Chapter 824 Fire and War
Dong Cheng was very panicked. He never thought that he would be entrusted with such an important task by his son-in-law.
Could it be that he boasted so much that the emperor had hallucinations?
Just now, the palace attendant gave him a clothing order, which told Dong Cheng what to do in the future. In the end, he encouraged Dong Cheng and left.
If ordinary people were so stingy, he, Dong Cheng, would immediately be angry.
Is this your attitude when it comes to getting people to do things? No pay either? Just say a few words and let him do things with his head on his shoulders?
From this point of view, my son-in-law is far inferior to Dong Zhuo.
Which of the Liangzhou generals who followed Dong Zhuo was not a candidate for generalship?
In fact, Dong Cheng wrongly blamed Liu Xie.
As long as this operation is successful, Liu Xie will really not be stingy with the positions in his hands. After all, after the Dong family's gang is eradicated, many positions will be vacant. He will definitely not treat Dong Cheng badly.
It's just that Liu Xie hasn't figured out how to arrange it for Dong Cheng now. He thinks it will depend on where Dong Cheng wants to go and he will just give it to him when the time comes.
He also felt that Dong Cheng was his father-in-law and one of his own, so he didn't think about it that way.
But Liu Xie really didn't understand Dong Cheng.
Let’s put it this way, what’s the difference between working day and night and working day and night? But Dong Cheng felt that it was good to work all day and night. The benefits should be grasped first, and not what would happen in the future.
Therefore, Dong Cheng was quite dissatisfied with his son-in-law's arrangement.
And there is another big dissatisfaction, that is, he took the greatest risk in the entire operation, but in the end he was not the one who benefited.
He is indeed the emperor's father-in-law, but the emperor does not have only one father-in-law. Dong Cheng's daughter was just a noble person, while Fu Wan's daughter was the real queen.
So once Dong Zhuo is eradicated, the last person to inherit the throne of Dong Zhuo's relative will be Fu Wan.
In other words, if I lose all my strength, Fu Wan will be the one who succeeds in the end. Who can bear this?
Of course, there is another reason for Dong Cheng's resistance, that is, he is very aware of the combat power and temperament of the generals of the Liangzhou faction.
Dong Cheng had worked under Niu Fu for a period of time and knew some of the behavioral patterns of these people.
Let's put it this way, if the little emperor really wants to kill Dong Zhuo, these Liangzhou generals will rebel in the end. Those individuals in the imperial court really didn't know the animalistic instincts of the Liangzhou generals.
Will these people take the overall situation into consideration? Do you have any scruples just because of the existence of the Taishan Army?
There is another thing that Dong Cheng doesn't want to say face to face, and that is that you, Liu Xie, said that you would grant these people an amnesty and never hold them accountable. Is this too wishful thinking?
Not to mention that Liu Xie himself has no credibility. Even if he had credibility, those Liangzhou warriors would not be willing to capture him without mercy.
People who are superstitious about force finally believe that force can only protect themselves.
The emperor's inheritance? Is it worth a piece of cloth?
Therefore, Dong Cheng was thinking about it in the house, feeling that this matter was too unreliable. Once he really agreed, his whole family would be buried with his son-in-law.
But what if you don’t answer? Putting aside the fact that the matter was revealed, Dong Zhuo would definitely not let him go. Even now, I still can't pass the emperor's test.
We are really caught between the two ends, unable to advance or retreat.
The frowning Dong Cheng unknowingly walked to the east of where he was sleeping, where the family temple was.
Dong Cheng has always believed in yin and yang witchcraft. After his daughter entered the palace, he built a witch temple at home and enshrined the most trusted witch around him.
In fact, this is also the custom of their Liangzhou generals. Whether they are sending troops to fight or eating or dressing, they have to ask the witches around them for divination.
And the witch next to Dong Cheng was particularly effective.
It is said that he practiced the wind horn technique on Zhongnan Mountain and was good at predicting bad luck. He was very famous in Chang'an. Dong Cheng invited the witch to his home only after three requests.
This time, Yidai Zhao's actions were related to his wealth and life, so Dong Cheng subconsciously wanted to ask about the fate.
He did not directly tell the miko about the emperor's secret, but told her that a big shot now asked him to do something very dangerous, and he should not do it.
This kind of vague information will not affect the effectiveness of divination. In fact, from the actual effect, it is better.
After some divination, the witch gave such a hexagram and said:
"A powerful dragon has regrets. Don't act rashly. If you do, it will be detrimental."
Dong Cheng patted his thigh after hearing this. It was indeed the case.
It seems that I really can't listen to His Majesty like this. I have to think about how to handle this matter.
Thinking of this, Dong Chengdun felt tremendous pressure.
No, he had to let the miko help him relax.
……
The young emperor had to suspend his plans because Dong Zhuo went to court the next day.
Sitting on the soft couch, Dong Zhuo told the emperor, now that there is a severe drought and the people are in dire straits, is Zhao Wen not guilty as the previous three princes?
Looking at Dong Zhuo who was like a liger, Liu Xie failed to withstand the pressure and abandoned Zhao Wen again.
Following Liu Xie's words of "guilty", several Jinwu officials entered the palace and took off Zhao Wen's crown and ribbon, then dragged him out and sent him to the imperial edict.
Seeing that Liu Xie was still "cooperating" like this, Dong Zhuo relaxed his vigilance a lot, and then began to deal with other members of the imperial party.
After finishing Zhao Wen, his next target was Shesheng Colonel Jujun.
Ju Jun has 800 yellow crossbowmen in his hands. Because they are part of the imperial army, they are stationed outside the palace gate, which is a big threat.
Moreover, Jujun is from the north and has no foundation in Kansai, so he is suitable for killing chickens to scare monkeys.
Therefore, Dong Zhuo once again played the memorial and said:
"Jujun, the commander of Shesheng School, is a relative of the thieves. How can he be imprisoned? I also heard that he was arrogant and extravagant. He used candles in his house until dawn. Such extravagance, in such a difficult situation. , it is particularly abominable. Please order Ju Jun to be dismissed immediately and never be used again.”
Liu Xie, who was above, heard these words and his hands hidden in his sleeves turned purple.
This Dong Zhuo is really bullying people. I have to remove all the important people around me, so aren’t the people who will be replaced by you? Are you going to start putting me under house arrest?
But Liu Xie did not dare to argue.
In front of Dong Zhuo, he never dared to say no, not to mention that Dong Zhuo's statement that Ju Jun was a relative of the thieves was still true.
Ju Jun was the late emperor's middle attendant, and he went west to Chang'an with the late emperor, but he was from the Ju family, a powerful family in the north.
Originally, there was nothing wrong with this. After all, there were a large number of people from other places in the court who, like Jujun, went west with the late emperor.
But it happened that the leader of the Ju family, Jushou, defected to the Taishan Army, and it is said that he even became a disciple. This was no longer an ordinary surrender to the enemy.
As a member of Jushou's clan, Jujun's identity and background are very questionable.
So, how do you ask Liu Xie to respond?
He just secretly resented that he had slacked off during this period. He should have transferred Jujun to other places in advance, so that Dong Zhuo would not take advantage of him.
But now, he could only break his teeth and swallow them.
Then, Dong Zhuo dismissed twelve officials in succession, all of whom belonged to the emperor.
This time Dong Zhuo did not mention the King of Qin, but directly attacked the feathers around the emperor.
This kind of behavior filled Liu Xie with fear. Could it be that he pushed Dong Zhuo into a hurry and made him finally take the final step?
At this time, Liu Xie was sitting on the couch, not daring to move, but just nodded in agreement dumbly. There was only one thought in his heart:
"We can't wait any longer, we must strike first."
This day's court meeting can be said to be a great victory for the Dong faction. It can be said that under Dong Zhuo's personal supervision, the imperialists were defeated.
These imperial officials are all officials in key positions. Now that they have been expelled and demoted, as long as Dong Zhuo replaces them with his own people, the entire court will have only one voice.
At that time, who will be against me?
As for his younger brother Dong Min, he finally recognized his mistake after being scolded by himself, and is currently thinking about his mistakes behind closed doors.
Therefore, Dong Zhuo can be said to be very satisfied at this time.
There is only one step away from the final title of king.
……
Above the temple, ministers colluded with each other for power.
But far away from the rivers and lakes, at the lowest level of Kansai, there is a force that no one expected, fermenting crazily in the severe drought. They will burst out in silence, shocking the ministers in the court with the roar of lions.
Let them dream back to those days again.
……
At the same time, the witch in Dong Cheng's Mansion saw this skylight in the southeast at dawn today:
I saw that before the sun came out, the morning glow was shining, and the color was as thick as spurting blood. Half the sky was red, covering the southeast.
Originally, it was just an ordinary weather, but the sensitive witch felt the evil aura permeating it.
As a famous witch in Chang'an, she had her own information channels. She only thought that this was a sign of a severe drought this summer and autumn, so she didn't think about it deeply.
But no one knew that this was a warning from God and a sign of military disaster, but no one could realize it at the time.
……
On the fifth day of September, Zuofeng Yi came to Suyi.
Some riots have begun to spread from the countryside of Suyi. At first, this was just a tax resistance movement, but as the disciples and mediocre people drove away the land that came to collect grain, larger riots began to spread.
More and more disciples who had no surplus food tore down the rice warehouses built by the farmers, only to find that their rice warehouses were also empty.
The desperate disciples could only turn their attention to Suyi.
Su Yi, Su Yi, there should be a lot of millet.
The old Qin people in Kansai think they can endure hardship. After all, no matter how hard it is, can it be better than those who suffered in chaos?
Now, with a bite to eat and a place to live, these people are satisfied.
But God refused to let them live. From June to September, there was a severe drought, and everything in the ground withered. The disciples, who were already struggling for survival, could no longer survive.
But at this time, those local and powerful bastards from Chang'an still came to collect food. Isn't this driving people to death?
But the local people are confident and even a little aggrieved.
Why?
Because these people are all rangers and social rats in Chang'an, and many of them are even well-known heroes. These people have their own set of rules for survival in Chang'an City.
They did some secret work for the people above, and the ministers allowed these people to become tax collectors for the autumn grain of that year and let them go to the local areas to collect rice.
As long as you can pay enough for what the higher-ups ask for, whatever you can get out of it is up to them.
Dozens of prefectures and counties in Sanfu, Gyeonggi Province, were allocated profits to these Chang'an heroes, which shows how big a business it was.
But isn’t there a severe drought this year?
Even the rich Yizhou was a little unable to support Jiao Mi when he came to Beijing this year, not to mention that the imperial court had to subsidize Liangzhou.
Therefore, the food gap is particularly large this year.
Both the ministers and the generals of Liangzhou began to think of ways to obtain military rations, and among them the ministers set their sights on these heroes.
From the perspective of the people above, these social rats rely on them to exist. Now, what is wrong with plundering some of their food to subsidize the court?
The famous heroes did not dare to resist, so they could only honestly hand over the corn they had saved for many years to the Duke's mansion.
But they who did not dare to resist the minister rushed to the place fiercely, insisting on making up for all the losses on those mud-legged people.
But if there is no food, there is no food. In the past, when those farmers and rangers came to the place, even if they insulted their wives and daughters, these disciples would tolerate it, just hoping to have less money.
But this year, even if we sell our sons and daughters, we still can’t make enough money.
As a result, the local area was in turmoil, and households and disciples began to resist.
Suyi was the first place where organized riots broke out.
Suyi is very poor because it is close to the Northern Shaanxi Plateau. The territory is crisscrossed with mountains and valleys. Taiyuan is widely spread and Liangmao is intertwined. The geographical unit is very fragmented.
This geographical environment makes the local area very poor, so poor that there are no aristocratic families. There are only some small landowners and local tyrants who dominate some Maozi.
If there are no aristocratic families in a county or a region, it is actually not a good thing.
Han aristocratic families are generally Confucian-type families. They use Confucian ethics and culture to lead and unite the place. Therefore, although these aristocratic families sometimes seem hypocritical, it is undeniable that they have a bottom line.
But if there is not even a single aristocratic family in the place, then the place will be a piece of scattered sand, and the overall atmosphere will be the kind of jungle law that is more barbaric.
Therefore, the specialty of Su County is not millet, but troops. This place has always been the best source of troops in the pass.
In May of this year, many people from Suyi followed Guo Si on an expedition outside the Pass. However, on the Xiaohan Road, eight out of ten of these Suyi soldiers were captured.
In the Taishan Army, many Suyi soldiers chose to join the Taishan Army under the propaganda of the Xuanwei Envoy, but many people still missed their wives and children at home and chose to return to their hometowns.
After these people were released by the Taishan Army, they sneaked back to Suyi along the trails and forest paths with their food.
Originally, these people wanted to live a good life, but who knew that the Han family would not let them live, and those Han family officials would also kill them.
These defeated soldiers originally had military skills and were more organized than ordinary people. Seeing that there was no way to survive, these people themselves booed the villagers and went to beat up the landlords.
But God is fair to everyone, and the people on the ground are also exploited by their superiors. In fact, there is no surplus food in the warehouse, otherwise they would not do such a good job.
The rebels who failed to find food could no longer look back. They all gathered in Suyi, thinking that there must be food there.
In fact, everyone at that time was just like the moths rushing towards the little fireworks, just instinctive.
But under Suyi City, more and more volunteer squads discovered that the leaders were all former comrades, so the rebels quickly got organized and launched an attack on Suyi.
To everyone's surprise, Su Yi was defeated in one blow, and the storm began.