The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 103 Lord Weiyang is a God!

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! This is bad! The Grand Tutor just suddenly ordered someone to arrest Xu Huang and take him to the Imperial Prison!"

The one who came to report the news was Zhong Yao.

In the past, Zhong Yao once advised Liu Xie that if Xu Huang was not killed, the resentment of the soldiers could not be appeased.

When the emperor let Xu Huang go, Zhong Yao felt something was wrong.

Today the truth was finally revealed, so as soon as Zhong Yao got the news, he immediately came to Liu Xie and informed him of the situation.

"Why did the Grand Master suddenly think of Xu Huang?"

"It was General Dong Min who went to the palace and suddenly brought up this matter, asking the Grand Tutor to kill Xu Huang immediately to restore morale in the army!"

Dong Min?

Liu Xie immediately thought of the previous temple divination, when Dong Min always refuted him intentionally or unintentionally, as if there was some great grudge...

"I have never had any grudge against General Zuo, why did he suddenly bring this up?"

Liu Xie was puzzled.

Zhong Yao understood: "General Zuo may not be targeting Your Majesty or Xu Huang this time."

"Grand Protector Hu Zhen has always been very prestigious in the Xiliang Army! He also has a very good relationship with several elders of the Dong family... General Zuo may just want to seek justice for Hu Zhen."

Killing for life is justified.

Although Xu Huang killed Hu Zhen on the battlefield, killing is killing after all. It is obviously impossible to let the Xiliang generals turn a blind eye to all this.

Liu Xie pinched the sides of his nose and said with a headache, "Why did Dong Min personally talk to the Grand Tutor about this? I originally thought that when I have time in the future, I can casually mention this matter to the Grand Tutor and let him make a big deal out of a small matter... But if Dong Min mentioned this matter, then things will be different."

There is an almost fundamental difference between Liu Xie bringing it up on his own initiative and Dong Min talking about it to Dong Zhuo.

The former is nothing more than absolving a person of guilt.

The latter represents the voice of the entire Xiliang military.

No wonder Dong Zhuo arrested Xu Huang and threw him into prison without even saying hello...

"I'm going to visit the Grand Master."

Xu Huang must be saved.

The emperor’s word is as good as gold.

Not to mention, Xu Huang had made military achievements in Meiwu before. If Liu Xie killed him just like that, he would feel guilty.

Arrived at Dong Zhuo's residence.

At this moment, Dong Min has not left yet.

When he saw the emperor's sudden visit, he immediately guessed that the emperor might have come regarding Xu Huang's matter.

"I didn't expect the emperor to be so well-informed?"

For a moment, Dong Min was surprised and happy.

What was surprising was that Liu Xie had already had his own spies and informants, and was able to get the news so quickly.

What made him happy was that Liu Xie arrived so quickly, which showed that Xu Huang was still very important to him.

But the more important it is, the more significant the outcome of this battle is!
Dong Min was confident that Dong Zhuo would never give in on this matter!

Because Dong Zhuo might be confused occasionally in other matters, but when it comes to stabilizing the morale of the army, he is always cold and resolute!
Compared with the morale of the entire Xiliang army, Xu Huang is simply insignificant!
In this matter, Dong Min won from the very beginning!

As the dust settles on this matter, Dong Min's prestige in the Xiliang army will surely increase greatly! Correspondingly, the emperor's prestige will probably drop suddenly.

After all, no one likes a boss who can't even save his own life.

The lower the emperor's prestige, the more secure Dong's future wealth will be.

Dong Min looked at the cute appearance of Wei Yang Jun Dong Bai and thought of his own children.

"This is all for the safety of my Dong family!"

Liu Xie had no estrangement between the monarch and his subjects. Coming to Dong Zhuo's place was like coming to his own home. He sat directly beside Dong Zhuo and reached out to touch Dong Zhuo's slightly sunken abdomen. "Grandmaster, you must have worked really hard on this expedition. You have lost so much weight!"

Not as bouncy as before, but still soft.

Dong Zhuo chuckled and touched his abdomen, particularly fond of the grooves where his abdominal muscles were about to emerge: "I am now dieting intentionally. Even when I go to war, I only eat half of the amount I used to. I will naturally lose weight!"

Dong Min: ???
Liu Xie continued to pat him: "Grandmaster, you must continue to work hard. Not only should you prolong your life, but it would be best if you could give Weiyang Jun an uncle for her to play with."

Dong Bai was not happy when she heard that Liu Xie wanted Dong Zhuo to give her an elder: "I don't want an uncle!"

"In terms of seniority, he is your uncle, but in reality he is your younger brother. From now on, Wei Yang-jun can bully him at will."

Dong Bai then grinned.

This is right!

Dong Zhuo was at a loss whether to laugh or cry when he saw that Liu Xie and Dong Bai had actually started planning how to bully his unborn child.

"Your Majesty, how dare you say that? My concubine is a natural childbearer, but she was chosen by Fengxian... I'm afraid Fengxian will have a son before me!"

Dong Zhuo was obviously still obsessed with that "big horse" so much that he was still complaining about it.

Liu Xie rubbed Dong Zhuo's belly and drew circles: "The Grand Master will come sooner or later!"

Dong Zhuo agreed with this point and whispered to Liu Xie: "Since I lost some weight, I really feel different!"

"What's the difference? Master, tell me in detail!"

"..."

Seeing Liu Xie and his grandfather whispering to each other, Dong Bai also tried to eavesdrop by sticking his head in, but was mercilessly driven away by Dong Zhuo. He had no choice but to run to a corner and sulk by himself...

Maybe it's because of the hot weather.

Or maybe it was because some of the ways of playing that Dong Zhuo talked about were too exciting... Anyway, it didn't take long for Liu Xie and Dong Zhuo to be sweating profusely and their faces were red.

"The Grand Master is still as majestic as ever!"

Dong Zhuo wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "After all, it's not the same as when I was young. When I was young, I had one Han, one Qiang, one Di, one Xianbei, and one Xiongnu... That was really fun!"

Obviously, national unity has long been achieved by the Grand Master...

"When I was young, I never sweated so much. I am really weak now."

Liu Xie was ashamed.

It's because he sweats just as much as Dong Zhuo, so how can he look like a young man at all?

But this is definitely not because of physical weakness!
There had been continuous heavy rains in Guanzhong before, and Liu Xie had long known that there would be a severe drought in the future.

So it’s not surprising that this summer is a bit hotter than usual.

"I have a way to beat the heat, Grand Master, please wait a moment!"

The heat was so unbearable that Liu Xie summoned the imperial physician and asked him to bring all the "Xiao Shi" stored in the palace.

"Xiao Shi", which means "nitrate", is now often used as a medicinal material for breaking up accumulations, promoting diuresis and purging, and detoxifying and reducing swelling.

However, because we don’t know the principle, we can only find some naturally generated “Xiao Shi” and store it in the autumn, so the stock is not large.

Even the reserves in the Weiyang Palace only amounted to a few kilograms, which was extremely precious.

"Your Majesty, what do you need medicinal herbs for? Even if it's to relieve the heat, it should be things like Patchouli and lotus leaves. How can you use Xiaoshi to relieve the heat?"

Liu Xie smiled mysteriously: "Grandmaster, you will know later!"

He ordered someone to fetch a basin of well water, and Liu Xie threw all the kilograms of Xiaoshi directly into it, just like a prodigal emperor. "Open it later, and the Grand Master will know why Xiaoshi can relieve the heat!"

Dong Zhuo still believed that Liu Xie wanted to cook a decoction.

But Liu Xie didn't start the fire, which really made Dong Zhuo curious.

Dong Bai was not as patient as Dong Zhuo. He went straight to the basin of water and observed the changes in it.

moment.

Dong Bai was horrified but excited: "Ice! Ice! Grandfather! The water inside has turned into ice!"

What nonsense are you talking about?
Dong Zhuo wiped away his sweat again.

How can water turn into ice in such hot weather?
Dong Min was sitting nearby, so he also took a look out of curiosity.

This glance immediately terrified him: "Brother! Brother! It really turned into ice!"

Why are you guys teaming up to cheat me?
Dong Zhuo was speechless.

If ice could be created in summer, wouldn't Dong Zhuo have lived most of his life in vain?
Although he was disdainful, Dong Zhuo still stepped forward to cooperate in order to please Dong Bai.

"Where did the ice come from? Why didn't I see... it?"

Dong Zhuo's pupils shrank!
ice!
It’s really ice!

It’s in that basin of water just now!

Dong Zhuo saw it clearly just now. When the basin was brought up, it was filled with clear water!
But now, ice appeared!
Dong Zhuo was dumbfounded, and Dong Min was completely at a loss!
Turn water into ice!

This can be described as a divine method!

Thinking of some rumors in Chang'an City, Dong Min looked at Liu Xie with fear in his eyes.

"Is the Son of Heaven really born divine? Is he a celestial being???"

……

Hey!

When Liu Xie saw how shocked the three were, he also started laughing.

This is science!

It would take hundreds of years for the saltpeter method of making ice to become widely used.

Thanks to the alchemists in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the production of saltpeter increased greatly, which led to the discovery of the secret of its ability to make ice.

And for the Han people today, this skill of "turning water into ice" is something that only immortals can do!
"Xiaoshi can help you avoid the heat. Can you trust the Grand Master now?"

letter!
How can I not believe it!
The coolness of the ice is almost hitting my face, how can I not believe it?
Dong Zhuo was very curious.

But I didn’t dare to ask!

What if this is really the technique of the immortal... If I ask casually, wouldn't that be an offense to the immortal?
Even though Dong Zhuo didn't really believe in ghosts and gods, the fact was before him and he couldn't question it.

"It's not difficult to melt rocks and make ice."

Liu Xie had no intention of pretending to be a charlatan, but instead explained to the three people the principle of making ice from saltpeter.

As for whether they understood or not, that had nothing to do with Liu Xie...

However, Dong Zhuo was the first to react: "Your Majesty means that as long as we have the stone of ice-making in our hands, even ordinary people can make ice?"

"Exactly."

Liu Xie also gave a friendly smile to Dong Min standing beside him.

"In fact, the palace usually has ice cellars for summer heat relief. But it is not easy to avoid the heat during the march... With this method of making ice with melted stone, General Zuo and other military officers will be more comfortable in the future. It's a pity that melted stone is rare, otherwise it would be best to let all soldiers avoid the heat."

Dong Min didn't expect that Liu Xie would take the initiative to explain the principle of making ice by melting stones.

He had never imagined that Liu Xie's purpose was to allow military officers like him to escape the summer heat in the army...

Son of Heaven, are you so pure and kind?

Dong Min quickly shook his head, driving away some thoughts...

Liu Xie also took this opportunity to suggest to Dong Zhuo: "Now that it is the hottest time of the year, why not buy some Xiaoshi and distribute it to the officers in the army? What do you think, Grand Master?"

"This can be regarded as some compensation from me to them."

At this time, Liu Xie poked open the window paper and did not hide his thoughts at all. Instead, he directly brought up the matter of Xu Huang.

"I heard that the Grand Master ordered the arrest of Xu Huang."

"Xu Huang previously raided Xiagui and killed the Grand Protector Hu Zhen... He had a grudge against the Xiliang generals. I actually know all of this."

"But later Xu Huang repented in the Weiyang Palace and claimed that he was forced to do so by the situation. He was deceived by Wang Yun when he sneaked into Guanzhong. That's why I gave Xu Huang the opportunity to make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence."

"After arriving at Meiwu, Xu Huang made great contributions in the war and protected me when the bandits attacked. If I kill Xu Huang now, I will feel uneasy."

Liu Xie did not make excuses for Xu Huang, nor did he hide his intention to save Xu Huang. He discussed everything with Dong Zhuo openly and honestly without any deception or insincerity.

"So, I am thinking... I can help support Hu Zhen's family. If there are adult sons and nephews in his family, they can also be sent to the palace to serve as close officials such as palace officials. As long as they are properly trained, they can be given the position of county magistrate or even prefect to bring honor to the family!"

"As for the families of the soldiers who died in the battle of Xiagui, I am also thinking of giving them more money as compensation, or recruiting their descendants to serve in the Tiger Guard Army so that they will not be left without a livelihood."

"This person is gone. I also feel sorry for Hu Zhen and those soldiers... But this sin cannot be borne by Xu Huang alone!"

Liu Xie said all he wanted to say, then looked at Dong Zhuo hopefully and did not press him any further.

……

……

Dong Zhuo considered for a long time.

"Your Majesty, do you really want to protect Xu Huang?"

"I'm not saying it's a guarantee. I just think it's better to keep Xu Huang alive so that he can make meritorious contributions instead of killing him. And if Xu Huang is killed, Hu Zhen and the families of the soldiers who died in the battle won't get any compensation, so it's not worth it."

"What if I must kill Xu Huang?"

……

Now it was Liu Xie's turn to remain silent.

He had reasons to save Xu Huang.

Dong Zhuo also had reasons to kill Xu Huang.

Moreover, Dong Zhuo’s reasons are more important than Liu Xie’s reasons!

Correct the morale of the army!
If Xu Huang was not killed, would those Xiliang generals and soldiers who were acquainted with Hu Zhen feel a thorn in their hearts after seeing Xu Huang?
The most taboo thing in the army is any rift between generals and commanders.

Once those generals think that Dong Zhuo does not love them, will they still submit to Dong Zhuo as they do now?

Therefore, in Dong Zhuo's mind, Xu Huang must be killed! No one can stop him!
The air couldn't help but become tense here.

The matter of Xu Huang can be said to be the first and most irreconcilable contradiction between Liu Xie and Dong Zhuo.

This dilemma has made both sides feel a little breathless!
At this time.

A crisp voice broke the heaviness.

"Your Majesty, is Xu Huang the big fool who saved my treasury?"

"I once said before that I would ask my grandfather to reward him well..."

(End of this chapter)