Dong Zhuo submitted a memorial saying that the Hussars General was not a permanent official in the dynasty, so he resigned from his post.
The Empress Dowager quickly approved and granted Dong Zhuo the title of Taiwei, commanding hundreds of officials.
As a result, among the three current Dukes, only Yuan Wei is the Taifu, ranking above the Three Dukes.
Dong Zhuo was the Taiwei, second only to Yuan Wei, followed by Situ Huang Wan and Sikong Yang Biao.
After leaving the court, Dong Zhuo returned to his residence with a livid face, and without saying a word, he found Li Ru and Yan Zhong to discuss matters secretly.
A few days later, Yan Zhong walked out of the back door of the new Taiwei's residence, wearing a silk lining, a green robe, a hakama at the waist, and pleated culottes.
The color on the body is very healthy and very green. But in ancient times, green was an ordinary color and did not have other meanings.
Therefore, Yan Zhong's dress is very common for low-level officials, and there is nothing special about it.
After leaving the Taiwei Mansion, Yan Zhong quietly blended into the crowd.
Regardless of his appearance or the clothes he wears, his biggest feature is that he has no characteristics. He is just ordinary, walking so calmly on the street, unable to attract anyone's attention.
"Hu cakes, freshly baked Hu cakes sprinkled with sesame."
"Putou, fresh rose peach from the Western Region, buy it and make wine at home. It's delicious."
“Hot noodle soup.”
After the chaos of a few months ago, Luoyang has returned to its former prosperity. People are coming and going on the streets, including those buying and selling things, and those opening shops and setting up stalls.
The streets are filled with dazzling displays, signboards fluttering in the wind, traditional handicrafts of the Han people and new gadgets from foreign lands complementing each other. Even many things that ordinary people thought did not exist in the Han Dynasty had already been widely spread at that time.
For example, flax is sesame, and peach is grape. According to the "Book of Han" records, both sesame and grape were brought back by Zhang Qian on his mission to the Western Regions, and were then widely planted in the Yongliang area. September is the ripening season for grapes, and Luoyang's
Dignitaries often buy grapes to make wine.
Yan Zhong smiled and declined every hawker who came to sell, and then continued to walk forward. After coming out of Yongmen, he passed through the bustling West Market and came to an area in Xiyuan near Hongde Garden.
A very special home.
Hongde Garden is located outside Guangyang Gate, close to the moat, with willow trees on the river bank. The house is right on the river. It is a large house with three entrances and three exits. It occupies a large area, has a brothel, red tiles, brackets and cornices. It is a family-owned house.
Where rich people live.
Boom, boom, boom!
After confirming that there was no one around, Yan Zhong went up and knocked three times.
A young man with a height of seven feet and seven inches, a long beard, but a very young face opened the door. Seeing it was Yan Zhong, he opened the door and glanced around. No one was following him. Then he opened the door and invited in: "Mr. Chenghan.
"
This person is Tai Shici.
Taishi Ci was very clever and had a reputation for force, so he was sent by Chen Mu to take over the Military Intelligence Branch in Luoyang.
Chen Mu has been in Luoyang for two years since he resigned as governor of Qingzhou in the fourth year of Zhongping. Naturally, he has secretly developed the Military Intelligence Department. Now he has a large number of secret informants and available manpower. This house is where they are connected.
A secret base.
After Yan Zhong came in, he looked around and felt that the walls of this house were high. Although it looked hidden, if it was surrounded by people, it would be difficult to fly. He shook his head and said: "This place is easy to defend and difficult to attack, but it is difficult to escape."
"It's naturally difficult to escape from the outside, but if you go from the inside, it's easy to escape."
A man came out of the hall, about forty years old, with a clean face. When he saw Yan Zhong, he bowed his hands and said, "Military Intelligence Secretary Cao Ling Shi Houxu has met Mr. Chenghan, and he asked me to help him."
"I've met Ling Shi."
Yan Zhong did not dare to be negligent and returned the gift. After getting up, he followed Hou Xu into the house and said in confusion: "Just now, Shi ordered Shi to say that this place can be walked out from inside. What's the reason?"
Hou Xu smiled slightly: "Mr. Chenghan doesn't know something. The reason why he chose this house is that it has high walls, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Under the house, we have dug a tunnel, and the exit is hundreds of meters away.
In another spare house a few feet away, there is a safe house near that house with horses. If something goes wrong, you only need a fire to stop the pursuers and you can leave at any time."
Yan Zhong was surprised and said: "I didn't expect there to be such a design."
Tai Shici explained: "The Prime Minister personally presided over the construction last year. The design is ingenious and very convenient."
Yan Zhong sighed: "It's Zigui again. Sometimes I wonder, how can there be such a smart person in this world, who can play with the world at his fingertips? People's hearts are as clear as fire. When I think of being against him accidentally,
I always feel shuddering and fearful in my heart. So I am always glad that I am on the same side as him."
Last month, the court revoked the arrest warrants for Chen Mu and Zhang Fei. Liu Bei immediately appointed Chen Mu as the Prime Minister of Qi with the power of the state pastor. Currently, in the Qingzhou Group, although he is nominally the fourth figure, he is actually the fourth figure.
The number two figure can be called the shadow emperor.
Hou Xu smiled bitterly and said, "I am unfortunate enough to have been on the opposite side of him."
"oh?"
Yan Zhong looked him up and down and said, "It seems that Hou Lingshi lost miserably."
But no.
Not only were his own people arrested, but his family members who had fled to the south were taken back to Qingzhou and controlled secretly, so that he could only live in obedience.
Hou Xu cursed in his heart.
Yan Zhong was led into the main hall, where two other people were already sitting.
One is Zhao Lin.
Zhao Lin came out early and Yan Zhong came out last.
After all, Zhao Lin was not highly valued under Dong Zhuo and received little attention.
And Yan Zhong is Dong Zhuo's best counselor. His words and deeds can easily be seen by others, so naturally he has to be cautious.
The other person is Wang Jun.
The eunuchs of the Eastern Han Dynasty were not imprisoned in the palace. They were no different from normal officials. Not only did they have residences outside the palace, but they could also commute to work normally, so their movements were not restricted.
"Brother Cheng Han."
"Bo Yu, Xiang Heng."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Several people met and said hello, Taishi Ci went out to look outside, and the four main negotiators and executors sat on the ground and exchanged information.
Wang Jun was the first to speak: "The Empress Dowager has ordered to reward the candidates Cheng Yin and others and make them school captains."
"Not expected."
Yan Zhong nodded, there is no love without reason in this world, and there is no hatred without reason.
A person's emotions not only come from the blood lineage, but also from whether you are always by your side and whether you are very close to this person.
It is just like many adopted children who are not willing to return to their biological parents after being found, if their family backgrounds are not much different, and there are no other special reasons.
Dong Zhuo and Empress Dowager Dong, not to mention being separated by so many generations and being so far apart from each other. In terms of closeness, Dong Cheng was always by Empress Dowager Dong's side.
On the other hand, Dong Zhuo and Empress Dowager Dong met for the first time during the May Palace Change. They were aunts and nephews in name, but in fact they had no basis for any relationship at all. How could they be compared to Empress Dowager Dong who watched Dong Cheng grow up?
As the saying goes, there are differences between people who are close or distant. People act based on their emotions, especially women. Empress Dowager Dong knew at a glance who was close to her and who was alienated from her.
Therefore, Wang Jun only needed to mention one sentence, which was enough to make Empress Dowager Dong understand that she would not give the position of general to Dong Zhuo, who was more closely related.
"It seems that the conflict between Empress Dowager Dong and Dong Zhuo is inevitable."
Hou Xu touched his chin and said.
"This is also what I admire about Chen Zigui."
Yan Zhong sighed: "Chen Zigui is really an unpredictable man."
"Is it that magical?"
Wang Jun was puzzled.
Everyone would think so if they wanted their own nephew to be in the position instead of a distant stranger.
Yan Zhong smiled and said: "To be honest, maybe I can figure out what Empress Dowager Dong is thinking, but can you guess what Dong Zhuo is thinking?"
"this......"
Wang Jun hesitated.
Yan Zhong said again: "This is what I said about Chen Zigui's terribleness. No matter if you or I are in Dong Zhuo's position, so what if the Empress Dowager doesn't let me serve as a general? Do you dare to change the world? Among a hundred people,
, a hundred people will accept their fate, and no one will think of going against the Empress Dowager, because that is asking for death, and it is an extremely stupid path."
"So Si Ming's strategy is ineffective against us."
Hou Xu took over the conversation and said with a smile: "But Dong Zhuo is the one hundred and first person, and just when everyone thought he would not make any move, Siming saw his ambition at a glance and knew
He will not be willing to fail like this, Mr. Chenghan, are you right?"
Among this group of people, the intelligence of Zhao Lin and Wang Jun is probably about the same as that of ordinary scholars. In the Three Kingdoms game, they should be at the level of 50-60.
Hou Xu, on the other hand, is above 70 and belongs to the elite level.
Yan Zhong is amazing. Although he is unknown in the history books, in the first year of Zhongping, he had already seen that there would be great changes in the world in the future. He could also see at a glance that Jia Xu was pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger. His intelligence was naturally around 90.
People are by no means idle people.
Therefore, among the four people present, only two of them knew what was so scary about Chen Mu.
That is to gain insight into people's hearts, just like watching fire.
Just as Wang Jun thought, after ordinary people become successful, the first thing they think about is of course the people close to them. So it is easy to understand that Empress Dowager Dong would prefer her nephew Dong Cheng to be the general and hold power.
Once Dong Cheng is closer than Dong Zhuo, there is no need to worry about being out of control in the future.
Secondly, Dong Zhuo is not one of his own family. Although it seems that he can still shock Dong Zhuo at the moment, the problem is that the Queen Mother Dong is not young at all. She is already over 60 years old. How many years she can live is a question. If she dies, Dong Zhuo will be alone.
If outsiders take over the power, what will happen to your own clan?
Therefore, as long as she was not a fool, Empress Dowager Dong would choose Dong Cheng instead of handing over the risk to a so-called distant nephew whom she had only known for a few months, had no emotional basis, and did not know the details.
But what about Dong Zhuo’s psychology?
If the king wants his minister to die, he must die.
When Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi were at their strongest, they were probably much more powerful than Dong Zhuo.
Controlling the most elite Northern Army, they fought in both the south and the north with great achievements. Even the Yellow Turbans that swept the world were defeated by them.
As a result, an imperial edict was issued lightly: if you should go to jail, you should go to jail; if you should hand over your military power, you must hand over your military power.
Dou Wu, Chen Fan, and Li Ying are famous all over the world and are respected gentlemen by the world.
Outsiders said the bad things were done by eunuchs, but without the emperor's orders, how could the eunuchs have the power to mobilize troops?
There was also the domineering general Liang Ji who dared to kill even the emperor. After Emperor Huan was determined to get rid of him, he asked a eunuch to pass the imperial edict, mobilized the troops of Sili Colonel Zhang Biao and surrounded the general's mansion, and allowed Liang Ji, who had the most power in the world, to be captured without a fight.
The emperor's imperial power was not just talk. It was unimaginable at that time for a minister to rebel against the emperor's order. No one could know what Dong Zhuo was thinking.
Wang Jun looked at the two of them as if they were playing riddles and couldn't help but said, "What on earth are you talking about?"
Hou Xu sighed and said, "We are talking about the terrible things about Chen Mu."
"Is Zigui that scary?"
Zhao Lin was confused. He had little exposure to Chen Mu's machinations and did not understand who Chen Mu was.
Wang Jun had more contacts. He glanced at Zhao Lin and envied his simplicity.
"How scary he is, please let Mr. Chenghan tell you."
Hou Xu looked at Yan Zhong with a smile.
Yan Zhong breathed a long sigh of relief, leaned forward, stared into the eyes of the three people, and said slowly: "Dong Zhuo... wants to poison the Queen Mother!"