Three days later.
Luoyang.
After Dong Zhuo annexed Ding Yuan's Bingzhou Army, his power had suddenly become unrivalled.
In the morning court, Dong Zhuo openly raised the matter of deposing the Emperor.
All the officials in the court knew that Dong Zhuo had military power in his hands and that the entire Luoyang was under his control. Naturally, no one dared to oppose him.
Right at this moment, the main culprit behind Dong Zhuo's arrival in the capital, Yuan Shao, stood out. He was probably trying to salvage his reputation and establish an image of loyalty and love for the country. He actually openly went against Dong Zhuo.
Yuan Shao's thoughts were very simple. Anyway, if he stood up against it, Dong Zhuo wouldn't kill him.
Even if Dong Zhuo wanted to kill him, not to mention the officials in the court, even his chief strategist Li Ru would not allow him to do so.
This was because Li Ru knew the influence of the Yuan family's four generations and three dukes. They could be said to be the head of the aristocratic families in the world, an existence that held the head of the aristocratic families in the world.
If they really killed Yuan Shao, then Dong Zhuo's subordinates would probably face the predicament of having no one to use. At that time, it would really be over.
The development of the matter was just as Yuan Shao had thought. Although Dong Zhuo was furious, he could only give up in the end under the interference of the court officials, Li Ru, and his subordinates.
After Yuan Shao finished pretending to be a hero, there was naturally no need for him to stay any longer. Instead, he directly abandoned his official position and fled Luoyang, heading straight for Jizhou.
Although the Yuan family's roots were in Runan, Yuan Shu had long fled Luoyang to Runan.
Yuan Shao, who had always been at odds with Yuan Shu, naturally could not go to Runan, so he chose Jizhou, where there were more students and old officials of the Yuan family.
After Yuan Shao fled, Dong Zhuo, under the suggestion of the officials in the court, gave Yuan Shao the title of Governor of Bohai.
From this, it could be seen that even someone as powerful as Dong Zhuo had to give in to the aristocratic families. It could be seen how powerful the aristocratic families were at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
After Yuan Shao fled, the officials in the court no longer objected.
Thus, Dong Zhuo took this opportunity to support Prince Chen Liu, Liu Xie, to ascend to the throne. He abolished Liu Bian's throne and demoted him to King Hongnong. Soon, he would be escorted to Hongnong County.
After Dong Zhuo completed the dethronement, he instantly felt a sense of pleasure.
Just as he was feeling excited, a sudden military intelligence came in. It was like a cold water was poured on his head, causing Dong Zhuo's excitement to instantly turn into a bone-piercing chill and fear.
"Report! Prime Minister (After Dong Zhuo supported Liu Xie to ascend the throne, he proclaimed himself Prime Minister), things are bad! An army under the banner of the Western Liang King was approaching Luoyang. They were now less than 30 miles away from Luoyang.”
" What?"
Dong Zhuo was instantly shocked by this huge "surprise" and couldn't react for a moment.
Hearing this, the officials in the court instantly exploded.
Li Ru reacted a step faster and hurriedly asked,"
"Is that true? Wasn't the Western Liang King's army in Wuwei County? Why did he suddenly appear here?"
"Reporting to the doctor's order (Li Ru held the position of doctor's order when Dong Zhuo was in chaos). I'm not mistaken. This is the flag of the King of Xi Liang. The black flag has golden edges and a pattern of a black bird (Lin Feng designed the military flag according to the style of the dragon robe of the Ancestral Dragon Ying Zheng. During the Qin Dynasty, the dragon robe was black, and the Qin Dynasty used the black bird as its spiritual totem). There is a big 'Liang' character written on it. It is definitely the flag of the King of Xi Liang.”
When Li Ru heard this, he finally believed that it was really the Xi Liang King's army.
After all, back then when Lin Feng destroyed the Western Qiang, he had displayed the flag of the Western Liang Army more than once. Everyone in the Great Han Dynasty who paid attention to this matter knew the style of the flag under the Western Liang King.
Thinking of this, Li Ru asked again,"
"Do you know how many soldiers the other party has sent?”
This question was very important because it was related to the next choice. If there were fewer soldiers and horses, then there was no need to be afraid. If there were more soldiers, they would need to negotiate carefully and even make some compromises.
But Li Ru thought that there shouldn't be too many soldiers.
The first reason was that the Western Regions were vast and sparsely populated, and the population base was not enough (if Li Ru knew that there were more than 20 million people in the Western Regions, he might be scared to death). The number of soldiers and horses would definitely not be too many.
The Western Liang Army already knew that there were 230,000 soldiers attacking Ma Teng and Han Sui in Wuwei County. In addition, they would definitely need a lot of soldiers to guard the Western Regions. Combined with the 330,000 soldiers that the King of Western Liang had used to destroy the Western Qiang, it could be estimated that the King of Western Liang had about 400,000 soldiers.
This number was accepted and recognized by the world. After all, the population of the Western Regions was only so large. It was already unbelievable that they could gather 400,000 troops.
If it wasn't for the fact that Lin Feng had once displayed the magnificent feat of instantly exterminating the Xiqiang with 330,000 troops, most probably no one would think that the Western Regions could have 400,000 troops.(If they knew that the Western Regions had a total of 1.5 million troops, who knows if they would cry or not?)
The second reason was that the Western Liang Army had been discovered because they had marched all the way here. It was obvious that there were not many soldiers in the Western Liang Army.
Otherwise, how could he have passed through so many obstacles and arrived thirty miles outside Luoyang City before being discovered? (It can only be said that Li Ru underestimated the Jinyiwei's ability.)
Thinking of this, Li Ru immediately felt much more relaxed. After all, if he did some calculations, the Western Liang army would not exceed 50,000 at most, or even 30,000. This was the only explanation for how they could arrive outside Luoyang without a sound.
Dong Zhuo obviously thought of this as well. He heaved a sigh of relief and repeated Li Ru's question.
After all, speculation was one thing, but reality was another. Perhaps the Western Liang Army only had a few thousand troops?
If that was the case, then what was there to be afraid of? Kill him directly! (Snowy Dragon Knight expressed, please torture me)
To Dong Zhuo and the others 'surprise, the messenger said in a trembling voice,"
"Reporting to the Prime Minister, the doctor, and all the ministers, the number of Western Liang soldiers is too great. There are at least 100,000 of them.”
" What?"
When everyone heard this, they were shocked again.
Dong Zhuo and Li Ru were even more stunned. The uncertain number of at least 100,000 kept echoing in their minds, and they couldn't come back to their senses for a long time.
Cao Cao, who was among the ministers, was shocked. After all, the number of at least 100,000 far exceeded his expectations.
Xun You, the assistant minister of the Yellow Gate, was also surprised when he heard this. He suddenly felt a little curious about this Xi Liang King whom he had never met before.
All the officials in the imperial court exchanged glances. They were clearly shocked.
At this moment, everyone was filled with doubt, surprise, uneasiness, and subconscious fear toward the approaching Western Liang army.
…………
Third watch, tickets
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]