At first, only the weak princes of Yanzhou Qilu formed an alliance, Dong Zhuo was not worried, and only sent Zhonglang general Hu Zhen to lead 20,000 cavalry and 30,000 infantry to Luoyang East Gate Tiger Prison Pass to garrison.

Yanzhou is a rich land in the eastern part of the country, but its military strength is weak, and the officers and soldiers of the prefectures and counties are not opponents of the Yellow Turban Thieves, so how can it be valued by Dong Zhuo?

Tiger Prison Pass, also known as Bishui Pass, Chenggao Pass, Spiral Gate Pass, Gukun Pass, one of the eight passes in Luoyang, is the eastern gateway of Luoyang and an important pass; This pass is connected with Songyue in the south, borders the Yellow River in the north, the mountains are staggered, it becomes a natural danger, there is a great tendency of "one husband is a pass, ten thousand people are not open", it is the place where the soldiers of all dynasties must fight.

Now the situation is very different from history, Dong Zhuo does not need to guard against the Huns and the Black Mountain Army north of the Yellow River, as well as the White Polish Army, etc., let alone divide troops to guard the Yellow River crossing, only need to deal with the princes' coalition army, the troops are very abundant, so he sent 50,000 officers and soldiers to Zhonglang General Hu Zhen at a time.

Dong Zhuo believed that with the danger of guarding the Tiger Pass, even if the coalition army had hundreds of thousands of people, it would not be able to overcome it.

What he didn't expect was that after poisoning and killing the abolished emperor Liu Wei, the Kwantung Coalition Army became more imposing.

By the first month of the first year of Chuping, the army that announced that they would participate in the alliance reached the thirteenth road, and they were all ready to march to the sour date.

By the beginning of March, the Yangzhou Assassin announced that he would send troops to join the Kwantung Coalition Army, so that the princes of the Huimeng reached the 14th Road.

Dong Zhuo couldn't sit still, so he recruited his son-in-law Li Ru to come to discuss.

Li Ru said with a smile: "Xiangguo doesn't need to worry, as long as the champion Hou keeps his promise, how can the Kwantung Coalition Army be the opponent of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry?" ”

Dong Zhuo retorted: "Sun Jian, Gongsun Zhan, Yuan Shu and Cao Cao all have cavalry of varying numbers, and they have all served in Liangzhou, and their combat effectiveness should not be underestimated, how can they be careless? ”

Li Ru said: "Xiangguo, we just need to stick to the Tiger Pass, and never go to war, consume their grain and grass, and the supply of 500,000 troops, see how they raise it?" ”

"It is not difficult to support an army of 500,000 with taxes from Yanzhou, Yuzhou and other states and counties."

Li Ru confidently suggested: "Haha, Xiangguo, they will concentrate their troops in Sujube and besiege Tiger Pass, this is a good opportunity for us to make a fortune, just send a few troops, you can easily plunder Nanyang County, Yingchuan County, Runan County and other rich places, kill chickens and monkeys, and see if other states and counties dare to provide money and grain?" ”

Dong Zhuo clapped his hands and cheered: "Haha, this plan is very good!" ”

So, Dong Zhuo immediately prepared to give an order, and divided three captains, each with 10,000 cavalry, out of the pass to plunder; Among them, Guo Yan went out of Wuguan and plundered Nanyang County; Zhang Ji plundered Yingchuan County, and Li Dao plundered Runan County.

Li Ru immediately stopped and said: "Xiangguo, it is not the best time at the moment, we must wait for them to reach the sour jujube before going out to plunder, otherwise, they will take the opportunity to retract, and we will not be able to loot easily." ”

Dong Zhuo thought so, accepted his son-in-law's suggestion, and asked rhetorically: "If the Kwantung Coalition Army is strong, wouldn't it be easy for me to move the imperial court to Guanzhong and keep the Hangu Pass?" ”

Li Ru said in embarrassment: "I'm afraid that the champion Hou will not agree, if that's the case, Guangnian Hou can cross the Yellow River and cut us into two sections, the beginning and the end can't echo, and divide and surround us, how can we be opponents?" ”

"Isn't the champion marquis not interfering in the affairs of the imperial court?" Dong Zhuo asked rhetorically.

Li Ru hurriedly explained: "Xiangguo, the champion Hou is not on good terms with the Shi clan, no matter how we fight with the Shi clan, he will not interfere, and hopes that we will weaken the power of the Shi clan, if we move the imperial court to Chang'an, we will lose our use value, how can he allow us to continue to exist?" The 50,000 cavalry in Hexi, and the 60,000 cavalry in Bingzhou, were specially designed to deal with us. ”

Dong Zhuo was shocked in his heart: "Didn't we fall for the treacherous trick of the champion Hou? Why don't we unite the Kwantung princes and join forces to attack Gaoshun? ”

Li Ru said: "Xiangguo, when the arrow was on the string, he had to send it, and the champion Hou was an upright conspiracy, just to use our strength to weaken the strength of the Shi clan, so that he could sit and reap the benefits; It's too late now, the Kwantung coalition will not cooperate with us, we can only go all the way to the dark, if the champion Hou Renci, for the sake of our contribution to the fight against the Kwantung clan, maybe he can go around us once, otherwise, the consequences are unpredictable, and we can only stick to Luoyang. ”

Dong Zhuo immediately sat on the ground like a punctured balloon, and did not react for a long time.

Li Ru explained: "Now the Kwantung states and Yizhou have announced that they will stop paying taxes to the imperial court, and only the states under the jurisdiction of the champion Hou are still continuing to pay taxes, money and grain, which is to hope that we will fight with the Kwantung coalition army, and it is not appropriate to create friction with the champion Hou at this time; Besides, with the support of the champion Hou, how can we be afraid of the Kwantung coalition? ”

With the support of the champion Hou, Dong Zhuo's confidence was greatly boosted, even if he met the champion Hou Bingrong in the future, he had to clean up the Kwantung clan first, so he asked: "How is Liu Jingsheng's situation in Jingzhou?" ”

Li Ru said: "Xiangguo, Liu Jingsheng lived up to expectations, with the support of the four major families, he has successfully taken over Jingzhou, the situation is stable, only Nanyang County is still under the control of Yuan Shu." ”

Dong Zhuo thought for a while, and immediately decided: "Unite with Liu Jingsheng, take advantage of the opportunity of Yuan Shu's army to go north to meet the alliance and the emptiness of Nanyang County, recover Nanyang County, and expel the strength of the Yuan family from Jingzhou." ”

"Yes, Sangkook!" Li Ru immediately responded.

Now Dong Zhuo's mentality has calmed down, with the strength of his existing army, the money and food provided by the champion Hou, and he is already in an invincible position by holding several dangerous passes in the east and south of Luoyang; After pondering for a while, he asked, "What else does Wenyou suggest?" ”

Li Ru thought for a while and said: "Xiangguo, Yuan Shao appointed himself a general of the chariot cavalry, and Confucianism suggested that the imperial court relocate the northern general Gao Shun as the general of the chariot cavalry, so that Yuan Shao's name was not right, and even had a greater contradiction with the champion Hou, this is one of them; Second, Confucianism suggested that the territory of the four counties of Hexi and the northern areas of Beidi County and Anding County, a total of six counties, be set up as Yongzhou as the jurisdiction of the Che Cavalry General, and he should send people to serve as Yongzhou pastors; Yongzhou is thousands of miles long from east to west, densely populated with barbarians, strong strength, and difficult logistical supplies make the champion Hou carry a heavy burden on his back, which can be used to weaken the strength of the champion Hou, disperse his forces, and reduce his threat to us; From the opportunity of his rise, the champion Hou declared that he would gain a foothold on the frontier and fight against the barbarians, presumably the champion Hou would not shirk this. ”

The four counties of Hexi are Jiuquan County, Zhangye County, Dunhuang County and Wuwei County, which are named because they are west of the Yellow River.

Dong Zhuo was overjoyed in his heart, the situation in the four counties of Hexi was more complicated, there were Qiang people, Xiongnu people, Xianbei people, Yueshi people, etc., and the strength was even stronger; Besides, it is far away from the Central Plains, and logistical baggage is a big problem; The imperial court spent hundreds of years, spent a huge amount of money and food, and poured all the power of the country, but it was still unable to establish a stable rule there. If Champion Hou takes over this errand, it will be a severe test and a heavy burden for him, and he will no longer be able to pay attention to the situation in the Central Plains.

Next, Dong Zhuo asked Li Ru to plan well, go all out to deal with the Kwantung Coalition Army, and be sure to give a hard blow, otherwise, there will be more state and county officials to participate in the alliance, and the strength will become stronger and stronger, and it will be more and more difficult to deal with, and they must be let know the strength of the Liangzhou Iron Cavalry.

Li Ru also suggested: "Xiangguo, now with the support of the champion Hou, can use the money and grain of the imperial court, with the righteousness of the imperial court, to develop military strength, Confucianism suggested, immediately send people to Liangzhou to recruit troops and horses, expand the army." ”

"Accurate!"

At this time, Li Ru suspected that Luoyang officials were illicit with the coalition forces, and suggested that Dong Zhuo strengthen inspections and cut off the connection between the Sili area and the Kwantung coalition forces.

Dong Zhuo is accurate in everything and has unconditional trust in Li Ru.