Chapter 23: The End of Chaos in Chang'an

  Wang Yun is dead.

  Li Jue and Guo Si let out a sigh of relief with tens of thousands of Western Liang soldiers.

  Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie, and his ministers let out a sigh of relief.

  One's own heart knows whether it is warm or cold.

  "King Situ has already passed away, can the two generals Li Jue and Guo Si retreat now?" Dong Cheng's face remained calm, but his voice was still loud and clear: "Are you really going to be traitors?"

  "Now that the rebel side has been cleared, we have no reason to surround the palace again! However, since we have made such a great contribution for Your Majesty, if Your Majesty does not reward us in the slightest, I fear that the soldiers under my command will not be convinced!"

  Li Jue, who had been at the forefront, fell silent after Wang Yun's death, seemingly lost in thought. Guo Si, riding his horse to one side, cast a subtle glance at Li Jue, and for an instant, his eyes gleamed with an inexplicable meaning. Then, he spurred his horse forward, charging towards the imperial palace while shouting loudly.

  Li Jue and Guo Si had always been inseparable, and their friendship in the Western Liang army was well-known to all. Although it was usually Li Jue who took the lead between the two of them, at this moment when he saw Guo Si take over and answer back, no one else reacted, except for a middle-aged scholar beside Li Jue, who slightly furrowed his brow, seemingly wanting to say something, but ultimately remained silent.

  "Two generals, as for your merits and rewards, His Majesty has his own judgment. There will be an imperial decree soon, you can withdraw first. Otherwise, if you disturb the emperor's carriage, even if you have great achievements, it will be hard to escape punishment!" Dong Cheng's words were still tough, and he didn't respond to Guo Si's veiled threat.

  "Mr. Wen! Look!"

  Li Jue regained his composure and saw that Guo Si was eating, he didn't think of anything else, but Li Jue also felt that Guo Si's words were very reasonable. However, if it came to charging into battle, Li Jue thought that even Lü Bu wouldn't be a match for him. But now, seeing how difficult the situation had become, Guo Si's words made Li Jue feel uneasy. So he shifted his gaze towards the middle-aged scholar who hadn't spoken since entering Chang'an City, Jia Xu, the Three Kingdoms' number one poison expert, who was always on Lü Bu's mind.

  "In the General's Free Zone, it's not convenient to speak further." Jia Yu gazed at the Great Han Palace under the morning sun for a while, and said lightly: "Yu's body is weak, and after a sleepless night, he feels quite fatigued. He begs the general to rest for a moment."

  "This, Wen and Mr. Laborious merits are high, what you said is extremely true, I ask General Zhang to send you to rest, hum, how about Lü Bu's mansion?" Li Jue, although now the nominal head of these tens of thousands of soldiers, seemed not to dare show any disrespect to Jia Xu, and even didn't have the meaning to ask a question back, and respectfully replied.

  "Wenhe, I'll take you to rest." Hearing Li Jue's summons, Zhang Ji, wearing armor and holding a large spear, rode over and bowed his hands to Jia Xu.

  Zhang Ji was a fellow townsman of Jia Xu, and they had been friends since childhood. He was one of the few friends that Jia Xu had. At the same time, he was also a high-ranking general under Dong Zhuo's command, so even Li Jue couldn't help but show some courtesy to him.

  "It's all right! Just go!" Jia Xu nodded to Zhang Ji and took a few steps forward. Then, as if he had made up his mind, he turned back to Li Jue and Zhang Ji and said: "The city of Chang'an has been breached, innocent people are suffering, I hope you generals will restrain your troops and avoid killing innocent people!"

  "Please be at ease, Mr. Wen!" Li Jue replied respectfully.

  Zhang Ji, unlike Li Jue, did not show excessive courtesy to Jia Xu, and nodded casually before asking him: "Wenhe, you worry too much. As officials of the great Han dynasty, how could we possibly plunder our own people? However... with your exceptional talent, Wenhe, we were able to capture Chang'an overnight, but our soldiers are originally exhausted, and the imperial court may not be able to provide any relief supplies for the time being. How should we prepare for our food and fodder?"

  Li Jue heard Zhang Ji's question and also turned his gaze over.

  Yes, tens of thousands of troops, the military rations for one day are astronomical figures. These people, under Jia Xu's incitement, rushed day and night to attack Chang'an, and the military rations they brought were already scarce. Moreover, after Chang'an was initially stabilized, the soldiers had to be rewarded, which made things even more difficult. If they didn't take from the civilians, it's likely that these remnants of the Western Liang would really rebel.

  "In the meantime, Dong Xiangguo had already thought of a solution for you before his death." Jia Yu smiled self-deprecatingly and said: "General, have you forgotten about Mei Wu?"

  Mei Wu. Located two hundred and fifty miles west of Chang'an City, it was a military fortress built by Dong Zhuo after he was frightened by the Eastern Coalition Army. It is said that its defense is similar to that of Chang'an City, and the grain and grass stored inside can be used by an army of 100,000 for more than twenty years.

  "Ah!" Li Jue again rushed to the horse, bowed his hands and said: "Mr. Wenhe is indeed our military strategist! A great talent in the world! I think that Dong Taishi has just died, and there must be stored grain in Meiwei. Don't worry, Mr., with this strategy of yours, we will definitely restrain the troops and not offend the civilians inside Chang'an City!"

  Guo Si was unaware of Li Jue's concerns about the tens of thousands of Western Liang troops behind him. At this time, Guo Si was urging Emperor Xian to make a reward: "Si and others dare not trouble Your Majesty with laborious efforts, for the humble officials' merits are already recorded in the merit book, please grant approval by adding your seal!"

  "What? How can this be? This is a coup! These traitors!"

  "It's simply outrageous! It's absolutely unacceptable!"

  "These two villains have great power, if we don't agree, I'm afraid..."

  Upon hearing Guo Si's words, Emperor Xian of Han and the officials on the city wall were like a pot that had been opened. The crowd scolded Li Jue and Guo Si in unison, but they did not dare to speak loudly, causing Emperor Xian to frown.

  "Yado (Guo Ze's courtesy name) is being too hasty." Li Jue said to Zhang Ji with a hint of displeasure, seeing that Guo Ze had taken out the already prepared list without asking him.

  Although Li Jue and Guo Si were close friends, their status was lower than the other two. During Dong Zhuo's lifetime, Li Jue and Zhang Ji were both generals in charge of a large army, while Guo Si was under the command of Niu Fu, Dong Zhuo's son-in-law, with a similar status to Fan Chou, who was under Li Jue's command. At this time, Guo Si's proposal to take over the power made Li Jue feel somewhat displeased.

  "General Guo! Are you joking? The promotion and reward of the army have rules, it must be approved by the authorities before it can be implemented. You are doing this, what is the difference between you and those rebellious traitors?" At the critical moment, it was still Dong Cheng, the father-in-law of Emperor Xian, who saw that Emperor Xian and others were humiliated but dared not speak out, and again spoke out in anger.

  "General Dong's words are wrong!" Seeing that he didn't come out again, the morale of the tens of thousands of Western Liang soldiers surrounding the palace city was likely to be won over by Guo Si. Li Jue's eyes narrowed and he rode his horse with Zhang Ji and Fan Chou to the foot of the palace wall, shouting: "Is it according to the rules? It is for us, the soldiers of the Western Liang army, to report and then ask Your Majesty to decide. What business does General Dong have here? Does General Dong want to replace Your Majesty in dealing with our army?"

  It must be said that Li Jue's words were extremely provocative, not only did the tens of thousands of Western Liang soldiers hear and respond in unison, but even the opposing ministers looked at each other in dismay. Huang Wan, the Prefect of the Imperial Guard who was on good terms with Wang Yun, whispered to the minister beside him: "General Dong has retreated his troops with just one sentence, I'm afraid he really thinks he can take the Emperor's place now! No wonder, after all, he is the Emperor's father-in-law!"

  Huang Wan's words were just loud enough for Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie, to hear. Upon hearing this, Liu Xie pretended not to have heard and only furrowed his brow slightly after listening, saying nothing more.

  "Your Majesty! Your old minister is terrified! I never had such intention!"

  "May it be so decreed by Your Majesty!"

  "May it be so decreed by Your Majesty!"

  The momentum of the Western Liang army, which had just subsided slightly due to Wang Yun's death, rose again. Except for Guo Si occasionally looking at Li Jue with a hint of dissatisfaction in his eyes, almost all the soldiers of the Western Liang army looked at Li Jue with adoring eyes as he conversed with Dong Cheng.

  "It is decreed!" As the deafening shouts outside seemed to penetrate even the thick walls of the palace, Emperor Xian of Han Liu Xie clenched his fists tightly and bellowed in a voice that was almost his loudest ever, struggling to hold back tears.

  "Your Majesty!"

  "Your Majesty!"

  The courtiers all knelt on the ground, crying uncontrollably. The gaze towards Dong Cheng also lost the gratitude of being rescued from the jaws of death, replaced with anger! Sarcasm! Ridicule! The meanings were extremely complex.

  "Pass on the imperial edict! I don't need to read their memorials anymore! Just approve them as is! Only hope they won't cause chaos in Chang'an!" The immature face of Emperor Xian showed a maturity that didn't belong to his age, and with tears still streaked on his face, he actually wore a self-mocking smile, instructing the small eunuch beside him.

  "Your Majesty!"

  "You don't need to say more, just follow the rules!"

  "Ah!"

  "The Emperor has approved!"

  "The Emperor has approved!"

  A single point brings a whole plane into motion, and the deafening cheers are like a boiling cauldron.

  The Western Liang army outside the palace finally waited for the edict they had been longing for. The short two-character imperial decree meant that all those present would be promoted and become rich, almost all of whom could seal their wives and children, no longer being any laborers or rebels, but real Han officials!

  In the thunderous cheers, the last dignity of the Great Han Dynasty was also torn off in the shouts of these self-proclaimed "Qing Jun Ce" Western Liang remnants!

  In the west of Chang'an City, in the former residence of General Wu Bu's military commander, Jia Yu dressed as a scholar was carelessly flipping through the bamboo slips in his hand, sipping the sticky tea that had been brewed, and listening to the servant report on the scene of the Western Liang army's grand reward ceremony in front of the palace this morning.

  "Grand Marshal? Chariot Riding General? Gallant Cavalry General? Yanglie General?"

  After listening to the servant's account, Jia Yu put down the bamboo slips in his hand, meditated for a moment, smiled suddenly, and then fell silent again.

  "What about the people in Chang'an City?" Jia Yu suddenly opened his eyes and asked the servant who had been standing beside him with his head bowed.

  It seemed as if the servant knew Jia Yu's habits, and was not startled by his sudden movements. He calmly said: "General Li and General Zhang did indeed order the troops not to disturb the people before they left Mei Valley, but General Guo..."

  "Let it be. Guo Yaduo is ungrateful and disloyal, he will surely die at the hands of those close to him, no need to bother." Jia Xian said nonchalantly.

  "Ah!"

  "Since everyone in the Western Liang army has a share, what position did Wei Xun seal?" Jia Xi asked casually.

  "General Guo said that Wei Xu's merits should be ranked first, and since he is familiar with you, Master, he was appointed as the General of Declaring Might, still leading his original troops," the servant replied. Seeing Jia Yu's expression, which seemed to have expected this outcome, he asked tentatively: "Isn't Guo Si always clamoring to go to Hebei to capture Lü Bu alive? Why did he receive a reward instead, but didn't send Wei Xu to fight in the vanguard?"

  Jia Xu stretched his waist and smiled faintly, saying: "Capture Lü Bu alive? Do you think Lü Bu really fled in defeat? Even if he did, would Wei Xu dare to go? The distance from Chang'an to Hebei is only 800 miles. I think even if Guo Si lent him a hundred guts, he wouldn't dare take the initiative to provoke Lü Bu, that old tiger. It's likely that those who went to pursue Lü Bu have been called back now. Chang'an City is where they are really fighting for dominance. Lü Bu is indeed a clever man!"

  "They? Clever people?" The servant looked at Jia Yu who seemed to be about to fall asleep, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

  “……”