The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 325 Volume Li Ru Leaks Secret
"We also need to send envoys to pay tribute to the imperial court?"

Sun Ce suddenly felt depressed.

"Who to send? Zi Jing? Forget it. I heard that Cao Cao sent his subordinate Guo Jia to the court before, but he kidnapped Guo Jia after meeting the emperor. Cao Cao was so angry that he almost led his troops to attack the court! He dare not send a talent like Zi Jing to the court again!"

Sun Ce was unaware of the true situation and thought that the emperor had no moral principles and detained the envoys at will, so he did not dare to send anyone to the court again.

"Why not let Li Ru go? He is a spy for the imperial court anyway. The emperor can't possibly arrest Li Ru as well, right?"

After Li Ru defected from Yuan Shu, he took the initiative to reveal his identity.

But Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were helpless.

Unless they completely turned against the court, they would have to keep Li Ru supported and worship him even if they knew he was a spy.

Sun Ce seemed to remember something.

He suddenly asked Zhou Yu: "Has Li Ru ever been involved in military affairs? Has he ever obtained any confidential information?"

"Never."

Zhou Yu was extremely relieved about this.

"The military has never leaked any information to Li Ru, and Li Ru has no intention of actively seeking military information, so it should not be leaked."

Instead of alleviating his suspicion, Sun Ce became even more suspicious: "He came here as a spy, but he didn't go to find out military information? Then what on earth is he doing?"

Zhou Yu was also very wary of Li Ru and was on guard against him all the time.

When he heard Sun Ce's question, he told Sun Ce truthfully what Li Ru had done after coming to Jiangdong.

"He didn't get close to me to discuss military affairs, nor did he get close to Zhang Zhao to discuss government affairs. Instead, he got close to some famous people in Jiangdong and often discussed academic matters with them. He seemed like a hermit who had come here to live in seclusion. It was very strange."

Even with Zhou Yu's wisdom, he couldn't figure out what Li Ru was busy with in Jiangdong.

But since he posed no direct threat to Jiangdong, Zhou Yu simply ignored him.

"In that case, let him go to the court, so he doesn't have to stay in Jiangdong and be annoying."

Sun Ce casually decided this small matter, then stopped his army and stationed it near Dantu, waiting for Li Ru.

After the army stopped, Sun Ce had nothing to do. He heard that a tiger had appeared on a nearby mountain. He was immediately delighted and led his confidants there.

Zhou Yu also knew that Sun Ce had a hobby of hunting, but he didn't care. He stayed alone waiting for Li Ru, intending to arrange some things for Li Ru.

For example, status.

Although Sun Ce now occupies Jiangdong and half of Jingzhou, he still has no status, which makes some famous scholars dissatisfied.

Famous scholars such as Wang Lang, the governor of Kuaiji, and Hua Xin, the governor of Yuzhang, had to surrender to Sun Ce due to insufficient military strength. But they later gave up their official positions, rejected the recruitment of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, and rushed to Jingzhou to join the court.

There is really no one available in Jiangdong now.

Great scholars like Wang Lang and Hua Xin were unwilling to serve under Sun Ce.

Even those scholars who came from Jiangdong's aristocratic families did not dare to entrust them with important tasks for fear of being controlled by them.

The only people who could be used were scholars like Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong who were unwilling to surrender to Cao and moved south from Xuzhou.

Now that Jiangdong is unable to seize Jingzhou militarily, it must gain some advantages in other areas.

At the very least, if the imperial court could confer a position on Sun Ce, under the banner of the Han Dynasty, it would be able to attract more scholars from the Central Plains who were unwilling to surrender to Cao Cao to come and serve.

When he thought of this, Zhou Yu began to envy the imperial court.

The imperial court has now begun to teach ordinary people to read and abolished the system of selecting candidates for the imperial examination...

From now on, the imperial court will probably never be controlled by the aristocratic families again!
But even though he was envious, Zhou Yu knew that if he dared to do this in Jiangdong, he would probably be torn to pieces by the Jiangdong noble families...

Even though Sun Ce and Zhou Yu have tried their best to suppress the Jiangdong noble families, it is impossible for them to do what Dong Zhuo did in the past and completely wipe out the Jiangdong noble families...

Without the courage and strength to overturn the table, you will naturally not get clean soil.

A look of worry appeared on Zhou Yu's face again.

Sun Ce's ambition to dominate the world is destined to be full of ups and downs!

After preparing the gifts to be sent to the court, Zhou Yu discovered that Li Ru, who was supposed to arrive three days later, actually came to his camp at noon the next day.

Zhou Yu was already resentful in his heart, and seeing Li Ru so anxious, he couldn't help but sneer: "Wen You is so impatient, but are you missing home?"

Li Ru, who was originally in a hurry, suddenly became leisurely after hearing this.

"I'm not in a hurry... Forget it, since you don't like me, there's no need for me to help you. I'll come here to see you tomorrow when they're done!"

After saying that, Li Ru simply turned away, leaving Zhou Yu a little confused.

Why did Li Ru say "speak out to help"?
What does “they accomplished it” mean?
And who are “they”…?

……

Zhou Yu's face suddenly changed!

He rushed out of the tent and ran after him, respectfully bowing to Li Ru: "I hope Wenyou can solve my doubts and give me some pointers!"

Li Ru had already mounted his horse and was about to leave.

When he saw Zhou Yu coming to find him, he did not dismount, but just looked at Zhou Yu jokingly.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Yu apologized again and personally went to hold the horse for Li Ru.

Li Ru then stopped teasing Zhou Yu and got off his horse again.

"Gongjin is open-minded and generous. I don't know how Sun Bofu is so lucky to have someone like you as his assistant."

Hearing Li Ru's praise, Zhou Yu hurriedly expressed that he felt unworthy of it.

At this time, soldiers were already surrounding them.

Normally, Zhou Yu would only lead the horse for Sun Ce, but now he was suddenly leading the horse for Li Ru, which was really unusual.

Zhou Yu had no choice but to make an invitation gesture again: "There are too many people here, please come to the tent to talk." "Okay."

Li Ru looked at Zhou Yu with admiration, but at the same time he felt a little regretful that such a person would appear in a place like Jiangdong.

After entering the tent, Zhou Yu did not call anyone to ask questions, but served tea, invited Li Ru to the seat of honor, and served him carefully.

Li Ru picked up the teacup, took a sip, and immediately closed his eyes.

"Gongjin is not only good at music, but also at tea ceremony. This tea is much better than the one I brew myself."

"The rat has no skills and is not worthy of such praise from Wenyou."

During the conversation, Zhou Yu once again apologized for his previous disrespect and asked Li Ru for forgiveness.

Li Ru waved his hand nonchalantly.

"I am disliked everywhere I go, and I don't need a few cold stares from Gongjin."

"I heard that you changed your mind temporarily and didn't plan to continue attacking Jingzhou... After thinking about it, it's probably because I sent Sun Ce's family to Chang'an, which made Sun Ce afraid to act rashly and missed a great opportunity. So it's normal for Gongjin to feel a little resentful."

……

Zhou Yu didn't quite understand Li Ru in front of him, but he still bowed: "I dare not, I dare not."

Li Ru smiled and said, "Why should I be afraid? If you had not decided not to attack Jingzhou, I would not have come here."

Zhou Yu knew that they were going to talk about serious matters, so he immediately sat up straight and said, "May I ask what exactly Wen You wants to report?"

Li Ru looked around first, then asked, "Where is Sun Ce?"

"We went hunting in the nearby mountains."

"How many people did you bring?"

"Just three or five trusted people."

"..."

Even with Li Ru's temperament, his eyelids twitched unconsciously at this moment.

When Zhou Yu heard Li Ru asking about Sun Ce's whereabouts, he was even more shocked!
"Wenyou, is there any news that is unfavorable to Bofu?"

……

Li Ru looked at Zhou Yu, wishing he could take back all the words he had just said to praise Zhou Yu.

How dare they let Sun Ce go hunting in the mountains with just three or five people?

With such young habits, how can they sit firmly on the position of the Lord of Jiangdong?
……

"Gongjin, how do you feel about governing Jiangdong?"

"It's still relatively stable. Apart from the occasional Shanyue rebellion, there haven't been many major wars."

"Who asked you this?"

Li Ru knew that Zhou Yu was pretending to be ignorant, but he did not expose him.

"In the beginning, Jiangdong was full of aristocratic families, and many of them even set up farms and forts in the mountains, and kept their own private troops, making them very powerful."

"If you and Sun Ce want to revitalize Jiangdong and expand your power to gain a piece of the world in this chaotic world, you have to compete with those aristocratic families for meat."

"On the surface, Jiangdong has been recaptured by you and Sun Ce, but in reality, there have been undercurrents. Many people hope to quickly eliminate you two."

"At this time, Sun Ce still dares to take three or five people to hunt... He is looking for death!"

Zhou Yu stood up suddenly, his face turning blue.

"How dare they do this!"

"Why don't they dare to do so?"

Li Ru also sneered.

"You even gathered the forces from Guandong to attack Luoyang. You even forced Han Fu, the governor of Jizhou, to death and had to give up Jizhou to Yuan Shao. Isn't it easy to kill you, Sun Ce?"

"He has caused a terrible disaster but he is unaware of it, and he still dares to play around recklessly... Sun Bofu is really like the Overlord of Western Chu, who has only bravery but no strategy!"

Zhou Yu's handsome face became extremely hideous at this moment.

He knew that what Li Ru said was true!
The Jiangdong noble family really has the potential to kill Sun Ce!
Zhou Yu immediately called up his troops and planned to go and protect Sun Ce immediately!
However, Zhou Yu still had one thing he was puzzled about.

"Thank you Wenyou for coming to tell me the news, but... Wenyou is the emperor's man after all. If we sit back and watch Bofu being killed, wouldn't it be more in the interests of the court?"

Li Ru couldn't help laughing: "What does the court's interests have to do with me?"

"I just want to know, if Sun Ce can survive this time, how will he deal with himself?"

"Should I follow the example of the Grand Master and raise my butcher knife to slaughter people, or should I be a good boy from now on and learn from Yuan Shao to live in harmony with the noble families?"

Li Ru's eyes were full of anticipation.

"I can't participate in the fight between the emperor and Yuan Shao."

"But looking at the fight in Jiangdong, it's actually not bad!"

"..."

madman!

Zhou Yu, who had not seen through Li Ru at first, finally realized what kind of person Li Ru was.

Annoying!

But Zhou Yu had no time to worry about Li Ru at this moment.

The most important thing now is to find Sun Ce as soon as possible and prevent anything from happening to him!
"Bofu, please don't be in any trouble!"

(End of this chapter)