and expressed his desire to leave. Zhang Ping offered no resistance, allowing the retainer to exit the city easily. The retainer then hurriedly headed towards the coalition forces.
Meanwhile, after Dong Zhuo learned that an insider was leaking information, Li Ru ordered his soldiers to conduct a thorough investigation and verify every single one of the information regarding any of the city's powerful figures leaving the city. Zhang Ping had always acted recklessly and had a rather poor record of keeping secrets, so it didn't take much effort to find out who was responsible. Zhang Ping was quickly apprehended by Li Ru and his men. Initially, Zhang Ping's face was filled with disdain and arrogance. He stiffened his neck and shouted, "Humph, why are you arresting me? I didn't do anything, you're slandering me!" Seeing this, Li Ru's eyes flashed with a sinister look, and he said coldly, "Zhang Ping, tell the truth if you know what's good for you, or you'll be in trouble." Zhang Ping remained stubborn, glaring at Li Ru fiercely and roaring, "I have nothing to confess, I'm innocent!"
Seeing Zhang Ping's stubbornness, Li Ru decided to teach him a lesson. He had Zhang Ping tied to the rack and first used the whipping. The barbed whip lashed Zhang Ping's body repeatedly, tearing his flesh and staining his clothes with blood. But Zhang Ping gritted his teeth, groaning, and refused to utter a single word. Then, Li Ru had a red-hot iron brought to Zhang Ping's skin. The scalding iron sizzled as it touched his skin, accompanied by a pungent smell of burning. Beads of sweat formed on Zhang Ping's forehead, and his body trembled uncontrollably. But he held on, refusing to yield. Li Ru, enraged by this, ordered his men to use other, even more brutal tortures, causing Zhang Ping to suffer endless agony. Finally, after prolonged torture, Zhang Ping could no longer endure. His defenses completely crumbled, and he began to tremble and confess in detail how he had accepted bribes to allow his men to leave the city. Li Ru carefully analyzed and unraveled his account, attempting to identify the source of the information, ultimately concluding it was Yuan Wei. Zhang Ping also revealed that Yuan Wei's general had just ridden away on horseback nearly an hour earlier. Li Ru sensed something was amiss, and fearing a single oversight could lead to his entire plan being jeopardized, he hurriedly reported this crucial information to Dong Zhuo.