Zhang Liao continued: "That's true, according to the maids in Ma Lu's mansion who tortured them, they said that as early as half a year ago, Ma Lu began to transfer the wealth accumulated in her hands to the outside of the city, and she didn't know where to transport it, and she herself also went out with a few cronies two months ago, it is said that she went to the Western Regions to do business, and she has not yet returned. During this period of time, all the affairs of the big merchants were handed over to some unknown subordinates in the mansion to take care of. ”

After Li Ru heard this, his face was worried, and he hurriedly said: "Lord, that Ma Lu's family is quite wealthy, if you use money to fund the princes of the Eighteen Roads, then we may not be able to win in terms of money and food, the current situation is critical, and now it is better to get a wanted warrant on the road from the west of Chang'an to the Western Regions, and arrest this person." ”

Dong Zhuo was furious and slapped the table: "Okay, just listen to you, I don't believe it, a little girl can escape my applause!" Ha ha! ”

In the hall, Dong Zhuo's laughter was absurd and complacent, floating to the sky outside the hall, giving the world of ice and snow a touch of inexplicable heat, which was from Dong Zhuo's inner heat. Xiao Xiong thought in his heart that if all the princes of the world could send troops to fight together, even if he died in the end, it would be enough to shock history.

Not to mention, if he wins this time, Dong Zhongying's three words can go to a higher peak. The Han Dynasty seems to be unable to stop his ambitions.

The heavy snow outside the palace was sprinkled all over the world, bringing severe cold and poignancy to the entire imperial capital, and at this time, the princes of the Eighteenth Route were gathering in the Central Plains and marching in order to defeat Dong Zhuo's unanimous idea in their hearts......

A few days later, news came from Luoyang that the princes of the Eighteenth Route under the command of Yuan Shao had approached the Tiger Prison Pass in the east of Luoyang. When Dong Zhuo heard the news, he hurriedly summoned his generals and strategists to the palace to discuss the matter.

Tiger Prison Pass is the gateway to Luoyang from the east of the Central Plains since ancient times, connecting Zhongyue Song Mountain in the south, bordering the turbulent Yellow River in the north, the mountains and mountains are staggered, it is a natural danger, there is a tendency of "one man is not open", and from the 15 miles of the west to the 15 miles of the east of the country, it is the trend of downhill. That is to say, if someone marches from the Central Plains to Luoyang, it is extremely difficult to go uphill and attack uphill when attacking.

Outside the main hall, everyone was ready to enter the hall, only to see one person desperately pulling Li Ru's robe sleeve, begging bitterly: "Lord Li Ru, you must listen to me, this time the war, the United Army issued an edict, in order to act by the way of heaven, if you want to win, please call the Taishi to go out with the Emperor Xian, and declare to the outside world that it is the Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty to drive the expedition in person, and to fight against the Han anti-thieves, so that the princes of the other army will be in chaos, and the morale of our army will be greatly boosted!" ”

Li Ru shook his head, and sighed helplessly: "Alas, Jia Wenhe, why do you have to be like this, since the last incident, the lord no longer uses your strategy, and it is useless for you to beg me, and this time the lord has already planned, will Xian Emperor move west, and the soldiers will move west, so that even if the battle of Tiger Prison Pass fails, it will lure the Kwantung armies to go deeper, extend their battle line, and then exterminate them in the area of Hangu Pass." ”

Jia Xu shook his head while listening, and frowned: "This plan is absolutely impossible, you must know that the princes of the Kanto region are called crusading against the Han thieves, but in fact, they have their own ghosts. Moreover, in the name of the emperor, you can also lure people loyal to the Han family to submit to our army, and then slowly educate their hearts, and finally become the henchmen of the lord! ”

Jia Xu desperately dragged Li Ru, no matter how Li Ru dragged it, he didn't let him enter the hall.

Among the people who passed by, some people heard his verbosity, and their hearts were very annoyed, Hu Zhen, the general of the Xiliang Department, happened to be passing by, and when he heard this remark, he stood in the crowd at the gate of the palace and reprimanded Jia Xu: "You person, you don't understand the reason!" The lord doesn't need your schemes, you just stay. It is ridiculous to say that the emperor of the Han Dynasty is useful, if he goes, I am afraid that the three armies will have no intention of fighting for a long time. ”

Duan Xuan listened to it and laughed.

In Jia Xu's eyes, these two people are reckless men, and they are not worth paying attention to at all, he still grabbed Li Ru and said insistently: "Lord Li Ru, let's not say that my plan can completely defeat the princes of the Eighteen Roads in the eastern part of the country." You say that even if we are defeated in the Tiger Pass, we can lure the enemy deep and lengthen the battle line, which seems to me to be a lie at all. If the enemy wins, how can there be any reason not to take advantage of the victory to pursue and pursue in one go? At that time, the enemy will be the victorious army, and we will be the defeated army, and it will be a mercy of Heaven if we are not completely annihilated. ”

Li Ru was shocked when he heard this, his face was full of surprise, and he was dissatisfied: "Wenhe, I don't deny your plan, but you have counted me, you are really ...... Alas! After speaking, Li Ru broke Jia Xu's hand and followed everyone into the main hall.

The snow that has not yet melted is covered with the entrance of the main hall, and gusts of cold wind blow through, and it will also blow down the snow flakes on the eaves of the main hall.

Jia Xu stood in place for a moment, and finally could only sigh, dragged his heavy steps, and walked down the white stone steps outside the main hall. He finally saw one thing clearly, that is, no matter how resourceful a person is, if he can't please the lord, he can't display his talents in the court.

Jia Xu silently walked out of the inner gate of the Han Palace, and the moment he passed through the doorway, his heart suddenly opened up.

He knows that Dong Zhuo is not his real master, and in the future, if he votes for another master, he will definitely be cautious and be a person who understands current affairs. Jia Xu discovered at this moment that as a strategist, there are more important things than resourcefulness.

After Jia Xu left for a while, everyone gathered by Dong Zhuo had already entered the main hall.

On the high platform, Dong Zhuo was sitting precariously, but he still couldn't hide his fat body, and when everyone under him finished saluting, he slowly spoke: "Everyone, according to the Malay report, the combined army led by Yuan Shao has already moved, Sun Jian is the vanguard, there are a total of eighteen roads, I don't know what you think, but it doesn't matter." ”

Li Ru took the lead in speaking and said: "Lord, in my opinion, this time the princes of the Eighteenth Route marched with great momentum, although the Tiger Prison Pass was strong, but it was also difficult to resist, the minister remembered that the Han army still had more than 20,000 people, it was better to hand it over to Lord Lu Bu to lead and go to the Tiger Prison Pass to resist the enemy." ”

Dong Zhuo nodded slightly, squinted his eyes and said, "Yes, Lu Bu, this task will be handed over to you, if you can win, I should make a merit for you in front of the Son of Heaven and promote your official position!" ”

Lu Bu came out of the ranks, walked majestically to the center of the hall, hugged his fists and said: "Yes, I will follow the order of my father-in-law, and I will definitely return triumphantly!" ”

Although Dong Zhuo and some of his henchmen had already estimated the direction of the future situation, and planned to burn Luoyang after the defeat of the Tiger Prison Pass, and then move west, if they could win the Tiger Prison Pass, they naturally did not have to do it again.

Lu Bu took the tiger talisman issued by Dong Zhuo from the guards on the high platform, and was about to turn around and leave the main hall and go to the school to order troops. In the palace, in the column of military generals, another person stood up and shouted to Dong Zhuo: "Taishi, kill chickens with a cattle slaughtering knife, don't Lao Lu Bu do it, as long as I go, it's fine!" ”

When everyone heard the sound, they found that it was Dong Zhuo's tiger general when he was in Xiliang, named Hua Xiong.

This Huaxiong was born with a tiger's back and a bear's waist, a strong figure, wearing Xiliang armor, combat boots under his feet, and a treasure belt around his waist. Although his face was disturbed by the wind and sand in the Xiliang Land in his early years, he was still able to maintain a relatively handsome face, and he was simply a handsome general, not inferior to the white-faced scholars in the court, and even more powerful than them.

Dong Zhuo looked at Hua Xiong and smiled happily, but he also muttered a little in his heart.

Hua Xiong's martial arts are indeed outstanding, it can be said that he is second only to Lu Bu, but the ability to command the army is worth considering, but this time in the Tiger Prison Pass, if Lu Bu is directly let out of the horse and fails, it will inevitably have a huge impact on morale, and it is undoubtedly a better choice to let Hua Xiong test it first.

Although Dong Zhuo looked barbaric and rude, he was rough and fine, he made up his mind in his heart, and did not ask Li Ru again, but said directly: "Well, it is rare for General Huaxiong to have such ambitions, since this is the case, Lu Bu!" ”

"In!" Lu Bu turned around and returned to the center of the main hall, holding the tiger talisman in his hand, waiting for orders.

Dong Zhuo continued to instruct: "You first hand over the tiger talisman in your hand and give it to General Huaxiong, this time you will go to the Tiger Prison Pass, General Huaxiong will lead 20,000 Han soldiers to be the head troops, and Lu Bu will lead 10,000 Xiliang soldiers to the rear, and they will respond at any time." ”

"Yes!" Lu Bu and Hua Xiong replied in unison, each took the corresponding troop transfer certificate, and walked out of the main hall.

Dong Zhuo announced the rest of the matters on the high platform, such as ordering Li Ru to do a good job of inventory of assets in Luoyang City, ordering Zhang Liao and Gao Shun to count how many Dong troops remained in the city again, and ordering Hu Zhen and Duan Xuan to investigate the tombs of the previous dynasty and the burial sites of some wealthy merchants in the city.

Therefore, after the matter was arranged, Dong Zhuo decisively and easily announced the end of the discussion.

At noon, the sun in the sky was extremely dazzling, shining on Luoyang City, which was covered in ice and snow, and the melting snow began to slowly flow low. In the city of Luoyang, soldiers began to run through columns and columns, banging on doors from house to house to complete the tasks assigned to them by the general.

At the barracks on the outskirts of Luoyang, Zhao Yue and Cao Ping's Han army also began to assemble, ready to obey Huaxiong's orders and set off at any time.

To Zhao Yue's surprise, Liu Zheng actually came!

Seeing Liu Zheng walking in front of the formation with a weak step, Zhao Yue hurriedly ran over and asked with concern: "Brother Liu, why are you here, are you injured?" ”

The climate in the barracks was a little cold, Liu Zheng coughed a few times, waved his hand, and said: "It's okay, this time I went to the Tiger Prison Pass, and General Hua Xiong, the commander of the army, was a relatively strict person, and the soldiers and generals under my command were not allowed to take leave, so I also had to go to the battlefield." ”

Zhao Yue was worried about Liu Zheng's body, but she could only give up for the time being, returned to the queue, and waited for the order to go out. After all, this time, he still has a hundred people under him to command, and if he wants to take care of all aspects, he really can't devote too much attention to other issues.

It was only in the evening that Zhao Yue's Han army received the order to march.

So, the crowd set out without hesitation.

On the night of winter, there are not many people in Luoyang City itself, and the people in the city know that there is an army going out today, so they are honestly hiding at home, they know that this army is Dong Zhuo's subordinates, and they also know what Dong Zhuo has done in Luoyang City recently. Therefore, they did not dare to make a noise at this time, for fear of disturbing the march of the army and being dragged out for punishment.

Even, if a child in a family accidentally cries when the army passes by, the adults will cover their mouths.

The wind is tight, but the cold is still there. Hua Xiong led the front army out of the confines of Luoyang City in the middle of the night and came to a wilderness, where Liu Zheng and Zhao Yue walked together, chatting with Zhao Yue as they went.

"Liu Junhou, how long will it take for us to get to Tiger Prison?" Cao Ping, who was walking aside, had a little sore legs and feet, and couldn't help asking.

Liu Zheng looked at the surrounding terrain, looked up at the position of the moon in the sky, and then said to Cao Ping with a smile: "According to our current travel speed, we will probably be able to reach the Tiger Prison Pass tomorrow night, don't worry, according to the spies, the princes of the Eighteenth Road will not be able to reach the Tiger Prison Pass in three days at the earliest." ”

After saying that, Liu Zheng began to cough violently again.

It can be seen that the cold weather has made his body a little unbearable, and the injury on his shoulder has indeed not healed.

Zhao Yue slowed down her pace and deliberately walked behind Liu Zheng, looking at the moonlight reflected on the snow, the white light that shone out, wrapping Liu Zheng's figure, and secretly prayed in her heart that Liu Zheng would be fine this time.