The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 135 Another war?

"Capture Taiyuan? Li Wenyou, what do you want to do?"

"Even the Grand Tutor has issued a decree this year, saying that no military action will be taken this year. Besides, you are from Guanzhong, so you should have seen the people's livelihood situation this year. How can you still have surplus food to supply the soldiers?"

Zhong Yao rejected Li Ru without hesitation.

Not resorting to force is the national policy of the imperial court this year!
If the imperial court changes its orders every day, how can its authority still be maintained?

What's more, if Guanzhong had enough strength to send troops, would you, Li Ru, need to speak up?
The emperor, the prime minister, Yang Biao and other court officials, as well as a group of Xiliang generals, who wouldn't want to rush ahead of you?
It is truly unwise to discuss military affairs recklessly!

Li Ru suddenly asked: "What time is it now?"

"It is almost the frost moon."

“How many days are left until next year?”

"Less than two months."

"How can sending troops two months later be considered a violation of the Grand Tutor's order on that day?"

Zhong Yao once again looked at Li Ru with a different eye.

Can you find a loophole in this?

"Li Wenyou, do you really not know or are you pretending not to know?"

"Is the decree important now? Food is important now!"

Hearing Zhong Yao's question, Li Ru also asked him to calm down: "But what if we don't need to transport food from Guanzhong?"

No need to transport food?
Li Ru asked: "If we don't need to transport food from Guanzhong, can we send troops?"

of course can!

But Zhong Yao still didn't believe that war did not require food.

And Li Ru told Zhong Yao——

Totally possible!
"The reason why the Hedong nobles "repeatedly fought and lost" against the Black Mountain bandits was nothing more than to coerce Yuan Shao and allow them to gain more power in the pseudo-court."

"But Yuan Shao is a man of strong mind. I'm sure he won't compromise with the Hebei nobles just because of such a threat."

"In that case, let Yuan Shao feel real fear!"

Li Ru narrowed his eyes——

"For example, the imperial court seized Taiyuan and occupied Bingzhou! From a high position, they could threaten Hebei at any time!"

"At that time, it would be a crisis of life and death for Yuan Shao! Wouldn't Yuan Shao compromise with the soldiers of Hebei?"

……

Zhong Yao knew that Li Ru was extremely utilitarian and was also very intelligent.

But he still didn't expect that Li Ru could come up with such a plan!

Let the Hebei gentry cooperate with the imperial court and then threaten Yuan Shao.

But are the Hebei gentry really willing to cooperate with the court?
After all, from the perspective of the Hebei court, this was a blatant act of "treason"!
"of course not."

Li Ru had long been aware of the reaction of the Hebei gentry.

"They may be able to cooperate with the Black Mountain Army and Zhang Yan, but they will never cooperate with the imperial court."

Because no matter how powerful the Black Mountain Army was, they could not kill Yuan Shao and could not shake the foundation of the Hebei court.

But the Guanzhong court can!

"Then why did you come up with this plan?"

Zhong Yao couldn't help but ask.

Since Li Ru knew that the Hebei gentry would never cooperate with them, why did he come up with a plan?

"Because the court doesn't really need to cooperate with them."

Li Ru's mind remained clear enough all the time——

"What the court needs is just to take advantage of their gaps and find a loophole."

Zhong Yao was still a little hesitant: "Will this move be too risky?"

There was a red light in Li Ru's eyes.

The greater the risk, the more he likes it!
If a husband does not eat five tripods during life, he will cook ears with five tripods when he dies!
If this succeeds, Li Ru will be no less powerful than Su Qin and Zhang Yi!

If it fails... he will just die! Cooking Li Ru in five cauldrons would be a blessing!
Zhong Yao only now understood what kind of madness was hidden beneath Li Ru's seemingly calm appearance.

"But I still can't make the decision on this matter."

Zhong Yao still adhered to his principles: "I must report this matter to the emperor first."

"No, the emperor will agree."

"Then we must report this to the Emperor first."

"it is good."

The sudden turn of events made Zhong Yao look at Li Ru in confusion.

But Li Ru has already started packing his bag——

"If we wait for the emperor to reply, I don't know how long we will have to wait."

"If you delay, things will change. Some opportunities are often fleeting."

"I will go and complete my mission first. The rest will be up to you."

Zhong Yao: "Are you so sure that the emperor will agree?"

"If you don't agree, I'm afraid you won't be able to come back once you go."

Li Ru suddenly laughed after hearing this.

He put the bag on his back and never looked back at Zhong Yao again.

"Since the day I left Guanzhong, I never thought I could go back."

The evening wind blew up the setting sun, leaving a shadow on the road.

Li Ru's back was like the last curled up fallen leaf, coming from the darkness and going back to the darkness.

Zhong Yao looked at the back and felt desolate.

"What kind of world would give birth to such a person?"

With a slight sigh, Zhong Yao began to write a letter, recording Li Ru's plan in detail and sending it to Chang'an, begging the emperor for a decision.

………………

Chang'an, Weiyang Palace.

Liu Xie had a serious look on his face.

"Grandmaster! This is absolutely not possible!"

Dong Zhuo was wearing a dark black cloak, looking furry, like a hibernating bear. "Your Majesty, can't you agree to this?"

"Absolutely not!"

Liu Xie gritted his teeth and said, "If there is one more, I will cut off all ties with the Grand Master from now on!"

"Is your majesty really so cruel?"

Dong Zhuo also looked unhappy——

"In that case, Your Majesty cannot blame me for coming here forcefully!"

The emperor and his minister were at loggerheads with each other, and for a moment the atmosphere in the entire palace became tense.

"Cough cough."

There was a third person in the palace, and that was Cai Yong.

Cai Yong was the one with the ugliest expression.

Moreover, he actually betrayed Dong Zhuo at this moment and began to support the emperor unconditionally——

"Grandmaster, I will listen to your Majesty on this matter. No more!"

Dong Zhuo was furious: "Bo Ji, why are you included???"

Cai Yong said helplessly: "Grandmaster, we really can't have more. Your Majesty is only 15 years old, and you have so many concubines... I'm afraid rumors will arise in the outside world."

"Yes, Master Tai, there really can't be any more!"

Liu Xie also began to protest his injustice.

It was obviously still a year away from her coming of age, the day to confer titles on the empress and concubines, but Dong Zhuo wanted to decide it now!

In fact, according to court etiquette, there is nothing wrong with selecting a candidate one year in advance. After all, court etiquette is complicated and there is relevant training, so it is normal to start preparing now.

But Dong Zhuo insisted on filling all the positions of Liu Xie's concubines?

During the pre-Han period, the Qin system was inherited. The emperor's wife was called the Empress, and concubines were all called Madam. There were eight ranks, namely Empress, Madam, Beauty, Good Wife, Eighth Son, Seventh Son, Chief Eunuch, and Junior Eunuch.

During the reign of Emperor Wu, the positions of Jieyushi, Meng'e, Ronghua and Chongyi were added, and each of them had a title.

During the reign of Emperor Yuan, the title of Zhaoyi was added, whose rank was second only to that of the empress.

After Wang Mang's chaotic rule, he used ancient traditions to reform the system and expanded the harem to include "three wives, nine concubines, twenty-seven concubines, and eighty-one imperial wives"...

After Emperor Guangwu restored the country, he advocated frugality and had only four ranks below the empress: noble lady, beauty, palace lady, and court lady.

among them,

There is only one empress, who wears a jade seal with a golden dragon and tiger button, and the pattern is the same as the emperor's.

There are ten noble ladies, wearing gold seals and purple ribbons, with the same position as the prime minister and the same rank as princes.

As for palace ladies and court ladies, there are not so many limits.

According to Dong Zhuo's intention, after Liu Xie came of age, he wanted to take the positions of empress and noble ladies at once, and directly add eleven people to the harem...

"There's really no need for so many. Four is enough."

Liu Xie counted on his fingers for Dong Zhuo -

"According to the frequency of one court session every five days, I will definitely go to the Grand Tutor's office on the day of the court session in the future to discuss government affairs with him."

"The next day, go to the Queen."

"On the third day, I went to Cai's house... No, it was the second person's place anyway."

"On the fourth day, the fifth day, one person every day..."

Liu Xie noticed Cai Yong's murderous look and quickly changed his words.

"There's no rush for this, there's still a year left. There's really no rush! Take your time~"

Dong Zhuo was dissatisfied: "Why are you not in a hurry?"

"We finally have no need for war this year, so we should settle this matter as soon as possible!"

Dong Zhuo also "threatened" Cai Yong beside him: "Bo Ji, this matter must be settled today! Aren't you Confucian scholars the ultimate etiquette? If something goes wrong by then, won't people laugh at you?"

……

After all, Dong Zhuo did it for Dong Bai.

Cai Yong also advised Liu Xie very reluctantly: "Your Majesty, what the Grand Master said is actually correct. There will be no war this year, and there will be no major events in the court. It is better to settle this matter as soon as possible."

Liu Xie stared at Cai Yong and said, "Cai Zhonglang, which side are you on?"

If possible, Cai Yong doesn't want to choose either side...

"Grand Master, please don't force His Majesty. Since His Majesty said to appoint four people first, then we should appoint these four people first and quickly teach them etiquette."

Dong Zhuo pinched his nose and asked: "Which four women does your majesty want to marry?"

Liu Xie said, "Weiyang Jun is naturally the queen."

Hearing this, Dong Zhuo's brows relaxed a little.

"Dong Cheng's daughter can also be appointed as a noble concubine."

The marriage with Dong Cheng was a closer relationship and it was also a marriage that had been decided before, so Liu Xie had to marry him.

"The remaining person is a concubine in the palace. Her name is Fu Shou, and her father is the great scholar Fu Wan."

Although Cai Yong was surprised about when Liu Xie met such a woman, he still nodded in agreement.

Marrying the daughter of a great scholar from Guandong would be beneficial to the court now, as it would appease the Guandong samurai.

It can be seen that although it was Liu Xie who made the choice in name, the three women mentioned were all political marriages for the stability of the court.

As for the last person...

Even if Liu Xie didn't mention it, Dong Zhuo knew who it was.

So Dong Zhuo turned slightly and looked at Cai Yong beside him.

Liu Xie, who was sitting at the top, also cast his eyes on Cai Yong.

The two pairs of eyes kept blinking, making Cai Yong feel as if his tail was stepped on.

"Why are your Majesty and the Grand Master looking at me? Do you want me to enter the palace and become a noble?"

Haha~~~
Cai Zhonglang is so naughty, he asks even though he knows the answer!
Liu Xie said: "The last person is Cai..."

"no!"

"no?"

"no!"

Cai Yong gave a clear reply:

no! ! !