Chapter 357: Dong Zhuo wants to marry into Su Xuan's family

"Hiss!"

Yan Xiang heard this, looked at Yuan Shu, and gasped: "My Lord, you are going to cheat these Nanyang noble clans to death!"

"With the reputation of the Yuan clan, it is indeed possible to make these Nanyang noble clans and powerful families bleed heavily to borrow money to support you, My Lord;"

"But I said before that once we leave Nanyang, they won't be able to do anything to you, My Lord, but if you go too far, it will still have a certain impact on your and the Yuan clan's reputation!"

A small loss would be fine.

For the sake of the Yuan clan's name, they could only swallow their anger and endure for the time being.

Hoping that if Yuan Shu becomes successful in the future, they can find him and use these debts to seek some benefits.

But if you cheat them to death, when they run away from Nanyang, these people absolutely won't be able to endure it.

They will absolutely go everywhere to proclaim Yuan Shu's "great achievements."

Let his stinking name resound throughout the Great Han.

Let him become a notorious deadbeat.

"It's fine!"

Yuan Shu didn't care at all: "It's just a bit of reputation. I believe that with me, with the reputation and prestige of the Yuan clan, I can carry it;"

"This is just a drop in the ocean! It won't have any impact on my Yuan clan."

In Yuan Shu's heart, his Yuan clan is invincible in the world.

"Fine! As long as you are happy, My Lord!"

Yan Xiang heard this, and although he was speechless and worried in his heart, he understood Yuan Shu's temper, and continuing to persuade him wouldn't have any effect, so be it!

Indeed, the impact shouldn't be big, right? Probably...

3 days later,

Yuan Shu summoned all the Nanyang noble clans and powerful families he could summon,

And then, in the name of the Yuan clan, borrowed money and grain from them.

Of course, before this, Yuan Shu had already sent people to Xinye to inform Su Xuan that he agreed to the peace negotiations and the ransoming of the people.

However, he needed a few days to scrape together the money and grain.

Su Xuan was naturally happy to see this.

As long as he gives the money, it's fine.

With the name of the Yuan clan, plus Yuan Shu's strength and pressure, these noble clans and powerful families, more or less, all allocated and borrowed quite a bit of money and grain.

Finally, they scraped together 2 million shi of grain and 600,000 gold.

This money and grain, not to say it hollowed out these noble clans and powerful families, but half of it was there.

This was just the big clans; the small families were hollowed out by at least 70%.

Any more, and they wouldn't have any left.

Yuan Shu was very satisfied with this, constantly painting a big picture for these Nanyang noble clans and powerful families, saying that after he succeeds in the future, there will be great rewards, and so on.

Then, he had the people from these families transport the promised money and grain to Wancheng as soon as possible.

At the same time, in the Grand Tutor's mansion in Luoyang,

"Haha! This Su Xuan's actions are really fast! He actually took the bait so quickly, directly starting a war with Yuan Shu, and even wiped out Yuan Shu and Sun Jian's 50,000 troops;"

"Is Su Xuan too powerful, or are Yuan Shu and Sun Jian too trashy? This battle didn't even last a day, right?"

Dong Zhuo received the news from Nanyang and couldn't help but laugh heartily.

At the same time, he was quite wary of Su Xuan's strength.

Back during the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he took over the Jizhou battlefield, only to be defeated by Zhang Jiao.

But when it changed to Su Xuan and Huangfu Song, the result was completely different.

Su Xuan directly raided Zhang Jiao's lair and killed Zhang Jiao head-on.

This comparison made it hard for Dong Zhuo not to be wary of Su Xuan.

Li Ru spoke at this time: "I fear that Su Xuan and the troops under his command are indeed very elite;"

"Likewise, most of Yuan Shu and Sun Jian's troops were recruited and trained not long ago, plus they were careless, so it's not strange that they failed so quickly!"

"I only hope that Su Xuan can thoroughly eliminate Yuan Shu and Sun Jian next. In that way, we can widely proclaim that he has already allied with Father-in-law;"

"By then, even if Su Xuan is unwilling, he will have no choice but to join our side;"

"Yuan Shao and the other warlords likely won't accept him anymore!"

Being able to pull a powerful warlord like Su Xuan into his own camp in advance is very important.

Otherwise, given the strength Su Xuan has shown so far, Li Ru is indeed a bit worried.

"Oh?"

Dong Zhuo heard Li Ru's suggestion, and his eyes immediately lit up: "This is good! This is good! I was just wary of him;"

"But if I can subdue him and turn him into one of our own, it would be completely different!"

"Uh..."

Li Ru heard this and was slightly stunned, then smiled bitterly: "Father-in-law, being able to force him to stand on our side and ally with us is already the limit!"

"Father-in-law, you wanting to subdue him is basically impossible!"

"Such a heaven-defying figure is basically impossible to be subdued!"

If it were him, if he had been appointed a general and enfeoffed as a marquis at 17, and now had become the lord of a province with countless civil officials and fierce generals under his command, he would also not be willing to submit to others!

If Dong Zhuo really sent someone to attempt to subdue Su Xuan, it might directly cause Su Xuan to turn against them and thoroughly become their mortal enemy!

Because, in the heart of such a proud figure, this is a kind of insult to him.

"Eh?"

Dong Zhuo heard this and was also stunned, his brows slightly furrowed as he looked at Li Ru: "Is there really no way to subdue him?"

"Absolutely impossible!"

Li Ru shook his head and said: "If it were you, Father-in-law, if you had been appointed a general and enfeoffed as a marquis at 17, and now had become the lord of a province, would you be willing to submit to others?"

"That is naturally impossible!"

Dong Zhuo shook his head directly, and also understood;

Then, somewhat unwillingly, he said: "Then can we strengthen the relationship and become true allies or even one family?"

"What do you think if I marry Dong Bai to him as his wife?"

"Can I get his wholehearted help or even his defection?"

For such a powerful opponent, if possible, it is better to turn him into one of our own.

"Impossible!"

Li Ru smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Father-in-law, have you forgotten that Su Xuan's legitimate wife is a woman of the Xun clan, even the daughter of the great Confucian Xun Shuang, and has already given birth to Su Xuan's legitimate eldest son;"

"I heard that their relationship as husband and wife is very good, and Su Xuan seems to be a romantic, treating every one of his wives and concubines very well, almost treating them all equally;"

"Unless you are willing to let Dong Bai become his concubine, otherwise, it is impossible for him to agree to the marriage alliance."

Moreover, there is something he hasn't said yet.

That is, your status and position, Dong Zhuo, are strictly speaking incomparable to Xun Shuang's!

Even if you now control Luoyang, command hundreds of thousands of troops, and have become the Grand Tutor of the current dynasty, it is the same.

In the eyes of the noble clans and the people of the world, your influence and status are not as good as someone like Xun Shuang.

Let alone Dong Zhuo's granddaughter.

If Dong Zhuo really had the status of someone like Xun Shuang in the hearts of the scholars, he wouldn't have ended up in this situation today.

Perhaps, he would have already truly thoroughly controlled the imperial court, and then, gradually controlled the world.

Su Xuan marrying Dong Bai basically has no benefits for him, but a whole bunch of disadvantages. ===== CHAPTER 359 =====