Chapter 3 3. Dong Zhuo's chaos

In midsummer, the suburbs of Luoyang are full of green grass and the red sun is setting in the west, creating a scene of peace and tranquility.Suddenly, a group of iron cavalry appeared in the sky with the murderous aura of the frontier, rolling up the red dust and destroying the tranquility. Dong Zhuo is here! What is staged on the stage of troubled times is farce, and it is even more of a vaudeville show.A steel wire hangs high in the center of the stage. People with special skills can win in danger and walk through the wire calmly, but those with incompetent skills are doomed to miss their chances, fall off the wire, and fall to pieces.

Without warning, He Jin became a ghost under the knife and fell off the wire. Dong Zhuo, who was invited by him, dressed neatly and stepped into the spotlight of history.How is Dong Zhuo's skill?Facing the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, will he walk the tightrope smoothly and save the country?Or repeat the tragedy and become an embarrassing passer-by in history? Bacon once said: Character determines destiny.In order to see Dong Zhuo's fate clearly, let's first understand Dong Zhuo's temperament, past and past. Dong Zhuo, a native of Lintao County, Gansu Province.At that time, Lintao was not an area inhabited by Han people, but an area inhabited by Qiang people.At that time, there were many more Qiang people than now. They were sturdy, good at riding and shooting, and they were a well-known horse people.Although Dong Zhuo is a Han Chinese, he has a good relationship with the Qiang people. He has been wandering here and there with a group of young and Dangerous ethnic minorities since he was a child.At that time, Dong Zhuo was like a chivalrous young and Dangerous boy, he loved to fight against injustice, hoe the strong and help the weak, plus he was born tall and powerful, and he could shoot left and right on horseback. He also established his own prestige, and the local Han and Qiang people regarded him as an idol and respected him as "Jianxia".

Dong Jianxia’s teenage years were indeed very beautiful. According to the records in "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" and "Three Kingdoms", at that time, Dong Zhuo’s family had no cattle and sheep. As long as he stood on the top of the mountain and whistled, there would be a group of Qiang leaders driving him immediately. The cattle and sheep come over and let him choose. Dong Zhuo's gang of young and Dangerous friends are even more devoted to him and follow him all their lives. Later, fearing the strength of the Qiang people, the Eastern Han government wanted to move the Qiang people away from their homes so that they could disperse, but the Qiang people violently resisted.The corrupt Eastern Han government was unable to send troops to suppress it, so it came up with a trouble-free way for the locals to govern the locals.At this time, local officials in Longxi recommended Dong Zhuo to the court.

As a result, Dong Zhuo, who was wandering around, began to step into his official career.In 167 AD, Dong Zhuo served as Habayashiro, an officer of the Royal Guards of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The Habayashi Army in Hanyang, Longxi, Anding, Beidi, Shangjun and Xihe were all under Dong Zhuo's command. Dong Zhuo's horsemanship and barbaric nature made him invincible and triumphant all the way in the Southern and Northern Wars. He was soon promoted to doctor, governor of Bingzhou, and governor of Hedong. Just as Dong Zhuo Qingyun was going straight up, the Yellow Turban Uprising broke out. He was sent to suppress the uprising, but suffered several defeats in succession, so he was demoted back to Longxi.

However, the special political environment at that time determined that Dong Zhuo, who was unruly and unruly, would not be lonely to the end. In the winter of 184, 100,000 Qiang people in the northwest rebelled again, and the imperial court quickly sent Dong Zhuo and others to quell the chaos.Dong Zhuo led 30,000 people to pursue the Qiang people, but was surrounded by the Qiang army at Wangyuan. Seeing that they were almost out of food, the troops could not break through.At that time, if one wanted to break out of the siege, one could only cross a river, but to cross under the eyes of the enemy would definitely risk the entire army being wiped out.

At this time, Dong Zhuo had a plan.He first asked the soldiers to build a dam on the river to block the river, and pretended to be fishing in the river to replenish supplies. The enemy believed it and relaxed their vigilance.Under the cover of the dam, Dong Zhuo's soldiers were quietly crossing the river in batches.By the time the enemy came to their senses and sent troops in pursuit, Dong Zhuo's army had already crossed the river.He ordered the dam to be destroyed, and the rushing water poured out, blocking the enemy's pursuit. In this war, Dong Zhuo's friendly and neighboring troops suffered more or less losses, but Dong Zhuo's small tricks were used to return the whole army.Relying on this kind of military strategy, Dong Zhuo's troops gradually grew stronger in the frequent battles at the end of the Han Dynasty, and became a pivotal military force in the Guanzhong and Liangyong areas.

The growth of Dong Zhuo's power naturally aroused the uneasiness of the imperial court. The imperial court asked him to give up the army and come to Luoyang as a young mansion, intending to weaken his military power by using this method of ascending and descending secretly. In the turbulent era, with a gun is the king of grass, and strength determines everything. How could Dong Zhuo be willing to hand over his troops and become a young man?The Ren court urged him repeatedly, but Dong Zhuo dragged it to the end, saying that he was about to go on the road, but in fact he refused to leave.Seeing this situation, the imperial court became more suspicious of Dong Zhuo.Before his death, Emperor Ling still couldn't forget this matter, and wanted to transfer Dong Zhuo to Bingzhou Mu, and let him hand over the troops to Huangfusong.It is possible to be promoted, but it is absolutely impossible to surrender the troops.Dong Zhuo told the court that the children have been with me for a long time and have a deep relationship. He hoped that I would take them to Bingzhou to protect the frontier of the country.The court saw that Dong Zhuo had made up his mind to live and die with his troops, so there was nothing he could do.Soon Emperor Ling passed away, and the matter was over.

Dong Zhuo stationed his troops in Hedong, closely observing the changes in the court, in case of emergency. At this moment, opportunities fell from the sky like pies, and Dong Zhuo received an invitation letter from He Jin.Enter Beijing!Dong Zhuo realized that this letter would completely change his destiny.Before that, he was at best a grass-headed king alone.Now, he may become an important person who affects the situation in the world. It can be said that before this, Dong Zhuo's performance was very worthy of the role assigned to him by God, but when the torrent of history pushes him to a bigger stage, can he still perform calmly?

Dong Zhuo didn't have time to think about this issue, and when the opportunity was present, he quickly made a decision to leave the large army in the east of the river to guard the rear, and rushed to Luoyang with 3,000 elite soldiers.This arrangement shows Dong Zhuo's scheming: if he wins, he can win the world; if he loses, he can retreat to Hedong. Ren Dong Zhuo galloped day and night, and when he arrived in Luoyang, the form of the court changed drastically.He Jin died at the hands of the eunuch, and He Jin's subordinates killed the eunuch completely. Dong Zhuo outside Luoyang City was faced with soaring flames and dead bodies everywhere.Originally invited to be a knife to kill people, he accidentally became a fisherman who reaped the benefits of the fight between the snipe and the clam.History generously bestows opportunities on Dong Zhuo, whether it ends in farce, tragedy or comedy depends entirely on Dong Zhuo's performance.

In the suburbs of Luoyang, Dong Zhuo first met the two princes who were kidnapped by Zhang Rang.Zhang Rang, the big brother among the eunuchs, was obviously frightened by the red-eyed He Jin's subordinates, and hurriedly led Liu Bian and Liu Xie out of the palace.When they ran to Xiaopingjin, the pursuers brought by Lu Zhi chased after the car. Zhang Rang realized that he had no way to escape, and there was no way to turn around. He cried and said to Liu Bian, "Your Majesty loves himself", turned around and threw himself into the river to die . Lu Zhi hugged the two children on the horse, and the group hurried back silently.Dong Zhuo heard the news, went back to his horse to look for the prince, and met them unexpectedly.

After seeing the little emperor, Dong Zhuo immediately dismounted and kowtowed, and said to the emperor, I am Dong Zhuo.Unexpectedly, 16-year-old Liu Bian burst into tears, calling for his mother.On the contrary, Liu Xie, the 9-year-old king of Chenliu, was calm and stable. When Dong Zhuo asked about the affairs of the capital, he answered fluently, telling the ins and outs.Comparing the two, Dong Zhuo believed that Liu Xie was much stronger than Liu Bian. In addition, he believed that Liu Xie was raised by the Empress Dowager Dong himself and had a close relationship with him, so he had the idea of ​​deposing Liu Bian and supporting Liu Xie. After Dong Zhuo welcomed Han Shaodi back to the palace, he began to intervene in the Eastern Han Dynasty.To expand its influence, it is necessary to have a strong military backing, but Dong Zhuo brought only 3,000 troops, so how could he convince the crowd?Dong Zhuo came up with a tricky idea. He let his army sneak out of the city at night, and then enter the city with great fanfare during the day, and so on for four or five days.Seeing Dong Zhuo's troops coming in an endless stream, all forces in Luoyang were overwhelmed by his "powerful strength".He Jin's army was leaderless and also joined Dong Zhuo. Just when Dong Zhuo was enjoying himself, a threat appeared.It turned out that when He Jin invited Dong Zhuo, he also sent a request for help to Ding Yuan, another Bingzhou warlord.Not long after Dong Zhuo arrived in Luoyang, Ding Yuan's troops also came. Ding Yuan's troops were very powerful, and his subordinate Lu Bu was the champion of the three armies. How can one mountain accommodate two tigers.Dong Zhuo didn't dare to confront Ding Yuan head-on, and he had his own heart in mind.He learned that Lu Bu was greedy for money and sex, so he bought Lu Bu with money and beautiful women, and Lu Bu turned against him and killed Ding Yuan.The troops of Bingzhou surrendered to Dong Zhuo, and Lu Bu also joined Dong Zhuo's tent and became his adopted son. From then on, the real master of Luoyang City became Dong Zhuo.Dong Zhuo understood this more clearly than anyone else, and he began to carry forward his master spirit to the end without any scruples. In order to monopolize the power, Dong Zhuo decided to abolish the then emperor Liu Bian and make Liu Xie, the king of Chenliu, the emperor.The purpose of Dong Zhuo's doing this is very simple, it is to shake the mountain and make everyone understand that the current master of Luoyang City is named Dong. Among the gentry officials in Luoyang City, the Yuan family, which belonged to the fourth generation and the third lord, was the most powerful. Dong Zhuo first approached Yuan Shao to discuss this matter.Who is Yuan Shao?Yuan Shao belonged to He Jin, and he supported Han Shaodi Liu Bian. He naturally disagreed with Dong Zhuo's approach, and said: It is only natural for the eldest son to succeed to the throne. Besides, he has not made any mistakes, so why do you want to abolish him?If you want to abolish him, I am afraid that people in the world will not agree.As soon as Dong Zhuo heard this, the bandit lost his temper, Li Zi, don't I have the final say on the affairs of the world?Do you think my Dong Zhuo's sword is not fast?Yuan Shao also drew out his sword with a swipe and said, is Master Dong the only one with the fastest sword in the world?While talking, Yuan Shao retreated, got on his horse and ran out of the capital overnight. After Yuan Shao ran away, his younger brothers Yuan Shu and Cao Cao also left the capital successively.The gentry in the capital had always followed Yuan Shao's lead. Dong Zhuo's prestige among the gentry immediately declined when Yuan Shao ran away.Dong Zhuo was in high spirits, he didn't even realize that he had made a bad move, and his later demise was precisely because of this move. Young Emperor Liu Bian was cowardly and ignorant, not good enough to be the master of others, but Chenliu King Liu Xie was smart and wise, even the late Emperor was very optimistic about him, Dong Zhuo thought that his reasons for changing the emperor were still very good.Furthermore, by changing the emperor, Dong Zhuo can just establish his prestige and strengthen his control over the regime. Isn't this approach killing two birds with one stone? But Dong Zhuo didn't expect that the emperor didn't change whenever he wanted.In the political climate at that time, no matter how stupid the emperor was, he was the king and the foundation of a country. Changing the emperor would shake the foundation of the country and cause chaos in the world.Dong Zhuo treated the throne as a trifling matter, abolished whoever he wanted, and established whomever he wanted, wouldn't he become a traitor who was punished by everyone? Thinking back to the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion, King Wu Liu Bi united with the other six kingdoms, under the name of "Qing Emperor Side", wanted to overthrow Emperor Han Jing and become emperor himself, didn't he also end up in a state of confusion and a crushing defeat? Overlord Dong Zhuo put his bow on his bow, and regardless of the obstruction of the ministers, he insisted on changing the emperor. This was the first shovel he dug for his own grave.Then, he dug the second and third shovels for himself, which is the dirty harem and wanton massacres. Dong Zhuo indulged his subordinates to rape women at will in Luoyang City, while he himself ran to the harem, and any pretty women he saw, no matter if they were ordinary court ladies or concubines of former emperors and concubines, would be his own. In addition, there is a lot of killing.It is said that one of Dong Zhuo's favorite things at that time was the banquet guests, and invited all the military officials of the court and Chinese to accompany him to drink.While drinking, he yelled for a timeout, saying that he would give everyone a show.As soon as he clapped his hands, hundreds of people who were tied up with ropes came up under him. One of them gouged out his eyes, another cut off his nose, and another chopped off his fingers.This kind of performance lasted for several hours, the tortured people wept endlessly, all the officials in the banquet were dumbfounded, only Dong Zhuo was indifferent, eating and chewing, and his excitement did not diminish at all. Dong Zhuo is ruthless to outsiders, but he takes good care of his subordinates, allowing them to steal money wantonly.This gang of bandits burned, killed and looted everywhere, and robbed the money of the dead after they robbed the living. They dug up the graves of rich households in Luoyang, and even the Empress Dowager He who just died was not spared. The treasures buried with them were robbed by them all clean. Cao Cao was so angry that he wrote a poem "Xie Lu Xing", exposing this cruel behavior: the thief officials took the power of the country and killed the lord and Yujing.The emperor's foundation was overthrown, and the ancestral temple was burnt.Migrate westward, Boohoo and go.In the city of Zhanpiluo, Weizi is sad. Dong Zhuo's perverse behavior and misconduct aroused public indignation, and the princes from all over the country formed a coalition to attack Dong Zhuo.Dong Zhuo couldn't help feeling guilty when he saw that the princes were so numerous and powerful. Under Zheng Tai's persuasion, he decided to move his capital to Chang'an.The officials dissuaded him and killed him. The people refused to leave, so they set fire to the house.The fire continued to burn for three months, turning Luoyang into a piece of scorched earth, and people had to leave.Millions of people, supporting the old and the young, went to Chang'an with Dong Zhuo's team. With this move, Cao Cao could see that Dong Zhuo was just a paper tiger with a guilty conscience; with this move, Dong Zhuo had actually completed an ugly performance staggering on the central stage, and his demise would only be a matter of time. Some people are destined to only perform well in a small area, and once they step onto a wider stage, they will be in a hurry and mess up a play, such as Dong Zhuo.In terms of potential, Dong Zhuo is just a warrior, more than enough to be a local tycoon, but not enough to handle the affairs of the central organization.We may be able to conclude that everything is determined by God, and each character has his own historical stage, which cannot be crossed, and if he crosses the boundary, he will fall.However, we must admit that it is not God that restricts a person, but his own blind spot. Dong Zhuo has a little cleverness, but no great wisdom. He is good at making superficial profits, but he can't see the essential laws.So in the matter of abolishing the establishment of the emperor, he finally stumbled.He saw Liu Bian's cowardice and cowardice, but he failed to see the foundation of a country and the hearts of the people of the world represented by the emperor, so he inevitably stood on the opposite side of the people of the world and became the target of public criticism. Pei Songzhi lamented that it took many years for King Zhou of Shang to gradually become corrupt and mediocre. Dong Zhuo had only been in Beijing for a few months before he showed a ferocious face.A series of victories can easily dazzle the minds of short-sighted people, but those who can achieve great things know that the more windy and high the waves are, the more clear-headed they must be.