Battle Royale of the Sinners

"Report to Your Majesty" Dong Zhuo stepped forward this time.

He started reading the biography of Zhang Jiao. In the report, Zhang Jiao's deeds as a local physician, his relatives, and all the rumors around him were recorded. Dong Zhuo listed his actions started from his Taoist Sect duties to the recent deeds as the governor of Julu Commandery.

The battle of Anping, the ransom incident with the Yuan Clan, and the contribution to the Han Court were also listed in the reports, which caused the officials to listen to the stories with awe and admiration as if they were listening to a drama story in a play.

Then, it came to the parts where everyone swallowed their saliva.

Zhang Jiao and Zhang Tong reformed new laws and slaughtered half of the nobles the first few days after they had been reinstated into the position. They killed the riot merchants the next days and removed all private troops from the local nobles and merchants.

This move slapped the traditional nobles on the face. Fifty officials of the thousand officials in the throne room had a sign of anger of their face, but they did not say anything to interrupt the report yet.

The reports continued.

There were news about the unusual employments, auctions, provision control policies. A few moves of Julu made the ministers of the internal affair blushed in shame as their ideas were superior to them.

Because of Zhang Jiao's hardworking nature, the citizens of Julu praised him for being a competent governor, which made the fifty angry officials clicked their tongue in irritation.

Liu Ping cringed as he listened to the story.

'The leader of the Yellow Turban was this capable? Or is it because of Tong?'

'It's probably Tong's interference, or he wouldn't have become this smart.'

Dong Zhuo continued.

"This is the report of Zhang Jiao's military status. He made a unique army unit called 'Police' in the city. Their number is 10,000 men which we believe that they are the new unit of the local garrison guards."

Liu Ping bit his lower lips as he could guess from all the reports now about what Tong was trying to do.

'He was stabilizing his domestic affairs! While I was fighting for the throne, he had already solidified his foothold!'

Lu Zhi, who was listening to the side, closed his eyes and sighed. He had experienced all of these first handed. They were no need to listen to the details, but he had to as there might be a false report or an exaggeration in the reports.

"Aside from the local garrison guards, aka "Police", we also found out that there are more than 50,000 soldiers which belong to the Zhang Clan garrisoning outside the city!"

Lu Zhi squeezed his eyes tight. He prayed that this report would not get too much backlash from the crowd as Tong had too many troops for a local governor lord.

As Lu Zhi expected, half of the thousand officials opened their eyes wide in shock. An ordinary noble family usually had about 2,000 to 3,000 private troops. A few wealthy nobles might have up to 10,000 soldiers, while the deep-rooted aristocrat families, such as Yuan Shao or Liu Clan, or a viceroy of a province, such as Han Fu or Tao Qian, could have over 30,000 soldiers. The exception belonged to the nobles who was responsible for border cities, such as Ma Teng, Dong Zhou, Gongsun Zan, and Ding Yuan, who could have 50,000 to 100,000 soldiers as they were financial-supported by the Han Court.

Possessing over 50,000 soldiers was abnormal no matter how they saw it.

"Is Zhang Jiao stupid?"

"Can his finance support it?"

"But he held that auction. He has millions of gold!"

"I think he's a fraud."

"He's just spending money to show off his wealth and power."

"Zhang Jiao doesn't know how to manage troops."

"Yes, he is stupid."

The officials on the back rows started gossiping and the murmur sounds could be heard. It was getting louder every second.

Liu Ping clapped, and the noise stopped.

"Continue." Liu Ping spoked.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Aside from the domestic affair, there was an interesting incident in Jinyang a few months ago."

"Jinyang? Isn't that Ding Yuan's border city? What happened?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, in June, Zhang Tong visited Ding Yuan with his troops. But for some reason, I received a report that Ding Yuan's son, Lu Bu, had fought with Zhang Tong twice, and Zhang Tong retreated from Jin Yang on the same day he fought Lu Bu the second time. We don't have the exact intel as Jinyang City hasn't reported anything to use."

Dong Zhuo withheld the information about Zhang Ji, Zhang Xiu, and the hidden alliance proposal that he sent to Julu. The alliance confirmation notice by Tong was already in the hands of Dong Zhuo. Although he failed to recruit Lu Bu, having Zhang Tong as his distance ally in secret was worth the effort.

Liu Ping's eyes lit up. He had found a cause for war!

His eyes darted around again to check how many people who were dissatisfied with Tong and Zhang Jiao. It was not hard to notice, a few of them had a red face and bulged veins, but more than half of the officials still had indifferent expression.

Liu Ping made his decision. He would risk it!

"Isn't that obvious? Zhang Tong attempted to assassinate Ding Yuan, but Lu Bu fended him off. He was chased back to his own city because he failed."

The analysis of Liu Ping shocked everyone. If that was true, then Zhang Tong was trying to rebel against the Han Court as Ding Yuan was the grand commander of Jinyang frontline against Xiangnu tribes. Harming a commander of the Han Empire was an act of treason!

However, not everyone believed in Liu Ping's opinion. Lu Zhi knew about Tong's personality, he would not try to do something stupid like attacking the governor of a city without a good reason. Furthermore, he had learned the details about the incident from Tong and his men. It was not Tong that attempted to kill Ding Yuan, it was Dong Zhuo's men.

The other person in this room who knew the truth was Dong Zhuo. All details of the operation and the result were handled by Li Ru's men. He even knew about the failure of the operation to recruit Lu Bu and about the disappearance of his granddaughter. But since he knew that his granddaughter ended up in Julu and the negotiation with Tong was successful, he overlooked the incident.

Dong Zhuo hid his smirk. A new inspiration appeared in his mind. Thus, he made his move.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the intel of my spies indeed said that Zhang Tong was in cahoots with the Xiangnu. He attempted to sabotage our defensive lines, so they could invade our country from Jinyang."

Liu Ping raised his eyebrows in surprise. He made a wide guess and created a totally nonsense story to frame Tong, so he could have a reason to issue an edict. Yet, he was right?

'No, my guess should have been wrong. Dong Zhuo must have plotted something on my back, judging from his nature and the historical records from my world. But I need to kill Zhang Jiao or Sun Jian ASAP, so I'll play along with you for once.' Liu Ping thought.

"If you knew about it, why isn't this intel included on the reports?" Liu Ping asked to probe Dong Zhuo.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, we do not have a solid proof to accuse Zhang Jiao and Zhang Tong. All our information came from the dubious sources, so as your upright Prime Minister, I can't prosecute someone without good solid proof."

Liu Ping felt like vomiting when he heard Dong Zhuo called himself "Your upright Prime Minister". Although he gave him that position, he did not remember Dong Zhuo doing anything righteous after he had taken the title.

'Hypocrite! How laughable.' Liu Ping mocked Dong Zhuo in his mind.

'Oh well, since you're somewhat helping me, I'll let you go just this once.'

"Then that's fine. Next time, include all the information in the reports, even if the source of the intel isn't reliable. There's a saying, if there's smoke, there's a fire. It wouldn't hurt to take notes of the groundless rumors as well."

"Your Majesty is wise." Dong Zhuo bowed with a smile.

Lu Zhi glared at Dong Zhuo and Liu Ping with hatred and anger. Those two tyrants just framed his disciple who worked so hard for his people.

Before Lu Zhi could open his mouth and protest, a hand was extended from behind and covered his mouth.

"Please don't protest, or you might die."

A whisper came from behind. Lu Zhi recognized this voice, it was Cao Cao's.

"Why are you stopping me, Mengde?" Lu Zhi whispered back.

"Those two has already gone insane. They are not the type who will listen to the ministers. If you speak right now, they will kill you."

"Then what do you want me to do then?"

"We don't have to serve them. Liu Ping is not the only successor of the Han Dynasty."

"What!?"

"Please follow me after this meeting. I'll tell you the details."

"…Fine."

While Cao Cao and Lu Zhi were whispering, Liu Ping decided to rush this meeting.

"Very well, I've heard enough for today. All of you, receive my edict!"

All officials kowtowed.

"Zhang Tong has suspiciously gathered large troops, and he is in cahoots with the Xiangnu! I can't see this as something else but he is definitely preparing for a rebellion! From this day onward, Zhang Jiao and Zhang Tong are considered the enemy of our country! Capture them and execute their nine generations!"

"Send my edict to all warlords in all provinces. Anyone who can kill Zhang Jiao or Zhang Tong shall be rewarded with 100,000 gold and two ranks promotion."

"Dong Zhuo, Wang Yun! Gather our troops!"

"We shall march to Julu and kill the rebellions!"