Chapter 207

Sure enough, these people were just cheap, and they were still afraid of death!

Just as Dong Zhuo was preparing to formally establish this matter.

"I object!"

Lord Yuan Shao suddenly stood out, glaring at Dong Zhuo: "Dong Zhuo, you are acting against the natural order and even publicly beheading the officials who oppose you in the court hall. Do you think you can succeed?"

"I, Lord Yuan Shao, will never agree!"

Seeing Lord Yuan Shao, Dong Zhuo's eyes narrowed slightly, a cold glint flashing through them. He directly drew his long sword again, pointing it at Lord Yuan Shao and shouting angrily: "Lord Yuan Benchu, do you think my long sword is not sharp?"

"Clang!"

The next moment, Lord Yuan Shao also directly drew the long sword at his waist and retorted firmly: "Then do you think my sword, Lord Yuan Benchu's, is not sharp?"

"You... are courting death!!!"

Seeing Lord Yuan Shao being so arrogant, Dong Zhuo wished he could just hack Lord Yuan Shao to death.

But in the end, he held back!

Because he was not yet prepared to completely break with the scholar-official families.

Especially the Lord Yuan clan, where Lord Yuan Benchu belonged; their influence was too great.

He still wanted to win over the Lord Yuan clan and then gain the recognition of other scholar-official families!

Dong Zhuo had not yet been driven mad by the scholar-official families at this time.

He still held hope for them.

"Hmph!"

Seeing that Dong Zhuo did not take action against him, Lord Yuan Shao was not surprised in his heart.

He could roughly guess what Dong Zhuo was thinking at this moment.

But he couldn't help but sneer in his heart: "I knew you still wanted to win over my Lord Yuan clan to gain the recognition of the scholar-official families and integrate into them;"

"Unfortunately, you will never understand that a person like you can never be accepted by the scholar-official families."

Thinking of this, Lord Yuan Shao directly sheathed his long sword and turned to leave the court hall without looking back.

Cao Cao watched Lord Yuan Shao's retreating back from the crowd, thinking with a complex expression: "Is all of this within your calculations?"

"Lord Yuan Benchu! Lord Yuan Benchu! What exactly do you want to do?"

"This situation now is not good for your Lord Yuan clan either, right?"

"Could it be that you are doing this on purpose?"

For a time, Cao Cao thought of many things.

Although there was Lord Yuan Shao's farce, in the end, Dong Zhuo still used force to forcibly depose the Young Emperor Liu Bian and replace him with the Prince of Chenliu, Liu Xie, as the new monarch.

"Roar..."

It was also at this moment that Lord Yuan Kui and a few others suddenly heard the mournful cries coming from above.

Lord Yuan Kui activated his Qi-observing technique to look through the main hall into the sky.

He immediately discovered that the Golden Dragon of the Great Han's fortune had become much dimmer and weaker again.

Its size had also shrunk by more than half, leaving only three zhang.

It looked listless and dispirited.

It didn't even have the energy to care about Lord Yuan Kui's brief peeking.

Lord Yuan Kui was not careless either; he just took a look and withdrew his gaze, forcibly suppressing his joy.

He looked at his own and the Lord Yuan clan's fortune again.

He discovered that the curse and backlash had indeed lightened by three-tenths.

He felt even more relaxed.

Next, Lord Yuan Kui used the Qi-observing technique to look at Dong Zhuo.

He discovered that Dong Zhuo's fortune was also covered by dark clouds, even more severely than his Lord Yuan clan's.

However, Dong Zhuo's fortune was overwhelming at this moment, so the Great Han's fortune backlash and curse had limited impact on him for the time being.

However, Lord Yuan Kui knew that Dong Zhuo's overwhelming fortune at this moment was only temporary.

He was just at a peak.

Once he showed signs of decline, his fortune would inevitably plummet, and the backlash would truly begin to affect him comprehensively.

Seeing this, Lord Yuan Kui closed the Qi-observing technique and sneered in his heart: "Dong Zhuo, oh Dong Zhuo! Our Lord Yuan clan is so strong, and we have only schemed against the Great Han a few times, yet we have been backlashed so severely;"

"You have directly deposed the Emperor and occupied the imperial city; I want to see how long you can hold on;"

"Go ahead and cause trouble! Although it was an accident, if you keep causing trouble like this, you will only shake the foundations of the Great Han even faster;"

"For our Lord Yuan clan, this is a blessing, not a curse!"

At this moment, Lord Yuan Kui was not at all angry because of the previous failure and loss of control.

Who knows if it is a curse or a blessing?

Afterward, amidst the silent opposition of the courtiers, Dong Zhuo had no choice but to end the court session.

Returning to the Ganquan Palace, he called for Li Ru and asked: "Li Ru! What do you think about what happened in the court hall today?"

"They seem unconvinced! I worry that they will still cause trouble!"

"Also, that Lord Yuan clan was pressuring me earlier! How should I ease the relationship with the scholar-official families?"

He was not yet mad at this time, knowing that to maintain his achievements for a long time, he had to win over and integrate into the scholar-official families.

To gain their acceptance.

Otherwise, he would find it difficult to establish a foothold in the court.

He couldn't just kill everyone who opposed him, could he?

If he did that, wouldn't the imperial court become a mere decoration?

Li Ru heard this and suggested: "Father-in-law! Lord Yuan Kui and the others are pressuring you and opposing Your Majesty's deposition of the Son of Heaven just to fight for benefits!"

"We should just give them what they want!"

"This way, we can also ease the relationship between the two sides;"

"Hmm!"

Dong Zhuo nodded affirmatively: "I was thinking the same thing!"

"These scholar-official families have massive hidden influence! Unless it is absolutely necessary, I don't want to completely tear off the mask with them."

"Then how do you think we should give them benefits?"

Li Ru immediately continued: "Just take the opportunity to grant titles to a group of people to show that we are winning them over."

"This way, it can also show the Lord's benevolence and, at the same time, express to them your intention to ease the relationship."

"For example, for that Lord Yuan Shao, the Lord can appoint him as the Administrator of Bohai;"

"Lord Yuan Shu can be promoted to General of the Rear, Su Xuan can be promoted to General of the Vanguard..."

"And Kong Rong, Tao Zou Qian, Liu Dai... these people can all be given promotions."

Next, Li Ru discussed the matter of promotions and rewards with Dong Zhuo in detail.

After everything was finalized, Dong Zhuo announced these appointments in the court hall the next day in the name of the Son of Heaven, Liu Xie.

For a time, many courtiers' eyes flickered.

Although they were very tempted in their hearts and prepared to accept the decree afterward, they remained unmoved on the surface.

Although Dong Zhuo looked very displeased, he didn't say much.

Afterward, he announced the end of the court session.

At the Lord Yuan Fu,

Lord Yuan Kui called for Lord Yuan Shu and said to him: "Gonglu, you have been appointed as General of the Rear this time, but you failed to get the position of Administrator of Nanyang!"

"But Nanyang must be kept in our hands; its location is too important;"

"It is one of the key places for the subsequent counterattack on Luoyang;"

"At the same time, it is also a key place to balance and suppress Su Xuan, and it absolutely cannot be lost!"

"Pack your things immediately and head to Nanyang, and find a way to take control of Nanyang;"

"I have already sent a letter to Runan ahead of time, asking them to prepare troops, money, and grain for you and send them to Nanyang;"

"Furthermore, after you go to Nanyang, you can instruct Sun Sun Jian to find an excuse to kill that new Administrator of Nanyang, Zhang Zi!"

"In any case, he has not yet established a firm foothold, so killing him won't have much of an impact!"

In fact, Dong Zhuo had already sent someone yesterday to discuss the rewards.

At that time, Lord Yuan Kui had asked for the position of Administrator of Nanyang for Lord Yuan Shu.

But he was rejected by Li Ru.