When he entered the General's Mansion with his head raised, Dong Zhuo secretly lamented that his pursuit of the position of Jiuqing was so intense that he even lost his mind.
As long as you can think about gains and losses rationally before, you will not realize that you have lost all freedom and choice when things are irreversible.
At the moment, he has no choice but to apologize.
So he gave up his dignity in front of Liu Bei, bowed to Liu Bei in a rather humble manner, and offered Li Jue's head as a sign of surrender.
"Li Jue is the culprit of everything. I have already executed him. I also ask the general to forgive my previous mistakes and give him a chance to change his ways."
Liu Bei looked at Dong Zhuo's low posture and slowly raised the corners of his mouth.
After a moment of silence, he stood up, walked to Dong Zhuo, leaned over and helped him up.
"Why should Zhongying be like this? This matter is a disaster for you and me. It is a sudden disaster. No one wants to come to this point. But for the long term and for your position as the Nine Ministers, this is a necessary sacrifice. There is no need to sacrifice yourself.
responsibility.
But Zhongying, you have to learn a lesson from this matter. This is not Bingzhou, not Liangzhou, not Xuzhou, but Luoyang. All the powerful people in the world are in Luoyang. The power of each of them cannot be underestimated. They are all far away.
Above you.
You can be arrogant in other places, but in Luoyang, even I dare not be arrogant, let alone you? This time you dismissed the army and got their understanding, and Dahonglu's position was saved.
, but if you do it again, things may not be the same.
Therefore, the further you go, the more cautious you must be in your words and deeds. I had great ambitions when I first came to Luoyang, but these years of grinding have also worn away my sharpness. Now I am just a vegetarian, barely able to do anything.
It’s just to maintain the court.”
Dong Zhuo nodded with a sad look on his face, and said in his heart, I believe you, you bastard, your words are better than your singing, if I believe you, I will be your grandson!
Are you still cautious?
Have you still lost all your energy?
Are you still eating vegetarian food?
How many rich and wealthy families have been killed by this fucking slave restriction order?
This is a national policy!
If this national policy is implemented well, how many people have died, and how many people have been frightened to death?
Do you really think I know nothing?!
Dong Zhuo really wanted to give Liu Bei a hard slap - he used to slap me like an envoy and general, but now he slaps me like a Zhongying.
My special brew is more than twenty years older than you! I can even be your father!
Of course, Dong Zhuo only dared to think about this in his mind and would never dare to say it out loud unless he wanted to die.
Faced with Liu Bei's comfort, Dong Zhuo acted like a good student who corrected his mistakes and sincerely admitted his mistakes to Liu Bei, saying that he would be careful in his words and deeds in the future and would never violate any laws and regulations.
As long as he can continue to do this Dahonglu.
Of course, Dong Zhuo now lost his army and his biggest support, so he more or less felt that he should be able to get some compensation.
Even though he is still in an awkward position as Da Honglu, he is still more concerned about the situation without diplomacy. He does not want to be a man who only takes money but does not work.
This is of course very satisfying for people who lie down on their backs, but Dong Zhuo doesn't want to lie down on his back yet. Even if he wants to lie down on his back, it will only be done after he has done three things, right?
"General, regarding Da Honglu's affairs, this is Zhuo's first time in charge, so he doesn't know much about it. I would like to ask General Zhuo to clarify his doubts. What should be the best way to handle Dahonglu's duties?"
Of course Liu Bei could hear the subtext in these words.
So he smiled.
"Da Honglu is one of the Nine Qings. His position is very important, and his authority is also very important. The world was in chaos before, and the exchanges between the Han Dynasty and foreign countries were gradually interrupted, and there was no news. But sooner or later, the Han Dynasty will recover. Before
The interrupted communication must also be continued.
I thought that from the moment Zhong Ying takes up his post as Da Honglu, the Han Dynasty will start to manage the Western Regions again. The exchanges between the countries in the Western Regions and the Han Dynasty have been interrupted for many years. After Zhong Ying takes up the post of Da Honglu, he should focus on dealing with it.
These things caused the countries in the Western Regions to resume paying tribute to the Han Dynasty."
"Countries in the Western Regions..."
Dong Zhuo pondered for a moment, feeling that this was really a thing.
Because when he was young, he served as a military commander in the Western Regions and participated in the management and rule of the Western Regions by the Eastern Han Dynasty, so he had some understanding of the Western Regions.
However, with the gradual decline of the Eastern Han Dynasty, starting from the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Eastern Han Dynasty gradually lost its management of the Western Regions, and Dong Zhuo never returned to the Western Regions.
Especially during the Liangzhou Rebellion, the communication channels between the Luoyang court and the Western Regions were cut off, thus ending his rule and influence on the Western Regions. Although Liu Bei later stabilized Liangzhou, revived Liangzhou, and surrendered the Qiang people, but
The rule over the Western Regions was not restored.
His energy and all resources were devoted to rebuilding the mountains and rivers.
The Western Regions is a good place, but the management of the Western Regions needs to be based on internal stability. Only when the internal stability is stabilized and the Han Empire can start again can it resume its rule over the Western Regions.
The conquest, development and rule of new territories are essentially manifestations of the overflow of a powerful country's national power. If the national power is insufficient and cannot overflow, there is no point in trying to embarrass the country.
From the beginning of the Yellow Turban Uprising in the sixth year of Guanghe's reign until today, for ten years, the Han Empire essentially did not have the ability to resume its management of the Western Regions.
But at this moment, in July of the fourth year of Jian'an, the Han Empire has gradually recovered its vitality under Liu Bei's management, and has gradually shown signs of restoring its national strength. Therefore, the preliminary management of the Western Regions can actually be restarted.
Not only to reassure Dong Zhuo, but Liu Bei also really wanted to restore his rule over the Western Regions.
Not only can he expand foreign markets, earn more profits, and restore his rule over the Western Regions, it will also make it easier for him to launch a final annihilating attack on the remnants of Xianbei in the central and Xianbei in the west.
He will never let go of this group of Xianbei people. He will catch them all no matter what, and he will sweep the entire grassland clean to lay the foundation for the stability of the northern border in the next few hundred years.
At the same time, if we can continue to extend our territory westward to Central Asia, we can also come into contact with the Parthian Empire and the Kushan Empire, and even further westward with Rome.
That's a very interesting thing.
Precisely because of such expectations, Liu Bei maintained trade with the Western Regions during his rule in Liangzhou.