Soon, Gongsun Zan, along with Zhao Yun and his entourage, continued their journey home.

After receiving the news of Qin Yilu's death, Du Yue was heartbroken for several days.

But people always have to face reality. Fortunately, Zhao Hao and Liu Tong built a cenotaph for Zhang Yi and her fiancé Qin Yilu, which slightly eased their grief.

Zhao Hao had certainly considered taking her into his general's mansion, but people are not plants or trees, how could they be without feelings?

Let's deal with these matters slowly after Mr. Du has calmed down.

One more thing about the territory and space: after the tavern in the space is upgraded, the ability limit of the famous ministers recruited will be increased again. However, the cooldown will also be changed from one month to half a year. As compensation, the number of generals that appear each time will be more.

Within the territory, due to the surge in the number of people under his rule, and thanks to the fact that Zhao Hao's various businesses were in short supply and he did not exclude newcomers, the entire Bingzhou, Hedong, and the grasslands were developing in a thriving trend.

However, with numerous aristocratic families in Shangdang and Jinyang, the land surveying and return of land to the people still need to be carried out gradually according to the established regulations.

With Wang Meng and Gongsun Yang in charge of the four directions, and a large force keeping an eye on the powerful families of Shangdang and Taiyuan, these problems will be solved sooner or later.

In February 190, Dong Zhuo was promoted to Grand Marshal for his meritorious service in protecting the emperor.

The court and the public were shocked, but fearing the power of Dong Zhuo's military authority, no one dared to oppose him.

After all, among the various warlords who came to the capital to defend the emperor and protect their homes, Ding Yuan had the most powerful army besides Dong Zhuo.

Now, Ding Yuan has been beheaded by his chief clerk Lü Bu and presented to Dong Zhuo, and all of Ding Yuan's troops have come under Dong Zhuo's control.

Moreover, the troops of veteran generals Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun also indicated their obedience to the imperial court's orders. Meanwhile, Dong Zhuo's men still controlled the court, and the chances of civil officials successfully winning over these two fence-sitters were virtually nil.

In addition, Dong Zhuo already had 50,000 troops in Anding County. Although the number of troops sent to the capital was actually only over 20,000, after several trips, everyone believed that Dong Zhuo had at least 100,000 troops stationed in Luoyang. Therefore, no one dared to offend Dong Zhuo, and even less dared to offend Dong Zhuo's Xiliang soldiers.

At this moment, everyone forgot that Hedong, which belonged to the capital region, had been occupied by Zhao Hao. They had no interest in investigating why Bingzhou and the grasslands suddenly had so many more people, and why agriculture and the economy had recovered so quickly.

In March, Dong Zhuo was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Mei. The troops of the deceased General He Jin and General He Miao were left without anyone to take over. After Dong Zhuo entered the capital, he had completely taken control of this force and dispersed them into the ranks of the Xiliang and Bingzhou troops. The nominal force of 100,000 troops was immediately converted into a real force.

On the other hand, the reason why He Miao's troops remained unattended for so long was because they had been transferred to He Jin's command, and the military power was subsequently broken up and transferred to the captains and lieutenants under the various generals' mansions.

Now that He Jin is dead, they are leaderless and know they cannot rely on the civil officials. They can only follow Dong Zhuo, who has more power, to survive.

It was at this moment that generals such as Zhang Liao and Gao Shun were assigned to Lü Bu's official staff by chance, and thus began to get to know Lü Bu.

In the original course of history, Dong Zhuo would have been granted a marquisate much earlier than he is now. However, perhaps due to the appearance of Zhao Hao, the wheels of history played a corrective role, changing the focus of the court and the direction of Dong Zhuo's power, thus delaying the time when Dong Zhuo was promoted and granted a marquisate.

In April, Dong Zhuo was granted the privileges of not having to bow when entering the court, not having to use his name when being praised, and being allowed to wear a sword and shoes in the palace. Although he did not do what history has shown, he did not arbitrarily depose or install emperors, nor did he poison Liu Bian and He Ling.

However, he and his trusted advisors had already been searching among the common people for someone who resembled He Ling and Liu Bian, intending to use them as stand-ins!

In May, heroes rose up everywhere! Under the instigation of various undercurrents, the feudal lords finally raised the banner of righteousness.

The allied forces planned to meet at Suanzao, and then split into three routes to jointly attack Luoyang!

In June, Zhao Hao led 50,000 cavalry and 100,000 auxiliary troops to Jiguan Pass at the foot of Wangwu Mountain, where he faced Dong Zhuo's army across the river!

Behind him, however, were several unfamiliar faces.

Lu Zhi, courtesy name Zishi, was a great Confucian scholar of the late Han Dynasty. He was 51 years old at the time.

Command: 88, Martial: 62, Intelligence: 90, Politics: 94, Charisma: 93

Personality traits: 1. Guidance 2. Morale 3. Land reclamation 4. Agricultural administration 5. Composure 6. Reputation 7. Capable official

"Zhao Zhenbei, the Han Dynasty is now in decline. As the son-in-law of the imperial family, General, you should send troops to quell the villains!"

Zhao Hao remained unmoved by Lu Zhi's words.

"Of course, but military campaigns are not as simple as Mr. Lu thinks. Please go and rest first, Mr. Lu, and I will take some men to find out the situation."

"This... I'll leave it to you, General."

Zhao Hao hadn't expected that after Lu Zhi resigned from his post and returned home, he wouldn't accept Yuan Shao's offer to recruit him, but instead would come directly to Bingzhou to ask him to send troops.

Therefore, although Zhao Hao refused the request of the Guandong Coalition to send troops, at Lu Zhi's request, he was able to legitimately send a large army to Dong Zhuo's borders and give him a warning.

After dismissing Lu Zhi, Zhao Hao looked at the group of generals behind him.

Han Shizhong, courtesy name Liangchen, was a famous general of the Song Dynasty.

Command: 82 Martial: 96 Intelligence: 67 Politics: 64 Charisma: 80

Personality traits: 1. Helmsmanship 2. Naval combat 3. Dedication 4. Competence 5. Fortitude 6. Heroism 7. Fierce fighting

Liang Hongyu was a female heroine who resisted the Jin dynasty during the Song dynasty and the wife of Han Shizhong.

Command: 85, Martial: 88, Intelligence: 82, Politics: 66, Charisma: 91

Personality traits: 1. Repair 2. Beautiful figure 3. Raging hair 4. Unyielding 5. High spirits 6. Playing music

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!