In Guo Jia's view, Liu Bei currently has an excellent opportunity to threaten Dong Zhuo, and he can even achieve the effect of releasing his military power without losing any blood.
Dong Zhuo longed for high status and recognition, but high status and recognition were never free.
So, General, what’s the price?
Guo Jia grinned.
"Dong Zhuo doesn't know the politics of Luoyang, he doesn't know the ups and downs in Luoyang City, and he doesn't know how much control you have over Luoyang City. Therefore, you can use this trend to force Dong Zhuo to make a choice.
, either be promoted to the rank of Ninth Minister, or return to the original status."
"Do you think he will definitely choose Jiuqing?"
Liu Bei looked at Guo Jia with a smile.
Guo Jia showed a confident expression on his face.
"Dong Zhuo would rather give up the position of Bingzhou Mu and go to Xuzhou to be the governor. Now he is also willing to give up the position of Xuzhou governor and come to Luoyang. This in itself represents his extreme yearning for Luoyang. He should really want this two thousand people.
Stone's position.
Now this position is so close, it can even be regarded as a piece of meat in his mouth, but he cannot swallow it immediately, and there is even the possibility of losing it, which must make him suffer and suffer.
The power and status were right in front of him, but when he stretched out his hand, the power seemed to automatically retreat, preventing him from touching it. In this way, he must not be able to eat well and sleep restlessly, just waiting for the general's disposal!
"
Liu Bei smiled.
He agreed with Guo Jia's view.
The sunk costs Dong Zhuo had invested in it were already too high, and he had almost no choice. If he could even bear this, Liu Bei would really not dare to underestimate Dong Zhuo. That was what he was serious about doing.
"Then what do you think should be done with his army?"
"Disband on the spot, and you can retain twenty or thirty guardsmen. Apart from that, no one is allowed to stay, and they cannot simply move back to their place of origin. Instead, they should be dispersed and arranged to settle in various places."
Guo Jia said with a cold face: "This group of people is a threat if they stay in Luoyang for one day, and they cannot simply send troops to destroy them. In this case, if they can be demobilized, they should be demobilized as soon as possible to avoid long nights and dreams."
"Also, the Han Dynasty cannot have troops that are not under the command of the imperial court."
Liu Bei nodded, adopted Guo Jia's opinion, and decided to launch a strategic deception against Dong Zhuo, which could be considered as revenge for his former self——
If this old boy dares to deceive and use himself to his face, then he should be given a taste of the general's methods.
Come on, what rank are you in? Are you worthy of me?
So, this scene happened now.
Dong Zhuo stared at Liu Bei blankly, being completely crushed by Liu Bei's general pattern and at a loss. He had no idea that he had entered Liu Bei's rhythm and could not extricate himself.
The army or Dahonglu?
Keep the army under your own independent command, or give up the army in exchange for the position of Jiuqing?
If you keep the army, you will not get the position of Jiuqing. The gentlemen of Luoyang will not accept you. All your previous efforts will be in vain. You will lose the opportunity to enter Luoyang. For the rest of your life, you may never enter Luoyang again.
Yang is possible.
Then what is the purpose of his bloody battle all this time?
Why did he abandon Yuan Wei and join Liu Bei?
Without maintaining the army, the gentlemen in Luoyang City would have a sense of security, but Dong Zhuo, who was a veteran soldier, would feel very insecure. He would worry that even if he became the Nine Ministers, he would not be able to hold the position for a long time. Everything in the future would depend on Liu Bei.
This was a moderate test for Dong Zhuo.
He is not used to leaving everything to an outsider.
So, how to choose?
Dong Zhuo thought about it and couldn't make up his mind, so he begged Liu Bei if he could have both.
Liu Bei was furious and threw a stack of papers in front of Dong Zhuo.
"Look at the dissatisfaction of the Dukes of Luoyang with you! These are the pressures I have to face! You caused things yourself, but you want me to take responsibility for you? Then why do I need to recommend you to be Dahong?
If you don’t do it, there will be people lining up to do it!”
Dong Zhuo was startled and picked up the papers scattered on the floor. When he looked at them, he found that they were all written by Luoyang officials to Liu Bei about his concerns and dissatisfaction with himself. He thought that he was vulgar and barbaric and was not worthy of being a great king. Please ask him.
Liu Bei thought more about it.
The words were quite polite and the tone was not fierce, but Dong Zhuo felt chilled in his heart.
As Liu Bei said, he is not qualified to choose. If he doesn't do it, there are many people rushing to do it.
The reason Liu Bei helped him was to fulfill his promise. If it weren't for this promise, Dong Zhuo didn't think Liu Bei would take political risks for himself.
Now, Dong Zhuo faces a difficult choice: choose his old brothers and independence, or give up everything and enter Luoyang?
Dong Zhuo didn't know what to choose, but Liu Bei only gave him a stick of incense.
"In one stick of incense, if you can't make a choice, I will help you choose. At that time, I will issue an order for former general Dong Zhuo to lead the army to Yunzhong County in Bingzhou to assume garrison duties."
Dong Zhuo was stunned for a moment, then turned pale with fright.
Even if Liu Bei transferred him to the south, he would consider it preferential treatment.
Although the conditions are difficult, at least there are enemies and wars, and rewards can be obtained through wars. They can barely be regarded as professional counterparts. As long as they win the battle and deal with some restless foreigners, there is still hope for the future.
But going north…
The north used to be a very good place. There were many foreigners. Soldiers who went there could fight and earn military merits and would not be buried. But this is not the case in the north now.
The Huns and Wuhuan people were all killed, and the Xianbei people were beaten and moved westward. The remaining Xianbei people no longer know where they went.
At present, Bingzhou and the north of Youzhou are a nomadic vacuum. The Han army has no opponent at all. There are only some tribes east of Liaodong, but there is Gongsundu there, and it is no longer the turn of others to intervene.
Stationed there, I am afraid that Dong Zhuo will never have another battle to fight in his lifetime. He can only build the Great Wall and run horses. If he is lucky, he will bump into one or two unlucky small tribes who have lost their way and have one or two small battles.
Large-scale encounters, and then get some painless achievements.
Is this his pursuit?
Yes, he is old, he is old, he longs for comfort, he no longer longs for war, but the comfort he longs for is Yuan Wei's comfort. He wants comfort, but also has power!
And now...
As time passed bit by bit, Dong Zhuo's inner struggle became more and more intense, until at the last moment, he finally made his choice.
"General, if I disband the army, then the generals among them, they..."
"Let's dismiss them together. We already have enough positions in our army and no more people are needed. Of course, you can keep twenty to thirty guards."
"Doesn't there still be Dahonglu's subordinates..."
"Currently, the staff is at full capacity. The person who is responsible has not committed any crime. It is inappropriate to resign without any reason. However, your subordinates have violated the law. Those who have violated the law have to be transferred to other positions. This makes me
I can't convince everyone, Zhong Ying, I hope you won't embarrass me."
Liu Bei looked at Dong Zhuo with sharp eyes.
Dong Zhuo did not dare to look at Liu Bei and lowered his head.
In desperation, Dong Zhuo could only accept Liu Bei's conditions in exchange for his protection.
After Dong Zhuo left, Liu Bei thought for a while and called the guards.
"Go and send an order to have Dong Huang, the commander-in-chief of the Xiaoguo army, and Lu Bu, the rear-rear general, come to see me."
"only!"
The guard immediately ran out.
On the other side, later that day, Dong Zhuo returned to the temporary military camp.
After returning, in addition to Li Jue, Dong Zhuo summoned his main cronies and officers, including his son-in-law Niu Fu, and announced to them that he had successfully obtained the position of Dahonglu, and that Liu Bei had solved all the problems and fulfilled his promise.
Dong Zhuo, a veteran border soldier from Liangzhou who came from a humble background, will soon be stationed in the central government as Da Honglu, one of the nine ministers.
This is the first time in a long time that an official from Liangzhou who is not a direct descendant of Liu Bei has become one of the nine ministers of the imperial court. No matter from which point of view, it is worthy of celebration.
The subordinates were very pleasantly surprised by this, and congratulated Dong Zhuo one after another, flattering Dong Zhuo that he would be promoted to Luoyang. From then on, his future would be bright, and some even wished him to ascend to the position of Three Dukes as soon as possible.
While everyone was rejoicing, Niu Fu noticed that his father-in-law didn't seem so happy, and seemed to have something heavy in his heart.
"Zhang...general...Da Honglu, what's wrong with you?"
Niu Fu changed his words twice before he correctly called Dong Zhuo's current identity.
However, Dong Zhuo suddenly seemed not to care much about the title.
He had a bitter smile on his face.
"That's good news, and there's bad news."
"bad news?"
"Well, bad news."
Dong Zhuo looked around at his trusted generals and said slowly: "I will take the initiative to resign from the position of former general, disband the army and retain only twenty guards, in exchange for the opportunity to become the ninth minister."
As soon as these words came out, the entire military tent suddenly became quiet. Everyone had an incomprehensible look on their face. They were all stunned. For a while, they couldn't say a word.
After the suffocating silence, Ushisuke spoke first.
"My father-in-law, why?"
"Because of Li Jue's incident, more than a hundred officials in the court complained to the general. They were unwilling to let me become Da Honglu. They thought our army was barbaric and they were worried that their families and property would be in danger.
Therefore, by resisting me, I become Da Honglu.
The general did a lot of work for this matter and persuaded a lot of people. Finally, he made the condition of disbanding our army in exchange for the approval of the government and the public. As long as our army is disbanded, I can become Dahonglu and the leader of the Han Dynasty.
One of the Nine Qings."
Dong Zhuo sighed deeply: "One piece of good news and one piece of bad news. What do you think? Is the good news better or the bad news worse?"