The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 131 The prime of life
"What does your majesty want me to do?"

Although he was still the same person, Li Ru's movements and expressions had changed drastically from before.

If Jia Xu and Xun You were still here, they would probably immediately ask Liu Xie to kill Li Ru!
Although this blade is sharp, it can hurt people!
But Liu Xie did not think of holding the poisonous blade in his hand, but decided to throw it directly into the hands of the group of princes in Guandong.

"You have the blood of the emperor on your hands. Neither I nor the court can tolerate you."

"But it is precisely because you are stained with the blood of the emperor that there are people outside who want you to live."

Liu Xie held his chin in his hand and said, "So, you can't survive in Guanzhong, but if you go outside, many people will treat you as a guest of honor."

“Being a guest of honor gives you the qualifications to persuade others.”

"Yuan Shao has now established a new emperor. Although this has stabilized the situation, there will inevitably be people within the government who are dissatisfied with him."

"He had previously seized power in Jizhou with the momentum of a powerful dragon crossing the river, relying on his team of scholars from the Central Plains, such as Xu You, Guo Tu, Xun Chen and others."

"Therefore, the local nobles in Hebei, led by Tian Feng, Ju Shou, and Shen Pei, would inevitably be dissatisfied with Yuan Shao."

"Now that Yuan Shao is planning to establish a pseudo-dynasty, he will benefit the Hebei nobles. But Yuan Shao has great ambitions and will never be willing to share power with others. He will definitely use his own confidants to suppress the Hebei nobles and make them obey him obediently."

"And the Guandong nobles have always been tyrannical. They don't even care about the court or the emperor's face, let alone a Yuan Shao?"

"There is only so much power. If Yuan Shao wants more, the nobles in Hebei will take less. This will naturally lead to conflicts. Once there are conflicts, resentment will arise in people's hearts. Once resentment arises in people's hearts, rifts will appear. Once rifts appear, it will be the time for you, Li Wenyou, to achieve fame and fortune!"

Li Ru's knife was too poisonous and too sharp, even Liu Xie did not dare to hold it in his hand.

But it doesn’t matter, just leave it to Yuan Shao.

Just as Liu Xie said, Yuan Shao was a heroic ruler.

Such an ambitious person would definitely not want others to share his power.

But Yuan Shao is not Dong Zhuo at the same time.

It was impossible for him to kill the nobles without caring about his own reputation.

At most, we can follow the example of Emperor Taizu Liu Xiu and exchange interests with all parties to maintain balance.

But how could Liu Xiu be so studious?
As a monarch who played the exchange of interests and checks and balances to the extreme, Liu Xiu was able to turn ruling, which was full of killing and violence, into an art...

Although Yuan Shao was also very powerful, he definitely did not have the ability of Liu Xiu.

Otherwise, as soon as he died, Hebei would not have been divided instantly. The local gentry in Hebei tacitly chose Yuan Shang, while Yuan Shao's true supporters such as Guo Tu could only be driven to Yuan Tan.

Even before he died, Xu You and Zhang He rebelled at the same time, which shows that Yuan Shao's so-called "checks and balances" were a complete joke, just checks and balances for the sake of checks and balances.

He does not have the means of balance like Emperor Shizu Liu Xiu, nor does he want to learn from Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang and kill people.

Yuan Shao's inherent arrogance meant that the forces under his command were doomed to be full of conflicts.

At this moment, if a pair of dark hands gave him a gentle push, he would naturally fall into destruction.

Now, Liu Xie wants Li Ru to be the mastermind.

Even if Li Ru betrayed me, it wouldn't matter.

Li Ru's hands can never be washed clean.

Even if he rebelled against the emperor, he would still be alone.

Moreover, Liu Xie did not want Li Ru to be loyal to him. He just wanted him to pursue his fame and fortune and stir up chaos in the outside world.

Liu Xie didn't care about the rest.

After listening to Liu Xie's words, Li Ru obviously understood what Liu Xie meant.

But he had a strange expression at the moment, as if he wanted to ask but didn't dare to.

"Just ask whatever you want to ask. If nothing unexpected happens, this may be the last time you and I speak."

Although Liu Xie's words were a bit cruel, Li Ru suddenly felt relieved.

Also.

From today on, he, Li Ru, is both alive and dead.

In that case, is there anything you dare not say or ask?

"I just feel a little emotional."

"What are you feeling?"

"Your Majesty, I have seen everything you have done in Guanzhong."

Li Ru paused: "Including the treatment of General Zuo, I thought that Your Majesty was a benevolent monarch who loved the people, but I didn't expect..."

"I didn't expect that I could come up with such a sinister trick?"

Liu Xie took over.

"Li Wenyou, do you know what is written in the last volume of The Art of War?"

"I know. It's the chapter on using spies."

Sun Tzu said: Whenever an army of 100,000 is raised and marched a thousand miles away, the expenses of the people and the public treasury amount to a thousand pieces of gold per day; the turmoil inside and outside the country makes 700,000 families idle on the roads and unable to do their work. Those who have been fighting for several years to fight for a day's victory, but love the title and salary of a hundred pieces of gold, and do not know the enemy's feelings, are the most unkind.

Generally speaking, when an army of 100,000 is dispatched to fight a thousand miles away, the people's expenses and the public expenditures cost thousands of gold coins every day; the country is in turmoil both inside and outside, and people are exhausted from running on the road, and 700,000 families cannot concentrate on farming. Those who have fought for several years to win a victory, but are stingy with titles, salaries, gold and silver, and are unwilling to use spies, so that they do not know the enemy's true situation, can be said to be extremely unkind and unjust!

"Can a monarch who treats his enemies with kindness but does not show sympathy to his own people be called merciful?"

Li Ru was speechless.

After a while, he asked again. "Since Your Majesty has such a thorough understanding of the situation in Hebei, why hasn't he paid attention to your own situation?"

Liu Xie smiled and said, "Li Wenyou, Li Wenyou, you are really brave enough to ask."

"It seems that you still have hatred towards me and the Grand Master, since you are trying to alienate us before leaving."

Li Ru: "This is not alienation, it's just the truth."

"The person who truly holds power in the court today is actually the Grand Master."

"Your Majesty is so smart and growing stronger day by day. You will definitely compete with the Grand Tutor for power. Has Your Majesty never thought about how to deal with the Grand Tutor?"

People like Yuan Shao knew how to use the Central Plains faction they trusted to deal with the Hebei faction, and use the Hebei faction to suppress the Central Plains faction.

Given Liu Xie's wisdom and status, Li Ru really couldn't believe that Liu Xie would not have the slightest fear of Dong Zhuo and would want to fight for power.

Li Ru had previously thought that although Liu Xie was kind, he was an incompetent monarch who did not know how to fight for power.

But today, after hearing Liu Xie personally talk about the dispute between Yuan Shao's forces, Li Ru immediately realized his mistake.

The emperor today knows everything and understands everything!

But since they knew everything, why did they still tolerate Dong Zhuo?
Doesn't the current emperor really fear that Dong Zhuo might usurp the throne and do something evil one day?
"Since you want to know, I will tell you clearly."

"Just as you, Li Wenyou, are not afraid of death and want to pursue fame and fortune, then I can naturally not even want power, as long as the world is peaceful and the Han Dynasty is revived."

“That’s it, it’s up to you to believe it or not.”

……

In fact, even Liu Xie didn't think Li Ru could trust him.

But Li Ru still believed it.

The emperor's previous punishment of Dong Min and his breaking of old precedent to confer the title of duke on Dong Zhuo were undoubtedly ironclad evidence of all this.

Daren seems fake...

Li Ru once thought that such a monarch was nothing more than a silhouette compiled by Confucian scholars to highlight benevolence, righteousness, and morality.

Especially since he had been serving in the court during the reign of Emperor Ling, he had seen too many intrigues and life-and-death struggles in this world of fame and fortune, so Li Ru simply did not believe that there was an emperor in the world who did not cherish power.

But today, he knew he was wrong.

Li Ru suddenly felt a little regretful!

"If I had met the current emperor instead of Emperor Ling or Dong Zhuo, would I have become the half-human, half-ghost I am now?"

Li Ru didn't know the answer.

His usually quick mind, his usually alert brain, betrayed him for the first time, leaving him bewildered.

Li Ru had already forgotten how he walked out of the Emperor's Palace.

He only knew that he had been walking for a long time.

If he had not accidentally walked into a military camp and was awakened by the soldiers, Li Ru would have remained in the abyss for who knows how long.

"Where is this place?"

"It is the station of the fifth battalion of the Northern Army."

Although the soldiers were surprised as to why Li Ru could wander here, they still politely reminded him of the high-ranking official uniform he was wearing, "It is time for the soldiers to review their lessons. You cannot go in and disturb them."

Reviewing lessons?

Li Ru was puzzled: "The soldiers should be reviewing the martial arts that will be used on the battlefield, but why can't we hear any shouts of killing?"

The soldier smiled and explained: "We didn't review martial arts, but literacy lessons."

"We are one of the five battalions of the Northern Army, and the commander is the nephew of General Zhang Ji, so we all need to be literate."

"There weren't many teachers who could teach us how to read before. But recently, many children from wealthy families are willing to come and take lessons!"

"For example, the person who came to our camp to teach today was none other than the son of the current Grand Commandant, named Yang Xiu! We probably wouldn't have even met such a person before, but now he is willing to teach us, the crude warriors, and answer our questions. How can the soldiers not take it seriously?"

The soldier said with some regret: "It's a pity that it's my turn to be on duty today, so I can't go in to listen to the lecture. Please don't go in and disturb me, otherwise my comrades will tear me to pieces!"

Li Ru was stunned.

Stand on tiptoe and stretch your neck.

Li Ru indeed saw a thatched hut in the training ground inside the military camp.

Countless soldiers sat in their original places in an orderly manner, listening to the lecture given by a Confucian scholar in the front who was a little immature in age and had a somewhat unruly manner.

There was also a young general sitting in the audience, who would argue with the Confucian scholar on the podium from time to time with a red face and thick neck, causing the soldiers in the audience to burst into laughter.

It turns out that soldiers and officials can live in harmony like this?
At this moment, Li Ru had only two words in his mind -

Datong!

After looking at the podium and the young man in his prime with some envy, Li Ru turned around and left silently.

He knew that this place did not belong to him.

The emperor is right.

People like him have no right to stand here in front of the world.

(End of this chapter)