The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 467 Volume Selection
"Your Majesty, what is in the letter?"

"Zhongda and Kongming can see for themselves."

Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang picked up the letter.

Sun Ce's letter was very simple. It just expressed his intention to surrender to Liu Xie and made a small request to the emperor:

To bring back the families of Zhou Yu, Lu Su, Taishi Ci and others.

However, Sun Quan's letters are quite intriguing.

Sun Quan listed all of Sun Ce's rebellious behavior, and even made a big fuss about the fact that Sun Ce presented the imperial seal to Yuan Shu. He believed that Sun Ce was a traitor and should be cut into pieces!

It was Sima Yi who received the letter from Sun Quan.

Sima Yi saw through Sun Quan's little thoughts at a glance and sneered.

To some extent, Sun Quan's betrayal of Sun Ce could be considered as standing on the side of "righteousness".

Because the one who attacked the imperial court was Sun Ce, not him, Sun Quan.

In this way, even if someone questioned him, he could use the imperial court as a shield, saying that he had turned from darkness to light for the sake of the imperial court and the Han Dynasty...

In order to carry out his image to the end, Sun Quan naturally hoped that the court would kill Sun Ce and confirm Sun Quan's stance of "killing relatives for the sake of justice."

"Sun Zhongmou... If I didn't know his age, I really couldn't believe that a person could be so profound!"

Even Sima Yi felt that Sun Quan was a man of deep thoughts, not to mention Zhuge Liang who was next to him.

After reading the two letters, Zhuge Liang was still frightened.

"Fortunately, I am not an ally of Sun Quan, otherwise he would plot against me sooner or later!"

Liu Xie looked at Zhuge Liang with a strange expression...

Forget it, since you can recognize it, that’s a good thing!

"Now Sun Quan has offered E County to me and wants me to kill Sun Ce. What do you think should be done?"

"Can't kill!"

"Saving Sun Ce's life is more important than killing him!"

Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang spoke in unison.

Sun Ce is more valuable alive than dead!
After all, Sun Ce is the real lord of Jiangdong, and he has left countless marks in Jiangdong over the years.

Apart from anything else, Sun Ce's two combat experiences in conquering Jiangdong alone are already an extremely valuable asset.

Keeping Sun Ce would be far more beneficial to the court than killing him.

The only thing that worries Sima Yi is——

"Will Sun Quan use the families of Sun Ce, Zhou Yu and others as threats to get the emperor to kill Sun Ce?"

?

No way?
Zhuge Liang looked at Sima Yi, wondering how the other party could come up with such a sinister plan.

"Kong Ming, you are still too naive."

"It is important to know that those who achieve great things do not care about trivial matters. It is entirely possible that Sun Quan proposed such a condition... It is just that his statement is more obscure, so that people cannot find any evidence against him."

Zhuge Liang's moral standards were too high, and he couldn't think of such a strategy.

But Sima Yi was sure that Sun Quan would use such a strategy to force the emperor to kill Sun Ce!
Otherwise, Sun Quan would probably really take action against the families of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu.

All the men were killed.

It is not impossible that all the women were sent to be officials' daughters, or given as rewards to the Jiangdong nobles...

Sima Yi had no choice but to propose to the emperor: "In this case, I'm afraid we can only let Li Wenyou do the work!"

Just like last time, Li Ru was able to send Sun Ce's family away from Yuan Shu.

Now, I'm afraid I can only use the same old trick again and secretly send the families of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu out.

But Liu Xie shook his head.

The situation is different.

Sun Quan is not Yuan Shu.

Moreover, Li Ru's identity in Jiangdong has always been transparent. Sun Quan had no reason not to be wary of Li Ru and allowed Li Ru to send his family members over.

"In that case..."

Liu Xie stared at the map.

"Has Yuan Tan made any moves recently?"

"not at all."

Ever since Qingzhou was besieged, Yuan Tan seemed to be dead. He never showed up and didn't even launch a tentative attack. It was very strange.

"Then leave him alone for now."

Liu Xie stayed in Pengcheng for two months and finally moved the dragon banner again.

"All the way south, let the horses drink from the Yangtze River!"

……

"The emperor is coming to Jiangdong?"

When the dragon flag moved, the whole world was shocked!

Sun Quan, who was in Wu County, sat in the position that Sun Ce once held with a serious expression.

And those serving under Sun Quan were no longer the famous scholars from the Central Plains, led by Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong, but local aristocrats from Jiangdong, such as Gu Yong and Zhang Dun.

"What does the emperor mean by this? Is he going to get more than he wants?"

The emperor's sense of oppression is too great!

I didn’t feel it when I stopped in Pengcheng before.

Now hearing that the emperor's dragon flag has crossed the Huai River and landed in Hefei, people can't help but tremble.

"Probably not."

Gu Yong didn't think that the emperor would send troops to Jiangdong at this time.

Before every battle, the emperor would always make sufficient preparations. This seemed to be a habit he had developed since he learned military tactics from Grand Tutor Dong Zhuo.

This was the case in the last battle in Hebei.

Although the Battle of Mangdang Mountain was somewhat unexpected, it was generally within the emperor's plan.

That emperor never fought a battle without preparation.

Not to mention, the emperor has no ships now, and the warships are basically concentrated on the Jingzhou side, making it difficult to mobilize them suddenly, making it even more impossible to start a war.

"In this case, there is only one possibility."

Sun Quan looked towards the north. "Your Majesty, are you trying to intimidate us?"

But Sun Quan didn't understand what he had done to deserve the emperor to drink from the Yangtze River!

Could it be that letter?

Sun Quan thought of the letter he had given to the emperor some time ago.

Could it be that the emperor would come to me for some of his family members?
No, it won't.

Judge others by your own standards.

Sun Quan thought there was no need for the emperor to do such a thing.

As the Son of Heaven.

As the party that benefits the most in this game.

At this time, as long as the emperor killed Sun Ce and then appointed Sun Quan as the Marquis of Wu, it would actually be a great achievement.

In name, Jiangdong was recovered!

However, Shi Xie of Jiaozhou and Gongsun Du of Liaodong had both nominally submitted to the emperor.

As long as the emperor takes down Yuan Tan in Qingzhou, it is basically equivalent to completing the great unification and achieving the achievement of restoring the Han Dynasty!

At this time, the emperor's achievements were enough to rival those of Emperor Guangwu!

What a great achievement this is!

What a great honor this is!

No matter how he thought about it, Sun Quan didn't think that the emperor would threaten him for the families of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu.

In Sun Quan's heart, everything has a weight.

And Sun Quan believed that his weight now far exceeded that of Sun Ce!

With the wisdom of the emperor, he should understand this!
But why would the emperor suddenly send his troops to the Yangtze River?

Sun Quan couldn't figure it out.

So he came to Li Ru's residence again.

Different from last time.

This time, there was no fear in Sun Quan's eyes towards this deserted villa.

"Power feeds people."

When Li Ru met Sun Quan, he said something that was unclear whether it was praise or ridicule.

The last time Sun Quan came here, he was frightened and disturbed by a few flowers and crows.

But this time, he seemed to be at ease. He treated the highly poisonous azalea like an ordinary flower, the ominous crow like an ordinary flower, and even treated Li Ru like an ordinary person.

Li Ru welcomed Sun Quan into the house and turned around to make tea for him, but was stopped by Sun Quan.

"I won't drink the tea. I have some government affairs to deal with later."

"I would like to ask you, sir, what exactly is the emperor going to do now that he has suddenly changed direction and come from Pengcheng to Huainan?"

"Sir, you are the only person in Jiangdong who is familiar with the emperor. I wonder if you can guess his intentions?"

But Li Ru seemed to turn a deaf ear to Sun Quan's words and continued to fiddle with his tea set.

"Sir! I told you, I don't drink tea! Please consider the overall situation!"

Li Ru was still fiddling with the tea set in his hands in an orderly manner, and was not affected by Sun Quan at all.

Sun Quan was a little angry, but he still sat there patiently, waiting for Li Ru.

Li Ru placed two cups of hot tea in front of Sun Quan, then asked, "Is the emperor heading south?"

"We have now crossed the Huai River and arrived at Hefei where Zhang Liao is stationed."

"Since you haven't crossed the Yangtze River, what are you afraid of?"

Sun Quan grasped the hem of his skirt and said nervously, "That's the emperor!"

"The emperor's army is at the gates of the city. How can we not be afraid even with the natural barrier of the Yangtze River?"

Now Li Ru was even more puzzled.

"It was you who decided to replace Sun Ce as the Lord of Jiangdong. Don't you know that once you become the Lord of Jiangdong, you will be the enemy of the emperor?"

"Since you are afraid of the emperor, why don't you surrender early?"

Sun Quan interrupted Li Ru.

"It's not that I don't have the courage to be an enemy of the emperor."

"It's just that the emperor's arrival this time was too hasty and too unexpected!"

"Inside Jiangdong, there are still the remnants of Zhou Yu and Taishi Ci who need to be dealt with. If the emperor suddenly attacks, how can I free up my hands to fight against him?"

Li Ru asked again: "Does the emperor have a boat?"

"Of course not!"

"Since there are no ships, why are you worried that the emperor will attack Jiangdong?"

"Nonsense! That's the Son of Heaven!"

Seeing Li Ru repeating the same thing over and over again, Sun Quan also became angry and slapped the table, causing the tea to spill all over the table.

Sun Quan realized his gaffe, but did not apologize.

If this kind of thing happened normally, Sun Quan would most likely show his humble side.

But not now.

Because Sun Quan knew that he was the Lord of Jiangdong and the most powerful person in Jiangdong!
Unless the emperor comes here, there is no one in the whole Jiangdong who can make him apologize!
Instead, Li Ru rolled up his sleeves and slowly wiped the tea in front of him.

While wiping, Li Ru said: "The emperor seems to have no rules when doing things, but in fact, he thinks carefully about everything and moves towards the most fundamental purpose in his heart."

"You blocked the emperor's path, and he will definitely cause trouble for you."

Sun Quan frowned and told Li Ru the whole story.

"For the sake of nominal unification, there is no reason for the emperor to offend me because of Sun Ce!"

Sun Ce is no longer of any value to the court!
That's why Sun Quan was surprised and thought that the emperor shouldn't be like this!

But Li Ru found it a little funny when he heard it.

"Who told you that what the emperor pursued all his life was simply the unification of the Han Dynasty?"

"What else could it be?"

As an emperor, as the Son of Heaven, if you don't pursue great unification and achievement, what else can you pursue?
Li Ru shrugged cutely: "Then you have to ask the emperor. Why are you asking me?"

(End of this chapter)