Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 181 Is Zhou Gongjin also a lobbyist?
With the prophecy spreading so widely in Huainan, everyone knew that Yuan Gonglu was just trying to gain reputation for himself.

Lu Fan took a few steps closer and said in a low voice: "Fan believes that Yuan Shu may have the intention of usurping the throne..."

"Impossible." Sun Ce retorted subconsciously, and then frowned. Yuan Shu first promised him to be the prime minister of Pei State, but now he broke his promise and appointed his trusted general Zhang Xun as the county governor, hoping to control Pei in the hands of his confidants. If he said that he wanted to establish himself in place of the Han Dynasty and seize Emperor Gaozu's Pei County, there would be countless people who would curry favor with him.

Sun Ce was a little surprised and doubtful. Logically speaking, what merits did Yuan Shu have to be able to establish his own regime in place of the Han Dynasty? When Wang Mang wanted to usurp the throne, he had to prepare for many years. He reduced taxes and provided disaster relief for the common people, won over the powerful families in the world and convinced the majority of people, only then could he force the Han emperor to abdicate the throne. Yuan Shu was far inferior to Wang Mang.

Not to mention the descendants of the Yuan family, even if the ancestor Yuan An were to be resurrected, he could not compare to the power and prestige of Wang Mang in the past.

Moreover, Wang Mang recruited more than 400,000 soldiers, but they were defeated by Emperor Guangwu in the Battle of Kunyang. Now the Left General Liu Xuande is stronger than Emperor Guangwu.

Yuan Gonglu was not on good terms with Liu Biao in the west, Liu Yao in the south, and Cao Cao in the east. Even if the Yellow Turbans of Runan came to join him, he could at most mobilize 40,000 troops. How could they defeat Liu Xuande?
If he were Yuan Shu, even if he had the intention of rebellion, he would first take over the two states of Yu and Yang, and then take advantage of the decisive battle between Liu Bei and Yuan Shao to attack Xuzhou, which would be enough to win the Central Plains.

Sun Ce rationally felt that Yuan Shu would not be so stupid, but deep down he thought that Yuan Shu might really be able to do it.

He looked at Lu Fan and said hesitantly, "Mr. Yuan, you are not so dull and stupid."

Wouldn't this draw the world's attention to him and force the Han officials to destroy him?
The Liangzhou thieves are so bold, yet they dare not claim to be emperor...

The most important thing is, what basis did Yuan Gonglu have to usurp the throne and proclaim himself emperor? Just based on that prophecy?

Lu Fan was not sure either, but Yuan Shu's abnormal behavior made him make this guess.

So he bowed and said, "Bofu, everything is planned, otherwise it will fail. We might as well make plans early."

Sun Ce smiled bitterly. Lü Fan was not the commander of an army and did not know how hard it was to get food, fodder, weapons and money. Without Yuan Shu's support, his soldiers would have scattered like birds and beasts in a few days.

"Ziheng, I will think about it myself." Sun Ce comforted Lu Fan.

At that time, a soldier came to the tent and said, "There is someone outside the camp who claims to be an old friend of Captain Sun. I hope the Captain will be willing to meet him."

Sun Ce frowned and asked, "Can you please tell me your name?"

The sergeant replied, "No, the man claimed to be a childhood friend of the lieutenant, so we need to go to the camp gate to greet him in person, otherwise he will leave by boat at the ferry."

Huang Gai, Cheng Pu and Han Dang couldn't help but feel unhappy. Even if they were childhood friends, there was no need for the commander-in-chief to personally greet them at the military camp gate, right?
Sun Ce, on the other hand, was not angry at all. Instead, there was a hint of joy on his face. He quickly opened the tent and ran out.

Everyone in the tent looked at each other in bewilderment, not knowing what to do, and quickly followed Sun Ce.

"Gong Jin!"

"Is the person coming Gongjin?!"

Hearing the shouting from afar, the young man with a scholarly air turned around and looked towards the source of the voice. Seeing someone shouting from afar, he immediately smiled, his eyes slightly raised, and his face became warm and handsome.

"Bofu, I'm here!" Zhou Yu also waved.

When Sun Ce approached, the two men held each other's arms and couldn't help laughing towards the sky.

Zhou Yu looked him up and down, so he smiled and said, "How come Bofu is thinner than when he fought Cao Cao in Liyang? It's not good for a general to be too thin on the battlefield."

Sun Ce heard this and pretended to be angry and said, "It's because you, Lord Zhou, refused to go with me. How can I not lose weight if I think about it day and night?"

Then they both laughed again.

At this time, Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Han Dang, Lü Fan, Sun He, Jiang Qin, Zhou Tai and other talents rushed to Sun Ce's side. Zhou Yu bowed and saluted, and sighed: "I am honored to meet you generals. I have not seen you since Liyang. I know that you are even more powerful today."

"My invitation just now was just a joke to Bofu, please don't blame me." After saying this, he bowed.

Zhou Yu knew that most of these were Sun Jian's old subordinates, who treated Sun Ce like their own sons and nephews, so a joke could easily displease them.

After all, Zhou Yu did not expect that when the soldiers reported the news, Sun's generals were all in the tent, which made him feel ashamed to mobilize all the troops to meet him.

When Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Han Dang and others heard Zhou Yu say this, their expressions improved a little and they all bowed in return.

"Come on, Gongjin, let's go into the tent first and talk." Sun Ce said with a smile, holding Zhou Yu's arm.

The anger caused by Zhang Xun before had disappeared at this moment, and he just wanted to have a good chat with Zhou Yu.

When they returned to the military camp, all the generals bowed and took their leave, going to take care of other things.

They had dropped what they were doing and rushed over here to make their position clear to Zhang Xun and Yuan Shu that they were on Sun Ce's side.

At this time, Zhang Xun had already left, and they still had a lot of chores to do, so it was impossible for them to stay in the military tent all the time. Besides, Zhou Gongjin was just Bofu's childhood friend. Did they really want the generals to stand here and serve him?
Zhou Yu looked at the backs of these people leaving, then pointed at Sun Ce, shook his head and was speechless.

Sun Bofu accidentally gathered everyone together, which put him in great trouble.

It is unlikely that the resentment among these former members of the Sun family will be resolved in the short term.

He couldn't help but sigh: "Bofu, you've caused me so much trouble."

Of course Sun Ce understood, so he patted Zhou Yu on the shoulder and said with a smile, "It will be fine after a while."

Then Sun Ce asked sternly, "Gongjin, weren't you with your father in Lujiang? Why did you suddenly come to Yicheng County?"

Zhou Yu walked to the edge of the tent, opened it and looked outside, then said sideways: "I came here for you, otherwise I would have gone to Xuzhou along the river from Zhongli."

Sun Ce did not ask Zhou Yu why he went to Xuzhou. Although the two were childhood friends, there were some things he did not want to interfere in.

He just smiled and asked, "Why did you come here to look for me?"

Zhou Yu smiled and did not give a direct answer. Instead, he asked, "What does Bofu think of Cao Mengde?"

Although he did not understand the meaning, Sun Ce still pondered for a moment and said, "Cao Mengde is cautious in using his troops. I have fought him many times but could not win. Now that he occupies Jiangdong, he will be a tough opponent."

Zhou Yu clapped his hands and laughed, "If Cao Mengde is difficult to deal with, then Liu Shijun, who drove him to Yangzhou, is not even more heroic. Bofu thinks that the three princes of Yangzhou can compare to Liu Shijun?"

"Of course not. When Liu Xuande was the magistrate of Pingyuan County, many princes were either governors or provincial governors. But the one who is sweeping the world now is Liu Xuande. He currently occupies three states and has recovered Luoyang. Even Yuan Shao of Jizhou cannot compare to him."

Sun Ce said without hesitation.

Among the princes in Yangzhou, he had fought with two of them. Liu Yao was defeated by him. Among the generals under Cao Mengde, only Cao Ren, Cao Chun and Xiahou Yuan were a bit troublesome. As for Xiahou Dun, it is better not to mention him.

Even so, if Yuan Gonglu dared to entrust all the military power to him, he would dare to cross the river to capture and kill Cao Cao for the Yuan family.

(End of this chapter)