"Wen You, if I don't agree to He Jin, I probably won't be able to climb to that position in my life! You also know that I don't come from a noble family, and those literati generally look down on me."
When Dong Zhuo said these words, Li Ru already understood Dong Zhuo's choice.
"Lord, we now have 30,000 elite soldiers, including 20,000 cavalry! This does not include our old troops. I believe that those former barbarian righteous followers will definitely come to surrender if they hear the call of the lord!
"
Dong Zhuo was not a fool. Li Ru's words undoubtedly gave him more motivation and confidence. He also understood that his son-in-law might also have his heart set on He Jin!
After much thought, Dong Zhuo still couldn't make up his mind, because standing on He Jin's side was equivalent to standing on the opposite side of the emperor! If he failed, it would be tantamount to treason!
"My lord, are you worried that you won't be able to defeat Liu Zhang?"
Dong Zhuo shook his head. He had not considered Liu Zhang's issue yet.
"Once we go to Luoyang, Meiyang City will be empty. Once Han Sui comes to attack, what will we do?"
Unexpectedly, when Li Ru heard Dong Zhuo's doubts, he looked up to the sky and laughed.
"Don't worry, my lord, even if Meiyang City is deserted, Han Sui and Ma Teng will not invade!"
"Oh? Why are you so confident?"
"Don't worry, my lord, He Jin has already made arrangements, so we don't have to worry about our future!"
Now that all the problems have been solved except for Liu Zhang, Dong Zhuo's heart became even more impetuous.
The conditions offered by He Jin were too generous, and desire was gradually overcoming Dong Zhuo's final reason!
Bang!
Dong Zhuo stood up, drew his sword and cut off the table, and shouted.
"I have made up my mind! Send someone to reply to He Jin and tell him that I, Dong Zhuo, fully support him!"
"In addition, send people to summon the old troops and order Li Jue and Guo Si to lead their troops! We will definitely succeed in this battle! Even if we are enemies with Liu Zhang, we must not make any mistakes!"
When Li Ru saw that Dong Zhuo had finally made up his mind, he was overjoyed and quickly accepted the order.
"My lord is wise! Get off immediately and get it done!"
"The New Year is approaching soon. Why don't we visit General He Jin in the name of giving gifts and discuss these details again. What do you think, my lord?"
Dong Zhuo nodded, he was absolutely assured of Li Ru.
"Just go ahead and do this!"
"promise!"
Yizhou, Hanzhong County, Yangpingguan.
At the end of 188 AD, Huang Zhong led the Wu Sheying camp to Yangping Pass.
Nowadays, Yangping Pass is no longer garrisoned by Yang Lin. Considering that the soldiers need to take turns to rest, Jia Xu specially arranged for Huang Zhong to take the Wushe Battalion to rotate with Yang Lin's county soldiers.
There has been no fighting in the past three years, and everyone's spirits have relaxed.
Fortunately, Ma Xiang rebelled in Yizhou and successively attacked Mianzhu and other counties, which alerted the defenders of Hanzhong County.
In order to prevent the fall of Yizhou from affecting Hanzhong, Jia Xu specially strengthened the defense of Jinniu Road and Micang Road.
The Jinniu Road is guarded by Yangping Pass, so with Huang Zhong here, it will be absolutely safe.
Micang Road itself is relatively steep, and it would be extremely difficult to lead a large army through it. Even if the Yizhou rebels want to attack Hanzhong, they will most likely not use Micang Road.
However, for the sake of safety, Jia Xu specifically asked Xia Houlan to lead the cavalry battalion to station at the mouth of the valley on Micang Road and build fortifications.
At Yangping Pass, Huang Zhong was conducting daily inspections. As long as he was stationed at Yangping Pass, this was an indispensable job.
Behind Huang Zhong stood two young generals, Yang Lin's two sons, Yang Ang and Yang Ren.
These two men originally followed Zhao Yun and Tai Shi Ci. After Zhao Yun and Tai Shi Ci followed Liu Zhang to Luoyang, these two men were dispatched to Huang Zhong's command and temporarily served as deputy generals of the Wushe camp.
"General Huang, it's the New Year's Eve, and you're not going to take a break, but you're still checking up here?"
Yang Ren and Huang Zhong were relatively familiar with each other, so they naturally spoke more casually.
"Haha, the military advisor has given me the important task, how can I relax even a little bit!"
On the contrary, Yang Ang admired Huang Zhong's behavior and often talked about it.
"I particularly like General Huang's rigorous style of doing things! Unlike our father, who was just cheating at Yangping Pass!"
Huang Zhong shook his head helplessly. He knew Yang Lin well, and he was not as bad as his son said.
"It's getting dark too early. It seems that the brothers who went to the mountains for inspection haven't come back yet, right? Are you lost?"
Since he came under Huang Zhong's command, the important task of inspecting the mountains has been handed over to Yang Ren.
Sometimes Yang Ren even led the soldiers there himself.
However, Yang Ren didn't think it was necessary to do this, and even complained to Huang Zhong, thinking that it was completely meaningless.
Huang Zhong naturally would not listen to his opinions and still asked him to carry out military orders every day!
The incident of scouting has been deeply engraved in Huang Zhong's heart. He never wants to repeat the mistake of being flanked again. It was also that time that Liu Zhang almost died!
"The ones who went into the mountains to inspect haven't come back yet? When did they come back to the pass in the past?"
Yang Ren casually complained at the side, but Huang Zhong heard it in his heart.
"It's Shen Shi in the morning, and it's time to come back at You Shi in the evening!"
Yang Ren blurted it out without thinking.
"Youshi? What time is it now?"
Upon hearing Huang Zhong's question, Yang Ren raised the torch and walked towards the copper kettle dripping aside, and then exclaimed.
"Ah! It's almost midnight now!"
The days are so short now that it’s almost dark at Shenshi. If you don’t have a strong sense of time, it’s easy to forget the current time!
The soldiers patrolling the mountain should have returned long ago under normal circumstances. It has been two hours now and there is still no trace!
Huang Zhong tensed up and instantly felt a trace of danger!
"Yang Ang, inform all the soldiers in the Wushe Battalion to bring all their equipment and come and guard the place! Then send a quick horse to inform Military Advisor Jia and tell him the situation here!"
Seeing that Yang Ang was still in a daze, Huang Zhong urged him loudly again.
"Hurry! What are you waiting for!"
"Ah? Ah! I'll go right away!"
Yang Ang had never encountered such a situation before. He only reacted after being scolded by Huang Zhong and hurriedly ran forward to prepare.
"General Huang, are you... too nervous? Maybe these people are lost?"
Yang Ren hesitated to express his opinion. At this moment, he felt like there was going to be a war!
"Yangping Pass is the only evidence of Hanzhong County. Once Yangping Pass is lost, the enemy can directly enter Hanzhong, and then there will be trouble!"
Huang Zhong did not dare to be careless in the slightest. The relationship between Hanzhong County and Liu Zhang was too great and there must be no room for mistakes.
Yangping Pass is not like other checkpoints. It connects two mountains together. The checkpoint is built on the mountain. This is not like the usual Xiongguan Pass, which has the advantage that one man can pass the pass and no one can open it.
Not long after, the soldiers from the Wushe Battalion began to pour in crazily, each holding a bow and arrow, carrying an arrow pot behind them, and the arrow pot was already densely packed with arrows.
At this tense moment, soldiers suddenly came to report.
"Report to the general that our soldiers are back."