The 50th chapter: Xun Yu's plan fails, warning King Yuan; the eight regional lords gather at Suanzao.

  In the first month of the first year of Chuping (190 AD), various warlords and heroes rose up in arms, raised the banner to overthrow Dong, and stationed their troops. Yuan Shao, Wang Kuang, Zhang Yang and others were garrisoned in Henan, Cao Cao, Zhang Miao, Liu Dai, Qiao Mao, Yuan Yi and Bao Xin were garrisoned in Yanzhou, Yuan Shu was garrisoned in Luyang, Sun Jian, who came from Changsha, joined forces with Yuan Shu and also stationed his troops there. Han Fu was garrisoned in Handan, Kong Rong, Zhang Chao, Gongsun Zan, Tao Qian and others were also stationed elsewhere.

  Ma Teng, who was highly respected by all the lords, was still nowhere to be seen at this time, while Ma Chao temporarily stationed his troops in Licheng.

  In Luoyang, Dong Zhuo's anger had not yet subsided from Diao Chan's sudden disappearance when more bad news arrived: his son-in-law Niu Fu, who led 30,000 troops to attack the White Wave Bandits in Hedong, suffered a crushing defeat!

  On this day, early in the morning, Dong Zhuo, with a face full of anger, scolded the officials: "I, as the Prime Minister, thought I had treated you all well, but how did you treat me? You are all hypocrites, now you are all talking about how to eliminate those rebellious and treacherous officials?"

  All the officials saw Dong Zhuo's furious anger and none of them dared to speak.

  Dong Zhuo patted the hilt of his sword and walked unsteadily to a man with clear eyebrows and bright eyes, saying: "Boyi, don't you have anything to say to me?"

  Dong Zhuo's "Bo Yi" refers to Cai Yong, styled Bo Yi, from Chenliu.

  Dong Zhuo was in power in Luoyang, and he forcibly recruited Cai Yong. Cai Yong was forced to go, and was appointed as Jiu, highly respected by Dong Zhuo. Later, he was promoted to Gao Di, appointed as Shi Yu Shi, and then transferred to Zhi. Within three days, he went through the three courts, and all the civil and military officials were amazed. Later, he served as Taishou of Ba Jun, and was retained as Shi Zhong. He is currently serving as Left Zhonglang Jiang.

  Cai Yong looked up at Dong Zhuo with a worried expression and said: "This matter is not something that I can decide. Minister Dong has thousands of good generals, tens of millions of soldiers, and also has General Lü as his adopted son. If Minister Dong does not have a big battle with them, he will definitely not give up, it's just that from now on there will be more bloodshed."??Tiger Leopard Cavalry 50

  Cai Yong's words had barely escaped his lips when a chorus of sighs and lamentations filled the entire court. What the assembled ministers did not expect was that Dong Zhuo, far from getting angry, burst out laughing and said: "You are only suited to playing the zither, practicing calligraphy, and writing rhapsodies; you are far inferior to your teacher Hu Guang."

  Cai Yong remained silent for a moment before saying, "I am already an old man, only suitable for doing these things. I beg Your Majesty and Prime Minister Dong to allow me to retire!"

  Dong Zhuo listened to his words and glanced at the emperor, who immediately looked down with a frightened expression. He smiled and said: "Now that the country is in trouble, if everyone were like Lord Cai, I'm afraid the emperor wouldn't even need to sit on this dragon throne. Isn't what you said correct?"

  The emperor hastily agreed. Cai Yong thought that Dong Zhuo would never let him retire, so he had to continue bowing his head and remaining silent.

  Dong Zhuo came to Wang Yun's presence again. Previously, on his wedding day, Diao Chan had disappeared without a word, and later he learned from Lü Bu that she seemed to have been kidnapped by the horse bandits, at which point he almost killed Wang Yun with one slash of his sword.

  Wang Yun was very calm, he not only did not beg for mercy, but also asked for death.

  Under the persuasion of all ministers, due to Wang Yun's prestige in the court, Dong Zhuo spared Wang Yun's life for the time being, but he didn't plan to let it go like this.

  "Wang Shitu, as a pillar minister of our great Han, shouldn't you say something?" Dong Zhuo's words were gentle, but his eyes were filled with murderous intent.

  Wang Yun said calmly, "When the enemy comes, we'll defend; when the flood comes, we'll dam it. This is a straightforward principle. With Commander Dong's powerful army at his disposal, surely this doesn't need to be said by us."

  Dong Zhuo leaned in close to Wang Yun and whispered: "You're not thinking of collaborating with those rebels at the moment when we are about to send out our troops, are you?"

  Wang Yun was shocked and covered in cold sweat.

  Dong Zhuo finished speaking and burst out laughing: "Forget it, you've all been dead to me for a long time! Someone come, pass on my orders, Li Jue and Guo Si are to lead the troops back to Luoyang, Xu Rong is to defend the eight passes, Han Sui is to remain in Yumi, and await my further instructions."

  As soon as the order was given, Dong Zhuo secretly gave another order to dispatch heavy troops to monitor the movements of all officials, and at this critical moment, he did not want to lose control in the rear.

  Shi Yilang Zheng Tai directly stood out in opposition to Dong Zhuo's dispatch of troops to resist the armies of the various lords, but Dong Zhuo completely ignored him.

  Zheng Tai was furious and joined forces with Xun Yu, He Yong, Shizhong Zhong Ji, and Yue Qi Jiao Wu Qiong to assassinate Dong Zhuo. However, due to Dong Zhuo's strict surveillance of the officials, they were discovered before they could take action, and all of them were thrown into prison. He Yong was so worried that he killed himself, while Xun Yu remained calm and composed, which surprisingly led Dong Zhuo to pardon him. Xun Yu requested to be relieved of his duties and return to Langya to serve as an official, but Dong Zhuo refused. Later, Xun Yu cited the strategic location and prosperity of Shu Han and asked to become the governor of Yi Province, but due to the difficulty of traveling there, he ended up living in Jingzhou instead.

  With the lessons of Zheng Tai and Xun Yu's uprising, Wang Yun became even more cautious about secretly assassinating Dong Zhuo. He waited every day like sitting on pins and needles for a heaven-sent opportunity.

  Li Jue and Guo Si led their troops back to Luoyang, Ma Teng finally led his troops from Zhenyuan, passing through Lintong, Beiyuan, Luxi, and arrived at Quyi to join forces with Ma Fu.

  After meeting Ma Chao, Ma Teng questioned him on how he was able to recruit so many well-equipped soldiers in such a short period of time.

  Ma Fu only said that after Yin Feng returned home to bury his father, he relied on the prestige of their family in Tianshui for generations and recruited people under the banner of Hou Ye.

  Ma Teng was deeply suspicious of this matter, but now that a great enemy is at hand and Pang De is garrisoned in Wuwei, he also cannot directly tear off his face with Ma Fu.

  Cao Cao, who was garrisoned at Guandu, saw that the allied forces were too scattered and joined Zhang Miao, Liu Dai, Qiao Mao, Yuan Yi and Bao Xin in suggesting to the various lords that they should jointly defend Guandu.

  At this time, Yuan Shao, who was stationed in Hebei, received the news and gathered Wang Kuang and Zhang Yang to discuss: "Xiazhuo is a place where three states of Yuzhou, Yanzhou and Jizhou meet. Since ancient times, it has been a must-contend place for military strategists. Now that the forces of various heroes are too scattered, why not gather in one place and focus on fighting!"

  Wang Kuang immediately agreed: "Brother Benchu has been a high-ranking official for four generations. If you give orders to the heroes, they will surely follow."

  Zhang Yang also said: "The various armies must unite to issue orders and commands in order to compete with Dong Zhuo's great army. Now that Cao Ang has proposed this suggestion, you can respond first, lead the troops to go, and other heroes will follow suit."

  Having obtained their consent, Yuan Shao immediately led the army to Xiangguo. As expected, when the heroes saw that Yuan Shao had arrived at Xiangguo first, they all rushed there in a hurry.

  Ma Teng, who was in the city of Mei, saw this situation and gathered Ma Chao, Yin Feng, Zhao Ang and others to discuss: "All the vassals have gone to Xianyang, what do you gentlemen think?"

  Ma Chao said: "Now all the heroes are going to Xiangyang, if only my Western Liang army does not go, I fear that we will be isolated by the various vassal armies, and this would be perilous."

  Yin Feng was unconvinced: "The vassal armies are now just a heap of loose sand, even if they gather together, their faces and hearts do not match."

  As for what Yin Feng said, Ma Fu was also aware of this point, but since things have come to this, he must maximize his gains.

  If the Western Liang army acts alone, it will be difficult for him to make any big waves. On the other hand, if he borrows the power of the vassals and takes the opportunity to establish his prestige and expand himself, it will greatly benefit his future development.

  After some thought, Ma Teng countered Yin Feng's words: "At this time, it is like scattered sand. If there were a leader to command the armies, then the heroes would gather together. Now, your lordship's prestige among the lords is not inferior to that of Yuan Shao. If your lordship becomes the leader, then the power of Xiliang will surely become even stronger."

  Ma Teng heard this and stroked his beard with a loud laugh, saying: "As for the alliance leader, I am not interested. Since you all say so, we will now rise up in arms and head to Suānjiǎo!"