The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Self-protection...

When Sun Quan heard these two words, he was a little dazed for a moment.

With the failure of the battles in Jingzhou and Hefei, is Jiangdong now really qualified to protect itself in front of the Han Dynasty and the emperor?

"gunpowder……"

As he continued to mutter, Sun Quan's eyes gradually changed from being empty to being full of spirit.

"If we rely on the power of gunpowder, we may be able to repel the enemy north of the Yangtze River!"

Seeing Sun Quan cheer up, Gu Yong nodded tiredly.

“Not just militarily.”

"The Goguryeo, Buyeo, and Wa countries in Liaodong were all stripped of their royal titles by the emperor and changed into vassal states of the Han Dynasty."

"Wang Mang had done something like this before, which led to the public attack on him."

"If the emperor of today does not respect the teachings of the sages, he will go too far and blindly revive the Zhou rituals. This is not what a ruler should do."

"If we can contact them from the sea and let them tie down a portion of the imperial court's military forces in the north, it would be a good thing."

"Also, news came from Jiaozhou earlier that a Kushan fleet arrived from the sea."

"Since the Kushan fleet can reach Jiaozhou from Kushan, our ships can also reach Kushan from the sea."

"The Kushans are a large Yuezhi nation, and they are different from the Buyeo and Goguryeo people. If the Kushans are willing to send troops to attack from the Annan Protectorate and the Western Regions, even the emperor would be at a loss, right?"

Jiangdong now looks like a drowning man.

But it is precisely because of this that they will grab everything they can around them and fight a desperate battle with the big man.

"also……"

Gu Yong lowered his voice——

"Now that we have broken with the imperial court, we might as well kill Li Ru directly!"

"A person like Li Ru in Jiangdong is like a poisonous snake sleeping next to your pillow. We must get rid of him as soon as possible!"

Sun Quan heard all of the above.

But the last sentence... Thinking that it was Li Ru who gave him advice that enabled him to become the lord of Jiangdong, Sun Quan felt somewhat grateful in his heart.

"After all, Li Ru is a famous scholar in the Central Plains and has made great contributions to restoring order. Even if we know that he is a spy for the imperial court, I'm afraid we can't kill him easily."

Seeing Sun Quan's relentless behavior, Gu Yong quickly said, "It's already this late, how can we care about our reputation?"

Sun Quan remained unmoved: "Since Li Ru came to Jiangdong, he has always been kind to others, and he has not passed on Jiangdong's intelligence, nor has he done anything to harm Jiangdong. There is no reason to kill him."

Gu Yong repeatedly advised——

"I heard that there is a strange snake on the eastern island. It is about three meters long and has a waist as thick as a bowl. It is very friendly to fish, shrimp, insects and birds, but when it comes to cattle and sheep, it will bite them to death and swallow them into its stomach."

"Li Ru is friendly to people now, but he just didn't see any cattle or sheep that could give him a good meal! How could Wu Hou think that this strange snake is a kind-hearted person?"

……

Sun Quan thought what Gu Yong said made sense, but he still felt that killing Li Ru without any reason was not a kingly act.

So Sun Quan and Gu Yong made a bet -

"I will pass on the news that I am going to kill Li Ru and let Li Ru hear it."

"If Li Ru panics and wants to escape, he must still have ulterior motives for the Han Dynasty and wants to harm Jiangdong."

"If Li Ru remains unmoved, it means he no longer cares about the Han Dynasty, and we can rest assured!"

Gu Yong thought about it and finally agreed to the bet with Sun Quan. It was not easy for Li Ru to go deep into Jian's residence and pass on information to him.

It was through Han Zong, who had previously visited Li Ru, that the news was revealed to Li Ru.

Han Zong was extremely worried about this matter, and immediately asked Li Ru to escape after seeing him.

But Li Ru remained unmoved after hearing this.

"My food, clothing and daily expenses in Jiangdong were all provided by Wu Hou. Now that Wu Hou wants to take them back, how can I refuse?"

"Besides, I am already old now, and the only people I know are a few servants at home. Where can I escape to from Jiangdong?"

When these words reached the ears of Sun Quan and Gu Yong, Sun Quan immediately felt relieved. Although Gu Yong felt that not killing Li Ru would ultimately lead to disaster, he temporarily suppressed his thoughts.

Anyway, Li Ru's every move was monitored, including the servants around Li Ru who had long been secretly bribed... and this time Jiangdong's attack on Jingzhou also showed that Li Ru now did not have the ability to detect secrets and pass on information.

"hope so."

Whether it was Li Ru poisoning King Hongnong, or later helping the court to recapture Taiyuan, or what happened to Yuan Shu afterwards, most of the details are now unclear.

Although Gu Yong had gained some knowledge, he was not clear about the details and did not know what role Li Ru played.

"Forget it, don't worry about him for now. When the imperial court really comes to attack Jiangdong, we can kill him in advance!"

Gu Yong no longer thought about Li Ru, but instead actively dispatched fleets to explore in the south and north directions.

In the Liaodong direction, Buyeo and Goguryeo were both very secretive about their betrayal of the Han Dynasty, and were not as fierce as they had been when they opposed Wang Mang.

The Kushans in the south are too difficult to find, so we have to wait for news.

However, an unexpected surprise was discovered in the direction of Japan.

It turns out that although Japan was called a country at that time, it was no different from a tribal alliance.

The Queen Himiko of Japan, who had previously surrendered to the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, was merely the common leader elected by more than 30 tribal states in the Yamatai Kingdom.

To the south of Yamatai, there was a country called Gonu, which was an enemy of Yamatai.

In Sun Quan's eyes, these were nothing more than village fights and there was no need for him to know about them.

What surprised Sun Quan the most was the attitude of the Gou Nu Kingdom towards the Emperor of the Han Dynasty.

It is said that after Himiko received the imperial decree from the current Han emperor, she took the golden seal bestowed by the emperor to find the ruler of the Gou Nu Kingdom and asked him to surrender.

Unexpectedly, the other party not only refused to listen, but also took away the golden seal bestowed by the emperor on Himiko and mocked the Han Dynasty.

"The Han are indeed strong, but can they not cross the sea and attack them?"

However, Himiko was afraid that she would lose the golden seal of the emperor just after she got it, which would be considered disrespectful by the Han emperor, so she never reported the matter. Only people in Japan knew about it.

"Tsk!"

Both Sun Quan and Gu Yong looked down upon the Japanese and the so-called Kunu Kingdom.

But the other party's attitude of not fearing the Han Dynasty is obviously intriguing!

"How dare you take the golden seal bestowed by the Emperor of Han? You are courting death."

Although he was saying that the other party was looking for death, Sun Quan had a smile on his face.

It’s better to seek death!

Sun Quan is under great pressure because Jiangdong is now the only enemy of the imperial court and is too conspicuous.

If some clowns could appear in front of him, without seeking to defeat the big man, as long as they could attract the emperor's attention, it would be a great good!
"We can confer the title of King of Gonu as the King of Wa and provide him with weapons and armor."

"If he can dominate Japan, it may be a good thing for Jiangdong!" (End of this chapter)