Chapter 643 Mutual Exclusion!
In the hall, the ministers were both noisy and quiet.
Many people had uneasy looks on their faces. What was going on in this world?
How come anyone can come to Luoyang, the imperial capital?
Empress Dowager He took the letter sent by Dong Zhuo and took a quick glance at it. She was furious. Looking at the ministers in the palace, she snorted coldly and said, "Rebellious people!"
The ministers were even more curious about what kind of letter could make Empress Dowager He so angry, and then they heard the eunuch reading it.
"The late emperor ordered the assistant, the General of the Western Expedition, the Colonel of the Imperial Guard, the Acting Governor of Liang Province, and the Acting Protector of the Western Regions, and ordered the Grand Marshal, the Grand Tutor, and the Secretary of State, to inform the Empress Dowager, the Prince of Yingchuan, and all the officials in Luoyang."
These words immediately made all the ministers in the palace unable to hold their composure. No wonder the Empress Dowager was so angry.
Dong Zhuo had a long string of titles before his name. He was first conferred the title by Emperor Lingdi and later by the current emperor. This was a naked statement that no matter in the previous dynasty or now, I, Dong Zhuo, am the best in the world today. Logically, I should be the one to rule the world.
Although the late emperor was Emperor Ling, can you really ignore his edicts?
How many of you have become prominent because of Emperor Ling?
Although the posthumous title has pushed Emperor Ling into the garbage dump of history, and even when counting the previous emperors of the Han Dynasty, he has to be skipped directly, but who dares to abolish his edict?
Are these sources of legitimacy no longer needed?
This is the idea Li Ru gave to Dong Zhuo. It is an enhanced version of why he wanted to establish Liu Bian. When the famous weapons are in his hands and he can get everything by following the rules, he should follow the rules.
Even Wushuang Hou was speechless about Li Ru's methods. If he could defeat Dong Zhuo, then Emperor Ling's decree would naturally be in vain. But if he couldn't defeat Dong Zhuo, then Emperor Ling's decree would take effect.
Moreover, there was a very crucial point in the letter sent by Dong Zhuo. He acknowledged the status of Queen Mother He, but he also specifically mentioned another name - Prince Yingchuan!
Who is King Yingchuan?
Anyone with a little common sense knows that who else could it be other than Liu He, the legitimate prince?
After Dong Zhuo welcomed Liu Bian to become emperor, he named Liu Xie the King of Chenliu and Liu He the King of Yingchuan.
This sentence directly removed Liu He's title as emperor, and did not even call him a fake emperor. This was the highest contempt.
This contempt made Empress Dowager He very angry.
"What a rebellious person! How dare he do this?"
"It's really outrageous. Who does he think he is?"
No matter what the ministers in the palace were thinking, their rejection of Dong Zhuo was obvious and they did not want him to enter Luoyang.
During the Han Dynasty, military men from border counties were both used and excluded, because the ideological concepts between the two groups were so different.
Sometimes, they even treated these military men from the border counties as barbarians, because in the eyes of these ministers, these military men from the border counties were capricious, cruel and bloodthirsty, and were no different from the barbarians who feared power but had no moral integrity.
With this century-long experience, would Dong Zhuo be an exception?
The eunuch's voice continued to ring out, "The late emperor has passed away, the crown prince has argued for the eldest son and explained the principles of morality, and should be the emperor. I am here to assist him.
Luoyang, the imperial capital, should be the emperor's palace, but it was robbed by the thief Zhang Jue. I am deeply saddened and wish I could get rid of this bandit for the country!
The bandits in various countries are mediocre and cannot be wiped out, so I gathered the people to revolt, mobilized all the brave men in Liangzhou, worked together, and a total of 500,000 people, wielded swords to the east.
It happened that the crown prince fled westwards and Zhang Jue died suddenly. This was a sign of heaven's will to revive the Han Dynasty. I am a loyal and good man of the Han Dynasty and am determined to revive it.
I respectfully inform the Queen Mother, the King, and all the other gentlemen to open Luoyang and welcome me into the city. I will forgive your mistakes for welcoming the King of Yingchuan."
The following words are all nonsense, the most important part lies in this paragraph.
Five hundred thousand troops is certainly an exaggeration, but Dong Zhuo's army is not small. I am afraid that with the combat soldiers and the young and strong men who are forcibly conscripted, he can mobilize hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops.
The ministers in the palace were all secretly complaining about these words, and then they heard a rather loud voice, "Evil villain!"
When everyone looked, they saw that they were indeed the three former Taiping Army generals, now the imperial guards. Bu Cai said with an unpleasant expression, "What a wicked villain Dong Zhuo is.
Isn't it a great achievement for the world if we kill the tyrant?
How dare you accuse me of being bandits? How dare you be so rampant as to call us a traitor who is a tyrant?
The Taoist master has passed away, so he dared to come out and bark wildly, but he was afraid of him like a tiger at the beginning. How ridiculous it is! There must be a place for him in the "Collection of Humors", "Zhuo Zei Barking"! "
Bu Cai's words were recognized by many people. You didn't dare to come out when Zhang Jiao was so powerful, so why are you pretending here now?
As for why Dong Zhuo wanted to demote Zhang Jue, everyone knew it very well, because Dong Zhuo's main legitimacy came from Emperor Ling, so he was unwilling to promote Zhang Jue.
But given the current situation in Luoyang City, it is impossible not to honor Zhang Jue.
Because the main army guarding Luoyang was the former Taiping Army, many officials now began to recruit civilians to form new armies, but the results were not very significant.
Zhou Cang and the other two were equally indignant. To insult Zhang Jue was to insult all of them. Zhou Cang angrily said, "Didn't the evil thief Dong Zhuo claim to have an army of 500,000?
Let him try and see if he can break into Luoyang City."
As soon as Zhou Cang said this, everyone in the hall was shocked. This meant a confrontation, but after careful consideration, who was willing to raise their hands and surrender?
If the person outside the city is Marquis Wushuang or Marquis Ying, then with the Luo family's 1,300 years of reputation, opening the city gate will not be a problem. Who the hell are you, Dong Zhuo?
You are just a warrior from a border county who can only wield a knife. After the city gate is opened, who knows whether you will continue to wield the butcher knife? Moreover, this letter is so arrogant that those who want to wait and see are also extremely repulsive. This attitude is too bad. It was not so excessive when Zhang Jue came in.
Empress Dowager He made up her mind decisively after hearing this and said, "Write a letter to Dong Zhuo, scolding him for being so arrogant to a regent queen dowager.
Tell him that Luoyang will not be opened to him, and after sending Bian'er, Tang Ji and Liu Xie in, he can return to Liangzhou by the same route, and must not stay near Luoyang, otherwise he will be treated as a traitor. "
What Empress Dowager He said could almost be regarded as a declaration of war. It was a complete response to Dong Zhuo's letter. It cannot be said that she did not give him any face at all, but it basically rejected all of Dong Zhuo's demands.
In particular, asking Dong Zhuo to go back to Liang Province was what Dong Zhuo could not tolerate the most.
However, no one in the palace persuaded the Queen Mother. Expressing Luoyang's opinions to Dong Zhuo was a very important matter, and Dong Zhuo could not just follow his own way.
…
Dong Zhuo had not actually arrived yet, but he was almost there. As soon as he arrived at the Xiliang army, Niu Fu came up to him and said with a smile on his face, "Father-in-law, your letter has been delivered. It was sent from Luoyang City."
Dong Zhuo immediately took it, and Niu Fu patted his horse and said, "There are orphans and widows in Luoyang City. Queen Mother He is just a woman. Seeing the power of her father-in-law, she will surely be afraid and will open the city gates to welcome you."
Dong Zhuo felt somewhat pleased when he heard this.
I, Dong Zhuo, have struggled in Liang Province for so many years and have finally reached this point today. Li Ru looked at Luoyang City with high spirits.
How many years?
I came all the way from Liangzhou to study, and right here in Luoyang city, right in the center of the world, how much humiliation have I suffered?
Who knows how I got through all these years?
Now, I, Li Ru, stand here, leading a hundred thousand warriors from Liangzhou, to tell all the dignitaries in Luoyang City that the offensive and defensive situation has been reversed.
This is my home turf now!
Dong Zhuo unfolded the letter with a smile on his face, and then his face froze.
Niu Fu was still chattering there. After all, in the current situation, with the Xiliang army at the gates of the city, who would not be afraid?
In this situation where a flying dragon is riding on my face, could there be any surprises?
“Arrogant!”
Dong Zhuo's angry voice interrupted Niu Fu's flattery, and everyone around was shocked. Li Ru took the letter and read it hurriedly, but his face remained calm.
This performance of Luoyang City was also within Li Ru's prediction.
Looking at the very angry Dong Zhuo, Li Ru added fuel to the fire and said, "My lord, these nobles in Luoyang City obviously don't take you seriously. They still think you are the warrior from Liang Province. They are blatantly looking down on you and our Xiliang Army.
In the eyes of those nobles in Luoyang, we are probably just beggars from Xiliang who have come to the imperial city of Luoyang to beg for food."
As soon as Li Ru said this, not only Dong Zhuo, but even the generals of the Xiliang Army became angry. They all clamored to read the letter to see what those damn ministers said about them.
Dong Zhuo said angrily, "This evil queen actually protects the Taiping Army and refutes a great and loyal Han like me. She must be having an affair with Zhang Jiao.
I heard that Liu He is still a baby under one year old, so he might be Zhang Jue’s posthumous child.”
Li Ru's eyelids twitched when he heard this. This rumor was too outrageous. Liu He was already three or four years old. There were clear records in history books. This thing could not be changed.
Dong Zhuo himself knew that this was a bit outrageous, and said awkwardly: "There must be something wrong. Zhang Jiao has lived in the palace for so long, and it is said that the witch offered herself to him. How could she not have had any misfortunes? She might be pregnant with Zhang Jiao's posthumous child now!"
Anyway, the blame for this shit must be put on Empress Dowager He!
Li Ru unfolded the letter and read it again, then he pondered for a moment and whispered, "My Lord, we can't fight against Luoyang City anymore, otherwise we will really have to attack the city by force.
There are still some Taiping troops defending the city, as well as newly recruited civilians. Even if the city can be captured, the losses will probably not be small.
It is best to make peace with Luoyang now. They all know that they are no match for our Xiliang Army. In this case, giving them some benefits, such as guaranteeing their status and power, will easily make them give up resistance.
The reason why these ministers oppose you is probably because they are worried about losing their power and status. Ru knows them too well. "
Dong Zhuo did not expect that Li Ru, who had always been the most radical, would actually express his willingness to make peace. However, he hesitated and said, "But are we going to give them all these benefits for free?
These Luoyang nobles really make me angry."
Li Ru smiled sinisterly, raised his hand and covered most of his face with a feather fan, his eyes showing the viciousness, and laughed softly: "This is not an oath to the sacred water of Luo River, after entering Luoyang City, can't we just break the contract directly?
After the city is gone, who knows, these nobles might even come to you and beg you to cooperate with them."
Dong Zhuo was stunned for a moment. Breaking the contract by entering the city?
If this were the case for the princes of the Central Plains, they would have to think about it, but Dong Zhuo was from a peripheral county and had done too many things that were not trustworthy. He just felt his eyes light up and immediately smiled and said, "Wenyou, you are so smart. Let's do this. You will write the letter to Luoyang City.
Invite all the people in Luoyang City to jointly build the Han Dynasty.
However, I don't think they will agree directly. We still need to let them see the strength of our Xiliang Army before they can make up their minds more quickly.
After all the generals and troops arrived, they prepared to attack the city and sent orders to all the counties in Sili to transfer food and supplies so that the nobles in Luoyang could see the bravery of our Xiliang men.
Let them know why they can sit safely in Luoyang City?"
Li Ru had a slightly cold smile on his face hidden behind the feather fan. Once he entered Luoyang City, he would let those officials know what cruelty was.
Li Ru did not expect that Zhang Jue did not kill all those people. A rebel actually regarded himself as a man who was doing justice by killing the tyrant.
What’s more, all the officials in the world can be killed!
Although he thought so in his heart, Li Ru's reply was very polite, as if he had become a different person. Although he still wanted to hold power, he was not as overbearing as before.
The address for Zhang Jue was also changed to Taoist Master, and then Li Ru asked someone to deliver the letter back to Luoyang City.
More and more troops were gathering outside the city of Luoyang. The number of the Western Liang army was increasing, and this time the entire Liangzhou team was really moved there.
From here we can see how strong Dong Zhuo's determination to enter Luoyang was. He was determined to die if he failed. This was Li Ru's strategy.
He just wanted to cut off all the retreat routes of the entire Xiliang and was determined to fight for the world, so he has come to this day!
————
The Eastern Han Dynasty faced many problems throughout its history, among which the conflict between the military men in the border counties and the gentry in the Central Plains was a main theme that could not be ignored. It is true that the gentry also participated in border wars, but the ultimate result was to return to Luoyang, while the military men in the border counties were confined to the border counties for their entire lives.
This is actually a manifestation of the political power of the Eastern Han Dynasty coming together. That is, after power was transmitted through blood ties, titles granted through military merit, and selection through Confucian classics, it completely entered an era of "school-bloodline" combination, in which the core role was played by "reputation through Confucian classics-family power". This is neither blood inheritance nor knowledge dissemination, but an extremely complex way of dissemination.
It maintained the survival of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the stability of the imperial power, but it also led to the decline of the imperial power and the immutability of the Eastern Han Dynasty's basic foundation. It was one of the factors that led to the decline of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and it was also one of the factors that kept the Eastern Han Dynasty from extinction. ——"History of the Rise and Fall of the Han Dynasty"
(End of this chapter)
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