Chapter 95: The Princes' Disintegration

After Cao Cao finished speaking, the generals under Cao Cao all respected Cao Cao. They felt that they had not followed the wrong lord. The lord was worried about the country and the people, and the heaven and earth could be expressed. Cao Ren also spoke to Cao Cao, "My lord. Even so, it is useless for us to stay here. It is better for us to return to Luoyang as soon as possible, gather the princes, re-launch troops, and come to attack Dong Zhuo." As soon as Cao Ren finished speaking, all the generals under Cao Cao were ready to clean up.

After the remaining soldiers, Cao Cao protected him back to Luoyang and reunited with all the princes. He regrouped. When Cao Cao saw the actions of his subordinates, he hurriedly said, "Let's go. Wait. Where are you? How can we go back to Luoyang? Yuan Shao and other princes have little prospects, so we can't work with them again." Cao Cao and his generals were surprised again. They asked one after another: "Lord, how can we not work with these princes?"

Cao Cao laughed and said, "How can you know? Yuan Shao and other princes are all mediocre people. When they came here, they all had their own thoughts. When the heroes first gathered, Yuan Shao sought personal gain, regardless of his talent and the gap between his official positions. He refused His Highness the King of Jin and stole the position of the leader of the alliance. Then, Yuan Shu cut off Sun Jian's food and grass, which led to the defeat of Sun Jian's water. Now, His Highness the King of Jin has a mutiny in Youzhou. He has no time to fight against the thieves. If Yuan Shao rises up, he will rise up.

Yu Yong led the crowd to pursue. This traitor Dong Zhuo could be defeated in one battle. How could we use our blood to awaken the people? I see the heroes in the world. Only His Highness King Jin has the intention to defeat the thief. Now that His Highness King Jin is not here, Sun Jian has also gone with a strange intention. Why do we go back to that place of right and wrong? Let's go with me. I have my own trick to defeat the thief." After Cao Cao and his subordinates finished speaking, they listened to Cao Cao. They left with Cao Cao.

When Yuan Shao received the news that Cao Cao's defeat in Xingyang, he not only did not send troops to help, but was secretly happy: Cao Cao did not listen to his past words and even suffered such a crushing defeat. He deserved it. Dong Zhuo was so easy to fight. This can be regarded as a lesson for you. Yuan Shao therefore strengthened his determination to stay in Luoyang.

At the same time, Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou who was left behind among the Luoyang Allied Forces, had a serious crisis. Liu Dai, had finished his food. But Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, wanted to eat the local area. The grain on the ground near Luoyang had long been snatched away by Dong Zhuo and was taken back to Youzhou in Liu Mingde. Where could he find food? In desperation, Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, had to borrow food from Qiao Mao, the prefect of Dongjun who was weaker than him.

Food. Originally, the governor of Yanzhou, Liu Dai, thought that he had been condescending to the nobles, to borrow grain from Qiao Mao, the prefect of Dong County, and Qiao Mao, the prefect of Dong County, all borrowed grain. But he didn't expect that Qiao Mao was a nerd and believed that he was a nerd. He thought that they were all anti-Dong coalition forces and were both ministers guarding the court. What can you do with me? Now the food in Luoyang is tight. He is also short of military rations and cannot hold on for a few days. He can still lend it to others. He refuses at the moment.

But it doesn't matter if the prefect of Dongjun Prefect Qiao Mao refused. The governor of Yanzhou Liu Dai thought he had lost face. Moreover, there was no rice in the army, so he could not starve to death. He immediately became determined. He broke into the military camp of Dongjun Prefect Qiao Mao at night and killed Qiao Mao. He took all Qiao Mao's army for his own use. He pulled the camp overnight and ran back to his old home Yanzhou.

Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, ran away with such a move. That doesn't matter. The remaining princes are in chaos. Everyone is in danger. After all, they stayed in Luoyang, and did not pursue Dong Zhuo or disband. They are sitting in the empty house. No one can hold on to the military rations. So these princes became determined to retreat and were not ready to stay in Luoyang. They all wanted to return to their territory and become local emperors! Even Yuan Shao, the leader of the alliance, didn't want to be in Luoyang anymore! But he couldn't bear to leave this treasure land of Luoyang! Now he was only kind to insist! At this time, Xun Shuang and other ministers who presided over the Luoyang court ordered the Xiliang army that led these princes to attack Dong Zhuo westward and welcome the emperor back to the emperor as soon as possible!

When the coalition of princes heard this, they didn't want to stay here, so they wouldn't be stupid and unhappy with Dong Zhuo! This order was like the last straw that broke the camel's back, and these princes finally decided to return to their garrison! Yuan Shao was also ready to move! Yuan Shao saw that even Cao Cao was defeated by Dong Zhuo and left. Sun Jian also stole the jade seal and ran away. Liu Dai even annexed other princes and ran away. Yuan Shao was even less interested in beating Dong Zhuo. He was only worried about how he could make a bigger territory. In this chaotic era, he might have the advantage of separating one side. Therefore, Yuan Shao's response to these ministers in the court seemed a bit delayed. However, Yuan Shao was the leader of the coalition of princes and his family background was there, so it was difficult to leave without authorization. When he was worried, Guo Tu, a counselor of Yuan Shao, found him a reason!

Guo Tu said: "Lord! You can complain to the ministers in the court. Just say that our coalition's military rations have been exhausted. Even the incident happened that the Yanzhou Governor Liu Dai killed Qiao Mao, the prefect of Dongjun, and robbed the grain because there was no food in the army. Now the coalition is in a turmoil. It is better to return to various places for the time being. When the military rations are sufficient next year, we will come to attack Dong Zhuo again. The lord can take advantage of this to recruit talents, gather grass and store grain, and recruit soldiers. In this way, the lord's great cause can be achieved!" Guo Tu's words made Yuan Shao suddenly realize, and he praised Guo Tu's cleverness, and then submitted a memorial to Xun Shuang and the others, then patted his butt, and ran towards Jizhou. He was not ready to ask for this Luoyang!

It doesn't matter that Yuan Shao's shot, and the other princes could no longer sit still. They all resigned from the Luoyang court and returned to their own station using the reason that there was no food in the army and returned to their base! Although the Luoyang court was nominally a court and still had great justice in the world, they had no army and no money and food, how could they restrain these princes? So they could only watch these princes leave! However, they were also disgusted with the behavior of the Yanzhou governor Liu Dai. If Liu Dai had not taken the lead in breaking this situation, the court would not have fallen into this embarrassing situation. So they issued an order to abolish Liu Dai's official position as the Yanzhou governor and let the princes attack Liu Dai together! As for whether this order can work, it depends on the test of time!

On the other side, Lu Bu and others defeated Cao Cao's army and sent some spies to inquire about Luoyang's intelligence. Only then did they know that there was a mutiny in Youzhou, and Liu Bin had already retreated with Youzhou army first! The coalition of princes also collapsed due to internal strife! After Lu Bu and others learned the news, they couldn't help but be overjoyed and quickly sent someone to tell Dong Zhuo who had returned to Chang'an! After hearing this, Dong Zhuo was overjoyed and said to the soldiers of the Xiliang Army: "These traitors themselves have their own internal strife and have collapsed. In the future, we can rest assured!" The soldiers of the Xiliang Army were also happy and complimented Dong Zhuo!

Li Ru also smiled and said, "Prime Minister! You can also use the orders of the court to reward these Guandong princes to dismantle them and let them fight each other! For example, the governor of Yanzhou, Liu Dai, will definitely be besieged by other people this time. You can reward him and let him fight with other princes. In this way, the Guandong princes will definitely fight each other in order to compete for territory and are powerless to look west! Some of them may even surrender to the Prime Minister for their interests! In this way, we can really rest assured!" Dong Zhuo nodded repeatedly and said, "The virtuous son-in-law is right! Just do what the virtuous son-in-law means! Hehe! The Guandong princes are now unable to attack each other due to their official positions. So let's give them official positions and let them fight happily!"

Li Ru nodded and coughed twice, saying, "Prime Minister! Did you give Zhang Ji and the others an official position? How come Zhang Ji is also an old man under the Prime Minister! Although he did not defend the gold, silver and jewelry this time, he was extremely guilty! But they also tried their best! Now they have gained a foothold in Wancheng, Jingzhou! And they want to return to the Prime Minister! The Prime Minister can appoint Zhang Ji as the prefect of Wancheng, so that we have a stronghold in Guandong! We can echo each other with each other!" Zhang Ji and Li Ru are also old acquaintances, and the two have a good relationship, so when Dong Zhuo is happy, Li Ru excused his old friend! And what he said is not completely unreasonable! It is indeed for the overall situation of Dong Zhuo! Hearing Li Ru say this, other generals in the Western Liang army who have a good relationship with Zhang Ji also began to plead for Zhang Ji!

Originally, Dong Zhuo's face became gloomy when he heard the name of Zhang Ji. So many gold, silver and jewelry he had plundered were lost in Zhang Ji's hands. Although he knew that Zhang Ji had tried his best, he could not resist the Youzhou army, let alone Zhang Ji! But he still held a grudge against Zhang Ji and wanted to kill him! But now that Li Ru said that, there were so many soldiers pleading for Zhang Ji, so he could only forgive Zhang Ji, so he said: "Okay! Since so many people pleaded for him, I would forgive him! Appoint him as the prefect of Wancheng, so that he could pay attention to the movements of the princes of Guandong at any time!" The remaining soldiers of the Xiliang army quickly praised the Prime Minister's wisdom! Dong Zhuo then regained his smile!

A few days later, Wang Yun and others returned to Chang'an, which made Dong Zhuo very happy! Wang Yun and others fooled him, saying that although they were captured by the princes of Guandong, they were loyal to the court and the prime minister, and decided to follow the prime minister, so they ran to Chang'an! Dong Zhuo had trusted Wang Yun very much, but now seeing Wang Yun taking the initiative to surrender, he naturally trusted him more! Not only did he restore his post, but he also gave him a great reward! He entrusted with important tasks. Although Li Ru had some doubts about this, Dong Zhuo still insisted on his own! Dong Zhuo did this and finally made Wang Yun gain a firm foothold in Chang'an!
Chapter completed!