I will be the master of Xuande

Chapter 662: Demotion to Director
Regarding Dong Zhuo, Liu Jian actually always kept it in his mind!

After all, those are more than [-] Xiliang soldiers. Although he has countless elite soldiers and generals under his command, he has just pacified Chang'an. Although his morale is unprecedented, it is internally unstable after a series of reforms. Once Dong Zhuo's army suddenly moves east , It is very likely that problems will arise within the imperial court that has just experienced a war. Even if there are no problems, it is inevitable that Guanzhong's economy and people's livelihood will decline further due to the war. This is not what Liu Jian wants to see.

Therefore, Liu Jian was somewhat hesitant on this matter.

It's not that he thought he couldn't defeat Dong Zhuo, but even if he did win, the court would be traumatized again, which was not what Liu Jian wanted to see.

But now, what can be done?

The Xiliang Army led by Dong Zhuo actually exists there. These Xiliang soldiers are inherently unstable factors in the world and will never disappear.

After drinking with the princes and kings, Liu Jian also began to think about this matter seriously.

How should Dong Zhuo deal with the Xiliang Army?

In the evening, Liu Jian summoned several of his most trusted ministers to discuss the matter.

These loyal ministers include Xun Yu, Xun You, Jia Xu, Dong Zhao, Liu Biao, Zhang Ji and others.

These people are all top-notch resourceful people, and naturally they all think very clearly about what Liu Jian wants to do.

After mentioning Dong Zhuo's question, everyone suddenly fell silent.

Everyone is seriously thinking about how to deal with this matter. After all, more than [-] Xiliang soldiers are no joke.

Suddenly, Xun Yu looked at Jia Xu and said, "Wen He is a close friend of the Prime Minister. He has offered suggestions many times over the years, and everything he said is right. Besides, Wen He is from Liangzhou, so he has no doubts about Dong Zhuo." We are relatively familiar with it and are familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of the Liangzhou Army, so it would be better for Wen He to speak first."

When Jia Xu heard that Xun Yu directly called his name, he felt helpless and at the same time blamed Xun Yu.

I don’t seem to have offended you, right?Why did you let me take the lead?

But the problem is that Jia Xu really misunderstood Xun Yu. Xun Yu didn't have so many ideas under Liu Jian, and he was not as good at protecting himself as Jia Xu.

He just thought about Liu Jian's career wholeheartedly.

In fact, Jia Xu knew it in his heart, so he was helpless about Xun Yu's selflessness.

But now Jia Xu is different from before. Liu Jian's status has risen sharply. No matter how low-key Jia Xu is, he can no longer hide his identity.

As an outstanding person in charge of the school affairs office under Liu Jian, even if Jia Xu wanted to keep a low profile, it would be impossible.

Liu Jian has reached the top position in the world. If something goes wrong, Jia Xu cannot escape.

Jia Xu understands the truth, but his habits are hard to change after all.

As a result, Jia Xu put aside the distracting thoughts in his heart and began to seriously consider this matter for Liu Jian.

After a while, Jia Xu slowly spoke:

"Actually, it is not difficult to defeat Dong Xiangguo quickly. Liangzhou's army is more than [-], and it is currently in Xiliang. It seems that there are many soldiers, but in fact... that army also has huge weaknesses,"

Dong Zhao suddenly said from the side: "Could it be reserve food?"

Jia Xu said: "Exactly, the army of more than [-] people on the front line of Xiliang relies on the food supplied by the imperial court to Liangzhou. What was the purpose of King Hongnong casting small coins and implementing bad government before?"

"Isn't it just to support the Liangzhou army? To make achievements?"

"No matter how many soldiers and horses there are in Liangzhou, without the court's supply of food and grass, they will eventually become scattered."

These words completely awakened everyone present.

"It is indeed a good idea to cut off the food supply road to Dong Zhuo and wipe out more than [-] Xiliang troops in a blink of an eye and become a defeated army."

At this moment, Xun You stood up.
He said to Liu Jian very solemnly: "Prime Minister, Wenhe's method can indeed hit the target with one blow and defeat the Xiliang army overnight, but this approach has no effect on the court, Liangzhou, or the entire Guanzhong." What’s the benefit?”

"On the surface, it seems to have solved the crisis for the imperial court, but in fact, it has transferred the crisis to the future."

"Gongda can be more careful."

Xun You said: "I have been in the imperial court for several years, and I have some interactions with these Xiliang generals. Although not many, I can see some things clearly."

"These Xiliang soldiers are different from ordinary soldiers, and they are also different from the Han army,"

"The Xiliang Army is more wild and more survivable. When they were fighting the Qiang people on the battlefield at the border of Liangzhou, food shortages were just a common thing for them. Food shortages were generally a serious problem for the generals of the Xiliang Army. It’s not that difficult to say.”

"Once the Xiliang soldiers run out of food, although they lose the ability to fight back against Chang'an, it does not mean that they cannot protect themselves. They will definitely plunder everywhere in Guanzhong, rob common people, take the people's food, and loot a lot of wealth. ."

"From now on, these Xiliang soldiers will turn from the imperial army into rebels sweeping across Guanxi. They will become hungry wolves, plundering the entire people. The result is that Guanxi will never be in a stable state. status, and I have some understanding of the Prime Minister’s ambitions.

"The prime minister has a far-sighted vision. He not only wants to end the war within the Han Dynasty, but is also committed to pacifying foreign nations."

"The Western Regions countries to the west of Liangzhou, or the foreign nations further west from the Western Regions countries, have always been the Prime Minister's target."

"However, if our territory in Kansai is unstable, what spare power do we have to use troops abroad, carry out economic and trade with foreign countries, and make the Han Dynasty rich and powerful?"

"Once these Xiliang soldiers are not handled well, they will become a stumbling block that hinders the development of our national strength in the local area. To wipe them out, it will take several years. This is definitely not a good thing for the Han Dynasty."

"If the Prime Minister is planning for the long term, he cannot use the strategy of cutting off food at will, at least not to cut off all the food for the Xiliang soldiers. Instead, he must provide a small amount of food so that they are not full, but there is still enough to eat, so that they can't eat for the time being. Without the control of the imperial court, there is no way to completely break up with the imperial court."

Xun You's words can be described as mature and prudent, with great strategy and foresight, and Jia Xu couldn't help but be convinced.

"Prime Minister, your words of justice will be of great benefit to the country! Just now Jia just thought of how to remove the threat from Chang'an, but he didn't think so long-term. He also asked the Prime Minister to adopt the policy of justice."

Liu Jian was also very satisfied with Xun You's advice.

He said: "Gongda has been in the court for so long, and he has a long-term vision. According to Gongda's policy, we will first supply a small amount of food to the Xiliang soldiers, but we will not let them eat enough."

"You can't advance if you can't advance, you can't retreat if you retreat. Stabilize its momentum."

"However, this method can only solve a temporary problem. How to completely solve the Xiliang Army matter requires careful planning."

"I think the Xiliang Army issues cannot be solved quickly in a short period of time, but we need a general direction for the system to operate. Which direction do you think we should go in the future?" Xun Yu said: "If the Prime Minister wants to take an impartial view and provide a small amount of food to the Xiliang Army to appease them, then the Xiliang Army will inevitably be divided into several factions in the future. Some of them will be eager to return to the court, and some will He wants to occupy the territory of Kansai and become king. "

"So stabilize them first, and then use different methods according to their different situations. If we can conquer them, we will find ways to conquer them. If we cannot conquer them, we will slowly try to conquer them. In this way, we can bring about the consequences of the Kansai War. losses to a minimum.”

Liu Jian said: "In your opinion, which generals in the Xiliang army are willing to submit to the imperial court?"

Xun Yu couldn't help but smile helplessly after hearing this.

"Prime Minister, I'm afraid I can't help you with this matter. I've never met any of the generals of the Xiliang Army. Everything is just hearsay. I'm afraid I won't be able to come up with any good ideas."

Liu Jian looked at Xun You, Zhang Ji and Liu Biao again.

"All the princes are officials in Chang'an City, so they are acquainted with the generals of the Xiliang Army, right? Do they know something about their characters?"

Dong Zhao smiled helplessly: "We also really want to help the Prime Minister, but we wait for Qingliu to become an official. In order to avoid suspicion, we have little contact with the generals of the Xiliang Army. Although we can see each other sometimes, we can't even talk to each other. I can’t even say a few words. As for their character, in fact, in my opinion, none of the generals in the Xiliang Army have good character. As for who really wants to serve the imperial court, I can’t say for sure..."

This statement is indeed very reasonable.

Only people within Xiliang can understand the generals of the Xiliang Army. It is probably impossible to ask these Qingliu people.

Jia Xu stroked his beard and thought about it carefully.

Liu Jian turned to look at Jia Xu: "Wen Heqian was once a member of the Xiliang army. I think he knows a lot about the generals. What do you think of their character and personality? Who can comfort and subdue them?" "

Jia Xu smiled softly and said: "Prime Minister, among these Xiliang generals, how can there be a person with good character? These people all grew up in border counties, are good at fighting, and are very tyrannical. The environment in which they lived since childhood It is all about the strong bullying the weak. It is really difficult to find a few of them who are loyal to the country and sensible. However, there is no guarantee that these people will be willing to surrender to the court and serve the prime minister because of their interests. "

To put it bluntly, he didn't say it, but it wasn't that Jia Xu didn't want to say it. In fact, none of the Xiliang Army Lieutenant Generals were reliable, they were all bad people.

If you ask Jia Xu to say which one of them is sincere in surrendering, Jia Xu really can't tell.

Moreover, the generals of the Xiliang Army seem to be relatively simple, but their respective interests are more complicated. They are all people who are good at fighting, and are very bloodthirsty. They regard interests as life, and they still have differences with the Central Plains people in terms of interest division and justice. A big difference.

Therefore, even if some people surrender, they are somewhat sincere, and Jia Xu cannot tell how much attitude and interest the court must show to win over them.

Without clarifying these prerequisites, Jia Xu felt that it would be useless to talk too much.

Liu Jian did not blame the people under his command. After all, it was indeed a big span for them to suddenly turn their strategy into an analysis of human nature.

Moreover, human nature is a very complicated thing. It may be okay to analyze the character of a person with whom you are familiar, but it is not that easy for these people to analyze the character of someone thousands of miles away.

Even if they are all top wise men, they may not be able to do this well.

But he saw Liu Jian gently patting the table in front of him and looking into the distance.

"I actually have an idea about this matter."

"But, I need someone who is brave and resourceful to do it for me! I want to send someone as an envoy to Ji County... to see Dong Zhuo and convey to him my current situation in the court and some of my inner thoughts."

"However, this envoy must be someone with great wisdom and courage. Do you have any outstanding candidates to recommend to me?"

When everyone heard that Liu Jian actually wanted to send someone to see Dong Zhuo, they couldn't help but be surprised.

Why send people to see Dong Zhuo at this time?
Isn't this fanning the flames of Dong Zhuo?
Thinking about it, even though Dong Zhuo is far away in Xiliang now, if he knew what happened in Chang'an City, he would definitely hate Liu Jian to death.

After all, the person who originally controlled the situation in Chang'an City was Dong Zhuo. Now that everything he had was taken away by Liu Jian, wouldn't Dong Zhuo regard Liu Jian as his enemy?

The key now is to dismantle the generals of the Xiliang Army under Dong Zhuo. What does the prime minister want to do when he suddenly sends someone to see Dong Zhuo?

Seeing the confusion in everyone's eyes, Liu Jian said: "Actually, you don't know Dong Zhuo well, and I have been friends with Dong Zhuo for a long time, and we can be considered friends."

"I probably know a little more about him than you do."

"Although he has a cruel personality and does things that don't follow common sense, he is really a hero of the generation, and he also has ambitions in his heart. It's just that as he gets older, this ambition has gradually faded away."

"He has gone through many detours in his life, been taken advantage of by others, and suffered setbacks, but in the end he was able to reach this level in his later years. It is indeed not easy."

"In fact, in the court, he always had two choices, either to be a powerful minister and a tyrannical minister, or to be a minister who can help the emperor and be famous in history."

"I was the one who planned these two paths for him. I am very lucky that Dong Zhuo finally chose the right path."

"In these years, Xiliang soldiers have not caused too much chaos in Guanzhong and Sizhou. In fact, it is all because of his deliberate suppression."

"If Dong Zhuo had let go of the Xiliang Army, no one knows what kind of damage the land of Xizhou would be now to the Xiliang Army."

"Just for this, I bet he didn't want to be infamous until the last moment."

"He has worked hard for so many years. If it is just because I am stationed in the court and he gives up the achievements and reputation he has accumulated over the years, I think he will not be willing to die."

"And his younger brothers, nephews and the Dong family are still there. As long as you are a normal person, it is impossible not to make a plan for your family."

"So I want to send an envoy to negotiate with Dong Zhuo."

Everyone was surprised when they heard this.

"Prime Minister wants to recruit Dong Zhuo?"

Liu Jian shook his head: "He is already at this age and his life is short. He will not be willing to succumb to me."

"However, his Dong family still needs a way out. He himself will not surrender to me, but if we manage to persuade him properly, his Dong family, his brother and nephew will come to my command on his behalf. .”

"And if the Dong family is willing to join, it means that more than half of the Xiliang army can be controlled by me, and then slowly absorbed and digested."

"It's better than letting these people become rebels of a separate state, right?"

"So, I want to demote Dong!"

(End of this chapter)