Dong Zhuo is already very old. He has entered old age. He thinks that he does not have a long lifespan.
Before he died, he wanted to explore the lofty position of the big man. He wanted to experience what it was like to be in the position that the man he hated the most once held.
Yuan Wei, the person he hated the most, once dominated the situation in that position.
So he wanted to try it too.
Therefore, if Liu Bei wants to scold him, then let him scold him. As long as Da Honglu's position can be saved, anything is fine.
Now only Liu Bei can realize his dream, and no one else can.
So Dong Zhuo looked at Liu Bei's leaving figure, his eyes a little dull.
Li Jue stood behind Dong Zhuo, watching Liu Bei's figure disappear from sight, and finally couldn't bear it any longer, so he stepped forward and stood beside Dong Zhuo.
"General! Are we just being insulted by Liu Bei like this? It's just a trivial matter! He actually insulted us like this! Where does this put our face? How can we...ah!"
Before Li Jue finished speaking, he screamed in pain.
The reason for crying out in pain is also very simple.
Dong Zhuo turned around with a dark face and kicked him, knocking him to the ground. He was suddenly hit hard and felt pain in his stomach, and he screamed.
"General! I..."
"Shut up! Someone! Catch him!"
Dong Zhuo's eyes widened, and a strong murderous intention enveloped Li Jue.
Li Jue was stunned immediately. The soldiers around him came to arrest him but did not resist.
"General!"
Dong Zhuo was still angry and stepped forward and slapped Li Jue on the face.
"Shut up! I have spent so much effort, so much money and hard work, and finally got here. I am about to be appointed as a high-ranking official in Jiuqing. I have a bright future! You bastard can't handle it well.
My own men have caused so many troubles for me!
Do you know what Jiuqing represents? Winning two thousand stones! Winning two thousand stones! This is the only way to ascend to the throne of the Three Dukes! If you want to be the Three Dukes, you must first be the Jiuqing! If I can't be Dahonglu this time
, just be prepared to use your head to apologize to me!"
Dong Zhuo warned Li Jue fiercely, then ordered Li Jue to be imprisoned and dismissed Li Jue from his position as lieutenant general.
Li Jue shouted that he was wronged, shouted that he had made great contributions to Dong Zhuo, and begged Dong Zhuo not to treat him like this.
But it was useless, Dong Zhuo had made up his mind.
The other generals looked at each other and sighed.
They all understood that in Dong Zhuo's heart, their status could not be compared with Da Honglu's position.
For the next three days, Dong Zhuo had no desire for tea or food, and his days and nights were reversed, making it difficult to fall asleep. Even if he fell asleep, he would soon be awakened by the cruel dream of losing his position, dreaming that all his years of hard work had been ruined.
He really felt that he had never had such a bad experience. Even if he was often hungry earlier, it was not as uncomfortable as now.
After bouts of worry, Dong Zhuo finally got some good news.
The matter of Jiuqing was settled, and Liu Bei asked Dong Zhuo to enter the city to discuss. Dong Zhuo was overjoyed and went to the general's palace to meet with Liu Bei.
But before he could say a few words of thanks, and before he could thank him profusely, Liu Bei told him a fact that made him extremely troubled.
"You can be the Nine Ministers, but the army you brought must be disbanded. The princes of the Manchu Dynasty can accept you as Dahonglu, but they cannot accept that the army with extremely poor military discipline is around Luoyang. That will make
They are very insecure."
After Dong Zhuo heard this, he was stunned on the spot.
After a while, Dong Zhuo came to his senses and quickly asked Liu Bei for mercy.
"General, they are all old subordinates who have followed me for a long time. Each of them has made military exploits and has great merits for the big man. They... they can have good military discipline, as long as they are restrained,
That’s fine.”
"Don't say this to me. Go tell the princes of the Manchu Dynasty and see if they believe that your subordinates will become as disciplined as other armies and will not threaten their safety."
Liu Bei did not raise his head, and was talking to Dong Zhuo while handling the official affairs of the general's palace.
After hearing this, Dong Zhuo's thoughts turned over and over again.
"General, they are all strong men, very brave soldiers, and most of them are in their prime. If they are sent away, where will they go? Bingzhou or Liangzhou? That is completely different from their hometown in the past!
And General, you also know that they are all rough people who have never read books and know no etiquette. They only know how to slash people with swords. If such people are all under control, they can still be controlled. If you let them go,
It’s likely to cause some turmoil, right?”
"Do you think that for the princes of the Manchu Dynasty, is their safety more important, or the safety of Liangzhou and Bingzhou? Will they care about the safety of Bingzhou and Liangzhou?"
Liu Bei raised his head, looked at Dong Zhuo calmly, and said slowly: "It is my suggestion that you become Da Honglu, but if you don't have the approval of all the princes of the dynasty, even if you do it, you won't be able to do it for long.
No one will interact with you, no one will socialize with you, and no one will cooperate with your work. They will make you extremely uncomfortable, sitting on pins and needles, and make you achieve nothing.
In the end, you may be impeached and resign, or you may even resign voluntarily and leave Luoyang with nothing. At that time, what can this army bring you? Zhongying, are you fighting for so many years just for a war?
A dream?"
Dong Zhuo stopped talking.
His expression was dull and motionless, like a sculpture.
And Dong Zhuo's reaction was also what Liu Bei expected - or in other words, this was his purpose.
To be honest, the things Dong Zhuo caused were just trivial matters to him.
The officials of the Manchu Dynasty just hated Dong Zhuo's character and did not want Dong Zhuo to be ranked among the Nine Ministers. However, to be honest, Dahonglu was not a very powerful position. In the current environment of the Han Dynasty, Dahonglu could even be regarded as a false position.
To be precise, they were just suffering from some kind of mental mysophobia and double-standard rules of conduct, and it was difficult for them to accept Dong Zhuo, who had had a betrayal experience. However, if they really attacked Dong Zhuo with this, it was also their question whether it would cause Liu Bei's displeasure.
Things to worry about.
They hate Dong Zhuo, but if Liu Bei is behind Dong Zhuo, then they have to think carefully about whether to continue attacking Dong Zhuo.
Liu Bei originally planned to ask Ruan Yu to launch a public opinion defense war, but what he didn't expect was that after a few days, this matter was widely spread and everyone talked about it, but no one stepped forward to take the lead, and no signal for the public opinion war was sent out.
No one tried to attack Liu Bei with this, and Liu Bei's previous worries were in vain.
So Liu Bei realized that although the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty were dissatisfied with Dong Zhuo, they did not dare to offend him for it.
Even if Dong Zhuo kills someone, they still want to see Liu Bei's face. If Liu Bei insists on Dong Zhuo becoming Da Honglu, then they will not go against Liu Bei under any circumstances.
At least not yet.
So regarding this matter, it mainly depends on how Liu Bei handles it.
After understanding this, Guo Jia, who wanted to show his talents, took the initiative to advise Liu Bei and suggested that Liu Bei take this opportunity to directly solve Dong Zhuo's problem and let Dong Zhuo choose one of the two.
Or, continue to be his former general, leading his troops and stationed somewhere outside Luoyang City, surrounded by troops loyal to Liu Bei, waiting for the imperial court's order to go to war.
Or, let Dong Zhuo give up his former general and army, transform into Da Honglu, and prepare to follow the path of a traditional bureaucracy.