My younger brother Lü Fengxian

Chapter 338 The overall situation has been decided
After Lu Yi killed Dong Zhuo, Gao Shun soon led his troops to capture Yuan Shao from the chaotic army and tied him up.

The 30,000 Bingzhou cavalry led by Lu Bu also fought their way to Lu Yi and took firm control of the situation.

"Dong Zhuo is dead, Yuan Shao is bound!"

"Those who surrender will be spared, but those who resist will be killed without mercy!"

After taking control of the situation, Lu Yi did not want to continue killing.

Although these rebel soldiers belong to different camps, most of them are lower-class nobles.

He is not like Yuan Shao, a nobleman who treats wealth and glory as instinctively as breathing, nor is he like Dong Zhuo, a powerful prince with insatiable greed.

They are still a class that can be won over.

Moreover, these rebel soldiers have now been defeated by Lu Yi and are scattered in the vast city of Luoyang. If Lu Yi is forced into a corner, they may resort to desperate measures.

It was naturally impossible for them to deal with Lu Yi, but if they raised their butcher knives towards ordinary people in Luoyang City, it would be Lu Yi's fault.

Not only did Lu Yi now have a large army approaching the border, he was also guarding the four gates of Luoyang. These defeated soldiers had nowhere to retreat or escape, so they could only surrender to Lu Yi.

"Hahaha, bro, we won!"

After seeing that he had successfully subdued more than 10,000 defeated soldiers, Lu Bu couldn't help but laugh and stepped forward to congratulate them.

"The Lord is so powerful and majestic, and we are here to celebrate with him!"

Upon seeing this, generals such as Tian Feng, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, and Zhang He also dismounted and came to Lu Yi to congratulate him.

"It's all thanks to the military advisor's advice and the soldiers' dedication. This is not just my achievement!"

"Don't worry, my fellow soldiers. After the situation is settled, I will definitely ask the emperor for your contributions!"

However, Lu Yi waved his hands repeatedly and helped the generals up one by one.

"Thank you, my lord!"

All the generals were delighted to be able to follow a lord like Lu Yi who was friendly and clear about rewards and punishments.

However, unlike everyone else who was delighted, Yuan Shao, who had already woken up, saw that his own army had been completely wiped out, while his enemy Lu Yi's army had won a great victory, and he could not help but curse in frustration.

"Lu thief! You held the emperor hostage and massacred the ministers. You are truly the greatest thief in the world!"

"I, Yuan Shao, only regret that my ability is limited and I cannot kill you with my own hands. But don't worry, even if I, Yuan Shao, die, I will turn into a ghost and take your life!"

"What a joke! You were no match for me when you were alive. Do you think I would still be afraid of you if you died?"

"Shut his dog's mouth and press him down!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Yi sneered with disdain and waved his hand. Several guards as ferocious as wolves and tigers rushed forward, stuffed the mouth of Yuan Shao, the son of a noble family with three generations of dukes, with a piece of tattered linen that they found from somewhere, and then dragged him away like a dead pig.

"Lord!"

A miserable cry reached Lu Yi's ears. He turned around and saw that the scholar who was behind Dong Zhuo just now was now lying on Dong Zhuo's body and crying.

"Who are you?"

Lu Yi raised his halberd and held his neck, speaking coldly.

"I am Li Ru, Dong Gong's adviser."

Li Ru was frightened by Lu Yi's murderous aura. He swallowed his saliva and said in a trembling voice.

"Oh? Are you Dong Zhuo's son-in-law Li Ru?"

When Lu Yi heard this, he had an idea and pulled the tip of his halberd back half an inch and asked Li Ru.

"It's the villain."

Li Ru felt sad again when he heard this.

Li Ru, who came from a humble family, was not valued by the nobles and could only serve Dong Zhuo, who also came from a humble family.

He was wholeheartedly planning for Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo's ability to become the governor of Liang Province and lead an army of 200,000 soldiers was inseparable from Li Ru's talent and hard work.

But now his mission has not been accomplished and his benefactor has passed away, which makes Li Ru, who has great ambitions, feel sad.

"I have heard a lot about your talent and wisdom in Bingzhou."

"You have been helping the tyrant for many years. You and the thief Dong should be executed together. However, I take your intelligence into consideration and give you two choices now."

Lu Yi stopped the horse steadily and announced to Li Ru indifferently.

"One is that you and Dong Zhuo will die together and leave behind a name that will be cursed for eternity."

"Second, you must be loyal to me and use your talents to help me achieve my great cause and leave your name in history!"

The choice that Lu Yi gave Li Ru was not difficult to choose.

Li Ru was not a blindly loyal person. When Dong Zhuo was already dead, for the sake of his ambitions and reputation after his death, he hesitated for a moment before respectfully kneeling down at the feet of Lu Yi's horse.

"Li Ru is willing to surrender and meet the new master!"

"Hahahaha, a man who knows the current affairs is a hero. You can be considered a hero too."

"I will appoint you as the chief priest of the army, and you will be in charge of the military affairs."

Seeing that he had successfully subdued Li Ru, Lu Yi couldn't help but feel slightly happy.

Historically, although Li Ru assisted Dong Zhuo, he did many bad things.

However, he was always loyal to Dong Zhuo and always provided him with advice.

This person still has some good points, and he is not completely treacherous.

Therefore, Lu Yi could not help but feel happy about having another first-class strategist under his command.

"Thank you for the reward, my lord. However, I do not want any reward. I only ask that you allow me to collect my remains and bury my old master."

After Li Ru was taken in by Lu Yi, he felt relieved. Then he hesitated for a moment and bowed before Lu Yi again.

"Well, considering your loyalty, I'll grant you permission!"

"I have been granted permission to bury him with the rites of a noble lord!"

Lu Yi raised his eyebrows when he heard this, and his evaluation of Li Ru in his heart couldn't help but increase even more.

But Dong Zhuo was already dead, and although he had a bad reputation, he still tried to harm him.

But Lu Yi didn't need to argue with a dead man, so he waved his hand magnanimously and agreed to this matter.

Li Ru was overjoyed upon seeing this, and bowed to Lu Yi again with sincerity. Then he took a few guards to carry Dong Zhuo's body away to prepare for burial.

But just as Li Ru was about to leave, he suddenly turned around and whispered to Lu Yi.

"I have something else to report to you, my lord."

"But what about Dong Zhuo's remaining Xiliang troops?"

Lu Yi's light words made Li Ru come back to his senses suddenly. He looked at Lu Yi hurriedly. When he saw Lu Yi looking at him with a smile, he understood that Lu Yi had already known about Dong Zhuo's dispatch of troops, and he deliberately did not say it in order to test whether he was sincere in surrendering.

After Li Ru came to his senses, his back was immediately wet with cold sweat. He didn't bother to think about where Lu Yi got the information from, and immediately knelt down in front of Lu Yi.

"My lord, you have a brilliant plan. I admire you. Yes, there is a 100,000-man Xiliang army heading here. I am afraid they will arrive in Luoyang tomorrow!" "I have lived in Xiliang for a long time and know the weaknesses of these Xiliang troops. I am willing to give you advice and help you repel the enemy!"

"Haha, although the Xiliang army is powerful, they are all dependent on Dong Zhuo. Now that Dong Zhuo is dead, I have a better way than to be an enemy of the Xiliang army."

After seeing that Li Ru had successfully passed the test, Lu Yi truly regarded him as his confidant and helped him up with a smile.

"Oh? I wonder what good plan the lord has?"

Li Ru was stunned when he heard this.

"Although the Xiliang army is amazing in combat, they are actually extremely greedy. They are loyal to whoever feeds them. Now that Dong Zhuo is dead, their people must be terrified and unable to move forward or backward. I would like to prepare a large sum of money to ask the chief priest to help me surrender and appease them. I wonder if the chief priest is willing to take this trouble for me?"

"With the arrangements made by the Marquis of Jin, aren't you afraid that Li Ru and I will flee with the money and return to the Xiliang army?"

Li Ru couldn't help but be shocked again when he heard this.

Being as smart as he was, how could he not know that he could use money to win over the Western Liang Army? The reason why he did not propose this strategy, but instead chose to resist and destroy the Western Liang Army as the second best option, was that he was worried that Lu Yi would question his loyalty and that would be disadvantageous to him.

Now I didn't expect that Lu Yi would directly reveal this point, and even trust him so much that he asked me to go and persuade him to surrender.

This was a huge recognition and trust for Li Ru, who had just surrendered.

"I, Lu Yi, never doubt people I don't employ, and never doubt people I employ!"

"Since Jijiu has surrendered to me, I will naturally entrust him with important tasks!"

"Besides, even if Jijiu leaves me this time, we may meet again when I destroy the Xiliang army in the future. But by then, you and I won't be able to talk like this."

Lu Yi said with a smile, his face full of calm confidence.

"I obey your command and am willing to serve as your lord's lobbyist. I will persuade the entire 200,000 Xiliang troops to surrender!"

At this moment, Li Ru only felt that compared to Dong Zhuo, Lu Yi not only had an advantage in age and power, but also had a broad mind and tolerance that Dong Zhuo could never match.

Perhaps by surrendering to this man by accident, he could achieve something great, so when he looked at Lu Yi again, there was suddenly a kind of fanaticism and excitement in his eyes.

"Don't worry, you can bury your old master first and then go."

However, Lu Yi waved his hand and asked Li Ru to take Dong Zhuo's body down.

The two of them deliberately kept their conversation secret, and only a few people around them could hear it.

Among the ministers captured by Lu Yi, there were some people with flexible moral bottom line. Seeing that Lu Yi was so magnanimous to his former enemy Dong Zhuo, they could not help but become excited. They quickly broke free from the soldiers who were guarding them, came to Lu Yi and bowed to him.

"We all respect the benevolence and righteousness of the Duke of Jin. We did not want to be his enemy, but it was Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao who forced us to do so."

"We are willing to surrender, and we only ask the Duke of Jin to forgive our crimes."

"Humph, a bunch of fence-sitters!"

"Only when the axe is chopped off can one beg for mercy!"

Seeing this, Lu Bu couldn't help but feel disdainful and snorted coldly.

"You traitors are unworthy of being nobles. I am ashamed to be associated with you. I would rather die than surrender to the traitor Lu!"

Not only did Lu Bu and other civil and military officials under Lu Yi's command disdain this, but even other nobles and aristocrats who had been in the same camp with them started to curse them.

Lu Yi glanced at Lu Bu to stop his complaints, and then came to the noble captive who had been shouting the loudest just now, beheaded him with a sword, and stopped the shouting of the terrified noble captives.

Then he put on a friendly face and personally helped up these spineless nobles and aristocrats in front of him.

"You are all sensible people who know the rules. I, Lu Yi, always respect talents."

"Since you are willing to abandon darkness and join the light today, you are my friends. I, Lu Yi, only have the sword in my hand to deal with my enemies, but I, Lu Yi, respect and love my friends, so how can I punish you?"

Lu Yi's words were like a spring breeze to these capitulationists, making them relax from their previously tense hearts.

"Thank you, Lord Jin, for your tolerance. From now on, we will never dare to be your enemy again!"

"If you are not my enemy, you are not my friend. If you still regard me, Lu Yi, as your friend, you may as well help me identify the crimes of these traitors in front of the emperor!"

Although Lu Yi temporarily pardoned their death penalty, he would not let them go so easily.

It's not impossible to surrender, but you have to submit a letter of surrender.

If these people followed Lu Yi's advice and sued their former companions from the nobles and aristocrats, it would be tantamount to cutting themselves off from the aristocrats of the world. From now on, they could only stay on Lu Yi's pirate ship until the end, and there would be no second way out.

"This……"

These surrenderists were not fools. They knew what Lu Yi was planning and became hesitant and conflicted.

"Why do you all look so hesitant? Could it be that your sincere surrender just now was just a lie to deceive me?"

Seeing this, Lu Yi snorted coldly. He waved his hand and Lu Bu led Zhang Liao, Zhang Fei, Zhang He and other soldiers to rush forward. The tips of their axes and swords were almost poking the foreheads of these surrenderists.

After being struck by axes and halberds, the loyalty of these people suddenly became stronger, and they immediately knelt down in front of Lu Yi in fear.

"Please spare my life, Lord Jin. We are willing to identify the traitors!"

"Is that the right thing to do?"

"Today, I have witnessed the elegance of the nobles and aristocrats."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yi burst into laughter, and without paying any attention to the nobles and aristocrats who were kneeling on the ground, he walked towards the palace laughing.

Now that the overall situation is settled, the finishing work can be left to Tian Feng. He has a more important thing to do now, which is to go to the palace to comfort the frightened little emperor.

A moment later, Lu Yi came to the harem to meet Liu Bian.

However, in order to show off, he did not choose to follow the rules of bathing and changing clothes this time.

Instead, he still wore the armor stained with the blood of Hua Xiong and Dong Zhuo when he met the young emperor.

"Lv Qing, how is the battle going?"

Liu Bian was about to step forward to ask Lu Yi, but he had only taken two steps when he screamed in surprise at the bloody murderous aura on Lu Yi, and fell to the ground with a thud.

Upon seeing this, the Ten Attendants Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong and others hurried forward to help Liu Bian up.

The two of them just glanced at each other inconspicuously, and both saw contempt in each other's eyes.

The emperor, the supreme ruler of all the people in the country, who is bestowed with divine power, is so timid and cowardly.

If you want to wear the crown, you must first bear its weight.

If he can't even bear the smell of blood and evil spirit, how can he bear the twelve-tassel crown on his head that symbolizes the supreme imperial power?

No one knows a son better than his father. It is really as the late emperor Liu Hong said, this is not the behavior of a ruler.

Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong's actions were very covert and did not attract the attention of Lu Yi and Liu Bian.

Seeing this, Lu Yi did not show any contempt or disdain, and remained as respectful as before.

"Your Majesty, the leader of the rebels, Dong Zhuo, has been killed, Yuan Shao has been captured, and the rest of the rebels have been suppressed by me!"

"That's good, that's good!"

After hearing what Lu Yi said, Liu Bian finally breathed a sigh of relief, his face full of relief for surviving the disaster.

(End of this chapter)