Volume 2: Mengjin’s fierce battle] Chapter 42: New Year’s Offensive (Five)—Each has its own countermeasures—

Chapter 42 New Year's Offensive (Five) - Each has its own countermeasures

The imperial city of Luoyang Beigong is brightly lit.

Dong Zhuo sat cross-legged on the soft couch with a calm face, with a white tiger skin on his knees without a trace of muddles, lowered his head and pondered for a while without saying a word. On his lower head was a wise scholar, who was his son-in-law and chief adviser Li Ru.

Li Ru, whose courtesy name is Wenyou, was also known as Li Xiaoru. He was from Fengyi, Sili, and had served as an official in Luoyang.

When Emperor Ling died, Li Ru helped He Jin to take the initiative and eliminated Jian Shuo, one of the eight lieutenants of Xiyuan who supported Liu Xie as the emperor, and supported He Jin's nephew Liu Bian to the throne in a thrilling manner. It can be said that he began to enter the core of He Jin's group from the merit of supporting him.

Then, Empress Dowager Dong, General Dong Chong, Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong, Duan Gui and others rely on each other, but were afraid of following Jian Shuo's footsteps, and y-investigated the He Jin brothers and sisters who were more powerful.

Li Ru made plans to jointly impeach the Empress Dowager Dong and reported that she colluded with Zhongchang Shi-Xiahun and other governors, and that she had accumulated a huge amount of money in Yongle Palace. According to the national laws, the imperial capital should not be left again, and she requested a deportation to enfeoff the country.

So, amid the earthquake-like discussions in the court, He Jin sent troops to surround the General Cavalry's Mansion, arrested Dong Chong, and "double-regulated". Shortly afterwards, Dong Chong " committed suicide in fear of crime" in prison.

Empress Dowager Dong, who had lost foreign aid, was worried and panicked. In less than a month, she "deathed suddenly". As soon as Empress Dowager Dong died, the eunuch group was isolated. Li Ru encouraged He Jin and his sister to be punished and be punished. He could take action to get people.

But as her daughter-in-law, Empress Dowager He actually killed her mother-in-law, which violated the rules of the country. Although she and her brother achieved absolute victory in power, they lost their hearts.

Li Ru's plan is not poisonous

Then, Li Ru, who had become Liu Bian's doctor, killed the eunuchs. He Jin's brother and sister started to be in a short while, and thanks to the help of eunuchs, they have gained their current status. In addition, over the years, He Jin has been flattered to the powerful Zhongchang, and suddenly turned against his former master. He Jin was a little scared and panicked, and Empress Dowager He was even hesitant to think about his old kindness.

At this time, Yuan Shao got involved. Under Li Ru's wrong guidance, he made a lot of tricks. Finally, he agreed with Li Ru's suggestion, for fear that someone would secretly contact Dong Zhuo's army who was close to Mianchi and would invite him to go to Beijing to plan major events in time.

He Jin's plan was unexpectedly revealed. He Jin died. Faced with Zhongchang's crazy counterattack, everyone was panicked. At this time, Li Ru responded to Dong Zhuo and captured all the eunuch group, which was already weak.

Then Li Ru ended his undercover career and transformed himself into Dong Zhuo's chief think tank.

But at this time, there were only 3,000 infantry and cavalry around Dong Zhuo, which was too few. So Li Ru proposed to order his troops to sneak out of Luoyang every four or five days. On the morning of the next day, the war drums were loud and the flags were waving, and they entered Luoyang with a dignified army. People thought that the Liangzhou army continued to arrive, but no one knew the details. So all forces panicked and were impressed by the distance.

Soon, all He Jin and He Miao's subordinates surrendered to Dong Zhuo. Then, Li Ru personally took action to instigate Lu Bu to kill Ding Yuan, and the commander's subordinates came to join in, and Dong Zhuo's power became greatly enriched.

Then, on the excuse of the long-term drought and rain in the Han Dynasty, it was the fault of Sikong Liu Hong, and dismissed him and Dong Zhuo also served as the director.

Then, Cai Yong was recalled and threatened to take office. He first served as a priest, and then was promoted like a rocket on the grounds of first place in the exam. He was promoted to the Censor of the Sh-Chief on the first day, promoted to the Censor of the Book of the Second Day, and promoted to the Shangshu on the Third Day. He was rumored to be: Within three days, he traveled all over the "Three Platforms" and finally promoted to the Sh-Chief.

Then he wrote a letter to Zhao Fan, Dou Wu and the party members to restore their titles and promote their descendants to officials. In this way, he declared to the world that Dong Zhuo cherishes good talents, at least better than the Emperor of the Han Dynasty to bury talents.

Then, the children of high-ranking officials in Luoyang were summoned as palace guards and stayed by their side to listen to the news to show their trust and value. In fact, they were taken hostages to avoid public misconduct.

...

Finally, after doing this, Li Ru was ordered to sneak into the harem and poisoned his old student Liu Bian. Then he promulgated the crime of Zhao, poisoning Empress Dowager He, and killed He Jin's mother Wuyang Jun, and threw the body into the wasteland.

Then Li Ru made a statement and enfeoffed the princes of the world, which was called grace.

After several twists and turns, Dong Zhuo's great cause finally stabilized.

Li Ru has been hiding for many years for Dong Zhuo's great cause, and has worked hard and complained. It is not an exaggeration to describe him as having great achievements.

Therefore, Dong Zhuo absolutely trusts this nv son-in-law, and Dong Zhuo will consider it carefully as long as Li Ru says.

For example...

"This is a killer Xun You who really can't kill him?" Dong Zhuo pinched F-dudu's chin, frowned and looked at Li Ru and said.

Li Ru nodded solemnly and said, "The Prime Minister is a bright scholar. The Xun family is a prominent family in Yingchuan. They are in-laws with Chen, Zhong, Xin and Du, and are all admired by famous scholars in the world. It can be said that once conquering the Xun family, it is equivalent to conquering the Yingchuan family. Conquering the Yingchuan family is equivalent to conquering the noble family of the world. This is very beneficial to the great cause of the Prime Minister."

Dong Zhuo pondered for a while, nodded silently before smiling bitterly: "We know what Wenyou said. But these big clans are all in the momentum in the pit, they are smelly and hard. You didn't see Xun You's stubborn temper, so you would rather die than surrender. They decided that our family was an enemy and a traitor. Even if our family knelt down and begged them, they would not cooperate with us."

Li Ru nodded and said, "Now the princes are still rampant, so they naturally have luck and are unwilling to serve the prime minister. However, if the success and the king fail, the enemy will be defeated. Once the prime minister's army destroys Yuan Shao's rebellion, there will be no hope. Are they still afraid that they will not recognize the reality and will join their clans to join the clan?"

Dong Zhuo looked a little better when he heard that his face was s-, but immediately sighed: "Every of these people is worry-free. With our temper, if we want to murder our family, we have to peel off even if we don't die. However, this Xun You, our family can't kill him, but also have to spoil him and follow him... Our family feels so frustrated-"

Seeing Dong Zhuo shook his head and sighing, Li Ru smiled softly: "Killing one person is just nodding, but killing will not be of any benefit to the Prime Minister. Instead, it will completely bring the Yingchuan clan to Yuan Shao and the others. If you don't kill it, it will show the Prime Minister's broad-mindedness and demeanor of being arrogant. Even if they can't come to play for the time being, they will leave room, and it will be easier to recruit them in the future."

"But - our family's anger this time really killed many high-ranking officials. Even if they bypass Xun You, can they miss our family's good fortune?" Dong Zhuo looked solemn and asked at Li Ru.

Li Ru smiled faintly: "They are good officials, but they are just rusty foodies that are despised by others. They are not famous all over the world for a hundred years. If they attempt to kill the prime minister, the prime minister can naturally kill them. This is called traitors, and they have more to die, and they are decisive in the prime minister's killing. But the people who are spared by the Xun family are the prime minister's compassion for the world and cherish the good talents."

Then Li Ru smiled at Dong Zhuo meaningfully: "Can this be the same?"

Dong Zhuo was stunned, thought carefully, and patted Datu and pointed at Li Ru and laughed: "Wenyou said so much, what he said so much."

Then Dong Zhuo's eyes turned, waved his hand and said, "Then - in this way, our family will be tolerant for a while. Let's put Xun You, the famous scholar He Yong, Zhong Ji, Wu Qiong into the Heavenly Prison together, and provide delicious food and drinks. As long as they are willing to publicly admit their mistakes and bow their heads, our family can leave the blame."

Li Ru nodded, stood up and bowed to Dong Zhuo and said loudly: "Li Ru will go and give instructions now."

When Xun You woke up, he found himself lying in the dim prison. However, the shackles on his hands and feet disappeared, and the ragged clothes on his body were replaced with brand new prison uniforms.

He mopped his cracked head and aching neck, struggled to stand up, opened his hazy eyes, and through the dim light in the prison, he saw a familiar figure in the prison room next to him through the railing.

He brought him closer and shouted in surprise: "Why are you all here?"

It turned out that He Yong, Zhong Ji, Wu Qiong and others were also imprisoned in the heavenly prison, and they were just around his room.

He Yong smiled bitterly and said, "If you are not here, where else can you be? Could it be hung on the city tower?"

Wu Qiong also said depressedly: "It's really God's will, so Dong Zhuo will not be destroyed. Everything is planned, but Dong Zhuo will no longer be the Yong'an Palace—"

"The success has failed" Zhong Ji also sighed to the sky.

When Xun You saw several comrades' frustrated, he felt no regret of losing his power. But he knew that he would die, so he looked down on everything. He sat cross-legged on the straw mat through the fence and comforted them with a smile: "We can't kill Dong Zhuo, but there are always people who can kill him. Dong Zhuo fled to heaven and changed his fate, and the human and gods were angry. If such a wicked person could die, that was the eyes of God. We would die if we died, but this passionate pleading for the country, although we failed to do what we wanted, it also allowed us to leave a name in history... It would be better than living alone and having a name with a strong reputation-"

After hearing Xun You's words, the few people smiled bitterly, obviously not as open as Xun You. After all, not everyone is as willing to sacrifice themselves for justice as him.

Xun You didn't see Zheng Tai and couldn't help asking, "Where is that guy Zheng Tai?"

The few people were sad, but Wu Qiong said, "I'm dead... I'm killed by Dong Zhuo by Dong Zhuo... I'm cowardly alive, but I'm dead like a man."

Xun You was also filled with emotion when he remembered that he scolded him so hard at that time.

"It's a pity that you fooled into the water now - you have to pay me back this favor in the next life." Xun You was stunned, but He Yong pointed at Xun You and sighed in pain and said joy.

Xun You laughed: "Okay, let's have a drink together in the next life, and it's all my treat?"

He Yong gave Xun You a blank look and snorted: "This is almost the same."

Wu Qiong pointed at Xun You and scolded, "You guys are all far away in Yingchuan, and you will die if you die, and my family is in Luoyang City. It doesn't matter if I die. The whole Wu family is over, and you can't even say that you have no son or grandchildren. How can we calculate this account?"

Zhong Ji hurriedly advised: "Wang Chong said that death is like a lamp that goes out, there is no future. We will be free and easy for a lifetime, and our children and grandchildren will be blessed. Once we close our eyes, we will be wiped out, and we will be wiped out. Do we have to worry about anything else... In my opinion, we are all dying, and we can be regarded as brothers and brothers. What kind of grudges are written off. If we get it, don't be resentful before we die, and we will feel uncomfortable dying."

After hearing Zhong Ji's words, the few people looked at each other and smiled at each other. They really felt like "Brothers who have survived all the disasters are here, and they smiled at each other and eliminated their grudges."

But unexpectedly, on the first day of the prison, the prison guards actually brought rich wine and food, and said that it was sent by someone by the people in person. The few people knew at a glance that this should be "dead wine". So they all let go, and several people begged the prison guards to put them together, sing the wine as a song, laughing and scolding, and were so unhappy.

"I lived a lifetime, was timid all my life, and was cowardly all my life. I was ridiculed by the soldiers in the camp... I was exploited and driven by my superiors. When I got home, I had to be both a father and a mother... It was just this thing. I could do it so that I could be proud, like a master... " Wu Qiong burped, leaned on Xun You drunk, danced and giggled, and said vaguely. After that, he raised the jar of wine and raised his head to pour it into his mouth, but he didn't expect to lose his wine.

Wu Qiong threw the empty jar to the side, smashed it to pieces with a "bang", and shouted outside with a loud voice: Bartender, drink wine."

The few of them were stunned at first, and then they all laughed to death.

"Hahaha... I'm so laughing to death, I'm so laughing to death. Tomorrow, you'll treat this prison as a tavern - hahahahaha-" Xun You looked at Wu Qiong with drunken eyes and almost laughed out loud.

After laughing, the few people looked at each other with tears in their eyes, suddenly they didn't say anything, lost their voices, and the atmosphere became a little sad.

"After drinking this wine, we are going to the underworld together - come, let's do it." Xun Youqiang smiled and broke the embarrassment, raised the jar to fill everyone, picked up the bowl and shouted loudly.

"Did it" a few people drink to the sky, then laughed and danced wildly in the cell, like a crazy child, kicking all the wine jars and bowls.

Finally, they fell to the ground tiredly, pillowing each other while panting, looking at the dark top of the cell like a beam cantilevered.

"Since I was born, I thought about what kind of situation it would be when I die in the future. What are the reflections of relatives, friends, children and grandchildren beside me, what are drinking Mengpo soup, crossing the Naihe Bridge... It's finally that day..." Wu Qiong gasped tiredly, murmured at the empty prison with eyes.

"Who has died since ancient times? The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors Qin Shihuang and Emperor Gaozu of Han cannot escape, let alone us, let alone look away..." Xun You glanced at the miserable brother who was implicated by him and comforted him softly.

Wu Qiong stopped talking and was silent for a while, but He Feng said with great strength: "I'm old and I'm just a famous scholar. I didn't expect to be like this... I'm not afraid of everyone's jokes. I've been afraid of pain since I was a child, and I'm afraid of death... I'm going to be cut into pieces this time, I don't know what it feels like..."

Xun You smiled and said, "Will you be able to taste it soon?"

He Yong sighed with a sigh: "I don't have the courage to taste..."

"Then do you have a solution to avoid the pain that will hurt you then?" Xun You asked.

He Yong sighed: "After I am a famous scholar, I still have a solution..."

Early the next morning, Li Ru brought brand new clothes and asked someone to prepare a hot soup bathtub to bathe and change clothes for several people.

But as soon as he arrived at the Heavenly Prison, the prison head carefully leaned over to report: "Last night... several prisoners committed suicide due to crime..."

Li Ru was startled when she heard this, and grabbed the head's collar and shouted sternly: "Take me to see it."

When Li Ru walked in, he saw a dry man hanging on the high hanging beam of the Heavenly Prison, and two people lying on the ground, covered in blood and no longer breathing. Their necks were cut and no longer bleeding, but they were holding a piece of porcelain pieces in the broken wine jar, with blood stains on them...

But Xun You sat in a pool of blood with a slightly red eyes, closing his eyes without moving.

After hearing the footsteps of Zhang Huang, he slowly opened his eyes.

Seeing that Xun You was fine, Li Ru finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you afraid that I will seek suspicion? Isn't it the same result if I commit suicide or you cut it into pieces? Why bother with this?" Xun You looked at Li Rudao lightly.

Li Ru was stunned for a moment before turning around and shouting to the prison head: "Clean up here - change the room for Mr. Xun."

"What? Three of four people committed suicide?" Dong Zhuo looked at Li Ru in disbelief and said.

Li Ru nodded calmly, Dong Zhuo's face changed and then waved his hand and said, "If you die, you will die, Xun You will be alive-but now, there is really a headache."

Li Ru was stunned and saw Dong Zhuo take out several secret letters from his wide sleeves and hand them to Li Ru. Then he sighed tiredly: "The first letter was Hua Xiong, saying that Lu Bu left his post without permission and took a risk from Xuanm-n Pass to Xuanyuan Pass for a few hundred miles away, asking our family to punish Fengxian for his crime. The second letter was that Hua Xiong was not good at guarding the pass, and he was almost broken by Sun Jian and Tao Qian several times. Moreover, the losses were heavy. He asked to remove Hua Xiong and choose another good general to guard Xuanyuan Pass."

"The third letter, Xu Rong, said that Lu Bu lied about military affairs, which caused him to lead troops from Xingyang to pursue him. The reinforcements sent by the Allied troops from the Sorazao to Xuanyuan Pass were ambushed. The losses were extremely heavy. He was seriously injured himself... Ask our family to cure Lu Bu's mouth... The fourth letter, Lu Bu, said that he had captured the Sorazao M-N Pass and that all the princes could not survive. However, Xu Rong was in Xingyang, but he was reluctant to launch an offensive against the Sorazao Aocang's enemies. It was obviously a timid battle. He asked our family to just take Xu Rong to take over the position of Xingyang Prefect and ensure that the Allied base camp should be defeated within two months-"
To be continued...