"A mere horse dares to make me betray my godfather?"

"Get out of here right now!"

"Otherwise, I'll let you take a bite out of my halberd!"

In Jinyang City, at Lü Bu's residence.

His face was full of anger as he shouted at a man dressed as a merchant.

After saying that, he slammed his halberd to the ground, sparks flying everywhere.

Li Ru's face turned pale and then flushed, looking utterly disheveled.

He never expected that Lu Bu, this hothead, would not be tempted by his fine horse and gold and silver treasures, but instead righteously told him to get lost.

Fortunately, he disguised himself as a merchant and said that he was entrusted by someone to deliver a message, without revealing that he was Dong Zhuo's strategist.

Otherwise, Lü Bu would definitely have sent him to Ding Yuan.

During the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, merchants enjoyed a high degree of freedom; they could travel through prefectures and counties without being questioned.

However, after a certain scoundrel from Eastern Wu crossed the river in disguise and betrayed Jingzhou, the merchant never received such special treatment again.

I bet everyone in business will be cursing this scoundrel who's only been gone for three days!

Seeing Li Ru scramble away, Lü Bu's face broke into a disdainful sneer.

Red Hare was indeed a rare and precious horse.

However, he was highly valued by Ding Yuan, and it would be too cheap to try to bribe him with just a precious horse!

Moreover, Dong Zhuo is not a newly appointed General of the Household, and he only has 10,000 troops cobbled together from various sources.

What future is there in following him now?

Lu Bu refused without even thinking.

However, he did not tell Ding Yuan about this, fearing that Ding Yuan would become suspicious of him if he found out.

After Li Ru reported the situation to Dong Zhuo, Dong Zhuo sighed.

"Wenyou, I didn't expect this kid to have such backbone?"

"However, this only made me more eager to have him."

Dong Zhuo's eyes became somewhat infatuated, as if he were seeing a voluptuous beauty.

"Father-in-law, betrayal always comes with a price!"

Although Li Ru was met with a setback, he was not discouraged.

He also noticed Dong Zhuo's fondness for Lü Bu.

If you love him, you definitely need to have him!

So Li Ru offered some advice:

"Lü Bu refused to switch allegiance to his father-in-law for two reasons: firstly, our offer was not high enough; secondly, his father-in-law's current power was still comparable to Ding Yuan's."

“If my father-in-law advances further and gains more power in the future, I will go there again. I don’t believe Lü Bu will not be tempted.”

To attract people, you need to have higher value yourself.

Although Dong Zhuo was disappointed, he could only give up for the time being.

Dong Zhuo then went to check on Niu Fu's injuries and ordered Li Jue and others to collect grain from the surrounding counties.

Ding Yuan refused to let him into the city, so Dong Zhuo could only camp outside the city and wait for the court's reply.

He believed that with his hints, He Chang would definitely exaggerate Ding Yuan's story to He Jin.

When He Jin is enraged, he will transfer Ding Yuan elsewhere, and Bingzhou will be under Dong Zhuo's sole control.

......

Luoyang, the General's Mansion!

He Jin's face was gloomy.

Chief Clerk Wang Qian, Sima Fan Zeng, Chief Clerk Chen Lin, Eastern Clerk Kuai Yue, Prefectural Clerk Kong Rong, Wang Lang, Zhen Yan, and others were all on the list.

Xun You and He Yong stood on either side.

Meanwhile, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Bao Xin, Wu Fu, and others were leading troops to assist Lu Zhi, Zhu Jun, and others in the final stages of suppressing the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Ji Province, and were not in Luoyang.

Two memorials were placed in front of He Jin, and He Yong had already read their contents aloud.

One letter was written by Dong Zhuo, the newly appointed Left General of Pingbei.

One letter was written by Ding Yuan, an official of the Bingzhou governor.

"What are everyone's thoughts on this? How should the situation in Bingzhou be resolved?"

"They can't just keep going like this, can they?"

"And what should we do about the Marquis of Yinshan's army killing the Xiongnu?"

He Jin was furious!

Zhang Yi reported to him half a month ago that Liu Wei had killed Yu Fuluo, and the Qiangqu people had risen up in retaliation, with the two sides fighting a major battle at Shanwu.

He Jin adopted Xun You's strategy of observing from the sidelines and sent Dong Zhuo to recruit soldiers to seize Dingxiang and Yunzhong when the opportunity arose.

However, before the fire could be lit, Zhang Yi was assassinated by the Xiongnu.

Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo clashed in Bingzhou, turning against each other over who should be in charge.

This is contrary to what He Jin had in mind.

Now both of them have written a complaint to file a report.

Before convening the meeting, He Jin had heard He Chang's one-sided account, which made him even more confused.

So they decided to put the matter out in the open and let the general's staff discuss it.

"General, I've noticed something. Dong Zhuo mentioned the Marquis of Yinshan's victory over the Southern Xiongnu."

"Ding Yuan had escorted salt and iron supplies to the border regions, so he must have encountered the Xiongnu people and should know about what happened in Dingxiang."

"But he didn't mention it at all in his letter. What was he thinking?"

Chief Secretary Wang Qian spoke first.

"Then why do you think that is?" He Jin asked.

"The Xiongnu are said to have nearly 80,000 cavalry, while the Marquis of Yinshan only has more than 10,000. It is hard to believe that they could win against them."

"Therefore, I think it's very possible that Dong Zhuo suspects Ding Yuan of secretly funding the Marquis of Yinshan!"

Wang Qian spoke with a sharp tongue.

This statement caused an uproar.

“That’s right. I remember Zhang Yi said before that the supplies Ding Yuan originally intended for the Xiongnu were to be given to Marquis Yinshan!”

"Perhaps Ding Yuan was also secretly providing troops to the Marquis of Yinshan to help him kill the Xiongnu."

"Furthermore, the Qiang people of Xihe Commandery and the Xianbei people of Yanmen Commandery are under the jurisdiction of Bingzhou. If Ding Yuan instructs them to defect to the Marquis of Yinshan, then with so many people together, it is not impossible to defeat the Xiongnu!"

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