After three rounds of drinks and five courses of dishes, Dong Zhuo coughed lightly and waved his hand, signaling the dancers and musicians to withdraw. The grand banquet hall instantly fell silent, with everyone's eyes converging on Dong Zhuo.
Dong Zhuo glanced at Li Ru, who gave a slight nod in return. He then stood up, placed his hand on his sword, and spoke in a deep voice, "I have an announcement, and I ask all officials to listen carefully. The Son of Heaven is the ruler of all people, and without dignity, he cannot uphold the ancestral temples and the state. The current emperor is weak and timid, unlike the Prince of Chenliu, who is intelligent and eager to learn. He is fit to ascend the throne. I propose to depose the current emperor and install the Prince of Chenliu. What do you all think?"
The banquet hall immediately erupted into a buzz of whispers, like a hive of bees.
Many officials, upon hearing Dong Zhuo's words, turned to look at Wang Yun and Yuan Wei. However, they found that these two leaders of the scholarly elite were as still as wooden statues, their eyes fixed on their noses and their mouths shut tight. They neither moved nor spoke.
What did this mean? Some were puzzled, while others had an inkling and chose to remain silent as well.
For these aristocratic families, whether Liu Bian or Liu Xie became emperor made little difference. Whoever it was, they would still need the aristocratic families to govern the state and implement policies down to the grassroots level.
Previously, Liu Bian had been chosen because the scholarly elite needed to ally with the empress's family to eliminate the eunuchs. Thus, Liu Bian, from the He family, was the natural choice. Moreover, Liu Bian was indeed weak and timid, and the weaker the emperor, the easier he was to control, right? Now, switching to Liu Xie was not a big deal for these scholarly elites. He was still a young emperor who would rely heavily on them.
Furthermore, with the death of General He Jin, the He family's influence was on the verge of collapse. Stubbornly supporting Liu Bian, who was from the He family, might not yield much future benefit.
Dong Zhuo's desire to install Liu Xie was something Wang Yun, Yuan Wei, and others could easily guess. It was simply because Liu Xie had been raised by Empress Dowager Dong, giving him a slight connection to the Dong family. As for the excuse that Liu Xie was smarter than Liu Bian, well, the throne had little to do with intelligence. Were all the emperors in history intelligent?
The silence of Wang Yun and Yuan Wei also conveyed a message—they were not opposed, but Dong Zhuo's public announcement without prior consultation with them was displeasing.
In the eyes of Wang Yun and Yuan Wei, Dong Zhuo's support for Liu Xie was just a repeat of the cycle of empress dowager families rising to power. The He family was stepping down, and the Dong family was stepping up. Just as they had dealt with the He family, now the Dong family was emerging, which was somewhat frustrating.
Moreover, the recent purge of eunuchs had been so thorough that there were no eunuchs left to ally with the scholarly elite to counter the empress dowager's family. If Dong Zhuo successfully transformed into the new empress dowager's family, the Dong family might dominate, leaving the scholarly elite to suffer for a long time. This was the real concern for Wang Yun and Yuan Wei.
Whoever became emperor was fine, as long as they were from the Liu family. If not for the fact that the people had recognized the Liu family for centuries, even Yuan Wei and Wang Yun might have been tempted to try their hand at being emperor.
Yuan Wei glanced at Wang Yun and found that Wang Yun was also glancing at him. Their eyes met, and they silently cursed each other as old foxes before lowering their gazes and resuming their roles as wooden statues.
The Wang and Yuan families were the two largest factions among the ruling aristocratic families. With their leaders silent, their followers naturally remained silent as well. For a while, the grand banquet hall was filled with the buzz of whispers, but no one stepped forward to speak.
The scholarly elite remained silent, but Ding Yuan, also known as Ding Jianyang, was growing anxious. What was going on?
No wonder you didn't reply to my letter, you Western Liang brute! You were planning to hog all the benefits for yourself!
Ding Yuan thought to himself, "I was the first to respond to the nation's call, wasn't I? I was the first to come to Luoyang to support the emperor, wasn't I? I was the most resolute and loyal, wasn't I? If it weren't for General He Jin being swayed by his sister Empress He's schemes, would this Western Liang brute even have a say in this?"
Ding Yuan had initially thought that Dong Zhuo's proposal to depose the emperor would be met with fierce criticism from the scholarly elite. But now, it seemed that these critics had all fallen silent. Wasn't this a tacit approval of Dong Zhuo's actions?
If Dong Zhuo succeeded, he would undoubtedly become the most powerful figure in the court, the new empress dowager's family. What would that leave for Ding Yuan? His hopes of securing a future for his descendants would be dashed, and he would have to return to the harsh frontier to defend the borders.
That was unacceptable!
Absolutely not!
In a fit of anger, Ding Yuan stood up and overturned the table in front of him. Fine wine and delicacies scattered everywhere, creating a mess.
Ding Yuan pointed at Dong Zhuo and shouted, "No! Absolutely not! Who do you think you are, daring to speak such words? The Son of Heaven is the rightful heir of the late emperor and has done no wrong. How can you rashly discuss deposing him? Are you plotting treason?"—Dong Zhuo, you Western Liang brute, I'll first accuse you of treason, and then see how you become the empress dowager's family and hog all the benefits without including me!
Dong Zhuo was surprised that Ding Yuan was the first to oppose him. Upon hearing Ding Yuan's words, he became furious. What did he mean by treason? Wasn't he discussing this with everyone? If he were truly plotting treason, would he be discussing it openly?
Dong Zhuo had always considered Ding Yuan a fellow border general, someone who had also endured the hardships of frontier life. He had even refused Li Ru's suggestion to disarm Ding Yuan's troops, thinking of him as a fellow countryman. But now, instead of others opposing him, it was this "fellow countryman" who had stabbed him in the back!
And worst of all, he had accused him of treason! Ding Yuan, have you ever seen a traitorous minister openly discuss such matters? The Liu family had changed emperors before, and it wasn't just me who had done it. What about Emperor Chong and Emperor Zhi? How did they become emperors, and how did they die?
Ding Yuan, you should be on my side. Why have you betrayed me and joined the eastern scholars? Why are you the first to stab me in the back?
The more Dong Zhuo thought about it, the angrier he became. His long years in Western Liang had conditioned him to resolve conflicts through force. In Western Liang, if there was a disagreement, they would fight it out. Whoever had the stronger fists would prevail. If the fight didn't resolve the issue, they would draw blades, and the survivor would have the final say—after all, the dead couldn't complain.
Dong Zhuo drew his sword and strode toward Ding Yuan. If you have a problem with me, fine, let's settle it one-on-one. Whoever wins gets their way!