Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 134 Dong Zhuo: I love him (Lü Bu) so much!

After the decision to go to war was finalized, the atmosphere in the court remained solemn, and the nature of the court meeting continued to move towards the initial goal of "suppressing the rebellion."

The first thing to do is to determine the list of conscripts.

Although the prince had previously instructed the right general Dong Zhuo to go to Liangzhou and the left general Huangfu Song to go to Bingzhou, such an arrangement was still under discussion.

Huangfu Song and Dong Zhuo were both from Liangzhou, but the reputation accumulated by the Huangfu family in Liangzhou over several generations was far beyond the reach of the suddenly rising upstart Dong Zhuo.

Therefore, considering political influence, Huangfu Song seems to be more suitable to serve as the chief general in suppressing the rebellion in Liangzhou.

However, in Dong Zhuo's Right General's Office, generals such as Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou, Hua Xiong and others were all from Liangzhou and knew the geography of Liangzhou very well. Moreover, Dong Zhuo and his generals had participated in quelling the Qiang rebellion many times, and they also had a great reputation in the hearts of the Hu and Han people in Liangzhou.

Therefore, in terms of military influence, Dong Zhuo has more advantages than Huangfu Song.

Originally, Liu Bian planned to send the two of them to fight together, so that they could gain advantages in both politics and military.

But if one has to choose between the two, it would be difficult to decide who is more suitable to quell the rebellion in Liangzhou.

Thinking of this, Liu Bian frowned, tapping lightly on the new desk that Gao Wang had asked to be replaced with his fingers, his eyes full of thought.

"Your Highness, I have heard that the Right General was once the Governor of Bingzhou. He should have some understanding of the situation in Bingzhou. Compared to the Left General, he seems more suitable to serve as the commander-in-chief of the rebellion in Bingzhou."

Seeing the prince lost in thought, Feng Ji suddenly spoke up to remind him.

Hearing this, Liu Bian's originally furrowed brows instantly relaxed, his eyes also brightened, and he said: "What Yuan Tu said makes sense!"

In a situation where you have to choose between the two, since you can't choose the most suitable general to quell the rebellion in Liangzhou, then just choose the most suitable general to quell the rebellion in Bingzhou!

Dong Zhuo was recommended by Yuan Wei to serve as the Governor of Bingzhou. Although he only held the honorary position of Governor of Bingzhou while serving as the prefect of Hedong County, he had some understanding of the internal affairs of Bingzhou. Therefore, Dong Zhuo became the first choice to quell the Xiongnu rebellion in Bingzhou.

Huangfu Song's pacification of the Qiang and Hu, and Dong Zhuo's pacification of the Xiongnu, seem to be the most appropriate choices for the overall situation at present.

However, when Dong Zhuo heard this decision, a hint of subtle disappointment flashed across his face.

Who doesn’t want to return home in glory?

Imagine that he, as the right general, led an army of tens of thousands to return to his hometown in glory, met with his fellow villagers and old friends from the Qiang and Hu tribes, and listened to them praise "Dong Junya's son is really promising". What an exciting scene that would be!
But Dong Zhuo quickly got over his regretful mood and adjusted his mentality, because the prince allowed them to appoint generals on their own!

Seeing these brave generals swaying before him, Dong Zhuo could not help but rub his hands, with a greedy smile on his face.

This made him feel even more itchy than those Qiang, Hu, Xiongnu and Western Region dancers who all flirted and flirted in front of him.

Dong Zhuo has three good qualities: beautiful women, fine horses, and brave generals!
With his current status and position, he has no shortage of beauties.

As for the fine horses, they were presented to us by the noble chiefs of the Qiang and Hu tribes of Liang Province.

Only the fierce general, after meeting Hua Xiong, felt that Fan Chou's martial arts were nothing. After meeting Li Jue, he felt that Hua Xiong was slightly inferior.

But when he met Lu Bu, he was truly shocked!

How could there be such a brave and fierce general in the world!

He is an expert in wrestling, cavalry combat and archery. He really loves Lu Bu!
"Your Highness, I would like to borrow the captain of the Yue cavalry to join the expedition!" Dong Zhuo looked at Lu Bu with an eager look without hiding his eagerness, and bowed to the prince.

Liu Bian was slightly stunned when he heard this.

First it was Wang Yun and then Dong Zhuo. The fate between Lu Bu and these two people is indeed a bit strange. And if he remembers correctly, Ding Yuan is now the prefect of Taiyuan County in Bingzhou?
Thinking of this, Liu Bian couldn't help but look surprised.

Dong Zhuo saw that the prince had not responded for a long time and thought that the prince was reluctant to leave Lü Bu.

But it was understandable that the Crown Prince would be reluctant to release a brave general like Lü Bu, so he continued to plead, "Your Highness, Captain Lü is from Bingzhou and is familiar with the local conditions and people. Therefore, I request that Your Highness loan Captain Lü to join the campaign."

"That's right."

Liu Bian waved his hand gently, a faint smile on his face, agreeing to Dong Zhuo's request, which made him very happy. Then he looked at Huangfu Song, and asked with a slight smile: "Where is Yizhen?"

"Your Highness, all of your officers are capable and skilled warriors. I will obey your orders. However..." Huangfu Song narrowed his eyes slightly, a hint of hesitation flashing across his eyes. He unconsciously stroked his beard with his right hand, hesitated for a moment, and said slowly, "Your Highness, I would like to recommend someone for the Right General, but this person was once demoted to a commoner due to a crime."

"who?"

Liu Bian glanced sideways slightly, with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

After the incident with Yan Zhong, although Huangfu Song was promoted to the rank of Left General, granted the title of Marquis of Wating, and given a fief of 1,000 households, he became increasingly cautious, and even his fellow villagers did not dare to recommend him easily.

The number of officials under the Left General's Office is the smallest among the officials who have the power to establish an office. And today, Huangfu Song is actually going to recommend the person who he said was "demoted to a commoner due to a crime"?
"Zang Min, the General of the Central Guards who protects the Xiongnu!"

Liu Bian frowned, he had also heard of Zang Min.

Zang Min was a native of Sheyang County, Guangling Commandery, Xuzhou. During the reign of Emperor Xiaohuan, he initially served as an official in Xuzhou. He was later appointed to the Si Tu Mansion and later the Magistrate of Yongnu. At the beginning of Xiping, he was appointed as the Prefect of Wujun and the Governor of Yangzhou. He was later transferred to the position of Lieutenant Colonel of the Xiongnu, Counselor, and later Cavalry Captain of Changshui. He served successively as the Prefect of Zhongshan and Taiyuan, and later as the Lieutenant Colonel of the Protectorate of the Xiongnu.

Zang Min was handsome and dignified, and the Southern Xiongnu were grateful for his service as the General of the Central Army to protect the Xiongnu. However, in terms of military affairs, Zang Min was a complete failure.

In August of the sixth year of Xiping (177 AD), Xia Yu left Gaoliu, Tian Yan left Yunzhong, and Zang Min led the Southern Xiongnu leader Huwei Chanyu out of Yanmen. Each of them led cavalrymen, and they went out of the border through three routes for more than miles.

As a result, the 30,000 cavalrymen were defeated by the three leaders and generals under Tan Shihuai without even seeing the main force of Tan Shihuai. Not only did they lose their flags, seals and supplies, but their troops were almost wiped out. In the end, only more than 100 people out of the three armies of more than 30,000 people escaped.

After the war, Xia Yu, Tian Yan and Zang Min were all imprisoned. Considering their past merits, they were not beheaded in the end, but were all demoted to commoners.

"Your Highness, although Zang Ziqiu suffered a temporary defeat in the past, he is not a mediocre and incompetent person. The Southern Xiongnu deeply admire his prestige and virtue. He is also well-versed in the affairs of the Southern Xiongnu and will surely make great contributions to the court!"

Seeing that Huangfu Song rarely pleaded for others in this way, Liu Bian naturally would not refuse his face. However, even if Zang Min was reinstated, he could not resume his position as General of the Central Army, and could only join the expedition as the Captain of the Guards against the Xiongnu.

After some discussion, the rules for suppressing the rebellion were finally officially finalized. This was probably the moment when the court of the Later Han Dynasty had the highest administrative efficiency since Emperor Guangwu.

In short, Huangfu Song and Dong Zhuo gave people and money as they asked for. With the support of the crown prince, all the officials and ministers in the government offices granted their requests!

He appointed General Huangfu Song as the chief general, Liang Yan, the chief secretary of the General's Office, as the chief secretary of the army, Xun Yu, the prince's servant, as the chief clerk of the army, Xun You, the prince's secretary, as the military officer, Liu Yao, the prince's doorman, as the military guard, Fu Xie, the prince's groom, as the military supervisor, Han Yue, the prince's servant, as the baggage inspector, and commanded the troops of Captain Sun Jian of the Tunqi, Captain Liu Bei of the Changshui, Cao Ren of the Yulin Left Cavalry, and Gao Shun of the Infantry. He recruited 20,000 good families from the Three Auxiliary Provinces and 40,000 good families from the Three Rivers, a total of 60,000 people, and falsely claimed that an army of 200,000 was entering Liangzhou to quell the rebellion!

He appointed Right General Dong Zhuo as the chief general, Right General's Office Chief Clerk Li Ru as the army chief, Prince's Secretary Wei Ji as the army chief clerk, Prince's Secretary Shen Pei as the military assistant, Prince's Groom Liu Dai as the army guard Sima, Prince's Secretary Feng Ji as the army supervisor, Prince's Sheriff Chen Qun as the baggage inspector, and commanded the troops of Yueqi Captain Lu Bu and Yulin Right Cavalry Xiahou Yuan, recruited 40,000 good men from Sanhe, falsely claiming to have 100,000 men, and entered Bingzhou to quell the rebellion!

(End of this chapter)