Chapter 195 Li Jue Seizes Power
But the more Yan Jun fears something, the more likely it is to happen.
While Qiao Yan went to check the things Xu Rong brought back, he found an excuse to leave and had someone bring a group of people who were traveling to the Western Regions to him.
After asking about this, the answer I got was: "Didn't you arrange it? You said you wanted us to contact Ma Teng."
"After all, as you said, before Marquis Qiao came, he, Ma Shoucheng, was actually the lord of Longxi County. After the other party came, he could only go to the Western Regions to eat the wind and sand. He only rested for less than a month before setting off again. It was too torturous."
"..."These words were indeed said by Yan Jun himself.
Since the purpose is to win people over, of course we have to make it serious.
So when he gave his subordinates reasons to win them over, he also said that according to the laws of the Han Dynasty, how could one person be the governor of two places?
Don’t think that Qiao Yan is showing off his power in Liang Province now. If he succeeds in destroying Dong Zhuo and rescuing the emperor from the hands of this thief, could he still hold multiple positions at the same time?
By then, Huangfu Song would not agree to this.
Although Ma Teng was once a rebel, that was many years ago. He has now turned over a new leaf, and the emperor, considering the power he controls, will support him in regaining control of Longxi after Qiao Yan leaves.
It's definitely better than the current situation where I can't go home.
Actually, they still have to thank Qiao Yan.
If she had not suppressed and tamed the Qiang people in Liangzhou, they would have been in a lot of trouble.
Now all we have to do is take over her achievements after joining forces.
But the problem is——
The premise for saying these things is that Ma Teng was indeed squeezed out by Qiao Yan.
When Yan Jun thought of Ma Teng's performance in the returning team, he couldn't help but feel dizzy.
After he recovered a bit, he continued to say to his subordinates: "Tell me what you saw when you went out."
How did their business trip to the Kushan Empire turn into a large-scale trade in war horses?
The subordinate replied, "We already had news when we went to Kushan last time. Dayuan and Khwarazm both felt that the Kushan royal family's control was weakening and wanted to become independent. This time when we arrived in Qiuci, we heard that Dayuan and the Kushan branch were fighting."
"We originally planned not to move forward. After all, there are many ways to please the governor of Bingzhou. We can't just throw our lives away outside the country. But -"
"It was only then that we realized there was another group following us. They were all Qiang people."
Yan Jun: “…”
He felt that he had to condemn the powerful families in other counties among the four counties in Hexi.
They let such a team pass through Zhangye, Jiuquan and Dunhuang without realizing anything unusual and at least informing him. What are they doing!
But after thinking about it carefully, Yan Jun felt that he really couldn't blame them.
When Qiao Yan established military settlements along the Lu River and at the foot of the Qilian Mountains, everyone thought that her grain storage base was limited to the border of Wuwei County.
According to her need to attack Chang'an, she did not need to expand her territory to the point where it was out of control.
And when she offered the condition of becoming Zheng Xuan's apprentice to gain experience during the New Year, her threat was reduced to a lower level.
She is obviously a good person who wants to cooperate with them for mutual benefit, so who would have thought that she has already set her sights beyond Liangzhou.
"By the time we found out, we had already reached Yancheng."
Yancheng is located in the central part of Qiuci, not far from Tagancheng, where the Western Regions Protectorate was located before it was abolished.
In other words, this will be known as the most important oasis in the Tarim Basin in the future.
"Ma and Xu reorganized their armaments here, and then turned southwest and went through the Pamir Mountains to the Kushan territory. After purchasing food, they attacked Dayuan directly from Kushan and robbed a local ranch that supplied horses to the royal army."
Yan Jun was almost numb from listening to it.
At that time, the Han Dynasty sent General Li Guangli on an expedition to Dayuan, attacking and demanding supplies along the way. During the second attack, he cut off the water supply to Dayuan's royal city and forced the nobles in the city to offer the head of the Dayuan king, thereby obtaining a batch of good horses.
But Qiao Yan was doing something unconventional.
She chose the most chaotic time and also the most convenient method.
She didn't need that many horses.
So much so that when her men succeeded in looting horses and then fled in a detour by taking turns driving two horses, no one thought that this team actually came from the Han Dynasty.
Xu Rong and Ma Teng disguised the horses as caravans in Shule, where they bought a batch of high-quality grape varieties before heading east.
These horses cannot be considered the top-quality Dayuan horses, at least not as good as the two horses named Yuhuacong and Zhaoyebai by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang in later generations. However, their quality is already more than one level higher than that of the Liangzhou horses.
So in order to conceal the special nature of the caravan, they let the horses brought from Liangzhou walk on the outside, and the horses from Dayuan walk on the inside. They also wore more armor, so that at first glance they looked no different from an ordinary caravan.
Of course, this does not mean that the pressure on Xu Rong and Ma Teng can be reduced much.
It's not enough to just pretend to be decent.
Theoretically, the Dayuan horses can travel a thousand miles a day, but they cannot go without food during the long journey.
Just like when Li Guangli sent three thousand Dayuan horses to Yumen Pass, there were only more than a thousand horses left.
The losses are staggering.
then……
"The property we brought with us was exchanged for Western Rock Honey after arriving in Kushan. Part of this rock honey was used to tame these horses, and part of it was exchanged for money when we passed through Qusha State on the southern route of the Silk Road, and then used to buy fine grains."
According to Xu Rong, this will eventually be presented to Marquis Qiao, and it is up to them to decide how to use it.
It was precisely by relying on this method of luring and raising the horses that more than 500 famous Dayuan horses were sent back to Wuwei County with less than 10% loss.
Yan Jun couldn't help but ask his subordinate, "Under such circumstances, do you still dare to try to get close to Ma Teng?"
Is he stupid?
Just looking at this operation, we can tell that if Ma Teng had any ill intentions towards Qiao Yan, he would never let such a batch of good horses fall into Qiao Yan's hands smoothly.
This is more than just being able to form a fierce cavalry team.
More importantly, half of these horses must be used for breeding to ensure that superior hybrids can be produced.
The horses in Liangzhou and Bingzhou were not bad to begin with, and it is needless to say what the consequences will be after this round of hybridization.
The subordinate was also quite aggrieved. He replied hesitantly, "I didn't try to get close to Ma Teng on the way back. Didn't I tell Ma Teng what you said before the five hundred Qiang people showed up?"
"I was thinking, he spent the New Year in the Western Regions this year, and was thrown out after just a short rest. He must be in the worst mood, and he was most likely to expel Marquis Qiao..."
“Who knew this would be the case?”
To be honest, he was also quite confused on the road and could only be carried along in the team. Now that he said it, he finally felt much more relieved.
But he was relieved. Yan Jun, who was standing opposite him, felt a little dizzy, perhaps because the heat was a bit strong today.
Finished.
Finished!
For Ma Teng, the leader of a "rebel" force who was once hostile to Qiao Yan, once he is determined to clear himself, it may not be enough for him to just endure some hardships and bring the good horses from the Western Regions to the Central Plains for Qiao Yan.
Think about how Han Sui died.
Ma Teng led a group of people to attack Kuiyuan Gorge, while Ma Chao led Qiao Yan and headed straight for Jincheng.
He had already sacrificed Han Sui, so why would he care about reporting a few more to show that although he was a rebel, he was loyal?
The more Yan Jun thought about it, the more frightened he felt, so he immediately made a decisive move and rushed back to Guzang City.
As soon as the five hundred Dayuan horses arrived, Qiao Yan's attention would definitely be on the horses. He would take this opportunity to find the elders of the clan as soon as possible and come up with a bargaining chip that could be used to atone his sins.
Ma Teng must not be allowed to say this apology first, he must think of a convincing excuse himself.
But just as he spoke a few words to his grandfather, he heard the servants hurriedly report:
The city of Guzang was besieged.
The city of Guzang, which was seven miles from north to south and three miles from east to west, was surrounded.
Due to the existence of the Wuwei County military settlement, Qiao Yan's office is also located in Guzang City, and naturally there are garrisons there.
These guards had already taken control of the city gate before the encirclement was formed.
But their goal is not to let people in, but to prevent people in the city from using the city walls for defense.
In such a situation, the siege outside the city brought oppression to everyone in the city.
It was like a butcher's knife hanging at the city gate.
When Yan Jun was carried to the city wall by his old man, he couldn't help but sweat on his forehead when he saw people gathering under the city.
A siege does not require filling up the entire border; simply lining up the troops at a distance sufficient for a cavalry charge is enough to prevent anyone from breaking out.
At the same time, when the enemy's reorganized troops have reached tens of thousands, and the city gates and walls are in the hands of the enemy, they can rush into the city at any time.
This is a completely unbalanced offense and defense.
Yan Jun was extremely flustered.
But when he looked towards the city, he saw the commander of the team at a glance.
Earlier, she had asked him with concern whether he was too hot, but in just half an hour, she was already wearing armor and holding a weapon, and there was only a cold look in her eyes when she looked towards the top of the city.
As she nonchalantly wiped the tip of the spear in her right hand with a silk cloth with her left hand, her aura became even more chilling.
Beside her, Zhao Yun, who was previously in charge of military farming in Wuwei County, had also gone into battle.
Yan Jun once thought that Zhao Yun was a man with a good temper because he could convince the Lushui Qiang people and was cautious and steady in handling miscellaneous affairs, unlike a military general.
But when they saw each other again this time, he only saw a little.
The other party was clearly a trusted subordinate cultivated by Qiao Yan. Under the pressure of force and coercion, they displayed the same aggressive spirit.
If Qiao Yan gave the order at this moment, he would immediately lead the team behind him into the city and take the enemy's head.
Even behind him were not only the Bingzhou troops brought when the military settlement was first established, but also the Qiang people who quickly rushed from the foot of the Qilian Mountains after hearing that Qiao Yan was going to attack Guzang City.
This allowed them to gather such a large number of people to besiege the city in a short period of time.
In the eyes of these Qiang people, the powerful families in Guzang City did not do them much good. Instead, it was Qiao Yan who provided them with a place to spend the winter, jobs to earn money, and they were about to see the harvest from their farmland.
So what’s the point of conquering one more Guzang City before the harvest!
Maybe we can even let them move from outside the city to inside.
Before Yan Jun could open his mouth, the head of the Wuwei Duan family, who had also heard the news, asked towards the city: "What does Qiao Bingzhou mean? We have no disrespect for you. There are indeed people in my Duan family who work for Dong Zhuo, but we are not from the same family. Why are you so aggressive?"
The first reaction of the Duan family head was that Qiao Yan’s siege was aimed at him. After all, Duan Wei was the person he mentioned who served Dong Zhuo.
Qiao Yan responded to his question with a sneer, "Since I was able to get along with you in peace before and had no intention of accusing you, how could I possibly cause trouble for you because of Duan Zhongming? I'm looking for him."
She raised the spear in her hand and pointed it in the direction of Yan Jun.
"Please explain to me, what do you mean by winning over Ma Shoucheng and trying to regain control of Liangzhou?"
Yan Jun felt that all the eyes on the city wall were focused on him, and even the people in the back who had not climbed onto the city wall were looking in his direction.
The sun above had not yet set and was still very strong, but now with so many gazes coming at it, it seemed as if it was setting people on fire.
Yan Jun didn't know whether he should feel lucky or helpless, because Qiao Yan's next sentence: "I think with his age and status, he can't decide the direction of Wuwei Yan's family, right? Please give me an explanation."
What explanation?
We must give an explanation for mobilizing such a large force to besiege the city, and we cannot let it go lightly.
Yan Jun looked towards his grandfather and saw a look of determination on his face.
In fact, the decision to take advantage of the Silk Road to pry Qiao Yan's people and recruit Ma Teng was not made only by the Yan family.
This is the common understanding of the four counties in Hexi.
To them, this was just a normal way of paving the way for a retreat. It was not a betrayal. They just didn't expect to run into someone as serious as Qiao Yan.
Now the situation is stronger than people, they can only grit their teeth and accept it.
But if Qiao Yan insisted on making them pay with blood, then they would have no choice but to drag the entire four Hexi counties into the water.
In this dead silence and dizzying summer heat, the commander of the city said word by word: "Please hand over the capital that can control Wuwei, otherwise-"
"I think you all think that my actions in Gaoping City and Jincheng are not enough to teach you a lesson!"
When Qiao Yan's back as he led his troops to retreat disappeared from sight, Yan Jun's legs went weak and he sat down on the ground.
The words Qiao Yan said before he left were still echoing in his mind.
"I have only one bottom line in Liang Province. No one can stab me in the back. If you fail, that's fine. But if you really succeed, whether it's inciting the rebellion of the Qiang people or the rebel forces, or contacting Dong Zhuo..."
"I will behead their entire clan and expose their heads to the public!"
Just as Yan Jun was thinking this, he suddenly felt a kick on his back. His grandfather's voice came from behind him: "Get up! What are you doing sitting like that!"
He looked back and saw that his grandfather's face seemed to have aged a lot, with fatigue unconcealed between his brows.
It’s no wonder that my grandfather behaved like this. The Yan family of Wuwei suffered a heavy loss this time.
What is the capital to control Wuwei?
It's nothing more than people and money.
Faced with the threat of an enemy at the gates, the Yan family had no choice but to hand over the land controlled by them to Qiao Yan.
Originally, there was no obvious boundary between these fields and the military settlements on the banks of the Lushui River. Now they have been directly merged into the military settlements, and there is absolutely no sense of incongruity.
Even the farmers who were responsible for managing and cultivating the fields were all transferred to Qiao Yan's control.
Boxes of treasures were also moved out of the Yan clan's land in Guzang City, forming a dazzling display of treasures outside the city, which made the original owners heartbroken to the point of being unable to bear it.
These things were quickly counted by Qiao Yan and sent away.
Even the precious wines and wine vessels in the cellar were not spared.
When Yan Jun thought about how he had previously treated Qiao Yan to a banquet with this fine wine, he wished he could slap himself in the face.
If he hadn't done that, the other party wouldn't have continued digging underground without finding any wine, until they had searched the entire cellar.
Fortunately...
"Fortunately, the people are fine." Yan Jun heard his grandfather say, "We are here to protect the families from disaster this time. If they don't want to be destroyed together with us, they'd better compensate us for some of our losses."
"Fortunately, Qiao Bingzhou is still a young man, so his methods are a little gentler."
If he were in Qiao Yan's position, he would definitely use this incident to prevent others from making any provocative moves against her.
At least there has to be some blood to establish this threat.
This neither-good-nor-bad thing now only makes people feel that she is still keen on the idea of cooperation between the Liangzhou families, so much so that the threat of "If she really succeeds, she will be beheaded as a warning to the public" still has a hint of leniency.
This was obviously not just the idea of Yan Jun's grandfather, but also the idea of the four Hanyang families that she had silently targeted.
"After all, they are young people..."
However, Qiao Yan, who was sitting opposite Cheng Yu, said: "I will teach them a lesson. Since I came here to purge the emperor's court in accordance with the late emperor's will, I naturally have to learn from him."
Dian Wei muttered beside him: "What is there for him to learn?"
Qiao Yan replied: "Even a rabbit will bite when it gets angry."
Cheng Yu, who is usually steady, almost couldn't control his expression because of Qiao Yan's words.
Emperor Ling of Han was a man of few ideas. When he was cornered by the power of the aristocratic families and the generals, he chose to promote Qiao Yan to the position of Governor of Bingzhou, and before his death he planned to kill He Jin.
And what about Qiao Yan?
Probably because the Yan family of Wuwei intended to instigate Ma Teng to rebel but failed, considering that they still had a good relationship with the Liangzhou family, they gave him a break and spent money to avoid disaster.
But when the four surnames of Hanyang colluded with Dong Zhuo to fight, she had no choice but to suppress them bloodily.
Under this set of logic, who would think that the four surnames of Hanyang were framed by her?
How helpless she is...
Now, due to lack of manpower, she had no choice but to evacuate part of the garrison in Hanyang and transfer them to Wuwei County and Jincheng County when the autumn harvest was approaching.
She also asked the governor of Hanyang and the local powerful to help keep an eye on the movements in the direction of Sanfu, to show that her action against the Yan family was only a special case and she did not doubt the intentions of other families.
But the real mobilization before the autumn harvest was the delivery of dozens of crossbows from Bingzhou, which ordered the Xiandeng Camp team led by Xu Huang and other troops recruited from Bingzhou to go to Liangzhou.
Among the Qiang people who had migrated to the Greater and Lesser Huangzhong since winter, those who were willing to join the war were dispatched eastward to Yuzhong.
A troop was dispatched from the military garrison of Wuwei County, crossed the Wushao Ridge, and stationed in the city of Awei.
Perhaps the only one who did not make clear personnel arrangements was Huangfu Song in Gaoping.
According to what Qiao Yan told him, the people of Liangzhou would have food after the autumn harvest, so they would not take advantage of the Han Dynasty's military campaign to cause chaos. Therefore, he asked Huangfu Song to supervise the autumn harvest at the Huoshizhai military settlement and receive part of the military rations dispatched from Bingzhou.
After making these arrangements, Qiao Yan began to sort out the gains from this trip to the Silk Road.
In order to ensure that these Dayuan BMWs obtained through no-cost transactions could be successfully transported, almost nothing was brought back from this trip along the Silk Road except grape seeds.
However, these more than 500 horses alone are already an extremely remarkable income.
When Qiao Yan summoned his generals, Lu Bu did not even glance at the income he had earned from the Yan family on the ground, but stared straight at the Dayuan horses.
I heard that a few days ago he went to Xu Rong and called him brother, and looked like he wanted to ask the other party how he got such a good horse. It was obvious that he wanted to make another fortune.
It’s not that Lu Bu dislikes Red Hare.
The Xiliang horse Red Hare was actually a hybrid of Dayuan horses, and since it caught the eye of Dong Zhuo, it was definitely not an ordinary horse. It was incomparable to the Dayuan horses that were snatched back from the grassland.
But the majesty of one person's mount is not as impressive as an entire team riding on famous horses.
Unfortunately, Lu Bu knew it all. Even though he could be ranked first among Qiao Yan's generals because of his martial arts value and Red Hare, when it came to the ability to command troops in actual combat, he could not be considered the boss among the teams.
As Qiao Yan always has his own ideas for everyone, the most likely possibility is to distribute these good horses evenly among the teams.
Then he has to work hard on his own!
However, what Lü Bu did not expect was that Qiao Yan's arrangement was: "Send the 200 Dayuan horses and the good Liangzhou horses to Bingzhou for breeding. Let a special person take care of them and breed them. The remaining 300 Dayuan horses——"
"Lu Fengxian!"
Lu Bu quickly stood up.
"Select 300 elite soldiers from your army and have them train with the Dayuan horses within half a month. When we attack Chang'an, I want to see a terrifying cavalry. Can you do it?"
Lu Bu almost thought he had heard it wrong.
But the envious looks from those around him made him sure that he had not heard it wrong!
This is the arrangement made by Qiao Yan!
It is impossible for a person like him to ask why he was chosen. He will only think that the prince is a man with a discerning eye for talent.
Therefore, if he does not show his strength worthy of this batch of Dayuan BMWs, he would be too unworthy of the Lord's respect!
He cupped his hands and replied, "Yes!"
In this decisive reply, he almost wanted to put the three hundred people directly in front of Qiao Yan.
She did not stop Lu Bu from sharing his joy with his subordinates, and waved her hand to signal him to go and choose someone.
Just looking at Lu Bu's back as he took the order and left, she couldn't help but reveal a subtle smile.
She couldn't tell Lu Bu to lead this team. On the one hand, she wanted to show the Liangzhou people the lethality of the Bingzhou cavalry in a reckless state. On the other hand -
The famous horses of Dayuan run too fast. If someone like Zhao Yun, who is good at judging the situation, uses them, he will definitely catch up with some people.
That's not good, right?
I don’t know if it was because he felt something, but Dong Zhuo in Chang’an City suddenly woke up from his nap.
As the autumn harvest approached, his attitude of taking things as they come was no longer enough to deceive himself.
As he sat lazily for long periods of time, various problems began to appear in his body, which was indeed not very young anymore.
Recently, he often dreamed of his deceased son, but could not remember what he had said to him. Sometimes he dreamed that he was being chased by something, but could not see the other person's face clearly.
It's never a good sign.
Dong Zhuo slowly stood up and stroked his upset heart, thinking that he might be overthinking it.
The feud between Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao in the past few months made him see a lot of jokes, and Gongsun Zan's seizure of Liu Yu's power as governor of Youzhou also made him certain that this was an era where the rules of the game had long since changed.
So sooner or later he will have the last laugh!
Dong Zhuo regained his spirits when he thought of this.
But it was at this moment that he suddenly realized that there was something wrong with the noise outside.
Any troop movement required his permission, but the noise coming from outside of the army running quickly to surround the Weiyang Palace was definitely not from his order to mobilize troops!
Dong Zhuo was extremely sensitive to these sounds. Having been engaged in military service for many years, he immediately stood up from the couch and even pulled out the sharp weapon at hand.
It was at this moment that an alarm sounded by his confidant, accompanied by the sound of flying arrows, ignited the hustle and bustle of the place.
"What——" Who!
Before the outermost guard at the Weiyang Palace could finish his words, a sharp weapon pierced his throat.
Then, the oncoming infantrymen with spears surrounded the palace wall.
In the last rays of the guards' eyes, they saw that half of the team that was rushing towards them were their former "own people", and the other half were new recruits from Chang'an.
But at this moment they were walking in a hurry, and the sound of armor rubbing against each other was heard as they moved, as if they were all rushing towards the same goal.
Dong Zhuo!
The next moment, the door to the main hall of the Weiyang Palace where he was was violently pushed open.
A line of fully armed soldiers followed the leader and walked in.
As the bright light from outside shone on his face, Dong Zhuo's expression changed as he stood behind the guards in the hall.
The person who came turned out to be Li Jue!
That’s right, if it weren’t for our own people, how could they possibly attack the imperial city directly?
Behind Li Jue, in addition to his close followers, there were also Jia Xu who walked slowly, Yan Xing who had come from Liangzhou to seek refuge, and his nephew Dong Huang who was tied up.
Dong Huang was in charge of the imperial guards in Chang'an City. If even he was captured now... this was definitely not good news.
This meant that Dong Zhuo lost a true direct subordinate.
At this time, Li Jue walked slowly towards them, holding an imperial edict solemnly in his hand.
Since it had not been unfolded, Dong Zhuo could not see clearly what was written on it. He could only see a sea of blood.
But this must be an edict that is particularly unfavorable to Dong Zhuo.
It was because Li Jue's behavior while holding this thing vividly portrayed the look of a villain who had succeeded.
Dong Zhuo's eyes darkened: "What do you mean?"
He is really rebellious!
The people behind him are also very bold!
You must know that Dong Zhuo's feelings towards the Xiliang Army under his control were not just bribery and majesty, but also gratitude.
But now——
Dong Zhuo clearly saw that these people's attitude towards him remained the same as before, but they all stood behind Li Jue.
What Dong Zhuo couldn't understand even more was why the Imperial Guards surrendered so quickly without sending him any message.
Remember, it's daytime now, not night!
Li Jue clearly captured the confusion on Dong Zhuo's face.
He obviously did not need to explain all the problems to Dong Zhuo, and just replied: "Don't worry, Prime Minister. You have been kind to me and promoted me. I will not do anything to you. I just want to do something that is beneficial to you, me, and all of us."
In fact, he couldn't kill Dong Zhuo either.
If he really did that, given the temperament of the Xiliang Army and their respect for Dong Zhuo, he would also lose his own life.
These people will not obey his actions so easily.
Li Jue said in a loud voice: "In compliance with the order of the emperor, I ask the prime minister to stay here from now on. All actions of the Xiliang army and the Chang'an garrison will be subject to my command."
When he said this, he looked Dong Zhuo up and down.
Perhaps because he had just woken up from a nightmare during his nap, Dong Zhuo's face still looked disheveled.
Li Jue became more and more convinced that he had made the right choice.
A choice that will lead the Xiliang Army to glory!
He raised the imperial edict in his hand, and his seemingly peaceful tone of admonition was filled with sarcasm: "Prime Minister, you are old and no longer have ambitions. Some decisions are bound to go wrong! How can you lead us to achieve unprecedented achievements and fight for the wealth of the world?"
"I have to put things right for you."
This imperial edict, which was handed over to Wang Yun by Liu Xie and then entrusted to him by Wang Yun, although did not have the imperial seal stamped on it to prove its authenticity, made it impossible to doubt its authenticity because every word in it was written with blood and tears.
Previously, Dong Zhuo had recruited soldiers from Chang'an in the name of Emperor Liu Xie, thinking that it was an advantage to hold the emperor hostage. But now, with the blood written on their heads, it turned out to be a weakness for him.
This is what Li Jue said to the new recruits in Chang'an.
But at this moment, Duan Wei, who was not instigated by Li Jue, was still staying in Meiwu west of Chang'an, and was completely unaware of the shocking changes that had taken place in Chang'an City.
Dong Zhuo would never have thought that the people from Liang Province, who in his opinion were the least likely to betray him, would actually choose to attack him.
He squinted his eyes and looked at Li Jue's face in front of him.
This fellow, who had always been submissive and fawning upon him, succeeded in joining the first echelon under his command only after the death of Niu Fu, Dong Min, Hu Zhen and others. He originally could not even reach the position of General of the Central Army, but now he seemed to be confident of victory.
In Dong Zhuo's opinion, if Jia Xu had not heard a light cough from behind him, Li Jue might have revealed not only pride but also murderous intent.
Not only does he want to seize power, he probably also wants to seize the throne!
Dong Zhuo sneered, "It seems that you are too conceited that you can beat Qiao Yan?"
"There is no need for the Prime Minister to intervene!" Li Jue replied: "With Mr. Wenhe's help, I will surely win!"
He took two steps closer and said confidently: "I will use this victory to tell the Prime Minister that you lost because you were afraid, and you don't know how to use a genius from Liangzhou!"
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