Chapter 324

Sure enough, these people are just spineless; they are still afraid of death!

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

"I oppose it!"

Yuan Shao suddenly stood out, glaring at Dong Zhuo and saying: "Dong Zhuo, you act against the natural order and even openly behead the hundred officials who oppose you in the court hall. Do you think you can succeed?"

"I, Yuan Shao, will absolutely not agree!"

Seeing Yuan Shao, Dong Zhuo narrowed his eyes slightly, a cold glint flashing in them. He drew his long sword again, pointed it at Yuan Shao, and roared: "Yuan Benchu, do you perhaps think my long sword is not sharp?"

"Clang!"

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

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

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

But in the end, he held back!

Because he was not yet prepared to completely turn against the scholar-official clans.

Especially the Yuan clan, to which Yuan Benchu belonged; their influence was too great.

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

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

He still held hope for them.

"Hmph!"

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

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

But he could not help but sneer inwardly: "I knew you still wanted to win over my Yuan clan to gain the recognition of the scholar-official clans and integrate into them;"

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

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

Watching Yuan Shao's retreating figure in the crowd, Cao Cao thought with a complex expression: "Everything is within your calculations, right?"

"Yuan Benchu! Yuan Benchu! What exactly are you trying to do?"

"This situation right now isn't good for your Yuan clan either, is it?"

"Could it be that you did this on purpose?"

For a time, Cao Cao thought of many things.

Although there was Yuan Shao's farce, in the end, Dong Zhuo still forcibly deposed the young Emperor Liu Bian by force and installed the Prince of Chen Liu, Liu Xie, as the new monarch.

"Roar....."

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

Yuan Kui activated his Qi-Observing Technique to look through the great hall into the sky.

He immediately discovered that the Golden Dragon of Great Han's national fortune had once again dimmed and weakened significantly.

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

It looked listless and dispirited.

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

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

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

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

He felt even more relaxed.

Next, Yuan Kui used the Qi-Observing Technique to look at Dong Zhuo.

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

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

However, Yuan Kui knew that Dong Zhuo's overwhelming national fortune was only temporary.

He had just reached a peak.

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

Seeing this, Yuan Kui closed the Qi-Observing Technique and sneered inwardly: "Dong Zhuo, oh Dong Zhuo! Our Yuan clan is so strong, and we have only schemed against the Great Han a few times, yet we have suffered such a severe backlash;"

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

"Make trouble! Make trouble! Although it was an accident, if you keep making trouble like this, you will only shake the foundations of the Great Han even faster;"

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

At this moment, Yuan Kui was not at all annoyed by the previous failure and loss of control.

Who knows if it's a blessing or a curse?

Afterwards, amidst the silent opposition of the courtiers, Dong Zhuo could only end the court session.

Returning to the Ganquan Palace, he called for Li Ru and asked: "Li Ru! What do you think of today's events in the court hall?"

"They seem unconvinced! I'm worried they will cause more trouble!"

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

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

Gain their acceptance.

Otherwise, it would be difficult for him to gain a foothold in the court hall.

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

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

Upon hearing this, Li Ru suggested: "Father-in-law! Yuan Kui and the others are pressuring us and opposing Your Majesty's deposition and installation of the Son of Heaven only because they want to fight for benefits!"

"We should just give them what they want!"

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

"Hmm!"

Dong Zhuo nodded affirmatively and said: "That's what I was thinking too!"

"These scholar-official clans have huge energy behind the scenes! Unless it's a last resort, 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 bestow titles on a group of people to show our intention to win them over."

"In this way, we 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 Yuan Shao, the Lord can appoint him as the Administrator of Bohai;"

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

"Also, Kong Rong, Tao Qian, Liu Dai... these people can all be promoted."

Next, Li Ru discussed the matter of promotions and bestowals 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, it did make many courtiers' eyes flicker.

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

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

Afterwards, he announced the end of the court session.

Yuan Fu,

Yuan Kui called for Yuan Shu and said to him: "Gonglu, you were 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 keep Su Xuan in check and suppress him; it absolutely cannot be lost!"

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

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

"In addition, after you go to Nanyang, you can instruct Sun Jian to find an excuse to kill the newly appointed Administrator of Nanyang, Zhang Zi!"

"Anyway, he hasn't established a firm footing yet, so killing him won't have much impact!"

In fact, Dong Zhuo had already sent someone yesterday to discuss the matter of bestowals.

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

But he was rejected by Li Ru.