Li Ru, also known as Wenyou, was Dong Zhuo's most important counselor and the reason why Dong Zhuo became more and more prosperous in recent years.
He is to Dong Zhuo what Xun Yu is to Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang is to Liu Bei, and Lu Su is to Sun Quan.
After entering Luo, Dong Zhuo wanted to establish his prestige, so Li Rujian proposed to depose the emperor, pulled the young emperor Liu Bian from the throne, and supported Liu Xie to succeed as the emperor.
This was indeed a bad move in the eyes of the world, but Li Ru didn't think so.
In other words, Li Ru's ideas are different from everyone else's.
What others want is power, status and fame.
But Li Ru's plan was very big. He should have known that deposing the emperor would cause dissatisfaction among the princes in the world, but so what?
With the Xiliang Army, Bingzhou Army, and Luoyang Forbidden Army in Dong Zhuo's hands, it would be so difficult to sweep across the world!
Anyone who refuses to accept will be destroyed.
What Li Ru wants is to make major breakthroughs and completely overthrow the existing power system, not to patch things up.
Frankly speaking, if Zhang Heng had these powers, his choice would be similar to Li Ru's.
After entering Luo, Dong Zhuo handed over the Shangshu Desk to Li Ru. Nowadays, major affairs in the court can be said to be decided by Li Ru. In addition, Li Ru has helped Dong Zhuo train troops for many years and has a high prestige in the military. He is the real number two figure in Dong Zhuo's group.
The distance from the harem to the Chancellor's Desk is not that far, and the weather today is far from severe cold. However, Dong Zhuo not only did not feel warm during this walk, but he staggered more and more, and sweat broke out on his forehead.
He is old after all!
Dong Zhuo sighed secretly in his heart.
In fact, it is not just a matter of age. Since entering Luo, Dong Zhuo has become increasingly stronger, not only psychologically, but also physically.
There is no way, the life in Luoyang is too luxurious, and the ladies in the palace are too attractive. How can Mr. Dong, who has been suffering in the army, control it?
In addition to eating and drinking, Mr. Dong worked tirelessly and gave physiological classes to the ladies in the palace day and night. It was inevitable that he would become weak.
Dong Zhuo is getting fatter and fatter, but Li Ru is getting thinner and thinner.
Dong Zhuo's group is a group of military generals who can't handle any major national affairs, so all government affairs fall on Li Ru alone. In addition, we have to be on guard against the Guandong princes who may attack Luoyang at any time, and even Huangfu Song who is stationed in Sanfu in the west.
The enemies on the surface are okay, but the most troublesome ones are the rats in the dark. The aristocratic families in Luoyang City and the scholar-bureaucrats in the court say they are obedient, but they are harboring bad intentions in their hearts. If you are not careful, they may take advantage of you.
Being in the center, Li Ru had to deal with these complicated and intertwined situations one by one. It felt like he was fighting against all the heroes in the world with his own power.
If things go on like this, if you don't lose weight, you will become a ghost.
Dong Zhuo and Dong Huang strode into the chancellery and saw Li Ru, who was at his desk handling government affairs. It can be seen from the dark circles on his face that this guy must have stayed up late again last night.
"Wenyou."
Dong Zhuo called softly.
Only then did Li Ru react. Faced with Dong Zhuo, who was feared by everyone in the civil and military dynasties and even the whole world, Li Ru just nodded, and then slowly stood up and bowed his hand to Dong Zhuo.
"Ming Gong is here."
Dong Zhuo didn't feel dissatisfied, but instead started to persuade him: "Wen You, now you can hold the pavilion in your hand and have an overview of everything, so why bother doing everything personally? It will be bad if you are exhausted."
"The current situation is such that we have to do something." Li Ru shook his head and said.
Dong Zhuo knew his temper, so he stopped trying to persuade him and continued to ask, "Why did Wen You call me for something, but there are rats who are restless again?"
"Ming Gong guessed well."
Li Ru came down with a military report in his hand and pointed to the east.
"Could it be the Guandong bandits?"
Dong Zhuo immediately opened his eyes angrily, his voice suddenly raised an octave, and his majestic temperament was clearly revealed.
"Yes, the Guandong bandits have indeed sent troops."
Li Ru nodded and said, there was no trace of worry in his voice, but a hint of disdain.
He had been waiting for these people to take action, so he could take the opportunity to catch them all and shock the whole world!
Compared to Li Ru's indifference, Dong Zhuo's reaction was more severe. Before he heard the specific situation, he slammed the table and suddenly his hair and beard were spread out, like a ferocious beast that chooses people to devour.
"The rats from Guandong dare to send troops to attack me. They really don't care about life and death! Where did they attack?"
General Li Ru handed the newspaper over, and Dong Zhuo took it and looked at the contents, and he was immediately furious.
boom!
"Xu Rong is incompetent, let's forget it if he loses, he even lost Xingyang, he deserves to be killed!"
Dong Zhuo slammed the table again, pointed at the military newspaper and cursed.
It's no wonder that Dong Zhuo was so angry. After Yang Ding was killed previously, Xu Rong sent a military report to Luoyang. Dong Zhuo was very angry when he learned that Yang Ding had died in the battle. He immediately took the initiative to send troops to attack Guandong, but was stopped by Li Ru. In the end, he only gave Xu Rong a military order to stick to Xingyang.
It's a pity that Xu Rong led his army to attack Juan County before the military order arrived.
In less than ten days, there was news of another defeat, and even Xingyang was lost. How could he not be angry.
"My lord, please calm down. It's just a matter of victory and defeat."
Li Ru sneered and said lightly.
The victory he was referring to was naturally the battle in which Xu Rong defeated Cao Cao on the banks of the Bian River.
Hearing this, Dong Zhuo calmed down a bit, but his anger still lingered.
"Hmph, who are the rats from Guandong? How can they be compared with my Xiliang cavalry! I will personally lead an army to go out in a few days and kill all these bandits from Guandong!"
Li Ru nodded, "Of course we have to send troops. We only suffered a small defeat, but the people in the court must be uneasy. It's just a big victory to calm the storm. However, Xu Rong's defeat must be properly handled at the moment." "
Dong Zhuo immediately sneered and said: "What else can be done? One general is incompetent and the three armies are exhausted. Xu Rong returns defeated and his sin is unforgivable. On the day of the army's expedition, his head happened to be used as a sacrifice to the flag."
Yang Ding was defeated the previous time, and Xu Rong was defeated again this time. In order to stabilize the morale of the army, Dong Zhuo naturally had to punish Xu Rong severely.
Li Ru thought for a while and said: "Ming Gong, after all, Xu Rong is a veteran general in the army and is well versed in the art of war. The previous time he defeated the rebel Cao Cao on the bank of Bian River, it was considered a meritorious service. This time the entire army was wiped out, which is really a bit of a surprise. It's strange, why don't you bring it up for questioning, and it won't be too late to deal with it."
"Where are they now?" Dong Zhuo asked.
"Kneeling outside the palace, waiting to be summoned."
"Hmph!" Dong Zhuo said with contempt on his face, "After such a defeat, you still have the nerve to come back. How shameless. My son, Ahuang, go and bring Xu Rong in. I want to see what else he has to say. ."
"As you command!"
Dong Huang immediately clasped his fists, then turned and left.
After Dong Huang left, Li Ru suddenly waved his sleeves and ordered all the waiters in the Shangshu Taiwan to retreat.
"Wenyou, is there something urgent?"
Dong Zhuo had been with Li Ru for many years, and he immediately understood Li Ru's thoughts.
"Ming Gong, I'm afraid we really have to fight." Li Ru nodded.
Dong Zhuo chuckled and said, "Of course we have to fight. Is it possible that we have to welcome those Guandong bandits into the army?"
"No." Li Ru shook his head and said, "Ming Gong, my intention is to start an all-out war!"
Hearing this, Dong Zhuo immediately frowned.
Because what Li Ru said was contrary to the original strategy.
When he first heard that the Kwantung princes were raising troops, Dong Zhuo was about to raise an army to attack them, but was stopped by Li Ru.
The reason given by Li Ru was very simple. Dong Zhuo was in Luoyang, with the Kansai base camp at his back. He had sufficient troops and supplies. There was no need to abandon the Xiongguan barrier around Luoyang to fight away from the Kanto princes.
Furthermore, Li Ru had long seen that the princes of Guandong were all a group of fame and fortune seekers. Even if they managed to get together, they would be scattered. It was unclear whether they dared to take the initiative to attack, let alone attack Luoyang.
Seeing Dong Zhuo frowning, Li Ru explained: "Ming Gong, one moment is another moment. The Guandong bandits are gathered together. If they dare not take the initiative to attack, over time, people's hearts will be scattered. There is no need for us to bother attacking them.
But things are different now. Not only did the Guandong bandits take the initiative to attack, but they also defeated me twice in a row. If we don't fight back, not to mention the morale of the army will be shaken, I'm afraid there will be a lot of trouble in Luoyang City... "
Dong Zhuo's expression immediately became serious, "Wen You, do you mean to say that those wealthy families will take the opportunity to cause chaos when they see our army's new defeat?"
