The north wind howls and snow flies.

In the deserted wilderness outside the Tiger Pass, a tributary procession composed of more than 1,000 cavalry and 150 wide carriages was particularly conspicuous.

More than 10 Langya army battle flags held high in the team, hunting sounded, and on the fully loaded carriages pulled by three healthy horses, there was a pennant with a red edge and a yellow background, and the word "tribute" in black seal was inserted in the middle.

At the front of the tributary procession, the majestic captain of the Langya army steadily raised a black-edged red-background flag to march into the wind, and there was a "Liu" character embroidered with silver thread in the center of the flag, close to the position of the flagpole, and arranged four big characters from top to bottom: General Zhendong!

From the beginning of this tributary procession from the beginning of leaving Qingzhou, it became the object of close attention of the princes from all walks of life, all the way through Jibeiguo, Dong County and Hanoi County, all of which were warmly cared for by officials of Bao Xin, Cao Cao, Wang Kuang and other counties, and no one dared to fight the idea of this team.

The robbers saw such a team disappear far away, and the princes could only sigh when they saw it, and everyone knew in their hearts that if it were not for the freezing of the Yellow River, the tributary team in Qingzhou would not have taken the land route, and since they dared to take the land route where the bandits were infested with non-stop battles, they would not worry about someone beating their idea.

The tributary team was stopped by the officers and soldiers of Xiliang under the Tiger Prison Pass, and Qingzhou Beijia Guoyuan, Chengyang County Taishou Liu Ye, and Qingzhou Prefecture Garrison Battalion Captain Xu Yan got off the car and dismounted, respectively showing the Qingzhou Mansion Ya Seal Letter, tributary documents and army dispatch orders, and it took a lot of effort to be allowed to enter the customs, but they were required to stay in the pass for three days, and they could only make a decision after reporting to the Prime Minister.

Guoyuan threw out two Langya gold coins, and then exchanged two important news: the Southern Route Army of the Dong Coalition Army was assembling towards Liang State (now south of Shangqiu City), and Dong Zhuo had rushed back to Luoyang from Chang'an to sit in the town.

Tiger prison pass to Luoyang more than 160 miles. Fast horses can easily go back and forth in one day, so Guo Yuan and Liu Ye were allowed to pass the next morning. The Xiliang Army also sent a lieutenant and fifty cavalry to escort them all the way, at the beginning of the night. Smoothly entered the dilapidated and lifeless city of Luoyang.

Dong Zhuo, who was just about to go to bed, was very surprised when he received the report from Lang Zhongling Li Ru, and immediately asked people to call the captain of the Tiger Prison Pass who was escorting him all the way, and he wanted to inquire in person.

After listening to the captain's report, Dong Zhuo's face changed, and he nodded slightly after a while: "Liu Zijian's Langya Army really deserves its reputation!" And the carriage, carrying twenty stones (about 620 kilograms), ran so fast, it can be seen that the combat power of the Qingzhou Langya Army is indeed strong! ”

Li Ru thought deeply: "If it weren't for the strong Langya army, today's Qingzhou may be full of thieves and bandits, Liu Zijian is indeed a heroic man who knows people and makes good use of them." I have to admire! ”

Dong Zhuo was silent for a long time, then suddenly raised his head and asked, "You say, what will Liu Zijian bring me this time?" ”

Li Ru pondered for a moment: "Langya's exquisite utensils and high-quality paper will never be missing, he knows that the Prime Minister likes fine wine, so Langya also has the best wine, and it is estimated that it will be like last autumn, and he will give the Minister of State 500 sets of cavalry armor made by the Qingzhou Iron Workshop." ”

"As for the rest, it is about the five grains, soybean oil, snow salt, tribute wine, paper and pen, inkstone, tribute porcelain, painted pottery, hand-made special Langya sword and the famous silk and silk spinning of Qi County, Liu Zijian's annual tribute is nothing more than this."

Dong Zhuo sighed regretfully: "I want to get the armor and ordnance of the Qingzhou Iron Workshop even more!" It's a pity. We don't have any friendship with Liu Zijian, he has been good to us and the emperor in the past two years, and he hasn't mixed up with the two hypocrites of the Yuan family, and he is still familiar with current affairs. This is also the reason why I haven't moved Qingzhou for two years, otherwise I would have approved the request of the ministers who secretly served the Yuan family in the court, and transferred Liu Zijian to the imperial court to be a nominal lieutenant. Demolish Qingzhou and dismantle him for four or five pieces! ”

"Your Excellency, don't! In this way, a strong enemy will be established...... Liu Zijian has been running Qingzhou for many years. The power is deeply entrenched, and this is an extraordinary time. can only be co-opted, not suppressed, otherwise the wishes of those traitors who oppose the prime minister will be fulfilled. Li Ru hurriedly said, he was really afraid that Dong Zhuo would be instigated to do this one day.

Dong Zhuo laughed: "Do you think I really don't know the consequences of doing this?" It's just that Liu Zijian, who has the bloodline of the Liu family, is getting bigger and bigger, which makes people feel uneasy! ”

"I'm sure that Yuan Shao, Liu Dai, and Gongsun Zan and their gang saw the wealth and strength of Qingzhou, and saw Liu Zijian's fame far and wide, they were definitely not very comfortable in their hearts, and they were probably even more jealous than me, and they must be staring at Qingzhou in secret!"

"The reason why these guys haven't done it so far is just because there is a big enemy like me, and they don't dare to make enemies on both sides, otherwise Liu Zijian, even if he is a fierce tiger, he can't withstand the siege of wolves, haha!"

Li Ru very much agrees with Dong Zhuo's opinion: "If there is no great enemy of the Prime Minister, with the huge connections of Yuan Shao IV and the Third Duke, it is likely that he would have gathered to besiege Qingzhou." ”

"It is precisely because there is the Minister of State who is here, turning the tide and supporting the entire Han Dynasty, those who are loyal to the monarch and patriotic, and who are close to the Han Society, but have long been ill-intentioned, will be angry with the Prime Minister, and then attack him en masse."

"Well said! That's true, just look at the mutual conquest and slaughter of the Taishou in various places for more than a year, three-year-old children can see through the wolf ambitions of these chaotic ministers and thieves, and they still have the face to accuse me Dong of being a usurper and a thief, which is really ruthless! Dong Zhuo roared hatefully.

Li Ru said with a smile: "What my lord said is very true, because of this, we can no longer build a strong enemy in a short period of time, first defeat Sun Jian, Yuan Shu and other people who are gathered on the front line of Liang State, and then try to beat the rest of the anti-thieves, and gain the overall initiative, and then we can slowly plan against Qingzhou." ”

"Before that, the adults still need to befriend Liu Zijian and appease Qingzhou, who is still loyal to the imperial court."

Dong Zhuo sighed: "Now it seems that it can only be like this, but I feel very bad in my heart, you also heard it just now, the 1,200 Langya cavalry escorting the tributary convoy turned out to be people wearing armor, horses and leather, the copper helmet on the head of each rider is a cold-proof velvet hat, each rider wears fur clothes and pants in the armor, and he also wears all the same fur gloves on his hands, and the high-waisted cowhide combat boots under his feet are all the same, so it seems that Liu Zijian's Qingzhou is very rich!" ”

Li Ru's eyes rolled, and he thought about it: "My lord, I heard that Yuan Shao brazenly asked Qingzhou for food and salary many times, and at first Liu Zijian gave it twice because of face, but Yuan Shao got an inch and asked Qingzhou to sell him hundreds of thousands of sets of armor and ordnance on credit, Liu Zijian was angry and stopped aiding the so-called coalition army, and even sold grain and grass to Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao hit a nail and could only send his strategist Xu You to Linzi to mediate and explain, but Liu Zijian swaggered to Xuzhou to find Tao Qian for a drink. ”

"This matter has spread all over the government and the opposition, I know, tell me what you mean." Dong Zhuo urged.

Li Ru arched his hand and raised his voice: "In this case, my lord can make a request to Guoyuan and Liu Ye to pay tribute to 3,000 sets of stainless steel armor and a hundred refining horizontal swords tomorrow on the grounds that the royal guards need to change their clothes, and it is expected that Guoyuan and Liu Ye will not refuse......"

"In this way, if you take advantage of the situation to ask for 20,000 sets of Langya cavalry armor and sabers, you should be able to get an answer! Anyway, there is a lot of gold and silver piled up in the dock, especially a large amount of silver that cannot be used as coins, and the adults will not be able to use it for a while, so it is better to exchange it for sophisticated weapons and equip the 20,000 pro-troops of the adults! ”

"Under the dignity and integrity, Liu Zijian, who has always respected adults, will not refuse, so that he can not only get 3,000 sets of famous Langya stainless steel armor for nothing, but also buy 20,000 sets of Langya cavalry armor that is loved by our soldiers, and also deepen the resentment of Yuan Shao and others against Liu Zijian, giving Yuan Shao and others an excuse to attack Qingzhou!"

Dong Zhuogang's brows furrowed when he heard that he was going to take out the gold and silver, and when he heard the benefits in the back, he immediately smiled: "Okay!" Clever plan, clever plan, kill three birds with one stone! Haha, hahaha! There is too much gold and silver to eat or wear, so spend some of it! ”

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PS: March is coming, Juhuo begs for subscription and guaranteed monthly pass, thank you! (To be continued......)