() Good things don't go out, but bad things spread thousands of miles. The news that Hua Xiong lost the city, lost territory, and lost troops was spread throughout the city soon after it was sent back to Luoyang City. Both the people and officials knew that Yangcheng was destroyed by the Kwantung Allied Forces.

The fact that the Xiliang army was defeated and retreated.

In this regard, the people who had already thought about the Xiliang Army were naturally deeply worried. They only regretted that they were incompetent and could not help the Xiliang Army to fight against the powerful enemy. Some people were coerced by Dong Zhuo with force, and their lives were getting worse day by day.

The sad Luoyang officials secretly celebrated and rejoiced, hoping that the Kwantung Allied Forces would rush into the city as soon as possible to help them eradicate these traitors.

At the same time, some people who still have some strength are a little bit unable to sit still. They think that now is a good time to fight back. As long as they stand up and shout out with righteousness, there will definitely be a crowd of responders, which is enough to make the already panic-stricken people

The Xiliang Army had an even greater headache. So these people began to take action, and even wanted to attack several large granaries and baggage warehouses in Luoyang.

However, they still underestimated the power of the Xiliang Army in Luoyang City. Before they could take action, countless Xiliang soldiers surrounded their residence and caught these guys who were deliberately trying to stab them in the back.

came out.

In just two days, Dong Zhuo ordered more than a dozen officials with evil intentions to be executed on the spot, and all their property was confiscated, becoming the logistical support of the Xiliang army.

The consequence of this incident was that Dong Zhuo became even more distrustful of Luoyang officials. Whenever someone showed any dissatisfaction with him, Dong Zhuo, who was already angry because of the unfavorable war ahead, would take him and his family away for various reasons.

Take action to serve as a warning to others. As a result, Dong Zhuo's reputation for evil became even stronger. Although the remaining officials were temporarily frightened by Dong Zhuo's force and did not dare to oppose openly anymore, they secretly hated the man who trampled them under his feet even more.

A martial artist.

And this is only an external disadvantage. Within the Xiliang Army, with the loss of Yangcheng, some people once again proposed to move the capital. They believed that except for the Hulao Pass in Luoyang, other cities

It is difficult to stop the attack of the Kwantung Allied Forces. In order not to be at the end of the rope and to have a better retreat, the capital should be moved to Chang'an, so that we can continue to fight against the Kwantung Allied Forces with our back to Xiliang.

Dong Zhuo was also a little moved by this, but he also understood that the matter was too important and that he had to consult many subordinates before making a final decision. So on the eighth day after the news of the defeat came, he

All the subordinates who were still in Luoyang gathered together to discuss important matters, and Ma Yue was naturally among them.

However, the discussion this time deviated from the subject at the beginning. Just after Dong Zhuo talked about the loss of Yangcheng and asked his men to talk about how to deal with it, a general named Sun Ji stood up and said: "My Lord,

From the perspective of the final general, now

The most important thing is to hold Hua Xiong accountable. He lost Yangcheng and killed nearly 10,000 troops. He must take full responsibility! Please also punish him severely, so as to give an explanation to the dead soldiers and at the same time.

Take this as a warning to the three armies!"

"General Sun is absolutely right. Please, my lord, punish Hua Xiong severely!"

"Hua Xiong lost his troops and lost ground. Failure to kill him is not enough to boost the morale of the army. Please make a decision quickly, my lord!"... For a time, many generals stood up and agreed, and there was a cry of crusade against Hua Xiong in the hall.

Ma Yue looked at these generals with some confusion, wondering why they suddenly spoke like this. But soon, he understood the problem. In fact, they were not targeting the capture of Yangcheng, but Hua Xiong.

People. Because Hua Xiong has risen too fast in the past two years, has made too many contributions, and has surpassed many people who were only above him. These people are naturally full of jealousy towards Hua Xiong, just because Hua Xiong had previously

They had never made any mistakes and were trusted by Dong Zhuo, so they did not dare to reveal anything.

But it was different today. Hua Xiong made a big mistake. Not only did he lose Yangcheng, he also lost nearly 10,000 troops. This gave them a reasonable excuse to criticize him verbally and in writing, only to force Dong Zhuo to kill him.

Vent anger.

Dong Zhuo frowned when he saw the generals below were furious and threatened to kill Hua Xiong. Hua Xiong was his favorite general. Although he was very angry after losing Yangcheng, he never thought about taking his life.

However, seeing so many generals repeatedly saying that they wanted to kill Hua Xiong to shake the morale of the army, Dong Zhuo naturally couldn't deny it outright. These people were also his trusted subordinates, and he couldn't lose the hearts of many others just because of one person.

Seeing Dong Zhuo's hesitation, Ma Yue also felt a little nervous. He tried his best to protect Hua Xiong, naturally hoping to use this tiger general in the future. If Dong Zhuo ordered to kill him because of the jealousy of those people, then

It's not worth it. So Ma Yue must speak out to excuse Hua Xiong at this time.

After thinking for a while, Ma Yue had an idea and immediately said: "My lord, this is absolutely impossible. Killing General Hua will not only fail to boost the morale of our army, but will also make the soldiers at the front feel chilled and worry about failure."

Then you were blamed and surrendered to the enemy!"

Seeing Ma Yue speak out to relieve the siege, Dong Zhuo was overjoyed and immediately followed his words: "Zhong Ling, are you saying that severely punishing Hua Xiong will inevitably make the soldiers fighting at the front fearful and unable to fight the enemy with all their strength?"

"That's right! Victory and defeat are common matters for military officers. Even though General Hua was defeated for a while and even lost Yangcheng, he was defeated only when his troops were far inferior to the enemy's. We really can't blame him alone. This is

The soldiers at the front saw what happened. If the lord blamed him for this, or even wanted to kill him, I am afraid that the shadow of the soldiers in front would inevitably be left in their hearts, and it would be difficult for them to let go and fight the enemy.

"When such a powerful enemy is present, it is even more unsuitable to kill a general to weaken his position. If the lord really wants to punish him, he should wait until he retreats from the enemy, and then make a decision based on his merits and mistakes."

When the generals saw Ma Yue standing up to speak for Hua Xiong again, they were all dissatisfied: "Mr. Ma, what benefits have you received from Hua Xiong to say good things to him again and again? This time he lost Yangcheng.

Isn’t it a great sin to make us so passive?”

"Losing a city is a serious crime and should be severely punished? I cannot accept this. General Hua was not captured by the enemy without doing anything. He had also won several victories before. If it weren't for the physical and mental health of his soldiers,

He was exhausted, and the enemy used a trick to burn the food and grass in the city, causing the army to lose morale. How could he lose the city? Therefore, the defeat of this battle is not the responsibility of General Hua alone, and we cannot ask him to pay for it with his life.

.”

At this point, Ma Yue glanced at the generals who kept asking Hua Xiong to die for his crime: "If you really insist on this, I have no choice. However, I only have one request, and that is that after killing Hua Xiong,

Next, you will go and guard the several cities ahead, including Hulao Pass. If something goes wrong, you will be guilty of the same crime as General Hua!"

"This..." After these generals heard Ma Yue's words, they immediately shrank back and were no longer as aggressive as before. Naturally, they knew their abilities. If they were to guard the city, they would be afraid of the Kwantung Allied Forces.

The attack will be defeated, and even if they don't die in the hands of the enemy, they will still die when they come back. This is not the result they want. In this way, these people will no longer be obsessed with this issue.

But before Ma Yue could breathe a sigh of relief, someone laughed and said: "Ma Yue, it seems that you and Hua Xiong have a very close relationship, and you can excuse him with such clever words. My uncle has always been clear about rewards and punishments in the army.

Since Hua Xiong was defeated and lost the city, he should be severely punished, but you still speak like this, which is really disgusting!" The person who spoke was Dong Zhuo's nephew, Dong Huang.

In fact, Dong Huang didn't care much about asking about Hua Xiong's crime. But once Ma Yue came forward, he had to stand up and confront him. The previous time, he was humiliated by Ma Yue and even beaten.

He was beaten with dozens of sticks and lay on the couch for a month before he had to get up. This made Dong Huang really hate Ma Yue to the core. He would stand up and oppose anyone who Ma Yue supported.

With Dong Huang coming forward, the already waning generals gained confidence again, and began to follow his wishes to persuade Dong Zhuo again, asking him to reprimand Hua Xiong, which made Dong Zhuo frown again.

When Ma Yue saw that it was Dong Huang who jumped out, he didn't take it seriously. He knew that this person was easy to deal with because of his ability. He cupped his hands towards Dong Zhuo and said: "My lord, the rewards and punishments for running the army are clearly understood. I must have done it before."

Mr. Dong has also learned this lesson. However, the distinction between rewards and punishments is not only to emphasize the word punishment, but also to mention the word reward. In the past few days, General Hua led his army to repeatedly defeat the Kwantung Allied Forces, but no one here stood up to defend him.

Please take credit, how come now everyone wants to investigate his fault?

"It is true that he lost the city, but the achievements he made in defeating the Kwantung Army several times before are enough to offset the blame for this crime. That's why I think that General Hua cannot be convicted for this. Otherwise, the lord will become

How will the soldiers below view a fatuous master who is not rewarded for his merits and punished for his mistakes? How can they still be willing to contribute to the Lord?"

"Zhong Ling is right. This defeat cannot be entirely blamed on General Hua. The lord can write a letter to express his censure and ask him to take away his merits. As for other disposal methods, we should leave it to be discussed after the war."

Li Ru, who spoke, had already judged Dong Zhuo's thoughts through his expression, so he spoke at this time.

With the addition of Li Ru, the situation became more favorable to Ma Yue. Some people who had no previous inclinations also expressed their agreement with Ma Yue. These people are Dong Zhuo's capable generals, such as Li Que,

Zhang Ji waited, which made other generals who had not yet succeeded no longer dare to object.

As a result, Dong Huang had nothing to say and could only stare at Ma Yue with hatred, but the latter didn't even look at him, obviously not taking him seriously.

Seeing that the matter was finally resolved satisfactorily, Dong Zhuo breathed a sigh of relief, and then brought the topic back to how to deal with the current problem: "How do you think we should deal with the current situation now? Should we continue to fight against the rebels here?
Chapter completed!