August of the third year of Chuping, the Great Han Dynasty (186 AD).

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After receiving the emperor's imperial edict, Li Hong set off immediately. His speed caught people off guard. The Zhongchang Sushi Song Dian and the Zheng Jinwu Zhen Ju were still discussing whether to contact the governor of Liangzhou Geng Bi to give Li Hong a grand ten-mile farewell to the show to promote his love. Unexpectedly, Li Hong had already left.

Without waiting for Xu Rong and Nie Xiao to come back, Li Hong brought Black Panther Yicong and Shooting Tigers and Lu Huanyang's four thousand cavalrymen to quickly move westward into Jincheng County.

Two days later, Li Hong led his troops to the westernmost Warriors City of Hanyang County and stopped. At this time, Xu Rong, Nie Xiao, as well as rebel leaders Yang Qiu and Li Kan had already arrived at Yuzhong City to wait. Hearing that Li Hong had arrived, they immediately led people across Kuiyuan Gorge to greet him. The two armies joined together and then rushed to Jincheng on the bank of the Yellow River.

Li Hong ordered the Black Panther Yicong of the Arc Tribute, the Iron Cavalry of Shooting Tiger and Lu Huanyang, to stay in Jincheng, and he only took Zhao Yun and three hundred cavalry Yicong to cross the river west with Yang Qiu.

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After Li Hong left the military camp, all military and political affairs were under the jurisdiction of Zhaowu Duwei Xianyufu, and the western Duwei Qu Yi and the marching Sima Zuo Yan complemented each other. After Li Hong left, the first thing Xianyufu did was to order the camp to be enacted, and no soldiers were allowed to leave Zixiushan camp, and those who violated the order would be executed. Because of his special status, Song Dian and Zhen Ju were not within the scope of this order.

The emperor did not know whether it was intentional or unintentional, but did not mention who was responsible for the corruption in Xiliang after Li Hong left.

If, as usual, Li Hong left temporarily and the emperor did not reassign others, the matter should be the responsibility of Xian Yufu, who was temporarily acting as the commander of Li Hong. However, Xian Yufu was only a commander and obviously did not have the right to interrogate these two thousand stone officials.

Although the Taiwei Zhang Wen could take over the rightful position, he did not want to put himself in the most visible position. He did not want to offend anyone now. He was anxious to end the Xiliang quell's rebellion and return to Luoyang as soon as possible. He had already left Li Hong with unpredictable risks, and he did not want to interfere directly with the rest of the matter, so he would not lose weight in the future, so he only sent Sang Yang to Zixiu Mountain and walked according to the opportunity.

Song Dian and Zhen Ju each had their own thoughts. Both wanted to be in charge of Xiliang's corruption, resolve the crisis of their forces, and take the opportunity to attack each other. Because Zhen Ju led the Northern Army, he ordered the Northern Army stationed in Huaili Camp to immediately arrive at Zixiu Mountain and serve as his backing for presiding Xiliang's corruption.

Song Dian was anxious and hurriedly sent someone to return to Beijing to ask for help from Zhao Zhong. Because the Zhongchang Suit Zhang Rang and Xia Yun were found out by Li Hong, the emperor punished them to think about their mistakes at home, so the situation of the traitor and eunuch party was very bad. Zhao Zhong, who was in the capital, received a letter from Song Dian, had no choice but to ask for help from Dong Zhuo.

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Xiaohuaili Camp.

Late at night, Dong Zhuo's central army tent was still brightly lit, and the sound of silk and bamboo singing and dancing was endless. Dong Zhuo is a person who is very good at enjoying life. He doesn't miss any opportunity to eat, drink and have fun, as long as he has time and money.

After reading the secret letter sent by Zhao Zhong, Dong Zhuo thought for a moment, then pushed the petite woman in his arms away, stood up and stood up. He had to discuss this kind of thing with Li Ru. Li Ru was introverted and he never participated in such occasions.

Li Ru lives in the side tent of the Central Army's tent. When Dong Zhuo walked in, he was alone in holding a chessboard and studying the chess game.

"The Marquis sent us a letter to help the Marquis Song." Dong Zhuo threw Zhao Zhong's secret letter on Li Ru's chessboard and said, "I want to hear your opinion. At this time, we suddenly took action. Is it necessary?"

Li Ru glanced at the letter written in Sijuan with contempt and dusted it on the ground.

"What benefits did the eunuch promise to give to the general?"

"There is only money and land." Dong Zhuo said, "Now, Zhang Rang and Xia Yun were both punished by the emperor, and the power of the traitors was greatly hit. Although their lives were safe, it would be difficult for them to gain the trust of the emperor after this matter. Once they were at a disadvantage, the general's foreign relatives and aristocratic bureaucrats would take advantage of the situation. At this time, should we avoid any more suspicion, so as not to be implicated in the future?"

Li Ru shook his head and said, "General is wrong. Don't be confused by what you see. The power of the traitor is very large. This little thing cannot touch their foundation. It's just a loss of money. That little money is their illegal income. For them, it doesn't matter whether they lose or not. There are more opportunities to get it back in the future."

"The biggest advantage of the traitors is that they control the inner palace, which no force can do, so it is difficult for them to be defeated. Even the power of the foreign relatives is not as strong as them. Whenever the aristocratic bureaucrats compete for power and profit with the traitors, they will end up at a disadvantage and suffer losses repeatedly. The reason is that."

Li Ru seemed to touch his sadness. The scar on his cheek twitched nervously for a few times. He paused for a while and sighed: "We should do what we should do about the eunuchs, and we can't suffer any loss."

Dong Zhuo walked back and forth with his hands on his back and forth a few steps, saying, "Then how can we help us the most safely? I must make a fortune, I can't do it in vain. Last time in Huaili, I had already done it in vain. We lost a lot, but we didn't get any benefits."

Li Ru slowly put down his chess piece and said, "Last time, we were entrusted by the two marquises and two families to attack and kill Li Hong, and were preparing to deal with Li Hong and Zhang Wen at the same time, but failed. In fact, that opportunity was the best, a pity."

"What a pity." Dong Zhuo also said with regret, "If Li Hong is killed, we will help the two clans solve the increasingly serious problems, and also help Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong and the eunuchs through the difficulties. At the same time, Zhang Wen was implicated and would definitely be dismissed from his post and returned to Beijing, so that I would have the opportunity to replace him and be responsible for the suppression of the rebellion in Xiliang. In this way, my contribution will be great, alas..." He shook his head repeatedly, looking very upset, "What a pity."

Li Ru twisted his beard and sighed: "We miscalculated Li Hong's strength, so that the assassination in Huailicheng failed. After Li Hong was assassinated, he acted very cautiously. The last time he returned to Zixiushan Camp, he actually mobilized two thousand Black Panthers to pick him up, which shows his defense against assassination. Now, there is no movement in Jincheng yet, but Mr. Zhao asked us to help Mr. Song, so the matter is more difficult. If we still cannot succeed in Jincheng this time, and let Li Hong run back safely, we will be in trouble. He saw that we released the prisoners and burned the evidence. How can we deal with the aftermath? If he is not good to the general, we..."

Dong Zhuo's mouth moved slightly and said disdainfully: "I wish he wouldn't dare to touch me. Do you think we don't have the chance to kill him?"

"There is a chance." Li Ru pondered for a long time and said slowly, "Li Hong is a leopard. After suffering a loss once, it will be difficult for him to suffer a second loss, but there are still opportunities." He reached out and picked up a piece on the chessboard, put it in front of him and looked carefully, as if he wanted to see the flower from this piece.

"Changsheng, are you too careful?" Dong Zhuo mocked, "Is it so difficult to kill someone?"

Li Ru glanced at him and said, "General, it's better to be careful.

Dong Zhuosen smiled coldly and said, "Since you are not at ease with Jincheng's affairs, I will recruit a few more horse bandits to lie in Kuiyuan Gorge. What do you think?"

"Okay." Li Ru said, "Okay. Last time we failed assassination, although Mr. Zhang, Mr. Zhao and the heads of the two major clans did not blame him, his disappointment with the general was obvious, so this time, we cannot fail again. Li Hong's undeath is not only a threat to all forces in the court, but also a great threat to the general."

Li Ru looked at Dong Zhuo and said cautiously: "For the sake of safety, General, you'd better let your younger brother Dong Min (read min) take your confidant managers to Luoyang to avoid it."

"Changsheng, it seems that there is no need." Dong Zhuo said disrespectfully, "I promise that Li Hong will die this time."

Li Ru shook his head and said, "The general is so confident. I remember the last time that the general told me, what was the result?"

Dong Zhuo snorted angrily and didn't say anything.

"Li Hong must have a purpose to go to Jincheng. Li Hong is very clear about the consequences of his arrival in Jincheng. Even if Lao Bian doesn't kill him, the various sects in the court will not let him go. Kill him in Jincheng, but the good ones cannot be better, and the responsibility is the rebels. In addition, in order to get Li Hong to go to Jincheng to recruit rebels, the traitors and aristocratic bureaucrats joined forces to advise His Majesty. Li Hong also knew about this. In this case, he even took the initiative to write to His Majesty to ask His Majesty to go to Jincheng. If he has no purpose, who believes it? Do you believe it?" Li Ru said in confusion, "What is he going to do?"

Dong Zhuo sneered: "No matter what he does, he will die this time. It seems that there is no need for a dead man to worry like this?" He looked at Li Ru and continued, "If we decide to help Mr. Song, we will offend the Taiwei and the aristocratic clan..."

"The general has offended the Grand Marshal." Li Ru interrupted Dong Zhuo without hesitation, "That day you roared at the Huaili Palace, and you had offended the Grand Marshal long ago."

Dong Zhuo waved his hand indifferently and said, "That day I thought Li Hong would die, and the Grand Marshal would be in trouble soon, so some Lu Man. The next day I sent someone to give the Grand Marshal a lot of things to the Grand Marshal and apologized to him. The Grand Marshal was no longer angry. You just came back from Chang'an, and I forgot to tell you."

"Oh." Li Ru nodded in admiration and joked, "I heard that in the Taiwei Mansion that day, Sun Wentai, the military-sponsored by Zhang Wen, was very arrogant and actually faced you with a knife. There are more and more people in this world who are not afraid of death. Even a young man dares to face you with a knife. It seems that the general is old and no longer has the courage of the past."

Dong Zhuo suddenly showed murderous aura. His eyes narrowed slightly and said viciously: "These young people are very arrogant. Sun Wentai is so rude to me. If one day falls into my hands, he will be better than death."

Li Ru ignored him and began to clean up the pieces on the chessboard.

"It is indeed a bit difficult to satisfy all forces in the DPRK and China," said Li Ru: "But there is still a solution. Let's go to Longxian first."

“Which side do we support?”

"We support Geng Bi." Li Ru said calmly, "The Xiliang affairs will of course be solved by the Xiliang people."

Dong Zhuo suddenly realized, stroked Li Ru's shoulders, and praised: "Sir, wise. In this way, I will not offend anyone, and the matter of corruption has nothing to do with me. I just need to take the troops to Longxian with my troops at the invitation of Geng Bi. Sir, wise."

"Li Hong, an idiot, does not understand the affairs of the court at all. He offended all the forces in Xiliang. His fuss in Xiliang gave the general a chance to form forces in all aspects. Now the people from the Yang Mansion and Yuan Mansion of the Beijing family came to the door on their own initiative, which is a clear proof. Among the aristocratic families of our Han Dynasty, the Yang and Yuan are the most powerful, and the power is also the most powerful. The general takes this opportunity to establish good relations with them and get their support, which will greatly help the general's future career. "Li Ru said, "In addition, in time, the general has the opportunity to be jointly recommended by all forces in the court, and it is not a problem to be ranked among the three ministers."

Dong Zhuo talked about the central matter to Li Ru and smiled.

"But I'm careful not to kill the leopard."

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After Li Hong arrived in Yunwu City, he was sent directly to the government office by Yang Qiu and Li Kan. The government office was heavily guarded and protected, and even the roof was guarded by soldiers.

Han Sui was surprised to see that the famous leopard was a young and ordinary soldier. Li Hong was used to the eyes of others looking at him, calmly stepped forward and greeted Han Sui. Han Sui hurriedly invited him into the room. After a little greeting between the two sides, Li Hong immediately got to the point.

"It is really a blessing for my great Han Dynasty to take the initiative to give up resistance and surrender to the court with the people of Xiliang and the people of the world." Li Hong said with a smile, "Before leaving, Your Majesty has already said that as long as you are loyal to the great Han Dynasty and your Majesty, you will agree to all the conditions you can agree to."

Han Sui was overjoyed. The group of subordinates standing behind him immediately smiled happily.

They have always been worried that if they cannot reach an agreement with the court, things will be more troublesome. Although they have received news that the Western Expedition army is short of money and food and cannot be sustained, as long as the national treasury has income and food is abundant, the government army will immediately cross the Yellow River and enter Jincheng County. With their current strength, there is no other way except to escape into the Daxue Mountain to avoid disaster. Everyone rose up just to live a better life. Who would be willing to live a life of escaping all day long? Now, with the support of the emperor, Li Hong launched a bloody purge on corrupt officials in Xiliang, which gave everyone a hope of living a good life. Li Hong's first words calmed down their uneasy hearts.

"After the negotiations are completed, I will report to Your Majesty immediately. If nothing unexpected happens, the general amnesty will come down soon. You and the captives in Zixiushan camp can return to their hometowns and live a peaceful life again."

The generals behind Han Sui were even happier, and everyone started to whisper excitedly.

Han Sui calmed down his emotions and said with a smile: "Thank you for your Majesty's Holy Eternal Pleasure, thank you for bringing us such good news." After saying a lot of gratitude, he stood up and bowed and said: "Sir, I'd better take a break early."

Li Hong stood up and asked while replying the gift: "I heard your subordinates say on the way that Mr. Bian is sick. I want to visit him now, is it OK?"

Han Sui pondered slightly and refused politely: "I'm very hard on a long journey. I think I'd better take a break early. I'll have to stay in Jincheng for a while, so I don't think I have to hurry up at this moment."

Li Hong smiled and said, "It's good. But I have a request."

"Sir, please tell me."

"Zi Lie has discussed with you for a while on my behalf. I think you should have some specific requirements. We will start talking tonight."

Han Sui was stunned. Yang Qiu and others looked at Li Hong in confusion, wondering why he was so anxious.

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Han Sui and a group of generals walked out of the government office happily and were about to get on their horses and leave when he suddenly heard a loud noise in the southeast of the government office, and then he heard a shout of killing soaring into the sky.

Han Sui was shocked and turned around and rushed towards the government office. Yang Qiu and others roared all the way, calling on the guards along the way to support the sound. Li Hong and his servants lived in the cross-yard in the southeast direction.

Han Sui was anxious and wished he could fly with his wings. Now he was embarrassed. It would be fine if he could not defeat others in a war, but he could not even guarantee the safety of his stay for a few days. What qualifications would he have to negotiate with him?

Li Hong walked out the door slowly, looked at the collapsed courtyard wall outside, looked at the attendants guarding the courtyard, and looked at the crowd fighting hard around the collapsed courtyard wall. He smiled and said to Xu Rong beside him, "Zi Lie, guess, who wants to kill me so much, even the wall has collapsed. Isn't it too much for Mr. Wen Yue to save face?"

Xu Rong sighed and said, "It's the Qiang people, their own soldiers."

Li Hong couldn't laugh immediately. In the battle of Linghe, tens of thousands of Qiang people died on the battlefield. How could it be possible to say there was no hatred?

Zhao Yun held a spear in his hand and followed Li Hong, saying angrily: "This is a bit too much."

The guards guarding the government office flocked in and soon surrounded the assassinated group of Qiang and Hu soldiers.

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Han Sui's handsome face turned red with anger. He was furious and pointed at Cheng Yi and scolded loudly: "How did you do it? You can't even see a small government office well. What's the use? I've thrown away all my face."

Cheng Yi knelt on the ground and dared not speak.

"What's going on?"

"Return to the general, the soldiers guarding the government office and the soldiers guarding the city colluded with each other, intending to assassinate Lord Li to avenge the dead." Cheng Yi raised his head and said in frustration, "I failed to discover this matter early, please punish the general."

"We have been strictly blocking the news that Lord Li came to Yunwu. We only know that Lord Li came to Yunwu. Why do they all know?" Yang Qiu glanced at Han Sui and whispered, "General, it seems that someone must want to kill Lord Li in Jincheng. This government office seems unsafe."

Han Sui looked at Cheng Yi and asked, "Did you ask them, where did this news come from?"

"Return to General, Lord Li arrived at Yunwu City today. The soldiers and people of Yunwu City knew about him, and they also knew that Lord Li lived in the government office." Cheng Yi said in a panic expression, "It seems that we don't know the only one left in the city."

Han Sui was shocked.

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Han Sui invited Li Hong to live in his home, but Li Hong refused.
To be continued...