After the dispatch of troops was over, Cao Cao said: "Since it is to seek the Dong Alliance, there must always be an alliance leader." The first brother (Yuan Shaozi Benchu) is the leader of the Dong Alliance, and he has sent as many as 30,000 troops, so he should be the leader of the alliance. ”

"I'm for it." The princes seconded the proposal.

In order to repay Meng De's kindness for his recommendation, Yuan Shao first divided him and said: "Today, as the leader of the coalition army, this duke officially named Cao Cao as the commander of the coalition army, and led the general of the imperial court. ”

After speaking, Yuan Shu said: "Brother Wentai has led the troops to fight for many years, is extremely brave and experienced in a hundred battles, and can serve as the vanguard of our army and lead the general of the imperial court. ”

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the titles of generals were roughly divided into two categories: one was the "heavy general" with a higher rank and a specified amount - the rank from high to low was the general, the hussar general, the chariot general, the Wei general, the front, the rear, the left and the right four generals; One is the "miscellaneous generals" with low rank and no prescribed amount - such as Cao Mengde's Fenwu General and Sun Wentai's Broken General.

After a while, eleven of the thirteen princes of Dong were successively awarded the title of "Miscellaneous General". And the princes who did not receive the "miscellaneous general" were none other than the brothers Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu.

The reason why Yuan Shu did not receive the "Miscellaneous General" was because he already had the title of General Hou. And Yuan Shao, who was not greedy enough, secretly calculated: "Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, the general has been the supreme military commander of our dynasty. Its position is higher, higher than the three publics. If I had to choose, I would choose it. Can the princes present agree? Can the princes of the world agree? Alas, I really can't open my mouth, if only someone could say it for me! ”

Cao Cao looked at Yuan Shao's gaze, half of it was pleading, half of it was longing, so he immediately guessed Yuan Shao's appeal, and said: "The leader of the alliance is noble, and he should be the commander of my 180,000 troops against Dong, and the general of the imperial court." ”

"No! Absolutely not! ”

"We are firmly against it!"

Maybe it was because his title was low, or maybe it was because Yuan Shao's title was high, and the rest of the princes present all opposed this proposal.

Cao Cao immediately refuted: "Oh, Dong Zhuo, a mere thief, can be in the position of Xiangguo." As the commander of our army, why can't the leader of the alliance be a general? Could it be that I am the leader of the alliance of the Dong Alliance, and his status is not as good as that of a mere thief? ”

"This ......" Just when the princes were dumbfounded by the question, only Sun Jian asked rhetorically: "Who is Dong Zhuo?" ”

There are countless ways to ask questions and answer questions like this. If you pretend to be stupid, you can answer "Longxi Lintao people"; If it is a little more decent, you can answer "a generation of heroes"; But Cao Cao wanted to be clever and answered a "chaotic minister and thief" who should not be answered.

"After the thief enters the city, what is his position?" Sun Jian said again.

"He leads the country and ranks above the three princes."

"Who is Hejin?"

At this time, Cao Cao had already been asked a little impatiently, but out of politeness, he still replied: "Dictatorial relatives." ”

"During the dictatorship of my relatives, what was my position?"

"Leading the general, ranking in the third ......" When he said the word "three" in "above the three dukes", he finally understood Sun Jian's intentions, and then said: "I can't talk about you, I admit defeat." ”

In order that the princes present could "lose, lose clearly; Winner, win understand. Sun Jian explained: "As Meng De said, since the Yellow Turban Uprising, all the officials above the three princes in my Han Dynasty are all relatives and ministers who have brought disaster to the country and the people. If the alliance leader really led the general, the princes in the world who had not participated in the war would probably regard the alliance leader as He Jin, Dong Zhuo and others. At that time, how should the alliance leader deal with himself? I am 180,000 against Dong Lianjun, how should I deal with myself? ”

Since Meng De failed to convince Sun Jian, Yuan Shao could only say helplessly: "What General Wentai said is extremely true, Shao, he really can't be this general." Meng De, what other titles can you recommend? ”

Cao Cao pondered for a long time and said, "What do you think of the position of general of the chariot cavalry?" ”

As soon as his words fell, Yuan Shu, who had been sitting quietly for a long time, couldn't help but come forward for his father and said: "Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, traitors such as Dong Zhuo and He Jin have never served as the general of the cavalry, and the general of the cavalry is in charge of the authority of conquest and betrayal, which is also consistent with the purpose of the coalition army to "eliminate thieves and help the Han", and the position of the general of the cavalry and the three princes is also in line with the lofty status of the leader of the coalition army. ”

"Very good!" The princes seconded.

At this point, Sun Ce, who was still angry a moment ago, couldn't help but cast a gentle gaze at Yuan Shu. The reason for this is only because Sun Ce is the most respectful woman in his life.

Yuan Shu saw that Sun Ce was showing goodwill, so he used a smile in his eyebrows and eyes as the most sincere response in his heart.

When I was a teenager, my likes and dislikes were always so fluctuating. The two people who were frowning each other a second ago can reopen each other's hearts with just a few short punchlines or a distant smile.

According to the practice of all dynasties, every time a traitor is confronted, a decent article must be issued to punish the thief, so as to correct the hearts of the people in the world. Of course, this battle against Dong is no exception.

In addition to whether the rhetoric is ornate or not, this essay entitled "Discussing Dong" should be roughly started from five aspects: first, it should praise the major historical achievements of the Han Dynasty since its founding; second, to criticize Dong Zhuo's various illegal acts after entering the country; Third, it is necessary to rationalize and legalize the private awarding of the imperial generals by the coalition forces; Fourth, it is necessary to win more princes to join the coalition; Fifth, we must persuade Dong Zhuo to surrender as much as possible.

And among these five articles, the most difficult thing to do is nothing more than to rationalize and legalize the fact that they privately gave the imperial court generals.

Yuan Shao pondered hard, but he couldn't think of a reasonable explanation, so he shirked in public: "Now everything is ready, only one article is needed to ask Dong Weiwen, and you can send troops to quell the rebellion on the same day." Shao, I know that I am shallow in learning, so I dare not write. I don't know who among the public wants to ghostwrite this article? ”

"If you don't think I, Cao Cao, am clumsy, I will write an essay as soon as I make a vow." Cao Cao said.

"Come on, pen and ink are waiting." Yuan Shaodao.

After about half an hour's work, a few servants of the Yuan Mansion walked in with a bookcase with pen and ink inkstones, and a well-made banquet with one side.

"Where does the Lord want it to be placed?" The servant asked.

"Here's it." Yuan Shao pointed to the open tunnel next to his seat.

At that time, the left and right sides of the alliance, which were parallel to the master's seat, were generally vacant. If there is no vacancy, the people sitting on either side are either the master's closest relatives or the master's inseparable friends—in short, people who are very important to the master.

As the saying goes: "The guest is as the host pleases", such a matter of arranging seats, as an outsider, even if there are thousands of dissatisfactions, it is inconvenient to say more. But Yuan Shu, who was Yuan Shao's younger brother, did not spare him on the spot: "Brother! I'm a younger brother, but I haven't been able to sit in this position yet! As an outsider, Meng De seems to be a little inappropriate to sit in this position! ”

"I also feel very inappropriate. Since ancient times, the sky is round and the place is round, and the square person is respected in the middle, and Xunzi Yiyun: 'The king will live in the world'. This essay is the voice of my Han subjects, and the voice of the Son of Heaven of the Han Dynasty should be written in the center to show that the way of heaven is revealed. Cao Cao said as he placed the bookcase and the banquet in the middle of the two columns of princes.

"King! Do you deserve it too? Han Fu patted the case.

In the face of Han Fu's deliberate difficulty, Cao Cao said unhurriedly: "In the lower situation, he is alone, so he naturally can't be the word 'king'." But since this essay is the embodiment of justice, it must be written in the center. As the honor of a state, and there are countless armor soldiers in his hands, Hanzhou is naturally worthy of the word 'king'. If Han Zhou Mu is not too hard, he is willing to give the right to write in the middle to Han Zhou Mu. ”

"You ......" Han Fu knew that he couldn't write this essay, so he had to keep using the word "you" to alleviate his embarrassing situation.

"Among the princes, if there are those who work tirelessly and are willing to write in the middle, they can also come forward and give it a try. If you can't write it, you have to take care of it. Cao Cao said.

The princes knew that they couldn't write a script, so they had to watch Cao Cao and ascend to the position of this so-called "king".

"You don't have to worry about me, everything is as usual." In addition to writing, he did not forget to alleviate the embarrassing situation of the princes.