The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 104: Don’t Let the Heroes Feel Disappointed
Lord Weiyang is mighty!
Liu Xie suddenly felt that the little girl was quite cute!

With those eyes open and that little mouth pouting, who can refuse?

At least Dong Zhuo couldn't refuse!
"Bai, the person you mentioned before is Xu Huang?"

"Ok!"

"..."

Dong Min never expected that Dong Bai would suddenly show up!
There are not many people in this world who can make Dong Zhuo change his mind.

But Dong Bai can definitely be counted as one!
As a fellow member of the Dong family, Dong Min knew very well how much Dong Zhuo doted on Dong Bai!
To put it bluntly, even if Dong Bai wanted the stars in the sky, Dong Zhuo would find a way to climb to the sky and pick one for Dong Bai.

What's more, is it just to protect one person?

"Since Bai promised to reward him, then reward him."

Dong Zhuo asked, "Do you want to reward him with a high position, generous salary or rare treasures? All of this is in vain."

"Grandfather, can you spare his life?"

Dong Zhuo still wanted to kill Xu Huang.

High positions and generous salaries? Rare treasures?
It's not impossible to reward first and then kill.

But Dong Bai seemed to have seen through Dong Zhuo's mind at this time, and did not ask for anything else for Xu Huang, but only asked Dong Zhuo to spare his life...

Liu Xie now looked at Dong Bai with new eyes!

Although she is a crybaby, it doesn't mean she is not smart.

If Xu Huang were here, Liu Xie would make Xu Huang kowtow to Lord Weiyang!
"Um……"

Dong Zhuo snorted and ultimately did not think about this matter for too long.

"It's just one life. If sparing his life will make Bai happy, then I'll spare his life."

"Grandpa is so generous! I love him the most!"

Dong Bai put his head on Dong Zhuo's arm and rubbed it gently a few times, making Dong Zhuo laugh heartily.

Being happy for nothing is the most important thing in the world!

Besides, it’s just about pardoning a living person, not bringing a dead person back to life. Is such a thing so difficult?
Liu Xie breathed a sigh of relief, while Dong Min looked pale.

"Bai, go play somewhere else by yourself first. Grandfather still has state affairs to discuss with His Majesty."

"okay!"

Dong Bai left Dong Zhuo, but did not go out directly. Instead, he came to Liu Xie and spread out his palms.

"Do you still have that thing that turns into ice?"

Dong Bai blinked hard at Liu Xie, causing Liu Xie to suddenly realize something——

You just pleaded for Xu Huang, I'm afraid you just wanted saltpeter, right?

Liu Xie was a little amused.

"There is no more in the palace. I will ask the palace maids to buy some in the market later and send them to Lord Weiyang!"

This is a little ancestor! You have to coax her!

It's just some saltpeter, she doesn't want stars, so what's wrong with buying her some?
Dong Bai smiled happily upon hearing this, and whispered in Liu Xie's ear: "Thank you! I'll give you a few more at most, Sister Zhaoji will definitely like them! Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your majesty and Sister Zhaoji!"

?

Liu Xie felt a toothache again. Now Dong Bai had two of his handles in his hands?

"Don't worry, there will definitely be a share for her. I'll have to trouble Lord Weiyang!"

When Dong Bai saw that Liu Xie agreed, she jumped out of the palace, without a trace of solemnity, as if she really regarded this place as her home.

But after seeing the ministers being so submissive and respectful in the palace every day, it was really soothing to hear Dong Bai's cheerful footsteps occasionally. Even Liu Xie looked at Dong Bai's back for a long time, until Dong Bai's figure completely disappeared at the palace gate, and then Liu Xie withdrew his gaze.

Ok?
Liu Xie had been staring at him for too long and didn't notice that there was something wrong with the way Dong Zhuo looked at him!
"Your Majesty, what did Bai just say to Your Majesty?"

"nothing……"

Really, nothing...

Liu Xie began to feel guilty.

After all, Cai Yan was still in mourning and she was not yet an adult. How could Dong Zhuo know about this?

When Dong Zhuo heard Liu Xie's denial, he became even more suspicious of Liu Xie...

"What state affairs did the Grand Master just talk about?"

Liu Xie couldn't stand Dong Zhuo's interrogative gaze any more, so he quickly changed the subject.

"If we are discussing state affairs, it would be best to call Jia Lingjun and the others over. What do you think, Grand Tutor?"

The pressure was too great, and Liu Xie wanted to find someone to help him share it.

"It's just a discussion, and we won't let the Shangshutai get involved."

Although Dong Zhuo said that the Secretariat would not be involved, Liu Xie heard that Dong Zhuo was not joking. Liu Xie immediately realized that this was not a perfunctory remark by Dong Zhuo to get rid of Dong Bai, but that he really wanted to discuss state affairs with him, so he calmed down and became serious again.

"What on earth could have made the Grand Tutor so worried?" Logically speaking, with Guandong pacified and government affairs handed over to the Secretariat, Dong Zhuo could just stay at home playing with his granddaughter and enjoying family happiness. What other important matters could there be?

"Your Majesty, in this battle in Hedong, tens of thousands of soldiers were mobilized, and several great victories were won. The soldiers should be rewarded."

Dong Zhuo said this and glanced at Liu Xie: "I heard that Your Majesty rewarded the soldiers with a lot of money and property in Meiwu?"

"No! It was a reward from Lord Weiyang!"

Liu Xie, who was still grateful to Dong Bai in his heart just now, pulled Dong Bai over to use him as a shield without hesitation!
wrong!

She's not trying to be a shield, but the pot was originally hers!
But looking at Dong Zhuo's eyes... it seems like he wants me to take the blame?
No wonder Dong Bai was sent away. It seems like they want me to pay for that little girl?
Liu Xie showed a bitter face: "I really didn't know about the reward in Meiwu... No, Grand Master! How many people did Lord Weiyang reward at that time! One gold for each person! So much gold! You can't pay it back even if you sell me! Otherwise, if you see anything valuable in Weiyang Palace, just move it away!"

Although he was rich, he was so poor that he couldn't even take out half a box of gold...

Liu Xie was afraid that he would never have the chance to experience Dong Bai's generous act of spending money in his lifetime.

If Dong Zhuo really wanted Liu Xie to bear this debt, Liu Xie really couldn't afford it!

"Why do you say that, Your Majesty? I did not mean that."

"But after all, we have already rewarded the soldiers in Meiwu. Meiwu also contributed a lot to the purchase of small money with food before, resulting in no extra money. So this time, let the court distribute the money and property for rewarding the soldiers."

Meiwu has no spare money?

Liu Xie saw with his own eyes the piles of wealth and food in Meiwu, so how could he say there was no spare money?
Grand Tutor, Grand Tutor, I didn't expect you to play the same trick on me?
He had seen poor people robbing rich people, but this was the first time Liu Xie had seen a rich person robbing a poor person!

Having said that…

Liu Xie also understood what Dong Zhuo meant.

He didn't want to spend the money to reward the soldiers.

Since Dong Zhuo will not come out, it is natural for the court to do so.

This actually makes sense.

We can't just shout the slogan "Fight for the Han Dynasty" when fighting, and then let Dong Zhuo pay for it out of his own pocket?
The Grand Tutor's money was all robbed by his own skill, and all the rewards that should have been given to the soldiers in previous wars were given to the soldiers without a penny less. Where does he feel the obligation to pay for the current war of the court?

The issue is……

Where does the court get the money now?

Even if there is money, it is life-saving money saved for the impending drought and cannot be touched.

But this life-saving money cannot be touched. Can the reward money for the soldiers be saved?
The court owes a response...

The consequences of this incident are far more important than killing or not killing Xu Huang!

In the case of Xu Huang, Dong Bai could come over and act like a spoiled child to make Dong Zhuo change his mind. But in this case, I'm afraid it won't be so easy to resolve.

Liu Xie frowned, obviously thinking.

"This is indeed an important matter...but the Grand Master knows the situation of the court. The court has been extremely poor for a long time. Moreover, due to the floods this year, even if crops such as Sichuan millet were planted in a hurry, the yield would inevitably decrease. Therefore, even if we delay until autumn, I am afraid it will be very difficult to raise the money and goods that should be rewarded to the soldiers."

If the Han Dynasty was strong, the imperial court would naturally be able to afford this money.

If Guanzhong had not suffered a disaster, the tax revenue from this abundant land would obviously be enough to supplement the rewards for the soldiers.

Rather!

The Han Dynasty was weak, with many princes, and it was basically impossible for the rich Guandong to provide blood transfusions to the court.

Guanzhong was hit by a disaster, and the annual output was greatly reduced. It was a blessing that the harvested grain could allow Guanzhong to survive the disaster in the next few years. There was no extra money to reward the soldiers...

If Dong Zhuo didn't pay the money, Liu Xie really couldn't think of where to get such a huge sum of money to fill the hole.

Dong Min below had been listening to the conversation between Liu Xie and Dong Zhuo.

The originally somewhat frustrated emotions were stirred up again!
"Your Majesty, this reward money must be collected as soon as possible."

Dong Min brought Hu Zhen out again: "The soldiers are already resentful of the death of Hu Zhen. If we cannot reward the soldiers as soon as possible, I am afraid it will cause dissatisfaction!"

Proud of oneself!

Dong Min had previously wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of killing Xu Huang to raise his prestige in the army and appropriately suppress the emperor.

Unfortunately, Dong Bai intervened and it was obviously impossible to kill Xu Huang.

Fortunately, Dong Zhuo's words made Dong Min suddenly realize that the issue of paying salaries and rewards was a good time to hit the emperor's reputation again!
If the emperor cannot come up with the money, Dong Min can make up the money himself!
In this way, with one thing increasing while the other decreases, can't it achieve the same effect as the previous thing?
Liu Xie glanced at Dong Min.

Although he felt somewhat resentful of the other party for interrupting him with such a remark, when he thought about it carefully, he found that what Dong Min said actually made sense.

If you don't kill the enemy general, you won't get reward money...

If Liu Xie was a soldier, he would have quit his job right there and then! Even going home to farm would be better than this!
Although words like "be loyal to the emperor and serve the country" and "support the Han Dynasty" sound exciting, they cannot fill your stomach after all.

"I understand. After all, this was my first time encountering a war, and I thought that defeating the enemy would be all that mattered, but I didn't think about the various issues that would follow."

Liu Xie blamed himself and said, "I have followed the teachings of the Grand Master and often read military books. I know the importance of rewarding and punishing soldiers. But I have only now thought of raising money for the soldiers who fought for the country... This is the fault of me, the emperor!"

Liu Xie was really negligent about this matter.

"I will go to the Shangshutai later to discuss this matter with Jia Lingjun and others."

"The imperial court will never let these loyal people become discouraged!"

(End of this chapter)