Free The Three Kingdoms Volume 1 by Luo Guanzhong

see him and treated him with wine. He even bowed to the younger man, saying, “I welcome your coming to me, General, just like parched grass welcomes dew.”
    Lu Bu made him take his seat and then knelt before him. “If you do not dislike me, sir, please let me bow to you as my adopted father,” he said.
    Dong Zhuo rewarded him with gold armor and silken robes. Then they all had a hearty drink before they separated.
    From then on Dong Zhuo’s power and influence increased rapidly. He made himself the supreme commander of the army and gave high military ranks to his brother and Lu Bu, both of whom were also created members of the nobility. To strengthen his place in the empire, Li Ru advised him to carry out the plan to depose the young Emperor.
    So Dong Zhuo prepared a banquet in the palace at which all the important officials were expected to be present. He also ordered Lu Bu to post a thousand and more guards around the place as a military back-up. On the day of the banquet, the Emperor’s tutor Yuan Wei and all the officials came. After several rounds of wine, Dong Zhuo rose from his seat, his hand on his sword, saying: “The Emperor being weak and irresolute is unfit for the duties of high office. I will do as Yi Yin and Huo Guang did in the past and reduce the present Emperor to the status of Prince of Hongnong, and I will place on the throne the present Prince of Chenliu. Those who dare to object will have to die!”
    All the officials were silenced by an intense fear, except Yuan Shao, who stepped forward and said: “The Emperor has not been on the throne for long. He is innocent of any fault, yet you want to set him aside for another. What is it if this is not treason?”
    “The empire is in my hands,” cried the infuriated Dong Zhuo, “and I choose to do this today. Who dares to say no? Do you think my sword lacks an edge?”
    “If your sword is sharp, mine is never blunt,” retorted Yuan Shao as his sword flashed out of its sheath.
    The two men stood glowering at each other in the banquet hall.
Daring to speak up against the tyrant, Ding Yuan was murdered;
Confronting the usurper, Yuan Shao puts his life in danger.
    Whether Yuan Shao would be killed or not will be told in the next chapter.
Footnotes
    * Unit of measuring time in ancient China. A night was divided into five gengs , each covering for about two hours. The third geng , or the third watch, was roughly midnight.
    * 1750 B.C.
    † 74 B.C.

CHAPTER FOUR

    Prince of Chenliu Sits in the Throne to Replace the Deposed Emperor
    Cao Cao Presents Dong Zhuo a Sword in an Attempt to Kill Him

    D ong Zhuo was on the point of slaying Yuan Shao, but his advisor Li Ru checked him, saying, “You must not kill rashly while the business hangs in the balance.” Then Yuan Shao, sword in hand, left the assembly. He hung up the symbol of his office at the east gate and went to Jizhou.
    Dong Zhuo said to Yuan Wei, “Your nephew was impudent but I pardoned him for your sake. What do you think of my proposal?”
    “What you said is right,” was the reply.
    “If anyone opposes the great scheme he will be dealt with by military law,” said Dong Zhuo.
    After the banquet Dong Zhuo asked two of his subordinates what they thought of Yuan Shao’s departure. One of them said, “He left in a state of great anger. If you press him too hard, he will surely rebel. The Yuan family have been noted for their kindness to the people for four generations, and their protégés and dependents are everywhere. If he assembles bold spirits and disciples, all the valiant warriors will rise in arms and the vast area east of Huashan Mountains will be lost. It would be better if you pardon him and make him head of a prefecture. He will be glad to be forgiven and will do no harm.”
    As the other one was also of the same opinion, Dong Zhuo followed this advice. An envoy was sent that day to announce the appointment of Yuan Shao as Prefect of Bohai.
    On the first day of the ninth month,