The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 134 Li Ru: I am a kind person

Such a change undoubtedly made Li Ru feel extremely fortunate.

Fortunately, he did not choose to die of old age in Guanzhong, but went to the emperor to face death and survive.

He thought that there would be a big change in the world in the future, but he didn't expect that the change would come so soon.

If I leave early, how much wonderful things will I miss?

"But fortunately."

What Yuan Shao did only made Li Ru feel a little urgency, but he didn't panic too much.

After all, this is the end of the matter.

Could it be that there is really someone who dares to openly kill the emperor, even in the street?

Impossible, absolutely impossible!
How could a person be so bad?
How could the world be so rotten?
Even Li Ru didn't dare to think about such a thing that would infuriate both humans and gods. So he quickly cleared his mind and continued to ask Zhong Yao about the information in Hebei.

"The three ministers of the pseudo-dynasty are Taiwei Zhu Jun, Situ Tian Feng, and Sikong Xu You."

The Three Dukes are responsible for discussing the truth of the state and regulating yin and yang. Those with outstanding virtues shall hold such titles.

Zhu Jun had made great contributions in suppressing the Yellow Turban Rebellion. He had previously followed Yuan Shao to Hebei, so it was not surprising that he was given a position as one of the Three Dukes.

But Tian Feng and Xu You are somewhat intriguing.

Xu You was relatively easy to deal with. He was famous throughout the world in his early years, had many friends, and even thought about deposing Emperor Ling. He was somewhat of a celebrity.

But how could Tian Feng have such qualifications?

Zhong Yao slowly told the truth: "Because Tian Feng is from Hebei."

Yes!

Li Ru is good at strategies but poor at politics.

After Zhong Yao's reminder, he finally remembered the reason.

The Three Dukes not only have to possess fame, but are also the political mascots and weather vanes of the court.

Zhu Jun was from Shangyu County, Kuaiji Prefecture.

Xu You was from Nanyang.

One was from Jiangdong and the other was from Central Plains.

Among the remaining person, there must be one from Hebei!
Otherwise, the Hebei gentry support you, Yuan Shao, but you, Yuan Shao, are not willing to give even one of the three highest positions to the Hebei gentry. Why would they work for you?
"Yuan Benchu's checks and balances are indeed not weak."

Zhong Yao heard Li Ru's words, but he immediately refuted them:

"Wenyou's words are actually totally wrong."

"Although the positions of the Three Dukes are lofty, they are just empty titles."

"Who is Tian Feng? He was the former Jizhou Beijia!"

"What is a Beijia? Beijia is a historian. When he goes on tour, he does not ride in the same carriage as the governor. He rides in a separate carriage, hence the name. He is the real power figure who controls the government affairs of a state!"

"Now Yuan Shao has promoted Tian Feng to the position of one of the Three Dukes. On the surface, it seems that he is being lenient to the scholars in Hebei, but in fact, he is allowing his trusted aides, such as Guo Tu and Xun Chen, to completely control the political affairs of Hebei."

"How can such a method of crossing the river and destroying the bridge be called sophisticated?"

On the surface, it was a benefit to the scholars in Hebei and gave them the title of "Three Dukes".

But in reality, the power in the hands of Hebei people was gradually and quietly taken back.

This method is actually considered to be above average.

The only thing that was off was timing.

A slight mistake can lead to a huge error!

Yuan Shao was too impatient.

The scholars of Hebei just helped you seize Jizhou from Han Fu, and now you want to take away their power... This speed of turning your back on others has exceeded the acceptable range of politicians, and it is bound to cause resentment in people's hearts.

However, Yuan Shao must have had no choice but to do this.

He himself was an outsider, and the court he was in was established hastily.

If I don't take control of all the military and political power in Hebei as soon as possible, who knows what kind of trouble will arise?
It can only be said that the court's manifesto denouncing Yuan Shao as a traitor to the Han Dynasty really hit the snake at its most vulnerable point, and the impact it brought far exceeded everyone's expectations at the time.

The big man, even if he is weak, is still the big man!

Li Ru sighed: "The situation in Hebei is actually just as the emperor guessed. It's really bizarre."

Zhong Yao didn't know that when Li Ru rushed to Hebei, the emperor had already analyzed the situation in Hebei with Li Ru in advance.

Now after hearing it, he also sighed -

"Emperor Gaozu once praised Zhang Liang, the Marquis of Liu, saying that he had the ability to plan and win battles thousands of miles away. I always thought that Emperor Gaozu was just being modest, but I never thought that there really was such a person in the world."

However, after expressing his feelings, Zhong Yao became even more excited!

With such an emperor, why should the Han Dynasty worry about not being able to revive? Why should the Han Dynasty worry about not being able to maintain peace?
After learning that there was indeed such a serious factional dispute under Yuan Shao, Li Ru was also eager to make a move: "Then didn't the scholars in Hebei express their dissatisfaction with Yuan Shao?"

"Of course."

After Zhong Yao came to Hedong, he also paid close attention to the developments in Hebei.

"In terms of government affairs, those scholars naturally did not dare to compete with Yuan Shao. After all, Yuan Shao had the reputation of having three dukes for four generations, and he also appointed a large number of Hebei scholars to the three dukes and nine ministers of the pseudo-dynasty, which made those Hebei scholars suffer a loss in silence. They could only swallow the bitter fruit they had caused in the past."

“But it’s different in the military.”

"Although Yuan Shao had seized Jizhou from Han Fu before, most of Jizhou's troops were still in the hands of Hebei nobles such as Ju Shou, Zhang He, and Gao Lan."

"In addition, there is Ju Yi, a native of Liangzhou who helped Yuan Shao defeat Han Fu. He also complained after the establishment of the pseudo-dynasty in Hebei."

"At first, Yuan Shao was only willing to grant Ju Yi the title of General Zhenbei, ordering him to guard Guangchang and guard against Gongsun Zan."

"But Ju Yi refused to accept the seal and said to Yuan Shao's envoy -

If it weren't for me, Ju Yi, would Lord Yuan have been able to rule Jizhou?

After the envoy returned, Yuan Shao gave Ju Yi the title of General of Chariots and Cavalry again, which satisfied Ju Yi. "

……

Li Ru didn't expect that there were so many internal troubles in the Hebei pseudo-imperial court!
Especially in the military. Not only did they have the Hebei nobles of Ju Shou, Zhang He, and Gao Lan, but they also had Ju Yi, a proud general who dared to directly reject Yuan Shao's envoy...

But no wonder.

After all, it was a small pseudo-court established hastily.

Before this, basically no one had made much preparation.

Now Yuan Shao wants quick success and benefits, but also wants to continue to build his reputation. This leads to Yuan Shao suppressing the scholars in Hebei, but not daring to really kill people to seize power. Isn't the situation getting more and more chaotic?

Somehow.

Li Ru suddenly thought of Guanzhong and the emperor.

Before leaving, he specifically asked the emperor why he did not fight for power with Dong Zhuo.

At that time, I only sighed that the emperor had noble intentions, but I did not expect that the emperor's wisdom in this matter was far more than that.

If the emperor really fought for power with Dong Zhuo, wouldn't the military power in Guanzhong be as chaotic as in Hebei?
No, not the same, but worse!
At least Yuan Shao was able to compete with the Jizhou gentry by relying on his reputation, his background, and the foundation he had built up when he was the prefect of Bohai.

But how could Liu Xie, a young emperor, suppress those arrogant and powerful generals under Dong Zhuo?
If it’s not handled properly, Guanzhong will probably be littered with corpses and blood in an instant!
Li Ru sighed.

He just felt that the emperor was like a towering Mount Tai.

Every time I thought I could see clearly, when the clouds parted, I would find a taller mountain behind me.

Ghosts and gods are hard to predict!
Zhong Yao was still talking to himself——

"Yuan Shao had previously sent his nephew Gao Gan, Ju Shou, Zhang He and others to lead troops to attack Bingzhou in an attempt to drive out the Black Mountain bandits in the Taihang Mountains."

"Originally, everything was going smoothly. The leader of the Black Mountain Bandits, Zhang Yan, was suppressed to Yanmen and other places and was almost defeated."

"But since the news of the establishment of the pseudo-dynasty came, this army suddenly became unable to fight. Not only did it suffer repeated defeats, but it also returned all the territory it had conquered before... Who would believe me if I said there was no trick?"

?

Li Ru discovered that he had overestimated the moral bottom line of scholars.

"How dare they support the enemy?"

"What's so surprising about that?"

Zhong Yao lowered his voice.

"There is something I want to tell you quietly."

"When we were trading with Yuan Shao, some of the food came from the north..."

Coming from the north?

Isn't that normal? After all, Hedong is a place with many connections...

……

……

wrong!

Li Ru reacted instantly, his eyes widened: "How dare they do this?"

"Yeah, how dare you do that?"

Where is the north of Hedong?

Taiyuan!

Who is in charge of Taiyuan County now?

Bingzhou Black Mountain Bandits!
Now, we are trading with Hebei, and the grain is coming from Taiyuan...

"What the governor is saying is that the scholars in Hebei not only support the enemy but also have dealings with the Black Mountain bandits? Or even trade with them?"

How audacious!

How audacious!

People really need to see the world!
Li Ru thought that he had poisoned the former emperor, which was already a heinous crime, and that he would be regarded as the kind of evil person who would be despised by future generations!
But compared with these nobles, Li Ru found that he could actually be described as pure and kind?
"nature."

Zhong Yao was not surprised.

"The Black Mountain bandits often have an army of tens of thousands. Where do they get their food and weapons? Are they all grown in the fields or harvested in the mountains?"

"How could they grow into the giants they are now without being supported by others?"

"So, Yuan Shao's previous treatment of the Hebei scholars was not really wise."

Li Ru could imagine the faces of those Hebei scholars——

Stir it up! Stir it up! Stir it up so much that the soldiers won’t go to fight, so that the bandits in the Taihang Mountains rush out, so that the dynasty you, Yuan Shao, founded, will fall, and then everyone will be happy!

……

At the same time, Li Ru also thought of Dong Zhuo's previous attitude towards the aristocratic families -

"The sin of the world lies with the family!"

At that time, it was thought that Dong Zhuo was just complaining to the scholars who looked down on him.

But after seeing this scene in Hebei, Li Ru sincerely sighed -

"The fault lies with the family."

but……

The crime lies with the aristocratic families of your pseudo-imperial court in Hebei. What does it have to do with the orthodox imperial court of the Great Han Dynasty?

In fact, the more fun those people had, the happier Li Ru was!
"Master Zhong, I have a plan. Are you willing to follow it?"

"What's the plan?"

Li Ru said confidently——

"Capture Taiyuan! Seize Jinyang! Seize the passage from Bingzhou to Hebei, and vent the emperor's anger! Let the fire over there burn more vigorously!!!"

(End of this chapter)