Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

Luoyang, the eastern capital, had a vast area and a dense population. It had twelve city gates, four in the south wall, two in the north wall, and three each in the east and west walls. Most of the gentry lived in Buguanli and Yongheli, the upper east gate close to the east exit road, while the residences of the generals and the three dukes were concentrated near Kaiyang Gate in the southeast corner of the imperial city.

At this time, it was getting dark. Cao Cao, the commander of the army, had just finished his dinner and was coming out of Yongheli, preparing to go to the residence of General He Jin.

Some time ago, He Jin ordered the Yellow Gate Order to arrest and execute Jian Shuo, the chief of the Eight Commandants of the Western Garden, and seized all his military power. Liu Bian successfully ascended the throne as emperor, and He Jin's party of relatives of the emperor temporarily won the battle with the eunuch party.

In Cao Cao's view, now that Jian Shuo was executed and all military power was in the hands of the general, others like Zhang Rang were just clowns who could be killed at will. He didn't know what General He was worried about and why he had to call them together to discuss countermeasures.

Let's discuss it, he's the general and he has the final say. Cao Cao shook the reins, and the horse trotted along the wide stone road in Luoyang. Soon they arrived at the general's mansion.

A servant led Cao Cao to the conference room, but he saw several people already sitting inside, including his childhood friends Yuan Shao, Yuan Benchu, Yuan Shu, Yuan Gonglu, and He Jin's chief clerk Chen Lin.

Cao Cao stepped forward and saluted, "Forgive me, General, for being late."

"It's not too late, please take a seat." He Jin, who was sitting in the upper seat, waved his hand, motioning Cao Cao to take a seat.

Cao Cao bowed, walked to a seat next to Yuan Shao, and asked Yuan Shao in a low voice, "What did the general say just now?"

Yuan Shao leaned closer and lowered his voice, "Not yet. However, I heard that the Queen Mother summoned the General into the palace yesterday and seemed to have given him a lecture."

"Being scolded again?"

Cao Cao was stunned for a moment, then hummed softly, "The General is the Empress Dowager's elder brother. It's really outrageous to scold him all the time just for a few eunuchs."

Yuan Shao said, "Although the General is my elder brother, he is also a subject. Your Majesty is young, and the Queen Mother is in charge of government. She is the emperor! If it weren't for the Queen Mother's strong support for the eunuchs, why would we be here today to discuss countermeasures?"

As the two were whispering, He Jin spoke up, "Yesterday, the Empress Dowager summoned me into the palace and spent the entire morning talking. Her words hinted at my suspicions that I, under the pretext of killing eunuchs and ridding the country of traitors, was actually seeking to monopolize power and weaken Your Majesty."

He Jin said with a look of grievance, "Am I doing this to monopolize power? Your Majesty is young, and the Queen Mother is a woman. I am not doing this entirely for the sake of her and her son, but she actually suspects that I am doing this to monopolize power!?"

Cao Cao secretly curled his lips. It was not for the purpose of monopolizing power. Since Empress Dowager Lü, there have been many powerful relatives in the Han Dynasty.

However, no matter how arrogant the relatives by marriage are, they only rely on a woman. Women can be replaced frequently, but eunuchs can continue to exist from generation to generation.

He Jin said helplessly, "The Empress Dowager disagrees with the execution of the eunuchs, and I, the general, cannot disobey her will. Why not just execute a few of the most heinous crimes?"

If he really was born a butcher, he would be brainless, and his actions were also indecisive. Yuan Shao secretly complained and objected, "Eunuchs are close to the emperor and convey his orders. They are the cancer of the country. If they are not eliminated, there will be endless troubles. Now that Jian Shuo has been executed, General, you should take this opportunity to kill all the eunuchs in Luoyang to prevent future troubles."

Yuan Shao was born a bastard. Although he was adopted by Yuan Chengzi and was considered the legitimate son of the Yuan family, his status was far less noble than that of his elder brother Yuan Ji and younger brother Yuan Shu. The family did not value him very much. If Yuan Shao wanted to make a name for himself, he could only fight on his own. Now, what could help him stand out better than killing the eunuchs?

Now he works under He Jin. As long as the general gives the order, he will immediately lead his troops into the palace to kill all the eunuchs. However, the general is too indecisive.

He Jin hesitated and said, "General, I also want to do this, but Zhang Rang and others have served the late emperor for more than ten years, and have been granted titles and noble favors. They are colluding with both the inside and the outside, and now they have the Empress Dowager's protection. How can I kill them all?"

Yuan Shao suggested, "Since the General is wary of the Queen Mother, why not gather heroes from all over the country to lead their troops into the capital and make a military appeal to the Queen Mother? Dong Zhuo, the Governor of Bing Province, commands tens of thousands of troops from Bing Province and Liang Province. If he marches into the capital, the Queen Mother will surely compromise."

"Recruit Dong Zhuo?!"

He Jin was just considering the feasibility of this plan when he saw Cao Cao, who had just been on good terms with Yuan Shao, sneer with a mocking smile. "Eunuchs have always existed. But the rulers of this era were incompetent, using eunuchs to gain power and favor, leading to this situation. If we want to punish the eunuchs, we should punish the main culprit. A single jailer would be enough. Why summon Dong Zhuo?"

Everyone knows that Dong Zhuo is a former official of the Yuan family. What was the purpose of the Yuan family inviting him to Beijing?

Cao Cao glanced at the Yuan brothers meaningfully. "Why use a butcher knife to kill a chicken? Dong Zhuo now has tens of thousands of soldiers and a large army assembled. By then, it will be easier to summon a god than to send him away."

At this moment, Yuan Shu, who had been silent the whole time, stood up and looked at Cao Cao with a haughty look. "Meng De, since you think a jailer can handle this, why not have you do it?"

Cao Cao ignored the arrogant man and continued to speak to He Jin, "Ever since Dong Zhuo's son-in-law, Lü Bu, expelled the Xiongnu, the late emperor has been wary of Dong Zhuo. He once ordered Dong Zhuo to hand over the Liang Province army to General Huangfu. However, Dong Zhuo openly disobeyed orders and stationed his troops in Hedong County. This shows his ambitions. This man must not be recruited."

Yuan Shu sneered, "Fear? What's there to fear? Before Jian Shuo was eliminated, most of the Luoyang Imperial Guards were under his control. Now that the General holds all the power, how dare Dong Zhuo disobey? How dare he rebel?"

Yuan Shao glanced at Yuan Shu in surprise. This arrogant brother, who usually always disagreed with him, had suddenly changed his tune today. Not only did he agree with his proposal, but he was even more active in speaking out than he was.

After listening to Yuan Shu's words, He Jin nodded thoughtfully. No matter how tyrannical Dong Zhuo was, he would not dare to rebel openly. As long as they could scare the Queen Mother and eliminate the eunuchs, and then give Dong Zhuo some rewards and let him return to Bingzhou, would he dare to disobey?

Obviously, if He Jin had not died, no matter how arrogant Dong Zhuo was, he would not dare to disobey his orders. However, when He Jin listened to Yuan Shao's advice, he did not expect that he would have a short life. Of course, his short life was not God's will, but man-made. As for how many people besides the eunuchs wanted to kill him, the general, it is unknown.

He Jin was a soft-hearted person, and after being strongly persuaded by the Yuan brothers, he sent out the imperial edict the next day.

…………

In Hedong County, Dong Zhuo received a letter from the Yuan family long before He Jin's edict arrived, asking him to prepare his army and enter Luoyang.

As soon as He Jin's edict arrived, Dong Zhuo marched with 10,000 soldiers and horses. However, He Jin regretted his decision a few days later and sent the counselor Zhong Shao to dissuade Dong Zhuo from going to the capital, and instead sent him back to Hedong County to attack the exiled Xiongnu Chanyu Yufuluo.

Dong Zhuo had been waiting for this day, so how could he possibly retreat? He wrote a letter to defend himself while continuing to lead his troops eastward.

Lü Bu had been reluctant to see Dong Zhuo come to Luoyang, but on the march he could not help but advise him, "My lord, there is a general in Luoyang now. He has the power to command all the troops under heaven. If we go there, won't we have to obey his orders? It would be better for us to return to Bingzhou and govern there."

Lu Bu knew that the general would be killed by the eunuchs soon, so he said this just to persuade Dong Zhuo to return to Bingzhou.

"General?" Dong Zhuo laughed disdainfully. "I'm just a butcher. I won't live much longer. How can a dead man command me?"

Lü Bu was secretly surprised. He had only known about the eunuchs' murder because of a dream he had in his past life, so how did Dong Zhuo know this? He feigned surprise and asked, "My lord, why do you say that? Now that Jian Shuo is dead, how can Zhang Rang and his men defeat the general?"

Dong Zhuo said with an enigmatic look, "A few eunuchs certainly can't kill He Jin. Even if we handed him a knife, he wouldn't dare to make a move."

Seeing Lü Bu's confusion, Dong Zhuo explained, "Although the general wants to kill the eunuchs, he's under pressure from the Queen Mother, and he's indecisive. As long as the eunuchs cling to the Queen Mother's power, no one can touch them. And once the general is dead, the Luoyang Imperial Guards will be leaderless. How many of them are from aristocratic families? How many of them are former members of the eunuchs' factions and their cronies? How could they let the eunuchs go? If there's no one to control them, the eunuchs will surely not survive. Furthermore, if he kills the general, will the Queen Mother still be able to protect him?"

Dong Zhuo concluded, "So, the general is actually the eunuch's amulet."