"Is there anyone who is too cunning to capture the demon lotus, or to rebel against a strong commander and usurp the king?" [Records of Yuan Gongjia Temple at the Great Sima Festival]

That day and night, all the soldiers had paid their tents and rested. Only the lights in Li Jue's tent were brightly lit, and some people were talking and whispering.

Li Jue did not take off his armor and was sitting in the main seat. At this time, two tent supervisors, nephew Hu Feng and nephew Li Li, stood in front of Li Jue with a scribe sandwiched between them.

"You said you were an envoy sent by the imperial court, but what proof do you have?" After Li Jue finished speaking, Li Li took the initiative to hand over a envelope.

Li Jue slowly took out a ruler from his bag and caught a glimpse of the first few words. He put the slip away as if touching charcoal and never looked at it again. Those words were shocking, especially the word 'pardon'

The word was like a sharp knife piercing Li Jue's heart.

The man saw that Li Jue still looked indifferent after reading the edict, and he suddenly panicked. Dong Zhuo's direct troops were cruel and unkind and disobeyed the king's orders. He had heard about it in the court for a long time.

At this time, deep into the tiger's den, the man still forced himself to calm down and said in a deep voice: "I am your visitor Duan Xun. The emperor knows that you are no more than Dong Zhuo's accomplices, so I have been specially ordered to pardon you. I also hope that the generals will restrain the sergeants and serve the country.

Guard the territory.”

"Huh!" Li Jue snorted coldly: "Since Situ has decided to abandon me, the country has also privately issued a pardon edict. This time, I don't know who is making the decision in the court?"

"Of course your Majesty has the final say in the court." Duan Xun felt very guilty after being looked at by Li Jue's cold eyes, and said with lack of confidence.

Li Jue said with a sarcastic smile: "Since it is Your Majesty who makes the decision, why is this pardon edict written on the edict instead of being made into a book, and why is it that you are secretly sent here in private? Although I don't understand the imperial system very well, but making a book is

I can still clearly distinguish it from the purpose of the edict."

"Tell me! What do you want when you come to Shaanxi County with an edict that is not in line with the system? If you don't tell the truth, I will have someone pour hot oil on you!" Li Jue suddenly stopped laughing and shouted sternly.

During Dong Zhuo's time, whenever the Kwantung Allied Forces were defeated, the captured soldiers were wrapped in cloth, their heads hung on the ground, and boiling oil was poured in from top to bottom, scalding them alive.

Duan Xun knew Dong Zhuo's misdeeds against others, and now that he heard that Li Jue intended to use this on him, he was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, his face turned pale, and he trembled: "No, no! Please invite the general.

Have mercy on me, I am really an envoy sent by the country! The country knows that the general should not be prejudiced by Situ, but it can't resist Situ's strength, so it has to make this decision!"

"Uncle, this man's behavior is suspicious. He may be a tactic used by the imperial court to delay the war. The edict cannot be trusted." Li Li said from the side.

Duan Xun said quickly: "If the general doubts whether this edict is true, there is no need to do so! The state gave orders when it came. As long as the general obeys the edict and obeys, the state will definitely persuade Situ to stop fighting. At that time, all the armies in Guanzhong will garrison their respective areas, and the imperial court will

Restoring peace is all the work of the general!"

If he had said this earlier, Li Jue might not have really surrendered, but now he had just discussed with the generals to start an army to rebel, and then came the pardon edict. How should he deal with this? It has to be said that it was fate.

people.

Li Jue actually strongly disagreed with this unfair edict of pardon. He had been in Guandong for a long time, and he didn't know that the emperor who was a young man had now become a figure who could influence the situation of the court. His understanding of the little emperor was still limited.

past.

In his opinion, this pardon edict will definitely not get the consent of Wang Yun, the actual person in power at present. Its sudden appearance today may be what Li Li said was the imperial court's delaying strategy to paralyze everyone;

Maybe someone was afraid of the power of the generals and instigated the little emperor to come and surrender.

If it is the former, then this edict cannot be trusted. If it is the latter...

And no matter who was behind the plan to issue the pardon in the name of the little emperor, Li Jue would never give up with an arrow on the string. Accepting the pardon now would only be to preserve his current status at most, and how could it be achieved?

The next position of power?

His thoughts changed rapidly, and he made up his mind not to spread the news about Duan Xun's visit to the military camp. Fortunately, the people who met Duan Xun were Li Jue's relatives, so it was easy to conceal the news.

Thinking of this, Li Jue's face turned stern and he said: "One moment the imperial court said that they would not pardon us, but they would kill all the people in Liangzhou like us; the next moment they said they would pardon us and we would be reused. Who should I listen to?

Are you officials and officials treating me like a child?"

After saying this, he did not wait for Duan Xun to kowtow and beg for mercy, and asked Li Li to drag him down and deal with him in a 'quiet and silent manner'.

Li Jue was still sitting alone on the couch. He stared at the ray of light in front of him for a moment. Finally, he took out the bag and slowly pulled out the unceremonious pardon edict. After carefully reading the contents above, Li Jue

, he held it up to the light, and the flames licked and burned the bamboo slips, quickly burning them to ashes.

After Duan Xun was killed, Li Li and Hu Feng came to revive him. Although they obeyed Li Jue's order to kill Duan Xun, they were still envoys sent by the imperial court to pardon them, so they killed them like this.

, it is inevitable that there will be some doubts and uneasiness.

Li Jue seemed to know what they were thinking, and explained: "Compared to being a human being, there is a greater wealth in front of you now. Are you willing to work with me to conquer the world?"

Li Li immediately expressed his position: "Uncle, whether it is to kill the angels and rebel, or to submit to the imperial court, we will listen to you!"

His nephew Hu Feng also followed suit. Li Jue was overjoyed. If he wanted to raise troops to pursue a cause in troubled times, he must first rely on these relatives. He used his words to comfort everyone, and immediately arranged for Li Li and Hu Feng

As well as Li Xian and other nephews, he became the captain and Sima, and firmly controlled the army for him.

At this time, there were 40,000 troops gathered in Shaanxi County, led by Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji and others. Li Jue had the largest number of soldiers, about 18,000, and Guo Si was not far behind, with 13,000 under his command.

Thousands of people, followed by Zhang Ji with 7,000 people. Although Jia Xu was a captain, he could not go into battle to kill the enemy, so he led the smallest number of troops, only more than 2,000 people.

Li Jue had a good plan in mind. He waited until he marched into Hongnong and Jingzhao according to Jia Xu's plan. In the name of avenging Dong Zhuo, he gathered Dong Zhuo's soldiers and horses scattered in various counties. In addition, he captured some common people along the way to make up the number.

Eighty or ninety thousand people were obtained.

Among them, Li Jue could take advantage of this opportunity to annex and expand his troops, becoming the leader of the generals in Liangzhou, and legitimately succeeding Dong Zhuo.

As for Hu Zhen and Yang Ding, although they have high reputations, at this time, only those with strong soldiers and horses can be convinced. They were born in Liangzhou, but they had completely forgotten this law of the jungle. Li Jue felt cold in his heart.
Chapter completed!