Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 314 You reported Dong Zhuo for conspiring with Xu Chu to rebel?
March 15th, the second year of the Han Dynasty.

The Left General's Mansion in Ye City, Wei Commandery, Ji Province.

After receiving the imperial decree to suppress the Black Mountain bandits, Dong Zhuo led a group of officials from the Left General's Office to Ji Province, where he accompanied the newly appointed Governor of Ji Province, Qin Jie, and moved into the provincial capital, Xindu.

As the newly appointed governor of Ji Province, Qin Jie's task was to appease the people of Ji Province, restore their trust in the Han army, and cooperate with Dong Zhuo's military operations to ensure the logistics and supplies of the army.

Dong Zhuo originally intended to establish the Left General's Office in Xindu City, but Wang Qian, the chief clerk of the Left General's Office, suggested that Dong Zhuo choose another location to establish the office.

Xindu was indeed a good place, but living in the same place as Qin Jie, the governor of Ji Province, was bound to cause some friction.

Although Dong Zhuo held the imperial insignia granted by the emperor, giving him the authority to control all officials in Ji Province, from the governor Qin Jie down, during the suppression of the Black Mountain bandits, no one was allowed to obstruct or refuse him for any reason.

But having the right to exercise restraint does not mean that that power must be used.

No matter who serves as the governor of a prefecture, they would be happy to have others interfere in the affairs of the prefecture.

Therefore, Wang Qian suggested that Dong Zhuo choose another place to establish his government. If there were any matters that required the help of the state, he could communicate with Qin Jie by letter, instead of issuing orders in his capacity as the Left General with the authority to grant imperial authority.

This was not only to avoid trouble with Qin Jie, but also to show the emperor in Luoyang that he had no intention of taking control of the military and political affairs of Ji Province.

Dong Zhuo was unwilling to delve into these intricate political issues. While he admired Wang Qian's talent, he did not trust him enough to blindly follow his advice.

However, since Dong Zhuo was willing to listen to Cai Yong's advice, and Wang Qian's only son, Wang Can, was Cai Yong's last disciple, there was no reason for Dong Zhuo to harm him.

Furthermore, Cai Yong suggested that Dong Zhuo consult Wang Qian more on matters of politics and interpersonal relationships. Dong Zhuo was then willing to trust Wang Qian as one of his own and adopted his suggestion.

Qin Jie succeeded Yang Xu as the governor of Nanyang after the Yellow Turban Rebellion and quelled the remnants of the Yellow Turbans and bandits in Nanyang County. He was not a civil official who was ignorant of military affairs.

Through Wang Qian's intermediary, Qin Jie naturally understood the deeper meaning behind the message.

If Dong Zhuo forcibly interfered in the affairs of the state, given the emperor's trust in Dong Zhuo, Qin Jie would be powerless to do anything about it, no matter how dissatisfied he was. But since Dong Zhuo was showing him goodwill, he would naturally accept Dong Zhuo's kindness.

If Wang Qian's considerations were based on politics and interpersonal relationships, then Li Ru, the chief secretary of the Left General's Office, suggested that Dong Zhuo should locate the Left General's Office in Ye City of Wei Commandery.

The main passage through the Taihang Mountains is the Fukou Pass. This pass is also the most convenient route for the main force of the Black Mountain bandits, especially their chief commander Zhang Yan, to enter and exit the Taihang Mountains. Guarding this pass is to cut off the bandit army's throat.

Ye City is only 40 li away from Fukou Pass, and cavalry can reach the foot of Fukou Pass in half a day.

Moreover, the prosperous Ye City area has historically been the most heavily raided by the Black Mountain Bandits, and it is the main source of supplies for the Black Mountain Bandits, whether from plunder or from trade with fearless merchants.

To wipe out the Black Mountain bandits, their supply of materials must be cut off.

Although the Taihang Mountains have vast land, very little of it is actually arable, and the yield per acre is low. Without plundering and illegal trade with merchants, countless people would starve to death if it weren't for the need to support so many elderly, weak, women, and children.

Oh, you mean the elderly, the weak, women, and children aren't ordinary people?
As the family members of the Black Mountain bandits, didn't they enjoy the benefits brought by the male members of the bandits?
Having enjoyed the spoils of the men in their household who had killed after being robbed, they naturally had to accept that the court would also regard the elderly, weak, women, and children as thieves rather than ordinary people.

Kuai Yue, the military advisor, added that Wei Commandery is adjacent to Hanoi Commandery and Shangdang Commandery. If the Black Mountain bandits were to come down the mountain to plunder on a large scale, Dong Zhuo, who was stationed in Ye City of Wei Commandery, could provide support as quickly as possible. Alternatively, he could simply break into the Taihang Mountains to eliminate the remaining Black Mountain bandits and destroy the Black Mountain stronghold.

Without their stronghold and the advantage of terrain, could the Black Mountain bandits still defeat the government army through open field battles and siege warfare?

Dong Zhuo was very happy. He finally didn't need to think about anything. He completely handed over political affairs and military strategies to Wang Qian, Li Ru, and Kuai Yue, respectively, and he directly became a hands-off manager and went to the military camp to train the troops.

The fighting strength of these commandery and kingdom troops was really too weak. Even though many of them had experienced the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Dong Zhuo found it hard to accept that they were the old troops from Liangzhou and the sons of good families.

Then the only option was to train them relentlessly, training them to the point of exhaustion. Hence, he would frequently lash out with his whip to punish soldiers who slacked off during training.

However, although Dong Zhuo was ruthless in training his troops, the corresponding benefits he provided were extremely generous. Dong Zhuo took out the spoils of war from the Left General's mansion, sold them for money and grain, and ordered the mansion's clerks to thoroughly investigate the accounts, find out the officers and clerks who had embezzled military pay and supplies in the past, and without saying a word, drag them to the gate of the camp and behead them as a warning to the public.

Dong Zhuo then announced that there would be no limit to the amount of food each day, and that the amount of fermented black bean sauce and pickled vegetables would be increased. Fresh fruits and vegetables would be eaten once every three days, and meat would be eaten once every two days.

Dong Zhuo's clansmen established cattle farms, sheep farms, and horse farms in their ancestral home of Longxi. Leveraging Dong Zhuo's connections, they purchased a large number of livestock at low prices from many chieftains of the Qiang people in Liangzhou.

In addition, there were Li Jue, Guo Si, Fan Chou, Xu Rong and other former subordinates in the four camps of Bingzhou, who together quelled the rebellion of the Southern Xiongnu. Many officials in Bingzhou, as well as many comrades and colleagues in Youzhou, were also involved.

With these unique advantages, Dong Zhuo was able to spend much less money on meat than on fresh fruits and vegetables.

Dong Zhuo not only improved the soldiers' meals, but also their monthly pay!

Dong Zhuo, under the pretext of the emperor allocating money to reward soldiers, doubled the pay of the lower-ranking soldiers and gave officers more pay according to different proportions. He also announced that from now on, the pay would no longer be collected and distributed by officers, but would be personally delivered to the camp at the beginning of each month by him, the Left General, to oversee the drill ground.

All soldiers, according to the roster, went to the training ground in batches to collect their pay from Dong Zhuo's thousand personal guards. If anyone embezzled or tried to bribe them with their pay, they could report it to Dong Zhuo's camp.

Anyone who embezzles grain or salary will be executed!

Later, a soldier mustered up his courage and reported that Chunyu Qiong, a military officer, demanded that soldiers hand over their pay to him so that he could buy fine wine. He often got drunk in the army. Dong Zhuo was furious when he heard this and immediately ordered Xu Chu to behead him and display his head to the public.

With a swift stroke, Chunyu Qiong's head fell to the ground and was hung above the gate. The entire army was immediately terrified, and from then on, no one dared to covet the provisions.

Of course, it wasn't that no one had considered impeaching Dong Zhuo by pointing a bullet into the sky.

Chunyu Qiong's family requested that the main branch of the Chunyu clan in Yingchuan and the branches of the Chunyu clan in Jinan submit a memorial impeaching Dong Zhuo for his widespread favors in the army, which was intended to seize Ji Province and rebel.

But no one dared to accept this petition. Neither Chunyu Qiong's own family from Yingchuan nor his own family from Jinan paid any attention to Chunyu Qiong's relatives.

The one who makes false accusations is punished; who would be so bored as to impeach the emperor's favorite general?

Dong Zhuo paid out of his own pocket, but used the emperor's name to bestow favors, which meant he was bestowing favors on behalf of the emperor!

Dong Zhuo, who held the power of a general, could kill a captain who embezzled grain and salary without even needing to report it. Moreover, Chunyu Qiong's head was personally chopped off by Xu Chu, the emperor's Right General of the Martial Guard.

How dare you make the emperor believe you, thinking that your sensible love will collude with the close ministers entrusted with the responsibility of guarding him to plot a rebellion?
This doesn't even consider that among the governors and chancellors of the various commanderies and kingdoms in Ji Province, the governor of Boling Commandery was Wang Lang, a former official of the emperor when he was still a prince, and the governor of Wei Commandery, Liu Pu, and the chancellor of Zhongshan Kingdom, Liu Biao, were both members of the Han imperial family.

Guo Dian, the prefect of Julu Commandery, and Li Xie, the prefect of Xindu Commandery, were both people who fought alongside the emperor to suppress the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Sun Jin, the prefect of Changshan Commandery, was received and encouraged by the emperor after the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

Zhou Chong, the governor of Qinghe County, was the son of Zhou Jing, the former Grand Commandant who had supported the retired Emperor Liu Hong. He inherited the title of Marquis of Anyang Township with 600 households. The entire Zhou family of Lujiang was highly valued by two emperors.

With this kind of configuration in Ji Province, do you think anyone would follow Dong Zhuo in a rebellion?

Of course, the Chunyu clan did not do nothing.

Chunyu Jia, the head of the Chunyu family in Jinan and a Grand Master of the Palace with a rank of 2,000 shi, reported to Guo Tu, the Chief Supervisor of the Court of Justice, that Chunyu Qiong's family members intended to falsely accuse General Dong Zhuo of the Left and General Xu Chu of the Right of the Martial Guard of the Right of the Tingwei Office of all the letters that Chunyu Qiong's family members had given him as evidence.

Guo Tu showed great mercy this time, sentencing Chunyu Qiong's entire family to death, without exterminating nine generations or three generations, and even excluding the Chunyu clans of Yingchuan and Jinan.

As for Dong Zhuo, who was falsely accused?

Dong Zhuo didn't take this minor incident to heart at all. At this moment, he was sitting at the head of the main hall of the Left General's Mansion, beaming with joy, hosting a grand banquet of the highest rank to entertain a special guest.

A guest... came down from the Taihang Mountains!
(2601 words)
(End of this chapter)