I practiced magic in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 56 You Take the Blame

There is a dim moon and few stars in the night sky.

Riding in the carriage of Emperor Shao Emperor Liu Bian, the wheels of the carriage made clanging sounds as they rolled over gravel from time to time, and they rode south non-stop all the way to Luoyang.

As they approached Luoyang, many court officials who were well-informed and had heard the news swarmed in to protect the emperor. They surrounded the carriage of the Young Emperor Liu Bian and performed their acting skills wildly. Even when their own parents died, they had never cried so sincerely.

Wang Jing glanced at him coldly, feeling quite disdainful.

These people in front of him disappeared when there was danger, but now that the war has subsided, they have popped up one by one, and it is obvious that they are here to gain credit.

Many people tried various ways to get close to Liu Bian, hoping to leave a good impression in front of the young emperor so that they could be promoted in the future.

The carriage was not moving fast, and at dawn, it ran into Dong Zhuo who had just arrived in Luoyang.

Five thousand soldiers and horses, with footsteps as loud as thunder and murderous aura rising into the sky, soon came towards them accompanied by a black crowd of people.

Many dignitaries who had been in Luoyang for a long time had never seen such a scene before, and they were soon frightened by the military spirit. They turned pale with fear and trembled like frightened quails.

The army before them obviously came from the border of the empire. They had gone through countless bloody battles and therefore had an astonishing momentum.

Among them, a cavalry of about a thousand people was the most eye-catching. They walked like the wind, and the soldiers were brave and high-spirited. They were definitely the best and most powerful soldiers in the world today.

It was actually an elite force led by Li Jue, Dong Zhuo's top general. They were experienced in battles and had a great reputation, known as the "Flying Bear".

"Hahaha, long time no see, Minister Lu."

Dong Zhuo on horseback had his fat shaking wildly as he laughed, and the hair on his face was as thick as a lion. But this look was not funny at all, but gave people a feeling of heroism and grandeur, which was very impressive.

Even Wang Jing had to admit that this most famous fat man in the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period was indeed a hero of the time. Even though he was ugly, he had a unique charm.

Unfortunately, Lu Zhi and Huangfu Song were close friends, and he had long known about Dong Zhuo's character and ambitions from Huangfu Song, so he did not treat Dong Zhuo well: "Why does the governor of Bingzhou not go to the local area to take up his post, but lead his troops to station in the capital? What exactly is he trying to do?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in Dong Zhuo's army was immediately dissatisfied.

Especially Dong Min, who yearned for the glamorous world of Luoyang, was very unhappy with Lu Zhi. He snorted and retorted: "Minister Lu, we have the general's order to go to the capital!"

"Oh? Really? But now that the general has passed away, why don't you just go back to where you came from?"

"and who are you!"

"My surname is Wang, and my given name is Jing."

"Hmph, nobody, you have no right to speak here. If you dare to say anything more, I will chop off your head!"

Dong Min followed Dong Zhuo in his battles across the country, and his style of behavior was always arrogant and overbearing. Therefore, seeing that Wang Jing was young, he did not take Wang Jing seriously and only regarded Wang Jing as a fool who did not know the consequences.

"Really? I don't believe it."

Wang Jing took out the Overlord Bow and first shot a whistling arrow into the sky.

The sound of arrows whistling was sharp and piercing in the silent night. Soon, a sword energy came from the east of Luoyang City, more than ten miles away, pointing at Dong Zhuo, Dong Min and others in the distance.

The sword's power fills the space between heaven and earth. There is no higher than it, no lower than it, no sideways in its movement. It cuts off the floating clouds above and the earth below.

It turned out to be the Sword Saint Wang Yue, in his capacity as the Emperor's Master, who forcibly activated the sword intent of the Emperor's Sword emitted by the Snake-Slaying Sword. Even before he arrived, the powerful sword intent that spanned the entire world was enough to make people tremble with fear.

Dong Zhuo and Dong Min suddenly had difficulty breathing, as if their throats were being strangled by an invisible hand. They gritted their teeth and shouted four words: "Sword Saint! Wang Yue!"

Seeing that Dong Zhuo and Dong Min were frightened by Wang Yue's sword intent, Wang Jing even pondered in his mind at that moment whether he should take advantage of the fact that Dong Zhuo had not yet gained momentum and use the power of Wang Yue and the Snake-Slaying Sword to forcibly kill him here.

The bowstring that had been loosened was pulled again by Wang Jing, and the Fiery Feather Divine Arrow that had not been shot just now was once again condensed on the Overlord Bow.

Lu Zhi was so frightened by the murderous intent that burst out from Wang Jing that his eyelids twitched: "General Beizhong, don't be impulsive. His Majesty is still in the carriage!"

If a conflict broke out at this time, and Emperor Liu Bian died in the chaos of soldiers' attack, the consequences would be disastrous.

Wang Jing was also worried that if Dong Zhuo had any trump card, there would be endless trouble if his side could not kill him.

Dong Zhuo recognized the Overlord Bow and Fiery Feather Arrow in Wang Jing's hand at a glance. In the past, Xiang Yu used this archery skill to defeat the Twelve Golden Men and killed half of them. Who in the world doesn't know this?
Therefore, Dong Zhuo, who was being targeted by Wang Jing with the Overlord Bow and the Fiery Feather Arrow, had his eyelids twitching wildly. He had no intention of fighting for a small matter, and immediately took the initiative to surrender: "North Central Army General, my brother was just reckless and said something wrong, please don't take it seriously. I came here only to save you, and I have no other intentions."

At this moment, Dong Zhuo wished he could chop Wang Jing to death with his sword, but he still kept smiling and hid his murderous intent very well.

Wang Jing didn't say anything. Dong Zhuo suddenly felt panic for no reason. He instinctively felt a dangerous aura descending on him, making him uneasy.

The brief silence made the air freeze, as if lightning and sparks were exploding.

In the end, Wang Jing put away the Overlord Bow, and the Fiery Feather Arrows condensed from his own Yuan Qi also dissipated. It was obvious that he also had no intention of fighting with the Xiliang soldiers here.

As a rational person, Wang Jing knew that it was not appropriate to conflict with Dong Zhuo at this time. It was enough to create conflicts and discords with the Xiliang Army. After all, it was just a show for Yuan Wei to see, in order to show Yuan Wei that he and Dong Zhuo were not the same kind of people.

As a result, in order to check and balance Dong Zhuo, Yuan Wei would probably be willing to support Wang Jing in making enemies with Dong Zhuo, so that the Yuan family could mediate and maintain a balance.

After using Wang Yue's trick to fight with Dong Zhuo, Wang Jing decided to stop when he saw that the situation was going well: "Your Majesty is in the carriage."

Seeing that Wang Jing did not choose to take action, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Dong Zhuo also used his eyes to stop Dong Min from being convinced, and then he led his men to Liu Bian's carriage, dismounted and bowed: "Your Majesty, I am Dong Zhuo, I am late in coming to your rescue, please forgive me."

Dong Zhuo was fat and ugly, with the ferocity typical of a frontier general. His temperament and image were almost like a demon. As a result, Liu Bian was greatly frightened when they met, and he stuttered when he looked at Dong Zhuo.

At the critical moment, it was Lu Zhi who stepped forward and calmed down the panicked Liu Bian, and then ordered Dong Zhuo to bring his troops to escort the emperor back to the palace.

Dong Min, who had wanted to take advantage of Lu Zhi's arrangement to get more benefits, was once again dissatisfied with Lu Zhi's arrangement. He approached Dong Zhuo and complained quietly: "Second brother is such a hero, do we really have to be loyal to such a cowardly and incompetent little emperor?"

"Shuying, the emperor is still young, so we need to do our best to assist him. Now that the general has died unexpectedly, how can we miss this God-given opportunity?"

Obviously, compared to Dong Min who only wanted to gain official positions and treasures, Dong Zhuo saw an opportunity to get close to the center of power.

Afterwards, the group returned to Luoyang safely.

Shi A appeared beside Wang Jing at some point, with the sword hanging in his arms, clanging continuously. His eyes were filled with murderous intent, and he asked in a low voice, "My lord, why didn't you take the opportunity to kill Dong Zhuo and others? Although I am in Luoyang, I have heard of Dong Zhuo's reputation. He is ambitious and has no bottom line. If he enters Luoyang, I am afraid that something will happen."

Dong Zhuo was undoubtedly a true hero. In the eyes of the aristocratic families, he was an unruly frontier general, but in the eyes of the lower-class soldiers, he was an excellent commander who was generous and magnanimous. Therefore, many people from poor backgrounds were willing to follow him.

In Shi'a's opinion, such a person must be ambitious and difficult to control.

Luoyang at this moment had just gone through a series of changes. General He Jin had died, the Queen Mother's followers had all been eliminated, and the only regent left was Yuan Wei.

And Dong Zhuo was Yuan Wei's man. Once the unruly Xiliang soldiers wreaked havoc in the capital area, it would probably bring unimaginable disaster to Luoyang.

After all, Shi A is Wang Yue's disciple, so he can't help but worry about his master.

Wang Jing did not dare to underestimate the fat man in front of him, because Dong Zhuo was also a man who only cared about benefits and did not care about shame. Just look at the few times he achieved victory. He would rather suffer defeat and be scolded than lose his own troops. He was promoted several times by selling out his teammates. If this kind of person came to Luoyang, who knows what kind of earth-shaking he would cause.

"If we want to kill Dong Zhuo now, even if the Imperial Master and I attack together, we are not sure of victory, so it is better to stay still and not act now."

Wang Jing certainly knew how much trouble Dong Zhuo would cause in the future, but keeping him around obviously had other uses.

At least before successfully supporting Liu Xie to ascend the throne, Wang Jing did not intend to move against Dong Zhuo. After all, he had promised Wang Yue before, and as a man, of course, one must keep his word.

What's more, if he killed Dong Zhuo, he would have to confront Yuan Wei directly. If the eighteen princes came to challenge him, wouldn't he be helpless?
After hearing what Wang Jing said, Shi A was a little skeptical: "Although Dong Zhuo is strong, Master is holding the Snake Slashing Sword, and with your cooperation, it shouldn't be difficult to kill him, right?"

Wang Jing shook his head: "Grand Tutor Yuan Wei will not allow us to kill Dong Zhuo."

Shi A was puzzled: "Why is this happening? Could it be that the Grand Tutor is really colluding with Dong Zhuo?"

"If there was no collusion, how could Dong Min lead his troops to Luoyang so quickly and kill He Miao? And how did Dong Zhuo know that Your Majesty was here and rescued Him so 'in time'?"

After listening to Wang Jing's analysis, Shi A couldn't help but take a deep breath, but then he couldn't help but wonder: "But the Grand Tutor is now second only to the emperor. As a regent, it would be easy for him to take charge of the government. Why would he collude with a violent tiger like Dong Zhuo?"

Wang Jing saw this clearly, so he said calmly: "Because there are some things that Yuan Wei can't do himself, he can only let others do it for him."

"The general is dead, the palace was bloodbathed by the army, and Empress Dowager He is now isolated in the palace and can hardly make a difference. Is there anything in this world that the Grand Tutor cannot do?"

"Of course it's to depose and enthrone the emperor."

"what!"

Shi A was shocked to receive such a shocking answer, and even showed an expression of disbelief on his face: "How is it possible?"

Wang Jing did not answer but asked: "Why not? Your Majesty is already thirteen years old, and he will be able to rule the country in two years. At that time, as a regent, will the Grand Tutor step down or not? If he does not step down, his reputation will be damaged, and it may even cause public anger. But if the power is returned to the emperor, everything the Yuan family has done will lose its meaning. Therefore, if the Runan Yuan family wants to continue to control the government for a long time, then the Prince of Chenliu is the best choice. After all, eight years old and thirteen years old, this is a simple arithmetic problem, isn't it?"

Liu Xie was only eight years old, and it would take him another seven years to take power.

Seven years is enough time for the Yuan family to do many things, and it is even possible for the emperor to die of illness by then.

Shi A was speechless. Compared with the calm and composed Wang Jing, he, who had been in awe of imperial power since childhood, obviously found it difficult to accept such a heinous act for a while.

After all, in this era, most people believe that the king's power is granted by heaven, and the emperor is the son of heaven. How can he be manipulated like a puppet?
But Wang Jing came from later times, so he didn't take the Son of Heaven and the emperor seriously. But even so, Wang Jing knew that deposing and enthroning emperors was a matter of great cost, and if it was not handled properly, it would lead to the joint attack of the princes of the world.

Even the regent Yuan Wei did not dare to do it himself, but instead dragged Dong Zhuo over to take the blame. This shows how high the risk of doing such a thing is.

Therefore, Wang Jing had previously made a bet with Wang Yue, promising to help Liu Xie ascend the throne and become emperor, with the idea of ​​taking advantage from the beginning to the end.

Rather than taking the blame himself for such a huge crime, of course he would find a scapegoat to take it.

There is no doubt that Dong Zhuo is the most suitable scapegoat.

Fatty Dong is fat and ugly, with a head bigger than a watermelon. Wouldn't it be just right to put a black pot on him?

Of course, Wang Jing also knew that it was best for him to keep such things to himself. If he said them out loud, he would be in a low position and would be easily caught by others.

Wang Jing and Shi A were chatting when they heard a quarrel in front of them.

It turned out that when Dong Zhuo had just entered Luoyang with the young emperor Liu Bian, he saw a huge welcoming team, and the person leading it was none other than the Grand Marshal Cui Lie, who had been hiding somewhere unknown.

Cui Lie was one of the Three Dukes, and he was from the Boling Cui family, which was as famous as the Qinghe Cui family, so his status was prominent and noble.

Such a person naturally looked down on Dong Zhuo, who was born as a general from Guanxi, and even called him by his name in a very rude manner: "Dong Zhuo, the border troops are not allowed to enter the capital without being summoned. Do you want to rebel? If you offend the emperor and scare him, can you afford it?"

All the civil officials around echoed and began to denounce Dong Zhuo. In the eyes of the civil officials who came from aristocratic families in Guandong, Dong Zhuo, who came from Xiliang, was obviously just a "villain" of humble status, so they were extremely hostile and excluded him.

In the eyes of the aristocratic families, are you, a "lower class" born in Guanxi and begging for food on the edge of a knife, worthy of such an achievement as Qingtian Baojia?
However, Cui Lie looked down on Dong Zhuo, and Dong Zhuo himself also looked down on Cui Lie, who was only good at pretending. Why was a high official bought with five million coins pretending to be so noble in front of me?
The allusion of being stinking of money comes from Cui Lie.

The two sides were tired of each other. Now that they had learned of He Jin's death and with the support of the Yuan family of Runan, Dong Zhuo's ambitions also grew.

Since you already have a large army under your command, why should you have any concerns?

Therefore, when Dong Zhuo saw Cui Lie and others dared to steal his credit, he did not tolerate them at all. He directly cursed: "I have traveled three hundred miles day and night, and now you are saying that you should avoid me? Believe it or not, I will chop off your head!"

Then, Dong Zhuo questioned the ministers present, showing his arrogance: "You ministers, as ministers of the country, failed to correct the Han Dynasty, causing the country to be in turmoil and the emperor to be exiled. Why do you let Zhuo retreat? With you, who are just sitting there doing nothing, can you protect the safety of His Majesty?"

Cui Lie was sprayed with spit, how could he hold it back? He immediately scolded, "Dong Zhuo! Don't be rude. Luoyang is under the feet of the emperor, not a place for you to act wildly!"

The other court officials who were accompanying him also echoed: "That's right, go back to Xiliang. Luoyang is the best place and we don't welcome rude people like you!"

"Let me go back to Xiliang?"

Dong Zhuo was extremely angry at this time. He had just been pointed at by Wang Jing with an arrow, which made him feel aggrieved enough. Now a bunch of weaklings who could not do anything dared to point fingers at him and curse at him. They really did not know what they were talking about.

Dong Zhuo drew his sword with a loud bang and shouted to the fierce soldiers behind him: "Brothers, these insects want to drive us loyal and righteous people back to Xiliang. Can we agree to this?"

"cannot!"

Five thousand Xiliang soldiers immediately stood behind Dong Zhuo, their shouts reaching the sky, and their murderous aura was overwhelming.

The military spirit, morale and power of thought were like a raging wave of blood, mixed with visions of mountains of swords and seas of fire, full of murderous aura, brutality and cruelty.

The arrogance of Cui Lie and others was simply vulnerable in front of this military spirit forged with countless blood and bones. Soon they fell silent and no one dared to say a word of "no".

Wang Jing stood outside the crowd, enjoying the fun. "Dong Zhuo, the violent tiger, is really a man with a violent temper. Is he about to lose his temper? But it would be better if he could turn Luoyang upside down and wipe out those annoying guys, so that I don't have to do it myself later."

The aristocratic families and powerful clans have been arrogant for a long time, and they will certainly not give up their interests and power obediently. Therefore, if Wang Jing really wants to overthrow the world, his opponents are not the princes and warlords like Dong Zhuo, but the aristocratic families and powerful clans who are hiding in the dark and stirring up trouble and are stubborn and unyielding.

Even in times of chaos, the one with the strongest army and the most powerful soldiers will become king, but behind the scenes it is actually the power of the aristocratic families and the wealthy families that are playing out.

Otherwise, the Cao Wei regime would not have fallen into the hands of the Sima family in the end, and the aristocratic families would never have been controlled by anyone. After the Jin Dynasty, a deep-rooted clan politics was formed with far-reaching influence. It was not until the Song Dynasty that this huge tumor that parasitized the Chinese civilization was completely cut off through the imperial examination system, allowing the Central Plains to regain its vitality.

At the beginning, Wang Jing, who came from a noble family, only wanted to survive and did not have the ambition to change the world.

But as the power in his hands grew stronger and stronger, self-preservation gradually became no longer a problem, and Wang Jing's thoughts also changed.

For example, truly controlling Luoyang and even the entire Sili region, using it as a base to compete for supremacy in the Central Plains, fight for hegemony over the world, and transform this cannibalistic world into something a little more pleasing to the eye.

All this means that Wang Jing will become the enemy of the aristocratic families and powerful clans.

Instead of exposing your goal when your power is still weak and personally making enemies with the noble families of the world, why not find a scapegoat?

Wang Jing thought that the fat and big-eared Dong Zhuo was very suitable.

(End of this chapter)