Zhong Yao stood for a while, then turned around to return to Tingwei's mansion.
"Ting Wei, go slowly." Suddenly, a shout came from behind.
Zhong Yao turned around and saw a chamberlain walking over slowly.
Zhong Yao frowned and then relaxed quickly. He felt uncomfortable and instinctively disliked this person.
There was a smile on his snow-white face, but the smile was too fake and gave people a sinister feeling.
Zuo Li came closer and said with a smile: "Tingwei, get ready. Some people are ready to rob the prisoner."
Zhong Yao remained calm, raised his hand and said, "Thank you, sir."
Seeing that he was not panicked, Zuo Li couldn't help but be startled.
Zhong Yao didn't say much, turned around and left.
At the same time, a group of subordinate officials and officers from Tingwei Mansion escorted the Yuan family and a group of party members out of Tingwei Mansion and transferred to the execution ground.
On the remote road, there were more than a dozen cages and more than twenty people walking in shackles. The procession was very long.
The left prisoner of Tingwei Mansion rode a horse and walked at the front, alert to the surroundings.
At the intersection not far ahead, there were dozens of masked men on both sides, holding swords and waiting quietly.
Tingwei Zuojian seemed to have noticed something. He looked around, reined in his horse, and walked a little slower.
The subordinates who were escorting him were not nervous. A subordinate stood behind him and said with a smile: "Prisoner Zuo, this is Luoyang. Who dares to rob a prisoner in broad daylight?"
Supervisor Zuo pulled out his knife and said, "Don't you think it's too quiet?"
The subordinate's expression changed, he looked around quickly, then smiled and said: "Prisoner Zuo, you are scaring me. This is a secluded road. Isn't it normal to be quiet?"
Boo hoo hoo
Before he finished speaking, there was suddenly the sound of short bows shooting from both sides.
"ah……"
Then the subordinate officials and servants of Tingwei Mansion shouted one after another, and many people fell to the ground in response.
"alert!"
Zuo Jian suddenly jumped off his horse, holding a long sword and staring at the masked man who rushed towards him silently not far away.
The masked man didn't speak at all, he killed everyone on sight, rushed over, and cut off the chains on the cage with his knife.
When Yuan Ji, Wang Kuang and others saw this, they were a little confused.
"Mr. Yuan, leave quickly!"
Someone with a mask on his face was supporting Yuan Wei as he was about to come out.
Yuan Wei had white hair, an old face, and no strength at all. He looked at the masked man and said breathlessly: "Take Yuan Ji and leave."
The masked man stared at Yuan Wei, seemingly hesitant, then turned to Yuan Ji and shouted: "Take the servant away!"
"Don't let them take one away!"
The left prisoner tried his best to resist the man in black and shouted at his servants.
The officers were no match at all, and with the short archers hiding on both sides, the situation instantly became one-sided.
Several masked men held Yuan Wei, Yuan Ji, Wang Kuang and others in preparation for withdrawal.
Although Yuan Ji didn't know the reason, he knew that this was his uncle's last resort. Seeing Yuan Wei's dying state, he said anxiously: "Be careful, uncle, don't hurt him!"
The masked man didn't care so much, and prepared to evacuate with a group of people.
But they suddenly stopped and even retreated.
Not far in front of them, a group of well-armored Imperial Guards appeared at some point.
They retreated, and out of the corner of their eyes they caught sight of archers appearing on the roofs of the surrounding houses. When they turned back, they found that there were also Imperial Guards blocking the road at the other end!
"Ah..." Several screams came from the secret, and the short archers were eliminated.
With a blue face, Zhong Yao slowly came out of a corner and stared at the leading masked man with cold eyes.
Yuan Wei raised his head with difficulty, his eyes were cloudy, and said: "Take Yuan Ji alone."
The masked man gritted his teeth and shouted: "Kill out!"
Zhong Yao snorted and said, "You so-called rangers are so bold!"
The imperial army moved and rushed towards the men in black. With the help of archers, it was one-sided.
The masked man tried his best to break out, but couldn't get out.
Not long after, almost all the masked men were killed, and a few were left alive with swords on their necks.
Zhong Yao stepped forward, pulled off their masks, recognized one of them, and shouted: "Take him back!"
Officers came over, shackled them and dragged them away.
At this time, Zuo Jian, holding his injured right arm, came closer and said, "Has Ting Wei already made the decision?"
Zhong Yao ignored him and came to Yuan Wei. Yuan Wei was leaning on the wheel, his hair disheveled, his head tilted, and his eyes were dull.
Zhong Yao looked at it carefully and said, "Master, it's all in vain."
Yuan Wei's lips moved, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything, he just kept looking in the direction of Yuan Ji.
Yuan Ji was escorted to his knees on the ground. Looking at Yuan Wei's appearance, he burst into tears: "Uncle!"
Yuan Wei's cloudy eyes slowly lost focus and slowly closed.
Seeing that Yuan Wei was dead, Zhong Yao breathed a sigh of relief. He slowly straightened up and turned to his left prisoner, saying, "I checked and found that you have nothing to do with the Eunuch Party, the Yuan family, or the He family. Why are you helping me?" them?"
Zuo Jian was stunned and said with a smile: "Wei Ting is joking, how have you ever helped them?"
The subordinate official on the side quickly said: "Tingwei, it was Zuo Jian who discovered the thief in time."
Zhong Yao looked directly at the left prisoner and said, "This route has several detours on purpose. I told three people respectively. Only you know about it."
Zuo Jian secretly gritted his teeth and said immediately: "Yes. It is true that I have not received favors from the Yuan family, but I have received favors from others. They asked me to help with this."
Zhong Yao was not surprised and said, "Let's go."
Supervisor Zuo looked at Zhong Yao and said, "You won't kill me?"
"No killing." Zhong Yao said.
The left prisoner looked suspicious and said, "Aren't you afraid of His Majesty's questioning?"
Zhong Yao looked back at Yuan Ji and others, and said: "Your Majesty never likes killing people. From the palace coup to the execution of the eunuchs, in this case of the Yuan family, Your Majesty tried his best to control the situation and be lenient. Don’t kill even the criminals, don’t sit together, only punish the first culprits. It’s you who like to kill people. You don’t have to worry about being arrested by the imperial court. In a few days, His Majesty will grant amnesty to the world again.”
Upon hearing this, Zuo Jian's expression moved, and he raised his hand and said, "Thank you very much, Lieutenant Ting."
After saying that, he and the few remaining rangers helped him leave.
The subordinate came over, looked at their backs, shook his head and said, "I hope they can feel His Majesty's kindness and wake up."
Zhong Yao didn't care and said, "Take them to the execution ground without wasting time."
"Yes!" The subordinate responded and put the person into the prison car again and continued to transport him away.
Jingfu Hall.
Pan Yin took a small step into the study room and saw Liu Bian concentrating on practicing calligraphy. He leaned forward silently.
Liu Bian made a right cross, raised his pen, looked at the handwriting with some appearance, nodded with satisfaction and said: "What's the matter?"
Pan Yin then said: "Your Majesty, Dr. Yang lost control of his carriage and was thrown out of the carriage. He was seriously injured."
Liu Bian looked at the word 'Prime Minister' on the paper and said with a smile: "He still wants to hide, so I will give him a surprise. I ordered Dong Zhuo to go to prison first and leave for Yanzhou tomorrow."
"Yes." Pan Yin responded.
"Is there any news about Huangfu Jianchang and Cao Cao?" Pan Yin was about to turn around when Liu Bian asked again.
Pan Yin immediately said: "Not yet."
Liu Bian hummed, thinking about how much Huangfu Jianchang could bring back.
The imperial court's effort to raise money and food would definitely not go smoothly. What he really hoped for was to reform the tax system, curb local corruption, and receive money and food directly from the Luoyang treasury.
Seeing that Liu Bian didn't speak any more, Pan Yin quickly left the palace.
There is also a time to make a decision, and the auspicious time cannot be delayed.
Liu Bian looked at the word 'Prime Minister' on the table, and then looked at the memorial beside him.
This is a joint memorial written by Xun You, Zhong Yao, He Yong and others. It is called "Eighteen Meetings on the Salt Policy" and its content is to return the salt policy to the imperial court and change it from taxation to monopoly.
Compared with other taxes involving the whole country, the salt policy was originally classified as the imperial court, so the impact of changes would not be so drastic, the room for manipulation would be larger, and the results would be the fastest.
Liu Bian's eyes flashed for a while, he took a deep breath and whispered to himself: "Wait a little longer."
At present, there are still two problems to be solved, one is Yanzhou and the other is Bingzhou. After solving these two, in terms of time, the court is basically stable and can concentrate on reform.
Taiwei Mansion.
Dong Zhuo, who was packing his things and preparing to leave Luoyang, received a new order from Liu Bian.
Dong Zhuo sat there, his eyes wide open and his face full of iron color.
Li Su was originally secretly happy that he would be appointed as the Sixth Cao Shangshu, but when he heard that Dong Zhuo was going to supervise and kill the Yuan family, he couldn't help but feel secretly frightened, but he didn't dare to show any signs of it on his face.
After a long time, Dong Zhuo withdrew his cannibalistic eyes, looked at Li Su, and said irritably: "Just do as you say, and find a way to make the Huns conquer the border, so that Niu Fu and others don't have to go to Beijing."
Li Su quickly raised his hand and said: "I will accept your order."
Dong Zhuo stood up, put on his clothes, held his sword, and hurried out of the house.
Li Su opened his mouth to speak, but finally said nothing.
He also wanted Dong Zhuo to find an excuse not to do this supervisory execution, but he felt that Dong Zhuo seemed a little suspicious of him and did not dare to say more.
On the execution ground.
More than 20 adult men from the Yuan family, dressed in prison uniforms, and a dozen party members were all escorted to kneel on the execution ground.
On the periphery were a group of officers from the Tingwei Mansion and the imperial army, and outside that were the people watching.
"Traitor!"
"Rebellious ministers and traitors bring disaster to the country and the people!"
"Kill them!"
"Kill them!"
"Kill them!"
The people were so excited that they desperately threw away the momentum, rotten eggs, and rotten vegetables in their hands, cursed angrily, and even wanted to rush in.
Yuan Ji and other members of the Yuan family remained silent, with fear in their eyes, and the other party members also looked ashen.
Not far across from them, Dong Zhuo was sitting upright, with a cold and majestic expression, and his eyes were as wide as copper bells.
The right eunuch of Tingwei Mansion beside him looked at the sun, silently calculated the time, turned around and said to Dong Zhuo: "Mr. Dong, the time has come."
What Dong Zhuo wanted in his mind was to kill these Yuan family members as soon as possible, leave Luoyang as quickly as possible, and escape back to Bingzhou.
He just needs to pick up the beheading order on the table and shout "behead", and all the heads of the Yuan family not far away will fall to the ground.
But when the matter came to a close, Dong Zhuo hesitated again. Killing the Yuan family would not do him any good, but would offend those aristocratic families.
The right prisoner of Tingwei waited for a while, but when he saw that Dong Zhuo made no move, he whispered again: "Dong Taiwei?"
Dong Zhuo glanced at him and reached for the killing order in front of him.
For him, the so-called aristocratic family is not that important.
"Dong Zhuo!"
Suddenly, Wang Kuang's eyes were red and his face was distorted on the execution ground. He shouted: "Today, you slaughtered the scholars and killed Zhongliang. Aren't you afraid of God's punishment?"
Dong Zhuo opened his eyes, with a cold light like lightning. He picked up the beheading order and said in a deep voice: "Behead!"
Wang Kuang knelt straight and roared: "Dong Zhuo, the Yuan family treats you badly. You are ungrateful and have failed your benefactor. Everyone in the world will punish you!"
Dong Zhuo snorted and didn't care at all.
At his command, the executioner held down the prisoners and raised the butcher's knife high.
"ah……"
The Yuan family suddenly burst into tears, struggled and cried, shouting for mercy.
The voices of the people around him became louder, shouting 'Zhang Zhan Zhan'.
Yuan Ji looked at the ground with a dazed expression. A special scene seemed to appear in front of his eyes. He was actually a person who looked exactly like the Yuan family, standing on a high platform, with hundreds of people shouting below.
He shouted something, but he couldn't hear it.
click
He heard it and never heard it again.
Everyone on the execution ground couldn't hear it anymore, and everyone's heads rolled down.
Seeing this, Dong Zhuo snorted, got up and left.
The life and death of the Yuan family has nothing to do with Dong Zhuo. He wants to leave Luoyang as soon as possible.
The right supervisor of Tingwei Mansion saw Dong Zhuo leaving and quickly ordered the officers of Tingwei Mansion to deal with the aftermath.
At the same time, Taiyuan County, forty miles to the west.
Hua Xiong, Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji, and Fan Chou came to Lu Zhi's camp one after another.
Several people went in one after another, and then they realized something was wrong. Zhang Jining said seductively: "Why are you all here?"
Zhang Jidao: "Aren't you here to receive money and food?"
"I do it because of my merit."
"I'm here to get the pension money."
Hua Xiong, Guo Si and others said this one after another, and everyone suddenly had a bad feeling in their hearts.
Li Jue turned around and wanted to leave.
The big tent facing him was opened, and Lu Zhi walked in slowly.
When Li Jue saw this, he slowly backed away, his expression tightened, and he unconsciously clenched the sword at his waist.
They were all Dong Zhuo's subordinates, and they were the military leaders who Dong Zhuo stayed in Bingzhou to make the imperial court fearful.
These people were very wary of the imperial court. They had been avoiding Lu Zhi for various reasons and did not receive orders.
This time I took the risk because of money and food.
Lu Zhi had a generous face and slender brows, and his expression was both gentle as a scholar and fierce as a military general.
He came in expressionlessly with his hands behind his back, looked around coldly, and said, "Are you in a hurry to go back?"
Seeing that Lu Zhi's tone was not kind and there were many soldiers behind him, Li Jue looked solemn and raised his hand and said: "Your Majesty, there is an urgent matter in the army. We need to go back urgently."
Seeing the vigilance on the faces of several people, Lu Zhi took out an imperial edict from his back and handed it to him, saying: "Your Majesty's decree, Niu Fu comes to Beijing and is promoted to the rank of Sixth Cao Shangshu. Dong Taiwei has also been added to the list of Shangshu."
The five people looked shocked. They didn't even know this news!
Li Jue took the edict doubtfully, looked at it carefully, and handed it to others.
A group of people passed each other around and looked at each other, some not knowing what to do.
Lu Zhi looked at them and said: "Soon, Niu Fu will come to Beijing to assist the Taiwei. Where will you go?"
Everyone was slightly shocked, and then they understood the key point.
They were Dong Zhuo's generals. In Dong Zhuo's absence, they were led by his son-in-law Niu Fu. What would they do if Niu Fu was also promoted to Beijing?
The five of them looked at each other, but Li Jue raised his hand and said, "Your Majesty, would you allow us to discuss this?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a group of soldiers rushed in, holding swords, and surrounded them.
Zhang Ji's expression changed, he drew his sword fiercely, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, what does this mean?"
Lu Zhi put his hands behind his back and said sharply, "I am Bingzhou Mu, what do you mean?"
The five people saw those strong soldiers, vaguely visible in front and behind the big tent. It was obvious that things were not going well today.
Guo Bang's face changed and he said, "What do you want from us?"
Lu Zhi said: "Hand over your military talisman and join my command."
The five people had different expressions and looked at each other with great vigilance.
Now they have only two choices: One, agree to Lu Zhi and hand over the military talisman. Two, he was hacked to death here with random knives.
Their eyes flickered constantly, and they were struggling in their hearts. No one dared to speak first.
After a confrontation for a while, Lu Zhi seemed to have lost his patience, his eyes became dull, and he turned away.
When Zhang Ji saw it, he said anxiously: "Your Majesty, I don't have the military talisman with me, can you allow me to go back and get it?"
Lu Zhi kept walking, but behind him there were loud footsteps outside the tent, and more soldiers surrounded him.
The faces of the five people changed drastically, and Li Jue said urgently: "We are willing to follow the envoy!"
Some people spoke, and others did not want to die. Some even took out the talisman and loudly said: "The military talisman is here, please accept it."
Lu Zhi came in again, looked at a few people, and said: "Follow me to fight, and you will be a high-ranking official with a generous salary."
With the swords on their necks, what could the five of them say? They knelt down on one knee and said: "I will follow you to the death, your Majesty!"
Lu Zhi took their military talismans and came out of the tent. He met a middle-aged man with a square face, ravines and ravines on his face, and a resolute look on his face. He said urgently: "Bogui, collect their troops and horses immediately. If necessary, we can attack them at any time." You kill!"
Bogui, the nickname of Gongsun Zan.
Gongsun Zan looked serious and said, "Teacher, what should I do about Niu Fu?"
Half of Dong Zhuo's troops were in Niu Fu's hands.
Lu Zhi said: "There is no need to worry about him. As long as we capture these people, it will be easy to destroy him. Hurry!"
"The last general takes command!"
Gongsun Zan took the military symbols from Zhang Ji and others, turned around and mounted his white horse, and led his white horse army to rush past.
Lu Zhi looked at his back, called an aide, and said: "Go to Niu Fu with the imperial edict and gold and silver money. Do as I say. Be sure to stabilize him and explore his true identity."
"Students take orders." The staff member responded and hurriedly left with only the two of them.
Lu Zhi thought for a while, then recruited a few more people to form a formation in case of any eventuality.
Zhang Ji, Li Jue and others were trapped in the tent and had removed their weapons. Now they were completely at the mercy of others.
No one spoke, and his heart was heavy. He wondered if Lu Zhi would make a mistake and kill them instead of seizing their troops.
Late that night, Xihe County.
Niu Fu arranged for Lu Zhi's staff to rest, sat back, and kept staring at the edict.
Not long after, a middle-aged man in white plain clothes with a cold face and a gloomy look walked in slowly.
Niu Fu was tall and thick, short and chubby. When he saw Jia Xu, he hurriedly said: "Wen He, come quickly. The imperial court has appointed me as the Minister of the Sixth Cao."
Jia Xu had already heard about it. After sitting down, he said directly: "General Zhonglang, please move."
Niu Fu was stunned and said, "Wenhe, what does this mean?"
Jia Xu looked at him and said: "I estimate that there must be a big change in Beijing, and the imperial court is going to seize the military power of the Taiwei."
Niu Fu was startled and said, "What should we do?"
Jia Xu said: "If we move our troops, we can be safe for a while."
Niu Fu's face was full of anxiety and he said: "Temporary bail? Wen He, don't scare me."
Compared to Dong Zhuo, Niu Fu trusted Jia Xu more and treated him better.
Jia Xu reciprocated the favor, looked a little solemn, and said: "Unless the Taiwei comes back, sooner or later Bingzhou will be ruled by Lu Shijun, and we can't compete with him."
Niu Fu has only 20,000 soldiers in his hands. Even though he is a veteran of hundreds of battles, he is facing Lu Zhi, and behind Lu Zhi is the imperial court.
Niu Fu has no roots and no foundation, so he will not be Lu Zhi's opponent. Unless Dong Zhuo comes back, Bingzhou will definitely be taken into Lu Zhi's hands.
In fact, Jia Xu did not tell the story clearly. The imperial court tried its best to coax Dong Zhuo into the capital, and would never give him a chance to come back, even if it meant directly beheading him and causing chaos in Bingzhou!
Niu Fu became even more panicked and said, "What about that? My foster father will definitely not be back for a while."
Although he was Dong Zhuo's son-in-law, Niu Fu was also Dong Zhuo's godson.
Jia Xu didn't move an inch and said: "General Zhonglang will either go to the capital or move to wait for the opportunity."
Niu Fu looked struggling and hesitant.
Neither of these are good choices. Once they enter the capital, they lose their foundation. They are not just at the mercy of others in the capital.
If we move the army, Bingzhou will be so big, with the Xiongnu to the north, the Qiang to the west, and Hanzhong and Sanfu to the east and south.
Jia Xu saw it, his eyes flickered but he said nothing.
Because there is really no good choice, Dong Zhuo's entry into Beijing is a bad move that can't get any more bad!
If Dong Zhuo had listened to his advice, he would not have reached this point.
Niu Fu thought about it and said, "Let's move."
I can’t enter Beijing anyway!
Jia Xu nodded, but what he was thinking about was that he had to choose a new shogunate.
…
Inside Luoyang City.
Because the Yuan family was executed, the originally noisy atmosphere suddenly cooled down.
In the court, there were more and more memorials to impeach Yang Biao, Dong Zhuo, and Wang Yun.
Yang Biao took leave due to injury, Dong Zhuo was dismissed from the Taiwei Palace and went to Luoyang with great fanfare to find a court. Wang Yun ignored it and concentrated on handling official affairs at the Shangshutai.
Wang Yun was the only one at the Chancellor's desk.
Tang Hao, the lieutenant of the Sili school, Xun You and He Yong of the Shangshu, and Zhong Yao, the court lieutenant, were in Jingfu Hall, discussing with Liu Bian all night long the matter of "tax transfer".
Even if he is only temporarily in Sili, there are still many problems and he needs to deal with various problems of the local government and the court.
Early the next morning, Liu Bian watched several people leave the palace, looking sleepy but excited.
Zuo Li came over, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, you are ready."
Liu Bian's eyes were slightly cold and he said, "Do you know what to do?"
Zuo Li's snow-white face was full of respect, and he said: "I understand, I will escort the Taiwei to Yanzhou safely, execute Yuan Ji and others, and then escort the Taiwei back safely."
Liu Bian nodded, then stretched out and said with a smile: "That's good. There will definitely be something wrong on the way. If Taiwei Dong breaks his horse or is killed by bandits, I will bring the body back and bury him alive." .”
"Young man understands." Zuo Li bowed more, he really understood.
Liu Bian looked at the rising sun and said, "The location of the house you bought privately is not good. I will help you find another one. Go ahead."
Zuo Li's heart trembled, his whole body was cold, and the corners of his mouth trembled as he said, "Yes, I understand."
This time he really understood.
"Um."
Liu Bian hummed, and suddenly said: "By the way, that Li Su can be used. You can use some tricks quietly on the way."
Zuo Li felt a chill running down his back, and whispered more cautiously: "I understand, I understand."
This time, he really understood.
Zuo Li was cautious in every step and did not dare to make any mistakes in every movement, and slowly walked out of Jingfu Hall.
As soon as he left Jingfu Hall, he strode out of the palace with a panicked and gloomy look on his face, his heart was pounding with fear, and he was filled with fear.
"Noble man."
As soon as he arrived not far outside the palace gate, a military commander came forward and saw his expression and said doubtfully.
Zuo Li's expression was numb, and his face became paler. He looked at him with wary eyes, as if remembering that he didn't know about the house, and then looked at the hundreds of forbidden soldiers behind him, a few of whom aroused his suspicion.
But he didn't dare to doubt it, let alone take any action.
Zuo Li forced a smile and said, "It's okay, go pick up Dong Zhuo."
"Take the order!" Although the military commander was confused, he still responded.
Zuo Li rode a horse and arrived in front of the Taiwei's mansion with more than a hundred forbidden troops with great momentum.
Dong Zhuo was ordering people to pack up more than seventy large boxes in the name of moving. When he heard that Zuo Li wanted to escort him, he snorted coldly, waved his hand and said, "I will leave soon."
More than a hundred forbidden troops were nothing in his eyes.
Not long after, Dong Zhuo came out fully dressed and saw Zuo Li sitting motionless on a tall horse. He smiled and said, "I'd like you to be escorted by an angel."
Zuo Li came back to his senses briefly and said with a smile: "Captain, you don't have to worry as long as I'm here. You don't have to take them with you. I'm a veteran of hundreds of battles selected from Liaodong."
Dong Zhuo paused for a moment, then said: "Okay, okay."
After saying that, he got on the carriage.
Li Su hurried over and saw Zuo Li riding his horse beside Dong Zhuo's carriage.
Seeing that everyone was gathered, Zuo Li glanced in the direction of the palace, resisted the urge to turn behind him and observe those people, reined in the horse's rope, and said: "Let's set off!"
A group of more than a hundred people walked slowly, exited through Kaiyang Gate, and then headed east, straight to Yanzhou.
Dong Zhuo in the carriage had a sullen face, a hint of smile in his eyes, and was quite smug.
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(End of chapter)
