The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

"Li Ru is still alive?"

"nature!"

Li Ru's identity is already an open secret in Jiangdong.

Li Shu originally thought that Li Ru would be killed by Sun Quan or Gu Yong before the war, but he didn't expect that he was still alive!

"Gu Yong did chase after you, but you hid in my house, so you weren't discovered!"

At this moment, Li Shu has completely believed in Han Zong's identity.

Not only did he openly let him go to Shu County to investigate his identity, but he also told him where Li Ru was hiding... This was almost like handing the handle to him, being completely honest!

"So that's how it is, Li Wenyou... What a great Li Wenyou."

Li Shu looked at Han Zong: "I don't care what Li Ru's plan is or what the emperor's orders are. I just want to know how I will be treated in the future."

"Will I be demoted to a commoner and have to take part in some imperial examination, or is there some other way?"

Li Shu knew that Jiangdong could not defeat the imperial court.

But even so, he still wants a good result!
Life is for oneself, that is natural and right. If one does not live for oneself, he will be punished by heaven and earth!
If surrendering to the imperial court means death, and staying in Jiangdong means death as well, then what difference does it make where one dies?
"Li Taishou, the court now has its own system."

"I heard that even the emperor's father-in-law, the great scholar Fu Wan, had to lower his dignity to participate in the imperial examination... With such deeds in the past, how could others be so presumptuous?"

Anyone who wants to pursue a career in officialdom must take the imperial examination!

Especially since Fu Wan, the emperor's father-in-law and a great scholar of the time, had to take the imperial examination before being appointed as an official, this almost fundamentally cut off the opportunity for later comers to open a backdoor.

"What should I do?"

Li Shu obviously did his homework——

"The court now requires equal distribution of land wherever it goes! As the saying goes, all land under heaven belongs to the king! If I surrender, the land of my clan will definitely be confiscated, and I won't be able to be an official! As for the honorary official..."

If there is no real power and no money, what is the use of merit in the Han Dynasty where there are so many founding heroes?

Wasn't it because of this that Zhang Miao felt humiliated by the court that he colluded with Cao Cao to rebel again?
"The court has its own system. There is nothing we can do about this matter. There is no room for negotiation."

Han Zong changed the topic——

"Have you heard about the imperial court establishing states?"

"Of course I've heard of it!"

Li Shu realized what the Korean variety show was going to do, and quickly waved his hand.

"Don't lie to me. I know my own worth. How can someone like me covet a fiefdom and become a local lord?"

"Taiwan Governor Li misunderstood."

Han Zong said: "Although the position of a vassal is hard to come by, won't the vassal states of the future need retainers or ministers?"

Li Shu's eyes lit up!
"You mean..."

"Li Taishou, there will be many opportunities for wealth and honor in the future! You can't just do a one-time deal!"

"I heard about it when I was in Jiangdong. It was said that a large amount of silver was discovered in Yin State, the fiefdom of General Lu Bu..."

"Think about it! Think about it carefully!"

Li Shu took a breath of cold air.

He suddenly realized that what Han Zong said seemed to make sense!

A silver mine was discovered in Lu Bu's fiefdom. It was impossible for Lu Bu to go and mine it himself, so he definitely needed someone to help him coordinate!
Including local governance, reclamation... when these things are added together, wouldn't wealth be coming in like a flood?
and……

If you can gain the trust of the princes, it is entirely possible to obtain high positions such as minister or prime minister!

The prime minister of a principality...even if he were placed in the Han Dynasty, he would at least be on par with a minister, right?

the most important is……

To develop in these vassal states, you don't have to follow the red tape of the Han Dynasty, nor do you have to take the annoying imperial examinations!
Li Shu was immediately moved: "I didn't expect that you are so knowledgeable at such a young age!"

"Hehe, these are just some words that the teacher once taught me."

Han Zong laughed foolishly twice.

These were just the words that Li Ru taught him when they chatted casually on weekdays. Unexpectedly, they came in handy at this moment!

Li Shu was straightforward: "Tell me! What should we do?"

When Han Zong saw that Li Shu agreed to cooperate, he also knew that Li Ru's plan could officially begin.

"First, I would like you to write a letter to Zhu Huan, the commander of Chaisang..."

……

Chaisang.

The gateway to the east of Jiangdong is the last barrier defending Jingzhou’s journey to Jiangdong!
Their defending general was Zhu Huan, who came from an aristocratic family!
But Zhu Huan was not in a good mood at this time.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see what Jiang Dong’s appointment means.

Let Zhu Ran guard Huainan, and let Zhu Huan guard Chaisang...

Isn't this clearly telling the world that he, Zhu Huan, is not as good as Zhu Ran?

"Gu Yuan sighed!"

Whenever Zhu Huan thought of this, he became extremely indignant!

Although the Jiangdong noble families jointly hold power in Jiangdong, there are still some subdivisions.

For example, the Gu family’s base is in politics, while the Zhu family’s base is in military affairs.

Zhu Huan, who was born in the Wujun Zhu family, often regarded himself as "the best general in Jiangdong" and was unwilling to be inferior to others!

Moreover, the last time Jiangdong fought against the imperial court, whether it was the battle of Jingzhou commanded by Zhu Ran or the battle of Hefei led by Sun Quan himself, they all ended in failure. Only Zhu Huan made some achievements in Jiaozhou. Not only did he occupy half of Jiaozhou, he also perfectly executed the plan, cutting off the road between Jiaozhou and Jingnan, forcing Gan Ning to lead troops to rescue...

There were three routes of attack, but only Zhu Huan's route achieved positive results!
Such performance was not enough to make Sun Quan and Gu Yong hand over the military affairs of Huainan to him. Zhu Huan felt that Sun Quan was really partial and Gu Yong really looked down on him!
Especially since he arrived in Chaisang, the soldiers in Jingzhou have basically been silent.

Guan Yu, Wen Pin, Zhuge Liang, and Gan Ning all stayed in Jiangxia and did not send a single soldier to Chaisang...

This kind of "silence" made Zhu Huan certain that the main direction of the court's attack must be Huainan where the emperor was! Chaisang was only a side battlefield after all!
Although he was the "number one general in Jiangdong", he was always sent to the side battlefield whenever there was a war. No wonder Zhu Huan was resentful!

"General..."

"What's the matter?"

Although Zhu Huan was angry, he did not vent his anger on his soldiers.

in contrast.

Zhu Huan treated his soldiers with great generosity!

He could call the names of each of the nearly 10,000 soldiers under his command, remember the appearances of their wives and parents, and reward them with money and property at any time.

Although all these soldiers are Zhu Huan's private soldiers and are part of the Zhu family's private property, one has to admit that Zhu Huan is indeed particularly close to his soldiers!
"General, this is a letter from Li Shu, the governor of Lujiang!"

"Li Shu? Why would he write to me if he's not guarding Wan County?"

Zhu Huan took the letter disapprovingly, but after just one glance, he stood up, his arms trembling.

"Too deceiving!"

The guards around him rarely saw Zhu Huan get angry, so they were also curious and asked, "General, what happened?"

"Could it be that Li Shu's words offended the general?"

"Li Shu? Humph! He doesn't have the guts! And there's no need!"

I don't have the courage to understand...

Although Li Shu also came from a noble family, he was still slightly inferior to Zhu Huan.

But "there is no need for this" makes people think deeply. Li Shu did not need to offend Zhu Huan, so who needed to offend Zhu Huan?
"Lord Wu, you are going too far!"

When these two words came out, the guards on both sides were shocked!
"General! Be careful with your words!!!"

"What are you talking about? If I talk in the army, how can it reach Sun Quan's ears?"

"..."

One of the soldiers smiled bitterly and said, "General, there is always a chance of something happening. We will not pass on your words, but there is no guarantee that one or two drunk people might say nonsense and be heard by others. General, please don't say these things."

"And no matter what, Marquis Wu is the ruler of Jiangdong after all, and we cannot offend him..."

Zhu Huan sneered, "Lord of Jiangdong? Ha!"

"If it weren't for us, he would have been defeated by the imperial court along with Sun Ce. How could he have been the Lord of Jiangdong?"

"Now he doesn't know how to be grateful, but instead uses all his thoughts to deal with his own people! Sun Quan... is he really an ungrateful person?"

The personal soldiers looked at each other, wondering what had happened to make Zhu Huan so furious and even speak so wildly.

"Li Shu wrote to me, saying that someone falsely accused him of surrendering to the imperial court, so Sun Quan sent an envoy, Han Zong, to Wan County in an attempt to seize Wan County's military power!"

"How ridiculous! If someone falsely accuses me, Zhu Huan, will Sun Quan also send his confidants to seize my military power???"

Zhu Ran and Han Zong are both Sun Quan's confidants.

However, Zhu Huan and Li Shu were from aristocratic families in Jiangdong.

Now Sun Quan wants to seize the military power of the aristocratic families using a confidant. How can this be tolerated?

Did Sun Quan want to learn from Sun Ce or from the emperor? He actually wanted to take away the military power from his family?

"Now that he is facing a powerful enemy, instead of thinking about how to fight him, he is still using his despicable means to fight for power and profit. How hateful!"

Zhu Huan believed Li Shu’s words almost instantly!

the reason is simple.

If Li Shu really wanted to betray Jiangdong, why would he write a letter to tell him?

Moreover, Zhu Huan's natural political stance also made him more willing to believe Li Shu rather than Han Zong and Sun Quan!
When the personal soldiers heard that this matter actually involved a power struggle in Jiangdong, they felt their scalps tingling.

But soon someone realized: "What should Li Shu do now?"

"Will he surrender and allow Han Zong to seize his military power, and then return to Wu Hou?"

"How can it be!"

Zhu Heng snorted coldly.

"Handing over the military power is equivalent to asking for death. After all, Li Shu has guarded Lujiang for more than ten years. How could he be so obedient?"

"Then he..."

"He told me that the reason Sun Quan treated him like this was because he wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to let Zhu Ran take control of all the military power in Huainan!"

"So he hopes that I can be transferred to Huainan!"

……

The bodyguards felt a little bitter.

"Li Taishou is daydreaming..."

"Now that the war is about to start, how can we change the generals before the battle?"

"And even if you write to Lord Wu now, Lord Wu will not agree..."

"Li Shu has thought of all these."

Zhu Ran put away the letter and fell into thought——

"Li Shu has thought of all of this."

"If I just ask to go to Huainan, Sun Quan will definitely not agree."

"So, Li Shu wants to give me a military achievement so that I can command the military power of Huainan with this military achievement!"

"What military exploits?"

Zhu Huan took a deep breath——

"Li Shu said that since Sun Quan had falsely accused him of surrendering to the imperial court, he might as well stage a fake show to lure Gao Shun's trap camp to Wan County."

"When the time comes, as long as I lead the troops to appear suddenly, I can trap Gao Shun's troops in Shiting and annihilate them completely!!!"

Annihilate the entire trap camp!!!
Such achievements are certainly enough for Zhu Huan to replace Zhu Ran as the leader of Huainan!

And once this battle really takes place, it will almost be equivalent to the emperor's biggest loss since his debut!

By then, in the whole Jiangdong! In the whole world! Who would still say that he, Zhu Huan, is not the number one general in Jiangdong?

"hiss……"

When the guards heard this, some were moved, some were suspicious, and some were hesitant...

"General, can you trust Li Shu's words?"

"Also, once our army leaves, what if Guan Yu and Wen Pin from Jingzhou suddenly lead their troops to attack us?"

"yes……"

But some of Zhu Huan's die-hard fans were excited.

"General! This is a great opportunity to make a name for yourself!"

"General! Just do as Li Shu said! I am from Shiting! I know how dangerous the terrain is! Once Gao Shun is surrounded, even gods cannot save him!"

"..."

After pondering for a while, Zhu Huan did not make a decision in a hurry, but asked someone to find out the truth of the matter first.

After learning that what Li Shu said was true, and knowing that Han Zong had been offended by Gu Yong because of the search for Li Ru, Zhu Huan finally defined the matter as follows:

"It is indeed what Sun Quan did to seize power!"

"Zhu Ran does have some real talent... but Han Zong? Ha! This person has never learned anything. How can he become the "great talent" mentioned by Sun Quan in such a short time? It's really disgusting!"

"Okay! I will accept Li Shu's invitation and go to the stone pavilion!"

"As for Guan Yu in Jingzhou... the emperor is now in Huainan, which is the main attack direction of the court. Guan Yu is here just to disperse our troops. He is not a threat! As long as you are careful when you leave and don't get discovered by Guan Yu, Chaisang will be safe!"

After settling the defense of Chaisang, Zhu Huan led 10,000 soldiers from Chaisang to Anxian, completely opening the gates to the east and west of the Yangtze River!

at the same time……

As early as a few days ago, the generals in Jingzhou received a letter.

The emperor's letter!

After receiving the letter, Guan Yu sent soldiers disguised as merchants to check Chaisang's movements day and night and observe Zhu Huan.

When they learned that Zhu Huan had led his troops eastward and that there were only a few thousand defenders in Chaisang City at most, everyone smiled with relief.

Zhuge Liang waved his feather fan and said, "Li Wenyou... this man is really something. If he doesn't make a move, it's fine. But once he does, it's earth-shattering!"

Guan Ping and Kou Feng: "Tsk tsk! This battle can be fought like this! It's so easy to deplete Chaisang's military strength. Awesome!"

Guan Yu: "This is the content of "The Art of War"! It seems that you two have neglected the study of the Art of War. After this battle, each of you will copy "The Art of War" fifty times and give it to me!"

Gan Ning tickled his ears and jumped twice, the bells on his body making clear and pleasant sounds.

"This time I can finally go to Jiangdong and make a scene!" (End of this chapter)