"You all!"
Seeing the confused expressions of his two great generals, Lu Zhi sighed helplessly.
"Besides fighting battles, you should also use your brains more to understand the court situation!"
"Otherwise..."
"You won't even know when you're sold out!"
"..."
Facing their old superior's complaints, Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun paid no mind and instead eagerly asked:
"General, please tell us what's going on first?"
"Why is our Great Han gone, but their Great Han is rising instead?"
"That's right!"
"If it weren't for you stopping me, General, I would have loved to chop up those noble families!"
"They are all lawless bastards!"
"Alright!"
Seeing his two great generals getting carried away, Lu Zhi quickly waved his hand:
"The reason is actually very simple!"
"Although Luoyang has fallen, and His Majesty has passed away, the imperial family still exists!"
"As long as those noble families find a city to establish themselves, they can completely support a royal descendant they control to ascend the throne."
"After all, a country cannot be without a ruler for a day, right?"
"But the young emperor is ignorant?"
"Then..."
"Those scoundrels only need a little guidance to get everything they want!"
"This..."
As Lu Zhi continued to explain, Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun fell silent.
Although they were impulsive on weekdays, they were not fools.
Was this method feasible?
Not only was it feasible,
It was damn unresolvable!
Everything they did was within the rules, making it impossible to find fault.
Take choosing an emperor, for example...
Should they?
Yes!
Since His Majesty has passed away, it is only natural to elect a new emperor.
Moreover,
This is truly their responsibility and obligation!
Who told them they were the Three Dukes of the court?
Even though Lu Zhi is now the commander-in-chief of the coalition army, his official position in the court is not high.
Let alone comparing with those Three Dukes, he couldn't even compare with the Nine Ministers.
Therefore,
Choosing an emperor, what kind of emperor to choose, where to choose an emperor from... it was truly up to them to decide!
Furthermore.
As long as the emperor is chosen from the royal bloodline, you won't find any reason to object.
Who told you this was the convention?
Once the current emperor has no heirs and passes away, the emperor must be chosen from collateral lines.
Why?
No reason!
Because even Emperor Ling, Liu Hong, who just 'passed away', was chosen from a collateral line.
Who dares to object?
Who has the reason to object?
You can't possibly ignore the royal bloodline and choose someone from an outsider family to change dynasties, right?
That would be inappropriate!
Or,
Throughout the history of all dynasties, except for Empress Wu Zetian in the Tang Dynasty, all other dynastic changes were resolved through war.
Of course!
They couldn't possibly know about Empress Wu Zetian now, nor did they need to know about this woman.
All they needed to consider now was one point... what should they do?
Should they go along with the plans of those noble families, retreat to a certain city, and reorganize the court?
Or...
"Fight!"
Huangfu Song raised his head to meet Lu Zhi's gaze and said word by word:
"We generals are determined to die on the battlefield and will never compromise with those noble families!"
"That's right!"
Zhu Jun, standing beside him, also snapped back to reality and added:
"General, you sent those people away, you must also want to fight, right?"
"Then let's fight!"
"As long as we can annihilate those Yellow Turban rebels and let His Majesty rest in peace, our duty as generals will be fulfilled!"
"Fight?"
Hearing his two great generals' suggestion, Lu Zhi smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"We can't fight!"
"Huh?" x2
As Lu Zhi's words fell, a silence descended upon the command tent.
Fortunately,
Huangfu Song and the others recognized Lu Zhi's character and did not cause any commotion. However, the doubt in their hearts was unavoidable.
"General, why can't we fight?"
"That's right!"
"If we don't drive them out of Luoyang city, we will be letting down His Majesty's nurturing..."
"Listen to me first!"
Seeing that Huangfu Song was endless, Lu Zhi interrupted impatiently:
"The most important thing now is not revenge, but to bring His Majesty out and bury him properly!"
"Did you forget?"
"His Majesty might still be lying somewhere in Luoyang right now. Are we just going to watch like this?"
"Sorry!"
"I can't do it!"
"Even if this revenge is not taken, I must first send His Majesty to the imperial mausoleum!"
"This is our top priority!"
"Hiss..."
As Lu Zhi's words fell, Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun exchanged glances.
That's right!
Now His Majesty is still lying god knows where.
If they don't retrieve and bury him, what's the point of revenge?
And once they fight, Luoyang will surely be destroyed, making it even harder to find him.
But...
"General~!"
Thinking of the current situation in Luoyang, Huangfu Song scratched his head and said:
"Luoyang is now in the hands of the Yellow Turban rebels, they probably won't agree, right?"
"No!"
"They will!"
Lu Zhi shook his head, his tone full of determination:
"They will definitely agree to exchange the heads of those noble families for a corpse!"
"Wh-what?" x2
Hearing Lu Zhi's almost cold-blooded words, Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun couldn't help but stand up.
"Exchange the heads of those noble families for His Majesty's corpse?"
"This..."
"General, even if they agree, we don't seem to be able to do it!"
"That's right!"
"Most of the soldiers in the coalition army were recruited by the noble families. If they were to attack the noble families, it might cause rebellion!"
"Exactly!"
"General, even if the Yellow Turban rebels agree, we people can't do it!"
"Heh heh..."
Listening to the hurried dissuasions from his side, Lu Zhi shook his head dismissively.
"You're overthinking it!"
"Even if I really wanted to do it myself, I wouldn't use these people now!"
"Moreover..."
"It's not just us who want to kill those noble families, those Yellow Turban rebels are also anxious!"
"Them?"
Thinking of the reason why the noble families could safely leave the city, a fierce glint flashed in Huangfu Song's eyes.
"General, those Yellow Turban rebels must have reached an agreement with the noble families, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to break out!"
"So what?"
Lu Zhi shrugged, gestured for everyone to sit down, and said with full confidence:
"Although those Yellow Turban rebels are short-sighted, they will never stand by and watch another court rise."
"As long as we explain the threat posed by those noble families, I believe we can reach a consensus."
"Besides..."
"We can also promise them that when the Yellow Turban rebels launch their attack, our soldiers will guarantee not to participate!"
"It's just over 20,000 people!"
"The Yellow Turban rebels don't even need to leave the city entirely, one army can wipe them out!"
"Hmm..."
Listening to Lu Zhi's plan, everyone couldn't help but nod.
Indeed!
If those Yellow Turban rebels knew the intentions of the noble families, they would surely regret it.
After all,
Compared to the Yellow Turban rebels' hatred for the court, they should hate the noble families even more.
Why didn't they kill them before?
Nonsense!
It must be that those noble families made some unspeakable deal with the Yellow Turban rebels using Luoyang and His Majesty's lives.
Otherwise,
How could His Majesty not break out when even the elderly Yuan Wei could rush out?
That's right!
In the imagination of generals like Huangfu Song, that must have been the scene at the time.
As for the emperor running away?
They broke through?
Is it possible?
It's absolutely that these old bastards sold His Majesty to save their own lives!
These guys deserve to go to hell!
Thinking of this,
Huangfu Song, regardless of his status, directly stood up and volunteered:
"General, since that's the case, I am willing to personally go to the Yellow Turban camp!"
"You?"
Facing Huangfu Song's voluntary offer, Lu Zhi frowned instinctively.
Normally, Huangfu Song was a very steady general.
He was good at fighting and strategizing!
Even in history, this guy was not weak, directly burning seven or eight tenths of the Yellow Turban rebels with a single fire.
But now?
Perhaps stimulated by His Majesty's death, this guy has lost his reason!
Would it be alright to send him?
"General~!"
Seeing the hesitation on Lu Zhi's face, Huangfu Song said with firm conviction:
"Besides me, there is no suitable candidate here!"
"???"
As Huangfu Song's words fell, before Lu Zhi could speak, Zhu Jun couldn't hold back.
"Yizhen, what do you mean by that? How am I inferior to you!"
"Temper!"
"I..."
Although Huangfu Song only said two simple words, Zhu Jun was choked to the point of speechlessness.
Indeed!
His temper was a tiny bit hasty, but which general who fought battles didn't have a hasty temper?
Not to mention Lord Lu Zhi, you are not much better, are you?
Unfortunately,
Huangfu Song did not argue with him at all, his eyes fixed on Lu Zhi with determination.
"General, I only need one night, and I promise to bring back good news by tomorrow morning!"
"Then..."
Lu Zhi looked around and found that there was indeed no more suitable candidate, so he could only nod helplessly.
"Alright!"
"It's you!"
"Yizhen, you must remember one thing, no matter what those Yellow Turban rebels have done, you must not get angry, you must not be impatient, and you must not fall out with them!"
"Welcoming back His Majesty's remains is the top priority!"
"As long as His Majesty's remains are brought back, we will have plenty of time to deal with them!"
"Do you understand?"
"Yes!"
Facing Lu Zhi's patient instructions, Huangfu Song nodded affirmatively.
He forced himself to remember!
After all,
Lu Zhi's last sentence was very right... after welcoming back His Majesty's remains, they would have plenty of time to play with those Yellow Turban rebels!
Anyway,
Even if these coalition armies were disbanded and sent back, they would become the pawns of those noble families.
It would be better to let them contribute their last bit of meager strength for His Majesty!
"Don't worry!"
As if sensing Huangfu Song's thoughts, Lu Zhi sneered and nodded:
"After you leave, I will move the camp, and I guarantee that those Yellow Turban rebels and noble families won't find us!"
"Gong Wei will wait for you here."
"As long as His Majesty's remains are back, whether they go to trouble the noble families or not, we will give those Yellow Turban rebels an unforgettable lesson!"
"Yes!"
As Lu Zhi uttered his last word, a chorus of affirmations echoed in the command tent.
They only had one feeling.
This was the real Lu Zhi!
The former Lu Zhi who had become indecisive to accommodate the noble families?
That wasn't the real Lu Zhi!
He was just a puppet!