The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 139 Betrayal of Dong Zhuo
"Yuan Benchu, is there something wrong with your ears?"

Li Ru knocked on the hilt twice, then flicked it away.

"I've already said that I'm a spy, a discarded pawn who did what Zhang Yi and Su Qin did. Who told you that I'm Wu Zixu?"

"But I understand the logic. If I can't produce anything, you won't believe me."

Li Ru straightened up——

"I have military information from Hedong to share!"

"speak!"

"Dong Zhuo has decided to send troops immediately after the beginning of spring this year, marching from Hedong to Taiyuan to completely seize Bingzhou!"

When the news came out, everyone was shocked!

Guo Tu lost his voice: "Impossible!"

"Now that Guanzhong is plagued by natural and man-made disasters, we are going to Guandong to buy food for disaster relief. How can we have the energy to launch an attack?"

"Besides, didn't Dong Zhuo say before that he would not launch a military operation this year? How could he go back on his word like this? Li Ru! Don't try to deceive Lord Yuan!"

Li Ru looked at Guo Tu as if he were a fool...

"Guo Gongze, you were just a clerk in the past. I thought you had changed a lot now, but I didn't expect you to be so stupid!"

Guo Tu's face flushed.

Li Ru asked: "Guanzhong is indeed plagued by natural disasters and man-made disasters, but what does it have to do with Dong Zhuo? Do you think Dong Zhuo is really a man who loves his people? He buys food from everywhere just for the sake of military affairs! As for how many people in Guanzhong will starve to death, do you think Dong Zhuo cares?"

"As for going back on one's word... would a traitor like Dong Zhuo care about such trivial matters? You are the Minister of the Imperial Court, but you really haven't made any progress at all!"

After being scolded by Li Ru, Guo Tu seemed to have noticed some blind spot!
correct!

He finally understood why he had always had a strange feeling.

Dong Zhuo has always been cruel, but he is willing to buy food for disaster relief?

This style of painting is really discordant! Could it be that Dong Zhuo suddenly changed his temper?

Now after hearing Li Ru's explanation, he completely understood!
Dong Zhuo, still the cruel Dong Zhuo!

The so-called "buying of grain" is nothing more than another trick of Dong Zhuo's cunning and hypocritical deception!
Not only Guo Tu, but also Yuan Shao felt inexplicably at ease at this moment.

That's how it should be!
The Dong Zhuo that Li Ru mentioned is the Dong Zhuo they know!

Buy food? Treat disaster victims? Enact benevolent policies?

Is that what Dong Zhuo should do?
At the same time, this also means that they all believe in Li Ru at this moment!
In fact, they didn't believe in Li Ru, but believed in Dong Zhuo, the Dong Zhuo in their impression!
"Wenyou, I'm sorry."

Yuan Shao was a very powerful man. He didn't care that his sword was just on Li Ru's neck, and he just walked up to Li Ru and helped him up happily.

"Of course I trust Wen You, but Dong Zhuo is treacherous, so I really have to be careful."

"Since Wenyou has turned from evil to good, I am delighted and should treat him with courtesy!"

……

The murderous aura and dominance just now have all turned into harmony.

"Wen You has high aspirations and a good reputation. Now that he is assisting the true emperor, he will surely achieve great things!"

The real emperor?
Now, Yuan Shao doesn’t even want to mention the surname “Liu”?
Cui Yan glanced sideways at the side, becoming increasingly dissatisfied with Yuan Shao who was trying to win over Li Ru.

But who would have thought that Li Ru did not appreciate it.

He shook his head and said, "I'm afraid it will be difficult for the Hebei court to achieve great success!"

……

This can no longer be called arrogance, it is simply ungratefulness!
Yuan Shao suppressed his anger and said, "Why did Wenyou say that? Did you see anything dirty on the way to Hebei? If it is true, please let me know immediately. I will severely punish the officials involved!"

Not only is he courteous to the wise and humble, but his attitude is also impeccable.

Yuan Shao thought that this would make Li Ru respect him a little, but he didn't expect Li Ru to go even further. He directly skipped Yuan Shao and asked Cui Yan, who hadn't said a word: "May I ask if you are a scholar from Hebei?"

"Qinghe Cui Yan, Cui Jigui."

Cui Yan looked arrogant and obviously looked down on Li Ru.

Li Ru grabbed Yuan Shao's sleeve and pointed his other hand at Cui Yan: "Mr. Yuan! This thief is the great thief of the imperial court! Please kill him immediately!"

……

……

Yuan Shao boasted that he came from a prominent family and that the scenery he had seen in his lifetime was already quite spectacular.

But today Li Ru had repeatedly acted against the rules, which had already made Yuan Shao completely lose his temper.

It would be fine if he came to my house directly and said he was a spy, but now he actually asked me to kill Cui Yan? Kill this famous scholar from Hebei?

Li Ru...could it be that he has gone insane due to the severe torture he suffered from Dong Zhuo?

"Wenyou, this is Cui Yan, Cui Jigui, a famous scholar from Hebei, not a big thief."

Li Ru sneered: "The nobles are the big thieves!"

Yuan Shao, Cui Yan and Guo Tu were all stunned.

"Mr. Yuan, do you know why I said that the Hebei court will never have a chance to achieve great things?"

"Now that we are in troubled times, there will surely be a grassroots hero who will take power and leave his name in history!"

"But now the nobles are colluding with each other, banding together in various places to fight against the central government... With such actions, how can the hero hold power alone?"

"Although Dong Zhuo in Guanzhong is not considered a hero, no one can stop him!"

"Before Dong Zhuo came to power, he killed a group of nobles in Guanzhong."

"After moving the capital to Chang'an, he killed a group of Guanzhong nobles!"

"Wang Yun's plot was exposed before, and he even killed the last nobles in Guanzhong who dared to resist Dong Zhuo!"

"Now, if Dong Zhuo asks the remaining scholars to take ten steps, they will definitely not dare to take nine steps!"

"Possessing such authority is the foundation for achieving great things!"

"Now Lord Yuan is in control of Hebei and has 100,000 soldiers under his command! But what is the reality?"

Li Ru sneered again: "I heard that the soldiers under Lord Yuan's command couldn't even defeat the Black Mountain Bandits in Taihang Mountain?"

"If we can't even defeat the little Black Mountain bandits, how can we achieve great things in the future!!!"

Every word Li Ru said was exposing Yuan Shao's scars!

Even Yuan Shao himself relied on the gentry to achieve his current status.

But precisely because of their current status, those aristocratic families became an obstacle to Yuan Shao.

Especially with the establishment of the Hebei court, the gap between Yuan Shao and the local gentry in Hebei was gradually widening at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The war with the Black Mountain bandits made Yuan Shao feel even more ashamed and angry.

To protect oneself by nurturing the enemy... Even the most foolish princes would not allow their subordinates to dare to do such a thing!

Besides, Yuan Shao could not be considered a mediocre ruler.

This made this matter a thorn in Yuan Shao's side!
But even though Yuan Shao was so angry, he still couldn't break off relations in public.

"Wenyou's words are still biased. The scholars in Hebei are not only highly respected, but have always been loyal to the country and have no other thoughts." "As for the war with the Black Mountain bandits, it was just that the bandits were rampant for a while. They will be completely eliminated in a few days."

Yuan Shao wanted to quickly skip this topic: "Wen You just said that Dong Zhuo pretended to help the victims, but in fact he was considering the war?"

"Exactly!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shao also frowned.

"Taiyuan is too important for Hebei to give up."

"But now the land of Taiyuan is still in the hands of Zhang Yan's Black Mountain bandits."

Thinking of this, Yuan Shao turned to Guo Tu and said, "Gong Ze, draft an imperial edict and order Gao Gan to capture Taiyuan within one month! Otherwise, bring him to me with his head!"

Guo Tu seemed a little overwhelmed.

In name, this decree was issued to senior officials.

Gao Gan was Yuan Shao's nephew and a native of Central Plains, so Yuan Shao's move was to kill his own relative for the sake of justice.

But, is this the truth?

Although Gao Gan led his troops to sweep Bingzhou, the generals under his command were Hebei generals such as Zhang He and Gao Lan.

Therefore, on the surface, Yuan Shao gave death orders to high-ranking officials, but in fact he issued an ultimatum to the scholars in Hebei.

"Taiyuan, I, Yuan Shao, must take it into my hands!"

as predicted.

After Yuan Shao ordered Guo Tu to issue the imperial edict, Cui Yan's expression also became somewhat ugly.

But he didn't make any move.

Cui Yan was only a court official now, how could he give Yuan Shao instructions on military matters? Wouldn't that be like trying to cover up one's own faults?
And despite the internal strife, Cui Yan was also well aware of the importance of Taiyuan to Hebei.

Once Taiyuan is lost and controlled by Dong Zhuo, it will be an absolute disaster for the entire Hebei Province!

In the past, when Gongsun Zan led his White Horse Volunteers to roam Hebei, it was enough to scare people.

If Dong Zhuo's Xiliang cavalry came down from Taihang Mountains, what would Hebei use to stop them?
Therefore, even if they did not want to admit it, the Hebei gentry had to accept it reluctantly.

And Yuan Shao was in a very good mood at the moment!
Although he still somewhat disliked Li Ru's arrogance, he was extremely happy about Li Ru's arrival!

Just one piece of news allowed him to defeat the Hebei gentry and retake Taiyuan County!

Compared with the real benefits, Yuan Shao could tolerate a little disrespect.

"Come on, Wenyou, tell me in detail how Dong Zhuo forced you to poison the emperor? Or did you actually not do it, but was framed by Dong Zhuo? Come on, let's talk in detail..."

Seeing that Yuan Shao treated Li Ru like a guest of honor, Cui Yan became even more angry.

"Mr. Yuan, you are so generous on the outside but so cautious on the inside. Don't you think you are partial to one and unfair to the other?"

------

………………

The capital of Taiyuan County was Jinyang.

Several Black Mountain bandits guarding the city gathered together and lit a bonfire to keep warm.

"From what the leader said, he wants us to withdraw from Jinyang and hand it over to Yuan Shao?"

"..."

Several bandits were silent.

"Damn it! So many brothers died in the fight against Yuan Shao! Folks! And now you tell me that I have to hand over Taiyuan? What on earth are you doing? Are you playing house???"

One of the younger bandits suddenly started cursing!
It was clearly agreed that they followed Zhang Yan to protect their fellow countrymen, to fight against the inhumane court, to fight the powerful to the end, and to ensure that everyone in the world had food to eat and clothes to wear...

How many people died because of this?

But now you tell me that the confrontation with Yuan Shao was just a show?

All the wealth and land that they fought so hard to protect can be given away!
What are these soldiers who followed the uprising like? Toys? Consumables?
What are their ideals and aspirations? Are they just lies made up to deceive them?
When those generals read out the slogan "In the year of Jiazi, the world will be blessed with good fortune", did they really not laugh in their hearts?
"Tsk! That's enough!"

Perhaps considering the reluctance of the young men, the old soldiers were apparently very calm.

"Isn't it always like this?"

"No matter what slogans he shouts, as long as he can provide enough food for us every day and allow us to support our wives and sons, then I am willing to work with him!"

"What ideals? What justice? Only young people like you and those corrupt scholars believe in these things. No matter how good the ideals are, can they still fill your stomach?"

The oldest soldier even revealed the truth of the past:

"When the Taiping Sect started the uprising, do you think everyone believed the words of the Great Sage and Good Teacher and followed him?"

"wrong!"

"It's because the Great Sage Master can really treat us, can really give us poor people a cup of hot soup, and can really share the food he has seized with us so that we can fill our stomachs!"

"If not, who do you think would be willing to tie their heads to their belts and rebel? Huh?"

A few old soldiers spoke one after another, mercilessly tearing the once warm and hypocritical illusion into pieces, and slowly revealing the cruel truth of this world.

"Young man, let me tell you the truth."

"When you have your own wife and your own children, you will know that everything is fake! Only the food that is eaten by your own family is real!"

"Day by day, don't think about those trivial things! Eat well, live a good life! Save more money, this is what you should do!"

As he was speaking, the old soldier saw a caravan approaching the city gate, so he decisively stopped preaching to the young men and walked up to them with a smile.

The opposing team is obviously also a veteran.

Not only did he secretly stuff a bulging wallet into the old soldier's hand, he also took a few bags of food from the car and placed them next to the old soldier.

Get on the road!

Any inspection is just a casual glance and a wave of the hand to let the other party pass.

The old soldier sat back down and distributed the strings of five-zhu coins from his wallet to everyone.

"Look! This is the good stuff! This is what you should think about!"

The old soldier even threw a string of five-zhu coins to the young man.

"Next time you go by yourself and get some practice. It's a pity that Jinyang is such a good place. I'm afraid I'll never get such a good job again after I leave."

The young man was certainly indignant just now.

But when the five-zhu coin was thrown at him, he decisively put it into his arms.

"Brothers, have you noticed that the caravans from the south have been coming too often recently? Aren't the people in Hedong to the south all enemies? Isn't it a bit bad to have such frequent traffic?"

The young man's repeated questioning finally made the old soldier impatient.

"Isn't it a good thing for us to come here frequently?"

"Why do you care who's in Hedong? They don't even care about the big shots up there. They do business with them secretly, but you'll worry about them!"

The old soldier cursed: "You have no memory! I'll see if those big shots will still care about you when you are poor and desperate in the future!"

(End of this chapter)