Xi Zhicai suggested: "My lord, in order to increase the pressure on Dong Zhuo's forces, the Battle of Yuzhou should be launched as soon as possible. ”

Gao Shun thought for a while, and felt that the battle of Yuzhou had dragged on long enough, and after occupying Yuzhou, a large number of troops would be liberated, so he agreed to Xi Zhicai's suggestion and said: "Okay, but inform Zhongde, don't be too fast, don't expose Cao Mengde for the time being, let him decide according to the actual situation!" ”

"Yes, my lord!" Xi Zhicai should give Gao Shun's order, and then convey it to Cheng Li.

After receiving Gao Shun's order, he immediately set off, and instead of going to Hanoi County, he turned to Yanzhou, from the Tiger Prison to Luoyang, and then south to Xiangyang City.

There was no one along the way, and the village had been burned and desolate; Only the bones seen from time to time, as well as a large number of abandoned fertile fields on both sides of the road, indicate that there was a dense population here before.

Now Dong Zhuo has adjusted the deployment of troops, and the commander stationed in Hugao Pass is the captain of Changshui, but his headquarters has less than 1,000 soldiers and horses, and most of the officers and soldiers are from Xiliang, and their families have gone south with Dong Zhuo as hostages.

Garrisoned in Luoyang was Fan Chou, the former captain who was stationed at Tiger Pass; The judge knew that this person was a general of Xiliang, loyal to Dong Zhuo, and there was no possibility of rebellion.

Zhonglang stationed Hu Zhen at Yique Pass, and ruled over Luoyang and Tiger Prison Pass and other surrounding guards.

Wei Xu has returned from Yingchuan County to Guangchengguan to garrison, and is under the jurisdiction of Zhonglang General Hu Zhen.

Dong Zhuo arranged it this way, he was not afraid of Gao Shun attacking, they could easily turn Luoyang into a sea of fire, and then easily escape, defending one by one according to the southern passes.

When the trial arrived in Xiangyang City, it was already the beginning of August of the third year of Xingping.

The trial has always been a high-ranking official in charge of foreign affairs of Gao Shun's forces, and he has won Gao Shun's trust, has a lot of decision-making power, and is already very familiar with Li Ru, so he immediately set up a banquet to entertain him.

Then entering the negotiation stage, Li Ru hopes to finalize the deal with Gao Shun as soon as possible, and he is busy with other more important things.

The trial is not in a hurry, and this kind of major event is even more urgent.

Li Ru asked, "What does Gao Junhou mean by this?" ”

"Haha, Wen You, this makes it difficult for the prince to decide."

Li Ru said: "Then you should always give an answer to the imperial court, right?" ”

The judge said: "Wen You, the matter of sealing the king should not be mentioned again, the prince is a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty, how can he violate the white horse alliance of Gaozu?" And the prince has the grace of the first emperor, and it is the duty of a courtier to serve the court, how can he think of transgression? ”

"Hmph, the order of the imperial court, you dare to fight?" Li Ru said dissatisfiedly.

The trial is also an old fritter, and he resolves the embarrassment with a smile, "Haha, Wenyou, why are you so angry?" Let's talk about the meaning of the Taishi. ”

Li Ru heard the meaning of the trial, don't use the court to oppress people, anyway, Dong Zhuo has the final say in the affairs of the court now, don't fake the tiger and use the court to save face, everyone understands people, and he didn't blush when he was exposed, but asked rhetorically: "Haha, Zhengnan, since the prince does not accept the king, what does it mean to trade Luoyang City and Dongguan Library, Hongnong County and Henan Yin?" ”

The trial has long been considered, since it is a transaction, then the price is sky-high, and the money is repaid, so he said: "A three-year truce is acceptable, but a total of three million stone of grain will be paid, and when half of the payment is paid, we must take over the Luoyang city defense, and then hand over Hongnong County, Henan Yin and Baguan after the payment is completed." ”

"Hmph, a total of three million stone grains, what about you sending Hanako? 10 million stone grains, not a single grain can be missing, otherwise there is no need to talk about it. "Li Ru is very dissatisfied with the amount of grain proposed by the trial.

The trial was not in a hurry, but smiled and said: "Haha, Wenyou, isn't it seven million stones?" How to sit on the ground and start the price, it has become 10 million stones. ”

Li Ru had no fear, he felt that no matter how much it cost, Gao Shun would agree in order to realize his ambitions, so he said: "Originally, the king was just an addition, since you refused, of course the total price will not change." He thought very well, in this way, it strengthened his own strength, but seriously weakened Gao Shun's strength, plus a three-year truce, by that time Dong Zhuo had occupied the Jiangnan region, and he could rule with Gao Shun.

"Haha, Wen You, Taishi's appetite is too big, since this is the case, then you still have to manage Luoyang City and Henan County by yourself, the prince can't get so much food."

Li Ru threatened: "Haha, Luoyang Baguan, Luoyang and other places still need to leave a large number of officers and soldiers to guard, and the imperial court does not have so much money and food to support the soldiers, it is useless to keep these places, and the prince is unwilling to want these places, it is better to burn them, so everyone does not have to worry about it." ”

The judge pretended to be indifferent and said: "Haha, Wen You's method is good, anyway, there is no one there, and it is useless to stay, if this can save a lot of money and food for the imperial court, why not do it?" He didn't believe that Li Ru would easily burn Luoyang, and if he really thought so, there would be no need to negotiate; And he also reminded Li Ru that there were no more people there, and it would be useless to ask for it.

He realized that he was too anxious, and it may not be a good thing for Dong Zhuo to delay the time, so he was not in a hurry, the two stopped negotiating for the time being, and sent someone to jury around for a few days.

At this time, Dong Zhuo's army had opened up the situation in Jiangnan, and the navy broke Liu Pan's army, Liu Pan had to shrink the line and give the Yangtze River to Dong Zhuo, so that Dong Zhuo had a foothold in Jiangnan, and the area from Huarong County to Shaxian County had been controlled.

The situation is developing well, and Li Ru and Dong Zhuo are not in a hurry to talk with the judge.

It didn't take long for the news from Yuzhou to make Dong Zhuo anxious, and he hurriedly asked Li Ru to reach an agreement with the trial as soon as possible.

Yuzhou Gongsun Kang announced his separation from Gongsun Zhan's jurisdiction.

Fang Liang, the general of Zhengdong, announced that Huaiyin County was temporarily under the jurisdiction of Xuzhou Mu Xu Lin, which directly broke the balance of power in Yuzhou.

The military is a continuation of politics.

If an agreement could not be reached with Gao Shun's strength for a three-year armistice, Gao Shun's forces would be able to occupy the entire Yuzhou in less than a year, and at that time they would form an encirclement of Luoyang, and they could launch an attack on Jingzhou from Yuzhou and Liangzhou respectively, but Dong Zhuo was not sure that he would unify Jiangnan within a year.

The order received by the trial was that the safety of Luoyang City, the Imperial Palace and the Dongguan Collection must be protected, so Li Ru invited him to negotiate again, and the trial did not resist, but the conditions were still very dead.

Li Ru was anxious, so he had to relax the conditions, and after more than half a month of continuous negotiations, the two sides finally reached an agreement:

The transaction of Luoyang City, the Imperial Palace, the Dongguan Collection, Hongnong County and Henan Yin, as well as the Eight Passes, required Gao Shun to pay a total of 5 million stone of grain, which was paid in the name of paying taxes to the imperial court, and was paid in four years and five times, with one million stone each time, one million stone at the end of the third year of Xingping, and one million stone at the end of the fourth and fifth years of Xingping, and at the end of the fifth year of Xingping, Luoyang City Defense and the two ferries of the Yellow River, as well as the Tiger Prison Pass and Donghan Valley Pass.

In order to ensure the safety of the palace and the Dongguan collection, Jizhou was allowed to send 500 employees to maintain the palace and the Dongguan books.

There must be no fighting between the two sides for four years.

Normal trade and people-to-people exchanges may not be unilaterally suspended.

Before the implementation of the agreement is completed, it shall not be unilaterally announced to the public.

Both sides were pleased with the agreement reached.

Dong Zhuo can rest assured that he will go south, and he will not have to worry about the dilemma of being attacked by Gao Shun behind his back and causing a two-sided battle; And he doesn't have to garrison too many troops in Luoyang Baguan.

The trial and match successfully completed Gao Shun's task, and saved two million stone of grain, and he was also very happy in his heart, and returned to Jizhou quickly with Sun Qian.