...
At the gates of Chang'an City, Hua Xiong tossed a handful of coins and swaggered in. His current appearance was such that unless someone had known him before, no one would recognize him. Yesterday, when he heard the Han Emperor was going to abdicate in favor of Dong Zhuo, Hua Xiong understood that the time had come, and even more so that the time of the abdication would mark the death of his former lord, Dong Zhuo.
Since arriving in Yongzhou in November last year, Hua Xiong had spent four months integrating the Yongzhou thieves, and had even placed his own trusted aides among them. Perhaps they couldn't form military formations yet, but it was still possible to make an intimidating appearance. As for the true combat power, it lay in the four thousand Private Troops he had replenished.