"If we don't agree to Dong Zhuo's demands, the Grand Tutor and the General of the Vanguard can both be rewarded! As long as he delivers His Majesty safely, that will suffice!"

Wang Yunshuai stepped forward first and said, "We will only issue an edict to abolish it after His Majesty has safely returned to our side!"

"No, no, although Dong Zhuo is cruel, he's not stupid. How could he believe such naive words?"

Chen Lin shook her head.

"Why not send a quick-witted person who prioritizes the well-being of the nation and persuades Dong Zhuo to withdraw his troops?"

Another person spoke.

"If Dong Zhuo valued the Han dynasty and its people, he wouldn't have gone so far as to kidnap His Majesty!"

Yuan Shao, not hearing a single good idea, angrily said.

"Zhao Zhong and Xia Hui, two of the Ten Attendants, kidnapped His Majesty. Dong Zhuo killed Zhao Zhong and rescued His Majesty. He deserves a reward for saving the emperor. We have all wronged him!"

Hua Xin said, "He must be holding a grudge right now. Why don't we wait a few days until he calms down before we sit down and talk?"

"They are all soldiers of the Han Dynasty, killing each other, but it benefits others!"

His words were met with a chorus of boos!

"To benefit others? Could it be that Lord Hua is referring to the King of Clouds who is on his way to the capital?"

Someone shouted.

"King Yunzhong is holding the late emperor's edict, talking about purging corrupt officials, quelling national calamities, avenging his father, and killing the poisonous empress! It seems there's a lot of discussion about it both inside and outside the court!"

"That manifesto was so powerful it sent chills down my spine!"

Should we fight him or not?

"..."

Inside the large tent, discussions arose and buzzed.

"Silence! Silence!"

When Yuan Shao heard that everyone was not discussing how to deal with Dong Zhuo and rescue the young emperor, but instead focusing the conversation on Liu Wei, he was furious. "We are discussing how to rescue His Majesty!"

The crowd fell silent, not uttering a word, in response to Yuan Shao's fury.

Ha ha ha ha!

Suddenly, Ding Yuan, who had been silent all along, burst into laughter.

"General Ding, what are you laughing at?"

Yuan Shao frowned and asked.

"I laugh at you all for being so learned and talented, but you've used your knowledge in the wrong place!"

"Dong Zhuo is a mere brute, yet you all swear to him about loyalty to the emperor, patriotism, benevolence, and morality. Isn't that like casting pearls before swine?"

Ding Yuan said calmly.

"General Ding, do you perhaps have a good plan to deal with this? Please tell us quickly!"

Yuan Shao's face suddenly broke into a wide smile.

Yuan Shao knew Ding Yuan's unwavering loyalty to the Han Dynasty and his utmost loyalty to He Jin when he was at the General's Mansion.

Ding Yuan failed to win the battle for the governorship of Bingzhou from Dong Zhuo, and he must have harbored resentment towards Dong Zhuo ever since, hoping to have another chance to compete with him.

When Yuan Shao encouraged He Jin to call on the warlords of the land to lead their troops to the capital to remonstrate with the Empress Dowager, He Jin worried that Dong Zhuo was uncontrollable, so he repeatedly emphasized that Ding Yuan should lead his troops to the capital to check Dong Zhuo.

Now that Ding Yuan has spoken out, it's likely that he already knows how to check and balance Dong Zhuo.

Instead of arguing like this, they should have just asked Ding Yuan from the beginning; that would have been much more efficient.

"No one knows Dong Zhuo better than I do. The Emperor is in his hands; does he really dare to kill him?"

"If he really killed His Majesty, the crime of regicide would absolutely ruin his reputation and alienate him from everyone!"

"Therefore, we need not worry too much. We should directly deploy our forces and command our army to fight him. If he dares not come to fight, we should seize the opportunity to launch a surprise attack, rush into his camp, and rescue His Majesty!"

Ding Yuan spoke eloquently and eloquently.

His words made everyone present nod silently in agreement!

It seems that Ding Yuan analyzed Dong Zhuo very thoroughly and knew him inside and out.

"General Ding is exactly what I wanted. Now that the army has gathered here, if we don't let Dong Zhuo know how powerful we are, will he think we are afraid of his 50,000 troops?"

Yuan Shao also really wanted to fight Dong Zhuo.

The troops that Dong Zhuo brought from Bingzhou numbered only a little over 50,000.

On their side, there were not only Ding Yuan's 30,000 elite troops from Liangzhou, but also troops from other places, as well as the five camps of the capital and the Xiyuan Army, which together were more than three times the size of Dong Zhuo's forces.

"Generals and captains, now go back and reorganize your troops. I will send someone to deliver a challenge to Dong Zhuo, asking him to fight to the death!"

"Yuan Sili, let's all move out together. Dong Zhuo is afraid to fight and won't come out. Wouldn't that be a waste of effort?"

"How about I send a general with several thousand soldiers to challenge them!"

"He will definitely engage us in battle when he sees that we have too few soldiers!"

Ding Yuan waved his hand, indicating that he only needed to use his own people!

"General Ding, the troops of Bingzhou are brave and fierce, and Dong Zhuo has many fierce generals under his command. Dong Zhuo himself is also a brave general. Who in your unit is capable of fighting?"

People around asked the question.

"Haha, my son Fengxian, you are incredibly strong, skilled in archery and horsemanship, and possess the courage to fight ten thousand men!"

"He single-handedly defeated Dong Zhuo's four elite guards!"

Ding Yuan laughed triumphantly and solemnly recommended his adopted son, Lü Bu!

He also wanted to take this opportunity to demonstrate Lü Bu's bravery to the imperial court and make a name for himself!

Everyone turned to look at Lü Bu behind Ding Yuan!

He was ten feet tall, with a waist ten spans wide, and an extremely robust physique.

Wearing a three-pronged purple-gold crown, a beast-faced chainmail armor, a Sichuan red brocade robe with a hundred flowers, a lion-shaped belt around his waist, and holding a halberd, he was majestic and imposing.

What a valiant general!

Everyone gasped in shock.

Judging from his heroic demeanor, is he destined to be invincible?

I never expected that Ding Yuan would have such a fierce general by his side. No wonder he speaks so boldly and is not afraid of Dong Zhuo at all!

"That's not right, General Ding. If your General Lü defeated Dong Zhuo's Four Heavenly Kings before, wouldn't Dong Zhuo be too afraid to come out if he were to challenge him again?"

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