Honglou: This bastard is too persuasive.

Chapter 696 Poison Scheme
"My lord, although our army did not win this battle, we have also found out the strength of the enemy." Guo Tu said, "Although Gongsun Zan's White Horse Volunteers are brave, their numbers are limited; the Qingzhou army is slightly weaker in combat effectiveness. We can rest for a while, replenish our troops and food, and then send out our troops again to defeat them one by one."

Yuan Shao nodded and said, "As you say. Pass the order down, the whole army should rest and prepare for the next expedition."

After Gongsun Zan returned to Youzhou, he also summoned his generals to discuss countermeasures.

"Although we have repelled Yuan Shao this time, we have also suffered heavy losses." Gongsun Zan said worriedly, "We must recover our strength as soon as possible to prevent Yuan Shao from attacking again."

"My lord, we can recruit new soldiers in Youzhou and strengthen their training," Yan Gang said. "At the same time, we should maintain close contact with Qingzhou and jointly resist Yuan Shao."

Gongsun Zan nodded and said, "Okay, let's do it. Send the order to recruit new soldiers and intensify the training."

After returning to Qingzhou, Qingzhou Governor Tian Kai also actively prepared for defense. He knew that Yuan Shao would not give up and the next attack would be even more fierce.

"Brothers, we must intensify our training and improve our combat effectiveness," Tian Kai said to his generals. "At the same time, we must strengthen the city defenses, store food and grass, and prepare for long-term defense."

The three forces are all preparing for the next war. The dispute between Jizhou, Youzhou and Qingzhou is far from over, and the future situation is even more confusing.

The atmosphere in the palace of Chang'an was oppressive and dreary. The luxurious palace looked particularly eerie in the dim light. Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie, sat on the dragon throne, thin and frightened, like a bird trapped in a cage, with helplessness and confusion in his eyes. Under the hall, Dong Zhuo walked in with his head held high. He was burly, with a face full of flesh, exuding a chilling aura. Behind him followed a group of stern guards, and the sound of his footsteps echoed in the empty hall.

"Your Majesty, now that Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan, and Tian Kai are fighting each other, they are too busy to take care of themselves. This is really a blessing for us!" Dong Zhuo was very proud, and his laughter rang out in the hall like a broken gong. "The princes of the world are killing each other, which is very beneficial to us. Your Majesty, shouldn't you show your appreciation and issue an edict to reward them so that they can continue to fight?"

Liu Xie was shocked. He understood Dong Zhuo's intention. He wanted to use the name of reward to sow discord among the three parties and make the fight between them more intense. He was just a puppet in Dong Zhuo's hands and had no room for resistance at all.

"Grandmaster Dong is right, but..." Liu Xie's voice trembled as he tried to delay time. "I don't know how to reward you. Grandmaster, please let me know."

"Humph, how difficult is that!" Dong Zhuo waved his hand impatiently. "Doesn't Yuan Shao want to dominate? Make him a general and let his ambition swell even more. As for Gongsun Zan, make him a general of cavalry and let him continue to fight Yuan Shao to the death. And that Tian Kai, make him a general of chariots and cavalry and let him participate in this fight as well."

Liu Xie nodded helplessly, picked up the pen tremblingly, and wrote down Dong Zhuo's order on the imperial edict. He secretly sighed in his heart that as the Son of Heaven, he did not even have the power to reward ministers and could only let Dong Zhuo manipulate him.

"Your Majesty, this decree must be written with sincerity and heartfelt words, so that they can feel your Majesty's favor." Dong Zhuo had a sneer on his face and a cunning light flashing in his eyes, as if he was enjoying a good show directed by himself.

Liu Xie endured the humiliation in his heart, wrote the imperial edict, and handed it to Dong Zhuo for review. Dong Zhuo took the imperial edict, glanced at it, and nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad, not bad. Come, immediately send these three imperial edicts to Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan and Tian Kai."

Soon, three imperial edicts were sent to Jizhou, Youzhou and Qingzhou respectively. When Yuan Shao received the imperial edicts, he was discussing the next battle plan with his advisers in his tent.

"My lord, the imperial edict has arrived!" The messenger hurried into the tent and shouted loudly.

Yuan Shao quickly stood up, straightened his clothes, and led everyone to kneel down to receive the order.

"The Emperor, in compliance with the Will of Heaven, proclaims: Yuan Shao is now fighting against the rebels, and his loyalty is commendable, so he is appointed as the general. I hope you will continue your efforts and serve the court..." The messenger read out the imperial edict aloud.

After hearing this, Yuan Shao was secretly pleased with himself, but on the surface he pretended to be terrified and said, "Your Majesty, I thank you for your grace!"

After the messenger left, Yuan Shao laughed loudly: "Haha, Dong Zhuo is quite sensible and appointed me as a general. It seems that my reputation has spread to Chang'an."

"My lord, this is probably Dong Zhuo's conspiracy." Advisor Guo Tu frowned and said worriedly, "He wants to use the reward to make us fight Gongsun Zan and Tian Kai more fiercely, so that he can reap the benefits."

Yuan Shao's face changed slightly, and after thinking for a moment, he said: "Mr. Guo's words are not without reason. However, the title of the general is not useless to me. With this title, I can command the world and expand my power. As for Dong Zhuo's conspiracy, I have my own countermeasures."

In Youzhou, when Gongsun Zan received the imperial edict, he was also discussing war with his generals in his tent.

"General Gongsun, the imperial edict has arrived!" The soldier walked into the tent and reported loudly.

Gongsun Zan led everyone to kneel down and receive the order.

"The Emperor, in compliance with the Will of Heaven, proclaims: Gongsun Zan has guarded the frontier and made numerous military achievements, so he is specially awarded the title of General of Cavalry..." the messenger read out.

Gongsun Zan received the imperial edict, but he was full of doubts. He knew Dong Zhuo's character and knew there must be some conspiracy behind this sudden reward.

"General, Dong Zhuo definitely has bad intentions," General Yan Gang said angrily, "He wants to sow discord between us and Yuan Shao and make us continue to fight."

Gongsun Zan nodded: "Of course I understand. However, the title of General of Cavalry can also enhance our prestige. Let's accept it for now and see what other tricks Dong Zhuo has."

When Tian Kai of Qingzhou received the imperial edict, he was also confused. "Governor Tian, ​​the imperial edict has arrived!" the messenger walked into the mansion and shouted loudly.

Tian Kai hurried out to greet him and knelt down to receive the order.

"The Emperor, in compliance with the Will of Heaven, proclaims: Tian Kai has made outstanding contributions in protecting the country and the people, and is hereby appointed General of Chariots and Cavalry..."

Tian Kai took the imperial edict and thought to himself, "What is Dong Zhuo up to? He must have some ulterior motive in rewarding me at this time."

His adviser stepped forward and said, "Governor, this is obviously Dong Zhuo's strategy to sow discord. He wants us to continue fighting with Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan so that he can profit from it."

Tian Kai frowned and said, "I have thought of this as well. But the title of General of Chariots and Cavalry should not be wasted. We should accept it first, and then deal with it carefully."

In the Chang'an Palace, Dong Zhuo learned that the three had accepted the reward, and laughed triumphantly: "Haha, these three idiots really took the bait. They thought they were great after getting a title, but they didn't know that this was the beginning of their mutual destruction."

"The Grand Master's plan is ingenious, and no one in the world can match it." The counselor beside him said flatteringly, "In this way, Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan and Tian Kai will definitely fight more fiercely for greater power. We can just sit back and watch the fight."

Dong Zhuo showed a ferocious smile on his face: "That's right, when they both lose the fight, the world will be mine!"

Liu Xie sat on the dragon throne, looking at Dong Zhuo's arrogant appearance, his heart was filled with sorrow. He knew that in this chaotic world, his fate was closely tied to the situation of the world, and Dong Zhuo's plan would undoubtedly plunge the people of the world into deeper suffering.

The atmosphere in the Taishi Mansion in Chang'an was strange and depressing. Dong Zhuo sat high in the main seat, the candlelight burning beside him flickered, reflecting his fleshy face, outlining a hideous outline. Li Ru, dressed in a black robe, walked into the hall silently, his face was stern, and his eyes were filled with a frightening shrewdness.

"My lord," Li Ru bowed slightly, his voice low but clear, "Now I'm rewarding Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan, and Tian Kai, just to test the waters. I have a plan that can cause complete civil strife among the princes of the world, and from now on no one will be able to compete with my lord."

Dong Zhuo was originally still immersed in complacency about the situation, but upon hearing this, he immediately became interested, leaned forward, and asked eagerly: "Oh? What's Wenyou's plan? Tell me quickly!"

"My lord," Li Ru said slowly, his eyes flashing with calculation, "we use the name of the Son of Heaven to lavishly reward the princes of the world. There are many ways to do this. For those who are powerful and ambitious, such as Yuan Shao, we give them extremely high official positions to satisfy their vanity, making them more arrogant and thinking that they are destined to be the king, thus arousing the dissatisfaction of other princes; for those who are slightly weaker but have great ambitions, such as Yuan Shu, we give them some empty titles that seem glorious but have no real power, so that they will feel resentful and feel that they are despised, and then they will have rifts with other princes; and for those princes who are law-abiding, we give them tasks that do not match their strength, forcing them to expand their power in order to complete the tasks, and causing conflicts of interest with the surrounding princes. In this way, there will inevitably be many contradictions and constant fighting among the princes."

Dong Zhuo listened with confusion in his eyes at first, then gradually revealed an expression of sudden enlightenment, and finally laughed out loud: "Hahahaha, Wenyou, your vicious plan is brilliant! However, the specific implementation of this still needs careful consideration. Tell me, what official positions should be given to those princes?"

Li Ru was well prepared. He took out a list from his sleeve and handed it to Dong Zhuo. "My lord, please take a look. Yuan Shao has been appointed as the general. This time, you can grant him the nine gifts to make his status extremely respected. The other princes will definitely be jealous. Yuan Shu, you can appoint him as the Grand Tutor. It sounds like he has a high position and power, but in fact, he has no soldiers and no power. His narrow-minded character will definitely cause trouble for other princes. As for Liu Biao, you can appoint him as the General of Zhennan and the governor of Jingzhou. Then order him to eliminate the thieves and rebels in Jingzhou in a short period of time. With Liu Biao's strength, this is by no means an easy task. He will definitely compete with surrounding forces for resources."

Dong Zhuo nodded as he listened, the smile on his face becoming more ferocious: "Okay, okay! I'll do as you say. However, after this imperial decree, if the princes see through our plan and don't come to claim the reward, what should we do?"

Li Ru smiled slightly, as if everything was under his control: "Don't worry, my lord. Most of the princes in this world are ambitious. Even if they know there is a trick, they can hardly resist the temptation of power. Moreover, we are rewarding them in the name of the emperor. If they refuse, they will be disobeying the emperor's order and will be despised by the world. Even if someone sees through it, they dare not refuse easily."

Dong Zhuo patted his thigh, stood up, and paced back and forth in the hall: "Wenyou, if your plan succeeds, the world will really be in my pocket! However, the wording of this imperial edict must be carefully considered, and it must be written in a high-sounding manner so that those princes cannot find fault with it."

"My Lord, what you said is absolutely right," Li Ru said with a bow. "I have already made all the arrangements for this matter. I will personally draft the contents of the imperial edict to ensure that it reflects the emperor's favor and achieves our goal."

"Good, good!" Dong Zhuo rubbed his hands excitedly, "I'll leave this matter to you. Make sure to send out the imperial edict as soon as possible. I can't wait to watch the good show of those princes killing each other!"

Li Ru was about to leave when Dong Zhuo suddenly stopped him and said, "Wait, Wen You, what if these princes unite to deal with us?"

Li Ru turned around and said calmly, "My lord, don't worry. There are already many conflicts among the princes, and their interests are different. Our plan is to deepen the conflicts between them. Even if some princes want to unite, it will be difficult to reach a consensus. Moreover, we are guarding Chang'an, with a strategic location and strong soldiers and horses. Even if they unite, they dare not easily invade."

After hearing this, Dong Zhuo's doubts were completely eliminated and he laughed with satisfaction: "Hahahaha, with Wen You here, I, Dong Zhuo, have no worries about not being able to accomplish great things! Go and do it!"

After Li Ru left, Dong Zhuo sat alone in the hall with a smug smile on his face. He seemed to have seen the scene of the princes fighting to the death for power, while he sat firmly in Chang'an and reaped the benefits.

In the seemingly peaceful city of Chang'an, a bigger storm is quietly brewing. Li Ru's vicious plan is about to change the world and plunge countless people into deeper suffering.

Luoyang City, under Jia Changsheng's careful governance, has gradually recovered from the ruins of Dong Zhuo's rebellion. On the streets, shops are lined up, pedestrians are coming and going, and the hawking sounds are heard one after another. Jia Changsheng strolled on the street, looking at this hard-won peace, his heart was full of relief.

However, this peace did not last long. One day, Jia Changsheng was discussing the further development plan of Luoyang City with his advisers in his mansion. Suddenly, a soldier rushed in, knelt on one knee, and looked nervous.

"General, the imperial emissary has arrived outside Luoyang City, bringing with him the imperial edict, saying that they want to summon you to receive the decree!"

Jia Changsheng was shocked when he heard this. He looked at his advisers and saw doubt and worry in each other's eyes. Since Dong Zhuo took the emperor to move the capital to Chang'an, the connection between Luoyang and Chang'an has become subtle and complicated. Now the imperial envoy suddenly came, what was the matter?
"Everyone," Jia Changsheng stood up, his expression solemn, "No matter what this imperial edict is about, we must respond with caution. Follow me out of the city to welcome the envoy."

(End of this chapter)