"I do." Dong Zhuo smiled lonely, "Look at Luoyang tonight, how many people have died?" They fought hard all their lives, and as a result, they ended up in a different place, and the nine clans were punished. What's the point? It's better to go back to Xiliang and have a good death. ”

"Does the lord think he still has a chance to die well?" Li Ru sneered, "Luoyang must be, the Taifu and the ministers of the Shi clan are in charge, and with what the lord has done in the past, they will still let you go back to Xiliang?" Will it make you want to be like Li Yi and become the second uncontrollable Han disaster? Now Huangfu Song is in Chang'an, his forward iron cavalry is in Tongguan, and Kou Zhun is in Hedong, his forward soldiers have been stationed on the south bank of the Yellow River, and the two have completely cut off our road to return to Xiliang. ”

"Changsheng is right, my lord." Liu Ai gently put down the holy decree on the desk, his face was full of worry, "The relationship between the lord and the traitor is known to the world, and later in order to survive, the lord secretly showed favor to the general, and at the same time vigorously befriended the gate lord clan in the capital, as a result, these things were later known by the magnates in the court, and the lord was discredited by all parties in the court and China, and was hated by the magnates in Luoyang." This is evidenced by the fact that the first emperor deprived the lord of his military power during his lifetime. ”

"The Taifu and the ministers of the scholar clan in the court need your help in order to get rid of the traitorous eunuchs and generals, so they do not hesitate to abandon their previous suspicions, and even promise you the position of the third duke, but what about after the deed? Why did Taifu keep not letting General Zuo Huangfu Song lead the army into the customs? Why did Bao Hong take the Xiyuan Army to Ping Optimistic, but let Chun Yuqiong stay in Hangu Pass? ”

"Cao Cao and Bao Hong's Xiyuan Army has been fully incorporated into the Northern Army last night, once Taifu controls the 50,000 Northern Army, plus Ding Yuan, Wang Kuang, Bao Xin, and Qiao Mao outside Luoyang City, they have 60,000 or 70,000 troops outside Luoyang City, and we only have 20,000 people, which is not an opponent at all. If we don't know that Luoyang has changed dramatically. If the traitor and his relatives are dead, and we still follow the orders of the Taifu to keep pushing Ping Optimistic and surround the Northern Army, then we will soon fall into the encirclement of the Gyeonggi armies, and at that time, the lord will be captured except for restraint. What else can you do? ”

Liu Ai looked at Dong Zhuo and said dejectedly: "Lord, now we are in a dilemma, we must think of a way to survive in the dead, otherwise these 20,000 soldiers will be considered to be alive." ”

"Li Yi is in the northern Xinjiang and does whatever he wants, and he has long become a scourge of the Han Dynasty, but he is strong and the court is helpless." Li Ru continued Liu Ai's words. "Taifu and the ministers will never let the Great Han Kingdom have a second important general who dominates one side and threatens the country's society. Therefore, they will take advantage of the opportunity of the lord to lead his troops into Beijing, and will try to trap you in Gyeonggi, take away your military power, and maybe even kill you. There are too many excuses to kill you, Taifu will find a reason to tell the world, you are a traitor, and you will die without a place to be buried. ”

"I'm going back to Xiliang now, who can stop me?" Dong Zhuo smiled disdainfully. "You're thinking too much. If the eunuch and the general are not dead now, how can I be under siege. Dangerous? ”

"After the lord was seized by the first emperor, the first emperor first asked you to return to Beijing to serve as a young minister, and later asked you to go to Bingzhou to serve as a state pastor. Since then, the lord has been under siege and in danger. Li Ru asked, "Why doesn't the lord dare to return to Beijing to serve as a young man?" Why don't you dare to go to the state. Stranded in Hedong? Why did the lord insist on entering Luoyang after the expedition of the hussar general? Has the lord forgotten his purpose? ”

"There is no doubt that the lord can return to Xiliang, but even if the lord returns to Xiliang, he will be caught between the rebels of Xiliang and the Emperor of Chang'an. The lord's self-protection is still insufficient, how can he have the strength to have the same strength as the hussar general? Now that the traitors and relatives are all gone, and the scholars are in charge of the court alone, once the Son of Heaven wants to deprive you of your military power, can you still openly disobey the holy decree as the emperor did when he was alive? Li Ru looked at Dong Zhuo's hesitant eyes and said loudly, "If the lord retreats, there will be a dead end." If the lord advances, there is still a glimmer of hope. ”

Dong Zhuo shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Hope, where is there hope?" What was the purpose of our initial trip south to Gyeonggi? Later, what was the purpose of our troops entering Hangu Pass? Eradicate the traitors, stabilize Luoyang, help the general take power alone, and then we take the opportunity to return to Xiliang. Now I don't want to wait for an opportunity to enter the court. Looking at the hussar general, it is also good to be able to dominate one side and do whatever he wants, it is much better than fighting with each other all day long in the court. ”

"Kou Zhun has sent troops to the Yellow River for the food and salary of the expeditionary army, and the purpose is nothing more than to ensure the stability of Luoyang. I accepted Taifu's proposal and was optimistic about it, also to ensure the stability of Luoyang. And as long as the general controls the Xiyuan Army, Luoyang will be completely stable. As for Taifu's strategy of forcing the general to kill the traitorous eunuch and then taking the opportunity to kill the general, it is simply a delusion beyond his strength, it is impossible, and I will not help Taifu. Don't say that I should be the third prince, even if I want to be a general, I won't do it, he doesn't have any chance of success. ”

"But he succeeded." Dong Zhuo sighed, "As soon as the traitorous eunuch and the general died, the situation in Luoyang took a sharp turn for the worse. Now that Taifu is in charge, he can not only quickly control the northern army and stabilize Luoyang, but also solve my 20,000 people together. Therefore, continuing to enter Beijing now must be a dead end, and only by returning to Xiliang can there be a way to live. ”

"Li Yi is right. If I had gone earlier, I wouldn't have been as helpless as I am now. Dong Zhuo said with a little regret, "I want to make a little more money to reward the soldiers after the general stabilizes the situation, but who knew that such a big earth-shattering change occurred in Luoyang, so that 20,000 soldiers followed me into a predicament." ”

There was silence in the room.

Li Ru took two steps back and forth, and suddenly asked, "If the lord can control the northern army, do you still insist on withdrawing from Gyeonggi?" ”

Dong Zhuo looked back at the holy decree and talisman on the table, and did not speak.

Liu Ai said: "As soon as the general dies, the first thing Taifu has to do is not to kill the eunuchs, but to control the optimistic 50,000 northern troops outside the city. Controlling the Northern Army is equivalent to controlling Luoyang and controlling the authority of the state, don't Taifu and those ministers of the scholar clan know? Especially now that the five battalions of the Xiyuan Army have just been merged into the Northern Army, the 50,000 soldiers are seriously threatening the safety of Luoyang City, and Taifu must do everything possible to control the Northern Army in advance in order to quickly stabilize Luoyang. ”

"That's the problem." Li Ru picked up the holy decree on the desk and said to Dong Zhuo, "My lord, please think about it, if Taifu does not have the holy decree and talisman of the Son of Heaven, how can he win the trust of the generals of the Northern Army?" How to command the Northern Army? How to explain the death of the general to the officers and men of the Northern Army? How to ensure that the officers and men of the Northern Army will not make trouble and rebel? ”

"Taifu doesn't know the situation in the camp of the Northern Army, but Taifu knows that there are many soldiers in the West Garden and few soldiers in the North, and the officers and non-commissioned officers of various departments are being transferred and merged, and everyone is panicked and the military spirit is extremely unstable. At this time, if there is a disturbance, the northern army camp is likely to collapse in an instant. What are the consequences of the 50,000-strong army bombing the camp, I believe Taifu knows very well, so if he is not absolutely sure, he will not send someone to control the northern army. So, under what circumstances will Taifu be absolutely sure? The first is to have the holy decree and talisman of the Son of Heaven in hand, and the second is to have enough troops to surround the northern army in peace, so as to ensure that nothing goes wrong. ”

"The general's people and the tiger feather forest attacked the palace to kill the eunuch, and the eunuch must threaten the Son of Heaven and the Queen Mother in order to save his life." Li Ru asked, "If the lord sits in Luoyang and sees the traitorous eunuch holding the Son of Heaven and the Queen Mother, do you dare to order the killing into the Changqiu Palace?" No one dared to do this, and Taifu didn't dare to do it. Therefore, I think that the Taifu will not be able to solve the affairs of the palace tonight, he will not be able to rescue the Son of Heaven and the Queen Mother, nor will he be able to obtain the holy decree and charm of the Son of Heaven. There were many things that he had to wait until after dawn to solve them. ”

"Now the armies outside Luoyang City are the closest to Ping Optimism with Jin Wu Ding Yuan and Hanoi Taishou Wang Kuang, and the lord is the farthest away from Ping Optimism. According to the distance calculation, if Ding Yuan and Wang Kuang received the warrant from Taifu now, they would not be able to reach the Northern Army camp until noon tomorrow at the earliest. Li Ru raised the holy decree in his hand, looked at Dong Zhuo very confidently, and said word by word, "Therefore, the Northern Army has no one to lead before dawn, and the lord not only has time, but also has absolute certainty to control the Northern Army." ”

Liu Ai's eyes widened in surprise, and he pointed to the holy decree in Li Ru's hand and said, "It is clearly written that He Miao, the general of the chariot cavalry, will lead the northern army, how can we deceive the generals of the northern army?" ”

Li Ru slowly opened the scroll of the holy decree and stopped about half a time after opening. The vermilion jade seal was completely exposed, and a few lines of words could be seen. The top line clearly reads "General Tempers the Northern Army......"

Liu Ai was dumbfounded, with a look of fear.

Dong Zhuo's eyes suddenly lit up, and his murderous aura was revealed.

"What if a general of the Northern Army raises questions? What should I do if I don't obey my lord's command? Liu Ai asked eagerly.

"Kill!" Li Ru waved his hand resolutely and said.

Liu Ai asked again: "What if the generals of the Northern Army heard that the general was dead and privately raised troops to rebel?" ”

"Duan Xuan, the captain of the Northern Army Tun Cavalry, is a native of Wuwei in Xiliang, who once served under General Duan Cheng with the lord, and has a friendship with the lord for more than ten years. With him, the 10,000 soldiers of the Northern Army will definitely have no worries. Bao Hong is still optimistic, and his friendship with the lord goes without saying. With him, the officers and men of the two battalions of the West Park Army are absolutely the first to look forward to the main stallion. The rest is Cao Cao's three battalions of the West Garden Army. Cao Cao is Cao Teng's grandson, a traitorous eunuch, and now he is worried about his life. If he does not obey us, we will kill him, and all his men, so that nothing will happen. If he is aware of current affairs and is willing to follow the lord, he can continue to lead the Xiyuan army. In this way, the 50,000 men and horses of the northern army are all for us. ”

Dong Zhuo slowly walked to the door, looked at the dark night sky with his hands, and was silent.

Li Ru's plan is extremely risky, and if he succeeds, Luoyang will be under his control, and if he fails, the whole army will be wiped out. (To be continued.) )