At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

Chapter 379 Eight Sun Ce and Zhou Yu

Cheng Yu also knew what Guo Peng said.

Before the drought and locust plague broke out in Chang'an, food was scarce, grain prices soared, and starvation was everywhere. Liu Xieyu couldn't bear it, so he opened his own granary and used the food in it to help the victims.

After giving relief for a while, it was found that many people still starved to death. The official in charge of this matter said that so many people starved to death because of insufficient food. Liu Xie did not believe it.

So he summoned a group of ministers and cooked porridge with a certain amount of grain in front of them. As a result, the porridge cooked was more than twice as much as the official in charge said. With fifty sticks of heavy responsibility, the number of hungry people in Chang'an City decreased a lot.

In addition to daring to stand up and scold the rebellious soldiers, Guo Peng felt that Liu Xie had as much brains as he had guts.

If he is now an adult emperor in his 20s, he probably has the ability to change the world.

Unfortunately, he was born a little late.

Moreover, his father was so messed up that he had wiped out the vitality of the Han Dynasty. No matter how powerful he was, no matter how thoughtful he was, he was powerless to deal with the already scattered world and the warlords everywhere.

Not to mention that he also met such a rare and deep-minded villain as Guo.

"The emperor's intelligence is not a good thing for me, my lord, if there is a need, Yu is willing to do it for the lord."

Cheng Yu's eyes were fierce.

Guo Peng shook his head.

"Zhongde, I don't know how to learn from Yuan Gonglu. Yuan Gonglu likes to use assassination and kidnapping, which are despicable methods, but should those who fight for the top of the world use such methods?"

"What does my lord mean?"

Cheng Yu looked at Guo Peng.

"Don't worry, I don't need to take action now. Judging from the current situation, it is not so easy for the emperor to leave Li Guo's jurisdiction. Maybe something will happen on the way. What happened to me..."

Guo Peng tapped the table with his fingers: "This kind of thing must not make people suspect us. On the contrary, if you doubt God, you will think it is God's will. The new emperor is born, that's the way to go."

Cheng Yu was full of doubts.

"My lord, even though that is the case, it is the Son of Heaven after all. Although there is no strong army around, everyone will do their best to protect the Son of Heaven. Unless it is really God's will, otherwise..."

Guo Peng took a deep breath: "Zhongde, don't worry. You are not in a hurry, and I am not in a hurry. I am still waiting for Yuan Gonglu. By the way, how is Yuan Gonggong doing?"

"He visited a lot of fortune-telling magicians, and also visited some divination and weft masters to do divination and fortune-telling for him. I am afraid that the desire to proclaim the emperor will become more and more unbearable."

"Those fortune-telling magicians and prophecy scholars have no real talents! They can't even figure out that Yuan Gonglu has the destiny of the emperor. How can this be done? Zhongde, you can make some arrangements again, and put what Yuan Gonglu wants to hear most now. Tell him, as for the others... you can add a little more."

"As ordered."

Cheng Yu said that he understood.

People are always willing to believe what they want to believe. For example, Yuan Shu believes that he will be the emperor. He already thinks so, and dissuasion can only be delayed and cannot be changed.

Even though there are some sober-minded people under Yuan Shu's command who don't agree with the birth of the unicorn, Yuan Shu's determination to become emperor is still getting stronger day by day.

Especially since he thinks all this is no longer a problem.

Because after Yuan Shao, the biggest obstacle, was eliminated by Guo Peng, Liu Yao, the second biggest obstacle, also fell into decline.

Wu Jing and Sun Ben can only draw with Zhang Yingfan, but adding Sun Ce is different.

After retreating from the front line of Lujiang, Sun Ce thought that he would become the prefect of Lujiang, and then prepare his troops to attack Jiangxia and avenge Huang Zu, but after Yuan Shu gave an order, Sun Ce went to Liyang with [-] soldiers and horses, preparing to attack Liu Yao.

Yuan Shu's reason is simple.

Liu Yao is my confidant, and if you defeat Liu Yao for me, wouldn't it be more beautiful for me to appoint you as the governor of Yangzhou?

Sun Ce was very disappointed by this, and knew that Yuan Shu would not appoint him as the prefect of Lujiang. He wanted to attack Huang Zu in anger to avenge his father, but was persuaded by Sun Jian's old subordinates.

The old subordinates advised Sun Ce not to be young and arrogant, and Yuan Shu was powerful, and he was not something he could contend with. If he couldn't bear it at this time, how could he even talk about revenge?

Sun Ce felt very painful. After learning from the painful experience, he decided to follow the advice of the veterans and lead his troops to leave Lujiang and march towards Liyang.

When he was stationed in Liyang, Sun Ce heard that his old friend Zhou Yu was visiting his uncle Danyang prefect Zhou Shang in Danyang County in the south of the Yangtze River, so he wrote to Zhou Yu asking Zhou Yu to help him cross the river.

Zhou Yu was very happy after receiving the letter, and immediately made a request to Zhou Shang. Zhou Shang nodded and gave Zhou Yu's soldiers to lead Zhou Yu to welcome Sun Ce across the river.

Zhou Yu and Sun Ce have been good friends for many years. They were born in the same year. They knew each other and became friends when they were teenagers.

Sun Ce has always been very close to Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu was born in a wealthy family, and his status and family background are much better than Sun Ce's.

His grandfather Zhou Jing and uncle Zhou Zhong had both served as Taiwei, and his father Zhou Yi was a Luoyang magistrate with a distinguished family. If he hadn't run into troubled times, Zhou Yu would have followed the path of a standard gentry son.

Before Sun Jian died, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu lived together and were good friends. After Sun Jian passed away, the two separated. It has been more than three years since Sun Ce crossed the Yangtze River to see Zhou Yu. The friends were reunited again, and they were overjoyed.

Needless to say, the joy of the reunion of friends. After a banquet, the two went to sleep and discussed the previous encounters and future plans.

"General Yuan originally said that he would appoint me as the prefect of Lujiang, but after I conquered Lujiang, he said that he wanted me to attack Liu Yao, and that he would appoint me as the governor of Yangzhou after the battle. Gong Jin, do you think this is credible?"

"It's really hard to say, but the fourth generation and third generation of General Yuan's family cannot easily renege on their promises and become fat. If you make great achievements, he will naturally reward you. You don't have to worry about it."

Zhou Yu comforted Sun Ce.

Sun Ce sighed helplessly, feeling that Zhou Yu didn't understand what kind of person Yuan Shu was.

"I have been with General Yuan for a long time, and the things General Yuan promised me are rarely fulfilled. Is it because my contribution is not great enough?"

Zhou Yu pondered, feeling that Yuan Shu has such a high status, how could he renege on his promise and get fat?

So he suggested to Sun Ce: "Then wait until you defeat Liu Yao before you ask General Yuan to be the prefect of Lujiang. I heard that General Yuan and Liu Jingsheng also have enmity. If you can remove Liu Jingsheng's minions, General Yuan will not refuse."

Knowing that Zhou Yu's family supported Yuan Shu, Sun Ce would naturally serve Yuan Shu himself, so he could only pretend to agree, and joined forces with Zhou Yu the next morning to attack Liu Yao.

Sun Ce had always admired Zhou Yu's wisdom. This time, he asked Zhou Yu to be his marching staff.

At the beginning, there were some problems with the cooperation between the two, but then the cooperation between the two became very appropriate.

Chapter 380. 370 Nine Yuan Road is too deceptive!

Zhou Yu accompanied Sun Ce to attack Moling and challenged Xue Li, the former Prime Minister of Pengcheng who was stationed in Moling. Xue Li gathered [-] troops to fight against Sun Ce.

Zhou Yu used tricks to make Xue Li's army ignore each other, and Sun Ce was able to defeat Xue Li's army in one fell swoop, beat Xue Li away, and occupied Moling.

Afterwards, Sun Ce further marched into Hushu and Jiangcheng, defeated Liu Yao's generals Fan Neng and Zhang Ying who were stationed here, occupied the two places, pursued them closely, and led his army to approach Qu'a.

Liu Yao personally led the army to fortify and fought against Sun Ce. Unfortunately, he lost the enemy and was defeated. Sun Ce took the lead and led the cavalry to pursue Liu Yao.

But this is of no great significance anymore. Liu Yao suffered a disastrous defeat and his power ceased to exist. Qu'a was conquered by Sun Ce. Sun Ce held a banquet here for the generals and soldiers who had meritorious service.

When Sun Ce was crossing the river, Liu Yao, out of fear, sent people to spread rumors that Sun Ce would inevitably send troops to plunder and kill people when he came here.

So Sun Ce marched forward and occupied many cities where people fled with their young and old. Sun Ce felt very strange about this, and sent someone to inquire, only to find out that Liu Yao was spreading rumors that were not good for him, for which Sun Ce was very angry.

Zhou Yu told Sun Ce that rumors can be broken, but Sun Ce needs to show his demeanor and use practical actions to break Liu Yao's rumors. Sun Ce deeply agrees.

So Sun Ce ordered the army to strictly observe military discipline during the march, and not to plunder, not to touch a chicken, a dog, or a vegetable among the people, which can be said to be innocent.

Zhou Yu also sent people along the way to spread the news that Sun Ce was an upright man and would never burn, kill or loot. The people were very happy, and they rushed to comfort Sun Ce's army with beef and wine.

At this time, Sun Ce's appearance played a big role.

Sun Ce is very handsome, and very handsome, so handsome that he should be recorded in the history books.

The first impression between people comes from the recognition of their appearance. When seeing a good-looking person, people will involuntarily have a good impression, both men and women.

Zhou Yu gave full play to Sun Ce's great advantage in appearance, and established his initial reputation in Jiangdong in a way that almost made Sun Ce's idol debut.

Sun Ce's own hard power is also very good. He has an open-minded personality, is good at talking with people, talks humorously, can accept other people's opinions, is good at using talents, and has the talent of being a politician.

Therefore, after Sun Ce conquered Qu'a, everyone who met him, whether they were powerful or common people, would follow him.

Later, under Zhou Yu's suggestion, Sun Ce issued a proclamation, saying that all the old friends and subordinates of Liu Yao and others, as long as they surrendered themselves, let the past go, and were willing to serve as soldiers, only one person from the family would be exempted from the burden of tax and service for the whole family. Those who serve as soldiers are not reluctant.

So in just ten days, applicants poured in from all directions, and Sun Ce's strength soared. He got more than [-] soldiers and more than [-] horses in one go, and the Sun Ce Group shocked Jiangdong.

Sun Ce's reputation has been greatly improved after defeating Qu'a, but this is only the first step. In the next step, Sun Ce intends to enter Jiangdong.

After defeating Qu'e, Sun Ce felt that he could actually have more choices, and there was no need to listen to Yuan Shu's command and go back and forth countless times to get nothing.

Zhou Yu was keenly aware of Sun Ce's will.

"Bo Fu, do you want to continue to attack Jiangdong in the south?"

"Well, I think."

Sun Ce took a deep breath: "I already have nearly 3 soldiers and horses, reliable generals and subordinates. With such strength, shouldn't I continue to attack Jiangdong in the south?"

"This is also possible."

Zhou Yu was silent for a while, then said again: "General Yuan..."

"General Yuan probably wouldn't think of me as the governor of Yangzhou. I want the prefect of Lujiang County, but I'm afraid I won't get it."

Sun Ce smiled self-deprecatingly.

"Bofu...you..."

Zhou Yu hesitated for a moment, then said, "You can't break away from General Yuan's command. You must continue to fight under the banner of General Yuan and attack Jiangdong in the name of Yuan's army."

Sun Ce frowned.

"Your reputation is not high enough. General Yuan's family is four generations and three princes with great reputation. If you attack Jiangdong in the name of Yuan's army, you will not encounter too much resistance, and there will be people who are willing to serve you. I heard that the town This is how Guo Zifeng, General of the East, defeated Yuan Benchu."

"Guo Zifeng..."

Sun Ce narrowed his eyes: "General Guo is a hero. In the early years, General Guo fought side by side with my father. My father once wrote a letter to praise General Guo's bravery and skill in fighting. Such people are willing to be driven by General Yuan, let alone me. What about this kind of person? Gongjin, I understand."

Zhou Yu breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.

"So, how do you plan to capture Jiangdong? Do you have a complete plan?"

"Isn't this waiting for you to explain it to me?"

Sun Ce blinked and looked at Zhou Yu with a smile.

Zhou Yu sighed helplessly when he heard the words, and said with a smile, "Who made me know you so early? Forget it, I'll help you again."

So Sun Ce and Zhou Yu joined hands and began planning a plan to capture Jiangdong.

Sun Ce felt that with Zhou Yu's help, he would be able to realize his ideal.

As a result, the good times didn't last long. The plan was made, but the battle hadn't started yet. After Yuan Shu knew about this, his mind became active.

It's not that he doesn't care about what Yan Xiang said. Guo Peng can still say that he understands and has some confidence after knowing him for more than ten years, but Sun Ce really doesn't understand.

The son of his subordinates looked like a father and was full of vigor, which made Yuan Shu slightly worried.

At the beginning, he mobilized Sun Ce to attack Liu Yao because he was interested in Sun Ce's ability, but when he heard that Sun Ce was doing well in Jiangdong, Yuan Shu had some ideas.

After finding out that Zhou Yu, the son of the Zhou family in Lujiang, has a very good relationship with Sun Ce, and is now serving under Sun Ce, Yuan Shu felt that he had to do something.

So Yuan Shu ordered Zhou Shang, the prefect of Danyang, to be transferred back to his side, and appointed his confidant Yuan Yin to be the prefect of Danyang, and to restrain and monitor Sun Ce nearby.

Then he specifically asked Zhou Shang to bring Zhou Yu with him so that he could meet Zhou Yu, a handsome man who was very famous in Lujiang area. Yuan Shu said that he had heard about Zhou Yu's reputation and was very interested in Zhou Yu.

The news reached Sun Ce and Zhou Yu who were about to march south to attack Jiangdong, and they were stunned.

Zhou Shang said that this was Yuan Shu's special request, and Zhou Yu could not refuse, so he had to rush back to see Yuan Shu with him immediately, without any discussion.

Sun Ce was silent for a while, then got up and kicked over the table in front of him.

"Yuan Gonglu!!!"

With a roar, Sun Ce's eyes turned red, and he was about to rush out.

Zhou Yu grabbed Sun Ce's hand.

"Bo Fu! Don't be impulsive!"

"But he...Yuan Gonglu is too deceitful!"

Sun Ce roared again and again, and it took him a while to calm down, holding Zhou Yu's hand and not letting go.

"I just wanted to make contributions with Gongjin, why did you let Gongjin leave me?"

Seeing Sun Ce shed tears, Zhou Yu felt uncomfortable, but he had to abide by the orders of the family.

Zhou Yu asked Sun Ce to attack Jiangdong according to the plan he had planned for him, especially pay attention not to kill more, and pay attention to attracting people's hearts.

Especially now that Sun Ce has killed Lu Kang, an important figure of the Lu family of the Jiangdong gentry, we must pay special attention to building a good relationship with the Jiangdong gentry, and be careful not to damage the interests of the gentry, otherwise the Jiangdong gentry will revolt, which will be very harmful to Sun Ce's great cause. Big hit.